Cornell & Diehl Captain Bob's Blend

I am very surprised at how well this blend turned out for me. I knew that coming from C&D, this blend would contain quality tobaccos, but I wasn't sure how I would respond to the particular flavorings, especially grape. This has to be the most unique tobacco I have tried, so far; and I view this particular uniqueness as a good thing.

The presentation of the tobaccos in the tin is very impressive; it contains quite a colorful array of tobaccos. The moisture level is just right, and the cut of the ribbons was a good choice. When I first opened the tin and smelled the unique smell of good tobacco and grape, I knew I was in for an interesting experience.

Part of what makes this blend so appealing is that it is such a full-bodied, complex blend of tobaccos, yet it seems to take the flavorings in a very "natural" way. Obviously, with the inclusion of Virginia, Burley, Oriental, Latakia, and Perique, this is a full-flavored, English-style blend, but I don't think I've tried such a heavy blend with flavorings like this. The description on the tin states that this blend is "finished with a refreshing flavor." I have to agree with this; for some strange reason, there is something refreshing about this blend, especially the added flavorings.

Throughout most of the smoke, the only topping I detect is the grape flavoring, although I'm sure that the other topping flavors contribute to the overall taste as well. Despite the unmistakable presence of grape, the wonderful tobacco flavors are not drowned out by the flavorings--this is clearly an English-style blend with flavors added to enhance the overall taste. Again, I think that this is what is so remarkable about this blend; the natural tobacco flavors are present throughout the smoke.

As with some aromatic blends, the flavoring slowly fades into the background throughout the bowl, while the natural tobacco flavors become even more prominent. This blend definitely changes characters as the smoke progresses. One thing that is particularly interesting to me is how the other flavorings (other than the grape) become noticeable later on during the smoke, albeit in a very gentle, subtle way. When the bowl is about 3/4 of the way smoked, I notice a bit more of a creamier flavoring. I suspect that this is some of the vanilla, maple, and walnut making themselves known.

In regards to room note, I don't know what to say about this. Although many pipe smokers can't easily smell the room note of their own smoke, I do find that certain aromatics do lend themselves to being noticed even by the smoker. With this blend, the aroma of creamy grape is evident immediately upon lighting the bowl. However, I'm not sure how this blend would smell to a person passing by. It seems as though the blend has a pleasant scent like most aromatics, but I would think that the presence of Latakia would make the room-note a bit less sweet than a typical aromatic.

After some contemplation, I decided that this blend would probably be better smoked in a pipe dedicated to aromatics. While it has the component tobaccos of a full, English-style blend, the added flavorings make this blend more suitable for a pipe used solely for aromatics. This blend truly defies typical classification of pipe tobaccos. It is, of course, an aromatic, but I think this is the only aromatic I've had that contains Latakia and Perique.

Well, I think that about sums up my impression of this blend. C&D has really given me a greater appreciation for the art of quality aromatics. This is a very smooth smoke, and unlike some aromatics, it smokes dry and does not leave a goopy mess in the pipe. I can certainly see Captain Bob's Blend as being a blend that I would want to keep in stock.

Captain Bob's Blend

Just a little background on myself first. Maybe it'll make this review make more sense. I grew up in a Baptist tea totaler family. My grandfather smoked and drank himself out of a liver and bladder among other things. So, these types of libations were rather frowned upon. That being said, we never seemed to much mind a pipe smoker although there never were many of them around. I don't think my family did me a disservice, on the contrary I think it gave me a healthy respect for moderation. As I got older, I started to get a little suspicious of the anti-smoking movement for various reasons. A couple years ago I got very interested in pipes (one of my favorite bands in High School - a Christian band called The Newsboys has a guitar player named Jody Davis, the one who lives in AZ and makes REALLY beautiful pipes) and started doing some research. Long story short, I dived headlong into pipes and pipe tobacco.

I joined an online smoking community called My Pipes Community and met a lot of really great people there. One fellow in particular, Bob Coffey. Somewhat of an informal mentor, and a really great guy who also happens to have developed several blends of his own pipe tobacco. Shortly after I started smoking a pipe I received a sample of Captain Bob's Blend. Being a noob, the stuff was WAY out of my league but I could tell it was a high quality tobacco.

Over the course of the next year and a half I tried all kinds of pipe tobacco. My sense of smell and sense of taste are very acute and I tend to gravitate towards fuller flavors (very dark red wine, Guinness, well seasoned steak, maduro wrap cigars, English type tobaccos, etc…) and I gained an appreciation for very high quality, mostly non-aromatic pipe tobacco.

