Tobaccos Cornell & Diehl - Carolina Red Flake (Small Batch)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3050)	2016-06-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Several 2015 North Carolina grown red Virginias are processed into a very easily broken apart flake to suit your packing preference, and for a better burn rate than what some flake blends offer. It’s very tangy, dark fruit sweet with a lot of earth and wood, very mild grass, bread, vinegar, floralness, natural sugar, tart lemon and citrus notes, along with slightly more than mild spice. The first thing that hits you as you light up is the tangy sweetness, wood and earth, which are the main features of the flavors. The other attributes I mentioned quickly show themselves, and remain all throughout the proceedings. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. The strength is a couple of steps past that mark. The taste is right at the medium level. It has a few rough, rugged edges.

Not a complex product, but there’s enough variety going on to hold your interest as the flavor is fairly smooth and very consistent from start to finish. I say “fairly smooth” only because the much appreciated earth and spice continually underscores the inherently tangy sweetness of the reds. Burns at a moderate pace, cool and clean with no dull or harsh spots. Won’t bite even if pushed, though I recommend a slow cadence in order to fully savor the experience. Easily burns to ash, and requires a few relights. Leaves a light dampness in the bowl. The tangy after taste very pleasantly lingers a little, and the room note is a little sweet. Can be an all day smoke if you wish. Think Christmas Cheer with less sugar sweetness, more earth and spice, and only a bare essence of "vinegar".

-JimInks

57 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fr_tom (393)	2016-06-05		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Man is this stuff good! By that it is up there with a very good Christmas Cheer and it has the edge on 5100. That is high praise.

Mine came as a mostly broken flake due to the rigors of handling. I broke up the big pieces and got a texture similar to the Amphora Red of my youth. Tin note is earthy and slightly sweet. Hydration was very good.

Smoked, there is a heavy fruit with some tart when puffed. It is slightly sweet and exhaling through the nose has some spice and a little citrus as if the heavy fruit is an orange that is a too ripe. Smoking qualities are excellent. It left a nice aftertaste.

This is a great Red Virginia. You should try it if you can get one of the 2400 tins. I know you don't buy small batch to blend, but I suspect this would rock with some perique.

37 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2016-06-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

If you can get some of this, do so. It's that good. If you did get some, congratulations on a smart purchase. I managed to get two tins and one went straight to the cellar for aging. The other is being smoked only in cobs because I'm a cob guy and this is special stuff.

It's well rounded with the highs, mids and lows nicely covered. There are several fruity nuances that run together making a kind of "fruit punch" flavor that's only mildly sweet and somewhat tart. In the second half these nuances get deeper, darker and a bit earthier. I find it to be very, very satisfying. It truly is some wonderful leaf. Damn shame there's so little of it.

About medium in body, maybe a shade more. Nic is also around medium. Taste is medium as well. Satisfaction is full. This one will be savored.

Edit: 6/23/16 In case you haven't heard, there have been cases of mold found in some of the tins. C&D has issued a recall of all 2400 tins and refunds or trades for other C&D blends are being offered. I have found no mold in the tin I'm smoking out of and I intend to smoke every bit of it. I opened the tin I had put in the cellar and found no mold, jarred it and put it back to age. I would recommend doing that to any that you might have in your cellar. If you find mold you can get your dough back.

Pipe Used: MM Marcus, Little Devil Cutty, Little Devil Acorn

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

30 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2017-01-27		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

The good news for my pipe club was that a fellow member who is in love with all these small batch C&D blends brought a tin to our meeting. Further good news, no mold! Nice Virginia broken flake and C&D did not lie when they said it came from a special grade of Virginia. Subtle, sweet and smooth. I really liked this one and had to battle some of my other club members (but only the old ones that were littler than me) for a second bowl.

22 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2016-06-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Carolina Red, the third blend in the “Small Batch” series from C&D greets the nose with a little bit of hay and fruit. From a moisture standpoint, most will find this pipe ready straight away. I prefer tobacco on the drier side so I did dry it for a few short minutes. In the pipe, my first puff was more of hay than tangy red Virginia, but it very quickly settled into one of the more interesting Red Virginia blends that I have smoked in some time. There is some tang, but not as tangy as some of the McClelland red VA’s. There is an ample amount of sweetness along with a tart undercurrent. The flavor is “richer” and deeper than many newly tinned red Virginias out there. The combination of sweet and tart really makes for an outstanding blend. There is more complexity in this blend than others in this genre too. The fruitiness becomes bolder as each bowl progressed as did the spice level. CRF burns cool with no acidity or bite. I don’t have any C&D blends in my regular rotation. But these small batch blends have all been outstanding and CRF is another great one in this series. It’s too bad that it appears there isn’t enough leaf to make some of these standard offerings. Congrats to C&D on another winner!

21 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2018-11-18		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

C&D I salute you! This is an instant classic and a blend to be revered for generations to come. I am reviewing the Nov 2018 release, tin 1175/8000 from a 2015 harvest. This is a broken flake that comes on the dry side (just the way I like it) and is pure red VA. The tin note is subtle, virginia tobacco with light brown sugar sweetness on the nose. The flavor is reminiscent of McClellands red VA blends, Christmas Cheer immediately comes to mind as soon as the smoke hits my tongue. It is not the same as CC but these are top shelf red's. The flavor is earthy and mildly spicy, this is the dominant profile that I get from first light to last puff. There is a tanginess to the smoke that is always in the background and pronounced on the retrohale. There are also dark fruits and a bready/toasty and mildly nutty flavor on the finish/aftertaste. The tanginess boarders on sour occasionally and this adds to the complexity of the smoke. It is not an overly complex smoke but it is not without nuance. This is one of the best Virginia tobacco's I have ever smoked from C&D and deserves high honors among all the great Virginia's. This is a must have for anyone who enjoy's red Virginia tobacco.

Pipe Used: Briar's, meerschaum and cobs

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	incendio (45)	2019-04-24		Medium	Medium	Mild	Tolerable

Carolina Red Flake is one of those tobaccos that has a cult following. Not surprising as it's a limited edition offering.

I have the impression that pipe smokers can be described by various terms, divided into distinct classes along several lines of distinction. One of these is Cornell & Diehl. Either you love them or you don't. If you love them, their catalog has much to offer you by way of variety and unique blends that, failing distinction, don't wander far from the general vane than englobes their tobacco worldview--"honest, unpretensious tobacco."

I on the other hand just can't get hooked. I try and try. Generally I don't write reviews for tobaccos unless I like them, but somehow I think that this flake has a 3.8 rating because only its habitués have reviewed it. I suppose it was a limited edition so most of you aren't torn with indecision at spending a paycheck on 'in stock' Carolina Red Flake. So why mention it?

