We're here today to talk about the very first Small Batch blend of 2026 from C&D: Firebird Flake, back again this year and ready to take flight.

[Andy Wike]: Firebird Flake was a new entry into the Small Batch line that started last year, and it sold out quickly. We're super excited that it's coming back and hopefully a lot more people will be able to try it this time.

Inspiration Behind Firebird Flake

So Jeremy, just to kick us off, can you tell us a little bit about this Small Batch blend? What was your intention and how does it fit into the Small Batch portfolio?

[Jeremy Reeves]: Absolutely. I was looking at some of the blends that C&D had produced recently where we were playing with Dark Fired to various degrees. Also, my love of Oriental is no secret.

Well, Dark Fired is big, bold, and heavy, and has really rich nicotine, so a little bit goes a long way. That smoky character is just really punchy. Oriental, on the other hand, is very delicate, floral, and slightly baking spicy. It's almost ethereal in the way that you experience some of the flavors of it, and it can weave in and out. Comparing the two, they are pretty much polar opposites in terms of personality. Taking these two wildly different components and trying to find a balance between them that allowed both to be present was just a curiosity of mine to see if we could do it successfully. The result was Firebird.

[AW]: Interesting. So capturing a false dichotomy and taking a spin on it was the intention.

[JR]: Yeah, like a Perfect Strangers kind of situation but with tobacco.

Tin Note & Semi Fire-Cured Leaf

[AW]: That's really interesting. As far as the blend itself, I think the tin note has a good amount of sweetness. It's surprisingly not as smoky in the tin note as I would expect it to be. Some of that I think is because we're using multiple fire-cured grades in this, right?

[JR]: Correct. There's a semi fire-cured leaf that isn't always available; It sort of comes and goes on the market, so when I see some, I try and make sure that we get it. It's only smoked for about six days, whereas the fire cured that C&D has historically used for the longest period of time, like the Dark Fired that we use in Jackknife Plug or in Easy Times, is a 14-to-16-day fire cure. The semi fire cured is much mellower in the smoke and you get a lot more of the natural sweetness in the leaf. It hasn't been air cured, so even though it is a Burley variant, the Dark Fired actually does have intact sugar. That long air-curing process is how the Chlorophyll and the sap in the leaf leave. It takes two-to-three months for that to take place and in that amount of time you basically lose all your sugar.

We talked about Burleys being virtually sugarless for that reason. Similar to the way that flue curing is done with Virginia, they approach the fire first to set the sugars. It's not exactly like this, but a good example would be the crust on Crème brûlée. It's sturdier and hardened a bit, setting the sugars, and then you chase color. You don't want to lose all the sugar in the process, so you need to solidify the sugars enough that they're not gonna leave. You've got like 10% or so sugar in the upper stalk, D Dog Dark Fired. We call it Dog on the leaf side.

There's all sorts of weird slang and lingo. If somebody says I'm looking for Dog Dark Fired, you know what they're talking about: upper stalk, heavy body, and something that's been through a very full smoke. This would be more like Pup.

Firebird Flake has full fire-cured Dark Fired and semi fire-cured Dark Fired, and those condimental varietals make up about 4.5% of the blend versus 43% Oriental. It's like a pound of steel and a pound of feathers kind of a situation.

Market For Rare Leaf

[Steve Mawby]: For this particular Dark Fired, the one that's only processed for six days, is there something intrinsic in the leaf that makes it more suited to that short amount of time? Or is it just a conscious decision by certain producers to take a certain percentage of it and only treat it that much?

[JR]: It's really a matter of whether or not there's demand on the market for it, and aside from the way that we're purchasing specialty leaf and using it in pipe tobacco, the vast majority of manufacturers that are looking for Dark Fired are producing snuff or snus or chewing tobacco. There's a lot less demand for this leaf but manufacturers use it to tone down a blend. If you're talking about something like Copenhagen, with one of their off the main silver top cans, there might be some semi fire cured in there but it's used in such small quantities that it's just not always worth it for a farmer to produce.

[AW]: Okay. That makes sense.

[JR]: It's really a matter of whether or not there's a standing order out there for it. We're not a large enough consumer of any one crop, except Perique, to be able to go and ask a farmer to grow it just for us.

