Tobaccos Cornell & Diehl - Bow-Legged Bear

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-10-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Now this is an interesting blend. It contains everything including the kitchen sink and I'd hesitate to call it any certain type of blend, such as "English". It's almost a genre unto itself.

Dark chocolate in color with a few brown streaks, this is pressed into a "crumble cake" that didn't crumble. It pulled apart fairly easily but not like some of the other C&D crumble cakes. Taste-wise, this is a moderately robust blend of several tobaccos, all of which gave way to the other. If you remember Deep Purple's comment of "everything louder than everything else", this was "everything quieter than everything else". All of the tobacco flavors were muted and that's probably a good thing. Otherwise there would be too much infighting. As it is, it worked. Some VA sweetness on top of a base of burley and perique, with some light latakia and oriental wisps floating around. I didn't find that this changed much throughout the smoke... what I mentioned just above happened from charring light to dottle. Reminded me of other good tasting but non-complex blends like GLP Odyssey and Lancer Slices, even though this tasted nothing like either of those. Nothing wrong with a blend being simple as long as it tastes good. And this one does. It's not a bear at all, it's kind of a sweetheart but perhaps one with a moderately strong personality.

Three stars, and one for my occasional list. Good to try for those who like Vitamin N and casseroles. :)

25 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cobacco (52)	2014-06-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Plenty of excellent reviews, perhaps covering a few odd details might be helpful...

Tin Details... C&D tins are a welcomed alternative to the generic Scandanavian twist tops. The plastic cap does a more reliable job of protecting the moisture level; I've found twist tops to be hit and miss. Also C&D does us the favor of placing an exact date of manufacture sticker on the bottom. The tin is all aluminum and the inside is lined as are many beer cans. Tobacco is well protected with a paper liner and two flaps, plus a paper disc. This tin can be opened without a tool.

Tin note is delightful and reminds me of fresh Dunhill Nightcap covered in dark chocolate. The cake is a bit moist and sticky, but drying is easier than expected. This is one of those tobaccos that you'd love to smell all day; good enough to eat, but we know better. Crumbling is easy and a little bit goes a long way. Drying is needed and best done on a paper towell or inside a paper coffee filter.

I recommend packing lightly, then tamping carefully after the charring light and as the bowl is smoked. Using this method, I can actually smoke a slightly moist bowl with a single relight. After the relight, the typical English flavors meet a delightful sweet and moderately spicy medium to full flavor. Smoke is rich and creamy. When evenly lit, you get a well behaved bowl of tobacco that smokes to a fine ash. Latakia grows, but , but never overpowers. DELIGHTFUL! N level is perfect for me; strong to medium. I'll admit to being a C&D fan, but strongly suggest that you try this great American blend. Happy smoking, hope this helps!

Pipe Used: MM DIPLOMAT COB

Age When Smoked: 7 month tin

Purchased From: smokingpipes

19 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2013-10-21		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A very good English heavy on the Latakia. I felt that the Orientals were a little weak for my taste so I mixed this 50/50 with Low Country's Cooper. Wow! The results were more than expected. Got a truly FULL bodied English with nice balance between the Latakia and the Orientals. Try it sometime.

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2004-05-20		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Extra Strong

Latakia addicts will love this blend. Those who like a more refined Latakia mixture may want to spend their money elsewhere. This is a dry crumble cake that lights easily. The Perique is so far in the background that I never located it. Pretty unrelenting and one dimensional, but the flavor sure is there and its good.

Bow-Legged Bear? One-Trick Pony would be a better name.

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (251)	2010-01-03		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Bears may seem cute and cuddly from a distance, but they can be mighty dangerous. Starting a fight with one of our smaller east coast bears is not recommended, while the larger bruins such as the Grizzly or the Alaskan Brown can easily decapitate a human with one blow. After reading certain reviews referencing heart palpitations, I tried this blend for the first time in a small pipe. This was wise: I don't think a large bowl of this would be something I could...bear. My sample is a ten year old Ebay tin. The seal was broken, but the plastic bag was still intact. The tobacco is a bit dry, but is bearing up well, though the cakes are falling apart. Unflavored; the tin bears only the pungent smell of the various tobaccos in the blend. I have been a regular pipe smoker for two years, so while I'm not a grizzled old pipester, I'm no cub either when it comes to strong tobaccos. However, when I walked back to the house from my "smoking den," I could see why this bear is called "bow-legged." The nicotine sneaks up on you and could leave one too giddy to bear oneself up, and it is good to bear this in mind. Seems to have a bit of Latakia, but there is so much else going on here that one doesn't notice it as much as in a more traditional English blend. Bow-Legged Bear is dark, heavy, and slightly sweet; heady yet not at all overbearing. I think it is certainly more refined and less rustic than the "Ursus Hillbillicus" on the tin would suggest. Sipped slowly, and taking care not to let it past the palate, this is quite a pleasant and rewarding smoke. Thanks for bearing with me!

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	wdsmith (11)	2009-12-21		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Strong

Tin Note: Sour, pungent, Oriental/English aroma.

Cut: Thick crumble cake that seems to vary between one big chunk, sometimes, two small ones, depending on the tin. Very dark with specks of lighter tan leaf. Looks somewhat like a brownie. The moisture is just right as it is not as wet as say Black Frigate but not quite as dry as Briar Fox (Both of which are great C&D cake blends as well)

False Light yields some spicy notes from the perique. I've smoked a good bit of BLB and this always seems to be the case. The next light let loose some of the smokey quality of the latakia.

First Third: The oriental leaf seems to dominate this portion of the bowl with the other components faintly in the background. Still a bit of spice from the perique.

Second Third: Ah, there's the perique. Some nutty burley stops by for a quick visit. Turkish and Va. seem to shine as I move to the final potion...

Final Third: The strength seems to dominate by this point. Not 1792 or Irish Flake strong, but it will get you if you are not used to stronger blends. At this point, each component is working together but none the main player.

Overall, a good, no nonsense smoke. Pure tobacco taste and plenty of nicotine. Though the room note will not win over any friends, I think it is just fine. This one will surely not garner one any of the "Oh, that's just how I remember Granddad's pipe" comments.

Very good blend from C&D. 3.5 stars.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tripjoker (65)	2009-11-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

I have wanted to review this blend for some time now. At this point, I have smoked over a half pound and feel like I know the blend well enough to comment in a meaningful way without resorting to "one bowl wonder" statements.

My personal preference is for tobacco that is rich, complex and strong enough in the nicotine department to satisfy me. Bow-Legged Bear fits that bill nearly perfectly. It has a wonderful variety of tobaccos that when you first start smoking, don't seem to harmonize all that well. They never get to the level of perfect harmony, there are rough edges, but after a couple of ounces you start to understand and admire the blend for what it is. A powerhouse of flavor and nic. stength that showcases well.

It is deep, dark and not really sweet at all. An evening smoke for the more timid, a morning smoke for me. The latakia is well placed in the middle of the profile with the perique, burley and turkish filling out the bulk. The virginia is only there at the edges, and this blend could probably use just a bit more of the va. that they have chosen. It would take this to a four star level I believe.

The blend can get a bit woody in the middle of the bowl if smoked hot. Again, a little more of the va. could round that out as well. All in all, a very acceptable smoke for the crowd that likes their whiskey straight and their tobacco strong.

UPDATE 1-24-11

I am taking this up to the four star level. It gets even better with age! The strength is still great and the flavor has smoothed out considerably, taking the rough edges referenced in my original review off. I just love this stuff. Although I have moved on to other tobaccos, this is still in the rotation from time to time. 5 pounds sit in my cellar, and they will all be consumed slowly by fire. I will savor every single sip. I can't help but notice that the esteemed reviews of Pipestud are almost without fail opposite of my own, but no matter, I just use this as a reverse guide in finding what I will probably like! Go figure...cheers.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2007-04-01		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Strong

Long write up here, I apologize. Please bear with me.

The name of this blend intrigues me. A bow legged bear? What? How come? Who thought of that? Since I seem to match that description, I?m very comforted by the notion. It?s about time I get some recognition.

