Cornell & Diehl Briar Fox

Not really a burley forward fan, but picked up a tin of this because of the unique tin art and the "best seller" label. The date on the bottom was 5-2019 making it almost 3 years old. I had put the tin away for a few months and recently I noticed the tin was slightly bulging, so I decided to crack it open and try a few bowls.

The tin note us sharp, sour, woodsy, or earthy and I could tell the burley was there. Was perfect moisture and lit easily. A somewhat dark fruit Virginia flavor comes through, as well as the woody like burley flavor. Not sweet, but just a little sour tang. No trouble keeping it lit, and no bite. Nice simple blend that's easy to smoke. Probably benefited from the tin being slightly aged.

Overall, recommended, but one I personally will only reach for every so often.

C&D cakes are my favorite. Perfect moisture (usually), easy to work with, and a well married flavor. Briar fox is no exception.

The VA and burley trade blows throughout the bowl. Sometimes it's mild citrus and dried fruit, sometimes it's cocoa powder, almonds, malt, and earth, sometimes it's everything at once. A savory bread/wheat note is present throughout the bowl as well. Toward the middle and finish a bit of spice kicks in. Burns a little hot as burley blends tend to, but will burn to the bottom of the bowl with minimal re-lights, not much thinking/maintenance involved. I have to try pretty hard to get any bite. Nice bit of strength allthough nothing unreasonable.

Not a bad "I don't know what to smoke" blend. Pretty basic and relatively unexciting, but quality tobacco. I feel like people who try this are going to be pretty divided on whether this is "Boring" or "Simple yet delicious".

Briar Fox is a strange animal. I have no idea where this belongs in my rotation. On one hand, it tastes like a straight virginia with all the notes of grass and hay. On the other, it has that deep burley earthy flavor with some subtle spice and floral notes. I’ve seen many comparisons to cigarettes and cigars and I have to agree. This description might do a disservice as there are many negative connotations about cigarettes. I should note that it leans more towards an earthy cigar flavor in my opinion. If someone told me this blend was just chopped cigar, I’d probably believe them wholeheartedly, though I know this isn’t the case. It’s just that subtle addition of burley that makes the blend so.

As many have noted the appearance of the cake is very attractive and a tiny bit shaggy. Very pleasant to look at and one of the finest presses I’ve seen, which I’ve now come to expect from C&D’s cakes and flakes.

As far as the smoke, it couldn’t burn any better. It has nice luscious plumes of smoke with every puff and requires very few relights, despite it being lightly damp in the tin. I find it’s at a perfect moisture level - not to dry, not to wet. Breaks down and packs nicely. The nicotine level is a nice medium and won’t lay you out like Haunted Bookshop and similar burley based blends.

I’m currently smoking this during the mid to late Spring and it feels a bit out of place. It practically begs to be smoked during the Summer and early fall. I kind of want to compare the taste to Carter Hall or maybe Half & Half, due to some of the died fruit and earthy notes from the burley, but comparing this to an OTC is really unfair given how well this behaves. For a nearly straight VA, it doesn’t get too hot on me.

But the problem remains, where the heck should I put this in my rotation? I really don’t know where it belongs. And that’s not to say that this blend doesn’t belong somewhere or that you shouldn’t get it. I just want to point out how much of an outlier it is in the pipe tobacco world.

I’d highly recommend this to someone looking to transition from cigs and cigars if they wanted to enjoy that flavor. I’d also recommend this for people that like straight VA’s but find themselves wishing for a cooler, gentler smoke that you don’t have to baby as much or isn’t as sweet and sugary.

Overall, I think this is a great blend that’s at least worth trying once to see how it suits you. Even if it’s not what I’m used to, it packs, lights, and smokes excellently and has a cool dry smoke - which is really what I’m looking for in a premium tobacco. For that, I have to give this a recommendation. But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself if this is something you’d enjoy or not. I’ve heard of people loving this one so much they buy a full pound of it in cake form! [insert joke about pound cake]

There’s nothing very exciting about Briar Fox. But nothing to displease you either. It is an easy, well behaved tobacco with natural tobacco taste where neither the Virginias nor the Burleys stand out. It has a cigaretty quality but cigarettes do not come as good and natural. And there’s also a bit of the Burley nuttiness and some mild tangy sourness to make it more varied. It’s not complex but it’s not monochromatic either.

