Cornell & Diehl Eight State Burley 2021

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Is obviously mostly a Burley Tobacco with some Virginia and oriental evidently in there. Topping of vanilla or honey or something such detected. It’s a fairly light smoke and easy burning. Taste is pleasant enough, but not what I would call tasty. there is a tin note of dark chocolate for my senses, but it smokes like a cigar. that isn’t a bad thing since that’s what I was expecting and I do like cigars.

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).