Tobaccos Cornell & Diehl - Briar Fox

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-10-06		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Krumble Kakes are fun! This one was easy to work with - I simply pinched the cake between thumb and forefinger and a pinch of tobacco came off easily. I loaded as I would load a ribbon cut tobacco.

It's interesting how different smokers tastebuds are different. Unlike some smokers, I found nary a trace of sweetness in this blend. It was a rich, robust red VA flavor but it seemed tempered with burley, as it was more earthy. Not sure how they accomplished that with just VA's. This is the cigarette/cigar of pipe tobaccos, not because it tastes like one but because it had a similar mouth feel. It would be a high quality cigarette like the old Sobranies (without the condiment tobaccos, of course) or a mild, thin-guaged cigar, such as a panatela. As the bowl progressed, the flavor became richer and more cigar-like. This was like no other virginia blend I've ever smoked, and at the right times, it was fantastic. I don't see this in my regular rotation but it would make a nice occasional companion. This would smoke great outside in the fall, as the richness of the flavor would be subtly subdued. Interesting, unique blend. Try it if you think you know virginia. It may surprise you as it did me!

54 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2003-12-31		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

Upon opening the tin, the slightly sweet & sour smell of quality aged Virginia leaf hit my nostrils. I took out a chunk of the crumble cake that others here have described so well, and rubbed it out with no trouble. Although on the dry side, this one did not remind me of the Mojave as other C&D blends have. I found the humidity level in Briar Fox to be just right.

I really could not detect any topping or casing as I smoked; rather, a tobacco taste that for some reason reminded me of cigarettes - although more elegant in flavor.

This blend seemed to pick up flavor and strength the more I smoked it. I do like my nicotine and Briar Fox delivered nicely in that category as well.

In summation, this one starts out slow, picks up steam at mid-bowl and finishes with a strong and spicy kick. I think Briar Fox will age well, too. So, I have ordered more tins for my proverbial "cellar."

*And, since this review comes your way on 12/31/03 I'd sure like to wish all of my fellow reviewers a happy and prosperous New Year. Those of you who post reviews here have certainly been a wealth of information for me. For that, I thank you all for helping to make my pipe smoking hobby even more enjoyable.

52 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2013-07-23		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This blend finds itself, to my tastes anyway, somewhere between a straight Va ala Union Square or Dunhill Flake and an aromatic VA such as Davidoff's Danish Mixture. The problem for me is that I would rather reach for any of the aforementioned blends before I reach for this one.

It is something about the flavoring used in this blend that I do not find to my particular tastes. That said the flavoring is light and gets lighter with some age. My tin dated from 12/12/12 and I opened it within a month of that date. My first impressions were much less favorable than the later ones.

The tin presentation is fantastic. The Kake was almost a perfect cube. Although I didn't do a thorough inspection, I don't believe there was any little pieces separated from the cube. My first thoughts were it would be hard to crumble, but was I wrong. A simple pinch into the kake made a beautiful crumble of tobacco that needed very little rubbing to make it smokable.

Like nearly all C & D blends that I have tried, the moisture level was perfect from the get go. As I said earlier the initial smoking impression was not impressive. I found the topping to overtake the underlying Va's which would be fine if I enjoyed that particular topping; otherwise, the smoking characteristics and nicotine were perfect.

As time wore (It lasted me until last night so a little over 7 months)on and my block got smaller this got better. The topping seemed to dissipate with a little air time and the vas came more to the front and what I tasted was a great Va. Even the DGT got better with time, as my earlier notes stated that the DGT was no unlike a burley blend, but later I had some sublime results with a dgt.

Overall, I think this blend has the potential to be fantastic with some age and I will likely repurchase for that purpose alone.

7/29/13 Update I thought it important to share some information that developed after I copied this review to PSF. It started a conversation about how this was treated which manifested itself in an email to C & D. Chris Tarler responded back that there was no topping on this blend, but that there was a little Burley in it. Apparently it is the pressing of this blend with the burleys that gives it its unique flavor. FWIW, I thought I would share.

43 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3047)	2014-11-08		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

The toasty burleys offer a lot of earth, wood, nuts, some roughness, light sharp, spice, sour and cocoa notes, and very little sweetness as a lead component, though the Virginias occasionally rise above them. The red Virginia provides moderate tangy dark fruit, slightly tart citrus, some earth, wood, bread, a couple grains of sugar, and a pinch of spice. A tad less noticeable is the brighter Virginia whose aspects are a lot of grass and hay, some tart and tangy citrus, and is fairly floral. The burley has a mildly sharp cigar/cigarette quality whether you puff fast or not. Doesn't bite, but may get a little harsh if pushed. The strength is a step past the medium mark, while the taste levels is medium. The nic-hit is almost medium. The krumble kake is easy to break apart, and burns slow, and a little warm. The flavor is savory as defined by the lack of sweetness and rugged roughness, sour characteristics and light bitterness toward the finish. It also has some inconsistency in the flavor as the burleys and Virginias compete for attention. Doesn't leave much dampness left in the bottom of the bowl. Requires some relights. Has a rough, unattractive, lingering after taste, and strong room note. Not an all day smoke. I had originally given this one star, but as I have taken a fresh look with a fresher sample, I now give it two stars due to the inconsistent taste, cigarette hit and bitterness.

-JimInks

37 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Andya27 (9)	2014-08-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Before the rains come this warm summer day, I relaxed under the back yard pin oak - with my Sunday pipe (a Butz-Choquin Cocarde bulldog) and a bowl of C&D Briar Fox. I received several half ounce samples with a few orders from my preferred enabler. My first smoke of this tobacco several weeks back wasn't very pleasant. Of course, it does help if you crumble against the grain (lesson learned). Today's smoke was far more enjoyable.

For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of a smoke with this tobacco, I'll give you my newbie impressions.

Have you seen those YouTube videos where someone is discussing his new pipe or new tobacco in a veritable haze of smoke? Do you enjoy getting lost in the over-abundant fog of smoke spilling over itself? If so, this tobacco probably isn't for you. In my opinion, this Virginia is meant to be sipped, not gulped. And a deep, serious tobacco it is. If it were food, it would be a chocolate cake - made of the darkest chocolate from a planet not yet discovered.

The first half bowl was a bit like my first experience - somewhat monochrome. But halfway through the bowl Tinkerbell must have arrived with her pixie dust, as the tobacco took on a whole new range. Each slow puff took the flavor and aroma deeper and deeper. By the time I'd made it down to ash, it occurred to me that this is one tobacco I will never smoke indoors or around non-smokers: the sale of the tin should come with a secret handshake.

It is a wonderful smoke for a Sunday afternoon when all you really want to do is read a few pages of a good book or even better just gaze at the branches above your head. I wouldn't want to try driving either during or immediately following, as it has some serious nicotine. If you are like me and you enjoy fruit with your smoke, cherries are a wonderful complement to the deep chocolate of the tobacco.

I'm thinking of purchasing a few tins with the next order from my enabler - to cellar for a year. Perhaps a bit of age might bring out even more flavors than Tinkerbell's pixie dust.

25 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tantric (321)	2003-04-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

As it usually happens to me with many Cornell & Diehl?s blends, it takes sometime before I actually realize the excellence and the quality of these tobaccos. Always on the dry side?the tobaccos seem to be processed in such a way that the essential oils and the natural juices are all dried up?the first impression is of a rather raw, almost stale taste. But as you keep on puffing, the different layers of flavor slowly reveal themselves to reach a point where you become completely enraptured in the smoking experience. Briar Fox is a case in point.

This comes in crumble cake. On opening the small round tin you actually get the impres-sion of tightly compressed slices of meat loaf. It is very easy, well, to crumble, pack and light. A blend of straight Va?s., tin aroma is a bit pungent, but completely natural and unlike any other Virginia I have sampled (it is not at all sweet, winy or with a note of dried raisins, not even soapy, but sharp, earthy and straw-like).

The first few puffs yield a rather bawdy, rough tang. But this impression wears off almost immediately to produce a naturally tasty smoke, composed of different but harmonious layers. The dryness of the tobaccos allow for a wonderful burning rate and lingers on throughout the smoke. The apparent simplicity of the mixture tends to build up as you smoke it, evolving into a very agreeable, austere and natural taste. You kind of get carried away by the subtle interplay between grassy notes, a certain bitterness and a faint sour-sweetness that barley insinuates in the background. Great stuff!

This is a tobacco that can be smoked indoors (although those around you won?t be particularly enthusiastic), but I prefer to smoke it outdoors, either relaxing in a garden chair or when walking in open coun-try. Recommended as one of the most natural Virginia experiences you?ll encounter.

21 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	samcoffeeman (33)	2014-08-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Lies! Lies I tell you! This is no straight virginia. There is plenty of burley here. Granted it is good burley that C&D is known for, but the virginia flavor is well surpassed by the burleys here. Definite nuttiness and cocoa predominate the flavor profile. This is probably great for burley lovers, which I am not one. I just checked the C&D website which confirms my burley suspicions. Updating the description as of today on this site to reflect true contents.

Pipe Used: Stanwell 63

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: sp

19 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2016-08-05		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Sweet, nutty, lightly earthy Burley with a background of sweet hay Virginias. That's what I get in a cob. Taste so good that I won't smoke it in anything else. This is a lovely smoke. The only drawback is that it can burn a little hot. I'm a puffer though and you may not have that problem. 4 stars for the flavor, minus one for the heat.

Medium in body and taste. No added flavorings detected. Burns very well.

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

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Philo Beddoe (221)	2017-05-24		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I don't know why it took me so long to review the wonderful tobacco. Briar Fox is the blend I use to break in all of my pipes, be they new or just new to me. The reason I use Briar Fox to break in my pipes is that it smokes the same for me in any size pipe, regardless of bowl diameter or depth, I know what I should expect from every bowl. I enjoy the sweet Red Virginia tang and the slight heft that the Burley adds to the mix. I also smoke Briar Fox, when I just need a tobacco that I don't have to think about, that's not a bad thing here, as sometimes you just want to puff away and sort of zone out! This subtlety of flavor will also quickly reveal any ghosts the pipe may have. Many smokers keep Carter Hall or Prince Albert around for those times when only a simple, uncomplicated smoke will satisfy, Briar Fox does this for me.

Pipe Used: All, at one time or another

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	AE1PT (8)	2015-07-27		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I came into possession of this tobacco in four half ounce sample packets included as a bonus from SPC orders over a year ago. I had decided from the beginning to put a year of cellaring on them, as my taste was not on VA at that time. So into a small jelly jar they went April a year ago.

Last week it was time. The cake cubes were very much intact, and the original aroma diminished. I sliced off a nice section, and sniffed the cut. The expected sour/vinegar smell was there, but not the sweet/sour of McClelland blends. There was also a heavy hint of what was very close to stale urine. I was not impressed...

The cake cut well and crumbled easily. On the rub out, the "Prince Albert" burley smell became crisp, along with a hint of something slightly sweet. Overall, the smell of this rubbed out is very much like certain cigarette tobaccos. As I was to soon discover, this is something that carries forward with the smoke.

First pipe choice was a small, pre-1934 Smokemaster Apple straight (before the patent), without the pipe cleaner in is as a filter. I like small bowl pipes to sample Virginias. The final rub was a nice mix of light and dark short ribbons, and it packed easily and firm. The char light held the height of the tobacco, and lit evenly. Second light got it full on, and the flavors came out.

I smoked cigarettes--brands and RYO--for 40 years. My first thought was that I had torn a cigarette apart--or filled the pipe with Bugler. The whole mouth & throat bite, complete with the ashy cigarette taste in the mouth. Only by a small sip could any VA sort of sweetness be determined--and a regular pull VERY full and what some call 'earthy.' My lexicon has that as a mild dirt taste...

By the first third of the bowl, I had a pleasant nic buzz--more than any of the Balkans I smoke and INHALE. My discovery was to be gentle with it, as it will turn hot and nasty in a heartbeat. After letting it go out at the halfway mark, I re-lit a half hour later. The slightly sweet and the heavy nutty of the burly were all there, but it still smoked like cigarette tobacco. It gets stronger toward the bottom--and begins to be more like smoking a natural wrapper cigar. Can't tell you what the bottom quarter was like, as I never smoke a pipe beyond that.

The next experiment was to rub and roll as a RYO in a Zig Zag paper. I will not dwell on this, but it smokes fine as a cigarette. Onward, I chose an old BBB bulldog meer for its larger chamber. This smoked slowly allows more of the flavors to develop--but still resembles and tastes like a well blended, strong cigarette, and quickly shifts to cigar notes in the bottom half.

The final stop was in an 1861 German meer, with a bowl so big it took pretty well a whole 2oz block. Here it burned much slower and cooler, and allowed more of the VA to emerge--but it is a dry, straight and uncomplicated. No figs, chocolate, new mown hay, nuts, or unicorn farts. Very clean and raw in my estimation. I made myself nearly sick with the nicotine on this round.

Burns to a grey, cohesive ash just like cigarette blends. Final opinion? If you like smoking cigs, and milder, natural Connecticut wrapper Costa Rican cigars, this is for you. Fully satisfying from that perspective. Makes a nice RYO, and a not too unpleasant blend for a changeup. However, I will not be adding it to my cellar--when it is gone, it is gone.

Pipe Used: pre-1934 Smokemaster Apple, 1919 BBB bulldog meer

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: SPC Samples

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Eric Cioe (37)	2014-09-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I've smoked through a half ounce of this and expected to like it much more than I actually did.

Bonus points for being a crumble cake. It smells good, somewhat reminiscent of Jack Knife Plug.

I think DK nailed it with the 'cigarette or cigar' mouthfeel. Unlike him, I think that also comes through in the taste. It's earthy to a fault. I'm not one for super sweet VA blends, but this is lacking in not only sweetness, but also in zestiness and that nice pungent tanginess that I really like in VAs. Instead, there is earthiness in spades. I think that the burley component is pretty significant here. I started smoking it and didn't care for it, but could understand how a particular type of smoker could smolder this all day. Then the halfway point came, and it just kept getting harsher and harsher. Maybe age would smooth out these very rough edges, but I'm not inclined to find out.

I'm giving it two stars rather generously, but am picturing there being folks out there who want something vaguely cigarish and earthy. Maybe this wouldn't seem harsh to those folks.

