Cornell & Diehl Red Stag

This tobacco has been a sore surprise, 'cause I've always found great tobaccos within C&D production. The disappointment began while opening the tin: it was too dry and turning to dust. A week in the jar did something to make it smokable. When I smoked it it immediately tasted bitter, dull and unpleasant; many smokes later I haven't changed my opinion, it's a useless tobacco. The only good points it score are that it burns very easily and cool, so it can be succesfully used to run in a new pipe or to teach novices how to smoke.

Allow me to dissent from the esteemed Stag reviewers above. First an observation on my encounter with this creature. My stag came in very poor conditions from its Vegas-smoke residence: it was virtually dehydrated. I know Cornell & Diehl tend to the dry side of moisture in their offerings, but this was ridiculous! Crisp dry, brittle, it was on the verge of turning into dust when I opened the plastic bag inside a tin dated, on the bottom, Oct. 1999 (mind you, neither the lid nor the plastic bag had been previously opened, so I cannot explain the excessive dryness of the product). Anyway, a couple of weeks on therapy with distilled water turned it into something smokable; still, I waited another week before taking the stag for a ride.

Certainly I would not define this as an outstanding or extraordinary blend. It definitely is not a Balkan type of mixture, but all in all the stag is not a bad English style smoke. As it happened with the three other Cornell & Diehl blends I have tried (Briar Fox, Yale Mixture and Haunted Bookshop), it took me some time before I realized how palatable and richly sober this mild to medium mixture actually is. Red Stag is prepared after the traditional C&D fashion: pure quality leaf, virtually untampered with, that IMO accounts for an initially unsettling raw, harsh and grassy under taste, but eventually yields an excellent smoking experience.

If anything this is an educated Stag, for it is a close relative of C&D?s Yale Mixture. The great difference is that being mellower, on account of the unsweetened Virginia Cavendished base, the Stag also carries abundant Turkish leaf. This ingredient makes it livelier, crisper and, IMO, a bit more perky or ?wild? if you so wish, than its Yale relative. The Latakia (Cyprian, probably) dominates the first half of the bowl, with the toasted Black Cavendish providing a discreet background. But don?t be fooled. The fact that there is a Cavendished ingredient does not put the Stag anywhere near Dunhill?s 965, Lane?s Crown Achievement or McConnell?s Original Scottish blend. In this case, the Latakia and the toasted Cavendished Virginia have a similar bitter earthiness, somewhere in between mineral and mutedly sweet, so the contrast between them is not that sharp.

By the second half of the bowl, when the Turkish comes alive, this esteemed breed turns from a down to earth, almost passive attitude, to a vivacious and energetic creature. The spicy and tangy sour-sweet leaf cuts through the thick density of its heavier partners, and the whole mixture becomes more vigorous, lighter and tastier. It has a great finish that doesn?t tire the palate nor induces tongue bite.

While Red Stag would not be my first choice for an English style blend, IMO it sure beats Dunhill?s Standard Mixture Mild (Ah, sacrilege!), Gawith?s Skiff, or even Rattray?s Highland Targe. So if you are in the mood for a light but hearty English style smoke, give the Stag a try?probably best outdoors, when taking a stroll without wanting to think things over too much.

I certainly taste the pepper which adds to the blend. Easy smoking. A light to medium English. Tasty but what price glory? If Latakia bothers you and yet you want an English blend then this might fit the bill but … there are less expensive bulk and tin versions.

3rdGuy

Well I guess my review is going pretty much against everything written here. A solid blend. Just finishing a tin that I must say has 20 months on it. Maybe some components have changed?

Oriental forward from the char. What I like about this blend is that it has quite a bit of body to it. I like McConnell’s Oriental but this has a quite a bit more body. If you are a burley person you may like this more. Bit of sweetness in the after taste. Retrohale is beautiful. A bowl lasts a long time with a rich creamy smoke. Zero bite and I puff hard normally. Just a really enjoyable tin. Probably would not smoke it daily because I am not heavy into Oreintals but I would be worse off.

Surprised it is not higher in regard.

I wish I rated this blend before I was left with just crumbs at the bottom of the tin. I don’t think it was anything special, burns easy , no bite , goes nice with stout beer

it is a decent medium bodied english blend. for the most part its mellow and nothing very special but occasionally you get very sweet puffs which i enjoy. also you get the occasional spicy puff which is even better. i only wish this blend would be more consistent in its flavors. for the most part it is rather bland

This was the first C&D blend I smoked and it was very nearly the last (which would have been a misfortune). The thing that put me off the most was the smell when I opened the tin. I have smoked virtually every type of tobacco blend and a sampling of most brands. This was not the smell of tobacco, nor of anything organic (save maybe one of those organic carbon based human corpses of the month old variety). It smelled of heavy acidic chemicals with a hint of blue urinal bar. I nearly tossed the cookies. Upon lighting, the smell abated, but did not entirely leave, rather it mixed with a rather insipid excuse for a dry flat English representation. While I keep Pirate Kake, Yale Mixture and Three Friars on hand, I will never touch this again, save perhaps to give to a pipe smoking enemy.

This blend is finely chopped, and very easy to load. It is sharp on the first light, but as the bowl progresses it settles down to a just slightly sweet, sometimes neutral taste. Sometimes even a little sour. It can bite if you're not careful. The room note, for a smoker, is wonderful. For a smoker's wife, the scent is apalling. I am curious what this blend would be like with six month's age.