Well, Sansepolcro, another Cornell & Diehl limited edition run, is due to make an appearance tomorrow. As curious as I am given the appetizing reviews that others have written about it, I nonetheless can't bring myself to forget that, for my tastes anyway, Cornell & Diehl has always been a purveyor of tobacco mixtures that tend toward the harsher, dryer, and monotone end of the spectrum. Carolina Red Flake is a perfect example of it. A beacon herald, flagship tobacco. For example, it is an 'honest' tobacco, inasmuch as it is simple. As charming as a one-note piano. It is best sipped early in the morning otherwise its linear appeal will escape your distracted senses. It would likely make a good blending tobacco, but that's missing the point of a small batch limited edition, isn't it? I'm grateful to my friends who've given me many samples of Cornell & Diehl blends, most of which I've not enjoyed terribly much (the one exception being Star of the East Flake). I wonder how much Carolina Red Flake tins would have sold if they'd given out free samples first.

Anyway, that's my review. Call it a 'dissenting voice.'

Pipe Used: all shapes and sizes

Age When Smoked: 2018 limited edition

Purchased From: Tobaccopipes-dot-com

Similar Blends: Cornell & Diehl is in a league all its own.

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	toddsmith7378 (41)	2018-11-21		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

Well, I suppose I'm no old timer with smoking, but in the 5 years or so I've smoked, I've plowed through and amassed quite a collection. I've got English's I adore, Balkan's I love, VA/Per's I can't get enough of. I've got several example's from all the most readily available blenders/brands of varying percentages of leaf. I've even accumulated blending stock and have acquired the ability to get reasonably close to the one's I love.

I say all of that to say this. Red Virginia is just about the only pure strain that can be absolutely perfect on its own. 5100 and McClelland 40th Anniversary have it, so I'm glad I stocked a decent amount of those. Then, I stocked up on the newer sutliff Red virginia match, as well as their ribbon.

But I have to say, I've heard the old timer's talk about legendary tobacco's. I would have thought I could pick from the myriad blends I've tried some that are better than others, but it wasn't until I smoked this, that I could almost immediately say I had finally realized something that would be a legend of my pipe smoking tobacco experience. I did manage to stock enough to last a good while, but of all the tobacco's I've tasted, this one is so perfect, and above the rest, that I can truly say it is a masterpiece, at least in the modern sense. I know someday, I'll be that old timer, and this is the one I'll remember, and that is my review.

Pipe Used: Turkish Meer, Savinelli

Age When Smoked: Out of tin

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: 40th anniversary.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	p120d16y (22)	2016-06-15		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Just after the first bowl I immediately knew this is the best tobacco I've packed in a pipe. It's just pure top notch red Virginia bliss. Perfect moisture content right from the tin. Perfect brittle red, loose flakes. The only thing I differ on from what Jim notes is that it is fairly complex. Tangy sour notes of toasted bread, bright notes of citrus, and a sweet natural mellow toasted sugar flavor throughout if sipped slowly. About half way through the bowl it picks up in spice and dark fruit sweetness combined to make for a more and more added perique-like peppery plum as you continue down the bowl. Some are saying use a small pipe. I disagree. Use varying larger sized bowls to get the spice and dark fruit flavor towards the middle-end. This is a sublime smoke. I was fortunate to snag several tins to cellar a few away and smoke a couple. This will age so wonderfully it's a crying shame only 2,400 tins were made. It burns very uniform and slowly. A large bowl burned away for me for well over 2 hours with a slow cadence.

Pipe Used: Merkur 2000 volcano (briar)

Age When Smoked: New and fresh

Similar Blends: SmokingPipes.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	grimstuff (14)	2018-04-28		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

This stuff is great. Very sweet - possibly the sweetest tasting and smelling tobacco I've had. Lemony with some other dried fruits, but not hay-like or grassy like a lot of the typical pure Virginias. This is more rich, with a bit of a kick to it - strength says medium, but I found it to be a little stronger. (It would be interesting to mix this with a little Cabbie's Mixture... the citrus fruit in this tobacco might pair well with the deep raisin of that other blend.) In the end, this is a top-notch tobacco - definitely worthy of cellaring/hoarding. I typically don't care for the light, pure virginias like Capstan, Navy Flake, etc., there just doesn't seem to be a lot going on behind the hay and grass taste. I usually gravitate toward the much heavier-tasting blends of the G&H variety. But this one does not fit that description, and offers more depth and complexity.

Pipe Used: Billiard, apple

Age When Smoked: 1.5 years

Purchased From: Pipes and cigars

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	troyniss (38)	2020-10-17		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Presentation: Typical C&D flakes. Mostly intact with some slightly broken towards the bottom. Rich dark red, brown and a few traces of brighter bits, assuming stems/veins. C&D flakes are my favorite in terms of consistency and breaking apart. Perfect moisture and ready to go from the tin.

Palette: Slightly tangy, bready and a lovely earthy spice. Lighting up provides you with a nice straight red VA flavor. Dark, rich and the sweetness builds as the bowl progresses. Some citrus is detectable but not grassy or haylike like brights. Has a periqueness to it on the retrohale, despite containing no perique. It's the pure red VA spice. Cayenne, Korean Red pepper (Gochugaru). Somewhat tangy but not as vinegary as Sutliff 515 RC-1. A really great straight shooter tobacco and it's easy to see why many revel in it. Slightly higher nicotine past the medium mark. Not a creamy blend, but certainly smooth. Doesn't qualify as an all day blend for me but certainly repeatable given the time of day.

Performance: Burns exceptionally well. Can burn hot if you push it but not bite whatsoever. Doesn't burn fast either and I'd say that this blend burns at a perfect pace.

Conclusion: Well, I've got over 20 tins of this cellared, both from 2019 and this years new crop, so you could say that I like it. Some people don't give into the hype, and understandable. Is it the best blend on the market? No, but it holds a certain place in the pipe community. With McClelland defunct, it replaces the nostalgia of Christmas Cheer in terms of being released at a certain time every year. It will however not replace the flavor profile or quality of CC. I enjoy stocking up on this as with age it will only get better. I suggest you start cellaring this blend. Given time, we might see that some companies and blends to disappear, and I'm not the only one saying this.

I haven't tried the 2020 crop yet. Will update in the coming weeks.

UPDATE: I’ve tried the 2020 crop and from what I can tell it’s practically identical. Even with the lower sugar content, for the average shmuck like me, it would be hard to discern a real difference. Still a great blend and is exactly how I remembered.

Age When Smoked: New and aged +1 years.

