Cornell & Diehl Eight State Burley 2021

The year 2015 white and 2014 dark burleys provide a lot of earth, wood, nuts, mild creamy cocoa, and a light, sharp dry sourness along with hints of sugar and molasses. They are the lead components. The aspects of the aged Sokhoum, Samsun and Katerini are earth, wood, herbs, floralness, spice, zesty tart sweetness, vegetation, and a light smoky quality. They are moderately sweet, and mildly sour. They are just below being supporting players. The Canadian bright Virginia offers a lot of tart and tangy citrus, grass, bread, some sugar, vegetation, light floralness, tart lemon, spice, and a hint of acidity as a supporting player. It’s close to competing with the Orientals for attention. The red Virginias produce a lot of tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, light sugar, and a pinch of spice. They add to the overall sweetness as they mute some of the sourness. They are a notch above being a condiment. The casings on the burleys include a variety of flavors (molasses, rum, sugar, a drop or two of vanilla, etc.) that very mildly tone down the tobaccos. The blend itself is not topped; just the burleys. The strength, nic-hit and taste levels are medium. There’s no chance of bite or harshness, and barely has any rough edges. Well balanced and mildly complex, it burns cool and clean at a reasonable rate with a rich nutty, woody, sweet, lightly sour, floral, spicy flavor. Barely leaves any dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, lightly lingering after taste, and room note. Can be an all day smoke. Four stars.

-JimInks

Why is it not discussed in the tin description or the huge write up about this blend's production that this blend is cased in nasty vanilla cake topping?(EDIT: After the tin airing out a bit for the first day, it's not a vanilla topping but more like honey with some other fruity sweetener) After airing this out for a few minutes and smoking it in a large bowled pipe, all I am met with is a sweet aromatic that is drowning out any of the tobacco flavor. Even ten minutes after sitting the pipe down all that I taste in my mouth is weird honey/cake like flavoring similar to C&D Sun Bear, and the tin smell is similar to that of C&D Sun Bear Small Batch. And I note that alongside Sun Bear it smells like many of the same toppings. I cannot be sure if it's elderberry/tequila, along with some mild tonquin-esque topping or precisely what each topping is here. It's just cloyingly sweetened when all I was expecting was natural white and dark burley, the Oriental condiments, and that red Virginia varietal leaf that I love. You get none of this, just overbearing topping. Leaves a long lasting aftertaste of nothing but these toppings. It was fine in Sun Bear as that blend is as advertised with a bunch of nuanced toppings. I did not however, want 20 tins of Sun Bear.

Haunted Bookshop is my favorite tobacco and I readily expected this to be a good burley blend.

EDIT: I've nearly smoked the entire first tin and I've smoked it in clay pipes, meerschaum, various briars, and many cobs. This sits firmly in the heavily cased OTC burley category. My initial scathing review still stands, as this was not ever mentioned as being such an aromatic. The component tobaccos are all masked by the continuous flavoring all the way down to the very end of the heel. 4-5 days after the tin has been open and breathing, the only tin note is that of the casings, there isn't a single hint of good tobacco smell here. The quality of the tobaccos are superb. Just that you could case any old burley with this sauce and it would taste the same. It takes away anything that could have been special about these vintage varietals.

3/23/2022 EDIT: After just under one year sealed in a jar, I decided to dip into my second tin. The honey/vanilla sweetener casing in the burley has now toned down a bit to the point where there's a nose of burley/Oriental. The casing is still heavy-forward the first ten minutes of the smoke but quickly settles down and wafting the smoke gives way to burley and Oriental and is very pleasing. Fresh, this was overpoweringly cased. Now, the VA and Oriental have calmed it just a smidge and married well. The tins should be much better at the five year mark.

Reading some of these (early) unfavorable reviews caused me to open a tin from the stash to investigate. I typically don't open ANY C&D or GLP for at least two years, and most certainly don't form a conclusion until at least half the tin has been consumed.

