Cornell & Diehl Safe Harbor Flake

After reading some of the reviews here, I tried a second tin to be sure I didn't get an anomaly. It appears I did not.

This is the worst effort I've tried from the good folks at C&D. I love many of their blends, with Haunted Bookshop being in my top 5. Maybe my negative opinion is due to high hopes for a burley flake from C&D, but I don't think so. I tried to like this blend, I really did. I simply could not find anything positive.

First, it is not a flake by any stretch of the imagination. I love Craig and C&D tobaccos, but this is not a flake. It falls apart immediately and soon turns to unsmokable dust. Finally, it comes far too wet and trying to dry it results in the topping evaporating leaving you with a bitter, dusty mess.

I simply cannot imagine what some of the reviewers here could be thinking to compare this to other quality burley flakes like Edgeworth Slices, Wessex Burley Slice, or Solani Aged Burley Flake.

With a fresh opened tin, I found this to be a smooth and unique Burley Flake that breaks apart upon the slightest touch. It loads and lights easy, burns dry and cool regardless of preparation method. Great with a cup of coffee. However, the topping begins to diminish after a tin has been open for a few days. This greatly changed the flavor in a negative way for me.

I just bought a 2 ounce tin of Safe Harbor and during the first few minutes into the first bowl, I knew I was going to buy more. I've read other people's opinions on this blend and don't taste the molasses/vanilla sweetness that others mention. There is a slight sweet/sour component which hovers in the background, adding some complexity to what is basically a very round, gentle burley. Though it's advertised as a flake (and comes in a sliced cake) it breaks off into a irregular pebble cut. Some have commented that their tins were too wet to smoke right away. And while I'll agree there's a little more moisture in this one than many C&D blends, mine smoked beautifully without any drying out. Just make sure you don't pack the pipe too tightly, leave some air between layers. No bite and little alkalinity with this blend, so I can load up another pipe right away; but I find it pretty satisfying so rarely do. I give this 4 out of 4 stars. A solid winner.

In short, this is a great burley! Previous reviewers have likened the subtle flavor from eggnog, vanilla, licorice, brown sugar to molasses. The flavoring is hard to pinpoint but I will agree with a molasses / brown sugar taste. I also tasted wisps of cocoa and chocolate. Regardless, the taste is why you perceive and if you perceive a taste you like, you will like this blend. The flavoring is not overpowering or overly sweet and it dissipated somewhat as I progressed down the bowl into a truer, cleaner, honest burley smoke.

The tobacco is very moist and comes wrapped in a ball of thin, white paper. To quickly get it in a more smokeable condition, I spread the tobacco out in a plastic mixing bowl and placed it directly under a hinged 75 watt lamp for 5 minutes + -.

This isn?t a true flake????yet. It is more of a broken flake for the time being. But as Craig Tarler mentioned in a recent ASP post, flakes are difficult to produce and blenders, unlike pipe smokers themselves, are loath to share their methods, secrets, tips and tricks with each other.

Quoting Craig, in part, from his post:

?SH has some rough cut burley and that's causing the flakes to break up. We will correct this. Please bear with us until we get the fix. FWIW, flake is extremely difficult to make and "Gimbels doesn't tell Macy's" when it comes to getting information.?

The old maxim says ?A high tide floats all boats? but I have no doubt that Safe Harbor Flake will ?float YOUR boat,? ????even at low tide! ?Harbor? some of this flake in your cellar! Good stuff! Hats off to Craig and, if he had any hand in it, hats off to Bob 'The Polish Tobacco Prince? Runowski as well!

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this blend 9.8 out of 10.

I was surprised again when I opened the tin based on the cut description in the header for this blend . I don't consider what I received a flake but rather a cube cut and don't know if the blend is offered in multiple types. As a flake, I'd probably rate it ****. The rather moist tobacco is hand wrapped in a small bundle of white paper that makes packing difficult if done directly from the tin. However, overall an effortless smoke results. Smokes evenly, cool and dry without any hint of bite and with a mild, enjoyable, nutty flavor. If you enjoy burleys, give this one a try.

