Cornell & Diehl Bridge Mixture

Fun With C&D Samples, Vol II, #4

This blend brings up the concept of biases to a thunderous roll. I liked the smoothness of it and the fact that it is such a hodge-podge of tobaccos, all of which play well together. It really is a good smoke. None of the constituent tobaccos takes over, except at very short intervals. This is a mixture in the best sense of the word. Alternately spicy, sweet, robust and tangy.

I would have liked this one better if I hadn't recently fallen in love with Pipeworks & Wilke's #400. They took a similar concept and did it better, in my opinion. Of course, taste buds being what they are, everyone with an interest should try them both and compare.

I don't wish to downplay the talent of the blenders nor the value of this blend. It was quite good - just not quite to my palate. 2 stars for how well I liked it, 3 stars because I believe C&D accomplished what they set out to accomplish with this one.

I'm just a fool for burleys, though some have characterized me as merely a fool, but then what do THEY know? What I know is that the Bridge Mixture offers the more matured smoker a series of treats to the palate w/o bitterness or a cloying sweetness. It was hard for me to fathom that these tobaccos could coexist, but they do, and in a complementary manner. Bright VAs, to me, always were a little too sweet, red VAs a touch too bold, but neither one here seems to exert their personality to the detriment of others. Instead, the cigar-like sense of the flue-cured 20 year old burley and the condimental leaves of latakia, turkish and perique liven and deepen the mixture and heighten the stronger VA presence.

I had to try this one because I'm a sucker for turkish and perique together and, to my mind, no one blends these two disparate tobaccos as well as Cornell & Diehl. I would love to give this blend more stars because, like all of the C&D blends I've tried, this one is made from the highest quality ingredients and has excellent burning characteristics. It doesn't work for me but it might well for you. I'm reviewing it only to aid those who share my particular foibles. For whatever reason, I'm a nicotine wimp and this one packs too much of a wallop for me. My palate isn't as sophisticated as many of y'alls and I just can discern much flavor. Also, it smokes hot for me. Again, that's probably my fault but I suspect I'm not the only overly aggressive puffer out there. I'm not sure but I suspect the nic kick comes from the unsweetened black cavendish. I've smoked most of C&D's blends and those with this ingredient tend to be too much for me.

Bridge Mixture had me a bit startled when I popped the top on my 50g tin. The leaf is bright for the most part with black Latakia specks here and there, but nothing to suggest a strong Latakia flavor. I noticed the Latakia at the match but it was not overpowering in any sense.

Bridge Mixture is a unique smoke to my taste buds. The added Burley and Perique provided a taste sensation that I can't really compare to anything I have ever sampled in one of my pipes. I did appreciate the good wallop of nicotine and also appreciated the fact that the blend does not bite and presents itself at a perfect moisture level.

A favorite that I would smoke regularly? Maybe not all the time. But, for a change of pace and unusual taste sensation, this is a good choice for me.

Relatively new to pipe smoking.

This blend is hard to pin down - perhaps to be expected with a kitchen sink blend. Each time I smoke it, I get something a little different. Interesting so many other reviewers reflect on how well the tobaccos blend. While I agree there isn't a painful dissonance, my experience is more like wandering through a series of brightly colored rooms. Each tobacco has its time to shine, distracting (not detracting) from the others.

Mechanically straightforward, but has a stronger tendency to bite than most tobaccos I've experienced. It's manageable, but not a blend that I would smoke while heavily distracted. When I smoked this moist, the latakia, virginias and burley were stronger for most of the bowl, like a mildy sweet english. When I dried it, the perique took over, with more sourness from the orientals. The perique was actually more overwhelming than I was used to. When dry, it also has a bit of a stale cigarette note.

I can't rate this blend easily. The first time I smoked it, it was just ok. The second was excellent. I certainly recommend smoking this a bit moist. All in all, I think this is a fine smoke for that night when you don't know what you want (assuming you like at least an occasional english), but it would never be my go-to blend.

This is my favorite blend by a long shot. It has a good peppery flavor from the perique and very little tongue bite. It is somewhat strong and very interesting. I would smoke it all the time if it weren't for the price. It only comes in tins, which are a little more pricey due to the 20 year old burley, which smooths the thick smoke and rounds out the favors like no other.

I will keep looking for the possibility of buying this in bulk.

NO, not the candy...

The pretty terrific blend of premium tobacco by Cornell & Diehl.

Ribbon, cube, and rough cut, with even a tad of flake, Bridge Mixture is a sneaker.

You light it - takes readily to the flame - and you are unimpressed and neglectful for about 20 seconds. Lots of components will surely wake you up. Va, a little fired kentucky, red cavendish, perique, and every now and a short while...a whiff of latakia.

It alternates between heavy hits of perique and kentucky and then relaxes into VA/ red cav country. For the record, i really dislike black cavendish unless it is unsweetened. The red cav in this blend is welcome, even if it does rob a little strength from the blend. Even still, the blend is maybe a tic up from medium on the strength scale. The smoke is unusually soft in the mouth, but occasionally there is a nice pinch from perique. I am a big fan of the burley in this blend which reminds me of the burley leaf in cumberland. In Bridge Mixture, it is used as a condiment and not as forward as Cumberland.

Lights and burns very well right out of the tin. This could be a "sleeper hit" for C&D; most reviews are favorable, but not overly zealous. That's a good sign. It really isn't a loud "wow" of a blend, but more of the type that speaks softly, timely, and profoundly. A good go-to blend when all else fails.

3.5 or so stars out of 5. I recommend it.

Despite the hodge-podge of ingredients, this presents itself as a pretty straightforward if musty American English blend. Lots of burley flavor and character, faint hints of sweetness and good burning characteristics. But I also found it to be unexciting and a mild disappointment when held up against Morley's Best, Epiphany, Home from the Hills, Old Hollywood, and other mixtures of this style.

Quality-wise, this is perhaps better than a 2-star blend but C&D makes many variations on this theme that are far superior.

Cornell & Diehl – Bridge Mixture

I purchased a sample of this as a part of a special offered by an online retailer in conjunction with a YouTube piping channel.

The scent was strange to my mind in the tin (ziplock bag). It smells almost like an English blend but with something else that I cannot put my finger on.

The tobacco is fairly uniformly dark orange/rust colour with flecks of black interspersed which I’m assuming is the Latakia. The cut is rather messy and looks almost like small woodchips. The tobacco was unfortunately bone-dry and crispy from the moment it came into my possession.

I found smoking this blend difficult as it was so dry it burned quickly and quite a bit hotter than I’m used to. In terms of the flavour, I feel like there is too many flavours fighting for dominance and no harmony. I don’t really enjoy the dissonance.

I would likely not recommend this blend but bear in mind that my sample was paper-dry and that may have created a less than optimal review. However, given all of the disparate tobaccos that don’t seemed balanced to my palate I would say that this is less a blend than a “mash-up” and thus not for me.

Sweet, dried fruit smell, raisin, maybe plum.

The taste is kind of sour, but really it's tangy, and you notice that in short order. All components are present regularly rather than in and out, and blend very well together. The flavor is smooth but rich, and there is a nice edge from the dark fired burley. It feels like a hodge-podge that worked out really well.

You can find my video review of this blend here:

https://youtu.be/xHgwLWmfFqg