Cornell & Diehl Exhausted Rooster

The first several draws did not fail the tin note. A sweet liquor-like flavoring. But … they don’t use Rum. No flavoring. Still, I can’t believe it. Does this distinctive note come from Perique or Burley? Or both? Whatever, if I follow my inborn sense, this is too much before breakfast, and it gives a bit of a sharp punch on my stomach along with the tangy, pungent taste. I don’t feel any coarseness, however. After the mid-bowl,VA comes in the foreground and what seems to be flashy odor lingers in the background, most leaving through the backdoor. I do not call it inconsistent. In other words, if likened to the world of colors, it’s like undefinable flamboyant colors are coming together to become one familiar color before it is fading out. Again and again, I check the tobacco description of this, which says “flavoring; None”...?

Cornell and Diehl really made me mad this time. I hate aromatics with a passion. Why don't they mention in the description that this is *heavily* flavored? It tastes like egg nog. If I had known that it had chemical flavoring I would have never touched it. I am one of those people who thinks that tobacco tastes like it should, without any help. And I know that any flavors you add to tobacco are going to increase the number of chemicals in the smoke. It is dangerous enough with plain natural tobaccos. When you add spices or flavors you add risk. Total fail.

I keep finding myself reaching for c&d blends. Lately they just seem to hit the spot. Anyway enough about that.

The two tins I had of this had a couple of years on them so that might sway this review.

Tin note: ketchup,sugar and spiced rum.

This blend is rather sweet to me, in a good way. I mostly get the sweetness from the Virginias followed by the rum and raisin of the perique. I don't find much of the burley in there. This blend is medium in the nicotine department.

I enjoy this blend. Not my go to blend but would like to try some young and see the difference.

Being new to pipes, Exhausted Rooster was my first experience outside of the standard drugstore brands. C&D jumped out at me with their tin art so I made them my first purchase of a quality tobacco. When I opened the tin, I was blown away by the amazing smell of fermented fruits. It was mouth watering. Rubbing out the flake was a fun experience for a newbie like me as well. After filling my cob and lighting it, I was amazed at the smooth and mellow taste it brought forth. The smell from the tin comes out very light in the smoke but even an inexperienced piper like me could pick it up; very pleasing. I'm sorry to say that I'm smoking the last of it as I write this review. Although there are a ton of tobaccos I'm still waiting to try, I know this one will be part of my budding rotation for a while.I almost hope nobody else picks up on how good this blend is so I can have it all to myself lol!! Give it a try.

The Exhausted Rooster, is it too tired to crow? I received a tin of C&D ER a while ago in a hit back trade and put it in my “smoking box”. While searching today for something a bit different the tin came out with a why not, the artwork is cool and my two favorite words in tobacco… Virginian and Perique. On opening it and working my way through the 3 layers of cardboard I'm searching for some tin notes. To say it had a rum aroma would be an insult to rum. This was almost vinegar. This mostly past and some hay from the burley started to show.

What surprised me was the cut. Listed as a broken flake it seems more like the intent was to produce a flake and with too much burley or not enough time, it was basically your first quarter inch cuts for cubing. Fairly dry with only a few minutes after finishing the cubing job, the bowl was filled and the char lit. A flash of spice from the Perique some nut from the burley but no Virginian to be found. First light became what the bowl was about. This was another blend of burley adding a little Virginian and Perique to make it sound different. Thankfully the alcohol smell was gone in the smoke.

The smoke has quality to it mostly added by the cut. Cubing this is the saving grace here. If this was a ribbon and the Virginian and Perique quickly burning off, a total fail. The cubes allow for an even release of a hint of sweetness from the Virginian and the occasional hit of Perique. With a little more of both would make this a smoke for the burley man's rotation. Towards the bottom the Perique steps up and matches with the hay and nut of the burley. The quality of the burley is defiantly above average and the tin should have listed it first. There's nothing Virginian about this, and it's a quality burley, so marketing this as a Virginian I believe hurt the blend for those looking for a burley. The finish unloads the vitamin N with a force, and the quality of the burley and the cut left a white and gray finish with a single tamp and one re-light. So I recommend this to a burley smoker looking for a quality burley that is really a full flake that fell apart into strips and a little Perique and heavy N. This is the first time I've run across a burly that could be cubed nicely and it does make a big difference. I'll be hitting back my traders with this as it was a surprise to enjoy a long smoke with a cube cut BURper.