Eight State mechanically is an absolute champ. Burns true, cool and dry with no no relights. It's not goopy or greasy like many drugstore blends. There is a slight vanilla scent when opening the tin, but almost as if it's coming from what might be little flecks of Cavendish mixed throughout, not from an overall topping. On days two and 3 after opening, that scent has morphed into a faint chocolate. Taste wise, I feel the white Burley dominates, and that can be an acquired taste if you haven't smoked much of it. The orientals are a nice addition, and if anything, I wish they were a little more present, but that would probably subtract from the fact this blend is a Burley showcase. Eight State is just fine. My anxiety from reading some of the early negativity is now gone, and I'm actually thankful for those reviews, as now I'll have a tin under my belt to match against the experience that's coming in two years (as originally planned).

I will be honest. I am not a huge Burley fan. I primarily smoke Virginias and Va/Pers and the occasional English/Balkan when it's not blistering hot outside. I've dabbled in Aromatics, but they're not my thing. I'll have a couple of bowls and then I'll get tired of them and toss them. I do like some Va/Bur blends (some are my favorites), but I generally stick to the Va/Per blends.

However, I've learned that when C&D puts out a Small Batch blend, then I should at least get a tin or two to try, even if it doesn't fit into my usual taste profile. I almost passed on the Eight State Burley because, well, I don't usually smoke Burleys. But when I read the description and watched Shane's Tasting Notes video (not that he's ever going to say anything but praise for the blend, but I trust his palate), I decided to order a couple of tins.

A few days later, I had the tins and since this was primarily a Burley blend, and given the fact that the components already had some age on them, I wasn't intending on aging them. So I went ahead and popped one of the tins. The aroma was amazing, but I had some raised eyebrows because at first sniff, I really thought it was a true Aromatic because of the amount of sweetness I was getting from the tin note. But the component tobaccos were still evident and I was intrigued.

I loaded up a bowl and started puffing. I was very surprised at how much I was enjoying this blend. Yes, there is a slight casing, but it is very subtle and only accentuates the natural flavors in the leaves. And around the 1/3 of a bowl, the casing is completely undetectable and the condimental tobaccos start to make themselves known. I immediately ordered 3 more tins.

Here is the breakdown for me:

Tin Note - slightly sweet with chocolate, spice, earth, toasted nuts and a little sour note;

Mechanics - moisture content was perfect for me and it loads and lights with no issues; burns cool and even with minimal relights; no moisture left in the bowl.

Strength - this one can hit pretty strong with the N if you're not careful, but the overall body of the smoke and intensity of the flavor is a firm medium.

Taste - subtle sweetness but more brown sugar than cloying syrup; predominantly toasted nuts, baking spice, earth, leather, some floral and sour notes; a well-rounded blend that can be an all-day smoke or a last bowl of the evening to wind down.

Room Note - I don't generally comment on room note because I smoke outside and frankly I'm more interested in the taste. However, I bring it up this time because last night I was standing outside watching a hockey game from our sliding glass door and my wife commented on how good this blend smelled. This is important, because she HATES my pipesmoking and has never liked anything I smoked. Even the few Aros that I've tried. She didn't like it enough to let me come inside to watch the game, but it's still noteworthy.

Overall - since it's pretty much sold out, this might be a moot point, but if you like an easy-smoking blend that can double as an all-day smoke and as a contemplative smoke, then you should try this. Is there a slight casing? Yes, but it does not detract from the overall quality of the component tobaccos and the casing is undetectable after the first few puffs anyway. I am curious to see how it will age as I will finish this tin (I'm already halfway through it) and will let the others sit for a few months while I finish up some other open tins that I have.

I'm not sure if this blend will turn me into a diehard Burley fan, but I am intrigued and will probably branch out to some others. I always wanted to try Solani's Aged Burley Flake, so who knows, maybe C&D made me into a convert.

Happy Puffing!