I find Briar Fox to be a good solid tobacco which is perfect when you don’t want anything complex but instead a good “meat and potatoes” blend. In a category of natural-tasting and not "in your face with flavour" Briar Fox is an excellent blend. 3.5*

A lot of the more negative reviews stem from the way the blend is touted as virginia spiced with burley. Many smokers just aren't fans of burley. I'm not one of them, I happen to love burley of all kinds, and this blend definitely has more than a smattering off burley in it. I'd wager there's at the minimum 50% burley content, probably higher. So I can see why many might be put off from the outset. Sort of like taking a big swig of what you thought was milk only to find its buttermilk instead. If you already enjoy burley, it's likely you'll enjoy this blend a lot more.

The crumble cake brick looks like a piece of rotted particle board and breaks apart quite easily. Moisture content is about perfect, almost on the dry side. It imparts a pleasant aroma of hay and fermented fruit, almost fig-like. I find the flavors more pronounced in a cob packed much more loosely than you would pack a typical virginia. The flavor is dominated by nutty and vaguely sweet burley, and the virginia just serves as a little extra body with accents of hay. I really enjoy the flavor, gently puffed while absorbed in a book. It's like carter hall without the topping and taken to the next level. Pairs very well with a cup of coffee.

All in all, this is a pretty enjoyable vabur made with the quality burley C&D is known for. Just know up front that what you're actually getting with BF is more burley spiced with virginia...or tempered with virginia anyhow. It can burn very hot when pushed, which doesn't bite or ruin the smoke, but makes the experience less enjoyable. Solid 3.5 stars for me and one I believe I'll keep in rotation.

Beautiful large brick of cake in the tin. Smells fermented, sour, slightly sweet, hayish, with hints of prunes. Not what I was expecting.

Easy to break off a chunk and rub out. Perfect moisture right from the tin. Easy to load into a pipe, but don't smash it down too much as it expands a bit when lit. Lights very easily and remains so as long as your tamping is easy, but firm.

Flavors of nut, hay, dried fruit, and straight tobacco dominate this smoke. Hints of spice and chocolate toy with my senses, but are very light and mild. One can sense just a tad of tongue bite, I assume that is from the alkaline nature of the burley. It's not overpowering and keeps quite smooth throughout the smoke. It is different than most of the other blends I have tried, but I'm not one who has smoked a lot of burley blends either. The smoke is not complex and is one you can enjoy on a nice summer day. Sit back and enjoy the flavors and relax. Definitely a nice blend that I will enjoy from time to time.

The tin note is red Virginia all the way but more earthy then sharp. First half of the bowl is that same red Virginia and after that the burley starts to come thru stronger as the bowl goes done eventually washing the Virginia away but a slight sweetness still remains. A good blend but it's kind of dirty tasting also. I think it's the burley doing that. It's good but not a wow for me.

Revisited 6-7-2020

After being more involved with c&d over time, Briar Fox has grown on me. The Virginia's are smooth, sugary sweet but not too much with bready tones, the burley gives it more body and a slightly nutty quality. The black cavendish helps meld it all together while deepening the flavors and adding a good amount of creaminess. Definitely has great aging potential. It's much more sophisticated then my first impressions. Overall a nice silky smooth any time of the day blend.

I have found a whole new world getting into Burley blends. Robust like my beloved Latakia blends, but in a differant way (nice and earthy). Saying that, this one has just enough Burley to keep me interested. Mild, easy, cool burning smoke. C&D really knows how to do Burley. In my trial of a few of their Burley blends, here is how I rank them in taste and amount of Burley: Haunted Bookshop, Old Joe Krantz, Bayou Morning, Briar Fox, and last (with next to no Burley) Night Train. My wife, that rates my room note because she has to deal with them, found this one very nice.

Briar fox great name... The tobacco blend is Virginias with some burley noted and is presented as a kake. The tobacco itself was easy to work with and easy to pack in the bowl. The smoke was nice with a room note that was tolerable no real flavors noted but not a bad thing. I feel this product wasn't bad but by far not my favorite. I will most likely cellar this mostly because my taste for tobacco may change in the future and it may age well. The tin artwork was also a very cool concept figured I would comment on that.