Purchased From: SP

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	GabrielCRT (115)	2020-07-15		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

Imagine sourcing the extremely fine Red Virginia’s that McClelland used but then instead of dumping the ketchup sauce (vinegar) on the tobacco, choosing not to do that instead. That is what Carolina Red Flake achieves. It is an exceptional red Virginia in all its natural glory. As we witnessed in the original release the lack of preservatives or vinegar led to the growth of mold but was quickly fixed by C&D. Personally I’d rather risk mold than add vinegar to a tobacco.

CRF is medium-bodied with an initial blast of sugar which subsides a bit throughout the bowl. It is spicy through the nose. Further into the bowl there are lots of dried fruit and earthy/vegetal notes. It does taste like cranberries as they mention. Towards the end of the bowl it usually tastes very bready. This is a great Virginia flake I wish I had more of but if you never got the chance to try it Cornell & Diehl’s regularly available Red Virginia Ribbon is another great smoke.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (227)	2020-02-06		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Unnoticeable

Moisture is great right out the tin . Hay and earth , tang and spice , dried cranberries. Yes i will say the description is accurate . Sweet with a vinegar casing that gives it the tang i think . Very enjoyable smoke . Smoking the 2019 release . 5 tins in my cellar that I hope will age well . I get some nice bready notes as well . As good as it gets ! Surtliff’s cringle flake is another good one that is similar but with added flavoring . Highly recommend . Gentlemen zombie nailed it with the fruit punch flavor ! This has also a very strong nicotine punch past the medium range . Adjust accordingly. ..........................................update 10/2020 I’ve been smoking the just released 2020 CRF and wanted to give my impressions. This batch is new from 2018 crop . It has a little less sugar content and less tang .This version has a cinnamon spice flavor as apposed to the cranberry tang of the earlier one . Is it great ? Damn right it is ! It is earthier and even less cased it seems . Not as fruity either . Just a wonderful natural tasting tobacco with a little sweetness and a hint of vinegar maybe . It is so smooth with really no harshness or roughness and no bite whatsoever. It has a great nic hit to boot . A larger bowl gave me the heebie jeebies ! 4 stars for 2020 production . Outstanding tobacco !

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	moniker (220)	2019-11-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Cornell & Diehl’s (2015) Carolina Red Flake is a must try for experienced VA lovers. It presented in my tin as reddish brown, broken flakes, and the tin note is fermenting bread, yeasty, tangy, earthy, dark fruit leather, a little oat-y, and pungent for a VA. It came moist but dried to perfection quickly once the tin was opened. I like to handle the chunky, broken flake “ribbons” carefully and get a bundle of them stood up on end in the bowl of a dedicated VA pipe. It lights easily and smokes down slowly like a dream. It smokes sooty for me, so I keep a couple of pipe cleaners handy. Smoked thoughtfully/kept cool it is very fragrant, adding savory wood resins and something like fragrant, almost floral meadow grasses to tastes that otherwise follow the tin note. It is amazingly sweet for red VA, but it is also fairly pungent (like the tin note), and these contrasting qualities balance this blend beautifully. I suppose this is not “monopol” tobacco, all from one plot, rather I think it’s two or more “similar but not the same” red VAs, because there is a wonderful, very sophisticated complexity available for the seeker of this sort of thing, even as these tobaccos meld very well. There is plenty of smoke, and it gets better and better, right down to nubs. Strength is medium. Tastes are just over medium the way I smoke it. Room note is pleasant. Aftertaste is a lingering, sweet, sweet trailing off of the smoke, which is terrific, top to bottom.

Here is as fine an example of an All American, aged VA flake as I have ever smoked, for whatever that’s worth. It contrasts and compliments more processed, top quality English and European VA flakes in my rotation. IMO it would make a great everyday smoke, and my stash is doomed, for sure. I am pretty sure it will continue to age very nicely. 4 stars.

Pipe Used: dedicated VA briars

Age When Smoked: tin dated 09-21-19

Purchased From: Liberty Tobacco

Similar Blends: Compare/contrast to GLP Union Square.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Curious George (15)	2019-11-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Fairly dry broken flakes, but still get a little drying time for my preferences. This does not have heavy tangy/sour smell of something like 515 RC-1 (missed 5100), it is more muted and earthy. Nor is it overly sweet as the sugar content would suggest. It is lightly "bready" which is a huge positive for me. Rounding out the taste profile is a subtle spiciness, but not VaPeresque. I've ordered 22 tins of this now over multiple orders and wish I had maxed out the limit of 25 when SP.com originally released it.

Regarding the release itself, I chatted with Jeremy Reeves at the WCPS about CRF and he mentioned they increased the tin count each year because it was selling out too fast. For those wondering why the release count jumped from 2400 initially to 10000 for the final year. I also asked about future blends, with this being the last of the 2015 leaf, and they are still evaluating replacement options at this time. Here's to hoping the next crop is as good as this one!

Pipe Used: Nording bent apple

Age When Smoked: Freshly opened/purchased

Purchased From: SP

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (403)	2019-10-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Unnoticeable

A little over a week ago a fellow pipe club member sent out an email letting everyone know that this blend was scheduled to be released on 15 Oct 19. A few days prior to the date I called an online store to get more information and found out that they could not reserve me any, etc but that it would be on sale at 1201 EST with a lot of 10,000 tins. One of my first thoughts was that doesn’t sound like a small batch to me but I had already succumbed to the ‘limited edition fever’ as I usually miss out on these and for the sake of my pocket book probably just as well. Ah ha, I thought, I am PST and I can get a 3 hour jump on half the United States. So, on Monday night I sat here at my computer like I am doing now and refreshed the web at exactly 2101 and ordered 7 tins of a tobacco I have never had. The limit was 25 tins a day per customer which I thought was way too high but I did not make the rules. I also ordered a couple of other tins and got the free shipping. A week later I happened to be home when the UPS driver came up and gave me the box. The box had creases on it like an accordion and I told the driver I hope my contents aren’t damaged. Well two had massive creases in the tin so I chose to open the worst one and popped the dent out with my fingers and you could hardly tell the difference. This was tin 03004. I also received in no particular order, 09986, 09987, 03017, 09989, 03008 and 03009. Truthfully the numbers are mean less unless you get maybe 00001 or 10000. I also discovered that there was a release in 2018 of 8000 tins and I wish they would update this information pertaining to this blend on this website. A fantastic sweet Virginia smell, reddish brown and a very broken flake tobacco. I think previous issues at least in the beginning it was an actual flake but can’t swear to it. This is a really great smooth, no bite tobacco which I also learned that Red Virginia usually has a low sugar content and I am sure that is why it is bite free. I am no Virginia expert but this is a really good smoke. Would I be saying this in spite of all the hype, I am almost certain I would. Some have alluded this as one dimensional but also bear in mind this is a straight Virginia and not a blend. On its own merits it is great. The store that I bought this from was sold out in like two days. I did buy 3 more from another site and that will be it. In closing I emailed the company with a picture of my two dented tins and they could not have been nicer. They offered me a refund, etc. and I replied back that I did not want a refund and I was not sending them back. I also said I probably should have emailed UPS also but I just wanted to let them know. I buy for my own personal use and am not a re-seller and as the damage was fixable no big deal. I hope to all those that like Red Virginia you were able to get some. My next visit to the pipe club I am going to bring in the other dented tin and pass it around. Life is too short to get to worked up over a couple of dented tins. Now if I could apply that attitude to the rest of my life…… well until next time.

