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The 10th Iteration of Cornell & Diehl's Small Batch: Carolina Red Flake
Filmed by Chris Herath & Nicole Weed | Edited by Nicole
In this episode of Tobacco Selections, Jeremy Reeves, Head Blender of Cornell & Diehl, discusses this year's Small Batch Carolina Red Flake — this year's release marking 10 years that the fan-favorite CRF has been in C&D's portfolio, celebrating flue-cured tobaccos and their ability to naturally age delightfully.
Note: The following transcription has been edited for clarity and brevity.
The Story of Flue-Cured
[Jeremy Reeves]: Over the years, we have really focused on the way that U.S.-grown flue-cured Virginias could be blended to all sorts of different effects, but there's a much bigger story of what flue-cured is and how it is used. Not only was this tobacco foundational to the United States in its infancy; it also went all over the world.
Along the way, seed went with it, so we ended up with flue-cured tobacco grown in places like Zimbabwe, Argentina, Brazil, and India, and these last two are actually included in this year's recipe.
Components & Flavor Profile
We've got some 2023 dark hand-stripped leaf from Brazil. This has been fermented in pilones, essentially, and it gives the tobacco a really deep, caramelly character. It plays really nicely with the 2019 Georgian leaf that we've used to great effect in previous years for its wonderful sweetness, and the tips from North Carolina from crop year 2022. These have also shown up a couple of times in Carolina Red Flake. Lastly we've got some really nice, rather old 2010 Red Virginias from India.
Again, the flavor profiles from tobacco have so much to do with the terroir and the practices culturally around handling that tobacco. The Indian leaf has this really mellow quality to it. The sweetness is certainly there, but it actually has a little bit of a spicy note that is toned down. A lot of that has to do with the age of the leaf as well. It has had plenty of time to sit and mellow.
The Brazilian leaf is really big and rich, but again, it's very soft. The subtle spicy qualities from the Indian and then the sweetness, from both the Indian leaf and also that Georgian leaf really ties everything together, with the tips coming in on top with sort of bready and also slightly fruity note.
Celebration of Flue-Cured Leaf
Like many of you, I have really enjoyed going back to previous years of Carolina Red Flake releases. We've been doing this for a while now. Actually, this will be the 10th year that Carolina Red Flake has been a part of our portfolio. It has always been not only a celebration of what the Virginia is right now and how the process has affected it in the immediacy, but it's also been a celebration of the age of some of the tobaccos that have been used and the way that it can cellar in a tin.
As we know, flue-cured tobacco is flue-cured to preserve as much of the natural sugar as possible, because that leaf tends to have a very nice, high sugar content, making it very sweet. Those sugars then aid in fermentation and a blend that is straight Virginia can really have quite long legs, as they say. In other words, it will continue over decades to change and ferment in your tin.
For those of you who are fond of fermenting and cellaring, definitely this is one that would do quite well in that. I think that this year is just even more a celebration of what flue-cured tobacco can be, no matter where it's grown, made right here in South Carolina. I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I do.
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Comments
When is the release date?
The suspense!!
I would like to know also
Maybe a club for tasters could pre order 1 tin before the hoarders swooped in
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