This was an out of the norm purchase for me. The LA Tinderbox, my local, yet often maligned (by me) B&M, doesn?t carry C&D blends, and by that extension, they neither carry any Pease blends. I asked one of the shop workers why they would ignore such a prominent force in the pipe tobacco industry. He shrugged it off as to suggest these people are amateurs, then pointed off to a dark corner of the store, where hidden out of view lay two dusty tins of Bow Legged Bear. I suppose he was trying to suggest upon me that C&D blends are impervious to consumer demand. I asked this very early on in my pipe smoking days?all of two years ago. ?Look at those tins,? I thought. My tastes demand only the freshest product.

Two years later, and those tins still sat on the shelf. I got my hands on them not so long ago, and noticed the date?wait for it?August 29, 2001. The guy who helped me out was anxious to get rid of them, and offered each for $5. He told me, ?You?d better open one before you leave, I?m not sure if they?re any good.? For the love of God, this man works in a tobacco establishment and has no idea of anything. ?Should I do him the favor??, I considered. I?d rather have not opened the tin in the shop, but under orders I broke the seal. Mind you, this wasn?t the current C&D tin design with the plastic lid and the air tight container, but the old, all aluminum design. A wonderful aroma of fermented tobacco lifted from the can, and he looked at me, astonished to see a beautiful package of tight, black bricks, wrapped in tissue.

This is the same Jackass that tried to talk me out of buying Escudo quite some time ago.

Having opened this baby up, I didn?t waste much time digging into it. Bow Legged Bear is strong as hell, thank all things Perique. There was a period when I swore off Perique, but I?ve been gradually bringing myself to reappraise its various qualities, and I would go so far as to say it makes all the difference in this blend. I don?t know much about aging, other than a feeling that Perique is some kind of magical presence that must have stewed my sample to new heights. I fear somehow I may go on another binge, and I will not cower this time, I swear it.

There?s something of a controversy regarding Bow Legged Bear. There?s so much crap in this mix, no one can really form a consensus on its taste profile. I can only be subjective regarding this matter. To my senses, Bow Legged Bear does not recall any English mixtures I?m familiar with. The Burley puts it in another category, one that doesn?t quite exist as a defined genre. Being somewhat averse to Burley, physiologically, I suspect, I approached Bow Legged Bear with a short apprehension. In practice, I can?t make heads or tails of the leaf, as to me, it?s been drowned out by nearly everything else that constitutes this blend. I know I?m a lousy person for cursing Burley in my recent Edgeworth review, but I cannot complain here.

There?s such a varied nuance, I feel as though I?d never tire of this bearish fellow, crooked posture and all.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	panduji68 (28)	2014-02-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Very pleasant full bodied smoke. Medium to medium high in the nicotine department. First half of the bowl, all of the tobaccos are distinguishable and separate. Nice smoky latakia flavor, sweet and haylike from the Virginia, perique is in the background and slightly spicy, burley is present in the mouthfeel, but not readily apparent as a nutty flavor, but guessing it contributes to a nice dose of nicotine. Last half of the bowl, the flavors seem to meld together into a nice creamy, buttery smoke. Semi-complex, and well balanced... Really pleasant smoke! 3.5 stars!!!

Pipe Used: Erik Nording Freehand Large Bowl

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JinxJar (6)	2017-10-29		Strong	Strong	Full	Strong

I really enjoy ripping this and crumbling into a bowl's worth of tobac, and then drying it on a wood table or tray. It is a hot-pressed crumble cake that seems to vary between one big chunk, sometimes, two small ones, depending on the tin. It appears dark with flakes of lighter tan leaf. You can see bright and red virginias mixed in with the burley and latakia.

The false light takes quite well after drying 8-10 hours, giving the spicey oriental and perique tingles. I taste some raisin and black olives. The second light I could taste the hay and citrus of the virginias and I little smokey leaf. The latakia comes in but doesn't bully the taste.

The first third of the bowl smokes slow and cool with no bite or harshness (other than the ting in the throat from I am assuming is the perique . I taste a lot oriental leaf in this portion of the bowl with latakia in the background.

The middle part of the bowl the burley gets nutty and the nicotine starts to kick and fuss. The perique gets heftier and eveything starts to shine. Again, the latakia riding along, peeking in and checking that the others are behaving.

Last of the bowl, the nicotine seems to be in control by now. The tobac is heated, a little moist, and is churning in clouds of interesting smoke. It may seem harsh, but if sipped and retrohaled there are some major nuances to be gained here. The flavors are medling at this point.

At the end, there is little dottle and moisture in the bottom of the bowl, enough to get a bit of cake, but not much. There is pure tobacco taste and plenty of nicotine. Though the room note will not draw compliments and non-smokers will shy away from you, I think it is just fine. Not for the faint of heart, but easily rewarding to those that have the skill and patience to appreciate such a blend

Pipe Used: Medium Meerschaum + Peterson Kinsale XL23

Age When Smoked: 1-90 days

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Hermit Tobacco Works Co. - Captain Earle's - Nightwatch, Dunhill - Nightcap.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2016-07-05		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Another "Everything but the kitchen sink" blend by C&D. I think reviewer "DK" has summed this one up perfectly with his comment of "everything quieter than everything else." this is exactly how I felt when smoking this one. Nothing jumps out and everything is nearly undetectable. The flavors from the many leafs join to form a boring experience.

That said, it is not a bad smoke, just boring. Probably good for a mindless type smoke when you don't want any complexity. I can't give this one three stars as there are too many other blends similar in composition to this one and made by C&D that I would much rather smoke. Habana Daydream, Purple Cow and Epiphany immediately come to mind.

I am giving this one two stars and recommend this one to those who like their vegetables without any salt. :)

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	twaksak (54)	2015-03-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another tobacco review bow legged bear. Also reviewed it on my YouTube channel.

When I opened this tin of Bow-legged Bear, I was struck by a weird pungent smell and was wondering whether I would've bought this after smelling it in a shop. However, I was glad I did! The smoke is not at all what you smell in the tin. Very pleasant indeed; a light smoke which you can smoke all day.

Tin: Soury almost stable-like (urine). Aroma: As I said, the aroma is not at all bad. In my opinion, not a "full English" blend though, as the tin suggests. More of a light English blend, might even be a good cross-over for someone who would like to try English blends. Latakia not overpowering at all but well-balanced - none of the VA, Perique, Oriental or Burley is trying to be on top.

To the end of the bowl, a more integrated buttery smoke was evident with notes of grassiness come to the fore.

Overall a pleasant smoke. I will order it again.

3 stars.

Pipe Used: Savinelli & Stanwell

Age When Smoked: 6 months

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-09-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Virginias, Turkish, Latakia, Burley & Perique. Stoved, pressed, and sliced. To quote the late great Archie Bunker: "Now that's what I call a balanced ticket." This blend turned out well IMO. The various & sundry flavors seem a tad muted but they shift nicely, and no one of the gang really runs the show. We have an ever-present earthy burley in the background, while a mild turkish, sweet virginia, and restrained latakia surface then subside in turn. For me the perique was more notable in the realm of mouthfeel / nosefeel than in taste. All finished off by that peculiar feeling of tranquility courtesy of a good vitamin n kick. To me this one was not so much a deeply contemplative english as it was a very good workhorse english. Well done.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Beer (345)	2005-03-31		Very Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Weird... I like the other C&D crumble cakes, but this one is not completely to my liking. It must be the perique's fault.

I find this tobacco very heavy in nicotine and "presence", but not equally tasty: all flavors seem a bit muddy and hushed, a bit similar to the latest versions of Nightcap.

The smell in the tin is earthy and musky, reminiscent of bitter cocoa. There is Latakia, but it is muffled by the other olfactive notes.

This tobacco is actually quite balanced as all the ingredients sing in a chorus and do not stand out immediately, but this is IMHO also a fault as the taste is quite dull too, compared to Pirate Kake and Longevity.