Pipe Used: Altinay Meerschaum Poker

Age When Smoked: New

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2019-10-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

----- Update 3/15/2021 ----- I decided to try a tin of the 2020 production to compare it to the below. I had both available so I could smoke them back to back to see the differences.

The 2020 is from a different crop as shown in the description. It's similar to the original but right now seems a little less "full" but I'm guessing as it ages it will join it's older cousins at the top of my list. As is - the 2020 would be 3/4 stars but I'm leaving my rating at 4/4 based on my 2017 tins below. Into the cellar you go mr. 2020.

--- Original 10-15-2019 ------ With the 3rd (and final it sounds) run of 10k tins in the "small batch" today, I'm finally reviewing my selection of 2017 vintage CRF.

I listened to Jeremy Reeves video on Smoking Pipes about the grade of Red Virginia which is featured in this one. I had thought that the lighter notes were blended in, but now realize that they are all parts of the same crop.

I tried this fresh out of the tin in 2017 and really thought it was a little bit "boring" but pulling it back out of the cellar I found it has really aged well and now has a combination of sweetness and depth that would make we swear there was something else in there.

I usually just pack a broken flake or two whole into my Fat Author or 320. It sometimes requires a couple of lights to get going but once it does, its an easy smoke. Nic level is solid middle to me. I can feel it for sure.

My favorite pairing to drink it with is a blonde or white rum. I'm smoking it with some Papa's Pilar #24 tonight. The sweetness is a great compliment to the tobacco. It brings out the high notes quite well.

Highly recommend you grab some of the 2019 vintage and put it in the cellar before its gone.. (according to Jeremy, this is the last run)

Pipe Used: fat authors and sav 320s

Age When Smoked: 2 years - 2017 Vintage

Purchased From: Smitty's Cigars - Gainesville, GA

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WillBrown (137)	2019-09-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The label on this tin is vexing, what, exactly, is the name of this blend? Is it Small Batch? That aforementioned name is prominent on the label. Come to find the name of this blend is Carolina Red Flake, not Small Batch. Why the confusion? The word Small Batch is white, bold and large on the label—easily read. The actual name of the blend is in black on a dark red background color, in written script, and half the size, at best, than the words Small Batch—so pardon you for the confusion, right?

In any case, labels, as important as they are, fortunately, have nothing to do with the actual tobacco itself, which by the way, is, in this particular instance, nothing short of fabulous! The tobacco's in this blend are mildly sweet, verge on being full flavored (but not strong), and very tasty indeed! This tobacco is best when sipped, the retro was fantastic! This was my favorite blend of the year! Because of this blend, I'll have to seek out more Red VA's.

I hope C&D unloads the small batch label and releases it as a standard blend.

Excellent blend!

Keep on Pipin!

Pipe Used: Viprati Big Bowl

Purchased From: Crown City Cigars and Fine Tobacco, Coronado Island, CA

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2019-04-17		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Tin aroma is that of hay, earth & grass with no preservative aroma. I found C & Ds Carolina Red Flake to be an excellent tobacco. I was surprised & appreciated its strength... it may roll your eyeballs as it might possibly be the strongest & best tasting Red VA in the world? It is much stronger than a mild, 2000 batch of aged McCrannie's Red Ribbon which didn't impress me all that much due to it's mild nature & lack of strength... almost like plain air but it did possess a good flavor. However, this Carolina Red Flake is richer & tangier with a more earthy flavor. It doesn't bite & offers a relatively sweet, pure, Old Belt Carolina Red VA flavor.

This is a broken flake tobacco... can be smoked as is or rubbed out into its course cut condition & has a long burn rate. Very satisfied with the flavor & appreciated the extra strength. One medium or even a smaller bowl would be enough to satisfy the Vitamin N necessity of any piper. This is probably not an all day smoke for many but can certainly be enjoyed on a daily basis, being much closer to the strong side in the medium to strong classification, especially toward the last third. It is much better in a deeper bowl & provides you with a long, cool burning smoke session... like the Energizer Bunny, it just keeps going & going, getting stronger and tastier as the smoke wafts over the lower portion of the tobacco in your bowl. Dried properly, it burns down to a fine grey ash with very little moisture to contend with, depending on the quality of your pipe which has a lot to do with gurgle & moisture content.

I also use this Carolina Red & McConnell's Red VA, Samuel Gawith FVA, Wilke's Turkish Yenidje, Unsweetened Black Cavendish, Burley & a smidgeon of Lane's 1Q with a little Wellauer's Latakia or McConnells Cyprian, or both, to mix up a good Balkan Blend. Really gives it a boost & turns out a Balkan better than most others on the market. If you like a good Balkan, best to mix it to your own taste preference. Great blend & I've bought plenty to cellar but always on the lookout for more... should age fairly quickly & the longer, the better. I would never have guessed that a straight Red Virginia could be this strong & tasty. Obviously, my favorite Red VA. Excellent!

Pipe Used: D. S. Huber Bent Dublin, Cavicchi Canted Dublin

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: eBay

Similar Blends: A little like C & Ds Red Ribbon & McCranies in flavor but with considerably more strength...

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30194)	2019-03-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I found C & Ds Carolina Red Flake to be an excellent tobacco. I was surprised by its strength... pretty darn strong. It is much stronger & tastier than the wimpy, McCrannie's Red Ribbon which didn't impress me in the least but it did possess a good flavor but this one is richer & tangier with a more earthy flavor. It doesn't bite & offers up a fairly sweet flavor.

Can be smoked folded or rubbed out & has a long burn rate. Very satisfied with the flavor & satisfied with the extra strength & one bowl was plenty for a good while. Probably not an all day smoke for many but can certainly be enjoyed on a daily basis.

