Cornell & Diehl Bourbon Bleu

I bought a couple of tins of Bourbon Bleu and like some others, I'm letting one rest in the tin the suggested time and decided to give the other a try.

The tins were from 8/2019 so they have a year of aging on them now. They come as crumble cakes which are easy to break apart. My tin had a full brownie and a piece of the other one to get to weight.

The tin note was very very slight booze along with some "hay/grass" Breaking off a few chunks without drying and loading a radiator bowl, I found them easy to get lit. A little bit of "sizzle" in the bowl, so I'm thinking a little drying time might help.

The Bourbon Topping is not over the top but I can taste it through the entire bowl, The sweetness of the virginias is there all the time too. I personally haven't gotten much in the way of lower notes from the darkfired/perique but I can see them in the cake for sure. About midway through a little bit of spice on the tongue but once again, not overpowering by any means.

The Radiator pipe forces me to slow down my smoke which I really think benefits this blend. I'm guessing it could get hot if freight trained. But sipped, the bowl and frame remain cool enough to handle.

I'm interested to see how this one ages in the jar vs. the tin and I might pick up a couple more the next time on sale for the cellar.

Took me some head scratching to review this blend. Tin note is almost identical to king cake but less of the throat scraping sweetness and a little more spice. I've smoked this blend both filtered and unfiltered and concluded that this is a "Thinking tobacco". First third of the bowl it's almost unflavored and tasteless but it gets Fuller throughout the bowl. The flavor is mild, subtle but complex. Not headed in one direction like a VaPer but not obnoxious like a dark fired Kentucky. It's somewhere in between, the condiments seem to take turn, but never overpowering each other. Never any rough edges, tongue bite or aftertaste. While it's an aromatic, besides the subtle "rum candy" flavor no other topping is detected.

Burn quality: burns well when crumbled or sliced off the block, doesn't need much relights especially after drying, but it's smokabe as is.

I've decided to review to cellar series blends from C&D upon purchase (or thereabout) and after the recommended amount of aging to see the changes. I intend to update the review after that period of time has elapsed.

Now:

Bright, citrusy, VaPer smell.

Smoky influence from the Kentucky. Bourbon undertones, feels more like a Rye at times. Minor spice, more of a "kick" than spice. Overall, a "light" VaPer.

You can find my video review o this blend here:

https://youtu.be/3Y7xxjVi_yM

Aged:

Stay tuned.

I got a 1/2oz sample of this from pipes & cigars along with an order...not a blend I would have normally tried, However I enjoyed smoking it immensely .

Having tried various forms of Virginian tobacco in their condiment form Bourbon bleu seems to pick out some of the best aspects of the leaf whilst subduing the unfavourable ones like tongue bite and bitterness, lovely bright hay like flavours with the kick of Perique at the end, came to me almost perfect on the moisture front (was however in a sample bag not tin) and the crumble cake broke down and packed easily, great quality tobacco smoked wonderfully right down to the drottle. A Satisfying smoke unlike base Virginias which I find leave me always wanting something else after could maybe attributed to the dark Kentucky... Would I buy more? Definately

I am surprised to see this blend rated so low. I have been thoroughly enjoying this blend, and smoking it far quicker than I should! My only regret is not aging this any longer. I waited about a year to open this, but it certainly needed more time for the sugars to crystallise.

The tin note is very sweet and inviting, but the smoke is grassy Virginia-forward despite that sweet aroma. The bourbon note is very subtle, but can be detected. This is not a heavily-cased aromatic, as these Cellar Line tins are meant to be aged. The perique is a backnote compliment to the Virginias, and gives a nice spicy accent to the smoke. A big bowl of this gives a nice punch of nicotine, but in a smaller pipe it is less detectable, rounding this out to be around medium in strength.

My final verdict is a 3.5/4, rounding up to a 4. I typically round down, but that just wouldn't feel right here, as this is a great blend. I will jar age this because I expect it to improve further, and will give my final verdict in due time. After all this is C&D's Cellar Line and should that should be taken into account for a rating.

Tin note of tangy stewed figs, liquor, and Rasins. The orange, tan and brown marbled Krumble Kake easily breaks apart and rub out. The tobacco is quite moist, drying is needed. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. I can't detect any Bourbon. Taste is medium and mostly consistent, with notes of lemon grass, sweet bread, wood, earth, tangy raisin, floral, mild dry nuts, mild baking spices, and a moderately peppery retro. Virginias are leading with Perique playing backup. Dark Fired Kentucky is supporting. The bourbon is upwind somewhere. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is good.

Bright Virginia’s have lovely almost floral note to this blend. You can get nice notes of bright and red Virginia’s. Some real tangy and some sweetness to this. The dark Kentucky’s add a fair bit of woody and spice to the finish for me. Finishing this blend with bourbon enhances the sweetness to the finish. Perique adds a nice, rich touch of tangy fruitiness to the balance of Bourbon Bleu. This Krumble kake nicely rubs apart making for a good fitting pipe tobacco. Overall there is a lot going on in this blend for me. I smoked a few sessions of it and put the remaining kake into a mason jar that I’ll revisit sometime in the future. It’s a pretty good smoke and the room notes are nice, but complex blends need perfect balance for me and some of this just seems like they tried to incorporate too much of too many different types of tobacco. Listen, I enjoyed this blend and I’m from Kentucky, so I am usually always biased toward anything Kentucky or bourbon for that matter! But this just isn’t my style. I would recommend this to anyone though as I believe discovering your perfect blend is experiencing a bit of everything and I haven’t ran across many if any like this. Give it a try! Once dried a bit it holds an excellent flame and smokes pretty cool. Definitely a change of pace blend. I am very curious to how this ages! I think some time could add a great deal of balance to this blend overall.