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Casey M.
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Reviews
Cornell & Diehl - Yorktown
Not the best Virginia in bulk anyway
I got this thinking I would really like it as I recently tried Sutliff 507C Virginia Slices and really liked them. This didn’t have that much flavor and what was there wasn’t great. Got a little grassy hay here and there but not much sweetness. Super dry and smokes fast. I smoked in a clay so I will give it a shot in another pipe and update if any better but definitely not one I would buy. Very dry smoke in the mouth as well. I couldn’t smoke without something to drink with it. Perhaps like another reviewer I got a bad batch but I didn’t taste anything really awful, just not much very good…Tin may be better I’m sure but I’d be surprised if it was a huge improvement. Pretty boring flavor and not nearly as rich as the Sutliff slices. Tried around 25-30 C&D products and just can’t get into most of them. A few I really liked here and there but this isn’t one. If you want a really dry and very little flavor Virginia you may like it but I would advise trying the tin rather than bulk from my experience.
Sutliff - Barbados Plantation 1.5oz
Great tasting aromatic
I gave this 4.5 stars as I get a little different results in different pipes but certain pipes like my big bowl church warden and fishtail Peterson, I get a sweet and excellent flavor of some vanilla and rum. Some pipes the flavor isn’t quite as pronounced but it is still a good smoke. Out of about 50 or so aromatics this is definitely in my top 2-3. I would say if you like Molto Dolce you will probably like this as well. Little different flavor profile but definitely close cousins in sweetness and consistency. Little wet so you may want to dry some but I would rather smoke it wet to get as much of the topping flavor as possible though you may have to delight 2-3 times if smoking wet. It’s worth it though!
Cornell & Diehl - Epiphany
Absolutely horrid
I want to preface my review by saying that I base this off of the bulk version which I know is often not as good as the tinned version and often not as consistent in my experience. I have probably smoked close to 100 blends now and this was by far the worst that has ever touched my pipe…I have never had bite before and thought it was just a fantasy but upon lighting this I got something akin to a super hot vinegar coming through and it didn’t light great. I liked to never got it lit as it was so acrid and bit the heck out of my tongue and mouth and I have smoked some harsh stuff and never had it happen before. I want to believe that I got some bad stuff and that either the tin must taste nothing like the bulk, there are some people that like some very disgusting tobaccos, or I got a batch that should have been used as pesticide as it is entirely unsmokable. I fervently cleaned my pipe after this as if there was a demon in it that had to be exorcised as I don’t want the foul creature popping it’s head back through the stem…This is number 1 on my bottom 100 list by a long shot.
Cornell & Diehl - Mississippi Mud 2oz
Very surprised by this
I’m a newer pipe smoker and have only smoked aromatics, about 15-20 blends so far. This was my first venture out into the world of a more pure tobacco taste. With the strength ratings I shocked myself I even tried it but after reading all the reviews I thought I should broaden my horizons and give it a shot. I really did not like the smell of the tin note to be honest. It was pretty strong and smelled of something I didn’t recognize…I wouldn’t call it a great smell at least to my nose. Now I did smoke this in a Peterson XL02 with a 9mm charcoal filter of the same brand, so my review may be a little different than someone smoking without filters. I find they take some of the harshness and ash flavor out that I occasionally got, especially at the bottom of the bowl when I can’t stop. With that being said I was surprised that this really didn’t taste as strong as I was expecting from the rating. It seemed full bodied from my limited perspective, but not harsh at all and no bite whatsoever. It smoked cool and dryness was about right. The taste to me was what I would call woody I guess. I don’t get a ton of flavors smoking but from what I read a lot of others don’t either so I thought it would be good to leave a perspective from a “non professional smoke taster” to relate to another segment of the buyers. I did get a bit of what I would call a musky fragrance coming out of my nose on the retro hale. Occasionally I would get some whiffs of room note that I thought smelled pretty good but the wife says it smells a bit strong and smoky. Not one I can smoke indoors I guess. I find that this blend goes better with a cold beer as they just seemed to pair well for my palate. Seems like it might be good with a bourbon, which I intend to try soon. If you like tobacco flavors or if you’re wanting to venture from aromatics for something different I suggest giving this a try. The blend is definitely a big difference in taste if you’re used to the normal flavored blends but I think it’s a good smoke for occasions with a drink or a cold night on the porch. I struggled with rating it as I really don’t have anything negative to say and it surprised me but someone who only likes sweet or strong dessert flavors might rate it lower but the quality of the blend I feel like deserved at least 4 stars. I didn’t give it 5 as I don’t have enough comparable blends under my belt to compare to but I think this blend will grow on people who may get a little shell shocked at first smell. Give it a shot, I am glad I did!
