Cornell & Diehl Big n' Burley

This is great if you like the sour, nose tickle burley taste. At first to me it was sour, like the first time I tried Old Joe Krantz...but even after a few months in the jar and several more tries, I find no redeeming qualities to it. Edit: boy have my tastes changed since I wrote this! Like all burleys it needs jar time. It has a unique taste when “puffed” kind of like latakia gives you a different taste as such.

WOW! Now I can tell, without a doubt, what is in cigarettes. It's Burley! This blend is loaded with it. It has all the negative connotations that go with that. Actually, if you are switching from cigarettes to pipes, I recommend you stay away from this, since cigarettes generally taste better than this and might draw you back (I smoked Camel, all varieties even unfiltered, for 12 years). As someone mentioned, this will stay on your breath and nostrils for hours after it's done. The nicotine kick is immense, I started feeling lightheaded within minutes. The other tobaccos in this blend are unnoticeable. The smoking characteristics... don't matter because it tastes bad, smells bad and has a near debilitating nicotine effect. I can't recommend this. It's not just "big n' burley", it's burley overkill.

UPDATE: Oh my goodness! I've had the extreme pleasure of trying some aged B&B. I put up a quart jar of this wonderful stuff with a humidity button for six months. It has sweetened amazingly. Who said that Burley doesn't age? Anyway, it's so good that I'm staging six months in advance now. There's nothing better than a small cob of aged B&B with a beer or a cup of hot coffee!

I decided to try Big n Burley because it has good reviews and I was hoping to finally find a Burley blend that I like. Previous attempts with Burley have been booring, weak, and uninspiring to the point that I either threw the stuff out or cellared it mainly to avoid smoking anymore. Good news is I've found my Burley!

There's nothing booring about B&B. In fact, the wonderful sweetness and spiciness combine to make a very interesting Burley experience. The quality of the tobacco is also nice; no stems or woody chunks, just soft slightly moist good stuff in the bag. Bag note is sort of light roast coffee among other things. There's a very pleasant Burley flavor but I can also taste the Perique and Latakia. The spiciness and sweetness keep me interested well beyond the powerful buzz hits and I wish it could last forever.

This is the fourth excellent experience that I've had with Cornell & Diehl and I'm starting to suspect that I've found my favorite brand, especially considering the bulk prices. Basically what I have found is that C&D has high quality ingredients, not doped up with PPG.

This blend is just superb. All the way from flavor to strength. The Latakia stays in the background and keeps it pretty simple, and easy to smoke without thinking about it too much.

It's really just a nutty, creamy, kinda campfire spicy, kick in the face.

Four stars.

Big n' Burley is big beautiful Burley flavor. A nutty, full flavored burley backed up nicely with a slight smokey, woodsy flavor added from the latakia. The perique and orientals are not really noticeable however I'm sure they are necessary for the overall quality of this blend. All the sweetness and spice in the blend I would attribute to the burley and latakia. Overall, Big n' Burley is an excellent burley based blend with the slightest bit of latakia added. A must for any burley lovers.

Came a ziploc from C&D as part of a sampler. Chopped flakes, alternating shades of milk- and bitter-chocolate and had a slightly-sweet smell. I smoked it 4 times over 5 days in a new MM General because I kept trying to like it and really couldn't. The smoke begins with a false, papery, acrid note, which reminded me of Backwoods convenience-store cigar. This note diminishes during the first third of the bowl but never disappears entirely.

Other tastes begin to appear during the first third of the bowl and gain more intensity as the smoke continues. Coffee, carob and honey with a tiny whiff of sulphur. They would be quite pleasant without the occasional return of the "Backwoods essence." The taste lingers more as a residue than a continuation of the smoke and remains despite tea and a bite to eat. I'm starting to think I don't like Burley, since this "Backwoods flavor" keeps nagging me when I smoke tobacco that has burley in it. If you don't have that issue, this would be a great tobacco.

It's fairly strong, somewhere between GH Dark and Brown Flakes. It's nice, but it has some irritating angles, not least that it won't leave when its welcome is out. I never found myself looking forward to another bowl. Its nicotine content is its saving grace.

I'm still wondering about this blend. After four ounces, I still do not know whether I like it or not. Don't get me wrong, I do like it, but there seems to be something missing here. I think the condimental tobaccos are too light. They could easily be bumped up without any harm to the base of Burley.

The packing is not a problem because the leaf is so silken and soft to work with. The lighting is easy and the smoke is thick and rich. The acridity of the burley is not tamed completely here. That is what I meant about the condimental tobaccos. This could be smoother and more tasty if just a tad more Latakia and Turkish were added. The perique is not a problem here, the level seems just right.

For what it is worth, I will not be buying more. I think they missed (IMO) with this one by the slimmest of margins. I could add the extras myself, but that isn't why I buy tinned blends. I don't want to do the alchemy myself. Sorry to rain on the admiration parade here, but I just think this was meant for the ardent Burley fan alone. Cheers!

Another high-quality tobacco, expertly blended, from C&D. Fellow pipesters, this is testosterone in a pipe bowl. My beard grew one half inch whilst smoking a medium sized bowl.

The cut is wonderfully broken with some quite large flakes. Even the cut is manly.

The pouch aroma is alluringly nutty with some grassy notes.

Easy to load, light, and only a few relights. I too find it beneficial to tamp at it during your smoke.

From your first puff, the flavor is profound. On the strong side, the dominating flavor is indeed the burley. The skillful addition of the remaining tobaccos is what sets Big 'n Burley apart from the pack. The Turkish and Latakia support the burleys just enough to keep the smoke tantalizing without stealing the show. If I didn't read it for myself, I wouldn't know the perique was in the blend. There is a cigar-like experience with this pipe-weed, but it does not taste like a cigar. It is stout, rich and fulfilling. I smoke each bowl to the very bottom.

As others have warned, so I warn -- smoke this blend slowly and grant it respect. I suggest smoking it with your favorite beverage at hand. Tea or bottled water worked well for me. The smoke is cool, but this is burley and tends to dry the mouth.

It works well in the p.m. and evening. I've not noticed any benefit to smoking it in a particular type of pipe, or a particular size of bowl.

My review in a word would be -- Brilliant!

The name says it all, full bodied and burly like a good burly blend. Feels very English and has the strength of a cigar. This pipe tobacco is not for the feint of heart, not for those who have yet to acquire a taste to tobaccos. I loved it, a good smoke after a hard day at work