Tobaccos Cornell & Diehl - Eight State Burley 2021 (Small Batch)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3047)	2021-05-26		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

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

22 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	p120d16y (22)	2021-05-28		Very Mild	Very Strong	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

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.

Pipe Used: various

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: SmokingPipes

Similar Blends: Various topped burley aromatics, unfortunately. No burley flavor here, as this blend is largely ruined by a topping. Can C&D remake this blend with no vanilla/cake/Sun Bear casings in it next time? , 3/23/2022 EDIT: It does get much better with age. Needs much more age..

15 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Circle H Brothers (10)	2021-06-02		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

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!

Pipe Used: Meer, Cob and Various Briars

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: None that I'm aware of since I don't have much experience with Burley blends..

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	unclebuccs (4)	2021-06-02		Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

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).

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DeathMetal.org (231)	2021-06-15		Medium to Strong	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

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.

Similar Blends: Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) - Sir Walter Raleigh, John Middleton, Inc - Prince Albert.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2081)	2021-06-04		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

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

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Field_Value_Null (4)	2021-06-01		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

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.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bibliopiper (9)	2021-05-30		Mild	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

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?

Pipe Used: Cob and brair

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BrokenRecord (124)	2021-05-30		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

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.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Oldsoul84 (1)	2021-06-07		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I watched Jeremy Reeves in an interview on YouTube state, that 8 State would be reminiscent of Wessex Burley Slice, Solani Aged Burley Flake, and old Edgeworth Sliced, which all are my absolute favorite burleys of all time! So, I excitedly ordered 11 tins. I was very disappointed upon opening a tin... the tin note and flavor of the smoke, is EXACTLY like Swisher Sweet cigars!! Kind of a vanilla, cinnamon, cherry-ish, cedar, cigar... Not a bad thing at all, as I’ve smoked a million of Swishers with the old man, and like them, but was really hoping for the flavors of the aforementioned blends... so that being said, when I’m in the mood for a Swisher, I’ll break this blend out. Again.., not bad at all, just not what I was expecting at all. To me, instead of a deep, rich, earthy/forest, burley, it’s a sweet, mild cigar. 3.5 for quality of tobaccos, 2.5 for what it is.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum billiard, Savinelli billiard

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: N/A

Similar Blends: Swisher sweet cigars.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Piperino (2)	2021-06-05		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

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.

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonius Blok (192)	2021-06-14		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

My tin is numbered 3780 out of a total of 7,500.

In my opinion this mix is not being treated fairly, so I will try to help raise the grade a bit.

In its tin it has a delicious smell of slightly vanilla biscuit, that reminds me of Virginia Cream by G.L. Pease, although in VC this aroma is much more noticeable. The ingredients, predominantly burley, are not overshadowed by the mixture's light coverage, but rather softens and complements them very well, which can make it more accessible even for non-burley fans. Under this cover a very good quality tobacco is shown, with a flavor like that: a tobacco. Recently I was smoking some pipes of Le Petit Robin, by Tabac Manil, and ESB brought back some reminiscences of that mix. I like to smoke it in pipes with the medium to small bowl, as I think it works a lot better.

What prompted me to quickly order this tobacco when it went on sale was the fact that I had smoked Carolina Red Flake, from the same Small Batch series, and I loved it.

Luckily I ordered two tin of ESB, since I smoke a pipe almost every day, and in the rotation I have now it is usually the most pleasant.

I'd love to see how this one ages.

Age When Smoked: Young

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	moniker (220)	2021-06-08		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

About 3 weeks into smoking C&D’s Eight State Burley, I was ready to throw in the towel when I finally tried it with “the right pipe”. In case anyone cares, the pipe’s about a #6 billiard that’s almost, but not quite, short enough to be called a pot, with a very open draw. While the pairing hardly transformed ESB it did make the most of it, in line with my ongoing quest for nothing but 4 star blends, and my recommendation here is conditioned on the use of “the right pipe”, or at least a sincere effort to “find the four” in this blend. In the tin (dated 04-21; #1,643 of 7,500) are mostly mid red-ish brown ribbons, with some lighter and some darker. Initial tin note was a little boozy, reminding me of rum and maple sugar. This faded fast, but artifacts (including cocoa, molasses, and a trace of vanilla) have remained for another 2 weeks now, and they are mildly present in the scents and tastes through every smoke so far. The tobacco handles, loads, lights, and smokes down to a little black soot just fine. I load it loosely, and it burns like Turkish tobacco, which is to say, pretty fast. I temper the burn with easy draws. The combusting scents start for me with a mosh of soft, aged Burleys and toned down Turkish, fragrant, wet wood followed by more and more fragrant wood , then the VAs come up, with some wheat sourdough and dark, fragrant silage, then savory, only faintly spicy Turkish spices come up and hold to the end. The lot is more bitter and sour than sweet. It’s consistent top to bottom after the rest it’s had. Strength and tastes are medium. Room note is not bad. Aftertaste is a trailing off of the best of the smoke.