[AW]: That's really interesting because you and I have talked plenty in the past about tobacco agriculture and how that's changed over time. Unless you're able to farm hundreds and hundreds of acres of tobacco, it's really hard to make money doing that. It makes sense that most of your production would go to where that demand's going. But that's why it's extra special when you go out and source really cool leaf that otherwise would be forgotten about or would be swept up into maybe something else, and you just lose the character of it in that way. I think it's cool that you've developed this blend around showcasing some of those rare components.

[SM]: Yeah, absolutely.

[AW]: It's crazy that there's 43% Oriental in this blend.

[SM]: Yeah, and it's definitely prominent smoking this pipe. Definitely getting a lot of that Oriental character here.

Crossover into Dark Fired

[Alan Britt]: When I first smoked this last year, I had a lot of people who were excited about this blend. At the time, we had the Sutliff and Mac Baren acquisition, so a lot of people were out there looking for replacements for blends like old Dark Fired. After I smoked Firebird, I felt like I needed to give a disclaimer to a lot of customers. If you're a Va/Per person, this is worth trying. I think you'll dig it. If you're a fan of Oriental-heavy blends, I think this is definitely worth trying. I love this blend but I think my exact words were, if you're looking for a replacement for old Dark Fired, this isn't it. But it's still worth trying.

[SM]: Yeah. It kind of occupies a unique place in tobacco offerings in general. That milder, Dark Fired hit with all that Oriental will definitely scratch the itch for a lot of preferences. There's a lot of versatility here.

[AB]: When we say crossover blend, we're talking about either an Aromatic to an English or an Aromatic to a Virginia. I think this is a crossover blend in the way that, if you're a Virginia smoker that doesn't really get into Dark-Fired blends, you could enjoy this and appreciate it. It could hopefully make you appreciate heavier Dark-Fired blends in the future.

[JR]: Also, if you like light English blends but you're looking for a change of pace. This is a very different smoky character but you've still got that Oriental interplay as you would in an English. Being a fire-cured Oriental, they always work so well together. If you're a fan of something like Early Morning Pipe that has a really prominent Oriental character, this would give you a different kind of smoky approach.

[SM]: That's an excellent point.

[AW]: Explaining it as a different kind of crossover is a good way to talk about it. I think playing with the idea of Oriental and Dark Fired and how those two things don't normally go together in the way that we might think that they would, and creating a blend around them being complimentary, is how Firebird came to be, and where the name came from too. It's an homage to both the sun-cured Oriental as well as fire cured. Looking at the flakes, you see that theme too. There's little bright rays of Virginia and Oriental with the darker Dark Fired.

[SM]: Yeah, and speaking of the flakes, it's just a really pretty cut. Looking at the tin, the striations of tobacco look like the wings on a bird.

Aging Potential & Pairing Suggestions

[AB]: How many tins were made last year?

[JR]: We did 5,000, which wasn't enough. This year we made 12,000.

[SM]: So I might actually be able to get some this time. I'm definitely gonna want to pick some of this up. This is really nice and it's hitting well.

[AW]: Yeah, I didn't even get to grab a tin after last year but I feel like this would age super well in a different way than a Virginia blend would.

[JR]: I think as it ages, it might take on more of the smoky character. The reason this holds together so nicely is a combination of the oils in the Oriental and the sugars that are still present in the Dark Fired. My guess would be that after a few years, it might be something more like a Highland scotch where there is a smokiness that is notable but it's not as pronounced as an Ila but you've got these sweet heather and floral notes. I think that's where it might head.

[AW]: Interesting.

[AB]: I do enjoy the sweetness; it's not at all at the forefront. It's crazy balanced and almost identically smoky, sweet, and umami. We say the word "balanced" frequently and maybe overuse it, in some cases. But here, I think it's super appropriate.

[SM]: It's harmonious. This is a very versatile blend. I could get into this in the morning or later in the day. The flavor and the balance are really good. Alan mentioned the umami, and I think that's very prominent here. I'm a big fan of that. Probably not surprisingly, the Dark Fired is a lot more noticeable through the retrohale. Depending on how you smoke this, you can get a lot of different experiences.

[AB]: I think this would pair well with tea.

[AW]: I could totally see that.

[JR]: Yeah, those of you who are into things like the Gongfu tea hobby, this would be something that I think would work really well with that.

