Cornell & Diehl Briar Fox

I enjoyed two bowls in different pipes this evening. Both were good. The first was less remarkable than the second. My tastebuds may have attenuated themselves to the cake a bit before the second. So yeah after smoking through to the heel of a largish Brebbia Egg Shape, I reached for a Grabow with a smallish bowl. I will echo what I've heard several viewers comment on... The char light and first 20-30 puffs or so yield this ascorbic mouthfeel, and tangy flavor with not much else to mention. However , a little further into the bowl t begins to mellow, and with patient steady sipping I'm in business. Mellow, earthy, subtly sweet and nutty, I look forward to enjoying this blend as my palette adjusts and I'm able to discern greater nuance. Done very well. I usually just read the reviews and don't care much to put my two sense in. This one really got my attention... No bull.

Yesterday my one-pound brick of this wonderful blend arrived. I can't stop smoking it! It has all of the best qualities of Virginia and the best qualities of burley! Right now it is in a huge CAO meerschaum, just as sweet, earthy, and delightful as a blend could be. I wish I had known about this stuff *years* ago! Yet another truly great tobacco from the artists at Cornell and Diehl!

Briar Fox is a wonderful smoke if smoked properly. The problem is so many of us do not take the time to sip our pipes. I am no expert but I am finding that when you sip a tobacco, the nuances in flavor begin to emerge. Even if a pipe goes out that is okay. Sometimes it is better because it allows the pipe to cool. The first time I smoked briar fox I didn't care for it. However I revisited this tobacco and have been practicing my sipping technique and I am picking up a creamy vanilla flavor along with hints of pepper. There is a subtle hay/ herbaceous flavor at the finish. This is a complex meditative smoke and I am beginning to treat every tobacco as such.

This is a comfortable smoke. Fantastic Virginia tobacco in a crumble cake. Rubs out nice packs great burns clean and sweet. A must try if your a Virginia fan. I have tried my fair share over the years and this is one of the best.

Excellent, very nice smoke. Two tins so far, this tobacco does not last much on my desk.

There is PERIQUE , a dash of it, in the Fox. And it is perfectly spicing the virginia. Good stuff, good stuff.

The second tin once open revealed a very dry kake. I have a thrid one, and hopefully will not be that dry to request a humidor!!

IMO there was very little tongue bite, although this does need to be smoked very slowly to enjoy the taste of the Virginias that blend together.

This is an excellent Virginia

Briar Fox is one of the best straight Virginia blends I've tried. It's natural sweetness and effortless smoking pleasure are the best points of this blend. The humidity level is just well for packing. It burns evenly. Once lit and you can go till the bottom with a long lasting high quality smoke. It leaves only a soft whitish ash at the bottom. Just puff it away.

The sweet Virginia taste satisfies my palate and tongue. The nicotine level is just my favorite and it kicks when I reach the half of the bowl.

A must have in cellar. I am sure it will age great.

I love the cake presentation. Like the tobacco, but not my favorite. Seems to smoke fast and hot. I do detect a cigarette-like taste, but quality cigarettes like Nat Sherman, not Dorals. Tin doesn't mention Burley, but it's there. If I can manage to smoke it slowly, and if it ages well opened, maybe I can learn to like it more. I would think before I gave a C&D two stars, but personally this one is a two. I give it three in a public review because it is a quality blend which simply doesn't fit my personal tastes, like the Hebraica series.

Update: It's growing on me. I tried something interesting. I pulled off a square piece of the cake and did not rub it out. Instead, I stuffed it whole into my largest bowled pipe, a cool handmade cherry. Then I sprinkled the top with finely rubbed tobacco so I could get it lit. It smoked for almost an hour and was quite tasty! I will experiment some more.

1-11-10 OK time to upgrade this one. In less than five months opened, all of the harshness I originally noted has disappeared, and it is one of the tastier Virginias I have smoked. I don't know if everyone will have the same experience, but for me letting it stand a while really did the trick. It has everything I want in a Virginia; no bite, complexity, notes of dried fruit, improves towards the end. Drier is better with this tobacco, but I could see buying 8oz fresh and letting it dry slowly in a mason jar. I would give it two stars indeed! Doesn't fit my personal tastes, how could I? Sometimes first impressions aren't correct.

1-22-10 Finishing the tin, not all of the bowls were four-star. I didn't get another bowl like the one which caused me to upgrade. Forget which pipe I smoked it in; maybe that is it. No need to take the star back-if it smoked like that once, it could again. I guess this tobacco is what they call "temperamental."

10-31-2022 I must have changed my opinion a bit after writing this review, because I bought a 1 lb. can in 2011. It is still sealed, and I have resisted any urge to open it, and somehow have this idea that it may even survive me and stay in the family, because my last name is Fox! So, now I can't really remember it after all those years...have gotten out of the TAD habit, and have plenty of well (in some cases VERY WELL) aged blends to smoke in tins and jars, but am thinking of ordering a (young) tin of this just to try it again, and remind myself of why I bought that pound...

2-19-23 I opened that pound tin in early December, and it has served me well, and become a go-to tobacco. Will I buy another pound? Maybe. There are other good pipe tobaccos. One thing to note: do not expect a crumble cake. Cornell & Diehl make some great pipe tobaccos, but they cannot make a flake, plug, or crumble cake to save their lives. To Cornell & Diehl, a crumble cake is something that crumbles before you even open the tin. They just don't press it enough. Other than that, a great blend, though it would have been a tad bit better if they had left out the Burley, even if it is quality Burley, and left it a straight Virginia blend. Can't complain too much though; I love it, especially at twelve years old!

This one is for all the VA lovers out there that is in the market for a straight VA without any of the toppings/casing. It is in Cake blocks, but breaks up very easily, and the tin aroma is reminiscent of raisins/figs. When packed loosely this blend smokes great and the flavor lasts through the bowl, the flavor I am refering to is straight VA flavor. For me this blend is up there with the Two Friends Heritage as far as C & D VA goes, great all day blend.