The nicotine punch is hefty (stronger than Nightcap, perhaps): after a few puffs, this tobacco leaves me nauseated and weak. But, as I said, this is probably due to my intolerance to large measures of Perique rather than because of the nicotine.

I guess you should try this tobacco anyway as it has many fans and it has plenty of potential to appeal to some smokers.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pip'n'Piper (54)	2022-03-16		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This bear, is a not your av-er-age bear. The latakia is smokey, not overwhelming, good quality. The perique is mildly applied, a muddled prune and spice note. Between the latakia, perique and orientals, there's a reminiscence of Nightcap. The virginias provide a citrus/tangerine note that is tasty, very bright. The burleys with some nuttiness. Zero topping so you get a fairly pure taste of the tobaccos. Thing is, there's a lot going on. It's like a teddybear picnic with 5 bears, each bear brings a different pot of honey to the picnic. You're going to smoke each pot of honey, but you don't bear which pot you're going to honey next. Did that make sense? Is there more than honey in this bear's pic-a-nic basket, Boo-Boo? It is fun to just sit back as the flavours of each tobacco, randomly, come and go, fighting for your honey, I mean attention. It doesn't exactly lend itself as a simple smoke, but the tobaccos are quality and worth the extra honey it demands, I mean attention it demands. A cool, dry smoke. Burns really well. No chance of this bear biting. Hey, uh, Boo-Boo, my legs are beginning to bow. 3.5. Highly recommend. And remember, only you can prevent forest fires. Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Pipe Used: Brigham 47, Sav 614

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Voyaging (80)	2019-09-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Strong

Based on a tin with one year of age:

The presentation was decent. It comes in cake form, but not as neat as I'm used to with other cakes I've had in the past. In the tin it smells of cocoa and bread, and a little malty.

The taste is much smoother and rounder than I anticipated. There is a dark, bready sweetness with cereal, cinnamon, and molasses notes. There is some leather in there too, with some pepper and raisins and an overall fermented taste (think blends with Virginia, Burley, and Perique). This is labeled as an English blend (there are a ton of ways to interpret that, or not), but to me, it tastes like a Virginia Burley blend spiced with some other things. It's a dark taste.

To me, the strength is medium and arguably mellow, contrary to other reviews. The nicotine is medium to high though. The taste is medium.

I would recommend this to Virginia Burley smokers who want something slightly different, as well as Virginia Perique smokers. I think the typical lover of the English/Balkan smoker will leave dissatisfied with this blend due to the lack of identifiable Orientals.

update 10 Oct 2019

I enjoy this blend, but I'd have to say there is maybe nothing extraordinary about it. It's rich, and has lots going on. I like it with my morning coffee most. I would recommend it. Three stars.

Pipe Used: Various briar pipes

Age When Smoked: One year

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dixcreek (184)	2015-11-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A pinch of this and a pinch of that makes this blend a mighty tastey smoke for me. Tbe bear is swert yey spicey, mild and strong all in the same mixture. The delivery mode of crumbkle cake is wonderful as well. If you are seeking a full flavor type blend with excellent taste you need to give ole bowlegged bear a try.

Pipe Used: various briars and cobbs

Age When Smoked: new tin

Purchased From: pipes and cigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	haredawg (47)	2013-04-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I liked this blend. I agree with most of the reviews stated below, at least the parts not contrary to one another. I wound up with this by accident, sort of, I was in an eBay feeding frenzy, you know, one of those days where things work out right. And of course on eBay you can't sell tobacco so the seller insists he/she/it is seller an unopened collectors tin and often goes through the whole legal spiel that looks like it's eBay's policy cut and pasted. For some reason that gets people bidding above retail for a year old can of, say, Dunhill's 965. I could see going crazy if it was Penzance JF germains special latakia flake, something you can't get for love or money. This seller avoided the spiel and just listed it as a sealed collectors tin. Looks like he's giving up English blends. Anyhow I bid a buck or two below retail for a three year old can of this, a five year old can of Caravan and god knows how old a can of Rattrays Accountants Mixture, but with shipping it was all a bit below retail and the rattrays looks old, I mean I haven't seen that particular packaging in a long time. I would have gotten around to Bow legged bear eventually. Yes, it's a different sort of Balkan, a little sweeter, and a little nuttier, opening the tin doesn't blast you with Latakia. Maybe it's just me, but the only thing I don't agree with is the strong nicotine. Granted I have a high tolerance, but still, I know a nicotine buzz when I feel one. Guess I'll keep trying. I'm sure I'll buy a new tin sooner or later, hope it's not something I have to cellar at least three years.

I'm giving it four stars for surprising me, and I'll edit away a star if it becomes boring.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Capt (339)	2011-02-18		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I try to smoke at least 2 oz of a blend before I will give my 2 coppers. Upon opening this tin a few days back(dated 7/08), a sour, albeit pleasant smell filled my nose holes. I do not detect an abundance of Latakia in this blend, althoughh it is mildly detected. I was suprised the 5 different leaves got along so well together, something that is very difficult to achieve. Moisture content was great, easy to prepare and pack. Lghting took a few matches, but most cakes do. I do not know what 3 years of age has done to this, but it didn't seen to do any harm.

Would pair well with Drambuie, 3 ice cubes.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-10-07		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Hey this a very satisfying tobacco to this Briarbrother. It's got a taste that stays with me for a few after the embers fade from a good sized bowl. The taste is strong enough to let you remember it for a while. And, makes me consider two bowls in a row, it's that good. One might think that two bowls being necessary it might not be all 'that'. It's 'allthat' enough to consider a second tin real soon so that I don't run out.

The tobaacco arrives in the tin containing two crumble cakes which crumble very easily, almost two easily. I'm just about halfway through the 2oz tin and I see that i'ts necessary for me to handle the cakes gently. The tobacco is dry to the touch as such it breaks up and forms a dark dust on the table or in the bottom of my pouch. I'd suggest handling it as little as possible and keep it in a small airtight jar being as dry and crumble as it is.

However it's a great smoke once it's in the bowl and fired up! Full enough to do wonders in time of stress or after a nice rich, spicy meal. It may be a latakia blend but the turkish seems to moderate everything. When I hear/see latakia blend I'd hope to experience latakia being predominate in the blend. Here it's a very honorable mention. Despite me finding it necessary to handle with care I'll probably will see it again in my stash. This blend gets Three Stars IMHO!

UPDATE; 1/10/2011 Many folks mention here that BLB has so many tobaccos in it that they can't decern any particular ones. I see this tobacco as unique in it's own rite. All the tobacs here converge to make the taste that it it full, strong, no nonsense English. Yeah there's Burley and some say burley shouldn't be in an English but what I'm seeing, feeling and tasting is English all over the place; a blend of tobacco's with apparently NO flavorings. It seems that it's the way English's ought to be, right? On top of all that this is the time of year to smoke English cold, breezy, stimulating Winter time. At first I commended BLB. Now I highly recommend bow-Legged Bear to English blend smokers. Winter weather just exudes the necessity of a very bold blend like this one.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sasha (228)	2005-07-01		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

The description on the tin is somewhat scary! All those tobaccos mixed together! How can such a mish-mash taste good?? Actually, it does...And this to me means that Craig Tarler is a great blender. The balance is perfect, the mix is "symphonyc", all the tobaccos play their role without overwhelming each other. In the beginning of the bowl the Perique comes out a bit stronger than the others, but it's just a couple of puffs. The latakia is a little in the back but it comes out stronger towards the last third of the bowl. This isn't an everyday smoke for me, due both to its complexity and to its strenght.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nathaniel (38)	2022-03-04		Very Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Opening a tin from 2015. The pull-tab fairly bursts open. Tin note is immediately apparent: soy sauce, sour lemons and a very faint undertone of nutty burley. A new-to-me Stephen and Roswitha poker is my tool of choice and I have a snifter of Bearded Iris’s Last Laugh Imperial Stout. The poker is quite capacious, and I’m wary of the tobacco’s much-vaunted strength, so I feel a half-bowl should suffice. The cube rubs out into a nicely-workable rough cut, and the pre-light draw gives me the same flavors as the smell: lemons, some dark chocolate, some soy sauce. I don’t smell much of the latakia, but it’s one of the first flavors to come through on the charring light.