[AW]: Yeah, it's very vegetal. I do think there's a good bit of sweetness here, but it reminds me of floral and baking spice kind of sweetness, not molasses or a brighter honey sweetness that I would associate with a straight Virginia flake. It's really interesting. I think the spice is really cool. If you're a Virginia/Perique smoker, there's enough spice from the Dark Fired that you're gonna have a similar experience.

[SM]: Yeah, I'm a big Va/Per smoker and this is definitely scratching that itch for me.

Firebird Flake vs. Fires on the Levee

[AW]: I also want to touch on any similarities to the last Small Batch blend of 2025, which was Fires on the Levee. It also showcased Dark Fired in a unique way. For those who maybe tried that tin and really liked it, what can you tell them about how that blend compares to this one?

[JR]: Sure. Fires on the Levee is punchier in the smoke character. It also has some Perique in the mix there, and then some very vintage soft Virginias that are the primary focus. Here the Virginias are the background or backbone of the blend but their function is to just support the two main components of the blend: the Oriental and the Dark Fired.

Again, the Dark Fired had to really tone down to not overpower the Oriental, and most of the Oriental in this blend is also very soft from age too. I don't know how exactly to describe this. Has anyone ever eaten a beignet? You know the way that the powdered sugar kind of puffs in your face when you're taking a bite? That's the way I experience the potpourri effect of the Orientals. It reminds me of biting into something, experiencing the change of pressure, and the rush of air causing that.

Pipes Smoked

[AW]: Let's go around and talk about what pipes we're enjoying today. Steve, you wanna kick us off?

[SM]: Sure. I am smoking my long-shanked Apple from Il Cerchio. It's one of my workhorse pipes and I absolutely love it.

[JR]: That is a beautiful pipe.

[SM]: Actually, Angelo of Il Cerchio sold me this pipe off of the Smokingpipes table at the Chicago show last year.

[AW]: That's skill.

[AB]: It was phenomenal to watch.

[SM]: He was persistent too. Thanks for the sale.

[AB]: I'm smoking a dark smooth Hillbilly from Moonshine. I think this shape was released in 2024. I love this little pocket-sized Billiard. I've got multiple and they all smoke great.

[JR]: Yeah, I have four of them. They're so awesome.

[AW]: I'm smoking my blackout, fan-blast, horn-mounted Chimney from Chris Asteriou. It's my New Year's resolution to keep developing a collection of cool little classics like this that have a twist, whether that's all black or something else. I have a Chris Askwith pipe with a yellow polyester stem and a Danish-style bowl. Just weird little eccentric classics.

[JR]: I like that too. I'm also smoking a Chris Asteriou Horn with this really cool panel of silver on the back.

[AW]: That's awesome. I love that.

[JR]: That silver feature is just for you to enjoy as a smoker. I love that kind of stuff.

[AW]: Yeah, I feel like a lot of accents aren't in the smoker's point of view. Adam Davidson does a lot with that experience as well.

[AB]: Or Pete Prevost with the one Pot I have that has the accent underneath. It's a military mount and when you pull it out, there's an accent on it. He's dubbed it the peekaboo accent.

[SM]: I like that.

Firebird Flake Returns

[AW]: Jeremy, any parting words for those at home who maybe didn't get to try Firebird last time and are interested in picking up a tin this time?

[JR]: Sure. Given the short period of time that Firebird was actually available and accessible last year, we heard you loud and clear, and we've made more. I hope that gives people who were interested last year more of an opportunity to try it.

The components here are condimental varietals that we use in small quantities because we just don't have enough to make these in our regular production. Firebird Flake this year is no different. The Orientals that we're using are from 2005 and 2006. The Dark Fired includes a lower-smoked fire-cured leaf that is rare on the market and hard to snag. It's the kind of thing that when I see it, I just grab it.

As we've talked about, this is a blend that would appeal to an array of different smokers. I hope y'all try it and let us know what you think.

[SM]: Jeremy just summed up how I feel about anything new that he blends. When I see it, I just grab it.

[AW]: That's right, 100%.

[JR]: Thank you.

[AW]: Make sure to check out Firebird Flake. It's a blend of 2005 Izmir, 2005 Samsun, 2019 semi fire-cured Kentucky, 2015 Dark-Fired Kentucky, 2013 Red Virginia, 2021 Red Virginia, and another grade of 2021 Reds. It's an awesome blend, pressed beautifully, and we're super excited to re-release this. Be sure to go check it out.