Cornell & Diehl Poplar Camp

I have recently been rediscovering or finding new blends by C&D that I've really enjoyed. This one is new to me, but what a great blend it is. It's one of those with slight VA sweetness and fine no nonsense tobacco flavors. It's priced right, available, comes at the right moisture level, is easy to pack, behaves in the bowl and leaves you wanting more. To me the Perique isn't forward...just sort of peaks over the others' shoulders now and then. We all have our own 'tastes like' things and to me this isn't like Haddo's or Redwood at all. I do find flavor notes that remind me of Solani's Silver Flake. Unlike some others I don't find it all that strong and having such excellent straight flavors and bahaving so well...it could easily be considered a candidate for 'all day' status. Excellent. My highest recommendation.

Having become a big fan of Va/Pers and being inspired by the long running thread by 'Slow Triathlete' on Smokers Forum, I'm always looking for that hidden gem to introduce into the mix. Two things led me to this blend. First of all I have never had any luck with C&D blends in the past and knew with the esteemed talents of Craig and Patty Tarler that the fault was not with them but with me. Well, persistence does pay off sometimes. Secondly, I'm sure like many of you that I spend way too much time on this site. "Hi, my name is Jack and I am a tobaccoreviews.com Addict". "Hi Jack!" Anyway, there haven't been any reviews of this blend in two years and yet they were all very positive with comparisons to 'Haddos Delight'. I've never heard any mention of 'Poplar Camp' on any of the forums. So of course this was all the incentive I needed to take the plunge. JACKPOT!!! I love this blend. For me the taste and aroma reminds me very much of Peterson's 'Irish Flake' and that is a really good thing. Plus you get the added benefit of the Perique that just makes it that much better. Good strength but not overly so, great natural tobacco taste and aroma with no bite. The Perique is certainly front and center the entire smoke but well tempered me thinks by the black cavendish. This is a great Va/Per that merits your considerable attention and well deserves a revival amongst the Va/Per enthusiasts. Oh yeah by the way it goes really good with a glass of 12yr. old 'The Balvenie Double Wood' Single Malt Scotch. NICE!!

This is a strong VaPer, with a lot of Perique. Half of a small bowl and I'm getting light headed. I've made myself sick on this blend multiple times, but I keep coming back to it because it has such a unique taste. Like almost all C&D tobaccos for me, if I smoke this one quick it can get harsh, but a nice easy draw can be very rewarding. There are some sweet raisin notes to find, but they come and go. Its the nice woody/oaky flavor that keeps me coming back again and again. I get a lot of nice spice on the back of the throat, and a semi sweet oak flavor that is quite full bodied. If you've ever done wood carving or wood working, this blend will bring back those memories. I believe that this blend does best with very little air flow, so I find a chimney works great. I tend to keep one finger over the bowl as well. I've fought and fought with this blend but I think once you learn this one it can be a very unique experience; it is not like other VaPers.

General Comment for All C&D Blends. So far, all my samples have burned clean and dry. They contain quality ingredients. If purchased fresh from C&D, I find that I must adjust the moisture content, and let them rest for 3-6 months before sampling. They change flavor dramatically in just a few months.

This batch is now one year old, and it has definitely improved with age. In appearance, it is very attractive looking and composed of short cut ribbons (flakes) of Virginia, Cavendish, and Perique with a decent mixture of both dark and light pieces. In taste, it is similar to, a very mild version of Two Friends Redwood, but much more muted and not as tangy. It is not an extremely bright, perky, peppery, lemony, Virginia. It is deeper and more mellow and more complex in flavor. However, it is brighter and more flavorful than another favorite of mine, Patriot Flake. Noticeable is the taste of the base Virginias with the Perique popping in and out and with the Cavendish adding a meaty component. The flavors of the different ingredients come forward with enough frequency to keep it from being boring or singular in taste. As with other C&D blends, it gathers strength near the end. Its nicotine content is above average, and it has the C&D zing if blown out through the nose. It burns clean and leaves a whitish-gray ash with no dottle. The pipe stays dry. Pipe cleaners are not required during the smoke. I really enjoy the meaty component that I find in most C&D blends. For me, there is absolutely no bite compared to what I experience with other well known Virginia blends. It is a happy and fun mixture, and could easily be an all day smoke for some. Over time, it has become very friendly and enjoyable to me. It is reasonably priced and easy to puff. I plan to always have some around. If you are having trouble with biting Virginias, give this one a try.

Tin presentation is nice. Good looking ribbons, and some chunkier bits. Assorted gold and browns. Tin note is natural with a strong whiff of perique and a bit of tang from the va. Moisture level is perfect.

