Cornell & Diehl Folklore

The tart and tangy citrusy, earthy, woody, toasty, floral and incense-like, herbal, spicy, mildly grassy, vegetative, sour, smoky cigar-ish, slightly clove-like Indonesian Kasturi is the lead component. The five distinct flue cured Virginias provide plenty of tart and tangy citrus, grass, wood, earth, bread, sugar, floralness, vegetation, some tangy dark fruit, sour lemon, and light spice as supporting players. The spicy Saint James perique offers earth, wood, stewed plums, figs and raisins. Its effect is a notch below the aspects of the earthy, woody, nutty, toasty, mildly smoky, floral, dryly sour, barbecue sweet Kentucky. The light barbecue note is in the background. The Kentucky and perique are a rung or two above the condiment line. The creamy, sugary, fruity black cavendish adds a moderate amount of sweetness as it tames some of the rough edges. So does a very lightly applied fruity red wine-like essence. The strength is medium. The taste is a step past that mark. The nic-hit is a point below medium. There is no chance of bite or harshness. This crumble kake easily breaks apart. Doesn’t need much dry time. Well balanced with nuanced complexity, it burns cool, clean and a bit slow with a consistent, deeply rich, tart and tangy fruity, floral, herbal, spicy, mildly savory, sour, smoky, creamy flavor. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires some relights. Has a mildly lingering pleasant after taste, and stronger room note. It’s really not an all day smoke, but is more repeatable than one would expect. Four stars.

-JimInks

I don't always go for the small batches, but this one had me enamoured from the start. A many-varietal VAPer with Kentucky? Sold in 1lb bricks? (I buy blends by the pound as often as I can) Take my money, C&D. Take my money.

The orientals and VAs take up most of the flavor spectrum here. There is also a mild topping, (I think), mostly a sweetness but maybe a bit of fruit. I taste Honey, grain porridge, spicy floral notes, Graham crackers, a slight tangy smokey BBQ, a slight sour/tart citrus note, cream. A bit of baking spice and clove, dried fruit. Reminds me a bit of a fruit cake in a kind of way. A dry smoke mostly but hints of sweetness come and go.Very balanced smoke, I get all of these things at once at all times, save for the sweetness, which seems alluring at times. Very rich and interesting. Medium to full body, perhaps closer to full. Medium strength. Doesn't bite but can get harsh, hot, and uruly if abused.

Now obviously I haven't had a lot of time to taste this blend, but I've had a fair amount of bowls in the last 3 days to hack up some sort of description. I also understand the pointlessness of reviewing something that sold out within hours, however in the hopes that there is some sort of future reincarnation I would strongly recommend it. C&D seems to be very hit and miss to me, however this blend far exceeds my expectations as far as balance and complexity goes. Seems like they took a chance with this one and imo, it paid off.

I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this blend. The small batch blends from C&D have been hit or miss with some blends striking out and others being homeruns in my book. That and the uncertainty surrounding one of the components of the blend, (Kasturi), had me skeptical and hesitant. All that to say, I'm actually really, really pleasantly surprised.... With so many blends available that are basically slight deviations from other blends on the market, it's rare to find a blend that is quite unique from all others, but I believe this blend to be one. The Virginias are of high quality and are both sweet and bready in nature. The Kentucky is a nice supporting player that rounds out the blend and gives it a smoky, almost BBQ like quality. And as for the Kasturi, it is there, but in the absolute PERFECT amount IMO. Not overpowering nor too subtle to matter, it fits this blend like a glove. When I first read the description for the blend before purchasing, I wished they would have left the Kasturi out, but I'm so glad they didn't.

The presentation is very neat. The box, the sticker, and the 1 lb offering are nice extra bonuses, with the 1 lb brick being the best thing in that regard. I personally love that it came in a 1-pound offering. It makes it even more unique than the blend itself. The brick is vac sealed perfectly and it smells sweet out of the bag.

As for the smoking experience, mechanically, it does everything well. A good moisture content, lights well, smokes well, stays lit well, and burns to a nice white ash with little to no moisture in the bowl.

The taste: it has some similarities to Savinelli 140th anniversary which is a good thing. The florets in that blend remind me of the clove like taste that the Kasturi imparts in this blend. It's sweet, but not overly so and has an almost incense like quality about it when smoked. The perique is in the background, but is noticeable and kind of hits you subtly in the back of the throat. A nice compliment. It's not harsh, although I wouldn't say it is smooth either. Aging should really mellow out this blend given the high amount Virginia tobaccos present and marry the flavors quite a bit. I'm looking forward to that a few years down the road.

In short, everything just kind of works well together here with no one component dominating the others. It is definitely a Virginia forward blend and I really like the types of Virginias used in it as well. Bottom line, it's sweet, smokey, spicy, and clove-like. A real winner given the uniqueness and how the components play off of one another. I have enjoyed each of the smokes I have had thus far and haven't had a bad one yet. Very much worth a try, but as with anything I wouldn't sell the farm to obtain it either. If you think you'll like a sweet, Virginia forward blend with mellow smokey/clove-like undertones with the added slight kick a VaPer blend possess, this ones for you. It gets an 8.5/10 for me.

Tin note is classic tobacco aroma with apple cider vinegar and warm spices, mostly apple though. The smoke is sweet, in a natural from the tobacco kind of way. The warm spices come out, and is really enjoyable especially in a pipe with a small bowl and smoked as slowly as possible.

