Cornell & Diehl Star of the East Flake

As I expand my experience of English blends I thought SoTE flake sounded interesting so I had a go. From the tin description it is a pretty heavy hitter in the Latakia department, 50% to be exact. I have had other Lat bombs before, notably Pirate Kake so this isn't my first experience.

The tin art is pleasing and interesting enough that I would grab it from a shelf if I didn't know what it was. When the tin is opened you find a nice semi-broken flake that is a gorgeous dark brown in color. The smell is soft, smokey Latakia, sour Orientals, and bready Red Virginias. They come a little moist so a little dry time may help. They stuff well and light well.

The taste is Latakia forward: smooth, creamy, smokey and slightly woody to my taste. Next I taste the Orientals. They are herbal, sour, tangy and give off a little of that incense flavor at the back. The Red Virginia adds a bakery aroma in the back to hold everything else up. This smokes incredibly slow. It reminds me of Black House in an odd way.

The taste is a medium-full. The Latakia is not here to play around and the taste coats your mouth in a pleasing way. The strength is a medium and as full as it is on taste I'm not sure I would want any more that that. Nice and cool burning even when puffed hard. A great smoke for a cooler day, though it can be easily enjoyed at any time.

Yes generous, spicy and smooth, this tobacco brings you into a siberian night at Christmas Eve. Let it burn slowly in your briar and nothing else will matters.

Questo tabacco è un regalo prezioso dei Master Blender della Cornell & Dihel, una ottima miscela in cui gioca il ruolo principe un gran Latakia. Sebbene sia il fratello del meno conosciuto dello Star of the East (ribbon) questo tabacco ha nella tipologia di taglio il modo migliore per esprimersi. E' una Stella e come tale va conosciuta, cortegiata e attesa. Se prendiamo una latta e la apriamo avremo un tipo di tabacco, Latakioso, di corpo e forza, ma se aspettiamo, almeno sei mesi dopo l'apertura, ben conservato nel giusto ambiente (Bormioli) e umidità si svelerà una vera Stella, una Principessa, che ci ammalierà con le note di terra e affumicatura, cuoio e paglia, con la dolce fioritura di fini cristalli sulla superficie che durante la fumata regaleranno docezza alla miscela virile e indomita.

Andiamo per gradi, la latta, presenta un disegno accattivante nel pieno stile americano della ditta; gli aromi a crudo sono pervasi dall'affumicato del Latkia, solo in sottofondo si percepiscono gli Orientali, mentre il Virginia è soffocato; questa la latta fresca. Dopo la conservazione...

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Si precepisce un aroma di camino: il legno dell'affumicatura, mescolato al sentore agre e speziato dei gran orientali (Agonya e Basma), mente il Virginia fa timido capolino, l'ottimo Flake nero (Latakia) e variamente paglierino (Orientali e Virginia) presenta sparsi, fini cristalli zuccherini; il dono che la nostra stella regala al suo vassallo che ha saputo attendere.

Arrotoliamo con pazienza i filamenti nel fornello della pipa, che dovrà essere bella ampia, e accendiamo; nota pratica per agevolare l'accensione alcuni piccoli filamenti li metto verticali, faranno da "miccia". Lo so è un processo lungo questo tipo di caricamento, ma non si deve corteggiare una bella signora? Non si deve attendere il momento magico dell'accensione? Quel momento in cui il tabacco torna vivo, crepita, si muove e cresce sotto il calore del fuoco?

I primi puff regalano subito il torbato, ma questo è un istante, il tabacco si fa subito rotondo nel completo equilibrio delle tipologie. Si mescolano, come in un gran cocktail, gli aromi. Il fumo è cremoso, pieno, e si alterna l'affumicato e torbato collo speziato, mentre il fruttato-paglierino del Virginai è il collante della miscela.

Eccolo! Il dolce, lo zuccherino che amalgama e inebria, è l'esaltazione orgasmica della miscela. Quando crediamo di essere all'apice del piacere il Latakia ci dona l'estremo godimento delle note d'incenso. Ora si che siamo al Nirvana dello "Star of the East". Tutte queste beatitudini sono regalate solo al quel fumatore che ha saputo avere la pazienza di fumare a "fil di respiro" senza mai surriscaldare, che ha usato il pigino quando lo si deve usare e quindi non ha mai riacceso.

La forza va conosciuta perchè tende a crescere e quindi chi non è esperto può ricevere una botta nicotinica.

Un tbacco da meditazione, un tabacco di coppia: il fumatore e la sua pipa; un fumo da meditazione, contemplazione.

La nota ambientale è particolare molto affumicata, che non a tutti piò risultare gradevole.

A chi è dedicato? Al fumatore oramai esperto che conosce gli aromi e ad essi vuoel dedicare il suo tempo.

Giudizio? 5/5. Altamente raccomandato.

This was a gift from a friend. Thank you for this my friend! Excited for I have another Lat Bomb English Blend to smoke. I enjoyed the last one immensely which was Pirate Kake. Wondered what this Lat Bomb would be like...

