Cornell & Diehl Briar Fox

Moisture: a bit on the dry side, with very little, if any, technological additive.
Compressibility (cut): It is pressed from a wide cut, not too hard and not too moist, so it becomes a wide ribbon cut after crumbling.

Starts with a bitter smoke, confirming my suspicion of Burley dominance, which I guess you can guess is not against me, being a definite Burley fan. The second impression is the strong presence of nicotine. Not discreetly, definitely. When you immediately feel the buzz in your limbs. And the smoke is a spicy Burley. From the best selection. If I didn't know for sure that it didn't contain oriental or other spice tobacco, I'd definitely be suspicious. But there isn't, and that means that this Burley-Virginia blend delivers even that. No one has boasted that any of the ingredients or the blend have been particularly aged, but something has certainly happened to it.
- Middle: Virginia only just hints at a slight tongue acidity (I wouldn't call it a sting), and a good part of the spice note may come from it, but it doesn't show any character traits: no caramel, resinous or strawy notes. The deep nose test also shows such a soft, neutral pH and slight spiciness that I have to seriously question the Virginia dominance. Why would the manufacturers lie? Then the only explanation for this wonderful experience (because it is!) can be that the Virginia is infinitely more mature and noble. Only the final pressing could not have produced such a result. Burley tends to be very appreciative of this type of maturation, it certainly doesn't get its almost fruity spiciness from natural fermentation, but from late maturation, and it suits it as well as if it had this character in it from the start.
- Finish: This blend was put together by a master who loves and understands tobacco. There are few of them, most are instinctive. Attributed to Peter Heeschen, I pay homage to the master even in his death. He has produced an extremely refined tobacco, matured to the extreme, which will probably acquire even more noble qualities with further storage. In the last quarter, the Virginia character comes forward, the sweet caramel emerges from behind the Burley, making the experience round, full and unforgettable. (My personal taste did not miss it, I would have been perfectly satisfied if the Burley dominance had remained throughout, but it did not detract from the experience.) The very end is a cavalcade of aromas and flavours that the pipe smoker rarely gets to experience, unless he has a lot of museum pieces in his stash. In the tobacco fields from which this batch comes, the sun has been shining for a very long time, and from there it must have brought these almost oriental spice and tobacco aromas, which were hinted at at the beginning and now, at the end, revealed in all their glory.

Well, this tobacco is anything but boring. Every minute is a treat, but the end is cathartic. Only the most noble, mature and tastefully selected and blended tobaccos can do that. Even if it's not always available to the home smoker, it's definitely worth a visit. I consider myself lucky to have done so.

Tin note consists almost entirely of raisins.

Crumbles easily, packs well, lights without any issues.

Getting notes of raisins, nuttiness, and a little something like a chocolate liqueur.

It’s pleasant and I’d be happy to buy it again.

I like Burley, Perique, Virginia, and it doesn't matter to me which of them is the main character. The good mixture comes in different ways,For example, enjoy solos, concertos, quartets, symphonies.

This is a simple press, the makers have a simple purpose, to seriously mix the two types of tobacco together,Burn easily to the bottom of the bowl. to give you enough tobacco flavor and nicotine.

We're smoking, aren't we?Not every mixture needs to be analyzed by an expert. You just need to try it and tell yourself if you like it or not.

As you walk longer. you will definitely know what shoes you feel most comfortable in.

I agree with the other reviewers that claim a cigarette type taste. This is a Burley foward VA brick. You need to search for flavor ( and little at that) VA sweetness so don't expect it. In the jar it goes for the future when maybe I'm hopefully older and a little wiser. Not!

Lager

It starts out pretty mellow, but ramps up and keeps going. The Burleys and Virginia’s fight over the lead spot. It’s a little inconsistent for that reason, but I kinda like that. It burns really well. Smokes on the warm side, but has no bite. It can get harsh if pushed. The room note is strong I suppose. My wife wasn’t a fan, and she’s pretty cool with almost everything. Not for me, but I might recommend it to a Va/Bur fan.

I purchased this tobacco in the small tin, which came with what looked like a miniature wheat straw bale of pressed tobacco. The humidity level was perfect, and not to dry. The smell in the tin was light and had the grassy hay like, scent of Virginia, and the down to earth burley roundness. This tobacco is super easy to break apart and load. You can pinch a bit out and lightly stuff it right in the bowl, or sprinkle and tamp. The flavor, taste, and aroma are fresh no nonsense tobacco goodness. Nicotine is more elevated in this blend, but quite satisfying. From the first light to the ashy bottom this blend is pure tobacco sunshine.