I had high hopes for ESB, to the point where I came close to rating it lower when it didn’t live up. However, in fairness, this is high quality tobacco, done in a more-or-less classic American style. The blend seems best suited to experienced Burley lovers who also like aged Turkish varietals. 3 stars, awarded only after staying with it as long as I did.

Pipe Used: #6 briar billiard preferred

Age When Smoked: to 7 weeks + rest

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc pipes (110)	2021-12-15		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

If this blend is judged against the manufacturer’s description it fails miserably. If tasted blind with no preconceived idea of what it might be, it’s a pretty darn solid burley.

Upon opening the tin, I first noted the nearly perfect consistency of the evenly cut ribbon. There are 8 different shades of leaf: tan, gold, red, brown, bright yellow, beige, dark brown, and black. None of the advertised constituents should be black, should they?! I then became super concerned about mold, but plucked what seemed to be a piece of pocket lint off the very top layer. F%#ked up, but at least it wasn’t fungus. There is a strong sweet vanilla scent that gives way just a bit to honey after breathing a bit. The topping scent does not fade appreciably with time, but it does disappear over the first third of each bowl. The aromatic is most notable in the room note and in the snork.

The tobaccos are earthy and even a tad muddy, in a good way. There are nice but subtle notes of clove, nutmeg, and allspice. The flavor takes on a cigar like quality at times, especially with DGT or after long delayed relights. Dark chocolate and a faint note of licorice dance in the background towards the end of some bowls.

THIS is exactly what comes to mind when I think about the smell of pipe smoke in public as a kid. Furthermore, when I would envision ideally what pipe smoke would taste like (again as a kid/non smoker) this is approximately what comes to mind. 3.25 stars

Pipe Used: Numerous briars

Age When Smoked: 5/7/21

Purchased From: SP

Similar Blends: The smells of random pipe smoke in public that I remember as a child in the 1980s..

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darth 69 (117)	2021-06-17		Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm another voice in the chorus of disappointment over this blend. Opening the tin it has this piercing sweet note like white cake frosting. It's not heavily cased but it initially seems so potent despite being a dry and flat smoke. Drying it out for 24hrs help to tame it a bit. I didn't find this appealing. Also, the tin aroma has a bit of a cigar note like a mild Dominican. I couldn't detect the other components in the blend; Maybe it's the overwhelming casing or they are so sparse in the blend?. It's a lot smoother than C&Ds typical burely blends but there is still a tad harsh note there. This so utterly fails to deliver on it's tin description, whatever it was trying to be as an extraordinary and rare composition.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again."- W

The last time I buy an experimental tobacco.

Age When Smoked: 5/11/21 Tin# 7420

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	McQueen (41)	2021-06-14		Mild	Medium	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

OK - This really is a great blend, but it was marketed incorrectly by C and D. I think the reason for the mixed reviews here is that people were expecting a more natural BURLEY forward blend, but what we have here is a lightly cased codger OTC burley style blend. Which is fine, its good! Just as the others have described it has nice leaf in it, good cut, and the top dressing is sweet and flavorful. So if you like Carter Hall, Prince Albert, etc etc, you will really like this one, its in that vein as opposed to a natural straightforward burley. If you are ok with a top dressing and some light sweetness....you will love this. I got lucky and found some still in stock at a brick store after buying my initial 3 tins on line. CIRCLE H has the most spot on review thus far Id say.

Pipe Used: Savinelli 122

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Cup O Joes

Similar Blends: Carter Hall, Prince Albert.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stan (179)	2021-06-08		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Yep, this is not like Aged Burley Flake or Big n/ Burley. But it's a C&D time machine in a tin.

I have smoked about half a tin - about 12 bowls in a new, small Om Paul. Confusing for first few bowls. Sharpe. Sweet. Stronger. Did smell similar to light vanilla in tin.

Thin ribbons, dry, easy burning. Fairly cool.

After first 5 bowls or so she calmed down a bit. Mild earthy burley with a soft, fragrant, floral taste. Somewhat sweet but Virginias not a strong palyer.

I found the florals not as minty but in line with Deer Tongue blends.

I believe the orientals play a role in the floral taste, similar to Dunbar.

It may have a casing. But as stated it smokes dry to me.

A take on burley, and apparently somewhat controversial. But I think it is a good blend to wake up old timers. Recommended for burley puffers. A step up from OTCs.

