Cornell & Diehl Briar Fox

Krumble Kakes are fun! This one was easy to work with - I simply pinched the cake between thumb and forefinger and a pinch of tobacco came off easily. I loaded as I would load a ribbon cut tobacco.

It's interesting how different smokers tastebuds are different. Unlike some smokers, I found nary a trace of sweetness in this blend. It was a rich, robust red VA flavor but it seemed tempered with burley, as it was more earthy. Not sure how they accomplished that with just VA's. This is the cigarette/cigar of pipe tobaccos, not because it tastes like one but because it had a similar mouth feel. It would be a high quality cigarette like the old Sobranies (without the condiment tobaccos, of course) or a mild, thin-guaged cigar, such as a panatela. As the bowl progressed, the flavor became richer and more cigar-like. This was like no other virginia blend I've ever smoked, and at the right times, it was fantastic. I don't see this in my regular rotation but it would make a nice occasional companion. This would smoke great outside in the fall, as the richness of the flavor would be subtly subdued. Interesting, unique blend. Try it if you think you know virginia. It may surprise you as it did me!

This blend finds itself, to my tastes anyway, somewhere between a straight Va ala Union Square or Dunhill Flake and an aromatic VA such as Davidoff's Danish Mixture. The problem for me is that I would rather reach for any of the aforementioned blends before I reach for this one.

It is something about the flavoring used in this blend that I do not find to my particular tastes. That said the flavoring is light and gets lighter with some age. My tin dated from 12/12/12 and I opened it within a month of that date. My first impressions were much less favorable than the later ones.

The tin presentation is fantastic. The Kake was almost a perfect cube. Although I didn't do a thorough inspection, I don't believe there was any little pieces separated from the cube. My first thoughts were it would be hard to crumble, but was I wrong. A simple pinch into the kake made a beautiful crumble of tobacco that needed very little rubbing to make it smokable.

Like nearly all C & D blends that I have tried, the moisture level was perfect from the get go. As I said earlier the initial smoking impression was not impressive. I found the topping to overtake the underlying Va's which would be fine if I enjoyed that particular topping; otherwise, the smoking characteristics and nicotine were perfect.

As time wore (It lasted me until last night so a little over 7 months)on and my block got smaller this got better. The topping seemed to dissipate with a little air time and the vas came more to the front and what I tasted was a great Va. Even the DGT got better with time, as my earlier notes stated that the DGT was no unlike a burley blend, but later I had some sublime results with a dgt.

Overall, I think this blend has the potential to be fantastic with some age and I will likely repurchase for that purpose alone.

7/29/13 Update I thought it important to share some information that developed after I copied this review to PSF. It started a conversation about how this was treated which manifested itself in an email to C & D. Chris Tarler responded back that there was no topping on this blend, but that there was a little Burley in it. Apparently it is the pressing of this blend with the burleys that gives it its unique flavor. FWIW, I thought I would share.

Sweet, nutty, lightly earthy Burley with a background of sweet hay Virginias. That's what I get in a cob. Taste so good that I won't smoke it in anything else. This is a lovely smoke. The only drawback is that it can burn a little hot. I'm a puffer though and you may not have that problem. 4 stars for the flavor, minus one for the heat.

Medium in body and taste. No added flavorings detected. Burns very well.

Cornell & Diehl - Briar Fox.

The krumble kake is excellent to work with. Unlike, say, Black Frigate, which needs a firm rubbing, a bowls worth of Briar Fox can be easily pinched off the block. I find the moisture smokeable, maybe a touch too moist, but nothing much.

To my palate, this has the quintessential VaBur taste: rich, nutty, and rustic, notes from the Burley, with a touch of sweetness from the Virginia. I don't get a cigarette taste, unlike many esteemed reviewers, and nor do I get any topping/extra flavours. It's a medium thickness smoke, and I don't get a speck of tongue bite. The burn from B.F. is completely faultless, for the whole bowl.

The nicotine's medium, and the room-note's nice.

This is a very good VaBur, but it gets a subjective rating of three stars, as I prefer English/Balkans at present.

Recommended.

This is a good untopped Va/Bur. It is a Krumble Kake and a pinch rubs out nicely to large short ribbons. Moisture was good from the tin.

The first smoke was in a GBD pot that smokes everything well - or so I thought. It was a little ho-hum. The next bowl was in a billiard, and was much better. Subsequent bowls have been very good in a variety of pipes. In terms of flavor, I got sweet and slightly tart Virginia with some earthy body provided by the burley. I got a little sour-sweet at the end of a bowl but no bitter. The taste is natural and it was an easy smoke. It did not burn hot or wet.

This was very enjoyable and I have no regrets. I am unlikely to buy more because it is only available in a tin, and the effective cost per pound is high. For my money in a Va/Bur, there are better choices.

I bought a tin of this about five years ago, smoked half of it, jarred it and forgot it. Back then it was a nice, fairly smooth, average virginia/burley blend. It's not very sweet and nutty. It's not really zesty virginia territory. It tastes like golden virginia with some burley. I just smoked a bowl of the five year old. It's smoother with the age then I remembered which makes sense. I love the cake and the cut. I like that C&D tobaccos seem so natural and pure. This is a good mellow blend. It's a little simple but for what it is it's nice. It feels like my grand fathers tobacco.

Briar Fox comes in a perfect crumble cake perfect for rubbing out to a great packable tobacco. This blend burns slow and smooth. As for flavor I first have to say that Virginia tobaccos are amazing. One leaf has so many possible flavors. sweet, spicy, light, dark, strong, mild. What an amazing leaf virginia tobacco is. Briar Fox is to me an example of how spicy virginias can be. Overall its a delightful, strong, bold, spicy virginia of the highest quality. Bravo Cornell & Diehl.

I thought I'd give this one a go since it's been sitting unopened for about two years now. The tin on this blend is interesting to say the least, and as it says on the tin, this was the favorite blend of the late Peter Heeschen a Danish pipe maker. Upon opening the tin there is a nice mottled brown crumble cake. The smell in the jar is of soft hay, nuts, mustiness, and dark fruits. The cake breaks apart and rubs out easily. It's smokable right put of the tin, and it's easy to keep lit.

Now to the taste department. This really is a simple blend. The Burley is typical of C&D: well balanced, nutty, soft, woody, with the barest hint of chocolate. The Virginias are very bread like, sweet in a honey or stewed fruit sort of way to my taste, and carry a slight hay like quality. The Burley appears to take the lead, with the Virginias giving body.

The taste here is a medium. It fills the mouth pleasantly and doesn't take over you tastebuds. The strength is mild-medium. The room note is heavy of Burley and may remind your friends of cigarettes. This is a great all day blend, good for sitting down with, or puffing on while you're puttering on with chores or hobbies. It takes a lot to get this hot, and it burns nice and slow.

First off, I have become enamored with Krumble Kakes recently. I just love the presentation and enjoy tearing off a chunk to put in my pipe. Briar Fox comes as one of these Kake brownies in the tin with gold, brown, and flecks of black tobaccos. Looks an awful lot like a "blondie."

The tin note to me is more Burley than Virginia. I detect more chocolatey, raisiny, nuttiness than sweetness, breadiness, and tang. I know BF is considered a VA/Bur, but I think of it more as a Bur/VA. If that makes sense. I find it to be more dominant in Burley than Virginia. That may not be the case, but I definitely taste more Burley than Virginia. At any rate, I definitely enjoyed it. This is a great tobacco that I will revisit on occasion. Probably pretty frequently, at that.