Pipe Used: Lots of them

Age When Smoked: Fresh

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tripjoker (65)	2012-02-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm not sure why it took me so long to try this one. I think there was some skepticism on my part that it was strong enough to satisfy me, not to mention that it is a dutch pipemakers blend. It just said light and boring to me. I'm glad that a couple of my favorite reviewers had tried it and liked it. So, I ordered an 8oz tin and gave it a whirl.

The tin had no date stamped on it, so dating is difficult. Seems to have what I would think were at least 6 months age on it. The bricks are somewhat damp though not overly so. (It was illusiory in the end, because the tobacco was at a perfect smoking humidity when rubbed out to smoke.)They also have a very nice press on them, very compacted and neatly cut. There is little shake in the tin at all even after what I can only guess was significant shipping movement. Very nice presentation. The tobacco is a beautiful reddish brown with darker and lighter highlights. The cake rubs out easily.

No problems in packing. False light smoke was delicious. True light after 15 minutes rest was one of the best virginia experiences I have ever had. True mixture of deep and bright flavors with the edge going to those that are dark and earthy. Serious cereal/grain flavors are present throughout the bowl. Black coffee, dark chocolate, dates, figs, and undefinable creamy flavors are constantly dancing in and out of the starring role. A true ensemble cast with equal strengths.

I found this to be at best a medium pace puffer. It really does shine when it is sipped, which is easy because it stays lit so beautifully. No bite whatsoever, but like I said before, medium cadence was as hard as I puffed. A longer smoke than most virginias give me and that I am thankful for. I smoke alot of bowls in a day, and the longer they last the better. The bowl smoked cool and dry to the heel. No overheating with this one.

I think this is easily an all day smoke for the hardier types such as myself, but may be a bit much for the lighter style pipesters. Although smooth and tasty, it does carry a fully medium dose of Nicotine.

I'm not sure what to make of all the negative reviews. I found this one very hard to find fault with. It should make most virginia fans pretty happy.

Cheers!

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Young Piper (304)	2017-10-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Man this blend is as old as the hills (well not really) but it has been around for more than a decade and i just finally got around to trying it. I just finished a tin that was fairly young so i assume that it can only get better with age as C&D does not age their tins to the extent that McClelland does. Another delicous smelling tobacco Brownie ala C&D that makes me want to take a bite.. Browns and Blonde square Brownie staring up at me just begging to be pinched into a bowl sized nugget. IMHO C&D, Uhles and Peretti have access to the best Burley grown today and the varietal used in BF is mild and nutty, not the kick you in the teeth strain used in OJK and Haunted Bookshop which lets the blonde Virginia do it's thing. A medium blend all around, not weak in the nicotine and has a very nice flavor that works well in a Dublin to amplify the taste as the bowl narrows at the end. Some Perique blends do not work well for me in these pipes as they can amplify the spicyness to a level that's off putting. A great summertime mowing the lawn / fishing , putzing around the house blend that does not bite and has a wonderful nutty old timey pipe aroma that the family did not object to. Thinking about buying the pound that comes in a Fox Ears shape to put away for future summers. It's too bad i did not try BF earlier but hey that's half the fun of piping, trying new blends every month or so which makes finding a new friend that much more special.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2081)	2017-05-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Cornell & Diehl - Briar Fox.

The krumble kake is excellent to work with. Unlike, say, Black Frigate, which needs a firm rubbing, a bowls worth of Briar Fox can be easily pinched off the block. I find the moisture smokeable, maybe a touch too moist, but nothing much.

To my palate, this has the quintessential VaBur taste: rich, nutty, and rustic, notes from the Burley, with a touch of sweetness from the Virginia. I don't get a cigarette taste, unlike many esteemed reviewers, and nor do I get any topping/extra flavours. It's a medium thickness smoke, and I don't get a speck of tongue bite. The burn from B.F. is completely faultless, for the whole bowl.

The nicotine's medium, and the room-note's nice.

This is a very good VaBur, but it gets a subjective rating of three stars, as I prefer English/Balkans at present.

Recommended.

Pipe Used: Cob

Age When Smoked: Four months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.cm

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fr_tom (393)	2015-06-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a good untopped Va/Bur. It is a Krumble Kake and a pinch rubs out nicely to large short ribbons. Moisture was good from the tin.

The first smoke was in a GBD pot that smokes everything well - or so I thought. It was a little ho-hum. The next bowl was in a billiard, and was much better. Subsequent bowls have been very good in a variety of pipes. In terms of flavor, I got sweet and slightly tart Virginia with some earthy body provided by the burley. I got a little sour-sweet at the end of a bowl but no bitter. The taste is natural and it was an easy smoke. It did not burn hot or wet.

This was very enjoyable and I have no regrets. I am unlikely to buy more because it is only available in a tin, and the effective cost per pound is high. For my money in a Va/Bur, there are better choices.

Age When Smoked: My tin had the new art, so fresh off the press...

Purchased From: Pipe World in Austin, TX

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cat Jockey (21)	2017-04-04		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

I had high hopes for this blend, considering my last name is Fox, lol. But, I must say I find it to be a bit of a disappointment. I feel like I should give this at least two stars, somewhat recommended, but for me, it is a 1-1.5 star tobacco. It isn't horrible on the palate, nor a poor quality tobacco; it is simply a bit too absent on the palate. Rather bland and mild. One of those two can be okay, but both bland and mild in one dose won't do for me. This would be an excellent choice for a cigarette smoker to use to make the transition and ditch the sticks, though (I'm an ex-Camel non-filtered smoker). So for that person, this would be at least a three star tobacco.

To qualify all of that, the one VaBur in my rotation to which I am comparing Briar Fox is Tilbury (I am fortunate to have a Tobacconist that has bags of several Esoterica tobaccos on the shelf), and I really like that VaBur - and it is a much fuller and more flavorful smoke. I also prefer straight Va, Va/Oriental, and VaPers to VaBurs in general, with McClelland's treatment of the Virginia Leaf being what I consider the standard by which to judge, so a VaBur aficionado may appreciate this more than I. But, if you are a VaBur passer-by and just exploring, this is, well, a rather bland and mild one to me that is a little cigartetty (in a good way with quality).

A tin I'll finish, but not replace ...

Pipe Used: Nuttin' but Cobs for me ...

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	incendio (45)	2016-08-18		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I was drawn in by the fancy packaging on the tin.

This is a brick of Burley. If you like bricks, and blending-grade Burley, then this is for you. If you're thinking that this is a pressed cake of Virginias spiced with Burley, I'd look elsewhere if I were you. As it stands, this is the type of blend I'd take on a camping trip, to smoke while drinking light beer in warm weather. But if I lost it or accidentally dropped it in the campfire, I likely wouldn't bother to buy any more.

Pipe Used: chimney-type billiards

Age When Smoked: fresh (bulk)

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

Similar Blends: blending-grade Burley. but in a brick..

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2016-04-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is based on a single tin that was purchased and cellared at least two years ago (maybe more as my sticker was now gone) as I have a better time with many C&D blends after a little bit of aging. Briar Fox is an easy to work with crumble cake and at first light, I thought that this was going to be much more Burley in flavor than Virginia. But it quickly settled down and the Virginia sweetness evened off the smoke. I don’t detect any added flavoring and the Virginias taste more to the bright side, leaving me wanting a bit more red in the blend than I could taste. BF smokes cool and there is definitely some strength to it which I enjoy. I didn’t taste the cigar or cigarette flavor that others have mentioned and I am guessing that the time in the cellar helped to dissipate that outcome. However, my issue with this blend comes in the later stages of each bowl. I simply don’t care for the flavor after about two thirds the way though, which was disappointing as I really enjoyed the beginning stages of this smoke. By the time I had finished a little more than half a tin, I had lost interest. Oh well….

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2014-11-20		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I bought a tin of this about five years ago, smoked half of it, jarred it and forgot it. Back then it was a nice, fairly smooth, average virginia/burley blend. It's not very sweet and nutty. It's not really zesty virginia territory. It tastes like golden virginia with some burley. I just smoked a bowl of the five year old. It's smoother with the age then I remembered which makes sense. I love the cake and the cut. I like that C&D tobaccos seem so natural and pure. This is a good mellow blend. It's a little simple but for what it is it's nice. It feels like my grand fathers tobacco.

Pipe Used: briar

Age When Smoked: 5 years

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2014-07-17		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Normally I try to smoke at least an ounce of a tobacco, and preferably more, before posting a review. But this review is based on a half-ounce sample of Briar Fox I received with a tobacco order from smokingpipes.com, which I finished this afternoon. I'm putting this disclaimer right up front so everyone knows there's the real possibility that Briar Fox didn't get a fair shake from me.

I sliced up the entire little plug and rubbed it out. I knew there wasn't enough there to be messing around trying out a bunch of different preparation methods. It burns nicely and produces a good volume of smoke.

There is nothing particularly wrong with Briar Fox, it's just that I find it basically unremarkable. I agree with the reviewer who said he thinks there is some Burley in it. I don't believe it's a Straight Virginia.

I wasn't able to find in Briar Fox very much of what I like about Straight Virginia tobacco: the subtle sweetness, and either that baked bread or grassy, hay-like flavor.

Whether you're more into Virginia or prefer Burley, I suspect Briar Fox might disappoint you. If I want to smoke a medium Virginia, something like Capstan blue does it much better. If I want a mild, nutty Burley then I'd probably go with the new Missouri Pride. I simply don't have a need for Briar Fox in my rotation.

I guess you could say Briar Fox is the solution to a problem I don't have.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kraft1994 (54)	2014-02-11		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Briar Fox comes in a perfect crumble cake perfect for rubbing out to a great packable tobacco. This blend burns slow and smooth. As for flavor I first have to say that Virginia tobaccos are amazing. One leaf has so many possible flavors. sweet, spicy, light, dark, strong, mild. What an amazing leaf virginia tobacco is. Briar Fox is to me an example of how spicy virginias can be. Overall its a delightful, strong, bold, spicy virginia of the highest quality. Bravo Cornell & Diehl.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-05-12		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Briar Fox is not only a tobacco, but a well executed concept. From it's rustic Virginia leaf ingredients, to the presentation, the tin art and the name, I find it to be complete and whole in all ways. I like the clever name -- a play on words that alludes to the unceasing conspirator from Uncle Remus' folklore, Song of the South, Br'er Fox. I had the tales of Uncle Remus on a 45 lp when I was a kid as many of you may have (or your kids had it)...but that ain't the point, so let's talk about what matters:

Presented as a crumble cake, briar fox couldn't be easier, or more fun, to rub out and load. No knife needed, just tear off a suitably sized flake and rub out completely, or stuff straight into the bowl. Consists mostly of Red Va, with some bright leaf and just a few fleck of very dark, almost black leaf. This stuff was born to burn. Easily, it is the best burning tobacco I have yet to smoke and it does so very dry at that. When I purchased the tin, I was lucky enough to catch a review that mentioned direct correspondence with Craig Tarler wherein he recommended aging the blend six months in the tin. At first I was bummed, my gratification needing substantial delay, but I waited the requisite period and I'm glad I did. I wonder if folks who didn't enjoy the blend would have had a better experience with a little age. I can imagine it being a bit bitter without properly developed sugars.

Because this blend is more earthy than any other Va's I've smoked, I suspected perhaps a small amount of burley. I checked into it by asking someone who would definitely know and from his response I assume that there is almost nothing but Va's. Very impressive. There is a noticeable sweetness, but less so than opening night. Apparently, it was developed by Craig and Peter Heeschen with Peter's briars in mind. These guys know there stuff, in my opinion.

Briar Fox is tangy, earthy, and sweet with a quick, dry finish. It has a little nicotine, but not enough to satisfy someone who likes a kick in the stomach. That isn't me, so I do fine with it. Flavor wise, I could still recommend this to folks who prefer burley over VA due to that rustic, earthiness that characterizes the blend. Alas, it is still a "VA show" and for that it gets my hearty endorsement.

Maximum star value for this smoker.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2003-07-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

While the rating of a specific blend is ultimately the subjective perception of the reviewer, certain observations regarding the composition may be offered objectively. For example, although I am not particularly enamored of a few of the Dunhill blends (Royal Yacht comes to mind), none can deny that not only is top quality leaf employed, but world class craftsmanship is standard operating procedure. As in the case of Dunhill, the appearance of the words "Cornell and Diehl" on a tin is as sure a sign of quality as one could hope for, irrespective of one?s opinion of a particular blend. Briar Fox is interesting. Nestled inside the smallish tin, topped with the requisite whimsical C&D label, is a clump (there is no better word) of what on first impression appears to be small, dense slabs of meat loaf (as so ably indicated by Tantric). The three to four puzzling little slabs are not sliced, as in Penzance, and tend towards the dry side. Mostly mid-brown to black, the overall appearance is fairly dark. Tin aroma is pure, and fairly mild. Crumbling the cakes is a chore or a kick, depending on one?s disposition, and a light hand is recommended, as it is all too easy to pulverize them into quarks. It lights easily, and produces such copious amounts of smoke that at least one person has commented "Sir, your pipe is on fire." Despite this instant pool hall/card game/mosquito repellent quality, room note is fairly mild, if cloudy. The flavors, at first quite pedestrian, quickly settle into stride and reveal a smooth, medium bodied palate redolent of pure, unadulterated, Virginia leaf- a delicious, unalloyed tobacco. Special care must be taken, as it can easily burn out of hand. It won?t bite, but you may notice your pipe far hotter than usual. It continues to gain in complexity to the rather abrupt end. My complaints are admittedly petty and trite. I find myself getting fewer bowls per tin (due to the construction), fewer minutes per bowl (due to the rapid burn), and, consequently, fewer hours per tin. This may make it one of the more expensive blends to smoke in my portfolio, but I?ll certainly live with it. It?s a small price to pay to enjoy one of the middleweight contenders in the world of straight Virginias. Overall, it?s not a life changing, epiphany inducing smoke, but it serves quite nicely, and is worth seeking out.

Addendum: Repeated tastings of this blend seem to accentuate its shortcomings. The hot, excessively dry burn and the lack of complexity grow tiring, and I must lower my recommendation.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LiterarySmoker (143)	2021-10-13		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I thought I'd give this one a go since it's been sitting unopened for about two years now. The tin on this blend is interesting to say the least, and as it says on the tin, this was the favorite blend of the late Peter Heeschen a Danish pipe maker. Upon opening the tin there is a nice mottled brown crumble cake. The smell in the jar is of soft hay, nuts, mustiness, and dark fruits. The cake breaks apart and rubs out easily. It's smokable right put of the tin, and it's easy to keep lit.