Pipe Used: Genod

Age When Smoked: new tin

Purchased From: SPC

Similar Blends: Old Bertram's Bouquet, Cooner, new Dunbar. Gentleman's Caller.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Michael D (34)	2021-05-28		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I seen an ad saying "Small Batch Eight State BURLEY".. and I Like some good Burley.so it was off to get me some of this blend.. I have to say..it is no Solani 656 or Wessex burley slice.. not even close...

I expected burley and it is there.. it is the main taste.. but unfortunate to me.. the citrus in the Virginia kinda killed the pleasure... its "ok" but I wouldn't go out of my way to get more..

to make it more clear.. I noticed Prince Albert was back in stock since last quarter of 2020, when I went to purchase this... I wanted to make sure they didn't change the Prince.. and I enjoyed the new batch Prince more than this... I actually purchased 2 tubs of the Prince, which taste like the old Prince..and I am not disappointed in that purchase... maybe they should have used Cavendish with the Eight States like the Prince...

Pipe Used: Savinelli army

Age When Smoked: New

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pipesINpairs (19)	2021-07-07		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

There is no point in reviewing this blend because it was a limited run and it's already gone. If you have some, share it. If you didn't get any, you're not missing out. (No need to pay 3x the price to some bonehead hoarder who bought 50 tins using multiple accounts the second it was dropped.)

It's nice. There is a very slight topping, but the flavors of the tobacco are ever present and enjoyable. It's what I wish a quality bulk burley or over-the-counter burley blend was: good quality tobacco with a touch of a sweet topping (vanilla, chocolate, that kind of thing, the kind of mélange that amplifies the natural flavors of the leaf). It's a simple aromatic burley for any smoker that still likes to taste tobacco in their aromatics. I know, it's not an Aromatic, officially, but to a veteran burley or even Virginia smoker, it basically is.

This is an example of a simple, fine blend C&D is capable of when it wants to be - I just wish they would cut the hype-drop approach and just focus on making a few high-quality blends regularly, instead of 100,000 mediocre blends with the occasional gem you'll miss if you blink.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2021-10-11		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

This tin was gifted to me at our 2021 NASPC show where I had a brief examination of another tin that was open. I was puzzled by my inability to raise a tin aroma, but wrote it off to the hustle and confusion of the moment. Eventually, it got opened to take the place of another Burley in my line up. The tin opening was uneventful and yielded a uniform medium tan colored mixture that produced no aroma between counter top and nose. Half way down I could barely sense any real tobacco aroma. At close range I picked up an aromatic aroma that I felt was vanilla, though it was thin and distant. Underneath this aroma, I could just detect a tobacco odor; equally thin and distant. Quite dry in the tin, I only needed thirty minutes air out for light up. The whole top third of my first smoke was a guessing game, as I had no idea what I was smoking. Just as we crossed over to the middle third, some strength and aroma entered the fray and I puffed on through this segment in moderate contentment. In the bottom third things went south in a typical Burley mixture way and got flat and boring. Stuck at two and a half stars, I decided to test this blend in my blending regimen and it passed. I thought it was smoother than the preceding Burley I had been using and I thought it worked better in blending. Now we are at three full stars and I recommend Eight State Burley for a unique smoking experience. Be warned, however, that the difference between using all air cured components and other more "traditional" methods of curing yields a very different type of Burley smoke that bears little resemblance to most of the blends other reviewers have compared it to.

Pipe Used: Charatan Executive 1/4 bent Dublin

Age When Smoked: tinned 5/5/21

Purchased From: gifted at our NASPC show

Similar Blends: Nothing I know of right off hand-its that mild..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Balrrach (4)	2021-09-21		Very Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Don't let the score fool you, this tobacco is outstanding.

Tobacco cut is thick and the smell from the jar is somewhat intense vanilla. Packs, lights and stays lit easily. Flavor is excellent, at the beginning you are welcome with a vanilla flavor that, in my opinion, doesn't overwhelm(and I don't specially enjoy aromatic tobaccos) and slowly transitions to a more burley natural flavor that stays present until the last third of the bowl where an excellent selection on orientals awaits you. Transition between the different flavors are the smoothest I've seen, I'm really impressed, congrats C&D.

I believe the enjoyment of this tobacco is strongly related to ones capacity to tolerate a bit of aromatic flavor and how much one agrees with the selection of orientals made. Also, I believe this tobacco has been terribly advertised by C&D alongside SP who compared it to other more or less burley straight blends like Solani Aged Burley Flake and Wessex Burley Slice with which this one shares nothing in common. So, to those hoarders who bought 20+ tins and didn't like it, joke's on you. I'll wait till next year to taste this marvelous blend once again.