I also use this or McConnell's Red VA & SGFVA with Yenidje & unsweetened Black Cavendish with a little Wellauer's Latakia or McConnells Cyprian, or both, to mix up a good Balkan Blend. Really gives it a boost & turns out a Balkan better than most any on the market. If you like a good Balkan, best to mix it to your own taste preference. Great blend & I've bought plenty to cellar... should age fairly quickly & the longer, the better. Excellent.

Pipe Used: D. S. Huber Bent Dublin

Age When Smoked: A few months

Purchased From: eBay

Similar Blends: A little like C & Ds Red Ribbon, McCranies in flavor but with considerably more strength..

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cubish70 (3)	2020-12-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Was eager to try this with all the hype. I adore Reds especially red flakes. First of all, I'll say the sour room note coming from my wife's pipe lit before mine, did not give me a high expectation. The tobacco is ready to smoke as far as moisture is concerned. To be clear the tin not is so rich, I'm not sure I can understand why it does not translate into the smoke. A monochrome, non eventful, easy burning, dry smoke followed. Then as the last Grey ash was spent. I got an aftertaste that lingered for an hour that reminded me of a cheap Connecticut wrapped cigar. I wish I could enjoy it, but it's going to be gifted for sure.

Pipe Used: Bones Snorkel

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Trade

Similar Blends: N/A.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ticktocker (9)	2020-10-20		Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

So you know where I'm coming from...... I've been enjoying pipes for the past 35 years. I am a Virginia fan and most of my favorite smokes are from Virginia laden pipes with an occasional foray into light English blends. How do you get a tobacco to become a loved, best selling, cult followed tobacco? Include "small batch" in the title. I just don't get it....... I smoked this in various pipes from meers to cobs to favorite briars at different times of the day. This is a fantastic tobacco for the first 1/3 of the bowl. Then something goes wrong. Not sure what it is but a strong cigar essence takes over and the wonderful Virginias fall far to the background. By the end of the bowl I feel something I don't feel too often with tobaccos. Tongue bite. My whole mouth feels abused. I don't tend to smoke fast whatsoever so I was very surprised at that outcome. The cigar taste and aroma is not necessarily bad but not what I expected from this tobacco. The tongue bite was a total surprise. It does light easily and stays lit with no need to relight throughout the smoke. I am cellaring a few tins and will try again in a few months but for now, I'd say stay away, which is a totally different opinion from most others that try this blend.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Middle Earth (3)	2020-09-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I got some tins for the cellar. Had to try one out and have been at it for a few days.

I rub it out a bit, but not much effort needed for me. No dry time. Smoky and burns well for me with few to zero re-lights.

Rare that I smoke straight through a tin, but I keep coming back as nothing else equals it for me right now.

Once I am done with the tin, it will be a while until I get the distinct pleasure of cracking open another with some years on it.

My clear expectation is that it will age like a champ.

It is a fine blend. As a general matter, as good as a blend gets, and the reviews/ratings reflect that.

If I see it come up again at S.P., I will add to the stack.

Highly recommended if you like straight Virginia.

Edit: Tried the 2020 8.33% sugar as opposed to the 10.49% in the 2016 to 2019 releases. Not saying the differences are 100% sugar content related Still blows back the hair but not as far. Still an excellent choice and four stars which makes the earlier releases an uber four star blend to be treasured.

Pipe Used: Various - mostly GBD pots

Age When Smoked: Less than one year

Purchased From: S.P.

Similar Blends: Pretty much a one-off.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ATW (110)	2020-06-02		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

My tin is from the September 2019 batch.

Tin note is almost not there. Just a very faint typical red virginia aroma. From first light to last puff it's very consistent. Sweet enough to be noticeable, smooth, and creamy. Has a very slight spice to it that you get from red Virginia. I dont pick up on any herbal flavors. Burns cool and clean with no harshness or tongue bite.

It seems to be a very good quality grade of red virginia. My understanding is this the last batch of CRF with this grade of Virginia that we will see. While it is good, I dont see myself missing it when my tin is empty.

To my tastes, this is similar to Hearth and Home Marble Kake. Marble Kake does seem to have more depth of flavor imo. This is more on the higher end of mild were Marble Kake is on the lower end of medium is flavor.

Its definitely worth trying if you can get your hands on it.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bulldog8483 (25)	2020-05-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I will start off this review by stating that this is an excellent Virginia offering from Cornell and Diehl. I've smoked many straight Virginias (FVF, McC 40th, Opening Night, Union Square, Hamborger Veermaster, HH Pure Virginia, just to name a few). The quality of the red Virginia in this blend rivals the McClelland Virginias in their 40th Anniversary and Christmas Cheer offerings, but does not possess nearly the vinegar/ ketchup smell and taste that they (particularly Christmas Cheer and some of their other blends) do.

Mechanically, the blend is perfect out of the tin as far as moisture is concerned. It lights and stays lit wonderfully as you smoke it. As good or better than any tobacco I've had the pleasure of smoking. Comes in a chunky flake format reminiscent of the flakes in G.L. Pease Union Square. Very good all the way around here.

As far as the smoke itself is concerned. The blend is quite smooth with a few harsh spots present. It's not as smooth as McClelland 40th Anniversary by any stretch, but in my opinion, that blend sets the standard as far as a smooth Virginia is concerned. When you light it up, it starts out fairly sweet and is bready while having hints of hay. As you work your way through the bowl, it builds in both sweetness and spiciness and mellows considerably. The sweetness is delicious and brown sugar-like in character while the smoke is almost creamy tasting. It doesn't bite you unless aggressively pushed and is quite forgiving in that regard. It is definitely an all day smoke type of blend. Strangely, but wonderfully, it's a "fill it and forget it" type of blend from a maintenence perspective which is rare for a straight Virginia blend. You don't need to think much about this one. It's straightforward, yet diverse enough to keep you interested all the way through the bowl.

The bottom line: this blend has catapulted itself into one my top 5 blends. I have been smoking the blend with less than a year of age on it and tried a couple bowls with 2 years of age and that was even smoother and sweeter. This one will age terrifically given the time to do so. I don't think you can go wrong with this one. For straight Virginia lovers and the occasional Virginia smoker, this is one of the rare ones to have and cellar. For someone looking to try and quality Virginia blend and can't obtain McClelland 40th Anniversary (which is the gold standard of straight red Virginia blends IMO), this is a great alternative. A rock solid 4 star blend with the highest recommendation from me. I didn't know if another Red Virginia blend of the quality of 40th would hit the market after McClelland closed their doors, but Carolina Red Flake finally makes me not miss them as much. Not the same, but an A+ nonetheless. This is one incredibly solid tobacco...

