Cornell & Diehl Pipe Tobacco Billy Budd (Melville at sea) in Redux Review
CATEGORY: Cigar leaf-based
BLEND: Burley, Cigar Leaf, Latakia, Virginia
FLAVORING: no
BLENDER: Craig Tarlar
MANUFACTURER: Cornell & Diehl
CUT: Coarse cut
PIPE: Old German Clay no. 15
BLEND: Burley, Cigar Leaf, Latakia, Virginia
FLAVORING: no
BLENDER: Craig Tarlar
MANUFACTURER: Cornell & Diehl
CUT: Coarse cut
PIPE: Old German Clay no. 15
Old German Clay no. 3 in redux
INTENSITY: Medium-Full/Full
INTENSITY: Medium-Full/Full
The review I'm about to redux was originally posted to Kaplowitz Media on January 7th 2022. As I type this it is January 31st 2022. Lest you feel as though not enough time has elapsed for a redux, rest assured I knew I'd be doing this well-before now. That's how fast this blend morphed and how considerably it did-so. I also think it's potentially of interest to track the evolution of any(?) tin of tobacco... again, this particular one simply had a doozy of a trip.
The jury's still out on if & what other blends could expect this revisit treatment. Nevertheless, how this works is that the fat will be trimmed from the initial review and the remaining bits will be commented on in regards to the current state of affairs, in italics. To read the original review in its entirety, please use the Search Kaplowitz Media. function to the right of this screen--just plug-in "Billy Budd." All set then? Great to hear, and away we go...
NOTES:
Leather | Wood | Pepper-spice
NOTES:
Leather | Wood | Pepper-spice
Leather | Lemon pepper | Pinewood
Have you ever taken the remains of the previous day's last cigar and packed it into the next morning's first pipe? It's acrid. This is a much paler shade of that phenomenon, but it is t/here. I'm a bit hesitant to smoke this around my special lady friend for fear it'll put hair on her chest. Big chewy smoke. Smoky and meaty and bittersweet out ahead with a salty leathery back-end. Fuzzy pinewood.
Have you ever taken the remains of the previous day's last cigar and packed it into the next morning's first pipe? It's acrid. This is a much paler shade of that phenomenon, but it is t/here. I'm a bit hesitant to smoke this around my special lady friend for fear it'll put hair on her chest. Big chewy smoke. Smoky and meaty and bittersweet out ahead with a salty leathery back-end. Fuzzy pinewood.
Herein is a big difference. This blend is far, far less acrid come tin's end (and well-before). That isn't to say there aren't still hard glimpses, but it is no longer a driving force. Insofar as room-note, I mean it still has both Latakia and cigar leaf in it. So you won't be fooling anyone into thinking you're vaping strawberry oil. But the aroma has fleshed out much more fully and meatily. Oily, all told. Think lard, all told. More pronounced pinewood, lezz fuzzily-bordered. Feels like a greater Burley influence w/ some sweet nuttiness.
That odd grassy note is Virginia leaf, and it lemony-cleanses some in the mid-section here. The burley blends in smoothly enough but does add a bit of ashiness as the bowl burns-down. I think it lends itself to the structure-some. Woodsy like timber and charred but not scorched, mainly. [I'm put in mind of Fig Newtons.] The whole profile seems wrapped in leather and via progression, it roughs up, softens--gets worked in. Buckwheat and a tick of molasses. Baking spices and black pepper. Fusty and dusty and could use some more focus.
That odd grassy note is Virginia leaf, and it lemony-cleanses some in the mid-section here. The burley blends in smoothly enough but does add a bit of ashiness as the bowl burns-down. I think it lends itself to the structure-some. Woodsy like timber and charred but not scorched, mainly. [I'm put in mind of Fig Newtons.] The whole profile seems wrapped in leather and via progression, it roughs up, softens--gets worked in. Buckwheat and a tick of molasses. Baking spices and black pepper. Fusty and dusty and could use some more focus.
That vegetal note is now a bit brighter and at the same time, less on-board. However, it retains its cleansing effect. I get zero ashiness at this point. I also no longer get Fig Newtons, oh well. The leather is of note as it's both thinner and meatier. This lends to the overall feeling of greater balance now. Also, it develops much more loosely, less of a strangling, which is always nice. Spices have dulled a notch or two, and I would have liked them not to have. Although there is quite pronounced lemon pepper.
This seems like one to cellar well. The cut is hearty chunks that pack and burn well. Sweetens toward mid-bowl, almost to buckwheat honey, then that acrid tendency re-rears up near the heel. Big smoke. Seems a bit dry out of the tin, but as mentioned burns well. Ash is powdery but in the end does dottle-up considerably-so. Ultimately, I find it lacking (strangely) in oomph.
This seems like one to cellar well. The cut is hearty chunks that pack and burn well. Sweetens toward mid-bowl, almost to buckwheat honey, then that acrid tendency re-rears up near the heel. Big smoke. Seems a bit dry out of the tin, but as mentioned burns well. Ash is powdery but in the end does dottle-up considerably-so. Ultimately, I find it lacking (strangely) in oomph.
I called it right off the bat with cellaring potential. I would like to pop on another tin to put to bed a bit. Full disclosure, I kept this in its original tin all along. That said, I did not notice any different moisture levels. Burns a bit slower if anything in this final go-around. Leaves less powder and more dottle in the heel, at which point there are still some acrid tendencies. Seems, all told, less 'big' and at the same time possessing more oomph. A greater delineation and more deliberate delivery.
TASTE: B+ A-
AROMA: B B+
BURN: B
FINAL GRADE: B B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
TASTE: B+ A-
AROMA: B B+
BURN: B
FINAL GRADE: B B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
Put this blend down for 6-12mos. and it could be an A. Maybe I'll see. This whole thing does beg one fine question: Should a blend be ready to smoke immediately? I feel the answer to that is the basis of a separate write-up. I'll get on that at some future point.
::: very :::