Cornell & Diehl Bow-Legged Bear

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k322aSs-heA

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.