When the opportunity to really sit down and write a review on a bowl of Captain Bob's Blend, well, I jumped as quick as I could. I remember gaining a deep appreciation for it but beyond a few memories couldn't really tell you all that much. So here is my in depth review on Captain Bob's Blend, by Cornell & Diehl.

In preparation, I sat down with the list of ingredients. Tobacco: Red Virginia, Flu cured Kentucky Green River Burley, Carolina Virginia Brights, Ismir Turkish, Perique and Latakia. The topping (sauce) consists of grape, vanilla, orange, caramel, black walnut and maple. The pipe I chose to use was my Peterson Silver Cap straight billiard.

The first thing I did was take a whif of the jar, since smell and taste are so closely related. A lot of the reviews I have read on this blend concentrate on the grape scent/flavor. That is the predominant smell, but the first thing that hit me was the citrus. A nice little tang. The citrus and grape were tempered very well by vanilla. The blend is great to look at, it is very colorful. Each type of tobacco has its own shade and in some ways reminded me a little bit of a Picasso cubist-style painting. Unlike most topped tobaccos, this blend was not in the least goopy. It packed very easily.

The beginning of the bowl brought about some typical Virginia characteristics. Light, sweet but no tongue bite. It had another dimension, enhanced no doubt by the Turkish tobaccos. A very well rounded smoke for a light flavor, and the topping in no way overwhelmed the taste of the tobacco. I appreciated this aspect very much. As far as the aromatic properties are concerned, the grape and vanilla really complimented each other. Vanilla can be very bland by itself and grape can be just a bit “vertical” (for lack of a better description) in flavor. The orange seemed to stand alone while the other three combined to fill out the blend. The result is a very round scent - ball shaped if you will.

Room note is predominantly grape, enhanced of course by vanilla and maple.

I didn't have to re-light until I was well into the mid bowl. That was kind of nice as seeing the humidity level was about 2000% here in Southern Indiana. The burley starts to make itself known in the taste and nicotine content. Burley can be a bit thick for me sometimes but this was just enough to give the Virginia some balls, for lack of a better term. The English character started to make itself known but not in a typical, tangy Latakia sort of way. It gradually came into the room, unobtrusive and unannounced and *very* sophisticated. It started to make me wonder what the unsauced blend tastes like!

At this point it was apparent, this tobacco would most certainly be a crowd pleaser when walking on the river front. At the same time it will satisfy a pallet that needs a fuller, more complex flavor. I would also compare some of the flavor and aromatic properties to Autumn Evening (also by C&D) but not overwhelming in the maple and burley department. AE was a bit much for me.

Later in the bowl, the English tobaccos had made themselves very well known but again not in a moldy socks sort of way. The taste broadened in a way I've not experienced with pipe tobacco (some fine cigars perhaps) and at this point my analytical efforts took a hike. I sat back with my pipe and my beer and thought to myself “now THAT is what a well rounded, multi-faceted pipe tobacco SHOULD taste like!” Every puff made me forget what I was out there to do.

I should add at this point that cleanup is a breeze. No gooey dottle left to scrape out as with many aromatics.

Conclusion, this is a MAN'S aromatic tobacco. A lot of effort and a lot of thought went in to creating this blend. It is almost four dimensional.

Cornell & Diehl - Captain Bob's Blend.

Rather than Broken Flake, the label of Ribbon would do, it looks like any other blend under that title. The smell? Heavily aromatic. It looks a bit on the dry side, but to be fair I've had it in the loose pouch for a few months waiting to be smoked.

The first aromatic I taste I notice is the vanilla, and to be fair this stays very present throughout. This is shortly followed by some grapes. These two flavours seem to domineer the profile for the whole bowl; there may be some caramel, nuts, maple etc, but these are nowhere near as potent. The topping hides a lot of the tobaccos' traits, and gives me a firm bite. Captain Bob's blend burns steady, but can become quite hot. But, being fair, that could partly down to my storage not being adequate, and it becoming dry!

The nicotine's medium, maybe a little above, and the room-note's pleasant enough.

Captain Bob's Blend? I don't like it. The taste is messy, it bites, burns hot, and I won't buy any again.

Years ago I thought I had given up on aromatics. Like others, I found that either they never tasted as good as they smelled, or were mainly hot, sweet steam with little to no nicotine. Finally, I'm happy to say that I stand corrected. Captain Bob has managed to blend up a tobacco that has both a flavor to match the smell, and still has room to provide a decent tobacco satisfaction. While I would never have thought that grape would be anything I was interested in, I was gladly proven wrong. There is so much more here than a simple, flavored cavendish. This is a top shelf blend that I plan on stocking up on. Thanks, Cap!