Pipe Used: Jake Hackert, Machelli, Sea Rock

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: Online and Aftermarket

Similar Blends: McClelland 40th Anniversary, Christmas Cheer, C&D Opening Night.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2082)	2019-11-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

Cornell & Diehl - Carolina Red Flake (Small Batch).

Tin No. 09991 of 10,000.

Wow, I ordered a few tins of this and I'm over the moon I did! It's a spectacular blend!

The presentation's one of a broken flake, quite a dark shade of brown, it has a rich Virginia aroma, and great hydration. Due to the consistency there's no need for too conscientious a rub, just pinch some and stuff it in!

Lighting a bowl's easy and the smoke is fantastic. 'Fruit Bun'. This is a good description of the smoke, for me. I get a hearty amount of sweet, rich, fruit. But there's also a bready, doughy, character behind; like a fruit bun! It burns nicely, is medium in temperature, and doesn't bite me.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: very nice.

Carolina Red Flake? Perfection! Highly recommended:

Four stars.

Pipe Used: Tekin Meer'

Age When Smoked: 09/23/19

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	nkulk8r (90)	2019-10-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Just received two tins of Carolina Red Flake (dated 9-23-2019)

Packed a rather large bowl of this (in an over-sized Neerup) for breakfast this morning.

Decent looking broken flake with tin notes of hay, earth.

One reviewer used the word "boring" -- and that is what immediately came to my mind, initially, but it soon began to develop some character.

I've become quite fond of Virginia's since first picking up the briar -- red Virginias in particular. So, when I saw "Carolina Red Flake", Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1 came to mind, as did Sutliff's Crumble Kake Red Virginia (alas, I missed the 5100 -- I can only imagine) . . . Carolina Red Flake didn't have the tang or sweetness that I was expecting (I certainly didn't get the sweetness, dark fruit and tanginess that other reviews from 2016 were raving about). That being said, Carolina Red Flake did strike me as a solid, good smoking VA: earthy, woody, some dark fruit; a trace of sugar. The bottom two-thirds of the bowl was more reminiscent of McClelland's 40th Anniversary (closer to a straight VA as opposed to something called "Red Flake" -- not to engage in unnecessary criticism). Good dose of nicotine, just past the medium I would say. One reviewer cellared some for a few years and remarked that it improved with age (surprise), so I think I'll follow suit. 3.5 stars.

UPDATE: January 30th, 2020: Just purchased 16 tins (out of 10,000 tins) of the 2019 batch from Pay Less Cigars & Pipes for $204 (with express shipping). Boy Howdy, did I ever get lucky, or what?

Age When Smoked: Fresh

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	IndyPiper (2)	2017-11-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Tin Note - The traditional Virginia sweetness of hay hits you right away and does not end.

Moisture Content - Perfect out of the tin. No need to dry.

Visual Note - Red flake with light brown spots mixed throughout. I would compare the color overall to a brick red color.

Smoke - Medium smoke with a pleasent room note. The hay sweetness is very prominent. Makes for a really enjoyable smoke. I got some spice from it in the back of my throat. It was pleasent and I am not a big fan of VaPers. I also got dried, dark fruit tastes. My brain went to a dark cherry flavor. It was not overpowering and lingured on the tongue between draws.

TL:DR - Great medium, sweet smoke with a little spice and dark fruit flavors.

Pipe Used: Peterson Atlantic

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blain407 (4)	2017-11-07		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This is a superb red Virginia flake. I prefer it to 40th anniversary which is definitely saying something considering how good that blend is. C&D has really made something special with this blend. IMHO this stuff is on par with esoterica Virginias. In fact English blending houses don’t have a comparable blend so one could say that this might be one of thee best red Virginia flakes in the world right now. On to the description...like others have said it has a lovely sweetness with a slight tart undertone. When I retrohale I get a wonderfully smooth tanginess that tickles the nostrils. Every bowl has been better than the previous. I’ve found that the flavor is so bright and fruity that one can’t ignore it. It forces one to pay attention to the delicious flavors of citrus fruit and sometimes a sweet wine like note that is ever so tasty. It burns like a dream and needs a below average number of relights. Only drawback is the availability. I was lucky enough to snag 2 tins to try it and immediately regretted not purchasing more. If you see this tin on a shelf in your local tobacconist PICK IT UP!

Pipe Used: 1930’s Kaywoodie meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Less than two weeks from being tinned

Purchased From: Smoking pipes and uptown’s in Nashville

Similar Blends: Mcclelands 40th anniversary...only better.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	the_dalai_lama_himself (43)	2017-04-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This was good before I returned it. Had no mold but my buddy wanted to return his 10 tins. Red virginias were pleasant with earthiness, tangy sweetness, woodsiness and fruit.. some decent starting age to the tobacco but not anything special.. certainly not much older than most tins you can find at b&m' that have sat for a few years.. perfect 4 star blend no, so I'm giving it a 2.9. Don't want ppl thinking this was some mythically good blend or anything. C&D flakes are real messy btw, wish they could fix that bc they're my favorite producer of tobacco other than SG whose flakes are perfect.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Peterson314 (43)	2022-08-04		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This bowl started out with the sweet vinegar, earthy, grassy, brightness that Virginias are known for, and then.... that's it. I didn't feel like anything developed. There wasn't much complexity to keep me interested. It tasted acrid when it got too hot, but cooling it down brought back the same monotone taste. I often feel like I unlock a next level of complexity when I push the smoke through my soft palate, but it didn't answer. I am left feeling like I just snorted an ashtray. I felt the nicotine coming in at around half-bowl and I wasn't enjoying this bowl, so I just dumped it. The aftertaste is as persistent as it is monotone.

If you like straight Virginias and you enjoy your pipe as a background for doing something else, you will probably enjoy this tobacco more than I did. If you like to sit outside and probe the complex intricacies of interesting tobacco, I can't recommend it. I will keep this on hand to mellow or brighten some other unbalanced blend, or maybe one day, I'll try my hand at blending my own. But I don't see myself loading up another full pipe of this straight. Two Stars.

Edit: It didn't seem out of the ordinary at first, but 12 hours after I smoked this bowl I am hanging my tongue out of my mouth to deal with the bite. I've never experienced a creeping bite like this. Revising down to one star. I don't understand this blend.

Pipe Used: Peterson Mycroft

Age When Smoked: 30 months

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bo (1)	2021-03-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

2020 edition: Spicy is what I recognize first and strong for the first third of the bowl. After that some Virginia sweetness here and there shines through and some earthy tones are more noticable. Burns at a moderate pace and needs 2-3 relights. The nic hit to me is more on the medium to strong side. I will set the tobacco aside and try it in a year again. Not an immediate love affair...

