Cornell & Diehl Blockade Runner

Somehow I feel Blockade Runner is best described by the picture on its tin. A primordial, vintage Navy crumble VA cake that tastes a bit like it smells from the tin. Strong, spicy and slightly piquant tobaccos are supported by a rum casing, never feeling perfumed or actually flavored. Taste and smell remind me of an old coal oven (not that I ever tasted one), with the slightest of malty sweetness in the background. I find it exceptionally smooth and pleasing in the second half of the bowl, but also a bit too much in very large bowls.

Smokes well when dried out a bit. A unique blend that I like best in a small corn cob with an old b/w movie or book. Not a regular for me, but good and recommended nonetheless, especially if you are into vintage stuff.

I liked this better than I thought I would. A couple of reviewers whom I respect did not seem to like it that much. The cake is a little hard and you dirty your fingers quite a bit packing it. However, it had a nice light rum topping and a decent amount of nicotine. It reminded me of GLP Navigator. Oh, if they had a 5 star rating, it would be three. I struggled between 2 and 3. But the last 3 bowls were so good, I'm going with 3.

I've smoked Blocked Runner off and on for about three years and was initially attracted by its old school qualities of a straight tobacco like what was probably widely available in America during the 19th century. I'm reminded of a civil war historical placard I read in Raymond, Mississippi, near Jackson, that told of a Union soldier's account of seeing one of his officers firing his revolver in the heat of battle until spent, stopping to load not his weapon, but a meerschaum with tobacco, followed by his weapon and then, nonchalantly, resuming fire on the Southerners lining 14 Mile Creek. If he didn't load a latakia blend then I'm sure it was something similar to Blockade Runner. By itself, this can be a bit harsh for my taste, although I recently struck upon a self-made blend that I'm very excited about. I take one disk of Escudo rubbed out fully, one half teaspoon of Prince Albert and one to 1 1/2 tablespoons of Blockade Runner, mix and stuff in a pipe. The blend can be on the sweet side like a good VA with a bit of zip from the Escudo and mellowed with the addition of burley. As I mentioned, Blockade Runner by itself can be harsh, but the best qualities of its old time cavendish nature are brought out by this blend. I love its toned down flavor, old school quality tobacco aroma and the sweetness that seems to compliment the VA/Perique of the Escudo. Lots of folks say they can smell and taste the Rum, but I'm not one of them. I think what they are smelling and tasting is the cavenish process used to make this tobacco which is a good thing in my book. The rum residue may add to the sweetness, but for the life of me, I can't taste a bit of rum and I'm a rum drinker too-- Pussers, thank you very much, so I know what rum tastes like. Give this tobacco a shot and if you don't like it by itself then try my blend or experiment with your own-- it's one of the great things about our hobby.

Update: forget the Prince Albert and use Pipeworks and Wilke Nut Brown Burley instead. A huge step up in burley quality!!

Wowwie that is one powerful smoke! I am not shy with having my daily intake of vitamin N, however I found this blend to be full, strong, and hearty. Surprising for an all virginia blend. After about five bowls I decided I needed to smooth it out and water it down a bit by mixing two parts blockade runner with one part of a cavendish blend from my local tobacconist. I was impressed with the form of the cake when I opened the tin as it was a perfect block. I asked my wife if she wanted to take a bite of the new tobacco brownie I bought; she did not find my humor amusing. Right out of the tin Blockade Runner has a smooth rum smell to it (more Myers Dark than light Bacardi), not acrid and alcohol smelling like some other liquor blends I have had. The taste matches the aroma, smooth and full- not burny and thin. Good moisture, lights just right, and keeps on burning. My only complaint and reason for not wanting to buy this product again is that I found it to be too strong and full for my taste. I have been smoking this blend out on my porch in the evening, and several folks out walking have commented on how nice it smells, so I figure the roomnote is an "A". I will certainly try more cornell diehl products, as I was impressed by the quality of tobacco and that the company actually gave what is promised by the labeling on the tin.

This was my first experience with plug tobacco. I was intrigued. I cut off a slice crumbled it up and examined the tobacco. Nice moisture…nice leaf indeed with a very light scent. Sometimes I'm not sure if its rum at all. Some kind of alcohol for sure. I just can't put my finger on though.

I packed the pipe pretty loosely with the bacci and it lit up right away. Nice smooth sweet smoke with no bite at all. Burns to a nice white ash all the way down to the bottom of the bowl. All in all pretty good. Would I buy again, probably not.

Just starting pipe smoker. Several years as a cigar fan. I wanted an English blend with no flavorings but the reviews made me pick this even though it contains rum. There is not a noticeable taste of rum. I found this to be better if smoked slow and with a light draw. If not smoked slowly I did receive a few gurgles. Plenty of nicotine. Sit or recline and enjoy as a before bed smoke. I especially like it in my churchwarden.

This tobacco is a high quality blend of stoved virginias. It smokes well and the crumble cake is fun to work with. But, for all intents and purposes, it is just that a crumble cake virginia. The promise of the added rum element starts and ends in the tin. The rum is definately present in the smell from the tin but never shows up in the smoke or room note. While it is a high quality virginia cake, IMHO it is not worth the price for a premium tinned blend ($51.00 / lb. + Shipping)without a stronger rum note.

i really like this blend. the rum flavor is at the right level for me- just enough. i like that there are no other flavors just the rum.

this is one of the smoother cavs i've had but it still has those toasty strong off flavors to it. i think cavs are for advanced pipe smokers. you need to smoke them slow!

i really like how this tobacco feels like an old time blend. very good stuff and fun to rub out from the cake and smoke. i wish the tobacco cut was a little bigger like with all C&D tobaccos.

Being a Latakia lover, I use VA as a resting bowl, a way of cleaning up my smoking, or a beginning of the night start. This blend has a welcoming presentation trough a beautiful and appealing crumble cake, that easily breaks into small pieces to get into the bowl. Since I like not to rub flakes, I slightly broke it and fill the bowl with small pieces, not getting to a mixture aspect. Rum is just suggested into smell and taste, altrough some liquor was burning at the beginning. The rum note was slightly perceived at the beginning, but I clearly felt that it is a VA straight taste. For that reason, nicotine gets quicly into the taste and the evolution is quite flat. I will probably do not buy a second tin since some other Virginia, like SGawith flakes give to me a similar result, and here I was looking for a more aromatic option, the rum note being an uncomplished promise. But this is surely a good choice for VA lovers.