I have had the fortune of trying some of the quickly becoming legendary Captain Bob's Blend from Cornell and Diehl who put this blend together after working with Captain Bob - one of their loyal customers - for years until it ended up just right.

Now I am not normally much of an English blend kind of guy, but with the reviews of the crew, I just had to try it.

When I opened the bag, the grape aroma definitely hit me along with a chemical type smell that was no doubt the mixture with the latakia in it. The blend lit very well and stays lit after the charring light.

As with a lot of blends, I did not expect to taste the grape nuance as much as smell it prior to light, but this blend was different. The slightest taste of grape really melded these tobacco's together and provided and extremely enjoyable and tasty smoke.

I find myself reaching for this when I need a break from my all day smoke. It delivers a consistent smoke that I find myself yearning for more than most fill in blends.

I can see this blend as easily being an all day smoke.

I had read about this blend coming and was excited to try it out.

I got a small sample of it and here is my take: First impressions are very nice. I love the smell of the tobacco, you can smell its english just underneath the sweet smell of a fruit tree field. It makes me thinks of a Grape Nehi soda mixed with apricots.

It packed well in my pipe and lit just as easy. The smoking was very very pleasant. Smoke was abundant and thick, and hints of a fruity flavor mixed with a fine leather were clear.It was refreshing to smoke. The room note made my wife want to try it as well. She said that this blend was her favorite since it made the room smell so good. I had no tounge bite and I have been known to be a super puffer. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will be buying more.

EDIT*

I smoked about 1.5 ounces of this blend. I have come to the realization that I just dont get along well with the heavy flavor casing on it. The three pipes i smoked it out of have such a ghosted flavor to them that I canot smoke anything else without tasting Grape. Each to their own. I will go somewhere else.

EDIT** 12/30/2011 I found my old stash of this. Man what a goober I was. This stuff is actually a great smoke. I am not real sure what i had going on when I made the previous edit. I think I was smoking way to many blends and just got "burned out" I would recommend this tobacco to almost anyone wanting a great smoke.

C&D Captain Bob's Blend is a good tobacco but not my cup of tea. The tin aroma is invitingly fruity and sweet, but it tastes entirely different than it smells. It is more of a rough cut than a broken flake, so it packs and lights easily. The moisture content is perfect. However, it does need a few relights to keep it burning.

So how does it taste? Well, that depends. To start, the flavoring is overwhelming and, IMO, not good. It reminded me of Dove soap. Fortunately, the top dressing quickly fades and the perique comes to the fore -- raisin and figs -- quite nice. By mid bowl, the Virginias make their presence known and predominate through most of the rest of the smoke -- nicely sweet. At the very end, one can taste the molasses of the burleys. I never tasted any latakia.

I give CBB credit for being an interesting tobacco. Few tobaccos that I have smoked have the range of flavors of CBB. I'm glad I tried it, but I don't intend to purchase again. It you are into non-traditional aromatics, you may like it more than I did.

UPDATE: The unlit tobacco smells strongly of grape soda. I've smoked this a few more times in a large Stanwell and, in the larger pipe, the Latakia is noticeable. Flavor-wise, CBB reminds me of Mac Baren Plum Cake. I like it much more in the larger pipe, so I've raised by rating to Recommended.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The more I smoke CBB, the more I like it. The secret is to retrohale frequently. This unlocks the full range of flavors and aromas of the tobacco, from the top dressing (which now reminds me of Juicy Fruit gum) for the first half of the smoke to the rich burley at mid-smoke to the Latakia at the end. Three-and-a-half stars.

The tin aroma is so strong it will permeate your tobacco cabinet and, quite frankly, a whole room with the strong smell of sweet grape. It completely overpowers everything around it.

After lighting, all I got is über grape with no tobacco flavor at all. Just hot, hollow grape and no support underneath it. The perfect stereotype of a bad aromatic. For the sake of full disclosure, I am reviewing this after only one bowl, but there is no way I would smoke a second. Just an unpleasant experience all around.

On a positive note, it was not a wet, goopy mess like other over-flavored aromatics (e.g., C&D Green River Vanilla). It actually came out of the tin at a reasonable moisture level. Too bad it does not have a reasonable flavor to go along with it.

I smoked this in a cob and the ghosting was so bad that I ended up throwing it out. Thanks for taking one for the team, Little Cob. RIP.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this one -- a lot of people clearly like it, but I seriously disliked this blend. It burned hot, tasted a little too much like grape candy and bit way too hard. I appreciate the occasional aromatic and have a serious affection for good American-English blends, but this one fell far short in both categories. Try C&D's Epiphany if you want a 4-star blend of this type (IMO, of course).