The settling in mutes the flavors quite a bit. A little cream creeps in, complementing the chocolate and the nutty taste from the burley.

The latakia plays a very interesting role here, tying the sweeter and more understated flavors together. There is a little of its characteristic incense going on, but it’s definitely not the star of the show. A little sweetness is present, somewhere in the vein of brown sugar. Also always present is the hint of soy sauce. I find that note a little harder to like, but it’s not a major player.

No one flavor stands out, as other smokers have noted. This is definitely a tobacco blend, which I appreciate. Someone who knows what they’re doing blends this. A little wheat, a little earth make themselves known: very pleasant.

Also making itself known is the nicotine. Not as strong as some of the Gawith ropes I’ve sampled, but certainly stronger than Nightcap. I made sure to eat something before sitting down to review this, but even so, I’m feeling it. (That imperial stout is no doubt contributing to that as well, at 10% abv.) I would pair this on subsequent smokes with a nonalcoholic beverage, tea or coffee with cream and sugar. Certainly not a black coffee; the sourness would be too much.

Funny, I always think of burleys as a yard work blend. Something you can cram in your pipe and puff away at. This is not that. You’re not going to want to puff away on this. I’m liking this better as a sipping tobacco, as I’m getting that creamy chocolate and nuts profile with gently sipping and snorking. And the strength is just about all I can handle.

Burns very cleanly, leaving only the smallest bit of dottle. And I am sleepyish and content. This is burley and latakia done right. Too rich for an all-day or even everyday smoke, but a wonderful dessert smoke. I’m looking forward to my next bowl and a pairing of coffee with almondmilk.

Pipe Used: Steven and Roswitha poker

Age When Smoked: 6 years

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stah (151)	2021-08-22		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

"The bow-legged bear walks through the woods..." - Perhaps every man in Russia remembers these lines from childhood. Of course, the Cornell & Diehl blend with this name could not escape my attention. Seeing a large tin of aged tobacco on sale, I couldn't resist - I bought and immediately opened it to try it. However, I wasn't able to write a sensible review of the blend until ten days later. After reading it, you'll understand why.

Given the date of manufacture, January 23, 2016, one would expect the blend to be aged. The tobacco in the tin was packaged in 4 packs, 2 ounces each. This is very convenient - you can take one such pack and put it in a smaller tin, and close the rest tightly again. The composition of the mixture confused me somewhat: it's a kind of vinaigrette, "let's take everything and mix it up together". For a complete set there is only cavendish missing, and apparently, its absence gave reason to put this mixture in the category of "English".

The type of the blend is a pressed briquette of different types of tobacco, which is called a "crumble cake". But this particular crumble cake is pressed well enough, and therefore does not crumble - you have to break off as much as necessary and then knead it to get the blend. The color of the tobaccos ranges from yellowish brown to almost black, and the different types of tobacco are clearly visible. The briquette is a little dry, but I didn't moisten it further (probably should).

The scent bouquet is tar, mild pepper, a little vinegar, a little dried grass, some turmeric and coriander, and a faint note of blackberry. None of the notes dominate, and it took me almost a week just to determine this bouquet completely. During that time I tried five different pipes - straight, curved, large, small - but I never quite figured out which one smoked the best. It was equally easy to light and tasted almost the same in all of them.

Taste - a little bit of sweetness from latakia and Virginia, a little bit of pepper from perique, a little bit of spice from Turkish tobaccos, an earthy note, and on top of it all a strange flavor, as if you were eating bread with maasdam cheese and drinking a simple dry white wine. I read in one of the reviews that if you could compare it to Deep Purple saying "everything is louder than everything else," this one is "everything is quieter than everything else." Perhaps that's the most apt definition of the blend - it's hard to catch individual notable notes, but it's also not a faceless blend.

It smokes warm, but not hot. As you smoke, the taste becomes easier, leaving the core of latakia, turkish and perique, and the light sourness goes into the aftertaste. The strength is medium, the nicotine kick caught me only once - when I took a large pipe to try, in medium and small pipes you can not be afraid of it. The ash is light gray in color, there is not much of it, there is no moisture at all.

The smell of smoke, of course, is reminiscent of English blends, but with a bit of sourness in it.

As a result, I find it as a kind of "antipode of the Danish blend" - a little of everything, but no expressiveness. To be honest, I still don't know whether I like it or not. I think I'll finish this briquette leisurely and save the rest for winter. Maybe it will sound different when it's cold.

Update: in wet autumn weather it plays different! Latakia feels a little more and sourness is less. I puffed rest of tobacco during my dog-walks with pleasure. 3 stars updated,

Pipe Used: Petersons: 999, D19, Tankard, Sherlock Holmes, 69

Age When Smoked: 2016

Purchased From: Online

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LiterarySmoker (143)	2021-04-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I first felt the pull to pick up this blend while I was experimenting with higher nicotine tobaccos. They all seemed to involve heavy doses of Perique or Dark Fired, so I thought a Latakia mixture would be interesting. I will say that my sample has an age of around 2 years on it.

The tin is fun, quirky and something that could be displayed. When you open up you find a typical C&D Cake, it's speckled dark and light brown. It crumbles really easily and comes at a very nice moisture content. I've never had to dry this before loading my pipe. The tin note is complex. Smokey Latakia, tangy Orientals, vinegary Red Virginias and more. Lighting is easy and consistent.

When lit the first thing I detect is latakia, but not really. Everything in the bowl is vying for attention. The Latakia is smooth and creamy, but behind it is a toasty, nutty Burley. The Orientals make it herbal, and slightly sour, but the Virginias come behind with bread to round it off. The Perique is adding dark fruit, and to my nose a bit of spice. It burns really nice and cool.

For the taste, I give this a medium. Even with everything giving flavor up front it does so in a smooth way. But this was not what I noticed when I first opened the tin. When I opened it a year ago, I called this a kitchen sink blend and would have given it two stars or less. It was rough, and none of the components seemed to agree. With some age, it has really melded together and formed a consistent smoke. For the strength I give this a medium-strong. It will make itself known, but I haven't had breakfast yet and I don't really sense it a whole lot. The room note is a typical English so if your loved ones don't like Latakia then you won't bring them to the dark side with this one. A decent relaxing smoke.

Pipe Used: Peterson Aran 107

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SiriusAmory (25)	2019-02-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bow Legged Bear is my first experience with a crumble cake. It requires just a small amount of prep work because it breaks up very easily and has the right amount of moisture to pack right away. It’s pretty easy to pick up the Latakia and Virginias from the tin note.

Brine and bbq smokiness are dominant with a similar flavor in the retrohale. There’s also a noticeable note of earthy pepper as well that comes forward in the second half of the bowl as well as a nice toastiness.

Bow Legged Bear smokes quite nice, lasting well over an hour in a pipe that typically takes me just under an hour to finish and required several relights. Overall, the strength makes this an evening smoke.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2019-01-02		Strong	None Detected	Full	Extra Strong

I purchased a tin of this when I got back into pipesmoking due to the tin-art, I'm a sucker for bears and trains.... back then when I tried it, it was overpowering no matter if I had ate or not. I jarred up the rest and let it set.

I pulled this back out in October 2020 and find to my taste now its a much more enjoyable smoke. It's latakia heavy to me and I have a hard time picking out individual tobaccos much beyond that even though the combination makes a decent background but mostly campfire. The 2nd half of the bowls I get a little bit of peppery note which I'm giving to the perique. Still nothing much from the Orientals sadly. The burley adds some nuttiness', so I really think of this more as an "American" blend than a true English. The strength to me nic wise is still high, its definitely a smoke on a full stomach evening blend and I can't imagine smoking it all day.

I love the tin-art still and love the crumble-cake presentation but there are just other blends that I enjoy more. I have plenty left from my 8oz can to enjoy, but I can't see buying more of it at this point.

