Cornell & Diehl Black Frigate

Meh...I just taste a flat sub-par very Latakia forward blend, with a whisper of rum. I wish that I could find the joy in this that so many others seem to, but it tasted so one dimensionally of Cyrprian Latakia to me, that I lost interest less than halfway into my first bowlful. I smoked...or rather made myself smoke half of the tin that I had purchased, trying to find this glorious flavor that many others have found, but Black Frigate just isn't for me. G.L. Peases' Sextant is much, much better in the rum topped/Navy English category for those looking for something with actual complexity and body.

I got to go against the crowd on this one , or maybe agree with reviewer, " Haredawg ,2007-03-09". I just can't get into a strong Latakia with a topping, even Rum. To me, it just ruins the natural smokiness of the Latakia and produces a very strange taste. I can't even distinguish the other tobaccos in this blend and it ends up tasting like a topped drug store Burley. Yes, it's strong, but not in a good way. Reminds me of smoking a "Wolf Brothers Rum soaked "Crooks" cigar" from thirty years ago!

Upon peeling back the aluminum pop top, there is a prevalent note of vinegar presumably given off by the Virginia's. Delicious! This is followed by a nice hit of Latakia, then Orientals. Is that an alcohol topping I smell? This blend is very pleasant on my olfactory senses. The tin note continues. I smell old-school canvas, like WW2 canvas in an Army Surplus store and rich oiled saddle leather, along with a bit of the permanent markers we used to sniff in grade school. I loved that smell..... It's mouth watering.

After the char light and relight, you can immediately taste the rich smokiness of the Latakia and the rum. The Orientals round out the experience with a very creamy finish. I couldn't help not wanting to smell it as much as smoke it. There is a sweetness from the Virginia as well as a tickle in the nose. There's plenty of vitamin N but not so much as to make one dizzy. The blend behaved very well in the pipe and I can sip a Group 4 pipe for 70 minutes. 70 minutes of excellence.

I give this a solid 4 stars

What an interesting tobacco!! When I opened the little tin and saw a small black brick of tobacco, my first thought was: "oh-oh, what I am I gonna do with this?" Well after some playing around I loaded up one of my latakia pipes, opened several windows and put the phone within reach, in case I needed to call 911. It is always a little tough to get lit, taking several lighting and tampings. Once lit, however, the actual smoking was less dramatic than expected. It's a full, rich smoke and yet I don't feel overpowered with flavor. Even though I have moments of latakia phobia, I found this to be just mellow enough (probably the cavendish) to make it work. I can't imagine this being a daily smoke, but as an occasional change of pace, it's an enjoyable, relaxing and fun smoke. Worth a look.

Odds are good this one will become a regular.

Black Frigate is a rum-soaked, virginia-based cavendish with a perfect balance of latakia and turkish tobaccos added. There’s a lot of flavors going on in this blend, from the up-front rum and cavendish to a light floral smokiness and sweet earthiness.

Like most C&D blends, moisture content is ready to smoke from the moment you crack the seal. If you like how C&D blends and presses then there’s no reason why you wouldn’t enjoy this!

The best blend I have tried to date. A little hard to get going but I closed my eyes and the smell took me to the gun deck of HMS Victory, old rope, tar and a feint whiff of rum. The taste is complex with nutty notes and an almost smoky meaty after taste. I felt it was quite a strong smoke and very relaxing after a stressful day. I married it with special reserve ale.

This is another fine product from C&D. When I first opened the tin I was greeted by a sweet but rich tin aroma. I did some reasearch to find out what the sweet smell was and discovered it was from the navy cavendish. Apparently navy cavendish is soaked in rum for a period of time before final processing. Well, I find pipe tobacco is educational as well as relaxing!

It was a 2oz tin I ordered, and the presentaion was a single pressed cake of tobacco. I imeadiately broke a piece off, let it air a bit, loaded it in the pipe, and smoked away. This blend is very pleasing, it is easy to smoke and has a great flavor. I would suggest anyone who enjoys heavy Latikia blends give this a try. It's quite a treat.

I didn?t dislike this tobacco and will probably eventually smoke the whole tin, but I was expecting something more, well, refined. Opening the tin it smells like a Mars Bar thrown into a bonfire. I don?t think I?ve smoked a heavy latakia that was so sweet. It?s not really a good combination. I think this is a well made tobacco with quality components and tastes exactly how C&D intended it too, I just don?t agree with the taste. If I were to compare it to one of my regular latakia smokes, Penzance or Germains Special latakia flake, it would pale by comparison; in fact it?s not really a fair comparison as Black Frigate is closer to an aromatic. However, the price on the tin was premium, in fact spendier than either the Esoterica or the Germains. I?ll give it two stars for effort and respect for Cornell and Diehl and I won?t toss it in with the coffee grounds and eggshells, but I?m thinking it?s going to take a while to smoke it and I might cuss a bit doing it.

This was an interesting one.

I don't usually gravitate to the rum flavored blends. They are often over the top with flavoring. Not that I don't like aromatics, but rum isn't always for me. But this one promised something different -- especially since it had Latakia and other leaves. And different it was.

The rum flavoring was present, but not over the top. Not by a long shot. It added a certain sweetness to the blend. If I didn't know it was there, I'm not even sure I would have known it was supposed to be rum. Just a nice sweetness. However, I found the rest of the experience to be lacking a bit. While the smoke was full, to say that it was harsh is not correct, but it also wasn't smooth either. Had some definite rough edges to it. I'm letting it age a bit more in a pint jar, but that has some concerns too because this one was already really dry. Normally, I like my pipe tobacco on the dryer side, but this was brittle dry and crumbling from the cake. Now, I know this is supposed to be a crumble cake, but I want to be in control of how it crumbles and not just have it falling apart on me because it's so brittle. I'm hoping that this was just an odd tin because I bought a few more to cellar as part of this purchase. Either way, it was a decent smoke, just not great for me.

I bet age will help round out those edges. If it does, I'll come back and update it to bump it up to 3 stars. It's close now, but just a hair under.