Cornell & Diehl Carolina Red Flake 2022

The year 2020 Virginia red and orange tips are from one farm and the sugar content is 13.53 percent. They produce an abundance of mildly tart and very tangy ripe citrus, sugar, bread, grass, some tangy ripe dark fruit, earth, wood, floralness, vegetation, mild sour lemon, light spice, and small touches of vinegar and acidity. The strength is a step short of the medium mark. The taste is medium. The nic-hit is a slot below the overall strength level. There’s no chance bite or harshness. The typical Virginia rough notes are very light. The easily torn apart flakes are mildly moist. As is my usual custom, I did not dry them nor did I see a need to do so. Burns cool and clean at a slightly slow pace with a very consistent, smoother than expected, deep fruity, sugary, mildly sour, light sparkly flavor that extends to the lightly lingering, pleasant after taste. The room note is a notch stronger. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a couple more than an average number of relights. Can be an all day smoke. Four stars.

-JimInks

Yes the tin note is of cranberries or raisins/raisin bran. What others have said rings true, but I wanted to chime in on nic hit. I have become sensitive to this the last few years and I have to say that even last year's CRFwP didn't pack the wallop that this does. I have had to take this one to filtered pipes to cut some of the overwhelming nic out. I don't know why C&D Virginia is so high powered with nic compared to all of the other Virginias that I have smoked that have no discernable nic issues. I bought a lot of this to age. I like it. I just wish that it didn't have so much nicotine.

Prep: Typical C&D flake that easily breaks apart. Moisture is perfect. No need for drying out imo.

Notes: Wow, quite a spicy/peppery Virginia blend! I wasnt expecting that. This tangy, somewhat sweet, which their description of "dried cranberry" perfectly describes. Along with that, you find grassy, bready, and earthy notes. This isnt a sweet red Virginia blend like others on the market (Peretti's 150th Flake, Sutliff Red V blends, etc.). I enjoy the blend well enough but I'll be setting the rest aside for aging.

https://youtu.be/cq5z9CT2Og4

Cornell & Diehl - Carolina Red Flake 2022 (Small Batch).

Tin #14,300/15,000.

Quire dark for Virginia flakes. They have little pieces of yellow scattered across them, but the prominent colour's a darker brown. Smelling it brings hay and dark fruit to mind. This tin was a little moist, but not so much it needed airing.

This gets sweeter tasting as it gets further through a bowl. At the beginning, although it's sweet and fruity, there's a notable bready/doughy flavour. The fruitiness is more reminiscent of lush plums than citrus; any ''zest'' is a good pace behind. A gentle hay-like flavour is notable throughout a bowl, it doesn't make it too ''light'' a flavour but does reduce any chance of the fruity side seeming too clumsy. There's no issue with the burn, the smoke's very cool and I haven't had any tongue-bite.

Nicotine: not heavy. Room-note: very nice.

Red Flake 2022? A nice blend, no doubt, albeit I don't find it particularly exceptional. Three stars:

Recommended.

my first bowel today. the description of dried cranberry is spot on for the tin note. at first, I was thinking raisin bran cereal. it does have that grass smell in the background but definitely cranberry. Near perfect moisture once rubbed out for me. first light was typical. a bit of sour and hay. after settling in burns quite well. a really good mouth feel. I am biased toward Virgina and this one is maybe the best going. the sweetness is well balanced with the tartness. don't think of sugar sweet but more than your average in a good leaf. the dried cranberry will come in mid bowel when sipped. as with most straight Virgina leaf sipping is best, or it can get harsh and charred tasting. patience with this one. C&D has a blend for everyone but not everyone do I care for. I do try to be objective and try as many as I can. This is the #1 so far. last year's sun bear was good after aging and i wont smoke this year's till next year. 2021 was good but not great. this red with some age should be top tier. it is close to that fresh out the tin. but remember the leaf is already two years old. if you have some enjoy it. I have two in my special place for a year or two later. with the number of choices out there I won't be so tempted to crack the open sooner. primarily a Balken/English smoker I do enjoy a good Virgina. well hell that's where I'm from. truly wish everyone could try this one. some of the small batch/limited editions are a lot of hype. not this one. worth three times the price or maybe more.

I’ve been smoking a pipe for about five years now and only recently did I discover my love for red Virginia. I remember being a newer pipe smoker and trying it in blends that had it as a base like Autumn Evening and not really caring for it, now it’s my favorite part of the blend. I blame C&D for gradually changing my taste as nearly ever other blend has red VA in it, usually as a base. I think the blend that broke me on red was Blockade Runner, a tasty rum soaked navy cake that still has a raw, pure tobacco taste behind the rum. Fast forward a bit and I’m smoking through tins of pure red flakes or stuff with a lot of red in it and dedicating a Savinelli to just red Virginia. In short, I kind of like the stuff.

I’ve tried Wessex and H&H - Bright Night and Astley’s black, and all have been fantastic blends in their own right, but none have come close to this. It’s even better than the tin of Christmas Cheer that I spent a stupid amount of money on, and is possibly a close second. CRF is it.

It’s got the earthy body and cranberry tartness. It’s got a touch of caramel or brown sugar and natural sweetness. It’s not too complicated due to it being a straight Virginia, but it has a lot of depth of flavor. Every now and then I can nose out herbal, spice, and peppery notes.

Like a lot of reds, it has a similar taste profile to an Amber Ale style beer, which is also one of my go to beers, which probably explains why I like it. The mouthfeel can be tart, like I’ve eaten a bunch of dried cranberries. It’s a shame this can’t be produced in greater quantity, because my natural instinct would be to smoke through the entire tin without thinking about it, but alas I must preserve this for the wonderful and occasional smoke that it is and be thankful I have it at all. Luckily, between Pease and C&D, I have lots of fall backs that I can smoke the rest of the time.

CRF 2022 arrived and I put 2 away and opened one tin to smoke now. I have a few CRF 2020 put away and it has become my first pipe of the day with some Community Coffee. Very satisfying with a nice daily starter dose of Vitamin N. Very rich and flavorful VA I really enjoy the red virginia flavors. Wish this one was available all year. Good job by C&D.

Cornell & Diehl Carolina Red Flake 2022- Sugary sweet and sour and grassy is what I get a lot of with this new release . It does have some of the cranberry with sourdough bread , spice and vinegar . I do prefer the Anthology and the 2021 CRF W/ Perique that also have these Red/Orange tips included. Still a good flake , but quite grassy and sour . Let’s see with time how it develops. 3

I am very pleased with this blend. I was very sad that Anthology replaced the CRFwP this year but CRF2022 had more than made up for it. The lead note is something I have no was of identifying accurately, but it is a special thing. I’ve found that the note comes through Best when are taking your time, creating near whisp-like smoke.

I love VAs but I still wish all straight VAs could taste this good.

Always hear good things about the Carolina Red releases, and I really enjoy Red Virginia's, so I jumped on a tin I came across last year (2022). Finally got around to it this summer.

Tin note is a nice dried fruit. I don't think it needed much dry time, but I gave it some anyway. No trouble keeping this lit once going, and no bite or excessive pipe heat. The dried fruit (almost like cranberry as others have said) give this a nice tangy, sweet, fruit smoke. While enjoyable, I did find it to be a bit milder than I'd hoped. It does have some harsh edges at times too. Smoked best in wide, conical shaped bowl.

I'd give this 2 stars (maybe could be pushed up to 2.5). Perhaps my expectations were too high given all the hype I'd heard about this blend, and my love for Virginia's, but I just was a little "meh" on this overall.