Pipe Used: various

Age When Smoked: 2017

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	GabrielCRT (115)	2018-12-19		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bow-Legged Bear is a complex work of art. It verges on being too complex given all its components but I enjoy it. The burley seems most dominant with savory nutty notes and sweet chocolate hints. Some hay from the Virginia, pepper from perique, woody notes from izmir, and a small amount of smokey latakia all surface throughout the smoke but mostly what I taste is grapenuts. The nicotine content is perfect for me at a solid medium-full strength. I’m excited to see how this ages.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2080)	2017-08-06		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

Cornell & Diehl - Bow Legged Bear.

Like Exhausted Rooster I love the tin art: a big, stupid looking, buffoon of an animal! Unlike blends such as Mississippi River, or Bengal Slices, where the cake's either broken apart or in slices, this is just one block. It's speckled with many different tobacco colours, and a touch too moist.

The smoke: now, I usually find the taste of C+D's Latakia blends second to none; my current wake-up smoke is their Mississippi Mud, and I always have a tin of Black Frigate to hand, but this doesn't do it for me. The Latakia has more of a vacuous taste, comparatively speaking. It doesn't have much richness to it, but more of a sharp, cutting, flavour which I don't enjoy. The other leaves seem miniscule in flavour because of the volume of the Lat'. On the plus side it burns well, and doesn't bite.

Nicotine: strong. Room-note: heavy.

Sadly I find this one of their worst offerings. Not recommended:

One star.

Pipe Used: Peterson Around the World France

Age When Smoked: Two months

Purchased From: 4noggins

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	bence (34)	2012-11-26		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Extra Full	Tolerable

The tin aroma is something weird. I mean really weird. When i opened it, i yelled a big heyyawhohhhuuuahh. Dirty, muddy, odorous. I prefere to smoke it in a big bowl. I tried it from filtered and non filtered as well, but since it is extremly full, and not a mild smoke, i think it is not a big problem to smoke trough a filtered airhole, we won't lose significant amount of flavor. Burns quickly, maybe, 'cause i can not resist to smoke it briskly…because it is an incredibly comlex, very tasteful baccy. How do i get to the bear? As i smoke it, i feel i've got an entire forest in my bowl, i mean all the things starting from the soil through the rivers, the animals, trees, bushes...i think a bear can feel the same, when he leisurely walks around his territory :) Very interesting, unusual outdoor baccy.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-02-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I highly recommend if you are an english and burley lover that you try this blend at least once--I have yet to experience a blend as richly nutty (in every sense of the word--the association of "nutty" and "burley" came through for me here) and unique as The Bear. While other reviewers might warn us of the towering nicotine inferno this blend can deliver, it surprisingly did not knock me to the ground (probably because I am accustomed to smoking stronger blends), but it was stronger than most tobaccos I have smoked. Hmm, I do recollect, however, that when a colleague of mine and I packed The Bear up to the top in our biggest pipes for our first taste. . . one of us didn't make it (but at least we were outside). This was still not enough to keep either of us away, and we both enjoy The Bear's company often (who thankfully has a sense of humor). If you want a unique, full strength, nutty, chocolaty/coffee tasting blend with character and enjoy some blends with a little strength, do buy a tin and sit down with The Bear yourself--he won't bite, I promise.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2011-02-04		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Evergreen pine needles, and a spicy clove taste hit me on the char light. Settles down with sweet nutty smoky and spicy notes. Burley Virginia Latakia Perique Turkish. Lots going on. Very flavorful blend and one that never bites me. This is something I like to smoke in the fall/winter once or twice a month, any more then that I lose those opening notes. Recommended.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Thorre (27)	2009-12-26		Strong	Very Mild	Very Full	Strong

Bow Legged Bear is a tobacco I have wanted to try for months. After reading the reviews about the legendary strength of this Bear, I wanted to see if I could handle it. I can. The strength makes my skin tingle. I love the Bear. It comes in large plugs, that remind me of plug chewing tobacco. It crumbles easy enough. It packs well, stays lit and burns to a fine ash. A smokey, spicy, and maybe a slight prune flavor. It left the taste on my tongue long after the fire went out. Which is a good thing. You can definitely taste the quality. For me it is not an all day smoke. I would not want to smoke this blend while reading the newspaper or mowing the lawn. It is a great smoke after a good meal. BLB is a good tobacco when you want some quiet reflection. Bow Legged Bear is like a bigger, and stronger brother to SPC's Plum Pudding.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-09-28		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

Not a bad tobacco, by any means, but not one that I'll be smoking regularly. Its taste is full and vaguely interesting at times, but far too muddy on the whole. The components don't really gel for me, into anything sensible and pleasing. It's very confusing to my palate. Muddy is the right word.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	p4p4 (59)	2008-12-21		Very Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Not an english blend, not an aromatic, not a burley blend, nor an oriental blend, not a VA-PER blend. I don't know what it is, but it's good ! Full taste, full pepperness, extra-full strenght. High complexity, every tobaccos play a role, no one everwelming the others. Aroma: smooth and smoky latakia and spicy orientals ( i think Izmir), a lot of plum and/or apricot cake aroma, pepperness from perique, nuttiness from burley. Burning qualities : wonderfull ! Easy to rub out, easy to burn, just grey ash at the finish. Full and genuine taste. A little overwealming and raw....

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-04-21		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

This is hard to classify as a traditional English for me because the Virginia and Turkish really take a distant back seat to the Latakia, Perique and Burley.

It is cigar-like, fairly complex, and dominated by Latakia and Perique. It reminds me of Dunhill's Nightcap, but more robust and it is a little like Mississippi Mud, but way more subdued and balanced for my tastes.

I enjoy this most by pinching a bit off the hard, dry "sticks" of tobacco and crumbling the blend with my finger tips, then lightly layering this into medium to large pipe bowls. Treating this like a flake to be folded into a bowl did not work well.

It lights with a single match and burns gently with consistent, mild tamping. Several times throughout the smoke I pour off the ash to keep things burning aright. Very cool and bite-free, even puffed hard outdoors. I enjoy it with strong dark roast coffee.

This is certainly best aged, as the "edge" and balance improved as I kept coming back to this over a period of about a year.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2008-01-30		Strong	Medium to Strong	Very Full	Tolerable

I'm so glad I bought this one. I've been looking for a full flavored, strong tobacco and this is one of those. When I opended the tin and saw the to square plugs I was almost tempted to try taking a bite out of one like my grandads old plugs of Cannonball but I resisted. I love the smell of this stuff and had fun breaking pieces of to stuff into my bowl. Man, it looks like fudge. You almost got to be careful with this one and try not to inhale to much cause this one's got a bear's strength. The Latakia's not overpowering, that's a plus and the Perique helps give it a spicey bite. The Virginas are excellent and the Turkish is a nice added plus. It has an awsome flavor from first light to the finnish and burns great. If you like a smoke with a kick this is the one.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-03-16		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Oh my. From sniffing the open tin, to the end of a bowl, this is delicious.

Yes, it is for Latakia mavens, but the sweet presence of the Virginias and warm undertones of Perique foil a Latakian overthrow of the mixture.

This arrives at a perfect humidity, crumbles into a fine square cut, and packs with ease. Although the first few minutes deliver a monochromatic hot-tar Latakia trip, the sweetness and stewey Perique start to unfold with a measured pace of puffing. The lower level of moisture does wonders for staving off the heat of the Virginia, and a medium-size pipe has always served well for this tobacco.

A tin of BLB is always amongst my order to the tobacconist, and this has served as a "go to" smoke after dinner since I first tried it.

UPDATE March 2005: This is still a fantastic smoke. I am positive that aging in the tin is necessary for the complexity of flavor to develop; and boy does it develop. BB is an English at first, but it unfolds, and unfolds and unfolds. About half way down the bowl, no two puffs taste the same. This is very complex.

My only advice to the detractors is simply: Lay down a tin of this for a few years. You will be rewarded with a very pleasant surprise. Although not as strong as Penzance, it has a complexity not unlike that blend.

