Cornell & Diehl Morley's Best

Another old faithful, great tobacco to keep around in bulk. Not exactly the most complex blend out there but a wonderful smoke to have throughout the day. Nutty and smoky.

Edit: as an aside I’ve found this blend sings in a shorter stemmed pipe.

If you’re in a Burley phase and wanting to spice things up for a night, get your devoted English blend pipe out and enjoy this Burley/Lat (light) blend. It’s very, very fulfilling.

I just finished a sample of this that was flawed similar to the sample of Shandygaff I recently reviewed. They were both in a box that also contained about 4 ounces of Ennerdale that was gifted to me from a forum friend who did not like it. The scent from the Ennerdale drifted onto the my samples and left a ghost on the leaf. Now I can see why everything that comes from GH has that scent.

So it seems odd to review them as they would seem to be spoiled. Quite the contrary, I loved them both to four stars as I am a major fan of lightly applied lakeland essences; however, I can't in good conscience give four stars to something that is technically different than what I am reviewing. But if you like lakelands I would highly recommend ghosting some shandygaff with it. lol

As for what I did taste, the subtleties of the latakia in this blend were hidden by the ghost as was the heft of the orientals in the shandygaff. While taste was muted somewhat, the body of the leaf was not. This was a good bit lighter than the shandygaff due to the absence of perique, I believe. I will definitely be buying more of Morley's best in the future as it is, in composition, much like Golden Ash which I love.

As I did with my review of shandygaff, I am giving this 3 stars to be fair to the blend and the quality of leaf was as expected with C & D. Also, it was an enjoyable smoke. I will revisit this review later when I order up more of this.

I am a fan of Bob Runowski's blends, especially OJK and Epiphany. I wanted to pick this one up, assuming that it would simply taste like Epiphany without the Perique. This assumption was incorrect. Although MB is tasty in it's own way, it seems to me to have a bit MORE 'edge' than Epiphany. It's smokier and heavier on my palate. I never really picked up on the fruitiness in Epiphany until I compared the tin note of these two blends. I would wager that you would not win any friends with the room note of this one, although I smoke outside anyway.

All in all, this blend of primarily burleys with a reasonable dose of latakia (and some Virginia) is unique ---- I don't really know of other blends from other companies with these same tobaccos. In the world of Runowski burley blends, it is a somewhat smokier, slightly heavier alternative for Epiphany fans. Nicotine is squarely in the medium range. Recommended.

I actually first sampled Morley's Best before reading that this blend was an attempt to re-create the taste of the now-departed Blue Boar Rough Cut, an old American Tobacco Co. product. Had I got around to trying the original mixture before it disappeared from the market I would certainly have been a fan, for Morley's Best is a fine American style formula. The taste is nicely balanced, pure uncased burley with Virginia and latakia, with a flavor that's mostly nutty with a bit of tanginess. Toward end-bowl, there's a little bitterness coming through from the burley, but not enough to taint the experience. This is an old-fashioned smoke and a must-try for newcomers and seasoned pipers alike.

I opened my pouch of Morley's Best and the aroma was quite mild. I could smell a little latakia but it was masked by the burley. There was a mix of ribbon and cube cut leaves. I picked out one of my favorite pipes, a large Charatan Dublin, and filled the bowl. The burley dominated the flavor, which I found to be on the light side. I found myself looking for more latakia, or perhaps it was the Virginia base that I am used to that I was seeking. A little more flavor was evident toward the end of the bowl. Cleaning the pipe I saw that all the tobacco burned to a fine ash. After resting for a spell I chose a smaller pipe, A Comoy pebble grain bulldog. The smoke was similar to the larger bowled pipe with more flavor coming through at the end. I noticed the after taste to be quite refreshing.



After I put this blend away for a spell, I remembered that Bob likes to blend for a large bowled pipe. So I revisited the Morley's Best in an extra-large Tilshead. I have to admit that I noticed a greater depth of flavor that I didn't taste in a bowl that was merely large.

Not a whole lot to say, actually. Many years ago, when I was merely oldmanpipe, I wrote a more-than-scathing review of this blend, yet complemented the late Bob Runowski for making a spot-on copy of Blue Boar Mixture. Fifty years ago, when I first began smoking a pipe, Blue Boar was an early misadventure. My tongue burned, my head spun, and the coughing went on and on. When I encountered Morley's Best, I couldn't believe anything could be as rough as the original. It was. At least it made me feel 18 again for a few minutes. For reasons still unexplainable, I bought 1oz. with my latest order from Smoking Pipes this week. This is not what it once was. The color appears darker, the cut is finer, and I'm at a loss to find any cube-cut Burley. But it is somehow more palatable. No bite, no hacking, and the nicotine is moderate. The taste? Not much there. The Burley is about all that's discernable. That Latakia pops in and out, and the Virginia might be adding something, and would most likely be detected by its absence. The only way I can think to describe the taste is Edward G Robinson, without the fruit casing. The mechanics of the smoke are excellent. It lights quickly, stays lit, and leaves only dry ash at the end. The ideal road trip tobacco. Will I reorder? The jury's still out.

UPDATE: Though I'm still at a loss to explain myself, I did, in fact, reorder. I simply found this a comfortable and versatile smoke. It mixes well with Plantation Evening, or C&D's Crooner. It also benefits from a little infusion of Gawith, Hogarth #7 Broken Flake, as well as various combinations of any and all of the above. Interesting stuff. Fifty years ago, I fell for a drugstore blend called Brush Creek, and have been trying for the last 45 years to recreate it. Haven't succeeded yet, but Morley's Best, properly doctored, is pretty good. I detected no moldy taste, as another reviewer suggested, and certainly detected no cocaine, so that leaves beard dandruff. Maybe. Worth another star

I’m not very experienced with burley Latakia mixtures so this one surprised me. I usually smoke Balkan and just don’t associate the Latakia flavors with nutty chocolate burly notes. I’ve always been confused but intrigued by the components in Gawith’s Bob’s chocolate flake which apparently includes Latakia but have never purchased (rarely available and I don’t smoke many flavored blends). After playing around with Morely’s best I can attest that Latakia does work with natural burley nutty chocolate. I don’t detect a topping so I can’t say if it would work with with a chocolate flavored blend but the Latakia actually brings out the natural chocolate flavor of the burley. Burns exceptionally cool and the nic hit is medium. Been smoking it in the hot weather in a cob. Not sure I would buy it again as when I’m in the mood for Latakia I’m generally in the mood for a Balkan. But I’m glad I had the pleasure to enjoy what turned out to be a learning experience.

Just got my order of Morleys Best. Filled my pipe and WOW! What a kick. This blend of bur/Lat is a very nice combo. A little strong in flavor I'm assuming because it's a burley base, but a really nice flavor. The Lat mixes very well with this blend and is very noticeable so you really have to like Latakia to like this blend, which I do. Very pleased with Morleys best and will likely buy it again.