Sutliff - Molto Dolce 1.5oz
Most flavorful aromatic I’ve had to date
Being a newer smoker and not able to taste 15 flavors per blend that I hear from some people, this is one of the few that I have tasted much flavor at all from. And not just at the beginning of the bowl, the caramel is very pronounced all the way through and I get a hint of vanilla here and there. The room note is amazing on it though I must confess I didn’t expect much after smelling the tin note as it has some kind of strong whiskey smell to me so I was shocked at how good and sweet it tasted. It is extremely wet though and there are clumps of what appears to be black cavendish stuck together so I think this could stand to be separated some and dried for perhaps a better smoke as it does go out some when trying to smoke cool. Haven’t tried it dried but wet it definitely has a great flavor and smell. Personally I’d rate this over blood red moon as it carries the flavor a lot longer and it’s more pronounced. It’s a very smooth smoke as well and no bite at all. Seems to be good quality tobacco. It’s my first Sutliff brand to try but I’m a believer. I’ve only had about 15 or so blends but so far it has more flavor than any I have smoked. Another one I like a lot is RLP-6 but it’s flavor isn’t real strong but it has a subtle sweet and creaminess about it so if you like it I would think you would love this blend. Just my two cents and I’ll definitely be keeping a good bit of this on hand for rotation. I am sure some won’t like the wetness of this but that’s an easy fix if you’re of that persuasion.
Sir Walter Raleigh - Regular 1.5oz
Horribly Strong Vinegar taste
I was so excited as a new pipe smoker to get to try my grandpa’s old standby that I loved to smell so much as a kid and hoped to love it as much as he did. I hoped to make it a daily smoke of my own. I was so disappointed when from the very first puff it had a horribly strong vinegar that seemed to cover your tongue with the sensation. Why on earth someone would put vinegar on tobacco is beyond me but I am confident grandpa wouldn’t have smoked something so awful. Surely they changed this blend somewhere along the line. It did lessen a little down the bowl but the vinegar never went away. It was hard to taste anything but that. I’ve tried a dozen or more blends so far and nothing has had maybe 10% of the strength of flavor as the vinegar in this. I hope that this is a fluke but from other reviews it seems to be their new recipe or else they got several batches of bad tobacco that got submerged in vinegar…I really hope they make this to what I can only imagine it used to be as there is no way it could have been as popular as it was if they tasted like the pouch I got. I may give it 6 months and try another as I really wanted it to be good so badly. Maybe you will be lucky and get a good pouch but it seems as several have had the same experience. Hopefully the company sees these and makes some changes. P.S.- I noticed that there are experiences like mine that are all in the last months of 2024, so hopefully it was just some bad batches that got out of them testing a new recipe that they hopefully backpedal on. I notice before the last half of 24 you don’t really hear of this vinegar issue so it must me something new or isolated cases as of late.
Aleister Crowley: The Beast That Inspired The Beast- ► Definitely makes me raise a brow in surprise why they would glorify a man like this for naming a tobacco. At least that’s the way it comes across. Normally you don’t name things after something you despise or strongly disagree with but I guess that’s just my way of thinking. Definitely doesn’t seem like a real smart decision on marketing to the pipe smoking community to me but maybe they are aiming for an extremely small segment in selling this as I think they definitely cut off a lot of sales with this tactic. Definitely changed my whole outlook on what I pictured C&D to be about. Saw this and just had to say wow, not what I expected for sure. Article was well written and informative. I read it just out of curiosity of what made a man be that way but it is definitely surprising to see a label that seemingly pays homage to him. Really blown away that the marketing team would think that was a good idea…But like I said maybe they are try to sell very few to a an extremely small minority. Seems counter intuitive to a sales company and risk turning off more buyers. The name alone without a story would have probably sold a lot of tins cus that is what a lot of smokers are looking for is something robust with some teeth to it. Just my two cents.