Prep: Moisture is a hair on the wet side but it can still be immediately smoked nonetheless.

Description: It shouldnt shock anyone to say that there is alot going on in this blend, being that there is quite a leaf variety here.

- Tangy, fruity, slight hay notes from the Virginia varietals - darker plum and raisin notes from the perique. - earthy bbq character from the Kentucky - personally, the cavendish is unnoticeable, though it may ease the sharpness of the blend - the katsuri was quite noticeable from the beginning. Most mention clove notes for a reason, as it is center. The cigar notes are especially noticeable in the retrohale, bringing further earthy, muddy, coffee notes. But the prevalence of the cigar leaf isnt like what you find in Cloud Hopper or other cigar leaf blends.

I'm a fan to say the least. I assume the exact leaf varietals aren't available in enough quantities to continue the exact recipe but I hope C&D could produce a similar blend for continued production. 8.5/10

https://youtu.be/KpZ2stXorIw

Huh. So this is what Mad Fiddler Flake would be without the top note. I must say, I find myself somewhat confused by this blend. I like it- quite a lot, in fact- but I'm not sure why it is one of the "Small Batch" series. It's basically one of their production blends minus its top note and sold in one-pound bricks. Anyway, the taste is also not what I expected; having plowed through pounds of MFF, I was expecting something more robust. Perhaps the proportions are different, or perhaps that mysterious top note is doing some odd things, but Folklore is surprisingly mellow. A solid medium, and conventional enough I can call it an "Exotic VaPer", as opposed to MFF's "I Dunno" classification. One can expect the earthy breadiness of brown Virginia to carry the day, with accents of stewed fruit/pepper from the perique, occasional nuts and savory spice from the Kentucky, and caramel tones from the Cavendish. The Kasturi seems quite sedate in this blend; one might get the occasional whiff of holiday spices, but it's far at the back. Burns clean and dry (once crumbled), and never offers to bite, even when abused. Room note is rather non-descript; my wife can identify Mad Fiddler in minute quantities, but this "Just smells like tobacco smoke". I am quite curious to see what happens to this blend given some time in a mason jar; given the (exclusively) large quantities it comes in, I should have enough to find out. A personal recommendation: unless C&D opts to offer this in two-ounce tins, I would advise against shelling out the money for a full pound. Alternately, get a group of friends to go in on a pound, then split it.

This mixture contains Cigar, Dark Fired Kentucky, Perique, and Virginia. As for the type of cigar leaf, it is Indonesian Kasturi, which is used in Indonesian Clove cigarettes, and it is of poor quality and does not have any flavor. The mixture in general is normal and not worth it, only one star

2023 release 500 of 3000 (date 011123): Package note of fruity sweet, Rasins, and spices. Tobacco is a Krumble Kake of marbled yellows, tans, browns, and a little black. Moisture content is good, a few folks may want to dry it a bit. Breaks apart and rubs out easily. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Despite tin note (super sweet), I didn't detect any added flavoring that went outside of normal tobacco flavor. Taste is mild to medium and moderately consistent, with complex notes of vegetation, mildly sweet dark plum, woody, Rasins, floral, spicy, mildly sweet grass, savory, bready, spices, dry rich earthy, hay, citrus peel/zest, a semi-sweet fruit background note, and a mildly peppery retro. Virginias are leading with Perique and Kentucky softly supporting. and Kasturi Cigar Leaf providing more support in the second 1/2 than the first. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is good.

Bag note is very complex citrus slightly sweet a bit earthy. My sample was mostly loose. packed very easily. Required a few relights. Nice complex blend lots of citrus and fruit notes. The only problem for me is I find this blend to be a bit harsh all the way through the bowl. The flavors are very nice and the blend is very balanced. I have tried this in a few different pipes and a Mer. I still find it harsh no matter how slowly I puff. Nic hit is mild to medium. I can understand why people like this, its a really good smoke except for the harshness. Not my thing personally, but recommended to people that don't mind a rough edge.

An influential friend of mine gave me a couple bowls worth to try last March (2023). I smoked one bowl of it and loved the taste, but was hit with the bite of fresh VA. Yes most of the VA's are aged soooo? I was thrilled but intimidated. Fast forward to 3 weeks ago and wow! This stuff is delicious! A very round, deep, flavorful smoke. Everyone loves the "desert island" blend thing and I believe this is mine. The smell is rich fruit breads and bakery spices. The sweetness from the varietals last the whole smoke. I get some grassier fresh cut hay and some cured hay taste right away. Then the next I get is the fruity dark perique that pepperizes as you progress. The dfk I get is more a flavor enriching encouragement than a smokey topper. It makes the rich smoke fuller while allowing the kasturi to do its full-flavored work. For me there is never a "cigar" taste, but rather, a cooking spice flavored, creamy textured, full bloom flavor blossom. Like I said, the sweetness stays for the whole shift. It stays until the job is done. Likewise the perique keeps some plumminess but gets pepperized as the bowl gets smoked. I smoked this like a freight train climbing the Rockies and never got bitten. Not even a little. I smoke it slower now to stretch out the flavor but I've been known to heat up a bowl in the enjoyment of a pure flavor bomb moment. One last thing...I've broke some.off the block and smoked it right away and enjoyed it, but I've broken some up in a small glass jar and aerated (not dried) it for even 10-20 minutes and that seems to open the flavor up from all sides. Nowhere for the taste to hide then. I love this stuff and strongly recommend that if you can get some, do it. You won't regret it.