Cornell & Diehl Billy Budd

First let me say that I like strong tobacco. I am also a twenty year cigar smoker. I find myself torn with this blend. First, at the risk of redundancy this is a full bodied, smooth, cool burning tobacco. I find it also has a slight sweetness. It packs well and comes pouch ready to smoke. My issue with this is that it simply has too much cigar leaf. If I want that much cigar taste, I'll smoke a cigar. It leaves a very strong ghost in the pipe. I do like blends with cigar leaf, especially the like Compton's Cuban Style. But I prefer cigar leaf in blends that are more balenced. This weed is worth a try, just be sure to dedicate a specific pipe to it. Two and a half stars.

Cornell & Diehl - Billy Bud.

This is a review based on the bulk variety.

Perfectly moist, fairly dark, and rugged are the first things to come to mind. There's also a negative that fits in with one of these descriptions: it contains a few twigs. As well as the twigs, it contains a myriad of sizes and shapes. It's mostly dark brown, but as well as the brown there's a small amount of black pieces, and a few lighter ones.

I like the smoke enough to award it two points, but I find it somewhat boring. The Cigar Leaf blocks the way quite heavily for the other flavours. The Latakia can only offer a very mild spice, and the Burley gives just a little nuts. For me the Cigar leaf hogs the profile; this is one for lovers of Cigar Leaf. The nicotine's strong but I wouldn't say it's any more. The best feature of Billy Bud, for me, is the burn: it's very reliable.

This is a well made blend, but you'll need to like Cigar Leaf:

Somewhat recommended.

Billy Budd is an in-your-face blend that you are either going to love or hate. I wouldn't go so far as to call it harsh, but it is an unapologetically full tobacco. BB was not a love at first light experience for me. The Latakia and cigar leaf combination was initially off-putting to me. I feel the Latakia flavors are kind of muted in this blend because of the maduro leaf which makes it less appealing to me. Overall, it just seems flat to me.

I only smoke this tobacco with a stiff drink. I find the strong bitterness of the cigar leaf is cut well with some bourbon, scotch, or whiskey. Otherwise, the flavor seems to linger on my toungue a little too long. Not an everday smoke for me, but perfect for chilly evenings by my backyard fire pit.

Tried BB two years ago, when I got back into pipesmoking after a 20+ year hiatus. At that time, I found BB to be interesting and complex, but ultimately too strong for me to enjoy. A month ago, I thought I'd give ol' Billy another try. After a couple bowlfuls, I can say Billy Budd is very tasty and complex, but prohibitively strong for me.

Full disclosure: I have also revisited Habana Daydream and enjoy it.

YMMV.

I received this as a sample from the local tobacconist. I was looking for something to enjoy on a cool evening when I came across this. I loaded up my Peterson bent apple, grabbed an ale, and sat down to see what the deal was.

I like this tobacco. Rather, I really want to like this tobacco. There's plenty of latakia, but not too much. I found cedar, spice, and a variety of subtleties that reminded me somewhat of Penzance while still remaining distinctly different. It smokes a tad hot. When I settled down and smoked it gently, I enjoyed the flavors. However, there's something about Billy Budd that doesn't quite fill out completely... Being a VaPer guy, I might be slightly put off by the cigar leaf (I like cigars, just not in my pipe) so I can't really say I love this blend. It was just "okay" for me.

For English smokers out there, or VaPer fans who're interested in something a little different, I recommend this. For 'dyed-in-the-wool' VaPer folks, this could end up being a miss. My $.02.

This is another "modified" English mixture, since not have Orientals and have Cigar Leaf (when? no noted!) The latakia cannot be detected when smoking, In the pouch well. almost tasteless,better in the pouch than when smoking. another common mixture, not impressive for me. Try when you want a Latakia blend that seems cigarrete tobacco.

Coarse cut tobacco with big chunks of cigar leaf and latakia and broken virginia flakes; difficult to pack especially in a small pipe. Doesn't light easily, doesn't want to stay lit. Doesn't burn hot though or doesn't bite even after all those relights.

Smoked a bowl when I first got it and tossed it into a mason jar for about about 3 months.

I don't know if it's too much latakia or cigar leaf or maybe my butchered-by-cigarette taste buds but pretty much all I get from the Billy is a harsh smoke and a harassed throat. It's leathery alright but not the usual sweet and leathery flavour I get from other latakia blends but salty and pungent; almost bitter.

See you in another 3 months Billy!

*

After almost 3 months I am smoking this once again. It still doesn't wanna burn evenly, still pungent and musty yet the bitterness is gone. There is something about the latakia in this blend; it's very different from the latakia from other latakia blends I have been smoking. I don't know how or why it happens but I guess I like other latakias better...

Billy Budd is not a boring smoke but it isn't exactly a superb one either. It has a tendency to burn harsh, taste bitter and out of balance. Of all the times I have smoked this, about 4 ounces altogether, I counted two instances where I experienced something in the realm of what the blender most likely intended. Or perhaps these two instances weren't what the blender intended, (ha ha).

For the most part Billy Budd tastes muddy with very little in the way of subtleties or dynamics. No doubt, this is strong tobacco with a full blown, open-throttle flavor. I'll definitely give it that. However, it's just not my cup of tea. If I feel like settling into a big-flavor, nicotine laden latakia blend, I would rather smoke Hermit's Ten Russians.