Pipe Used: Morta

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: Synjeco

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe&leaf (9)	2020-11-27		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Yeah. This is good stuff. Smoke this stuff: It's good.

I taste sweetness, sometimes bitterness, subtle cocoa sometimes, and a spicyness that makes it hard to believe there's no Perique in here... whaaa!?

I've smoked the 2020 crop and I'm almost done my first tin.

Yeah, baby.

-----------------

Smoking the 2021 flake with perique.

This stuff is art.

Pipe Used: T. Bannard(BST) rusticated canadian

Age When Smoked: Few months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Azirish (18)	2020-11-16		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

2020 Tin so won’t comment on other years release. I’m primarily a Virginia and Va/Per smoker but do enjoy a nice Oriental forward English also. Tin note for me is primarily cut grass, dry hay. A very slight earthiness and no sense of raisins, figs or other such notes. Moisture level was actually a bit on the dry side. It smokes dry and as such slightly fast burning. There is a some very good Virginia sweetness when smoked and that aged earthiness we all expect from a good red leaf. A very decent pepper tingle on retro-hale. A solid slightly sour earth note is detected if smoked gently. Midway through bowl and strength increases considerably. I noticed no bite. To summarize, this is a very good red Virginia tobacco and one that is worth cellaring for awhile. I can only guess that with some age it will improve even more.

Pipe Used: 6mm Savinellis and a Chacom Billiard.

Age When Smoked: 2020 batch

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Paul_H (1)	2020-10-09		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I just returned to the pipe after a 12+ year hiatus.

Historically, I avoided Virginia tobacco as it seemed to have clashed with my system. I'm from the Burley camp and love Burley, Balkan's and Oriental blends.

I have always been a fan of C&D blends and so after acquiring some of my old favorites (Big N' Burley, Byzantium, Valle Crucis, Pasha's Dream) I came across a youtube video with Jeremy Reeves on this tobacco. Add to it an advert from smokingpipes on this and I bought a tin. It arrived, I opened it up, popped it into the pipe I had also purchased and it was love at first char.

This is a gentle Virginia, full of all kinds of subtle flavors (quite the contrast to my stronger flavor musings) that is now a benchmark tobacco for me. In fact, after completing the bowl (half bowl that I sipped and, at times, feasted, I immediately ordered 3 more tins for storage.

I find this delightful, delicious, rich, savory, sweet and I want to yell out from the mountain tops that I just had an amazing experience with it.

I could bathe in this one. My God, is it ever delicious.

I'm looking forward to many bowls of this one...

Flavors that came up included whispered memories of one of my old time faves: J.F. Germain Brown Flake (the most sublime hints of the VA in that blend; sweet caramel and coco, oak and pine and sweet hay.

There was no bite, my tongue is dancing as I write...rich, creamy mouth feel, delicious smoke and room note (I was on the patio here in Idaho).

This of course was the maiden voyage of both the marriage of this tobacco and a pipe that was purchased for this specific tobacco. It was a very happy honeymoon indeed.

I'll add more as time passes. However, for right now, this year's batch is one of the best things to come out of 2020.

Enjoy!

Pipe Used: Ropp Etudiant Sandblasted (J05)

Age When Smoked: Fresh (2020 Batch)

Purchased From: smokingpipes

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BrokenRecord (124)	2019-05-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

C & D, Carolina Red Flake: The best red Virginia flake currently on the market

The tobacco is pretty uniform in color—arranged in thick cut flakes in the normal C&D fashion. The tobacco leaves have an interesting texture and seem to be a little bit thicker than other Virginia varietals I have tried. The smoke is earthy, in fact, it is one of the earthiest straight Virginia I have ever tried. It is rich, medium body, and a little sweet with a slight tanginess (but not in a citrus way). There is no chance of tongue bite, even when pushed. For such a straight forward flake, a bowl of Carolina Red Flake can mostly hold my interest throughout the smoke. While quite good, I prefer a more complex straight Virginia for my normal rotation.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe Wizard (18)	2019-01-27		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Very nice red VA flake. Similar to McClelland 40th Anniversary but a little rough around the edges. This will be a fine smoke indeed with a bit of age on it!

Similar Blends: McClelland - 40th Anniversary (Limited Edition).

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2019-01-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

When I initially opened the tin, I thought the moisture content was slightly high but very smokable . I also felt there was a slight Burley component ( like Orliks Golden Red). The smoke was sweet and tangy but seemed to be prone to bite if pushed.

One month later: the tobacco dried some and lost the bite and burley taste ( now more like GLP's Union Square) . It is now sweet and tangy, good on cold relights, no bitterness BUT,,,still not up to McC's Christmas Cheers.

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: New/ one month

Similar Blends: Orliks Golden Red, GLP Union Square.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stah (153)	2021-11-01		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is about a fresh tin, produced in September 2021.

The appearance is fluffy strips of flake, easily diverging into individual fibers. The color is a uniform yellowish-brown shade of fresh foliage. There is no dust and no excessive moisture. The tobacco has the same consistency as Opening Night, just made for being puffed and smoked.

The aroma of the tobacco is wheat bread on freshly dried hay, tinged with the smell of sweet strong white wine and figs. It is somewhat more complex than the Opening Night flavor, which is not surprising - there are clearly more different varieties of Virginia. None of the notes of the flavor bouquet are knocked out or intensified, even if you sniff for a long time - only an almost imperceptible smell of white pepper appears. The tobacco smells deceptively sweet.

The initial taste is quite relaxed, baked bread with a slight note of bitter chocolate. The tobacco is initially rough on the palate, but not harsh, not biting. Also, this roughness quickly comes to naught while smoking. The flavor changes slightly toward the bitterness, adding to tobacco woody notes and replacing the bitterness of chocolate by about half a pipe, after which from the chocolate is left only a slight note in the smell of smoke. The tobacco is smoked cool enough, does not overheat the pipe, burns slowly, leaving a light gray fine ash. The strength of the tobacco is below average - I smoked two pipes in a row without feeling the nicotine hit. When smoking, the tobacco is moist - the moisture remains not only in the cup, but also in the mouthpiece. The tobacco has quite a characteristic caramel-malt aftertaste - as if you tasted a glass of red ale with your tongue - and this is markedly different from Opening Night.

The smoke is light, with a woody, grassy smell and the already mentioned note of bitter chocolate. Not irritating, quickly wears off.

Bottom line: an interesting Virginia blend that is definitely worth a try. It's a little less sweet than the Opening Night I tried earlier from the same producer, but the difference in flavor would be noticeable if you smoke them one after the other. The blends differ in smell and taste, and the aftertaste is different. However, they both have in common that they need to ripen for three or four years to gain more sweetness and smoothness. However, in my opinion, even fresh, this tobacco is more interesting than Opening Night.