Now to the taste department. This really is a simple blend. The Burley is typical of C&D: well balanced, nutty, soft, woody, with the barest hint of chocolate. The Virginias are very bread like, sweet in a honey or stewed fruit sort of way to my taste, and carry a slight hay like quality. The Burley appears to take the lead, with the Virginias giving body.

The taste here is a medium. It fills the mouth pleasantly and doesn't take over you tastebuds. The strength is mild-medium. The room note is heavy of Burley and may remind your friends of cigarettes. This is a great all day blend, good for sitting down with, or puffing on while you're puttering on with chores or hobbies. It takes a lot to get this hot, and it burns nice and slow.

Pipe Used: Peterson Aran 107

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	William H. Hardy (95)	2018-04-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

First off, I have become enamored with Krumble Kakes recently. I just love the presentation and enjoy tearing off a chunk to put in my pipe. Briar Fox comes as one of these Kake brownies in the tin with gold, brown, and flecks of black tobaccos. Looks an awful lot like a "blondie."

The tin note to me is more Burley than Virginia. I detect more chocolatey, raisiny, nuttiness than sweetness, breadiness, and tang. I know BF is considered a VA/Bur, but I think of it more as a Bur/VA. If that makes sense. I find it to be more dominant in Burley than Virginia. That may not be the case, but I definitely taste more Burley than Virginia. At any rate, I definitely enjoyed it. This is a great tobacco that I will revisit on occasion. Probably pretty frequently, at that.

Pipe Used: Briars and cobs

Age When Smoked: About a year

Purchased From: The Country Squire

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Capt (339)	2016-03-09		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a text book crumble cake. Pouch aroma of nuts, a bit of fruit sweetness, raisin and sorghum molasses smell. Preparing was super easy; break a chunk off, and rub it out with ease. Moisture content seemed a bit low for a crumble cake, almost makes you wonder how it stays pressed like it does. Takes a few relights along the way. Smoke is silky smooth for a partial burley blend. I love the room note! I can't say there is anything I can compare this to so far, it seems like a fairly unique blend. I'm sure this ages nicely too!

Age When Smoked: 2-4 months

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2016-01-25		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Briar Fox has the smell, taste, and throat hit of cheap cigarettes. Any one of those might be unforgivable by itself, and the combination is quite unpleasant. The Virginia tastes like it's been poorly treated, and the Burley tastes dirty.

I want to say something kind about a blend I dislike this much, so I will mention that this seems like the perfect format for these loosely-pressed cakes. The tobacco is appropriately dry, so I can break it off in pieces to fit whatever pipe I'm smoking it in and get a good pack easily. It also rubs out with no effort if that's your preference.

It smokes cool and fast to the end - an hourlong smoke of good flake takes maybe 1/2 hour with Briar Fox. If the cigarette quality and taste isn't a problem for you, this might be an excellent fire-and-forget smoke.

Pipe Used: basket pipe

Age When Smoked: maybe way too fresh

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cobacco (52)	2014-06-19		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Review of free 1/2 oz sample...First of all, be careful when breaking up this kake as it may contain a few sharp woody bits. Bag note is sweet Virginia at it's best! Moisture level is perfect; ready to smoke soon after crumbling. 95% good quality tobacco with just a few woody or stemy bits to pick over. Very tasty sweet Virg from charring light to bottom of bowl; more of a fig like sweetness, less raisiny than Old Gowrie. That great C&D Burley is present and makes for a bit quicker/hotter burn than a straight Virg. Very well behaved in my pipe; no fuss and smokes to a fine clean ash. N level is medium- and very predictable. I've enjoyed this stuff quite a bit and feel that it makes a great morning smoke. I'll be buying some soon. Hope this helps.

Pipe Used: MM DIPLOMAT COB

Age When Smoked: fresh free sample

Purchased From: free from smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	The good Rev. Rizzo (36)	2014-05-07		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This is going to be a regular rotation in the cold winter months, especially during hunting season. I found it to smoke warm. But it had a nice full flavor and a great heady satisfying smoke. A very strange smoke to me. Not the typical virginia. Not the expected sweetness, but something really quite good.

Pipe Used: Peterson Kinsale XL15

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: Allegheny Smokeworks

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-10-17		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I want to like this tobacco more than I do. By the description, and by the other reviews here, it sounded right up my alley; unfortunately, I was disappointed.

I love the cake form, which rubs out and packs nicely, and the tobacco came at almost a perfect humidity. Burn is even and relatively cool. Smell in the tin is not totally unpleasant, but it does smell like quite a bit like sour milk.

Flavor is tangy, spicy, and chimeric. The Virginias are not as sweet as I expected - mostly just tangy, sometimes with a pronounced nuttiness. Oftentimes, I could swear I was burning sandalwood. Overall, it is airy and light tasting; seems fair to set it in the daytime / desk work category. The perique undertone gives it an interesting, complex flavor and is well-proportioned relative to the other flavors. Smoking very gently helps to bring out a balanced complexity; puff too hard or too long, and it just tastes ashy and dirty, like a cheap burley.

This likes a small bowl, which is not a problem because it is quite slow-burning.

I'm right on the border of giving this 3 stars - it's a quality tobacco, and I know there are people who will love this. Nevertheless, I am not one of those people. I'll smoke it up, but won't buy again.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	flaminbill' (57)	2008-12-31		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

When I first popped the lid on this tin (20 months old), it reminded me of Kajun Kake, both in presentation and aroma (I smell brownies).

The tobacco is very dry, so I have to smoke it rubbed out whether I like it or not.

My biggest issue with this tobacco is the consistency of taste throughout the bowl. It starts out well enough but gets more bitter as the bowl goes on. I have tried new pipes and carefully cleaned pipes and I still get the same result. I also find that DGT does not work well with this blend either.

Actually, when I smoke straight Virginia tobacco, I prefer some sweetness such as found in McClelland #27, Dark Star or Christmas Cheer. There is very little sweetness here.

It is not a bad tobacco, I am just less impressed every time I smoke it. Maybe a 4 or 5 year old tin will yield better results for me.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2004-05-22		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Very Mild	Tolerable

I have smoked nearly an entire tin of BF and I have come to a few conclusions not only about BF but C&D in general. Their tobacco is of high quality -- so is this. Their tobacco typically comes pretty dry -- so does this. Their tobacco falls into a love it or hate it group with me -- there just hasn't been any in-between with me so far. This one I hate. I reach for straight VA's and VA/P blends most often. However, this one is so tasteless, hot and so uninteresting, that I just cannot justify the price of it anymore.

Perhaps you will have better luck. But for me, I'll stick with C&D's latakia blends or Bayou Flake -- I suspect that will make you happier as well.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	K.E. Powell, III (15)	2022-03-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

C&D's Briar Fox is a Burley and Virginia blend that has a very storied history, being the favorite (and sometimes, not-so-favorite) of many pipe smokers then and now. I may be a bit out of bounds to suggest this, but for me at least, Briar Fox can act as a sort of test to see exactly what an individual smoker prefers in their smoke, largely because BF is so decidedly old-fashioned in its approach.

The tin note immediately lets you know the burley is the star of the show, with earthy and slightly nutty notes hitting the nose immediately. The crumble cake is firm but easily pliable, and as such is enjoyable to prepare any way the user sees fit.

C&D states that BF starts with a strong tobacco taste, with more complex notes being apparent mid-bowl and spicier notes on the back end. This largely holds true. There are no toppings here to muddle the tobacco flavor, and the Virginias largely complement the Burleys by adding a brightness to the mix, but never upstaging the Burleys. More nutty flavors do emerge mid-bowl, but the promised spiciness at the end is touch-and-go, but it is there (mostly).

I suggested earlier that this blend can really reveal what an individual smoker prefers. What I mean by that is that for those who prefer complex blends with a multitude of flavors playing harmoniously with another will likely find BF to be boring. But for those who prefer simplicity in their blends, where individual components are not upstaged or interdependent on a multitude of leaves and methods, and instead each component has its time to shine and gracefully bows out at the right time, then this blend is likely to satisfy. And for those who prefer their tobacco old-fashioned, which is to say, they want their tobacco to taste like tobacco, then BF will likely be akin to seeing an old friend again. For me, BF scratched an itch, and it stays in rotation because of that. Are there better or more complex burley-forward blends out there? Certainly. But few are as consistent, easy to enjoy, and readily available as this old fox.

Pipe Used: Brebbia straight billiard

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc pipes (110)	2022-03-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

The cake is a melange of red, orange, and brown leaf. There are sparse black flecks of leaf interspersed. There is no Perique, Latakia, or black cavendish billed in the description. I was thinking maybe DFK, and I rubbed one such black leaf between my fingers. When I sniffed there was no smokiness to suggest DFK. So, what exactly is the black leaf, who knows?

This summed up the tin note, mild, bland. The tobacco smokes fairly wet, but the smoke stays smooth. I got delicious notes of dark cocoa bean and roasted nuts every bowl. This is a simple pure tobacco experience. It is earthy , only lightly toasty. Per my experiences with BF, the burley seems to rule the roost, running roughshod on the VA. This may burn on the wet side, but it stays cool. The neutral burn qualities make this blend perfect to break in a new pipe. Not at all a bad blend, just kind of “meh.”

Pipe Used: Numerous briars

Age When Smoked: 7/14/21

Purchased From: SP

Similar Blends: Average American Cigarettes , I can certainly see the common cigarette experience that folks have with this blend..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonius Blok (192)	2021-11-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

A cake with quite subtle aromas, perhaps a certain farmyard smell predominates. Humidity is perfect for immediate charging. It turns on very easily and hardly needs re-ignition. Everything flows easily from the first flame to the end of the pipe. I don't appreciate any kind of coverage. On the contrary, its qualities seem those of a totally natural tobacco.

There may be just "a hint of burley" as the presentation says, but its earthiness and flavor feels like there is a superior amount. Either that, or the tobacco-making process makes the burley outshine the virginia. It has a strong, good-quality cigarette flavor and is quite dry. Six years of aging does not appear to have changed the properties of Briar Fox relative to other reviews here on younger tin. In the mouth and in the pipe it behaves perfectly, without a trace of bite or moisture, not even when you accelerate the speed of the smoke.

If you are a Burley lover, you will probably like this one a lot ...

Age When Smoked: 6 years

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Poodlejuice (51)	2021-05-27		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

C&D cakes are my favorite. Perfect moisture (usually), easy to work with, and a well married flavor. Briar fox is no exception.

The VA and burley trade blows throughout the bowl. Sometimes it's mild citrus and dried fruit, sometimes it's cocoa powder, almonds, malt, and earth, sometimes it's everything at once. A savory bread/wheat note is present throughout the bowl as well. Toward the middle and finish a bit of spice kicks in. Burns a little hot as burley blends tend to, but will burn to the bottom of the bowl with minimal re-lights, not much thinking/maintenance involved. I have to try pretty hard to get any bite. Nice bit of strength allthough nothing unreasonable.

Not a bad "I don't know what to smoke" blend. Pretty basic and relatively unexciting, but quality tobacco. I feel like people who try this are going to be pretty divided on whether this is "Boring" or "Simple yet delicious".

Pipe Used: MM cobs, various billiards

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Pipes & cigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WorkingClassChap (197)	2020-08-12		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Smoking now from a corn cob.

The perfectly square brownie style cake looks fantastic. It smells like how the woods smell after it rains and has a wonderful sour citrus note. Lights and smokes easy. Non offensive however can give a slight bite if smoked too fast, keep it slow, and have a drink with it. A wonderful earthy, grassy, slight tang taste. After taste isn’t the best but it’s not too offensive. This is a blend to smoke when the wife and kids are not around. Room note is stronger.

Can’t wait to age some of this and try it next summer. I hope with age this gets better.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Legend.

Age When Smoked: May 2020

Purchased From: P&C

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Novaki (41)	2020-04-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Briar Fox is a strange animal. I have no idea where this belongs in my rotation. On one hand, it tastes like a straight virginia with all the notes of grass and hay. On the other, it has that deep burley earthy flavor with some subtle spice and floral notes. I’ve seen many comparisons to cigarettes and cigars and I have to agree. This description might do a disservice as there are many negative connotations about cigarettes. I should note that it leans more towards an earthy cigar flavor in my opinion. If someone told me this blend was just chopped cigar, I’d probably believe them wholeheartedly, though I know this isn’t the case. It’s just that subtle addition of burley that makes the blend so.

As many have noted the appearance of the cake is very attractive and a tiny bit shaggy. Very pleasant to look at and one of the finest presses I’ve seen, which I’ve now come to expect from C&D’s cakes and flakes.

As far as the smoke, it couldn’t burn any better. It has nice luscious plumes of smoke with every puff and requires very few relights, despite it being lightly damp in the tin. I find it’s at a perfect moisture level - not to dry, not to wet. Breaks down and packs nicely. The nicotine level is a nice medium and won’t lay you out like Haunted Bookshop and similar burley based blends.

I’m currently smoking this during the mid to late Spring and it feels a bit out of place. It practically begs to be smoked during the Summer and early fall. I kind of want to compare the taste to Carter Hall or maybe Half & Half, due to some of the died fruit and earthy notes from the burley, but comparing this to an OTC is really unfair given how well this behaves. For a nearly straight VA, it doesn’t get too hot on me.

But the problem remains, where the heck should I put this in my rotation? I really don’t know where it belongs. And that’s not to say that this blend doesn’t belong somewhere or that you shouldn’t get it. I just want to point out how much of an outlier it is in the pipe tobacco world.

I’d highly recommend this to someone looking to transition from cigs and cigars if they wanted to enjoy that flavor. I’d also recommend this for people that like straight VA’s but find themselves wishing for a cooler, gentler smoke that you don’t have to baby as much or isn’t as sweet and sugary.

