Cornell & Diehl Exhausted Rooster

It's not marketed as a navy flake, but boy does it ring that bell for me... is that rum? That being said.. it's most definitely the burly component that jumps out as you work your way down the bowl... makes it something that pairs well with coffee rather than tea... perique is there but not in a bayou morning type dose... bravo. Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars... if you are in the right mood it's a 4... falling in love with Cornell and Diehl I must confess.

Addition... one of the best 'flavored ' tobacco on the market... you taste all the tobacco components.. the flavoring is slightly stronger than I would personally go for.. but it's delicious without being interfering

I considered myself lucky to find a Aug '12 can hidden in the back shelf of my local tobacconist. I rushed home and blew off the dust and popped the top. ahhhh that smell.. Had a bit of vinegar smell to it. But underneath the white lid was a beautiful row of golden looking tobacco pressed to perfection at the right moisture content. (Reminds me of Sunday Picnic) I went large and reached for my Peterson XL305.

Holy cock-a-doodle doo! The tin art gives you the impression this is a lazy rooster but this rooster is a fighter! The smell of the Va's start it off, but then it gets spicy. However, the perique is a bit in the background. The burley drives the blend. Then the nicotine jumps in the fight… and I mean Nicotine. I can handle my nicotine but boy this was a shock. I've smoked long enough to know when to the put the pipe down and going large at first smoke didn't help matters. I like the N drug but my knees buckled when I got out of the car after running some errands. This is a great old school smoke with some great flavor. Though the ingredients are common the blend and taste have a refreshing twist and freshness to it. I like it! However, newbies beware this Rooster likes a good fight. Smoke it up!

By and large I love C&D Vapers, and this sounded like it would be right in my wheelhouse. I was very disappointed to find it flavored very strongly with something medicinal tasting, like clove or eucalyptus, or maybe even mint (reminds me of something between Pepto-Bismol and Listerine mouthwash, ugh). Too bad, because the leaf in this blend doesn't need any help.

Well, I'm in the super-minority here with respect to ratings, so maybe it's an idiosyncratic response to the topping. The flavor description (i.e. "none") is just plain wrong. I fail to understand how over 80% of reviewers could miss this cloying spice flavor.

This was my first C&D blend!and i confess i am amazed!the tin appearance with the sketch of an exhausted rooster is very different than i was used to see in pipe tobaccos,haha!when you open the tin you instantly smell strong vinegar,plum,spices and citruses.the flakes look aged,they are soft,very managable.once rubbed it doesn't need drying time.lights easy and some relights might needed.while smoking the flavours are very tense and pleasing combining figs,plum,vinegar,nuts,citruses,sour and sweet notes.burns normal and medium hot to ash.the nicotine level is a bit higher than medium.the room note ia a bit tense.an all day blend?depends on your smoking profile..a must try?definitelly!this blend is a burst of flavours!i found very similarities with C&D red carpet.

I bought this bc I like va/pers and I like to expand my experience of the range in a blend style. And, of course the tin art lol. Poor bastard. At least he gets a smoke break. Initially they were out when I ordered it, and they got back to me by email when the had it again. Btw, the people at just for him are second to none on customer service. Actually got back me by way of a personal email. Thanks Amanda.

Tin note is not what I thought it would be. Very sweet, raisins, ketchup kind do of smell too. Presentation in the can is a mess. Not a bad one, but still. All chunks and such. Interesting color layering. You can a few different browns and golds in there. The flakes must be huge when they cut them. Doesn't matter too much to me as I prefer to rub it out.

The flavor is pretty full after about the first third. I think I'm beginning to pick up on the dark fired Kentucky flavor now. The perique pops up only here and there in the first half and makes itself better known in the second. Peppery goodness and hot a bit like cinnamon. (I put my finger on that after reading sillyoldbears review). I like this one a great deal now that I have gotten about halfway through the can I bought. It's grown on me. Also, I get a nice nic buzz off this one.

The last quarter of the bowl is turning out to be delicious. Full and earthy. I would definitely recommend this to va/per fan, or a full bodied tobacco smoker. I will most likely order more of this in the future, if not just try others from c&d. Happy smoking.

Update: it does much better in my opinion having some age on it. I left a tin of it in a jar for the last 8 yrs, and it’s wonderful now. I think the flavors came together a more. It wasn't as much of a slap on the charring light and smoked down easy, with a nice peppery flavor that I find to be delicious.