Recommended to those looking for an american styled aromatic burley with high quality orientals in the blend.

Four solid stars.

Pipe Used: Group 5

Age When Smoked: A few months from production

Purchased From: Smokingpipes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (224)	2021-05-30		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Unnoticeable

C&D Eight State Burley- A natural tasting Burley forward blend . Starts out nice but smoking slow it still turns cigar like burley with very little sweetness for the most part . Similar to Burley #3 . I don’t pick up any casings and the Orientals are hard to pick up for me . The tobaccos are quite dry out of the tin . Rehydration may help . It just doesn’t work for me but if you like unflavored Burleys this may work for you . 2 1/2 rating

Age When Smoked: Fresh tin

Similar Blends: Burley # 3.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2022-02-25		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I tried this when I got tin upon release and wasn't really a fan. I picked up the toppings and felt that the orientals were pushing in front of the burley that I was expecting from this one.

Now in 2022, I decided to dip back into the jar. Some aging time has pushed back the sweetness, toned down the spices, and really brought the flavors together. There is just a hint of the toppings on first light, but they really fade quick. The orientals now star in their supporting role and the burleys have moved to the limelight. I'm looking forward to finishing the jar now.

Pipe Used: various

Age When Smoked: May 2021

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RonR (85)	2021-07-25		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

3rdguy

Finished a full tin of this one in quick fashion. A nice changeup for the burley fan like myself. It has a smilar casing to Sunbear in a honey addition. I am not a big Oriental fan but in the right amount I really enjoy the complexity it can add.

I can see smoking this one year round and glad I was able to cellar 10 tins but I would be surprised to not see this an annual release like most (all?) of the Small Batch series. A must try for the Burley fan.

Pipe Used: cobs and meers.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2022-10-21		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Disclaimer, not a huge Burley smoker due to the nic hit. I did learn a trick, using a pipe with a filter significantly reduces the nic hit and it allows me to enjoy the flavors. I have yet to return to Jack Knife Plug or any of the SG Twists as they knocked me on my behind, but for a Burley like this it was perfect. I like how C&D blends come ready to smoke without dry time, however I sat on this one for awhile due to the topping. It reminds me of some of the Esoterica Virginia's, some kind of dark fruit like plum or apricot along with some vanilla and/or cardamom. Even fresh out of the tin it didn't come across to strong in the mouth, but the nose was super strong and not super pleasing to my nose. YMMV. After a year in the jar the top note has tamed a bit but is still prominent but not overpowering. The flavor is like a dry brut Champagne. Crisp, woody, nutty Burley along with some very subtle sweetness from the VA's which were deep in the background, also a touch of toasted rye bread. A quarter of the way in you get some sourness from the Turkish/Orientals, and just after that you get a creamy/buttery hint as you burn down the bowl. This is one to be smoked slowly. I really began to like the flavor of this blend and on occasion, I puffed to fast and it does get harsh and ashy when pushed. Surprisingly no bite no matter how I smoked it, probably due to the balsa filter at least in part. Nice after taste. I did use this to break in a few pipes and it does build a quick cake and holds a nice flavor, even in a new pipe (with or without a bowl coating).

Pipe Used: Briar’s and cob’s

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	K.E. Powell, III (15)	2022-09-21		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Cornell & Diehl has a known history of occasionally releasing higher-end blends through their small batch series, which features top-grade tobaccos. Eight State in particular, like the name implies, features tobacco from all over the nation, and all of them are of excellent quality.

Before I get too far into the blend itself, I will say that what you get out of this blend on your expectations. I somewhat expected, given the marketing behind it, for it to be a stronger blend with a bold burley flavor, akin to their flakes or Haunted Bookshop. This blend is a more balanced approach meant to be an all-day smoke. It succeeds in that, but if you're looking for a new Old Joe Krantz, you will be disappointed.

That all being said, what is here is pleasing. The tin note is biscuity and has hints of hay and vinegar. The ribbon cut is done well, and the variety of burleys, orientals, and virginias are easily identified. The blend smokes pretty easily and requires only a few relights and leaves a tolerable room note, especially by burley standards.

The flavor opens with very subtle hints of vanilla, with a buttery body provided by the burleys. The sweetness of the virginias and floral, slightly sour notes of the orientals do not overtake that the burleys, but their presence is known and ever-present. It is a pleasant smoke with no rough edges. There's little to criticize here, but in some ways, this blend does not stand out. It's a quality blend to be sure, and one well worth checking out, but it lacks that certain something that sets the best blends apart from the rest.

Pipe Used: Neerup bent rhodesian

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: pipesandcigars

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