Cornell & Diehl Briar Fox

I wanted to give this four stars, and may yet...fickle as I am. For now, though, I think my personal thoughts put it at three. It's damned good, just doesn't hold my attention like a bright VA, or even a char grilled Brit rope does. It's somewheres in the middle of these two extremes, and while compromise can be(and is) good, I guess I seem to prefer the extremes. It's possible Briar Fox would make the better desert island blend, but fortunately i'm not on that island presently.

(Is there burley in this one, really? I wouldn't be suprised; nor would a claim of African grown VA.)

Again, for me...very good, not great. Any others' claims to the contrary I believe quite likely. Worth a shot, y'all.

Do you ever get a blend that really does not answer your requirements for a blend but still, you keep on smoking it. Well this one is like that for me. When smoking VA's, I like the taste to be haylike sweet, with a little tang and I like it smooth and creamy with the smoke. This blend really is not sweet but does have a good flavor, it has no twang but is very rich, and it really is not smooth and creamy but is a little rough around the edges. I recieved a two ounce bag of it to try, and for the past two days it is all I have wanted to smoke, I am on my last bowl now, enough for a pot Wilmer AAA I am smoking and I will be sad in the morning, so I for sure will be ordering more of this one.

The tobacco smeels musty in the bag, it is rough cut little flakes of a medium brown color, a touch dry but that is typical of C and D and I like it that way. It packs very well in the pipe, and lights up easy, one charring light and then it burns nice and clean to the bottom of the pipe where is becomes a dry dust like steel gray ash. It emits a good bit of smoke and it is just a very tobacco taste on the tongue, again a little raw but in a good way. The room note is very heavy for a VA, no crown pleaser but pleasant to me. It burns rather fast, but in no way hot or biting to the tongue. I could see this as an all day blend as it is not cloying and it is easy to smoke. I recommend trying this one, it is one of those mystery blends that I like but can't really say why. But enjoyable it is.

Briar Fox is my first C&D sampling, and I must say that I'm very impressed. This is a nice "straight VA", although by all accounts, there's a little more to the blend than that.

The crumble cake is a nice change from ribbon/loose cut tobacco, or even flakes, and this one rubs out quite nicely. Packing the bowl gently yields an easy light, and the flavor of the high-quality VA's is readily apparent. I tend to smoke this in a Hackert cob, and it burns well to the bottom of the bowl.

I really enjoy this blend, it's a very well made offering, with a nice, clean tobacco flavor. I find myself smoking this more often, where it tends to be the only blend in my current rotation that has me slow down and savor the experience. That's saying something...

TonyC

This review is from a tin dated March 2006. The tin was opened in 2007 and partially smoked and revisited in January 2010.

This is a cake that comes pretty dry, not too dry, rather dryer than most virginias. It was rehydrated with "sterile" water from a lab. It hydrated very well to its original moisture level. I load it by breaking small chunks and dropping right into the bowl with loose tobacco placed on top.

Its appearance is mostly yellow and tan with a little dark brown tobacco. Even with the aging there is no crystallized sugar appreciated.

It is a very tasty virginia that has a pure VA taste. I agree with some reviews that it is a more "woodsy" taste which I remember very well. I'm not sure if it is the aging of the tobacco, but it does have a more sweet VA taste than I remember. But, a nutty taste is still somewhat dominant and very welcomed as a bit of a change of pace from my usual VAs. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys VA tobaccos and will always keep some in my cellar.

I would be interested to know if any burley is hidden in this blend. If it i,s it only compliments the VAs which are the dominant player in Briar Fox.

Pretty straight-forward tobacco. Not a lot of bells and whistles, this is a natural smoke that needs some drying before you fire it up. Pleasant enough, but did not impress.

Govern yourself accordingly,

SmokeKing David

Don't have much to add to what others have said except to reiterate that this stuff must be smoked slow and relaxed. Don't do that and one will miss out on what this blend has to offer. I tend to be a fast smoker so it has taken me a while to get used to this, but, when smoked "right," I find it to be a mild yet flavorful blend. I suspect any negative experiences with this comes from hurrying too much. Hard to describe the flavors. There is a sweetness to it, as well as a hint of woods. Very natural with no casings or flavorings which is what I like. I like the cakes wrapped in the paper. Nice touch and should help with storing and aging. As far as room note goes, I detect very little, but on a couple of occasions when the wife has come in from outside, she has asked me if I have been smoking a cigar. I don't see it but perhaps there is a "heads up" there. I bought eight ounces, then a pound and am going to let about half of that age for six months and then see what it is like. Until then, slow and steady will win the race with this one, in my humble opinion...

I suspect a cased Virginia. Sweet, Raisin like, smokey-ashey. Comes very dry.

This is a crumble cake Craig recommended to me. I resisted at first, but as I heard mostly good, not great things about the blend, I gave it a tin try. I am nearly finished the tin in a non-filtered Brigham York. Nice smoke.

This one really needs no addtional aging to taste fairly decent. You need to cut out pieces of the cake and rub it out fully. Packs easy. Burns easy. Dry as well. Pretty cool.

It starts off as a light virginia. A bit plain or boring at this stage. A little sour/sweet taste keeps your attention. (Pease's Stratford if aged about 6 months plus is rounder and a little sweeter by comparison.) Looks like reds, some bright, and a little stoved. The flavors have mostly mingled (more time would enhance that but no matter). The sweet sparkle of the brights does come through often enough, but it is not as sweet (or hot) as a true bright flake might be. I still wouldn't rush the puffing though. All natural tastes to me. No scents.

It develops some red virginia richness in the last half of the bowl, which I find interesting.

If you take care to cut and rub out the pieces, you will be rewarded with a true light-medium, natural virginia smoke. There is something about its purity that grows on me. Recommended as an honest all virginia tobacco. Who could say more?

Sawdust. I tell ya, this is like smoking sawdust. It comes in a tin and is in a block of compressed small cut pieces. There was no real flavor. I don't know if I got a bad tin but I certainly did not enjoy smoking this weed. I tried letting this one sit for while, as sometimes helps some other C&D blends, but to no avail. Remained sawdust. I am a virginia / virginia-perique smoker and I have been sold on some fine burley blends ala Penington Gap and Barbary Coast but I will not waste any more time and energy on this little fox.