I loved it before and I love it more now.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2004-05-19		Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Strong

In my opinion, Bow-legged Bear is most suited for a certain class of smoker. Most likely the one that smokes aged Virginias as their regular tobacco. BLB has the potential to appeal to nearly everyone except for the cavendish fancier. Consequently, it has equal potential for putting nearly everyone off too. The smorgassboard of ingredients is the source of such a catch 22, but to those of us that absolutely love this blend, it's popularity among the majority doesn't even figure into the equation.

The appearence in the tin is somewhat reminiscent of the season old mulch one scrapes off the bottom of their lawnmower. But that's not what we smoke for anyway. And the aroma in the tin would have to be described as somewhat unappealing. But once you've filled your bowl, which by the way is as fun as it is easy, and you set this concoction to flame, wham! This is by no means a weak blend. The first thing I notice is the latakia; tangy, smooth, and biteless. But the latakia soon starts taking a bit of a bow to the other tobaccos, and one starts noticing the perique, virginias, and turkish in turn wafting in and out through the first half of the bowl. A nutty, almost warm aroma is preasent throughout, but it's the turkish that dominates through the last half of the bowl. The perique to me seems to be a tad defiscient, and would be the only improvement I would recommend. As for nicotine content, fear not. If you are one of the nicotine dependent among us, then BLB would definitely do the trick for you. Although this is a calm, cool, and well rounded blend with pronounced high and low notes, it is truly not for everyone. But, if it's tobacco you love, and strength is an attribute for you, then I'd say give it a try. This may be on your top five list.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2003-09-19		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

Well, compared to C&D Pirate Kake, this one is mild, but then again, that is true about just every English blend. The perique makes the difference here. It is very pronounced in the tin aroma and comes out strongly in the flavor as well. The aroma is even stronger than PK (but not the taste).

I find Bow-Legged Bear a thoroughly enjoyable smoke. My tin was a bit moister than other C&D krumble kakes, which tend to be almost (but not) too dry. This did not seem to be a problem, other than the rubbing out process produced bigger chunks, like the tobacco was less homogenized before pressing.This is actually kind of nice since pipe clogging can be a problem with the seemingly pulverized consistency of the other C&D krumble kakes.

As noted above, component-wise this has a little something for everybody, and this is evident in the relative complexity (for a C&D English anyway) of this blend. The latakia/perique combination tends to dominate if smoked vigorously, but at a more smoldering pace, the virginias and turkish notes come out more. This is a good blend for those occasions where one has the freedom to really concentrate on the range of available flavors. I would not recommend it to anyone that has an aversion/reaction to perique.

Smoke it slow and feel the glow.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RCUSElder (244)	2003-05-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I really wanted to like this blend but unfortunately the perique in it made my allergies go crazy. I forced myself to at least try three bowls of it before reviewing so here goes: Ah, crumble cake! This looked promising. Crumbled easily, packed easily, lit easily. The perique immediately made its prescence known!!! argh!!! I forced myself to concentrate, the complexity of this blend was good, with a nice interplay as you smoke down the bowl. Close to end of the bowl the perique finally settles down and there is a nice rich smokiness that I love. The ash has a grey mottled appearance, no dottle, no tongue-bite. A little more nicotine kick than I care for. In ending, this is overall good blend but the perique makes me work too hard to enjoy. I much prefer "Longevity" for a crumble cake blend, or "Midnight Ride" for a blend with Perique that does not trigger my allergies. Ciao!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rev. Smoke (24)	2002-08-13		Medium	None Detected	Full	Strong

I love krumble cakes, you get to play with the tobacco and try to determine quanities of what types are there. It allows you to savor the rich earthy smell of this blend and the piquant sweetness.

You must like Latakia to smoke this blend, it might help if you love it. However, if you don't, this is a very tantalizing example of how a Latakia dominant blend can be very well-balanced.

This is a great blend, thanks Craig!

If nothing else, the bear on the tin is worth it.

4 out of 5 halos.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JKOD (30)	2021-04-30		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I like this blend quite a bit. I find it to be pretty mellow tasting. I definitely can tell the burley and Latakia are in here, but the others I’m sure are there - just don’t single them out as well as the other two. Although, about halfway I do get a little dark fruit thing happening so maybe the perique. Doesn’t happen on every bowl, but it does exist sometimes. Pretty tasty.

This comes pretty dry in the kake, so it’s ready to smoke without dry time. Not sure what drying would do for it. Have no problems lighting or keeping lit. I jar all my open tobacco, and in kake form it was a pain in the arse pulling in and out. So, I just broke it all apart and put in the jar. Now I can just pinch it out with no issue.

I wouldn’t be afraid to give this to a newbie because I think the flavor is medium enough not to scare them off. The nicotine is hit or miss on this blend. Sometimes it talks to me, other times it’s absent. Probably more of a me thing, but maybe a good reason to test out on a newbie and see if their completion changes while smoking.

This is a blend I will definitely have several tins of waiting to smoke. Not every day for me, but definitely several times a week. Get it, smoke it, enjoy it. Definitely 4 stars for me on this one.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Roscoe (1)	2021-02-26		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This tobacco is listed as an English blend, but to my palate it is no such thing. I am, admittedly a latakia lover, so my assessment comes from that perspective. For me the taste of this blend has much more in common with a VaPer or a burley, virginia, perique blend. The latakia is undetectable. It has much more in common with Night Train or Old Joe Krantz than with any of the well-known English blends. The burly is front and center; the perique makes itself known as does the virginia (to a lesser extent). If you are looking for a classic English blend, look elsewhere. If you like the aforementioned NT or OJK, then you will like this. It is full-flavored with some light natural sweetness, and, with attentive packing and puffing cadence, will behave without bite (though it may sport a rough edge or two).

Similar Blends: Night Train, Old Joe Krantz.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	N.H. pipe smoker (4)	2017-11-29		Medium	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable

Bow legged bear is a delightful smoke from start to finish if smoked slowly..Comes in cake form which looks like a brownie.no need to dry out before smoking.A char light and one more after that keeps this burning nicely..

Pipe Used: Savinelli 311 ks .

Age When Smoked: 2 months

Purchased From: Smoking pipes

Similar Blends: Frog Morton cellar..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LivingFreeinTN (24)	2016-05-21		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

This is an awesome tobacco! So many flavors to enjoy in this blend. The Latakia is smoky and sweet but not overwhelming, it prefers to linger in the background while the Perique and burley take turns center stage. It is a full tobacco and could be a bit much for beginners or people with a low nicotine tolerance. Naturally sweet notes, spiciness, nuttiness, smoky deliciousness!

This is a C&D classic blend for a reason. Excellent!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	natibo (169)	2016-01-09		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Love, love, love this. I have to disagree with others. I did not find the latakia heavy at all, and I don't like lat heavy blends. I will say, my tin as aged about a year after I bought it. I thought the perique came through nicely. It also has a great nic hit.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beercritic (33)	2014-11-14		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

Been out of stock, but finally got my months-old order from P&C today. The can date indicated it is 10 days old. I am sooo glad I ordered the 8 oz tin. :) This is a big strong earthy tobacco. I'm convinced I'm tasting the terroir of the soil. This is a first time I've tasted such in tobacco. Nice N punch. Not as strong as rope, but far tastier. Get some!