I really wanted to wake up to the cock-a-doodle-doo of the rooster but that's probably not going to happen. This is a high quality mixture without a doubt so it gets a full three stars. I just can't smoke something that smells and tastes like a Cadbury rum and butter chocolate bar(IMO). When I smoke a virginia/perique mixture I want to taste only the natural tobacco flavors that are produced with that combination. If you like Virginia/perique mixes to have added flavors atop it's natural base then you would be hard pressed to find better then this and I would never hesitate to recommend Mr. Tarler's skillful products.

This one is a knock out. I expect flavor from my pipe and this delivers. My experience was very simillar to the previous reviews except the initial perique kick only lasted a couple minutes then it smoothed out quite nicely. Firey is a good way to describe this. I mean that in a very good way.

As far as tin aroma I can't figure exactly what it smells like but it made me rush to get it in a pipe, I'll put it that way. I have smoked mcclellands a lot but am finding the C&D products to smell and taste better to me in most instances. A lot of perique out there gets at my throat like burning tree leaves in an unpleasent way but this C&D is not like that at all. Until now I disliked perique, I think I am converted in this case.

This has a good kick to it but remains soft enough to enjoy. It smoked dry all the way to the bottom with no dottle, just ash. This tobac is the exact opposite of many others in the fact that it starts off sharp and gets better and better till it's over. Never dissapoints at the end and that often makes all the difference to me.

This is not a dark flake unless yours was aged a lot more than mine. I got mine straight from C&D at the pipe show and it was golden brown with small bits of stoved burley scattered about. The tobac is extreme high quality leaf but honestly I had to pick out more stem than I thought I should have.

I believe the magic in this one comes from the fired burley. It ties it all together. Very Nice, Firey and spicy yet smooth at the same time. Superb balance of flavors and does have some complexity. Perique complements the burley and the va keeps it from going sour. So very well thought out. I smoked it straight from the tin with no drying and was very surprised it stayed lit well and burned dry and cool, leaving my pipe dry and clean. I'll try a little air time but it is delivered at very nice moisture level and the tobac is springy when rubbed out.

Very nice and highly reccomended to someone who has a little experience. This could be a little too much for a beginner. My friend who smokes aromatics could not smoke this more than 5 min at a time. Said it was too much for him and I know he wanted to dump it but did'nt want to offend me after what I paid for it so he probablly is hurting right now in the tongue. Again it is a superb blend if you have a few bowls of english or straight va under your belt. If you are an aromatic smoker it might bite you hard and is not a good starting point to cross over- comprable to a good red va as far as tongue bite issues go.

I think you owe it to yourself to try this.

Update: not really smoking this anymore, I just can't find long term satisfaction in a burley. Still for those who like this kind of thing great tobacco.

I'll most likely come back and update this after a few more bowls in different pipes. I've smoked it in three different pipes thus far and will today fire up a deep and narrow bowl in one of my favorites. This, like most others, reacts differently to different bowls. So far it is a major thumbs up - for lovers of Burley. I prefer Bluegrass Melody (best fresh), Solani Aged Burley Flake as well as the Wessex stuff, Gawaith's shaggy Kendal Kentucky, Cumberland...you know, the darker Burley blends, unflavored thank you. While E. Rooster isn't exactly unflavored (the very slight whatever it is adds to the tobacco experience instead of sitting as a seperate flavor) the main experience is that of dark Burley with just a hint of Perique (a little less would have been OK - but it doesn't detract) and some VA to sweeten things out a bit. If you've ever smoked a really straight dark Burley you know it needs "something" to hang it's hat on. To complete that analogy, this is a dark brown fedora with a cocoa band pulled down over one eye with a wink and a knowing smile - a HIT right in the 9 ring...very, very good stuff.

Update: Two notes: One: This works VERY well in deep large bowls. I tried this twice yesterday in a monster sized cherrywood poker (long shank stem) and it was sublime. Two: While working on a trade to get MORE of this I discovered that C & D are now doing 8 and 16 oz. tins via their website. currently the pounders are going for $50 - to me, for this quality, it's a steal!

Prep: Arrives a bit on the wet side but about 15-30min with the tin open is sufficient.

Notes: The Virginias bring forth a nice combination of dark fruit and tangy/citrusy notes. The Kentucky is evident with its woody, earthy spice but I dont find it overbearing at all. The perique makes itself more evident with its plumy, raisiny, peppery character. 8/10 https://youtu.be/ZIs-XAiLDrY