D & R Tobacco Cockstrong Premium Pipe Tobacco

Nice burley flavor with a little something special from the orientals. Easily an all day blend for me. Burns quick if not hydrated. Love the aftertaste. If you're a C&D burley guy who dabbles with the lakelands, this is for you.

If you are accustomed to Danish style aromatics, you will probably miss completely the point with most of the D&R blends and mixtures, Cockstrong included. This tobacco is for all seasoned pipe smokers who appreciate the flavour of tobacco itself and a no-nonsensical approach to pipe smoking. It has got a very distinctive virginia profile with citrusy and sweet notes, but the combination with the dark burley leaf evokes dark chocolate and roasted nuts. And the addition of the Turkish leaf adds a spicy dimension to the formula rounding everything up. I think there is a good balance between the burley and Oriental leaf; they seem to marry or interact quite nicely with each other. In the description it reads "full," but I dare to say it is medium to full. Yes, the burley leaf adds depth and body, but not to such extent as to mask its mellow and easy-going virginia profile. All and all, it is sweet and rich, but not overpowering. This is to say despite its apparent robustness, it never causes fatigue on the palate or develop sharp edges as you progress with your smoke. The balance is just right. Well done D&R, you get 4 stars from me.

With a name suitable for an early 20th Century patent medicine, D&R’s Cockstrong has a lot to live up to. For me, it’s like D&R’s Picayune without all the Perique. I love Picayune, but CS is milder and easier to smoke and/or smoke more often. Tin note is all tobacco, with nutty, faintly toasty, spicy meadow grasses that subtly “sparkle”. It handles, loads, lights and smokes down like a dream. It burns quickly, which I temper by packing it to my preference and by taking light draws. It hardly gives off any smoke as it idles, but it smokes profusely when I pull on it. Tastes start out with the sweet, golden VAs, fragrant hay and meadow grasses, and they are immediately joined by the very fragrant, nutty, prominent Burley, which adds a fair dollop of bitter tannin that builds over the course of a bowl, like a refreshing double IPA. The Orientals are woody, savory, sour and dry, with roasting and bakery spices that are almost swamped by the bitters, but not quite. It smells and tastes great in a “natural” sort of way. This profile stays as the intensity increases, all the way to the bottom of a bowl. Strength is medium with not so much in the way of nicotine for a blend so heavy in Burley. Certainly it’s nowhere near Picayune, which I suppose most would appreciate. Tastes are just over medium. Room note is better than tolerable. Aftertaste is a lingering best-of-the-smoke if one avoids ash at the end.

Here’s a very natural, relaxed artful codger blend that anyone who likes fragrant, flue cured VAs and spicy, nutty, fragrant bitters might smoke. Four stars for what it is.