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The re-release of Cornell & Diehl's Small Batch: Eight State Burley is available now. Jeremy Reeves, Head Blender of Cornell & Diehl, shared more about this exciting blend; a celebration of old-style blends, what might be called codger blends these days, but takes that concept and brings it into a connoisseur range as an elevated style blend. Available on May 13 at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Note: The following transcription has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Eight State Burley Components
Cornell & Diehl's Small Batch: Eight State Burley
[Jeremy Reeves]: We're working with Burley from 2014 and 2020. Interestingly, we're using some Burley that was grown in Guatemala. It is delightfully smooth and mellow on its own. I really love working with this stuff and it was a great addition to the Eight State Burley recipe this year. There's 2005 crop year Orientals, some Black Sea Sokhoum and Izmir, and we've got very nice sweetness added by Canadian Bright Virginia and some crop year '22 North Carolina tips.
Burley with Oriental Tobaccos
C&D has been widely associated for a long time with Burley tobacco, and I think that we use interesting tobacco in interesting ways, especially in the Burley camp. Blends like Old Joe Krantz or Haunted Bookshop are unlikely bestsellers, and yet for us, it is a bestseller. We do a lot with Burley, and we're proud of our work with Burley.
For a long time, because of blenders like Bob Runowski and William Serad who contributed to blends that we still make today at C&D, we've got a lot of really great Burley blends. It's rare to see Burley paired up with Oriental, so this is a way for us to play in a realm where we already are well-known, but take it off the beaten path a little bit.
Mellow For Spring
I find Eight State Burley to be mellow and creamy, with flavor notes of coffee and a touch of cocoa. I get some floral notes from the Oriental. Very mellow sweetness. Classic Virginia notes are gonna be under there, but the Burley and Oriental are really leading the charge.
It fits perfectly with springtime. I think it's not too heavy as a Burley blend, which oftentimes can be the case. I do find that I like blends that are a little more nuanced and a little more complex, particularly in the spring and in the fall. There's just something about those times where I'm actually looking for a minor interplay of different flavors, and this fits perfectly in this transition from winter into summer.
Excellent Aging Potential
Cornell & Diehl's Small Batch: Eight State Burley
Common wisdom would be that Burleys don't particularly age well. The reason for this is because Burleys don't have much sugar, so there is not much there to go through a fermentation process. After the initial curing and sometimes pilóne fermentation process that Dark Burley in particular goes through, there's just not much sugar left in the leaf, and it's not really a high-sugar leaf to begin with. Burleys on their own simply just mellow in flavor, but Virginias and Orientals definitely age well. When Burley absorbs the flavors of the tobaccos that it is blended with as well as it does, when those tobaccos with higher sugar content ferment, the Burley goes along for the ride, if you will.
I have a number of tins of the original runs of Eight State Burley in my cellar and I've found that they have aged really nicely and grown in complexity. Those classic fermented Virginia notes come through and are interplaying with the deeper, earthier, and creamier flavors of the Burley. It's one to definitely check out after three or five years.
Audience for Eight State Burley
If you like Burley, our style of Burley, or if you're a fan of something like Old Joe Krantz or Pegasus, I think this is gonna be up your alley. If you are a fan of Carter Hall or Half & Half and are looking for something that is a fancied-up version of a blend like that, this is in your wheelhouse.
If you are just getting into pipes and you're learning about each tobacco family, this is an interesting one, and you're not gonna find a blend like it very often. It's very rare to see Burleys and Orientals lead the charge in a blend, and particularly the way that these vintage Burleys and vintage Orientals play together, it's just a really wonderful array of aroma and spices across the palate, but also really rich, deep chocolate, and nutty notes.
This is old-school but updated. I hope y'all enjoy it.
Cornell & Diehl's Small Batch: Eight State Burley - Available on May 13 at 6:00 p.m. ET.
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Comments
Kayla, another neat and informative article. Kudos to you and Jeremy! I am not much of a burley smoker. I much prefer English and a few Virginia’s. Balkan Sobranie, -Saesini and Scottish blends. C&D’s Palmetto Balkan and Strathspey are my favorite C&D blends. One of my favorite Professors smoked “rough-cut Burley.” Now to Eight State Burley. I’m still smoking occasionally from a tin dated 04/21, tin # 5583. I really like it. It is much better in 2026. It has aged well. One last thought. 66 years ago when I started I went through the Carter Hall etc club. There is no comparison. Eight State is on top of “Old Smokey!”