Cornell & Diehl Crooked Lane

In the tin; a very strong lemony sour aroma. No woody (Latakia) or spiciness one would expect from an English blend.

Taste had a hint of sweetness on first light. Not much smokiness from the Latakia (or typical English Blend) as you would’ve expected from a typical English blend. Rather a light English blend. Too much Virginia to my liking as I get a bit of tongue bite from Crooked Lane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6gt8tY5L5U

I've got to go against the crowd, I find this bland and strong. It just doesn't bring what I think as flavor, "stoogie".

Updated 11/14/2013 - After a week, I decided to retry this blend and return to this site to see my initial review. I was surprised to find the above comments by "King Weed 11/12/2013" basically agreeing with my very short and non-descriptive review. I have to agree with "King Weed ' in that the cut of this blend is very strange with pieces the size of "corn flakes" mixed in among rubbed flakes. However, my tin did not require drying, which leads me to believe there maybe some inconsistencies. I don't feel this is as strong in "N' as I initially reviewed, I think I was just puffing so hard to get some taste I was growing lightheaded.

Well Mr. Big, I'm with you on this one. This tobacco blend was a disappointment for me and it started right away with the opening of the tin. Ribbon cut? I don't think so. I was taken aback at the roughness of the cut of the tin I opened: yes, some ribbon content, but long coarse strands that needed to be pulled apart and very large chunks that unrolled into little flags of tobacco tissue - the largest of which measured one and a half inches wide and two and a half inches long! I also found this tobacco to be quite damp for a C&D blend and needed considerable drying for smokeablity. When I prepped my first smoke by overnight drying, I tore up all of the coarse ribbons and flags for a better consistency. This revealed another aggrevation - many sticks, stems and other woody debris. I emptied-out about a third of the tin for examination and this woodiness and coarse texture was consistent throughout.

The tin aroma, although pleasant, was very mild for an english blend - not at all what I would classify as a medium english. The overall color was a blond to medium light brown with a sparing amount of darker components. The latakia and black cavendish were almost invisible in the mixture, as there was so little of them. I chose to smoke this blend in a pipe that always gave a good and satisfying smoke - an ELX Ashton Pebble in a one-third bent cogniac configuration with a deep and narrow bore. On lightup the light english nature of this blend became evident; more of a virginia/oriental nature than the advertised medium english. I will say that the underlying base tobacco aroma was fairly rich - kind of like the first few drags on an unfiltered Camel cigarette. The remainder of the bowl continued in this fashion to the finish, leaving me wishing that more of the darker components had been included.

Considering the four star and glowing reviews given this blend initially, I was let down by my tin's reality. I have faith in the cognative abilities of my fellow smokers who have reviewed this blend. They were sensing something good and solidly english and they said so. I can't help but wonder if the tin I opened was atypical and subpar, as it seemed so different than what they were describing.

Epilog and Update 11/25/13: Don't be surprised Mr. Big, your one-line review spoke volumes - such is the inherent nature of true succinctness. You weren't happy with this blend and you said so. For my part, I was relieved. I was worried about being the lone dissenter in a stream of four-star reviews. When I saw your review I felt justified in going forward with my two-star review. Thank you.

Now, I always like to have something positive to say on a given subject. I have discovered that C&D Crooked Lane has a wonderful quality that fits right in with one of my pipe smoking joys - microblending. I had stated that there is an underlying richness in this blend, though I thought its english qualities were a bit thin. This richness adds a wonderful note to micro english blends that I delight in making and smoking. I highly recommend its use in blending.

One of the best English blends I have smoked...and they don't call me TheSmokinDragon for nothing 😉 If you are a fan of English blends, don't miss this one, order a few tins...some to smoke now/some to cellar

This is not your typical Latakia heavy English blend. The Virginias take a lead and offer a nice bready and grassy flavour that is highlighted in equal parts by the Orientals and Latakia with a touch of spice from the Perique. The Latakia becomes more potent towards the end of the bowl. I find this to be a wonderful blend to enjoy in the late autumn. I always enjoy English blends as it gets colder, so this is a nice blend to enjoy during the transition to winter.

3/4 - give it a try if you want a Virginia-forward English blend.