Overall, I think this is a great blend that’s at least worth trying once to see how it suits you. Even if it’s not what I’m used to, it packs, lights, and smokes excellently and has a cool dry smoke - which is really what I’m looking for in a premium tobacco. For that, I have to give this a recommendation. But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself if this is something you’d enjoy or not. I’ve heard of people loving this one so much they buy a full pound of it in cake form! [insert joke about pound cake]

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2020-04-16		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

So this is another blend i have held back on reviewing, not because it needed age but because I needed some time with it. This is one good Burley blend, and that is saying a lot for me because I am hit and miss with Burley. Tin note is sour with a touch of chocolate. The flavor is nutty with a touch of sweetness, dark caramel. The VA's give an earthy mulch like flavor ( in a good way). As the bowl burns down the general nuttiness becomes like cashews. not a complex smoke but a great taste from start to finish. A little bit bold in the nicotine department, but if smoked on a full stomach and and slowly you won't notice it ( I am not a big nic guy). Believe the hype, this is a great smoke.

I will add that I had to rewatch Song of the South while I wrote the review and smoked a bowl in a small German Clay.

Pipe Used: Briar’s and cob’s

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (222)	2020-03-31		Medium	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

I keep smoking bowl after bowl and I just don’t get how this tobacco is this highly rated ? In a smaller pipe I get just a hair of sweetness . In a larger bowl nothing , no taste ! The description says Virginia with a touch of burley or something like that . The burley dominates the blend and that would be fine if it tasted good . It tastes like a white blending burley with no molasses or cocoa notes at all . There is a slight earthy nutty flavor but that’s about it . Very disappointed. Not even a bitter sour cigar note . It is tasteless . 0 stars

Pipe Used: All kinds and sizes and shapes

Age When Smoked: 4 months on tin date

Similar Blends: Blending white burley.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bonneville (52)	2018-04-02		Medium	Very Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I am a hardcore Virginia lover, and have smoked hundreds and hundreds of bowls of the world's finest Virginias. And this does not remotely merit being including as one. I'm smoking a bowl that has been sitting in my cellar for 5 years. It's got plenty of age. This should never even be called a Virginia tobacco. It reeks of Burley and only a hint of Virginia exists in the smoke. That being said, it's not a bad tobacco. I can see why some people like it. But I doubt those people are true Virginia smokers. Honestly, if I wanted to smoke Burley, I'd reach for Carter Hall before this stuff.

Pipe Used: Peterson Straight Billiard

Age When Smoked: 5 years

Purchased From: Beehive Cigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2017-10-15		Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Briar Fox leaves me a bit into ambiguity. I like it because the proportions of White and Dark Burley allow me to appreciate them better than in the Burley Flake series; but their proportions is still high enough to the point where they, sadly, smother the virginias' taste. That makes, thus, Briar Fox more of a Burley than Virginia krumble kake. As I purchased BF because It as presented as a Virginia based mixture, my verdict is ambiguous. There is nothing wrong with BF per se; 4 years of aging makes for a smooth and rather rich and tasty smoking experience. The nicotine is also right. But I would have liked to see a dominance of the Virginias instead of the Burley. Therefore, I appreciate the stable, cigarish and slightly bitter aromas and taste from the dark Burley; but I get very little grassiness, hayness, sweetness and citrus notes from the Virginias. A few weeks after opening, the virginias have a more pronounced presence; but despite throwing a bit of sweetness and hayness in there, it still remains a burley blend. This, in the end, makes for a rather overall boring tobacco as where, if there had been more Virginias, it could have proven a rather very pleasant venture developing some complexity. Too bad. If you love Burley, by all means, you will be conquered by BF. At that level, I can understand why it's C & D's top seller. It makes for a very good all day smoke. I, personally, lament the too small proportions of Virginias.

Age When Smoked: 4 years 2 months

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stefanos (222)	2017-06-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

There’s nothing very exciting about Briar Fox. But nothing to displease you either. It is an easy, well behaved tobacco with natural tobacco taste where neither the Virginias nor the Burleys stand out. It has a cigaretty quality but cigarettes do not come as good and natural. And there’s also a bit of the Burley nuttiness and some mild tangy sourness to make it more varied. It’s not complex but it’s not monochromatic either.

I find Briar Fox to be a good solid tobacco which is perfect when you don’t want anything complex but instead a good “meat and potatoes” blend. In a category of natural-tasting and not "in your face with flavour" Briar Fox is an excellent blend. 3.5*

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pinko (52)	2016-09-04		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

SP lists this as C&D's best seller, a combination of Virginias and Burleys. While accurate, there's Va/Bur and then there's va/BUR. This is the latter. If you're looking for complex Virginia undertones, look somewhere else.

It's appropriately dry and easy to rub out, although laziness has led to me just knifing some of the cake off and dropping it in a pipe. It burns just fine that way too. I tend to smoke it at a glacial Virginia-appropriate pace, but this could be bitey if pushed - it might make the Burley pop more to smoke it hot though.

As far as flavor goes, it's a nutty Burley. Briar Fox is the apex predator of drugstore blends. There's not a lot here, but folks looking for a simple Burley blend will find it pleasant enough.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gladi8tor96 (143)	2016-05-04		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Beautiful large brick of cake in the tin. Smells fermented, sour, slightly sweet, hayish, with hints of prunes. Not what I was expecting.

Easy to break off a chunk and rub out. Perfect moisture right from the tin. Easy to load into a pipe, but don't smash it down too much as it expands a bit when lit. Lights very easily and remains so as long as your tamping is easy, but firm.

Flavors of nut, hay, dried fruit, and straight tobacco dominate this smoke. Hints of spice and chocolate toy with my senses, but are very light and mild. One can sense just a tad of tongue bite, I assume that is from the alkaline nature of the burley. It's not overpowering and keeps quite smooth throughout the smoke. It is different than most of the other blends I have tried, but I'm not one who has smoked a lot of burley blends either. The smoke is not complex and is one you can enjoy on a nice summer day. Sit back and enjoy the flavors and relax. Definitely a nice blend that I will enjoy from time to time.

Pipe Used: Cob, Neerup Billard, Rattray Rhodisian

Age When Smoked: Tin Age 05/2015

Purchased From: Pipesandcigars.com

Similar Blends: Hearth & Home - Classic Burley Kake (Signature Series).

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ATW (110)	2016-01-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The tin note is red Virginia all the way but more earthy then sharp. First half of the bowl is that same red Virginia and after that the burley starts to come thru stronger as the bowl goes done eventually washing the Virginia away but a slight sweetness still remains. A good blend but it's kind of dirty tasting also. I think it's the burley doing that. It's good but not a wow for me.

Revisited 6-7-2020

After being more involved with c&d over time, Briar Fox has grown on me. The Virginia's are smooth, sugary sweet but not too much with bready tones, the burley gives it more body and a slightly nutty quality. The black cavendish helps meld it all together while deepening the flavors and adding a good amount of creaminess. Definitely has great aging potential. It's much more sophisticated then my first impressions. Overall a nice silky smooth any time of the day blend.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2015-10-28		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable

Cornell and Diehl Briar Fox: hot air, accompanied by prose so purple you'd expect Fabio to be shirtless on the tin instead a cartoon furry with a pipe.

Age When Smoked: 13 months

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MAPiper (10)	2015-08-09		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This a a good tobacco. It feels very old fashioned like something my grand father would have smoked. It's a no non-sense straight ahead type of tobacco. It's a virginia and burley taste and not sweet. I got a tin about five years ago or so. I smoked a little then jarred it and forgot it. I just tried some again. It's pretty smooth now. It's a good smoke but won't be a regular for me. It's good for working in the yard or gardening when you don't need to focus on the smoke. I bet it would be a good all day smoke for someone who likes a stouter, stronger VA flavor.

Pipe Used: briars, meers

Age When Smoked: 5 years

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mnadz (69)	2015-07-09		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I have found a whole new world getting into Burley blends. Robust like my beloved Latakia blends, but in a differant way (nice and earthy). Saying that, this one has just enough Burley to keep me interested. Mild, easy, cool burning smoke. C&D really knows how to do Burley. In my trial of a few of their Burley blends, here is how I rank them in taste and amount of Burley: Haunted Bookshop, Old Joe Krantz, Bayou Morning, Briar Fox, and last (with next to no Burley) Night Train. My wife, that rates my room note because she has to deal with them, found this one very nice.

Pipe Used: Ben Wades

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Autumn joy (47)	2015-02-04		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Very Mild	Tolerable

Briar fox great name... The tobacco blend is Virginias with some burley noted and is presented as a kake. The tobacco itself was easy to work with and easy to pack in the bowl. The smoke was nice with a room note that was tolerable no real flavors noted but not a bad thing. I feel this product wasn't bad but by far not my favorite. I will most likely cellar this mostly because my taste for tobacco may change in the future and it may age well. The tin artwork was also a very cool concept figured I would comment on that.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com Brooksville fl

Similar Blends: Virginia blends, and any type of burly blend..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Smokeybear86 (14)	2014-08-29		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

Tin Note: The Sample bag smelt like a smokey dark chocolate almost as if it were a dark cocoa powder the smokey part though wasn't that appealing when mixed with cocoa.

Initial Light: Took 4 charring lights to get this pipe going however once it lit it was burning really well.The taste at the beginning went from harsh to extremely dull in flavor.Burn was consistent though and that is what i am looking for in the beginning of any smoke.

Mid-Smoke: The Tobacco is maintaining a slow and even burn down the chamber and leaves a nice thick ash behind. The Nic Hit was heavy, at one point i almost got hiccups and there was a bubble in my chest. Sadly the flavor had not changed much it was still a harsh smoke at this point.

Bottom of the Bowl: Dumped out the Ash to try and relight the pipe as it had gone out twice on me and i suspect the thick ash that was being left behind was snuffing out the flame. The ash coated the sides of the bowl extremely well. After removing the smoked tobacco the smoke began to take form in the sense of flavor. The Virginia was peeking through but only just a little. The taste reminded me of a cold worn leather jacket that still has the faintest smell of your favorite cologne, of course meaning the Virginia that's there but not there just a slight presence.

Room Note: My wife surprisingly gave my a legitimate answer i guess me asking here all these times has giving her the sense of being a connoisseur, Her words "This blend gives the smell of black licorice...no no Anise say Anise it sounds better" haha i am a proud husband... That hates licorice.

Dottle: The ash was thick and fell into dust when touched the burn was slow but it was very consistent but left behind traces of goop near the draft hole and clogged the pipe.

Smoking Duration: 35min

Overall: After a month of trying different Va/burs it has become apparent that i am not much into this type of blend. That being said there are a few that i did enjoy just this not being one of them. Good things i can say about this blend is that it burns really good and will build an excellent cake in your pipe. But i like smoking a pipe not to just build a cake i would also like to enjoy what I'm smoking. Flavor and/or complexity wasn't there for me in Briar Fox.

Pipe Used: HS Studio Dublin

Age When Smoked: Freash

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc'spipe (242)	2014-07-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I received a 1/2 ounce sample with a recent order from smokingpipes.com - thank you! The sample arrived as 2 small crumble cakes. A very mild Virginia smell coming from the sample bag. Breaking up and loading for the pipe was an easy affair and it took to the match very well, remaining lit throughout the smoke. I am predominantly a Burley smoker (ABF, Burley Slice, Irish Flake, ODF) and find many Virginias to lack the body I would like in a smoke. Briar Fox I like. It reminds me of Pease's Union Square, but milder and not as harsh. I can't detect any flavoring and no PG which was off putting for me in their Autumn Evening offering. There is a fairly decent nic kick so one needs to smoke this slowly. Even with fast puffing I couldn't get this to smoke hot nor did it cause any bite. Before trying I thought I wouldn't like it, but Briar fox proved to be a relaxing, tasty (in a natural tobacco way) smoke. Since I am predominantly a Burley smoker I don't smoke any Virginia on a daily basis but Briar Fox would be first on my list of Virginias that I would reach for when the mood strikes. Very enjoyable and a solid 3 stars.

Pipe Used: Old Dr. Grabow long stemmed billiard for testing.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Free 1 oz sample from Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: GL Pease Union Square, but milder.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ecce_ego (24)	2013-03-26		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I have discovered that this Briar Fox blend tastes good, smells good, and has a large dose of 'Tine. I am steering away from aromatics for health reasons more than anything, but I do like a nice sweet tasting smoke, and I have found that it is the Virginia tobaccos which provide that natural sweetness that I like. As others have said already and better, the smoke is sweet and forward and very smooth if you are patient with the briar. Put the pipe down for three minutes or so and just a few short, quick puffs had it burning nicely again when I came back to it- didn't have to re-light. Smells good enough that I do not piss off everyone on campus (I do tend to take others' senses into consideration when smoking) when I light up, burns mellow and sweet if you carefully sip, and even looks pretty good, dark and red and, well, "foxy".

Side note: Krumble Kake sounds Kool, like Krusty the Klown.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	strongirish (249)	2011-01-25		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Do you ever get a blend that really does not answer your requirements for a blend but still, you keep on smoking it. Well this one is like that for me. When smoking VA's, I like the taste to be haylike sweet, with a little tang and I like it smooth and creamy with the smoke. This blend really is not sweet but does have a good flavor, it has no twang but is very rich, and it really is not smooth and creamy but is a little rough around the edges. I recieved a two ounce bag of it to try, and for the past two days it is all I have wanted to smoke, I am on my last bowl now, enough for a pot Wilmer AAA I am smoking and I will be sad in the morning, so I for sure will be ordering more of this one.

The tobacco smeels musty in the bag, it is rough cut little flakes of a medium brown color, a touch dry but that is typical of C and D and I like it that way. It packs very well in the pipe, and lights up easy, one charring light and then it burns nice and clean to the bottom of the pipe where is becomes a dry dust like steel gray ash. It emits a good bit of smoke and it is just a very tobacco taste on the tongue, again a little raw but in a good way. The room note is very heavy for a VA, no crown pleaser but pleasant to me. It burns rather fast, but in no way hot or biting to the tongue. I could see this as an all day blend as it is not cloying and it is easy to smoke. I recommend trying this one, it is one of those mystery blends that I like but can't really say why. But enjoyable it is.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-08-03		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

A friend of mine gave me a sizable sample back in June. I smoked half of it then and put the rest into a small clean babyfood jar untill today,(8/3). I can tell that this is a quality tobaco blend. I'ts taste is nice and almost full in my opinion. I venture to wonder if there's more than Va in it. Maybe a real light splash of an oriental? But I wouldn't call it burley like some others have. In a previous review here another pipester mentions that C&D sent him some notes on this blend and it mentions that it is 'mostly' VA. That tells me there's another lurking here. I'm just not sure what it is. I'm a big fan of another VA and it's rather sweet as a few others I smoked but this one I find not as sweet if at all. However, Briar fox is a satisfying Va for sure. Most other VA's that I have smoked aren't as satisfying. I smoke 'em becasue I just like the taste and like playing with my pipes if you know what I mean.

