Cornell & Diehl Cross Eyed Cricket

I bought this one on a whim. The nice lady who owns the store went and branches out the selection bc I asked if she would. Like I said, nice lady. She bought this and a bunch of others bc she liked the tin art haha.

It’s mostly a dark brown cav in the tin. It has little bits of gold and darker leaf in there too though. Some of the chunks are huge with the cav, so it may need some fiddling. The note is heady. It has a musty, fruity, boozy smell it. Hints of lat are present. I didn’t want to risk ghosting my pipe, so I bought a 30$ basket billiard, that turned out to be a Milano under closer inspection.

It packs well, and takes a few lights to get going. I did like the flavor of it, it was too wet to start out with though. I ultimately left it open overnight and the next day it shone like the sun in comparison. The cav is mellow, the orientals are a suggestion, the lat is more than a suggestion and the perique is an important component. They tie together to make a well rounded blend that would be a nice all day smoke by itself.

The topping is where they get you. It adds a sweetness that is just short of obnoxious for non aromatic smokers. And the flavor adds a good deal of complexity to it also. It sort of reminds me of C&D Mississippi Mud, or Seattle pipe clubs potlatch. Aside from the rum, the punch is hard to figure out. I want to say it’s a mixture of cherry, berries, green apple and some kind of a citrus maybe. I didn’t think this would have had much to offer, but I was wrong.

I smoked the whole 2oz tin in three days lol. Not bad at all. It has a bit of something for everyone. Unless you hate Latakia anyway. It was a nice change of pace for me and gave my palate a bit of a rest from the strong, spicy leaf I normally enjoy. I would suggest trying this one, it may be as interesting for you as it was for me. It gave me something to think about as I smoked at work, which isn’t normal for me.

A very appropriately named blend. Cross-Eyed Crickett will indeed glaze the eyes and goober up your palate.

There is a topping in this dark and moist ribbon cut leaf that boasted a liquor like flavor. It was tough to keep lit and burning. A mild tobacco/nicotine presentation as well. Still, the overall presentation was good and I'm not sure why. Just one of those blends that not only crosses the eyes and palate, but the brain as well.

As another review indicated, it was difficult to identify any particular component other than the Perique.

Okay, so what are this tobacco's endearing qualities? There are none. (IMO, of course.)

You don't really understand why this blend is named as such, until you get yourself a tin. First thoughts when lighting it is definitely the room note. The rum punch they give it is something I haven't seen before. It even over powers the latakia. The taste was different as well, but very nice.

The strength was your average C & D medium to light english. It burns cool as always, and can be pretty lengthy depending on how you pack it.

I would recommend this blend to anyone looking for a outside the box kind of blend.

I'm Confused. Thats all that can be said for this blend. The tin note smells like fruit punch with a slight whiff of latakia. As for the flavor, It tastes like a well done mild english blend with a little something else appearing from time to time. That something else is the fruit punch casing. In the flavor it adds a lovely fruity note that complements the blend in an odd yet delightful way. Room note wise, It smells amazing. The fruit punch overpowers the latakia in the room note. Is it an aromatic or a english? I have no clue. In some odd inconceivable way its both. Either way there is something about the blend I really like. So for me, Its a keeper.

A truly unique offering from C&D. It doesn't matter if you like English or aromatics, this is something you will just have to try for yourself to determine if this one is for you. The English blend behind this is fabulous, I'd be curious to know which blend they use as the base. The claim of rum punch is true, a Hawaiian Punch type aroma. Burns and packs decent, burns clean throughout the entire smoke.

Curious? Try it, you may just enjoy it!

Tin aroma is somewhere between kosher blackberry wine and cherry cough medicine, with a background aroma of smoky Latakia, and flowery oriental notes. I couldn't catch the scent of Perique from the tin, but it did sneak out in the smoking. Packs easy, lights OK. Burns well and cool. I usually smoke natural tobacco blends, but I'm not one of those guys that scoffs at aromatics. This blend is very pleasant. I perfect diversion from taking yourself too seriously.

Fruity flavors dilute as the bowl progresses. About a quarter of the way into the pipe, it did remind me of those fruity, syrupy rum drinks they're always handing you on cruises. The spice tobaccos reach through the casing, clearly discernable underneath the Luden's Cough Drops and blackberry wine. The lighter dose of casing, and the fine tobaccos being allowed to show themselves, make this a fun and interesting smoke.

My only complaint is the strength is a little on the weak side. And in my opinion, the whole thing could have benefited from a dose of matured Virginia to prop up the Cavendish and whip the berries into shape.

Cornell & Diehl - Cross Eyed Cricket.

I'm looking at this blend as being in a similar vein to the old school classic American smoking mixtures of a couple generations ago (e.g. Revelation, Country Doctor, etc) in that it's basically an English blend of sorts with a topping that gives it something else.  But it's composition is different enough from any of those to put this one in a class by itself.

The rum punch flavoring is noticeable throughout but its fruityness is not always distinguishable.  The base tobaccos beneath are musty and smoky with a bit of spice.  This tobacco base reminds me of a more strongly musty version of C&D's Mississippi Mud.  Occasionally I feel that the mustiness of the base and top flavoring clash a bit, but for the far most part it works and the mixture as a whole smokes very smoothly.  It does take some effort to get lit but rarely needs a relight once it's going good in my experience.  A unique blend that I have to be in just the right mood for, and although I have yet to do this it seems like it would be a very good blend to puff away on while fishing, camping or woodworking.

It is truly almost every genre you can think of put into one tobacco. You would think it would be overwhelming, but it is actually quite balanced and pleasant to smoke. The dominance lies in its english/oriental portion, with hints of tropical aromatic flavor fading in and out.

This is my very first review on tobaccoreviews.com. I ordered this tobacco online only because it has an interesting name. My father likes cricket, so I said to myself: why not giving this tobacco a try?

The tin was opened three days ago, I smoked it with my Karl Erik freehand pipe. It may require some lights at the beginning, and once it is lit, it is easily burned through the bowl, giving adequate tamping from time to time of course.

The flavory is excellent. This is so far the first Latakia tobacco I smoked and I like it very much. This will absolutely be on my next purchase list. Highly recommended when you watch a videos and would like to have something to smoke.

=== Updated on 28th Dec. 2008. ===

Ok, I have had some second thoughts about this blend. I have finished most of the tin. But the pleasure that I have had during my first bowl is gone. Now it seems a little more spicy than before. Maybe because the leaves are not well mixed. When I packed my first bowl there were only large leaves but there are littles ones hidden beneath the huge-leaf layers. Perique I assume? It is still good tobacco and is good to enjoy a bowl from time to time, but it definetly will not be my everyday blend any more.

Downgraded to 3 stars.