Pipe Used: Peterson Silver Spigot XL26p

Age When Smoked: 2021 (fresh)

Purchased From: Online

Similar Blends: Cornell & Diehl - Opening Night (Simply Elegant Series).

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonius Blok (192)	2021-01-21		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

My tin has the number 06716 out of a total of 10,000.

I will go against my interests recommending it, because it is not easy to get. I had already been hooked on the third pipe that I smoked of this tobacco, to the point that I have been smoking two pipes a day almost every day, thanks also to its smoothness and the ease with which it is smoked.

When you open the tin, you can see an aroma of bread and hay with a vinegary touch (I have not detected the Korean red pepper (Gochugaru) that some user talks about, but I take my hat off to him (!?). a flake cut is advertised, in my tin I found a broken flake, probably due to the transfer of the tobacco. The humidity is perfect for charging directly from the tin. It burns exceptionally well and does not bite at all. The taste is mild and predominantly sweet, but not as much as the 8.33% sugar content advertised in 2020 tin seems to suggest. It has a very, very nice aftertaste exhale.

Beyond being a "limited edition" and the suggestions that this may entail, it is a very rich tobacco. I'm sorry I got a single tin to test it out, but I hope to get more when there is another release.

Pipe Used: Jan Kloucek Italy Silhoutte

Age When Smoked: 4 months

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Desertislandtoolworks (18)	2020-04-23		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It looks like this is out again (April 2020) as I was able to get a tin that is labeled from September 2019 at my local tobacconist. Great subtle sweet flavor and so easy to smoke. This tobacco stays lit with little effort yet didn't get too hot and no issues with smoking it. I really like the subtle date/dried fruit flavors along with a hint of old hay and other rich flavors.

Pipe Used: Weber Shellbrooke

Age When Smoked: 7 months

Purchased From: Ohlone Cigar Lounge

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CountryPiper (19)	2020-01-30		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Fantastic tobacco! Red Virginia's are by far my favorite so any time I come across a new version of this wonderful leaf its a must I give it a try. Like the description states, lots of sweet, tang, citrus, grass, and some bread going on here. There is nothing too crazy going on here, it's just a great straight Virginia. It comes in the form of broken flake which I prefer, it just makes things easier when time comes to rub it out. Right out of the tin the moisture was perfect, no drying time needed at all. I picked up mostly earthy notes with some dried fruit and grass. I could smoke this all day long as it's right around the medium mark in strength. This give a nice cool smoke and burns down to ash, it won't bite but in my opinion should be smoked slowly and really enjoyed. This is a special crop and from what I've heard outside of the 2019 offering will not come about again. If you enjoy red Virginia's and can find some at a decent price, this is a must try plus it will age wonderfully!!

Pipe Used: Lucky Pipes Author, Castello KK Billiard

Age When Smoked: 3 Years

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SiriusAmory (25)	2018-12-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

For the most part, the flake is fairly broken up right from the tin, requiring very little prep before packing a bowl. Right off the bat, there is a dominant flavor of earthy pepper with a barely detectable note of plum sweetness. The retrohale magnifies the pepper and the plum comes a bit more forward. Into the second half of the bowl, the pepper and earth mellow out a bit and I can detect hints of orange peel. I do recommend letting the tobacco dry out a little bit before lighting up because there was a little bit of moisture build up. It did require a fair number of relights, but I think that may have had more to do with my inexperience with flake tobacco.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	michaelc (40)	2017-11-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Very good tobacco! I found this flake to be an exceptional tobacco. The tin note is grass and fruit. It is ready to smoke from the tin and is easily rubbed out. It lights easily and burns very well. It is a sweet smoke and satisfying. I bought this because smokingpipes sent me an email and I responded immediately. If you can get a tin, do it. You will not be disappointed if you are able to get some.

Pipe Used: Big bore briars

Age When Smoked: 1 month

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: McClelland 40th Anniversarhy.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sirchud68 (60)	2021-01-16		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

I’m pretty late to the game with this blend but finally picked up a tin. I really haven’t had too many Cornell & Diehl tobaccos. Working through this tin has been a real treat. Smokes perfectly, burns perfectly, tastes wonderfully delicious. Plan on picking up many more tins.

Pipe Used: Peterson’s Kapet Billiard

Age When Smoked: Less than 6 months

Purchased From: Cigar Merchant Lafayette, La.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PaulMcCoy (78)	2022-11-11		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Production date: Aug, 30, 2022 | #9,231/15,000 | Sugar Content: 13.53%

The first third of the bowl is impressive. It's sweet, tangy, tart, grassy, with absolutely no bite to speak of. Not even a hint. The retrohale is full, round, and smooth, but spicy, and present. They're not wrong when they say it has undertones of dried cranberries. I kept thinking of a dry Cranberry Tart.

The second third gets darker, richer, and earthier. The retrohale intensifies, and gets spicier, all the while maintaining an afterglow of the first thirds profile. It dries out my throat quite a bit, so I've been pairing it with black tea and honey.

Unfortunately the room note did not pass the wife test. Said It smelled a bit like cigarettes. I didn't smell that, but later I noticed my office smelled musty, and stale. It wasn't awful though.

It’s an interesting blend. I adore the first half of the bowl. I was hoping it would stay on the lighter, brighter side of the Virginia spectrum, but that's okay. I think I'll appreciate it more in the colder months with some age on it. I can totally see this being a Thanksgiving/Christmas blend. 3 1/2 stars.

Pipe Used: Stanwell, Zebrano

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pencils (60)	2022-10-13		Medium	None Detected	Full	Very Pleasant

This is remarkably good. Tasty, sweet, fragrant and light. Excellent blend that will undoubtedly improve with age. A little stronger in the nicotine department than I am usually comfortable with, but when sipped is quite stunning.

Pipe Used: Peterson

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: Turmeau

Similar Blends: SG Autumn Flake.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrHoo (20)	2022-09-28		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another great Virginia Flake that, for some reason, I came to late in the game. It stands along side my other favourites, Opening Night and GLP Union Square. I don't miss the lack of bright. I find it has slightly less of a nic hit than the most, already mildish VA flakes (a positive for me) and a slightly deeper flavour. It leaves me wanting more than my self-imposed, nightly two bowls. It may also have a slightly more consistent burn but that could be down to me. No tongue bite unless pushed to hard which is hard to do. Burns down to white ash. If I were an all day smoker, I could smoke this all day.

Pipe Used: Old briars

Age When Smoked: Fresh from the tin.

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: GLP Union Square, C&D Opening Night..

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