Upon opening the jar I stuck my nose right to the rim to catch whatever it had to offer. I was teated with a nice full aroma, earthy, full, kind of smell but nothing too light. Pleasant just the same. I smoked this right away wihout any drying. The krumble kake broke up rather nicely. I broke up a handful and into my palm then let it gravity feed into the bowl of my 1970's Ben Wade freehand. I figured that an ancient well cared for briar would do a C&D blend justice and it did just fine. Possibly drying it out a bit might bring out the sweetness a bit like it does with other straight VA's. Maybe I'll do that next time I fill a bowl with Briar Fox. I'm smoking this alone right now so the room note I can't say much about but since it's a VA it can't be anything less than pleasant. Still wondering what gives it the body that it has bein's it a VA and in my experience I've known them to be lighter.

Taste to me here is nothing to write home about though I'm not complaining. As a matter of fact I think it's something that might oughtta be called something like a backwoods sort of name. It just seems like it has a full mountain 'air' about it with a pretty fair Nic Hit to it about halfway down the bowl. I'll rate this blend about THREE stars here.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-06-11		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Ordered a tin directly from CnD. Since I am a fan of Heeschan pipes. The tobacco has a wonderful scent. Upon smoking my first bowl this backy to me just has an bad flavor. I can't point it out what it is but seems like lever 2000 or Dove soap was put in it. It also MUST be smoke slowly cause it cause the bowl to heat up. on a positive note even though the bowl heats up it still delivers a cool smoke. I am fan of Cornell's but this tobacco just doesnt deliver that it should.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-10-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Update* After a few months of leaving this one alone and trying it again, I'm going to up my rating after all. It's made of a predominance of brown Virginias (really don't see many yellows or brights), and I wouldn't doubt some Burley to contradict my earlier review (especially since the blend has hardly any bite). A fine nutty smoke, with a slight bitter edge, I mean real slight because it's mostly sweet and nutty, without too much of the grassy quality of many Virginia blends. Love it. C&D is really spoiling me.

old one=I guess I'm mostly in line with the reviews here. This is an obviously carefully prepared and cared for tobacco. I'm not sure why the wax paper exactly, but it makes it feel like you're opening a present or some ancient artefact the first time. I think that's half the experience, at least the first few times. Given the regalia, one would hope for a more overwhelming smoke, but let me say, it's definitely not bad. Just not all that might be promised. It's smooth, but almost to a frustrating degree, at least for me. I mean, I guess I'm left feeling it needs just a little more spice or something, maybe just a dash of Perique or, dare I say, a touch of some not too crazy Burley perhaps. I'm still holding out hope for this one, however, and I will try to update soon.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RCUSElder (244)	2004-03-10		Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I am an explorer of the VA landscape these days. Don't get me wrong, I am still a Latakia junkie, but one must have variety! The tin I consigned to ash is another stop in my journey. I am afraid that this one gave me mixed feelings. Upon opening the tin, you are greeted by a brick of various VA's: Red, Mohagany, and Golden. The tin aroma is a little tangy and vinegary. Crumble this well before packing or it will give you frustration trying to keep it lit! Initial flavor is not very good, smelled like cigarettes! Blech! I almost gave up, but I persevered. Mid-bowl gets better. You now start getting an interplay between the sweet, sour, and spicy leaves. I think I detect a little perique (my throat got a little scratchy). I found that DGT works good with this blend. Bottom third of the bowl intensified the flavor a little more, but before you know it, you are sucking ash. I found I was trying to get more flavor out of this blend than it has, so I didn't burn my tongue, but sure did burn the roof of mouth the first few bowls. I suppose that if you concentrate, you might enjoy this blend, but with other blends like Old Gowrie or Orlick Golden Sliced available, why fight with this one? So, in ending, this is a good middle weight blend, but not a great one. Rating 2.5 out of 5 points. Enjoy...

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greybeard (66)	2022-01-18		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Not really a burley forward fan, but picked up a tin of this because of the unique tin art and the "best seller" label. The date on the bottom was 5-2019 making it almost 3 years old. I had put the tin away for a few months and recently I noticed the tin was slightly bulging, so I decided to crack it open and try a few bowls.

The tin note us sharp, sour, woodsy, or earthy and I could tell the burley was there. Was perfect moisture and lit easily. A somewhat dark fruit Virginia flavor comes through, as well as the woody like burley flavor. Not sweet, but just a little sour tang. No trouble keeping it lit, and no bite. Nice simple blend that's easy to smoke. Probably benefited from the tin being slightly aged.

Overall, recommended, but one I personally will only reach for every so often.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Caramella & Cobs

Age When Smoked: 3 years old

Purchased From: Barclay Pipe, Tobacco, & Cigar (Columbus, OH)

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Smokolier (21)	2021-12-30		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

I avoided Briar Fox for a while, since it sounded a bit basic and I wasn't fond of burleys. Now, however, I've been smoking almost nothing but Burley and have developed my palette a bit more. Turns out that the leaf can be quite complex once you gain some experience with it and purchase the right varieties, and you can't go wrong with C&D.

Many reviewers say that this blend is basic, boring, tastes like cigarettes, and so on; but I believe they are simply inexperienced with C&D's burley for the most part. Almost all C&D tobacco has minimal casing and as such will taste closer to cigarettes or cigar leaf. It's a divisive trait but I love it, expect spicy and earthy natural tobacco flavors from all C&D blends.

Except, Briar Fox is the most familiar of all C&D blends. It has less natural flavor, it seems to be more heavily cased and possibly topped. To the nose, it seems like it's been draped in molasses. It seems to be mostly VAs with a healthy amount of Burley, so the blend is naturally pretty sweet on its own, but maybe not as much as pouch aromatic smokers might expect. If your palette is not well refined, you might find the sweetness lacking, but I found it to be just right.

Tin note is wonderful. It smells exactly like fresh-baked oatmeal cookies -- an aroma of molasses, cinnamon, allspice, oats, and dark raisins.

The flavors blend wonderfully and are surprisingly complex. It tastes almost like the tin note, actually, once you get past the first third of the bowl. At first it's not that impressive, but it definitely develops well. In the foreground I got a distinct buttery flavor, almost salty and caramelized. In the background -- brown sugar, barley, and an ephemeral hint of dark fruit or floral vanilla from the VAs. Burley ties the whole blend together and gives it an earthy, hay-like quality dominated by a toasty flavor and a nutty profile similar to macadamia nuts.

This is, however, a VA/Burley, so it will present with some unpleasantness from time to time. Occasionally it has a soapy or metallic taste, but it will go away quickly. This is an extremely divisive genre and people seem to either love or hate it. Like most VA/Burleys it also sometimes reminds me of urinal cakes or Dr. Pepper. I love this flavor, but many hate it, so beware. If you can handle the occasional rare divergence into VA/Burley's idiosyncrasies, then it won't be an issue.

The burning characteristics are good and the tin arrived rather moist. A handful of minutes of drying time might be beneficial, but I found it to burn well with minimal bite right out of the package. It can burn quickly, so watch yourself.

Some tips for enjoying this blend, and other VA/Burleys, or even C&D blends in general:

1. Sip it verrrry slowly. Smoke too fast and you will get harsh "cigarette" flavors and lose all the nuances and complexity. I suspect people who claim this blend is bland or simple were puffing too hard. Most people who hate Autumn Evening seem to have sipped it too fast and gotten only "cigarette" flavors or harsh tongue bite. Briar Fox has the same pit fall, so sip even more slowly than you sip other tobaccos.

2. Make sure the tobacco is lit well. It should produce quite a lot of smoke. If it's only partially lit a lot of the complexity will disappear and you will only have weak burley flavor. But, make sure not to scorch the tobacco. Suck the flame into it for only a brief moment, don't bury the lighter into your bowl or cook the tobacco.

3. Make sure to keep it tamped well and pack it properly. Not too loose, not too tight.

I personally don't see why this is C&D's bestselling tobacco. Not because it's bad, but instead because it requires an expert touch and well-developed palette to enjoy. I recommend trying it out only once you get some experience with burley and VA/Burleys under your belt. I found it to be exceptional and surprisingly good.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Mizzou

Age When Smoked: 1 Day

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	roark (12)	2020-12-18		Mild	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Well, well, well... I guess the blender read St Exupery - The Little Prince - prior to coming up with this gem. It took me years to apprehend the fox and fall for it. I am a Virginia lover, a VaPer passionate, but sometime I like some top-shelf burley mix for a thick, nutty and easy smoke.

Ok, let's get straight to it : Briar Fox has it all. In. One. Single. Blend. All boxes : Check.

It is tasty but not too sweet, easy going and deep towards the end of the bowl, has some N but never hits you, and even if not mentionned, contains a hint of perique, this I could bet on without the tiniest doubt.

Briar Fox can be your friendliest daily tobacco, and it can also be a treat.

Love you, fox.

Pipe Used: Various Briar

Age When Smoked: 9 Years

Similar Blends: None that I know of..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2018-10-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I bought a tin of this when I started smoking my pipe again in May 2017. When first tried then, I didn't care of it at all and put the rest of the tin into a jar for later or trading.

Now a year+ later, I found the jar hiding in my "look at later" box and decided to give it another try.

The crumble cake still has a great moisture level. Easy to take a piece off and place in the bottom of my Country Gentleman and sprinkle some "Dust" on top to get lit.

It comes across to me as a BurVA, the burley supports the blend with the VA in a complimentary role. Unlike a year ago, Im getting sweetness from the VAs. I think I'm smoking it much slower than I used to also.

The flavor didn't change much through the bowls now and it seems ideal to smoke in my favorite cob while I watch football and sip a cider.

The Fox isnt something that I'd stock up on, but I do look forward to finishing out the rest of my jar.

Pipe Used: missouri meerschaum country gent

Age When Smoked: new to 1 year

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tin Man Jay (7)	2018-10-05		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I have been smoking a lot of krumble kake tobacco from Cornell & Diehl lately, and I’m becoming a fan. The flavors in this format seem to be married together quite well and the moisture level has been perfect right out of the tin.

The profile is simple- a nutty base with a sweet note on top which reminds me of apple. I smoke this very slowly and do have to relight a couple times usually to my own carelessness. Supposedly this is C&D’s bestseller, and I will purchasing my share.

Pipe Used: Peterson Killarney 03

Age When Smoked: New

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	aadelma (67)	2017-09-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The Disney-esqe tin art proclaims this is a best seller, and I can see why. This is a very solid Burley/Va blend in an easy to rub out crumble cake form. It packs and lights easily, yet burns fairly slowly. The burley becomes much more pronounced as it burns down to a fine white powder. A little condimental tobacco would keep this more interesting, but there is something here for everyone. For my tastes, C&D is the king of burley/Va blends. For those who want to try such blends, Briar Fox is the perfect place to start.

Pipe Used: Various briars

Age When Smoked: 9 months

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	steppx (186)	2017-08-22		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is not a bad blend at all, just not very memorable and I can think of a half dozen better versions of it just off the top of my head. That said, many people seem to like it. It is burley forward and has all the nutty taste one associates with this sort of cube cut white burley. I dont know really what else to say. Its just sort of blah.

Purchased From: 4noggins

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TwoOneFive (3)	2017-01-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

One of the best C&D blends in their extensive lineup. The 1lb brick comes vacuum sealed in a bag. If you plan to cellar I would recommend getting the two or eight ounce tins instead. This, like many C&D blends, needs some shelf time to soften and meld. With as little as six months age it really opens up and becomes a bit more complex. This can be an all day smoke and won't have any tounge burn or wear out your pallet.

Pipe Used: Deep, wide pokers and billiards

Age When Smoked: One year plus

Purchased From: SmokingPipes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Virginia lover (218)	2016-11-01		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Perfect moisture to smoke right away, the krumble kake is fun to prepare and it smokes slowly. I found out it works better in a smaller, pipe with time on hand. This tobacco, is an autumn smoke for me, the flavors are akin to this kind of weather.

I find more Burley taste than Virginia, in fact it's very nutty with cocoa bean accents and I am reminded of an earthy cigar that is very smooth tasting. There's some toasty, brioche like flavors as well but they play second violins. Also as with many C&D offerings, the tobacco is on the strong side for me, must be a personal chemistry thing. Overall, a quality Bur/Va related in taste to french Brun or Scaferlati tobacco.

Virginia lover

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	J.R. Patton (106)	2016-10-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A lot of the more negative reviews stem from the way the blend is touted as virginia spiced with burley. Many smokers just aren't fans of burley. I'm not one of them, I happen to love burley of all kinds, and this blend definitely has more than a smattering off burley in it. I'd wager there's at the minimum 50% burley content, probably higher. So I can see why many might be put off from the outset. Sort of like taking a big swig of what you thought was milk only to find its buttermilk instead. If you already enjoy burley, it's likely you'll enjoy this blend a lot more.

The crumble cake brick looks like a piece of rotted particle board and breaks apart quite easily. Moisture content is about perfect, almost on the dry side. It imparts a pleasant aroma of hay and fermented fruit, almost fig-like. I find the flavors more pronounced in a cob packed much more loosely than you would pack a typical virginia. The flavor is dominated by nutty and vaguely sweet burley, and the virginia just serves as a little extra body with accents of hay. I really enjoy the flavor, gently puffed while absorbed in a book. It's like carter hall without the topping and taken to the next level. Pairs very well with a cup of coffee.

All in all, this is a pretty enjoyable vabur made with the quality burley C&D is known for. Just know up front that what you're actually getting with BF is more burley spiced with virginia...or tempered with virginia anyhow. It can burn very hot when pushed, which doesn't bite or ruin the smoke, but makes the experience less enjoyable. Solid 3.5 stars for me and one I believe I'll keep in rotation.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Knightsmoker (218)	2016-05-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is one of the first tobacco's I smoked. I really liked it then but all I could really say about it was that I liked it. It was in my rotation for about a year. This is from a jar that has just a little age on it but I wanted to come back to it again. I still like it. The VA's are tangy and a little sharp out front with some grassy notes following behind. This is balanced by the burley which gives the blend depth and adds earthy notes to it. Overall, just a great blend that is slightly complex but not overly so. I enjoy this is early fall and late spring and it will remain in my rotation. If you are a Va/bur lover this one is a must try.