Summary: a boutique OTC that would be good if sold at normal prices with less sauce

Tobacco reviews like to baffle you with a flood of flavors, but the reality is far simpler and involves the interaction between flavors, not a laundry list. This blend attempts to hybridize "Sir Walter Raleigh" and "Prince Albert" into what we might call a boutique OTC, or a fancy-pants take on traditional drugstore tobacco. You mostly taste the Burleys, which emit a rich chocolatey odor from the tin, with a bit of sweetness without acidity from the red Virginias, aided with a bit of sourness from the mixture of Orientals. That follows the basic formula of the original "Prince Albert," but with more of the white Burley heavy mixture that "Sir Walter Raleigh" uses. Mostly I taste marshmallows, which means that too much corn syrup was used in the sauce. The vanilla flavors burn off quickly, leaving behind the taste of white Burley with hints from the Virginias and Orientals. This would be a good blend if they used half the sauce and sold it as a regular mixture; whatever pedigree the Burleys have is lost in the sauce and clash of flavors of the condimentals, so they might as well use regular Burleys too. But at that point, you have a regular OTC, and can't charge boutique prices.

Thanks to /r/PipeTobacco member "Gullible_Pause_8606" for this generous sample.

Cornell & Diehl - Eight State Burley.

Note: tin#3254 of 7500.

The appearance is basically quite a coarse, medium brown, ribbon. The hydration's bang-on, and the tin note's slightly sweet, atop of the tobaccos.

My initial impression was monopolized by the flavouring's. The inaugurate taste was of sweet, sticky vanilla. I thought it seemed like a pleasantly cased VaBur; plenty of stringent Burley and fruity-sweet red Virginia. Was going well, until I started to notice the Orientals. Unfortunately, for me, these aren't as 'muted' as I'd want them, there's still a tyrannous astringency from them which I don't enjoy; this hides any fragrant, efflorescent characters...... for me. Practically speaking there's no issue. It burns at a medium pace, gives a cool smoke, and has impeccable consistency.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: tolerable.

Eight State Burley? I've smoked this pretty much solidly since midday yesterday, to try and extrapolate a more 'informed' opinion. Unfortunately, in all fairness, I'll only give it 2 stars:

Somewhat recommended

Nothing bothers me more, than a blender advertising something "natural", and to be greeted upon tin opening with added aromatic what ever you want to call it. Smokes harsh, has an aromatic chemical taste and somewhere in the mix you can sense the burleys. Made it about 3/4 of a way through a bowl, dumped it, cursed Jeremy Reeves name, and threw this garbage into the mulch pile. Good luck to you, I STRONGLY disliked this blend.

This blend does not taste like a natural burley at all. I would agree with anyone else that feels like this stuff is topped with a bunch of aromatic sauce. I like C&D burley flakes, I like their CRF, and the sorts of Orientals used here. But the flavorings make this blend taste more like run of the mill vanilla cavendish than a gourmet blend of burley. All of the advertised nuances are lost. What happened?

I only write this review to defend this tobacco from the whiny old women that are bitching about this tobacco probably because they hate C&D to begin with.

What a lovely blend we have here, fellas. This is one of the smoothest smokes I’ve had in a while. It’s nice to get away from spicy here and there. This blend is well balanced between the Virginia’s and the Burleys. To me the Burley adds a note of sweetishness reminiscent of OTC Burleys but with a better quality leaf. While the Virgina adds a nice bit of muscle that works hand in hand with the Burleys, while the Oriental is purely condimental, it’s there but not in large quantities. It’s like salt to a dish, highlighting the main ingredients. Jeremy out did his self, here.

To those old women that say this is heavily cased and garbage, get over yourselves.

Eight State Burley is like a better quality OTC burley blend. Even with all the diverse ingredients, the chocolatey nuttiness of the burley tobaccos are at the forefront of the flavor profile. The Virginia and Turkish leaf just enhance the flavors of the burley and are not too noticeable on their own. The smoke has a nice body.

Eight State Burley is one of the more enjoyable burley blends. The two star reviews are from people who don't. JK...we all have different palates.