I smoke this blend from time to time, but I often find that it does not offer enough richness or complexity for my taste. In the last third or quarter of the bowl things improve a lot and a great toasted nutty cocoa flavour with a hint of herbs comes through. At that point it is a great smoke!

Way too often, however, I find that the flavours of this blend are very subdued and often completely lost to a flat and one-dimensional cigarette taste, and that is why it is a two star tobacco for me personally. It also tends to become very ashy. The flat taste is perhaps what I should expect from a burley blend and for some the simplicity is perhaps its main attraction. Burleys are not normally what I gravitate towards, so I don't want to go very hard on it. In fact, when the wonderful flavours finally do come through in the last third of the bowl, I always make up my mind to smoke burleys more often. This is ruined again as the very last bit tends to get very ashy and harsh.

It comes in a crumble cake that is easy to break up and stuff in your pipe. It burns well and the room note is ok for anyone who is already comfortable with tobacco smoke. It burns down to clean and dry ashes and behaves well. As a we smoker I have to run a pipe cleaner down the stem about halfway through, but I can't blame it on the tobacco in this case.

When it is a little above medium, but perhaps not above what is normal for burley blends.

If you enjoy rich tobacco taste and don’t want to puff like a locomotive, I find this a rather relaxing smoke. First experience with a crumble cake, so I rubbed it out, hit it with the mister one good shot, and let it rest a couple days, and VOILA! Rather delightful.

Presentation: A mottled krumble kake with caramel brown and gold with a nice protion of darker leaves. My tin had one large block and a little half inch slice sitting on top. With C&D kakes, I find that they can vary in terms of consistency and whether this is done by design or complete accident, they still are presented uniformly in shape, but different in ribbon size. This krumble kake is more chunky than others I have experienced such as Black Frigate or Redburn, and is more in tune with the way Pirate Kake is. The former is more fine and blooms more with a pinch while the latter needs a bit more finesse to rub it apart due to the larger leaves. Still, it breaks apart with relative ease.

Palette: A lovely tin aroma of dark stone fruit, sweet earth and hearty bread. This reminded me of the way GL Pease Fillmore smells if you omit the perique. It is heavy in the department of rich and savory goodness which I attribute to the portion of red VA in this blend.This smells like raisin bread. The burley is present in the bouquet but it takes some deep snifting to pick it out individually. The taste of red VA offer a lovely bready and buttery taste and semi-sweet. Once in a while you will get a small spice tingle on the retrohale. There is a malty characteristic to the red VA, like a good brown ale. It is not too strong and also offers a nice fruit undertone if you sip slowly. The burley is a little nutty, semi-dry wood and offers the slightest hint of cocoa. It blends well the the VA and brings some needed nuance of what otherwise would be a full blown VA blend. It's quite monochromatic in the flavor but is rich, unobtrusive and smooth. It doesn't need to be complex and it does well with what it has.

Performance: I have tested both ways, drying a portion out for about 15 minutes and straight from the kake. I find that drying out the blend makes for a somewhat hotter smoke and leaves hardly any moisture in the bowl, but loses some flavor, whereas smoking straight from the tin with no dry time leaves more moisture, smoked cooler and longer, didn't produce as much smoke but definitely more flavourful. Smokes down to the bottom with more than average dottle due to moisture in either case. Has a medium nicotine hit and can be smoked for more than one bowl a day, but I wouldn't be smoking this all day as it can get kind of boring more than 2-3 bowls.

Conclusion: My tin was dated 07/2015, so this review is coming from an age just shy of 5 years. While Briar Fox seems to me at first glance a really bland blend, I was glad I decided to purchase this and give it a go. I was really surprised and to the degree that reading reviews on here can only give you a sense of doubt when it comes to the negative ones. You must take reviews as a subjective mindset. Some might say it get's ashy/cigarettish towards the bottom, and it does, but it does not detract from the full experience in terms of flavor, smokeability and quality.This blend has some serious aging potential and my kake was covered in crystals. Each pinch rewarded me with more crystals impregnated throughout the kake and it made it that much more delightful to hold a light up to it. This has become one of my new favorites and one blend that I can smoke without thinking about. It's not a codger blend, but it's also not a blend where you have to disect each flavor for enjoyment. I can see why this blend is one of C&D's best sellers, as it is pretty basic and appeals to alot of pipe smokers who want something neat, non over simplified and just want a good bowl of tobacco without dressing to the 9's. I will be cellaring this heavily as the aging on this is sublime.