Age When Smoked: 1 yr. 8 months

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Corvus (36)	2016-03-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another home run by C&D! This is an exceedingly smooth blend, the very definition of an all-day smoke.

Crumble cakes are my favorite cut, so easy to work with and infinitely customizable. This comes in an attractive block that is predominantly a press of medium brown ribbon, but includes lemon Virginias and some blackened pieces, presumably uncased cavendish. The tin note is mild straight tobacco. Great tin art too with a 70s exploitation cartoon fox with a floppy hat, turtleneck, and wide lapel jacket- think Shaft.

It takes the match well and burns cool and dry. The smoothness jumps out, and the smoke is soft and velvety like rain water. There is a wonderful aroma that is mossy with some boozy undertones. The impression is one of utter freshness, but no hint of being green, unseasoned, or harshness as in a young tobacco. A latent sweetness persists throughout the bowl. As the bowl progresses you are greeted by some woody and toasted notes. Cobs accentuate the dark notes while briars contribute to sweetness.

I've plowed through this tin quicker than anything I've yet tried. It hits all the right notes in all the right ways. A unique VaBur that is like nothing else I have yet tried. Fantastic.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	E. Bonit (3)	2014-11-02		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

As DK already mentioned: This tobacco lacks sweetness up to a point to dustiness. Quite a punch of nicotine, too. As a comparison: GL Pease Union Square is about as strong, but much sweeter. I suggest this tobacco as an option for cigar lovers.

Pipe Used: Briars

Age When Smoked: Fresh from tin

Purchased From: Pyffe Laade Switzerland

Similar Blends: Never smoked something like this before. The nearest would be Sextant by GL Pease (but even this Kentucky-laden stuff is more sweet than briar fox)..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2014-10-05		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I bought two tins of this blend from a guy's duffle bag of blends being offered for sale at our 2014 NASPC show in August. I was curious about it as it had predominately positive reviews. I intended to use it as a Virginia component in English microblending. I was obliged to sell one tin to a long time Virginia smoking buddy of mine and he felt so-so about it. I opened the other tin and this is what I found: a light-colored, brownie-sized rectangular chunk of naturally aromatic and quite variegated tobacco in appearance. The variegation ran the gamut from light blond to dark and was not only appealing to the eye, but looked very much like a lot of medium English blends that I have smoked - most unusual for a Virginia blend. I then lit up and found it to be a pleasant smoke; more pleasant than any Virginia blend I could remember. The taste and aroma were somewhat narrow compared to Englishes I had been smoking, but there was a wonderful nuance of flavors in the smoke. In there, somewhere, was a slight kick-up in taste that I later found out was a Burley component. I enjoyed this blend far above almost all other Virginias I have tried. I started to give it three stars and then thought, you're judging it as to how it can stand up to an English blend - judge it for what it is: a four star blend. Good job C&D!

Pipe Used: Ashton 1/3 bent billiard

Age When Smoked: several months old

Purchased From: individual seller

Similar Blends: nothing I can remember.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	butman (50)	2014-09-16		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

You know you read the reviews and you just pass on certain tobaccos. Well, this was a mistake for me. This tobacco burns well and you taste good solid Virginia and Burley. I am getting more burleyish in my old age and find this crumble cake quite pleasant. Some would call it an all day smoke, me too. It burns clean and quite well. Try a crumble or two. The little sample I got piqued my interest and now mid-tin I find it quite pleasant, all day.

Pipe Used: Classic BBB, Bob Kiess Pot

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PhillyB (70)	2014-09-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

When I first opened the tin I was greeted with a smell that I have come to associate with most C&D blends. A pre-hamster hamster cage. Not all that prominent in this blend (unlike Burley Flake #3), and it dissipates rather quickly after opening the tin. After that the flavors shift towards a sweet citrus with a little bit of bitter chocolate.

Dividing up the pressed cake is a matter of personal preference. Sometimes I cut a piece off and use it like a flake, and sometimes I just take a pinch off with my fingers. It is quite moist when the tobacco is first removed from the tin but a few minutes out and it's ready to pack.

The flavors, while not all that complicated, are lovely. It has the typical citrus taste of most golden Virginias with a little bit of bitter chocolate. Almost identical to the tin note.

This blend will kick you hard if you smoke a lot of it, but a light pack in a standard size bowl is nothing to worry about. Overall an excellent blend, but for a Virginia I still prefer Orlik.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Legend

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jacinto Cupboard (209)	2014-07-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Chocolate brown Krumble Kake. Breaks up easily into small pieces. This tobacco has a very interesting tin note; in addition to the expected dried fruit aromas there are cocoa and cinnamon notes with malted barley.

This tobacco takes a light easily and burns without attention. It is quite rich for a Virginia, and other reviewers have said there is Burley in the mix. No argument from me. There might even be some DFK given its creaminess.

I'm not a fan of straight or nearly straight Virginias and despite the depth this baccy has, it still lacks something for my tastes. I also found it burnt a little wet. If savoury Red Virginias are your thing, then this is up there with the better quality offerings such as McConnell's Scottish Flake or F&T Cut Blended Plug.

Surprisingly, the wife gave this a thumbs up for room note, not something I would have guessed from the other side of the pipe.

Purchased From: Sample via smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: McConnell Scottish Flake or F&T Cut Blended Plug.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	reedsteve (7)	2012-10-24		Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It is obviously easier to comment on the other fine reviews here than to conjure up an original thought. Accounting for that, it is interesting to look at the differing thought about taste clues questioning addition of other leaf components. That variability may well be what draws experienced pipe smokers to the better "blends". Finding an individual leaf that has it all may be out of the league of probability as a fine grape is to wine. It may be noted that this is far from a typical Danish blend in every way but for having Heeschen's name attached.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-02-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I do not have as refined a pallet as many pipe smokers. As in I cannot describe a tobacco like a famous chef describes food. But I did very much enjoy Briar Fox. It smokes cool and long. My Peterson Shannon bent apple has a bowl for 30-40 minute smokes; a bowl of Briar Fox lasted a little over an hour. The flavor is pleasant and full; it would be easy to call this blend mellow but that is the wrong word. The blend has decent nicotine kick. As someone who crossed over to briar from cigarettes it's often hard to find tobacco that satisfies the addiction without being overwhelming in taste. This has become my new stand bye because it tastes wonderful but isn't mellow. It's pleasant; if I may go so far, the epitome of pleasant. This blend stands out to me because it is full and complex but never so much so that it feels like a war in my mouth. Maybe balanced is the right word?

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-11-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I wanted to give this four stars, and may yet...fickle as I am. For now, though, I think my personal thoughts put it at three. It's damned good, just doesn't hold my attention like a bright VA, or even a char grilled Brit rope does. It's somewheres in the middle of these two extremes, and while compromise can be(and is) good, I guess I seem to prefer the extremes. It's possible Briar Fox would make the better desert island blend, but fortunately i'm not on that island presently.

(Is there burley in this one, really? I wouldn't be suprised; nor would a claim of African grown VA.)

Again, for me...very good, not great. Any others' claims to the contrary I believe quite likely. Worth a shot, y'all.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Denevei (58)	2011-01-08		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

Briar Fox is a blend from Cornell & Diehl described as the personal blend of Peter Heeschen. Knowing that pedigree, I anxiously cracked open a tin. This is a straight Virginia blend, in appearance a mix of gold, brown, and dark brown, pressed together into a crumble cake. The aroma is both sweet and slightly fermented, and, to my nose, exceptional and alluring. The cake easily breaks apart, yielding a nice pile of tobacco at, for me, the ideal moisture level for smoking. The early bowl has a bit of a tang to it, but I suspect that tang may mellow as a tin is allowed to age. But unlike many C&D blends, which I feel need some age before they are smokeable, Briar Fox, because of the pressing, is ready to go. The tobacco lights easily, and once lit it stays lit. Once into the bowl, the smoker is in for a real treat. The early tang disappears, yielding to flavors of sweet hay. But there is a subtle depth to it as well, which comes through more and more as the bowl is burned. The smoke becomes quite smooth and easy. Sipping will yield the various flavors within the smoke, but heavier puffing isn't going to send any smoker looking for a tongue transplant. The sweetness level of Briar Fox is less than that of many Virginias, especially red Virginias. But that shouldn't deter anyone from trying this tobacco. The flavor is delightful and surprisingly complex. There is a nicotine punch that surprised me a bit, and Virginia lovers should be aware of this. It took me several bowls of Briar Fox to learn the tobacco, and how to smoke it. Once I did, however, I found it to be smooth, pleasant, gentle, and extremely tasteful. This is a Virginia I will return to frequently.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TonyC (13)	2010-12-17		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Briar Fox is my first C&D sampling, and I must say that I'm very impressed. This is a nice "straight VA", although by all accounts, there's a little more to the blend than that.

The crumble cake is a nice change from ribbon/loose cut tobacco, or even flakes, and this one rubs out quite nicely. Packing the bowl gently yields an easy light, and the flavor of the high-quality VA's is readily apparent. I tend to smoke this in a Hackert cob, and it burns well to the bottom of the bowl.

I really enjoy this blend, it's a very well made offering, with a nice, clean tobacco flavor. I find myself smoking this more often, where it tends to be the only blend in my current rotation that has me slow down and savor the experience. That's saying something...

TonyC

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	don1688 (27)	2010-01-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This review is from a tin dated March 2006. The tin was opened in 2007 and partially smoked and revisited in January 2010.

This is a cake that comes pretty dry, not too dry, rather dryer than most virginias. It was rehydrated with "sterile" water from a lab. It hydrated very well to its original moisture level. I load it by breaking small chunks and dropping right into the bowl with loose tobacco placed on top.

Its appearance is mostly yellow and tan with a little dark brown tobacco. Even with the aging there is no crystallized sugar appreciated.

It is a very tasty virginia that has a pure VA taste. I agree with some reviews that it is a more "woodsy" taste which I remember very well. I'm not sure if it is the aging of the tobacco, but it does have a more sweet VA taste than I remember. But, a nutty taste is still somewhat dominant and very welcomed as a bit of a change of pace from my usual VAs. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys VA tobaccos and will always keep some in my cellar.

I would be interested to know if any burley is hidden in this blend. If it i,s it only compliments the VAs which are the dominant player in Briar Fox.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-09-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Tin: Fig, hay, red wine fragrance, pressed into a block, wrapped in paper, that looks like Days O Work chewing tobacco. There are shades of brown with flecks of black. BF is not sticky, but is on the dry side. It is a prime candidate for rehydration(GLPease.com/FAQ).

Packing & Lighting: When broken up, the cake is a coarse ribbon . You have to pull apart and rub the tobacco, which I find to be a small chore and messy. Not as big a chore as it is with a flake or roll cut, after handling the little block for a couple of days, it becomes an agreeable task.

It is easily overpacked. The first two bowls were packed lightly, but became too difficult to even draw through it. The third bowl was gravity-fed only, tamped down while smoking, and again became difficult to draw. Just gravity-fill the pipe, tapping the side of the bowl, then cautiously tamp it down while smoking slowly. Funny thing, but later bowls do not give this problem.

On first light, the bowl smoke makes the nose tingle. The tobacco lights easily, being dry. The bowl becomes hot, but the smoke remains nice and cool, until the end of the bowl, where it is hot. This dry tobacco produces very little moisture.

BF burns quickly to the bottom, on one match. To control the burn rate, pack the bowl with some of the tobacco in chunks.

Taste: Tastes like the tin aroma: fig, prune, light hay or toast, natural red wine spice character; while not sweet like a McClelland or Dunhill's SM, BF is fleetingly sweet.

Aroma: Like the tin aroma, and taste. Lightly packed, more taste and aroma evolves.

Nicotine: BF has plenty, sometimes as much as Dunhill 965 or EMP, sometimes no stronger than SM Mild.

Overall: BF has qualities of a good VA, though not sweet. BF compares favorably to Dunhill's SM, in quality. It's a nice, toasty VA that delivers a light, natural fragrance, worth the price. Hunting for a fine VA smoke to be enjoyed at all times of the day? Cornell & Diehl sounds the tallyho. The Briar Fox is in the trace.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SmokeKing David (134)	2008-04-06		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Pretty straight-forward tobacco. Not a lot of bells and whistles, this is a natural smoke that needs some drying before you fire it up. Pleasant enough, but did not impress.

Govern yourself accordingly,

SmokeKing David

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dave (15)	2007-04-29		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Don't have much to add to what others have said except to reiterate that this stuff must be smoked slow and relaxed. Don't do that and one will miss out on what this blend has to offer. I tend to be a fast smoker so it has taken me a while to get used to this, but, when smoked "right," I find it to be a mild yet flavorful blend. I suspect any negative experiences with this comes from hurrying too much. Hard to describe the flavors. There is a sweetness to it, as well as a hint of woods. Very natural with no casings or flavorings which is what I like. I like the cakes wrapped in the paper. Nice touch and should help with storing and aging. As far as room note goes, I detect very little, but on a couple of occasions when the wife has come in from outside, she has asked me if I have been smoking a cigar. I don't see it but perhaps there is a "heads up" there. I bought eight ounces, then a pound and am going to let about half of that age for six months and then see what it is like. Until then, slow and steady will win the race with this one, in my humble opinion...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-05-27		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Very Pleasant

I suspect a cased Virginia. Sweet, Raisin like, smokey-ashey. Comes very dry.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2005-10-30		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

There's something about crumble cakes that I find hard to resist. It's not just the intriguing nature of seeing various leaves come together in a sort of melange, or the great fun in packing them with a pressure to your exacting desire--it also has to do with the way the flavors seem to meld together in a way that escapes even flakes and plugs.

The nature of this cake in particular was different. It's not in the same as something like Penzance, which is a moist, oily beast that seems to just fall apart in your hands. Briar Fox is instead a tightly compressed block of ribbon cut Virginias. It's a dry, hay-like thing that lends well to breaking apart with your hands, or a slice from a sharp knife. I remember arguing with a fellow pipe smoker how this didn't exactly fit the definition of a "krumble kake", but we seemed to agree that the cut is different, and it works..and well at that.

