Cornell & Diehl Briar Fox

I came into possession of this tobacco in four half ounce sample packets included as a bonus from SPC orders over a year ago. I had decided from the beginning to put a year of cellaring on them, as my taste was not on VA at that time. So into a small jelly jar they went April a year ago.

Last week it was time. The cake cubes were very much intact, and the original aroma diminished. I sliced off a nice section, and sniffed the cut. The expected sour/vinegar smell was there, but not the sweet/sour of McClelland blends. There was also a heavy hint of what was very close to stale urine. I was not impressed...

The cake cut well and crumbled easily. On the rub out, the "Prince Albert" burley smell became crisp, along with a hint of something slightly sweet. Overall, the smell of this rubbed out is very much like certain cigarette tobaccos. As I was to soon discover, this is something that carries forward with the smoke.

First pipe choice was a small, pre-1934 Smokemaster Apple straight (before the patent), without the pipe cleaner in is as a filter. I like small bowl pipes to sample Virginias. The final rub was a nice mix of light and dark short ribbons, and it packed easily and firm. The char light held the height of the tobacco, and lit evenly. Second light got it full on, and the flavors came out.

I smoked cigarettes--brands and RYO--for 40 years. My first thought was that I had torn a cigarette apart--or filled the pipe with Bugler. The whole mouth & throat bite, complete with the ashy cigarette taste in the mouth. Only by a small sip could any VA sort of sweetness be determined--and a regular pull VERY full and what some call 'earthy.' My lexicon has that as a mild dirt taste...

By the first third of the bowl, I had a pleasant nic buzz--more than any of the Balkans I smoke and INHALE. My discovery was to be gentle with it, as it will turn hot and nasty in a heartbeat. After letting it go out at the halfway mark, I re-lit a half hour later. The slightly sweet and the heavy nutty of the burly were all there, but it still smoked like cigarette tobacco. It gets stronger toward the bottom--and begins to be more like smoking a natural wrapper cigar. Can't tell you what the bottom quarter was like, as I never smoke a pipe beyond that.

The next experiment was to rub and roll as a RYO in a Zig Zag paper. I will not dwell on this, but it smokes fine as a cigarette. Onward, I chose an old BBB bulldog meer for its larger chamber. This smoked slowly allows more of the flavors to develop--but still resembles and tastes like a well blended, strong cigarette, and quickly shifts to cigar notes in the bottom half.

The final stop was in an 1861 German meer, with a bowl so big it took pretty well a whole 2oz block. Here it burned much slower and cooler, and allowed more of the VA to emerge--but it is a dry, straight and uncomplicated. No figs, chocolate, new mown hay, nuts, or unicorn farts. Very clean and raw in my estimation. I made myself nearly sick with the nicotine on this round.

Burns to a grey, cohesive ash just like cigarette blends. Final opinion? If you like smoking cigs, and milder, natural Connecticut wrapper Costa Rican cigars, this is for you. Fully satisfying from that perspective. Makes a nice RYO, and a not too unpleasant blend for a changeup. However, I will not be adding it to my cellar--when it is gone, it is gone.