Cornell & Diehl Black Dawg

With this combination of leaf, and my love of this particular blender - I had assumed a home run.

Instead, it is just a trot to second base. My sample is a bit dried out (even for C+D), and I think after some moisture another smoke of this may change my mind - but I simply didn't feel an incredible kinship with this blend.

It is far from bad - in fact it is cool, smokey and just a bit sweet and spicy. All good qualities but also fairly bland at points. The end of the bowl does pick up a bit but still seems fairly quiet. Like a good dawg. I think this is the point of an all day smoke - but I'd rather smoke less and get a bit of an "experience". If you are looking for something that equates to an easy cavendish blend with extra thrown in (dare I say, a less confectionary Frog Morton and a more flavorful 965 sort of blend) - try this one out.

Revised 04-13-2005

This just a straight-forward, middle-of-the-road, latakia blend with the syrian doing the driving and the cavendish providing a good base.It is at perfect moisture out of the tin, dark, packs easily, one re-light and enjoy. The Syrian in this blend was not the delicious smoky version that recently was destroyed, but still different than the Cyprian variety. The perique is definitely way in the background and reminds you it is there like a little child peeping through a doorway, which is okay by me. It builds a little strength down the bowl, leaves a grey mottled ash, no dottle, no toungue-bite, just not a bell ringer for this piper.This blend seems to be the base from which Missippi Mud started.

My tin is about one and a half years old. The tobacco is a dark brown and black somewhat chunky mixture. The moisture content was just slightly high. This tin had no plastic bag inside just a soft folded paper likea coffee filter. This is an unusual mixture. The Cavendish takes the place usually occupied by Virginia and/or Oriental tobaccos. It lit quickly for being slightly moist and burned well. The flavor is mostly the Syria Latakia and the Cavendish with subtle hints of the Perique. I did enjoy this tobacco blend but it really is like no other I have smoked. A good change of pace or perhaps for someone wanting an English/ Balkan without the Turkish. I give it three and one half stars.

This blend had struck an iterest in me from the first time that I read it's composition. I was a bit cautious about a blend of tobaccos that are usually used to add extreme depth to lighter tobaccos. I was surprised however to fing that black dawg isn't mean, nor does he bite. The flavors of the smoke are chocolate, figs, and the wonderful smokey essence lent by the Syrian latakia. I prefer syrian latakia when avialable, and it's presence was appreciated.

This is the first C&D blend I've smoked. I purched a nice calabash Ser Jacopo from my local tobacco shop and the owner tossed in an aged tin of this (from June 2000) out of his personal stock. My daily smoke is one I have made up locally of cavendish and Cyprian latikia bulks so the combination was not something new. However this was my first experience with Syrian Latikia and perique.

I was very pleased with this blend. The Syrian latikia was much lighter in taste and body than the Cyprian I am used to but it was very tasty. It blended well with the cavendish and the perique which came through the Latikia and cavendish very subtly after the first half of the bowl.

The flavor settled down the last half while remaining pleasently complex, mild, smooth and tasty. No tonge bite in this one at all. This is a simple and good all day smoke.

This was the first experience I have had with C&D. I have to say that is a very good one. I tend to like the Virginia and Perique blends so this is a little different for me but I love this blend! It is not overwhelmingly strong with Latakia, but you can still tell that it is there. This is a blend that could be smoked all day for sure. I finished my first tin of this and have had trouble finding it locally, so I ordered 4 more to let age just a while. Craig & Patty are great to deal with as well, they really take great care of you!!

Well, I struck out again with C&D. I've been trying Latakia blends latley that contain cavendish or added flavoring. After being a regular smoker of traditional English mixtures, usually sticking to Latakia/Viriginia blends, I discovered a few Latakia blends with Cavendish or added flavoring that I've enjoyed quite well. There is something in the two C&D Latakia blends I've tried (the other being Cross-Eyed-Cricket) that is of a medicinal quality. It is almost a background note of mothballs. I could not get beyond a few puffs of this blend before ejecting it from my pipe.

This blend has a unique flavor element that I can't quite describe, one that makes it interesting to smoke ... for the first 10 minutes. After that, the unique flavor becomes all that you can taste, in the same way that the ginger liqueur takes all of the attention in Two Friends Valle Cruces. If you fancy English blends, I would recommend that you give this a try, in a small amount, because this signature flavor might be exactly what you are looking for. For myself, however, this is too quirky for a long term relationship.

This is one of my favorite english blends. This is my night time sitting by the fire place smoking mixture. The Latakia gives it a nice kick and it has a hint of spicy cavendish undertone. I find this to be the ideal blend which gives me a rich full bodied taste without frying my tounge. This may not be the ideal blend for the new pipe smoker as it's stregnth could be a bit over whelming to the Novice.