Sometimes us men, or women too, just need to do something incredibly manly (no matter how smart or stupid!) just to get our testosterone pumping!
When I smoked the Cornell and Diehl Burley Flake #2, I got slapped right in the face! But you know what? That slap felt pretty great!
As a connoisseur, at least I believe I am, I tend to find and experiment with delicate flavored tobacco’s and really sit and look for each distinct taste and effect of that specific tobacco. As soon as I took my first hit of this Flake, I suddenly realized that this tobacco is different; this is the smoke that makes you feel like Aragorn preparing for a battle (excuse my Lord of the Rings reference), not like a man sitting in his office trying to read!
This is a blend that just straight up makes you feel powerful when you smoke it.
First Impression
The first thing you always do when opening a new can of tobacco is smell it upon the pop. I have to say that I was not overly excited about the aroma of this blend. It smelled to me like a sour, bread dough; not sour-bread, but a “sour” bread. All in all, that was not very pleasant, and I was at this point unsure of how the smoke would go.
This blend consists mainly of cool burning dark and white burley, delivering a solid base to convey smoke. The next largest tobacco is a dark fired Kentucky tobacco. And then for good measure and flavor, there are also traces of Virginia and Perique.
The Burley #2 is a fairly rough flake. I found it very difficult to keep the flake intact, and had to resort to rolling and crumbling in order to get an even pack.
Something I admired though was the low level of moisture in this flake, which surprised me (because of the aroma I expected there to be substantially more). I ended up being very thankful for the dryness, for if there were any moisture, it may have been impossible to light!
Smoke
This blend was not incredibly easy to light. Doable, but it took a few matches.
What did stick out to me was that this tobacco could just not stay lit, no matter my pack or how many matches I used to get a good burn. Like clockwork, every 3 minutes I would lose the bulk of my smoke and would have to relight.
That being said, I definitely enjoyed the intensity of the smoke. As I said earlier, I felt like Aragorn after the battle of Minas Tirith!
This blend was just very straight forward with the straight and simple burley base. I was able to detect hints of cocoa in the mix, but that was all the flavor I detected. This tobacco was made for one thing: strength.
Although the blend was cool, as advertised, I would start to get some significant bite just a few draws in. It was more than just a poke, but less than outright discomfort on the tongue.
Room Note
I do not recommend this tobacco for someone who is trying to create a good smell!
This flake was not made for this reason, and should not be expected to perform this way.
However, the note was not as bad as I expected. While the tobacco was quite strong, there were no overpowering notes in the room. There was only a solid tobacco flavor, once again leaving me quite surprised. (My theory is that this is the case because I had a hard time developing a thick smoke because my bowls kept going out.)
Strength
Once again, this tobacco was strong.
There was not much strength of flavor, but overall potency of the blend was apparent.
I would rate this as a medium-full strength blend.
Pairing
I generally believe that coffee is always a good complement to stronger tobacco blends, especially in the winter which is the best time to smoke these strong blends. In order to complement the small amount of cocoa, I would recommend something a little more specific than just coffee.
A Mocha flavored drink is a great complement to pair with this blend.
The presence of the coffee and the chocolate in mocha make it the perfect match for this blend.
Overall Score
I am slightly torn with this rating. While there is no outright flavor and the bowl does not stay lit, this tobacco just makes you feel like a proper man.
I give this tobacco a 5 out of 10.
Even though I enjoyed how this tobacco made me feel, I could just simply not give it a higher score.
Tobacco and pictures provided by Tobacco Pipes and for the purpose of an un-bias review from an outside party.
Other Pictures provided by Cornell and Diehl.
For purchasing information, please visit Tobacco Pipes.
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