Pipe Used: churchwarden

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: P&C

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-10-27		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

This to me is what Mississippi river would taste like if you could taste it lol one of the best and most unusual pipe tobaccos I have had the pleasure of trying

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ap (57)	2013-03-03		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

A great full smoke for late in the day, theres a lot of dif leaves in the blend but you will get a rounded taste with some spice notes from the Perique. Very good with a good Bourbon or Scotch to relaxe after a long day.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-03-02		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

was guna right somthin down here, but after reading the review below i couldn't think of much more to add. uh oh yeah just be sure to wash ur hands after rub out (of the tobacco)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JohnnyMcPiperson (119)	2011-02-01		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Full	Tolerable

This is a very interesting English blend I think. The only issue I had with it was that my sample dried out very quickly. I should like to buy a tin of it though. This blend has the english taste, but then on top of that there are some excellent spicy notes that are very dominant in the blend, if I'm not mistaken this comes from the perique presence in the blend. It rubs out fairly well, though I thought the leaf pieces were a bit large which made packing a bit annoying at times, but this can be remedied once you are looking for it. This is a good summer night blend for me, bold and spicy, I like the combination of this blend on a warm evening with a beer and the smell of fresh cut grass!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2010-02-27		Very Strong	None Detected	Extra Full	Very Strong

I smoked nightcap for years, but in terms of knock your socks off nicotine...this stuff takes the taco! First third of the bowl is great, rich and dense, almost creamy smoke and then it hits you. The bear tears into you; nicotine, and ash/cigarette tasting remainder. It almost turns into a "who's gonna win" match, you or the bear. Good tobac, just not my everyday cup of tea. All others, Enjoy!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2009-06-11		Overwhelming	Medium	Extra Full	Extra Strong

This post is exactly one month after the facts. This must be recommended if you extremely hate your pipe smoking neighboor. Bought a tin at one of my local bakky shop. Upon smoking half way through the bowl with this blend I was almost sick to my stomach. I thought I was getting a heart attack or this tobacco had some kind of a rat poison. I had my wife rush me to the ER. I though it was the combination of the Porkchops she made and this blend that cause my Blood Pressure to rise. I seriously thought I was stroking out. This tobacco cost me $10 dollars for the tin and $1200 of hospital and ER bills. BTW I had no insurance.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	periqueguy (43)	2009-02-26		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Simply put, this blend is great but not for the beginner. Full of heavy flavor and a satisfying tobacco experience.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	jankoez (69)	2009-02-22		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is very interesting and good blend, although not for weak moments or empty stomach since it's strength.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Eonwe (22)	2008-03-23		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

This is a great full flavored smoke. I like the cake form, and breaking it up is kinda fun. I found my current tin to be very moist, so drying for an hour or so is a must. It packs and light with no problems. I found the taste really interesting, all the flavors are balenced perfectly, which cant be easy due to all the differant tobaccos pressed in. I found the nicotine kick great, and I love the aroma it leaves behind, but do note that I like strong tobacco smells, my friends though, cry like little girls when they smell it, but again, I love it. give Mr. Tarler his credit, he did a great job with this one.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-04-01		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

December 2003.Bow-Legged Bear. I have often read about this tobacco & was also fascinated by the picture on the tin.I'm also fascinated by the Krumble Kake & this superb mixture of tobacco blending.There seem's to be everything in variety here,viginia,latakia,perique,turkish & even burley thrown in.The amazing thing is,you can actually taste them all 'individually' right through to the bottom of the bowl.I honestly think this is a crowd pleaser,as there is a little something in the taste for everyone! It's not overpowering & is very,very tastey,to say the least.Light's easily & doesn't cause any bother at all.It's great for those moment's when you simply can't decide which tobacco to smoke. 'Variety Here' all in one tin! ============================================================= "UPDATE" 01/04/07. After revisiting Bow Legged Bear,I really wish I could give this offering "Twenty Star's" (PLUS) "Yes,it really is that good" Go for it and don't miss out!!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2007-01-28		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Strong

As a lover of good, strong English mixtures, I read the reviews of Bow-Legged Bear with interest. A potent, full-flavored English? Bring it on! Unfortunately, BLB so far has turned out to be my biggest tobacco disappointment. The tin aroma is enticing, earthy and smoky with hints of dark chocolate. So far, so good. I loaded up a pipe with some BLB, and lit up. Not so good any more; the taste was very much like burnt cardboard. I had a tough time finishing the full bowl, but I persisted, hoping it would get better, but it didn't. Since I'd eaten a garlic-heavy Italian dinner that night, I was inclined to blame that, but my second pipeful of BLB a few days later wasn't a whole lot better; this time, there was an undertone of sweetness, but the overriding flavor was again burnt cardboard. The third attempt was much the same, and I gave up on it halfway through the bowl. I've decided to try aging it a little and see if it gets any better, and will try a pipeful every now and then; if my opinion changes, I'll post an update. But for now, I wouldn't recommend Bow-Legged Bear, nor would I buy it again; my choice for a strong full English would have to be Nightcap. Update 1/28/07 If aging improves BLB, the extra 4 months I've given it isn't enough (according to the date stamped on the tin, this one's just a year old). After retrying BLB, and re-reading the other reviews here, I'm convinced I was the unwitting victim of a practical joke. Somebody chopped up some old cardboard boxes, crumbled up a stale White Owl cigar and mixed it with the chopped cardboard, pressed it all into small blocks, and sealed it a BLB can-- which I unfortunately bought. I don't get the satisfying smokiness of Latikia, the peppery zing of Perique, or even the mild nuttiness of Burley from BLB-- only burnt cardboard with overtones of stale cigar. A major disappointment.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2006-01-01		Medium	None Detected	Full	Strong

Mmmmmm..... Latakia....

There is plenty of Latakia here. Not a lot of dimension, but plenty of flavor. The Perique is anything but weak - really, there is nothing weak at all in this one. I even noticed the nicotine - a rarity for me.

If you like bold flavor, get yourself a Bear hug.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-11-28		Strong	Very Mild	Full	Strong

BLB is a very nice latakia blend. Initially opening my tin(3 1/2 yr old), WOW!! Overwhelming latakia aroma, LOVE IT, but was worried about it dominating all the other tobaccos. Was I wrong, the perique came thru on the initial light but, seemed to drift into the background after the 1st few minutes. The latakia and Va`s started to come together about 1/2 way down the bowl and provide a very satisfactory smoke. I only wish it could have stayed that way as the latakia started to dominate near the end. IMO it smoked,packed,and burns best in small-medium bowls.A good tobacco for those rainy and cold nights beside a fireplace. Too hefty for all day smoke as it tends to dry the palate after 1 or 2 pipefulls. An occasional smoke but, will not cellar any.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-11-03		Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Bow Legged Bear has it all! I have had 2 tins of this in the cellar for about two and a half years now, so I was able to try it with a bit of age. I let my daughter pick it out (she always goes for the Cornell & Diehl due to the neat lables. Her school mascot is the bears so thats why she picked it!) This is great stuff! When I cracked the tin and took a whiff, I was wondering how this would be. Man this smells strong! I have gone through a 2oz tin now and am happy to say, every pipeful gets better and better. This smells amazing in the tin and I can hardly stop sniffing it! You can actually pick out all the individual tobaccos that go into this as it is smoked. There is a healthy nicotine kick to this as well. It received an "allright" smell rating from the family. It is surely a strong blend, but if you are into that, this is great stuff! I had also never smoked a Krumble Kake before and have to say it is very well presented and sort of fun to actually break up and load a pipe with this. I have found it to be at its very best in a medium to large bowl pipe packed slightly on the loose side. If you enjoy a strong smoke with various tobaccos represented, this might just be for you! Give it a try. Thanks for all the previous reviews, This site is a major refrence for me when purchasing a new tobacco! Keep it up.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-04-19		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is a very excellent blend of the stoic and proper 'old English' Latkia and a healthy amount of the 'Ya-hoo!', ' kick 'yo ass' & 'noticeanly, decent amount ' of perique. And a touch of Turkish for all the nicotene lovers to give one an enjoyable smoke! TRY IT!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-02-18		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

well, this tobacco has quite a resume! check out the list of all the different tobaccos that have gone into it. other than a cavendish, craig has put about everything else in there. one might think this would make for a confusing mish-mash of conflicting flavors, but i find the opposite is true. i like this tobacco very much! it is definitely an english blend, and the most prominant note seems to be the latakia, but it is nicely complmented by the others. it is a crumble cake tobacco, but rubs out very easily and packs well. nice burn rate with consistent flavor all the way to the bottom of the bowl, too. i have only tried a few of craig's tinned blends, and this is my current favorite. i am happy to note that C&D is now making their tinned blends available in bulk. i can see a pound of bow-legged bear in my future. 4 stars for this one.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-02-03		Strong	None Detected	Overwhelming	Unnoticeable