Packs well and lights right up. Didn’t want to go out at first, but on the true light it smoked beautifully. The initial light was all Virginia and then the perique popped up and made itself known. The va is citrus to me, like most va. The perique is more pepper and less fruit. The cav has to be in here for a support position, to kind of smooth out the edges. Delicious flavor to it. A bit of twang, with a kick yet sweet enough to be an all day smoking blend for me. At about a third of the way down the bowl. Darker and more earthy. I would swear there was some burley in this.

Burns well all the way down and I didn’t need a relight. The nic is just shy of strong. Somewhere around the last third of the bowl is when I noticed the nicotine being more than I thought it was.

It reminds me a lot of my daily smoke, Irish oak. It’s different enough to make me interested in the flavor changes. Being a bulk only blend may be why I’d never noticed this one before I heard Jeremy reeves plugging it on Smokingpipes video blog. I going to buy more of this one soon. Good solid va/per in my book, with a bit of something extra.

9/30/22- This has become my daily. Buying it by the lb now.

I thought I reviewed this blend this past winter (2019) but needless to say, I did not, and I am glad I hadn't. Because now coming back to Yorktown, in the figurative sense, I find it to be much more appealing than I did before. I watched a video on YouTube from Cornell and Diehl with their master blender Jeremey Reeves talking about the Virginia tobaccos they use in their blends, which are primarily brights and reds. I watched him describe the two types that he had in two clay pipes in the video and breakdown the taste variety in each tobacco. I found this to be very intriguing, which in turn led me to think about what blends I had by C & D that were only VAs and Yorktown was spot on. This blend is pretty much identical to what he was smoking, excepts the reds and brights were blended together.

**REVIEW** This is a fantastic blend. I have been smoking this on and off all day and it could easily and likely be my go-to all-day blend. There are very light zesty, citrusy notes from the bright VAs and a very nice amount of sweetness here but by no means overpowering. It gives off nuances of green apple, warm bread, croissants, and an almond-like nutty taste. The reds come through in a richer fashion which produces notes of figs, some dark fruit, and caramel and molasses undertones. Overall this blend is well balanced, produces no bite, and needs a fair amount of relights. It's well rounded in the sense that it hits on the lighter and darker notes of both Virginias. The flavors are picked up in every puff and are consistent from start to finish. Yorktown's pleasant sweetness is also noticeable in the room note which smells very nice. It does not get harsh, but I would recommend a slower puffing cadence to really experience all this wonderful blend has to offer. I intend on buying this blend in bulk as it is not overly complex, but extremely satisfying. By all means an all-day smoke.

Poplar Camp is in a class by itself. It is unlike most other Virgina Perique based mixtures with which I am familiar especially those from McClelland and Rattray. I suspect a good part of the reason for this is the addition of the unsweetened black cavendish.

Poplar Camp does however remind me of Haddo's Delight without the Burley.

Packing is effortless and the tobacco burns easily down to the bottom of the bowl with a rich naturally sweet taste.

While I wouldn't smoke this all day, it is a fine mixture with which to relax at the day's end.

Highly recommended to those who enjoy tobaccos of this type.

This is very good. I agree with what the other reviewers said in that it does kind of remind me of Redwood, a Two Friends blend collaborated between GL Pease and Craig Tarler. I prefer this over Redwood. I feel that this is the best blend in this genre that I have tried out of the Cornell and Deihl blends. The virginias in this are naturally sweet and have nice depth. There is a nice , subtle complexity in this blend that I very much enjoy. The flavors run from lightly sweet to slightly dark and deep with slight earthy overtones intermingled. The perique is definately detectable and is a very nice addition to this blend. If you smoke this in a dirty pipe or smoke it to quickly you may miss out on the subtle nuances in this blend. As others have mentioned this does have a good punch of nicotine in it though not quite as strong as redwood. (Redwood makes me dizzy!) This is very good for a virginia blend in this genre and I highly recommend it.

I finally got to trying this 2 oz sample that I purchased around 8 years ago. I am pretty sure the description has changed since I consulted TR prior to logging the tobacco in my cellar at that time. Thus, I had logged this in as a Virginia Perique blend containing Stoved Virginias. This is pretty accurate, but I was unaware of the unflavored cavendish, which since this is a C&D blend, I assume to be made from burley.

In any case, I enjoyed this. and the new description might help to explain why as this is apparently Yorktown, with the Cavendish and Perique added to the same. I really enjoyed Yorktown, which is a straight virginia composed of bright and stoved virginia leaf. the perique in poplar camp does not seem too heavy handed to me, but perhaps that is due to the influence of the cavendish, which is otherwise undetectable to my palate.

This is a nice example of sweet, earthy and spicy. I stopped buying tobacco 4years ago because I have too much, but if I were still buying, I would load up on this one.