This is a good all day smoke. I just scoup us some broken fibers and drop them in the bowl with a light tap.

It seems closer to the recently demised European version of Edgeworth Slices than does Wessex's (which is sweeter like the Richmond original, but still full sized flakes), but this is a broken to fully rubbed flake and on the lighter side than Edgeworth.

Neverthless, whether a dab of licorice or brown sugar passed over the flake, this is a little bit of extra fragrance added to accompany the white burley base. Pleasant, nutty, and light.

Mild as May aroma and taste. Cool and dry but don't puff too fast, as flavor is light and will be lost. Better than the protype previously offered by C&D which was grandular and burned too fast IMO.

Higly recommended for nostalgia and as an excellent all day smoke. Mild as May. I dig it but if you want fuller, try some estate Edgeworth or go to Wessex.

After the topping burnt off it was terrible. Just nasty stuff. I’m not a burley fan, but this was over the top bad. Just terrible. I understand why it is no longer in production. I regret keeping 2 tins in my cellar for so long 🙁

Too late for our 2018 NASPC show, I bought three tins of this blend from an Ebay seller (You know, back when we had the freedom to do that sort of thing) and put two of them on my 2019 table. A long term smoking buddy of mine came to the table to help, saw the tins, exclaimed "Oh, you've got these" and scarfed them immediately. This led me to believe that it was a descent blend and people liked it. Then, I read our reviews and all I can say is-wow! Its not often we, as a group, feel this negatively about a blend we have just tried. So, let's open this sucker. Now, I feel I should tell you that I have opened off-gassed tins before that were bulging, but nothing like this tin. With both the white plastic lid and the white background of the paper label yellowed with age, this thing was distended so strongly that it spun around on it's bottom like a top and the pull top was straining at the seam to pop. I have never, in my sixty tears of pipe smoking, seen a pull top so taut. Stupidly, I held it in my hands and pulled and-it exploded! It didn't go "pop", so much as, "pow". In reaction, the tin flew backwards out of my hands and the gas rush hit the bottom of my left index finger and left a red area like I had hit it on something. Now, how's that for an exotic tin opening? So, drama set aside, what do we have? Well, it used to be flakes; now about half rubbed out and damp enough to make me wonder just how wet was this tobacco when new? Very dark umber brown in color, there is very little that is even, somewhat, lighter. Then, there is the aroma. Strong after all these years and smelling like a winey apple spice cake that is well aged. I set a wad of this stuff aside to air out and checked every now and then until ready; about an hour and a half. Every time I checked on it the aroma was weaker until it arrived at a smokable state with an apple aroma. All winey and spicey aromas now gone, we have an apple flavored Burley; not an experience I was looking for. I lit up and discovered that the apple flavor did translate to the smoke in the upper third of the bowl. Then both the apple flavor and my enjoyment went south for the remainder of the smoke. I am in agreement with reviewer Doctor Thoss 2007-11-11 who noted an initial burst of flavor that went limp at the 1/3 point. After the first bowl, I lost any desire to smoke this blend straight out of the tin. I did try blending with it; to limited success. It dominates other tobaccos in mixtures and was not useful in increments > 25%. All in all, a weird experience that never actually offended or anything and I somewhat, hesitantly, recommend it at two stars. Two stars because you will never open another tin with this many sugar crystals in evidence. I removed flakes that were absolutely encrusted with them; to the point that it reminded me of fish scales. And, as if that weren't enough, the paper liner in the tin was festooned with white sugar crystals growing out perpendicularly from the side. If you can find a tin, you will be treated to all of this and more.

if you are looking for solid flakes for fold n stuff this may not be for you. the flakes in my tin were broke up into long strands. work great for rubbing out, not so much for fold n stuff.

smell reminded me of corn silage from when i was a kid, pleasant on the nose, earthy.

easy light and stayed lit. lots of smoke and a pleasure to smoke.

even with the broken up flakes i'll buy again