My piping friend raved about this stuff and its incredible taste, stunning aroma and a finish unlike any other. When I tried it my response was ?um??..err??..uhhhhhhhh,? and a shrug of the shoulders. I can?t figure this one out. The perique is overpowering and literally knocks the taste of out of the box. I don?t detect any aroma other than a huge amount of one dimensional smoke. My friend told me I must lack some sort of refined sense in my taste buds. Well, perhaps I do. Whatever the case, the taste is flat and insipid. What?s the point of this stuff, and especially at its formidable cost? I realize that this is all a matter of individual taste, but with so many great blends out there, I won?t again be smoking any bears, bowlegged or otherwise. yecchhhhhhhhh!!!!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2005-01-30		Overwhelming	None Detected	Overwhelming	Pleasant to Tolerable

I have to warn people ot there-This tobacco literally gave me heart palpitations.I normally smoke Penzance and other similar heavy English mixtures but this one really scared me.It starts off with a really woodsy, grassy taste that slowly builds into a a bigger woodsy, grassy taste.I smoked it for about ten minutes and i felt my heartbeat become so irregular I thought I might be in need of medical attention.In all fairness this is the first time I had ever smoked such a heavily Perique laden blend,and I think my system couldn't handle it. I gave some to a friend and although it did not have a similar efeect, it started to make him nauseous. I have never experienced anything like this before but if you like grassy flavors and wish to venture into the realm of a really potent tobacco this might be for you.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2004-11-30		Medium	None Detected	Full	Very Pleasant

This is my first sampling of a C&D blend. If Bow Legged Bear is any indicator of the quality I can expect from C&D, I might just have to order up some serious samples.

BLB is a fine mixture of Virginia, Latakia, Perique, and Turkish tobaccos -- all favorites of mine. This is a fairly huge blend, given all of the power hitters in the line-up. However, each component plays nice. The smoker is treated to a very balanced offering of some very different types of leaf. The Krumble Kake presentation is always welcome.

If you want a blend that is full of flavor and body, yet smokes cool, burns well, and performs consistently from charring light to the heel of the pipe, give this stuff a try.

I only gave Bow Legged Bear a rating of "I smoke this on occasion" because my tobacco rotation is out of control as it is and I'm just not positive about keeping this one on as a full-time smoke. That is not to say that I don't have tremendous interest in this fine piece of work from the Tarlers.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2004-09-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Strong

C&D is the brand that I am least familiar with. No great shame there, as they seemingly have hundreds of blends in their portfolio. If only I had better success with the blends I've tried, perhaps I would be a bigger fan and more interested in sampling the entire line, as I have done with McClellands, Pease, Dunhill, Rattray, Esoterica, and others. Don't get me wrong, they are all exceptionally well tooled, and are comprised of top quality leaf. They just leave me wanting something a bit more, at least so far.

Bow Legged Bear is essentially Briar Fox with latakia, and lots of it. It bears the same beautiful shape, and sports just a tad more moisture (both are still too dry). They both yield a very dry cloud of smoke that is a little too cigarettish for my liking. It tastes very good, but I prefer the rounder quality found in Penzance, and a touch more sweetness in the VAs would be welcome. A lot of folks should like this one a lot, but I don't think I'll ever fully fall into that category, as for some reason this blend gives me too many hints of a cheap cigar.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2004-04-08		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

Yikes, that only thing missing in this blend is the kitchen sink! I like the complexity, strength, flavor and even the tin art. I especially enjoy the flavor resulting from stoving the blend brings out in the VA and Perique. I've smoked this blend only crumbling a slight amount and rubbing it out completely -- let me say that my experiences with the latter have been better. Leaving big chunks often slows burning to the point of going out and having many relights. Very good again C&D!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pounder 5000 (178)	2003-08-27		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

After taking a hiatus from Latakia over the last few months, I decided to get back to the good stuff. My tobacconist recommended that I give this blend a whirl. I'm glad he did- this is good stuff! Penzance is the blend that I compare all others to, and this blend is right up there with it. While Penzance has a little more Latakia flavor it is not as complex as this one. I love how the burleys have brought a nuttiness to the table. The perique was nice also, although extremely discreet. This tobacco was hard to keep lit, but burned cool all the way down. The crumble cake form is one of my least favorites, but this is negligible in the long run, you just get over it. All in all a smoke I will keep on hand for those cold morning drives to work.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2002-10-14		Strong	None Detected	Full	Overwhelming

Boy, I was looking forward to trying BLB, as I really enjoy the full English blends from C&D, like Pirate Kake and Engine 99.

BLB smells wonderful in the pouch -- earthy and with strong cocoa overtones. Packs well. Then things go downhill. Whether I left it out to dry or not, it is hard to light. The char light causes whiffs of smoke that smell unpleasantly like cigarette tobacco. I expected some Latakia notes, but something else just overpowers it. Not perique -- maybe the VAs tussling against the other ingredients. It all left my throat a bit dry and scratchy.

Perhaps my friends that like VAs better will like this, but I can't recommend it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2002-08-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I find most C & D blends are sold before their time. This blend goes from a blandish but somewhat flavorful blend to an outstanding flavorful blend in the matter of 4-6 months. The date of blending is on the can and comes usually within 1-2 months of blending. I have found the same with Pirate Kake and Black Dawg, 2 other outstanding blends from C&D. The flavors of the different tobaccos in this blend come through to varying degrees and the toasting really adds a nice side to this blend 4-4.5 stars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2002-08-05		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

This was my first try at a crumble cake, and i like them, the smell upon opening is different, you can smell the latakia, but it smells like a real strong campfire or some sort of thing. Wonderful smell and texture.

The tobacco crumbled nicely, perfect moisture level and really packed into the pipe. I find that as with most C&D tobacco, you can pack this in pretty tight.

The flavor was outstanding, rich full and satisfying, it tasted alot like it smelled, very balanced neither too spicy nor too sweet, you know you are smoking when you light this up.

This is probably the biggest surprise in my tastings i loved it and it will definately be in my rotation.

Highly reccomended.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2002-07-31		Overwhelming	None Detected	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

Bow Legged Bear comes in a very unusual form. It looks as if it was extruded from a tube into crumble cake form. The aroma is overwhelming. The truth is, with the unusual look and overwhelming smell, if I had been handed a piece of this and asked to identify it, I'd have said that it was something a cat left behind. I honestly would not have identified it as pipe tobacco.

In smoking, even I, a confirmed latakia lover, found the taste overwhelming too. I could not complete the bowl. I tried to humidify it some to see if that made a difference and tried it again several days later, but no help.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2002-07-31		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Ahhh, here comes the great wet blanket among these favourable reviews. Much as I love my fellow North Carolinians over at C&D I cannot get into this Twelve Gauge English blend. The cake is beautiful inside that cute little tin. The aroma is earthy, smokey. Not so bad so far. It breaks up nicely for loading in the pipe. The match hits the leaf and the dog breaks his chain. This stuff is harsh to me. It starts that familiar burning in my mouth that I so often find with blends containing a signifigant amount of Turkish. Much as I would like to like this blend I cannot. I shall reserve it for tastes more suited than mine.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2002-04-24		Very Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Holy Moley!!! This blend is like a fresh cup of fine black coffee first thing in the morning! It's flavor is very complex (see the tobacco pedigree listed above), and I detect a nuttiness in the flavor that I really enjoy. It produces thick clouds of billowy white smoke which, in my opinion, a good pipe tobacco should. I experienced no excessive heat, moisture, or bite.

Very satisfying and highly recommended!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2002-01-17		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Pleasant

This is a nice latakia blend . The flavor is not overly unique , but it smokes very wel . Packs well and lights well and has an even burn rate . It is a pleasure to smoke , not only fo it's flavor , but also for it's easy maintenance and forgiving nature . It does not get overly hot too easily .Highly recommended for the latakia lover who tends to smoke to hot .

1 person found this review helpful.