Because of the lack of excessive moisture, Briar Fox lights and burns with a focussed intensity. There's a relaxed variety here in how you can cut the block-like cakes, which is great for those who prefer long, smoldering smokes, or a short, fast burning exercise. I found it best to allow for a thicker cut, which cut the heat of the burn and didn't excessively tax my pipe.

The taste here is certainly a much different animal from your typical McClelland Virginia. It has the sweetness of a Virginia with something of a crisp definition in flavor. Briar Fox also manages to come with a body that will pack a wallop, which I have found rare for such a light Virginia blend comprised of mostly golden ribbons. Smoke this one with a tiny bowl, and you'll find yourself running for seconds. Good stuff.

The Fox is welcome in my home anytime.

4.0 of 4.0

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stan (179)	2004-08-27		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This is a crumble cake Craig recommended to me. I resisted at first, but as I heard mostly good, not great things about the blend, I gave it a tin try. I am nearly finished the tin in a non-filtered Brigham York. Nice smoke.

This one really needs no addtional aging to taste fairly decent. You need to cut out pieces of the cake and rub it out fully. Packs easy. Burns easy. Dry as well. Pretty cool.

It starts off as a light virginia. A bit plain or boring at this stage. A little sour/sweet taste keeps your attention. (Pease's Stratford if aged about 6 months plus is rounder and a little sweeter by comparison.) Looks like reds, some bright, and a little stoved. The flavors have mostly mingled (more time would enhance that but no matter). The sweet sparkle of the brights does come through often enough, but it is not as sweet (or hot) as a true bright flake might be. I still wouldn't rush the puffing though. All natural tastes to me. No scents.

It develops some red virginia richness in the last half of the bowl, which I find interesting.

If you take care to cut and rub out the pieces, you will be rewarded with a true light-medium, natural virginia smoke. There is something about its purity that grows on me. Recommended as an honest all virginia tobacco. Who could say more?

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2004-05-22		Medium	None Detected	Very Mild	Tolerable to Strong

Sawdust. I tell ya, this is like smoking sawdust. It comes in a tin and is in a block of compressed small cut pieces. There was no real flavor. I don't know if I got a bad tin but I certainly did not enjoy smoking this weed. I tried letting this one sit for while, as sometimes helps some other C&D blends, but to no avail. Remained sawdust. I am a virginia / virginia-perique smoker and I have been sold on some fine burley blends ala Penington Gap and Barbary Coast but I will not waste any more time and energy on this little fox.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Noorrmm (192)	2004-04-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Appearance: Several reviewers likened this to meat loaf. I find it more closely resembles jerky, or maybe pemmican, as it is it small pieces pressed tightly. Color is mostly medium shades of brown and orange, with lighter and darker flashes. It tears roughly into slices, which must be rubbed thoroughly before packing. Very similar to C&D #417P

Aroma: Nice matured Virginia aroma, slight pruny or raisiny note. Also a hint of chocolate. Verry reminiscent of GLP Cumberland.

Packing: Packs easily into any size bowl when rubbed out. Due to the relative driness of the blend, it has a tendency to underpack. Use a firmer than normal touch. You might be tempted to put some small chunks in the bowl, but they won't light.

Lighting: Lights easily when packed with the right springiness. Sometimes one Vesta with a quick touch in mid-match.

Initial flavor: Nice sweet Virginia flavor, with some body or mouth feel to it. Definitely reminds me of GLP Cumberland, only a bit lighter and not as spicy. Possibly some aged and fired Burley (?).

Mid-bowl: A nice medium Virginia, with a range of notes from high to low. Some stregth to the blend, you can't ignore this. Puff it too fast and it will get really hot, but breathe on it and it will be gentle. Some nuances as you progress through the bowl. Very Danish in overall effect.

Finish: Gets a bit harsher at the end of the bowl. This might be from a lack of aging, but only time will tell.

Summary: For me, a good warm weather Virginia. If it lacks anything, it is Perique. Some Perique, and a bit of good red Va. would bring it more into my preferred range. Excellent quality, and a really fine effort.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2003-06-14		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This has to be one of best kept secrets from Cornell and Diehl, upon removing the lid and unwrapping the clear plastic wrap I saw what looked like a couple of medium sized meat balls.

The packing of my Erik Neilsen was fairly easy as was the lighting of the tobacco itself. The tobacco itself was a two match light with the first just to lightly braise the tobacco. To my surprize (IMHO) there was very little tongue bite, but one needs to smoke this tobacco very slowly to enjoy the taste of the Virginias that are blended together.

I did notice the first 6 to 8 puffs the tobacco was not what I really expected, but continueing on became very rewarding as the sweetness of the Virginias were coming through. By the time I reached the bottom of the bowl I wanted at least another minute of this extraodinar blend.

If you enjoy the taste of a fine Virginia this tobacco is meant for you, and if you want to try a Virginia for the first time this is the one I would highly recommend. Cornell and Diehl have proved once more that you can enjoy a Virginia Blend without the harsh tongue bite.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HeadmasterOfHerf (25)	2023-01-16		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Tin note consists almost entirely of raisins.

Crumbles easily, packs well, lights without any issues.

Getting notes of raisins, nuttiness, and a little something like a chocolate liqueur.

It’s pleasant and I’d be happy to buy it again.

Pipe Used: Butz-Choquin Brumaire

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Local tobacconist

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	b7q (54)	2022-11-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I like Burley, Perique, Virginia, and it doesn't matter to me which of them is the main character. The good mixture comes in different ways,For example, enjoy solos, concertos, quartets, symphonies.

This is a simple press, the makers have a simple purpose, to seriously mix the two types of tobacco together,Burn easily to the bottom of the bowl. to give you enough tobacco flavor and nicotine.

We're smoking, aren't we?Not every mixture needs to be analyzed by an expert. You just need to try it and tell yourself if you like it or not.

As you walk longer. you will definitely know what shoes you feel most comfortable in.

Pipe Used: Briar&Corn

Age When Smoked: 10

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lager (53)	2022-10-12		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I agree with the other reviewers that claim a cigarette type taste. This is a Burley foward VA brick. You need to search for flavor ( and little at that) VA sweetness so don't expect it. In the jar it goes for the future when maybe I'm hopefully older and a little wiser. Not!

Lager

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: New to 3 months

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PaulMcCoy (78)	2021-12-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

It starts out pretty mellow, but ramps up and keeps going. The Burleys and Virginia’s fight over the lead spot. It’s a little inconsistent for that reason, but I kinda like that. It burns really well. Smokes on the warm side, but has no bite. It can get harsh if pushed. The room note is strong I suppose. My wife wasn’t a fan, and she’s pretty cool with almost everything. Not for me, but I might recommend it to a Va/Bur fan.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum, Missouri Pride

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DavyCrockettwashere (33)	2021-07-20		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I purchased this tobacco in the small tin, which came with what looked like a miniature wheat straw bale of pressed tobacco. The humidity level was perfect, and not to dry. The smell in the tin was light and had the grassy hay like, scent of Virginia, and the down to earth burley roundness. This tobacco is super easy to break apart and load. You can pinch a bit out and lightly stuff it right in the bowl, or sprinkle and tamp. The flavor, taste, and aroma are fresh no nonsense tobacco goodness. Nicotine is more elevated in this blend, but quite satisfying. From the first light to the ashy bottom this blend is pure tobacco sunshine.

Pipe Used: Sav billiard

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: SP

Similar Blends: Dunhill cigarettes., Dunhill ready rubbed..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gordon Tavistock (23)	2020-05-21		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I smoke this blend from time to time, but I often find that it does not offer enough richness or complexity for my taste. In the last third or quarter of the bowl things improve a lot and a great toasted nutty cocoa flavour with a hint of herbs comes through. At that point it is a great smoke!

Way too often, however, I find that the flavours of this blend are very subdued and often completely lost to a flat and one-dimensional cigarette taste, and that is why it is a two star tobacco for me personally. It also tends to become very ashy. The flat taste is perhaps what I should expect from a burley blend and for some the simplicity is perhaps its main attraction. Burleys are not normally what I gravitate towards, so I don't want to go very hard on it. In fact, when the wonderful flavours finally do come through in the last third of the bowl, I always make up my mind to smoke burleys more often. This is ruined again as the very last bit tends to get very ashy and harsh.

It comes in a crumble cake that is easy to break up and stuff in your pipe. It burns well and the room note is ok for anyone who is already comfortable with tobacco smoke. It burns down to clean and dry ashes and behaves well. As a we smoker I have to run a pipe cleaner down the stem about halfway through, but I can't blame it on the tobacco in this case.

When it is a little above medium, but perhaps not above what is normal for burley blends.

Pipe Used: Billiards

Age When Smoked: 2 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CowboyBill (2)	2020-05-17		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

If you enjoy rich tobacco taste and don’t want to puff like a locomotive, I find this a rather relaxing smoke. First experience with a crumble cake, so I rubbed it out, hit it with the mister one good shot, and let it rest a couple days, and VOILA! Rather delightful.

Pipe Used: Savinelli

Age When Smoked: 72

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

Similar Blends: Maybe vestiges of half and half, but richer and burns much better all the way to the bottom of the bowl..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	troyniss (38)	2020-04-27		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Presentation: A mottled krumble kake with caramel brown and gold with a nice protion of darker leaves. My tin had one large block and a little half inch slice sitting on top. With C&D kakes, I find that they can vary in terms of consistency and whether this is done by design or complete accident, they still are presented uniformly in shape, but different in ribbon size. This krumble kake is more chunky than others I have experienced such as Black Frigate or Redburn, and is more in tune with the way Pirate Kake is. The former is more fine and blooms more with a pinch while the latter needs a bit more finesse to rub it apart due to the larger leaves. Still, it breaks apart with relative ease.

Palette: A lovely tin aroma of dark stone fruit, sweet earth and hearty bread. This reminded me of the way GL Pease Fillmore smells if you omit the perique. It is heavy in the department of rich and savory goodness which I attribute to the portion of red VA in this blend.This smells like raisin bread. The burley is present in the bouquet but it takes some deep snifting to pick it out individually. The taste of red VA offer a lovely bready and buttery taste and semi-sweet. Once in a while you will get a small spice tingle on the retrohale. There is a malty characteristic to the red VA, like a good brown ale. It is not too strong and also offers a nice fruit undertone if you sip slowly. The burley is a little nutty, semi-dry wood and offers the slightest hint of cocoa. It blends well the the VA and brings some needed nuance of what otherwise would be a full blown VA blend. It's quite monochromatic in the flavor but is rich, unobtrusive and smooth. It doesn't need to be complex and it does well with what it has.

Performance: I have tested both ways, drying a portion out for about 15 minutes and straight from the kake. I find that drying out the blend makes for a somewhat hotter smoke and leaves hardly any moisture in the bowl, but loses some flavor, whereas smoking straight from the tin with no dry time leaves more moisture, smoked cooler and longer, didn't produce as much smoke but definitely more flavourful. Smokes down to the bottom with more than average dottle due to moisture in either case. Has a medium nicotine hit and can be smoked for more than one bowl a day, but I wouldn't be smoking this all day as it can get kind of boring more than 2-3 bowls.

Conclusion: My tin was dated 07/2015, so this review is coming from an age just shy of 5 years. While Briar Fox seems to me at first glance a really bland blend, I was glad I decided to purchase this and give it a go. I was really surprised and to the degree that reading reviews on here can only give you a sense of doubt when it comes to the negative ones. You must take reviews as a subjective mindset. Some might say it get's ashy/cigarettish towards the bottom, and it does, but it does not detract from the full experience in terms of flavor, smokeability and quality.This blend has some serious aging potential and my kake was covered in crystals. Each pinch rewarded me with more crystals impregnated throughout the kake and it made it that much more delightful to hold a light up to it. This has become one of my new favorites and one blend that I can smoke without thinking about. It's not a codger blend, but it's also not a blend where you have to disect each flavor for enjoyment. I can see why this blend is one of C&D's best sellers, as it is pretty basic and appeals to alot of pipe smokers who want something neat, non over simplified and just want a good bowl of tobacco without dressing to the 9's. I will be cellaring this heavily as the aging on this is sublime.

Pipe Used: Peterson Emerald X105 Plip

Age When Smoked: Almost 5 years.

Purchased From: South Korea

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	OhioTony76 (59)	2019-10-24		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I’ve smoked multiple tins of Briar Fox that were aged 3+ years. I’ve also had fresh BF, and I don’t think there is a huge difference. It’s a burley cake with some VA and cavendish in there. Being in the cake form, you can tell the burley and VA melded quite nice. I don’t get any sweetness from the cavendish. I get more of a small pepper kick in there. Even with the 3 year old tins. A nice prickle on the tongue. It looses something near the bottom of the bowl. It just goes blah. Otherwise, this is a nice all day smoke that doesn’t require a lot of thinking. A good alternative to a drug store blend when you want a higher quality all day burley that is just a bit more interesting.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	L'Italiano (233)	2019-10-12		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

BRIAR FOX: really pleasant. This is a Top natural mixture with an extremely mild flavoring. A nice smoke for Sunday or for those moments you want to taste something clean, natural and really good. Smooth with a medium to strong body and strength. A simple but guessed recipe (Virginia and Burley). This could be (is) a classic old English blend. A Sir blend. Try it! In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 9 and three and a half stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Voyaging (80)	2019-10-11		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

The presentation was a neat crumble cake dated '18. The smell was of some fermented woody tobacco, some dried fruit notes, and I would say it was favorable. After rubbing out it is moist and I would advise some air time to reduce or eliminate bite.

The taste was more of that fermented stone fruit Virginia character. The middle of the bowl shows big cereal notes and honey notes, and it unfurls into some molasses-like sweetness. It's even cigar like, but like a mild cigar. It's simply beautiful, and yes, rather simple, but simply enjoyable. There are great flavors here from that Virginia and Burley union. It's buttery and sweet and has backbone. The only bad thing is perhaps it's a big cigarette-like in odor.

The strength is medium and so is the taste. The nicotine is medium to high, depending on your tolerance.

It's an accessible blend, competent at what it's trying to achieve, and fairly priced. The cut allows for some aging potential as well. Try it. I give it three stars.

