Cornell & Diehl Safe Harbor Flake

I am not used to giving C and D low ratings as. I usually really enjoy their tobaccos. This one however is just a very strong burly with an unusual flavor that I don't like at all.

It states it is a flake but came mostly broken in the tin. It has a very peaty pouch note and very moist. The color is a dark brown and even looks ominous. After rubbing out and letting dry, it packed easy enough in my pipe but upon lighting it had a very unusual flavor that I still can't describe, was very strong and rather harsh. As I smoked down the bowl, it just intensifies, and by the bottom of my bowl I felt like I had sanded my tongue. I have since smoked half the tin and get the same experience every time. This is just not one of their better blends, I normally like their burly but if this had been the first blend of theirs I had tried I would never buy any of their blends which I do a lot. Can not recommend at all. fun from this one.

I will begin with saying I like most C.& D. blends . Having said, that this is NOT your fathers Burley blend ! I think he would have better tastes in Burley! The only thing I can think of positive to say it burns evenly with at most with only 2 lights. That and an attractive container! I was given a tin of this and I now know what he was doing he was getting rid of it . After trying to smoke it I cellared the rest hoping it would get better with aging, WRONG. I have passed it on to another and his response was similar to my own. He said he " it was so bad he was tempted to lick his cats butt to try to get the taste off his palate". It was flake cut and looked good but that was IT. Knowing that everyone does not have the same opinion of Blends and this is mine just try it and I will be surprised if your opinion differs. I know NOW why C&D. discontinued it, This is some god awful stuff! .....again my opinion!

Safe Harbor Flake comes in a beautiful tin, presented as a broken flake. Mine came a bit moist, too, but I just left the tin open over night to get it right. The tin note was of wet hay, grass, earthy, roasted bread and very reminiscent of a cigar. I did not sense a topping, fermented Burley tobaccos only. So far so good.

When I smoked it felt like sand paper treatment for my palate. Rough, bity, very high on nicotine and awful tasting of a bad cigar. Slow sipping does improve digesting it a little, using a carbon filter doesn’t change much. In several pipes, sizes, shapes I couldn’t get it to a comfort level and I had even trouble to get past half the bowl. It does ghost your pipe(s) and the after taste is intense.

The closest description I came up with, is when you finished a cigar to the slightly moist remaining quarter, put that in your pipe and relight, you'll get pretty much SHF. The room note indicates the same. If you find this thought appealing, SHF is for you, but I certainly do not and much prefer Germain's Brown Flake or even a real cigar.

I gave this blend a good run with a half ounce sample from a friend and never could bring myself to enjoy it. The closest I came to liking this blend was when it dried out a bit, but even then I found it to be somewhat boring and it would always get to be very bitter about half way through the bowl, suppose that was because it smoked to wet or something, but I'm not sure. Bottom line, this one was not for me. It tasted like wet hay, some blends can pull this type of flavor off, but for me this one was not a success. After trying it in a few different pipes I've come to the conclusion that I would not recommend this blend nor would I purchase it again.

I wish I would've known about Tobacco Reviews before I bought this tobacco. The flakes rubbed out perfectly, and the tobacco burned well, but other than that, it was horrible! It tasted like a bad cigar. The nicotine content was very strong which is not to my liking. I couldn't even get through half a bowl. I would not recommend it to anyone, but there's no accounting for taste (perhaps some people would like it).

I am just plain stubborn. Despite many disappointing, and some downright awful, experiences with Cornell & Diehl, I have persisted in believing that this American company is capable of manufacturing a quality tobacco. Well, I am afraid that my most recent experience, this time with Safe Harbor Flake, has led me to finally conclude that I can now buy imported tobacco with a guilt free conscience.

While I acknowledge that I'm not a real huge fan of most burleys, I do ocassionally enjoy indulging in a simple and robust smoke. I have an affection for Carter Hall, and smoke this when I'm out and about running errands, or doing yard work. So I'm not a burlyphile, but neither do I harbor any ill will toward burley. This stuff, however, is quite simply downright crappy. If it is simply due to the fact that there were some bad cans that got out to the public, then I would be curious to know why C&D never bothered to issue a general recall.

Upon opening the can, I was greeted with a warm, slightly fruity aroma; something like Prince Albert on steroids. The even brown flakes were extremely moist, even in a can more than a year old. I dried a couple flakes for awhile, just to get them to smokability, and then loaded up and lit. The initial flavor was actually a lot like Carter Hall, only with a slight peppery feel on the tongue. The flavor bloomed and filled out for about a minute, and then disappeared. It seems that whatever flavoring agent used that resembled Carter Hall had quickly burned off. I was left with what I can only describe as "very Sir Walter Raleigh Like" (the regular, not the aromatic); very disappointing given the price.

About halfway through the bowl, the tobacco finally left SWR behind, and became absolutely chemical tasting. I realize that C&D creates a lot of their blends to be similar to some of the classic American blends of old, but I think they came too close to creating a classic drugstore blend. It lacked any real flavor; it created a very harsh smelling smoke; and it had the same acrid chemical taste found in the OTC drugstore blends. They have managed to create an exact replica of a $1.89 drugstore burley, but packaged in a $4 an ounce can. By the time I got toward the bottom of the bowl, this stuff was tasting like a bad bowl of Granger; same icky plastic like taste.

I'm not sure what the folks over at Cornell & Diehl are doing, that they have had so much trouble with the quality of so many of their blends. I cannot believe that they intentionally produced this blend to taste the way it does. And I cannot believe that they intended for Haunted Bookshop to be so dry that it nearly all blows away when you open the can. Nor do I believe they intended for cans of Kajun Kake to swell and pop while sitting on store shelves. I am now afraid to even open the remaining tins of other C&D blends I have cellaring. This experience has shown me once and for all that C&D is a company that still has many problems to work through.

In case everyone hasn't already heard, a good many tins of this tobacco were tainted due to God-knows-what disgusting chemical reaction. There might be some good ones floating around on the market, but not the one I was sent.

Don't fool yourself, if it tastes like all hell, it's not because it hasn't had time to grow on you. This was a single mistake amid a host of Classics from Cornell & Diehl and I have no doubt that it was only a sad fluke.

Tobaccos that I have purchased from C & D have always been of the finest quality. Until now. I bought a tin of this stuff and upon opening I found the tobacco packed and layered in a strange waxey sort of paper. The aroma was not very good. The stuff was so dry that when crumbled it fell apart and almost ended up like powder. I tried it anyway and I was not happy with the results. I tried misting some with purified water and the results were no better. Very hot on the mouth and poor flavor at best. Save your money and pass on this Burley. C & D has other very good blends from which to pick from.

For people that find McClelland's Virginia tobaccos offensive to their nose, they should try this. This stuff smells of rancid blueberries and tastes only marginally better. Not for me.