This one is 50% Latakia, Oriental/Turkish and Red Virginia I opened the bag and was greeted by a Rich Smoky aroma backed up by a strong earthy and woody aroma. This comes in a flake and I rubbed it out into smaller pieces and let it dry for a half hour. Loading was nice after it was rubbed out. This lit sort of hard and I had a bit of a time getting it going, but once it did it burned slow, consistent and had no bite, no moisture and left a pleasant camp fire room note. This was a medium to thick smoke that was creamy. While this didn't bite if pushed it had some rough edges This was a full tasting smoke with a slightly sour and sweet taste after taste that became sweeter as the smoke progressed and left a nice similar aftertaste for over a half hour after the smoke was done. Not an all day smoke and give on a good nic hit. This tobacco did not swell when lit as much as Crooner and Pirate Kake did.

Upon Lighting I was met by a nice medium to thick creamy smoke that did disappear at a medium pace. The flavors shone forth with the Rich Smoky flavor first and in a strong support role were a heavy earthy flavor and a strong woody flavor. Behind them were a slightly tangy flavor joined by light herbs and spices and a mild musty and light nuttiness. The flavors worked well together but the Smokiness was definitely in the lead. A mild sweet and sour taste was there also and it became sweeter as the smoke progressed.

This was a very, very nice smoke that I enjoyed quite a bit. It was full in flavor and well balanced so that the smokiness did not obliterate the other flavors. This one is a full smoking experience that leaves one feeling fulfilled when done. If pushed it will give off some rough flavoring but sipped it is a nice strong smoke that is very enjoyable. I give this a 3.5 out of 4 stars. If you like strong English blends you will love this, if you like a full flavored smoke you will enjoy this. Definitely on my list of favorites to smoke on special occasions.

The tin description says, it contains 50% of Latakia, plus Turkish and Red Virginia. The cut is that of a Broken Flake. Very easy to loosen and load your pipe.

I am a fan of heavy English mixtures with a lot of Latakia and ample Orientals. I love aromas of leather, horse-stables and campfire. Having this in mind, this blend is not really for me. This blend is mainly a game between a smoky (not woody/campfire-y/leathery) Latakia and the Red Virginias. The Turkish is definitely on stage too and donates a spicy twist, not consistently throughout the bowl though.

No matter in which pipe, it always needs several re-lights. This mixture does not keep me interested enough. I will not buy it again. I have other Latakia and Oriental favourites. Giving two stars I still call it “somewhat recommended”.

Not smoked lots of Latakia blends but I am really starting to like them. I could not sleep tonite so I gave this a spin. Tin date was 9/30/17. Popped it open to a smoky sweet aroma. The broken flake was dark with streaks of light tobacco dispersed lightly throughout.

I got my scissors and cube cut the flake and gravity loaded my Bing’s Favorite. I gave it a charring light tamped it and waited a minute and gave it a full light. I was met with a smoky sweetness that was extremely pleasant and not overwhelming. As I continued the tobacco mellowed and became sweeter. The Virginia sweetened the Latakia campfire notes and the spicy sour notes from the Oriental tobacco became evident on the retro inhale.

The basic flavor never really changed dramatically but had rather subtle nuisance changes. It required a few relights but burned cleanly leaving a trace of moisture in the bottom of the bowl. The nicotine was on the lower side of medium.

This tobacco has been compared to Penzance. Having had both I prefer the SOTE. Not all all day smoke but it’s really nice to close out your day. Pick some up. You won’t be disappointed.

The presentation is nice. It comes in a fairly neat (for C&D) broken flake. It smells of tangy smoke.

The taste is just all tangy wood, charred wood, tangy fruit, like stone fruit, leather and smoke, and it's just delicious. The Latakia is refined and not as brazen as you might expect. It's pretty silky. It's not the most complex of blends containing these components, but it's good at what it does with its own thing going for it. There are more complex blends out there with the same components, but this is just a solid blend. I really enjoyed it when I had it. I plan to get more in the future.

It burns okay, and there will be re-lights. The taste is medium to full. The strength is medium. The nicotine is noticeable, but it won't knock you over.

I recommend this to the lover of English and Balkan blends.

I am doing this to even out the stars. I don't know why I didn't review this blend before... Typical tin note, not typical taste. It seems that all the usual descriptions of the components are, as usual, applicable. What I love about this "flake" is that THEY ALL SEEM STRONGER than usual. The front flavor keeps shifting about, which often drives me nuts, but here it's great. No bite, cool smooth and sharp at once.

Opened tin revealed broken flakes not long strips or anything. Didn’t mind honestly because that’s how they were going to be dealt with for combustion.

This is an absolute superb tobacco. I’ve not tried the original so I can’t compare but this quickly shot up my list of faves. I couldn’t stop puffing, a 2 Oz tin lasted 3 days. More was ordered, I recommend you do the same.

EDIT: picked up four Oz of the original non flake version (10/14/18) today and very curious to compare the two.