My tin is dated 4/8/2021

The tin note reminds me of the dried strawberries in those special K Kellogg's breakfast cereals. The topping, whatever it is, persists, and my tin has been open for over a month. The blend is moist and the moisture is persistent as well. The cut is beautiful and rustic like most C&D broken flakes.

The topping is immediately apparent in the smoke. The flavor of the tobacco is there, and it's a mixture of dried fruit, leather, nuttiness, and touches of smoke. To me the topping supersedes everything else and it's consistent throughout the bowl. The sensations are mostly sweet and sour and there is a bit of savoryness that peaks in every so often. I get mostly an overload of the tip of the tongue sweet and sour to the point of anesthetizing my taste. I found more complexity when retrohaling.

This blend doesn't smoke the best, probably because of that moisture. For many of the initial smokes it burned hot, and irritated my tongue. I let it sit in the tin so it could dry out some, and that improved the combustion and this was more enjoyable after the waiting. I could not get overlook the topping though. It annoyed the heck out of me, and seemed to dumb down the complexity that I would expect from a blend like this.

The strength is medium, sometimes mild to the point that it was smooth. It does produce lots of smoke though. The taste was mild to medium, and I expected more complexity and layers of flavors and nuance. I just didn't get it. That can be a good thing for some people though. The nicotine was there. I would say medium.

I would recommend this to Virginia lovers, if you don't mind the topping. The topping and the experience just didn't do it for me. Two stars.

This is a very well endowed rooster! No wonder it is exhausted. The tin description is right on: tasty it is. As with all Virginia/Pèrique mixtures, there's a sour/sweet undertone (at times peppery) that enlivens the smoke, making it more colourful and versatile. The added Burley helps to settle down the feisty character of the Pèrique, as well as the biting tendencies of the Virginia leaf. This is a smooth, friendly and easygoing smoke!. All in all a very nice Vaper with the presence of the Burley to soften the rough edges of the other two componentes. Medium strength, slow burning and, to put it in one word, delightful .

This one from C&D is magnificent. Awesome flavor, awesome spice. Gives my nose a terrific blast of pepper upon exhaling. I cherish that sensation. One of the very best "nose blowers" I have found to date. This blend has a myriad of intermingling flavors that keep revolving and mutating. Each puff has a new and delectable twist. Never a dull moment here. I am still unable to discern all the hays, grasses, figs and armadillo toes that the other more discerning members tout here, but I do recognize the flavor of an enticing and complex tobacco. Vapers are by far my favorite of blends and the added dimension of the burley makes this smoke just all that much better. This is a true keeper and will become one of my mainstays. If you enjoy this type of tobacco you will not be disappointed by the Exhausted Rooster. Cock-a-doodle-doo!!

Open a tin of Exhausted Rooster and you might think they've mislabeled it. The tin note is a bit fruity for this sort of blend. When I first popped the seal, it smelled pretty strongly of berries; almost like a blueberry pie with fresh tobacco on the side. After a few days of smoking and smelling it (a lot), the initially strong berry aroma has faded, and is now part of the mix of smells I get which are mainly that of Burleys and Viriginas. Additionally, its presentation is much nicer than most C&D "flakes" I've had. These flakes are mostly intact, which I certainly prefer over messy broken flakes and flecks.

The flavor is what's most interesting here, as Exhausted Rooster is a true flavor monster. Burley is the main thing I taste in this, with Virginias pretty close behind, and those flavors are followed up—and supported with that peppery sweet flavor—by what seems to be a perfect amount of Perique. The casings and/or toppings bring the flavor profile to whole other level by adding just enough of a "dark fruit" taste (I taste blackberry and raisin), and a hint of what could be rum. The twist that the casing or topping adds to this blend is a head-scratcher, but it's delicious. It just adds a touch; it's not a berry-flavored aromatic blend, not by any means.

The final notes are on nicotine and tongue bite. As with nearly every C&D blend I've had (around 30 by now), the latter isn't an issue at all. On the nicotine front; as C&D is well-known for their "biteless" blends, they're also well-known for making some strong blends, and Exhausted Rooster is no exception. It's not as strong as some others of theirs, but it's got a noticeable kick. Overall, an excellent blend which I definitely recommend. Mr. Tarler's a very talented blender. However I must admit to a bit of bias though, as I really love C&D's products—both their house blends as well as the Greg Pease recipes.