Cornell & Diehl Exhausted Rooster

From the tin this stuff smells like Haddo's Delight IMHO. Strong smell of fermented fruit, a little grass/hay, and hints of cocoa. The broken flakes are beautiful, medium to dark with flecks of gold mixed in.

Easy to load and light, whether you slightly rub the flakes a bit and stuff them in or if you rub it out all the way and pack your pipe. A light to medium packing does seem to work better for this stuff. It can burn a bit moist, which can gurgle a bit....I find slowing my puffing helps with this though. Took a few matches to light, but once rolling firm tamping will keep it going.

I know the description doesn't mention any topping, but I swear I thought, at least through the first half of the bowl, that there was chocolate added, or something similar, as a topping. It may be just the flavors combining that give it that aroma and flavor though since it's not overly sweet or like some heavily cased blends. I detected tangy, dark fruit, and sweetness from the VAs. Nuts and chocolate from the burley, with just a tad bit of wood. The perique seems more plum and fruit forward than peppery, but there is just a tiny hint of spice. now and again All these flavors blend well together to make a flavorful, enjoyable smoke. I was surprised how much I liked this tobacco, as it doesn't seem to be like any other Va/Per or Va/Bur/Per I've tried. I would almost put this in the aromatic category based upon my experience, though again it's not overly done.

This is good stuff...upgrading to 4 stars now since I haven't been able to stop smoking it since I popped the tin.

This is a great tobacco! C&D keeps me coming back for more with entertaining tin art and outstanding blends! ER grabs you from the tin opening with a fantastic fermented fruit smell. The ribbons rub out nicely and stayed lit. The taste is wonderful with the tin notes playing throughout nicely in the background. I am a pipe/cigar smoker from way back and I can say this is at the top of my list for a great smoke.

in my opinion a very balanced tobacco. Taste according to my opinion: Slightly sweet, with hints of bread and molasses and also some small hints of something that reminds me of cinamon. This tobacco goes well with flavours like a good stored Rhum and/ or Whiskey.

Im new to pipe smoking so i'm reffering to flavours i know instead of different types of tobacco.

From a fresh tin this is truely a great tobacco. This blend of broken flake is golden and smells great in the tin like rasin mixed with a touch of heaven!

Burns to a white ash right out of a fresh tin (no drying time needed) has a sweet flavor from the start from the virginias and developes rather quickly to a spicy peppery flavor. This blend would be best as a evening smoker with a good scotch/whiskey or strong coffee in my opinion. A nice oaky red wine would also do well with this blend. The perique really comes out halfway through the bowl and dominates the finish. Strong nicotene kick with thick smoke. The room note would be slightly offensive to the non-smoker but rather intoxicating to smokers. Overall this in my opinion is a top shelf tobacco for the experienced smoker.....aeromatic lovers need not apply.

With each bowl of Exhausted Rooster it has steadily climbed to my #1 spot of all- time favorite blends, sharing the podium with Sunday Picnic. Being new to C&D blends, I sampled over 40 of their fantastic blends and Rooster was the tin I finished first! That tells you a lot! I love vaper blends, but the addition of burley makes for an incredibly deep & tasty smoke, leaving a lasting impression.

It can be a bit difficult to smoke if not rubbed out and aired properly, but once you are fully acquainted with the Rooster, you'll have a life-long friend!

After spending some time trying this magnificant flake in different pipes and varying stages of rubbing out, I have welcomed the Rooster into my fold of tobaccos that I vow to never be without. The flakes come slightly broken and a tad moist for my preference, but after a brief dryout the Rooster smokes great in whatever incarnation of rubout you prefer. The tin note is staggeringly delicious as many have said (I will add "eggnog spiked with Gosling's rum" to the list of descriptions). If you are a fan of dark fired burley you owe it to yourself to try this one, the burley is delicous and assertive and the flavor sitcks with you for a while after you are done. It has that "just right" amount of sweetness that I enjoy and a pleasantly medium amount of vitamin N. There are some great cigar-like flavors and aromas, and the room note is fantastic (for me, anyway). If you have a passion for BurVaPers like I do I simply cannot recommend Exhausted Rooster enough. Slainte'!

At last, me lads, one from C & D or G.L. Pease that I can truly enjoy.

The previous reviewrs have summarized this tobacco very well already.

Suffice to say my tin was dated May '09 when I opened it today. Yes, there is a topping similar to eggnog that will be present in the taste when smoked, bringing a refreshing addition to the sweetness of the VA, the slight nuttiness & smokiness of the DFK, and the occasional punch of the Perique.

It smokes very well, has a good dose of vitamin N and I thouroughly loved it.

I will buy more and I can garantee you that this one will become part of my top 5 favorites.

You must try the Rooster!

I was a bit put off by the "vinegary" aroma in the can. Fortunately, the can aroma doesn't affect the taste of this top shelf offering.

Despite what the label reads, there seems to be more than "a dash of Perique" in here. Not that this is a bad thing, the Perique blends perfectly with the Virginias and Burley for a satisfying and tasty smoke.

Can't find any faults with this one...VaPer lovers should definitely give Exhausted Rooster a dance.

I bought this tin in December based on the name and tin art, and it was definitely better than expected. When I opened the tin and saw the loose broken flake and the marbled and consistent colors of yellow, burnt orange, and brown my mouth began to water. The tin aroma was like plump juicy raisins in a fresh made fruit cake. I did not bother with drying it out as it felt sufficiently dry to the touch as I loaded my first bowl after rubbing it out. Sipping the unlit full bowl brought the raisin taste to my mouth along with background notes of dark fruit.

My initial impression when I lit the bowl was that the blend was pretty bland other than a light spiciness which was most likely the perique. After my first tamp, the raisin-like taste came back full throttle with more of that underlying darker taste that danced from a dark rum back to a dark fermented fruit pulp. The taste of a rich, but not sharp, fruit cake is the best way I can describe this blend. These flavors stayed down to the light gray ash at the bottom of the bowl. I did not find this blend to have a long finish, but it did leave a nice and toasty room note.

I found after having this in my rotation for a week that I preferred it fully rubbed out in a briar, but enjoyed a whole flake stuffed in a cob or meerschaum. Note that I do tend to burn my cobs and meerschaums hotter than my briars. I will definitely be buying more of this to cellar to see how it develops with time.