Pipe Used: Billiards

Age When Smoked: A few months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lingo (39)	2019-06-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This is an honest blend. Those who find it cigarette-ish (I understand) are maybe not used to burley straight roughness. And the feeling you get when you pinch the cake is not going to help, because you find a sort of shag between your fingers, not too humid, which immediately brings you back to cigarettes or RYOs.

Though, this is an excellent blend, made -the label says- by an european blender, not topped nor flavoured, with the right amount of burley to calm the virginia bites.

It reminds me of those 12-weeds-mixtures ala Clan, because you will hardly spot an exact taste during the smoke, so poshy pipers will not like its lack of personality. Still, in the morning after a coffee, or sunbathing at the beach, even a piper deserves a relaxed non-thoughtful smoke, and this is it.

I like giggling myself and my taste buds analysing and meditating every single sip from my pipe... when I’m lazy, I reach for Briar Fox, just SMOKE :)

Probably some aging will pull something more from the virginias, but I guess there’s nothing much to pull here... that’s it!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Charles Marlow (6)	2019-05-16		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I've had this stuff aging for many many years. And baby, it's right down the middle of the fairway for me. Great Virginia taste - a little grassy and a little sweet and a little bread taste. It has a pretty good nicotine kick, too. This one is definitely in the starting rotation. One of my go-to tobaccos. (And from time to time, I'll add a pinch of it to some of my subpar choices to help them out.) Highly recommend the Briar Fox. Time to get foxy!

Age When Smoked: 10+ years old

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Glfjunke (3)	2019-03-20		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I tried a tin and just received 2 more. That sums it up. Love the crumble cake as it’s so easy to pack and light. Burns to the bottom and no dottle.

Pipe Used: Savinelli 320

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoking pipes.com

Similar Blends: Sutliff Red Virginia crumble Kake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	GabrielCRT (115)	2016-05-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Just like Full Virginia Flake, I can relate to both the 1 and 4 star reviews for Briar Fox. At its worst this can be dull, bland, and a little harsh. At its best it is a rich, subtle yet complex Virginia/Burley masterpiece. Most of it depends on the moisture content and the pipe used. I prefer Briar Fox without much drying and in a tall and narrow bowl.

There is definitely no topping here and a very small amount of casing. The red Virginias are earthy with a very faint sweetness in the background. The bright Virginia is grassy with hay notes. The Burley is nutty with some spice. Some fruit and cedar flavors are there occasionally but it's primarily an earthy blend. It may occasionally taste cigarettey but of course that is because cigarettes are made from Virginia and Burley leaf! I will rate this at 3 stars with room for another with age.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Theosprey247 (73)	2016-04-16		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This is an interesting blend. First it's a krumble kake. Second it doesn't really have the sweetness one would expect from a Virginia blend. Third for the amount of burley it isn't very nutty. So what do you get when you smoke this blend? You get a smooth, nonbiting, slow burning smoke. Highly Recommended.

Pipe Used: Briar

Age When Smoked: New

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Xortex (6)	2016-03-14		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

This blend seriously grew on me. At first it was like cardboard- even coming in a novel cube. I only smoked it for a good N-hit when I was stressed out. But now, I'm about to run out and eager to buy more. Recommendations to sip slowly here are on the money. Something about it demands an outdoor cob smoke too, despite its tendency to burn like heck. Maybe it's just the fox. It should be said I'm a big burley fan.

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Holt's, philadelphia

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BTGreenwald (13)	2016-02-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I enjoyed two bowls in different pipes this evening. Both were good. The first was less remarkable than the second. My tastebuds may have attenuated themselves to the cake a bit before the second. So yeah after smoking through to the heel of a largish Brebbia Egg Shape, I reached for a Grabow with a smallish bowl. I will echo what I've heard several viewers comment on... The char light and first 20-30 puffs or so yield this ascorbic mouthfeel, and tangy flavor with not much else to mention. However , a little further into the bowl t begins to mellow, and with patient steady sipping I'm in business. Mellow, earthy, subtly sweet and nutty, I look forward to enjoying this blend as my palette adjusts and I'm able to discern greater nuance. Done very well. I usually just read the reviews and don't care much to put my two sense in. This one really got my attention... No bull.

Pipe Used: Brebbia - Grabow

Age When Smoked: Upon arrival

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	point9 (114)	2015-11-14		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Although the virginia in it is mostly red, it is not a sweet one. The burley is rather a supportive role and provide the backbone to it. A man's smoke, maybe not for the beginners, but should be a must try for all virginia lovers.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	incognitopoet (37)	2015-10-15		Very Mild	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Yesterday my one-pound brick of this wonderful blend arrived. I can't stop smoking it! It has all of the best qualities of Virginia and the best qualities of burley! Right now it is in a huge CAO meerschaum, just as sweet, earthy, and delightful as a blend could be. I wish I had known about this stuff years ago! Yet another truly great tobacco from the artists at Cornell and Diehl!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ziehm (2)	2015-09-04		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

This is a difficult tobacco to wrap ones head around. First off, and perhaps to my detriment I expected a very forward Red Virginia flavor upon examining the cake. However, upon lighting, the burley component was ever present, which in itself is not a bad thing, it was however, unexpected. The tin note on this tobacco is unmistakably C&D, Vinegar and Tomatoes, I can't figure this out but it is a common occurrence with there blends and I have no idea of its origin. Having experienced this with many of the C&D blends, it did not put me off and I was intrigued by the cake, moisture content and break ability of the cake. It rubbed out easily and took to the match nicely straight from the tin. I detected an absence of top note, just pure tobacco flavor. Here begins the conundrum. For a VA blend, it seemed the nutty, dried fruit flavor of the burley, and certainly the smokability, dominated this blend. Only after a second bowl, and halfway through that, did my palate begin to detect the dark Va sweetness that I expected would dominate throughout. I also detected a bit of cavendish, was this my tongue playing tricks on me? I have to say that I am not at all displeased with the smoke and find it quite to my liking, even though it is not at all what I expected. There could be a fair argument that this is the Bentley version of Half and Half.

Pipe Used: Ricco Santia Cob

Age When Smoked: 8 monts old

Purchased From: smokingpipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cappadoc (10)	2015-08-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

A really solid Virginia burley blend. Straight forward, no nonsense tobacco flavor that could be an OTC codger blend if not served in cake form. No bite at all, easy burning and delicious. I give it 3 1/2 stars as a straight VaBur.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old German puffer (106)	2015-07-09		Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable

Briar fox is one of the lightest tobaccos in my line up. It crumbles very easy stright out of the tin. Full of Virgina and melded with burley it is easy to light and is one of my shortest smokes. To be honest here I can only taste the burley with my morning coffee. Name should be changed to tobacco light. I only have 10 tins in storage because of the cost at $6.99. I bought it site unseen and have been stuck with it. I only smoke this in the am or if it rains. I don't know why it b just happens that way.

Pipe Used: cobb, Stanwell

Age When Smoked: fresh tin

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Plantpartaker (7)	2015-05-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Briar Fox is a wonderful smoke if smoked properly. The problem is so many of us do not take the time to sip our pipes. I am no expert but I am finding that when you sip a tobacco, the nuances in flavor begin to emerge. Even if a pipe goes out that is okay. Sometimes it is better because it allows the pipe to cool. The first time I smoked briar fox I didn't care for it. However I revisited this tobacco and have been practicing my sipping technique and I am picking up a creamy vanilla flavor along with hints of pepper. There is a subtle hay/ herbaceous flavor at the finish. This is a complex meditative smoke and I am beginning to treat every tobacco as such.

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: 4 weeks

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ShortFatHokie (2)	2014-11-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Nice medium strength tobacco. I found it to be kinda sweet, with a bit of tanginess, and hints of nuttiness. A good, solid everyday tobacco.

Pipe Used: MM Mizzou straight cob

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ambush1964 (19)	2014-09-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I received this as a sample packaged in a ziplock so I am not sure how long it had been out of the tin. The tin note (ziplock note) had a slightly smoky aroma to me. I though I might dislike it, as I dislike English/Latakia blends. The moisture level was ready for packing. I didn't realize this was a Crumble Cake rather than a plug and I cut a slice off of the end of the cake. It worked very well, although I think just pinching off a bit would have worked just as well. It rubbed out, packed, and lit beautifully. It burned a bit quickly and hot for me. It was very spicy for me all the way through the bowl. I did not get the English/Latakia flavors that I was worried about and it was more enjoyable for me than English/Latakia blends. I did notice a vitamin N hit. Overall it was a decent smoke, but since I have only been smoking a pipe for about two years, I still prefer sweeter aromatics. I have smoked worse :)

Pipe Used: Vintage Corsica Bent Billiard w/horn stem

Age When Smoked: New? Sample

Purchased From: Free sample from SmokingPipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	p.Holloway (8)	2014-07-26		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

I primarily smoke aromatics. However just the name of this cut was intriguing AND for once the name lives up to its smoke! I enjoyed every puff of this. Even though its straight virginia it does have a very mild sweet note and no bite what so ever. The krumble kake comes apart with the slightest squeeze and packs beautifully. Never thought I'd be so fond of a non-aromatic. Well done!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	colonel jpl (25)	2014-07-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a comfortable smoke. Fantastic Virginia tobacco in a crumble cake. Rubs out nice packs great burns clean and sweet. A must try if your a Virginia fan. I have tried my fair share over the years and this is one of the best.

Pipe Used: peterson

Age When Smoked: bulk sample

Purchased From: smokingpipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrumsAndBeer (217)	2014-06-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I like this mixture, it's quite good and really well balanced. Another reviewer described the tin note as “pure,” and I agree. The tobacco cake smells grassy but in an earthy, sour-barnyard & vegetal kind of way. The flavor has a light sweetness that I really did not expect, along with a robust unadulterated neat-tobacco taste. I find the update to TallPuffO'Burley's review quite telling, as I could swear that I too tasted a measure of C&D's burley in this, at least enough to give it a kick and a bit more structure. There's also a nice spiciness at play which keeps things interesting. Briar Fox does bitter towards the end of the bowl, but I still find it satisfying on a number of levels. Smokes super great in a cob.

Pipe Used: MM Diplomat

Age When Smoked: 2 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	codyp (65)	2014-02-10		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

The first comment I want to make on this blend is how easy this is to pack and smoke. The best crumble cake I have seen yet. It's stays a bit more moist then your average C & D, but lights up and smokes smoothly.

The strength is decent but wouldn't say strong. This blend truly shows with the simplicity of the Virginia. It's an excellent taste with a great aroma. The wife quite enjoyed it.

This blend grabs the extra star because of how good the smoke was, without a ribbon cut. If your new to crumble cakes or Virginia in general, grab this right away.

Kudos Peter Heeschen.

Pipe Used: AKB Smooth Freehand Meerchaum

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2013-01-12		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Simple strait forward Virginia a little sweet nutty piece of hay

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	acyv (10)	2012-02-05		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Unnoticeable

Upon unboxing you can easily detect virginia smell, that's good. It's easy to fill into pipe upon rubbing by hand. It lights evenly and runs same. I couldn't detect any flavor, it's just virginia. For virginia choise i prefer best brown flake instead of this briar fox. B/F reminded me Night Train. Same unboxing condition and similar taste. I dont believe that aged pipe smoker prefers this while hell of better virginias are existing in the market.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-12-12		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Intially I was very impressed with this blend. It had a wonderfull, deep, strong but graceful flavour. Strong & mellow at the same time!? Very full, no bite. Great aroma - it stings my nose beautifully. Burns even & well.

Flavour: earthy almost woody, musky, subtle sweetness. Great after taste.

Lately it has lost favor with me and I do not enjoy it anymore. I just find this blend to be rather insipid.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TK Pipe (101)	2011-11-22		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

C/D Briar Fox … Attractive and has a nice tin aroma, that said, I find BF a bit flat in the flavor department unless inhaled like a cigarette. I prefer more stand alone flavor when smoking my pipe or for that matter my cigars. Of course some inhaling is part of the fun, but IMO this tobacco offers little else.

One more thing I noticed is the base flavor of BF is not that different from Mixture #79 of all things, when I smoke the two side by side the similarity is hard to deny, only #79 is somewhat more robust across the board, maybe due to it's burley content, but it is a condition I prefer.

Overall BF is a decent VA smoke, but I go to C/D to get away from the Danish influence in my Virginia's, I already have this type of tobacco covered in my rotation, nine ways to Sunday, I don't need another. My personal rating 2/5

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CoolPilot (69)	2011-11-17		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Excellent, very nice smoke. Two tins so far, this tobacco does not last much on my desk.

There is PERIQUE , a dash of it, in the Fox. And it is perfectly spicing the virginia. Good stuff, good stuff.

The second tin once open revealed a very dry kake. I have a thrid one, and hopefully will not be that dry to request a humidor!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fofo (81)	2011-11-10		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A mild tasting virginia blend that will surely please those who enjoy them in the Danish tradition. Not a bad blend, and I like it but not enough to buy it again.

The tin smell is quite nice; pungent, very "tobaccoey" in the way you'd expect a traditional plug to smell. The blend, however, is bland with a very subtle, almost undetectable, aroma.

This stuff burns cool, does not bite, and packs a heatlhy nicotine punch, but there are other Virginias out there done in a more English style that are fuller in flavor. Briar Fox failed to deliver.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2011-07-10		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I love the Krumble Kake cut ,it packs real easy and burns nice and slow to a fine white ash. Smoke this at a smolder , which is easy to do, and you get a rich sweetness and no bite . If I didn't know better, I would say there was some Burley in the blend because of the nutty mellowness and no bite. This is more on the style of a Danish than an English Virginia . This is more of a sit and savor than a work in the yard type of smoke. I will be buying more and cellaring. Oh, take some care in packing, in that you don't block the air hole , it's easy to do with the KK cut.

Updated 9/16/11 I still feel this is a fine tobacco and a nice change of pace from the VaPer's, Latakia, Oriental mixtures , however, I do find it very one dimensional. It has a smooth nutty flavor, not bitter, not sweet, but it is boring. I got a recommendation from a reviewer of McC 5100 Red Cake to blend 50% RC and 50% BF, this was good but I like 2/3 RC and 1/3 BF better. I've got to take a star away.I don't think I will buy more only because I have too many other tobaccos I'd rather smoke. I have to agree with reviewer "YINYANG 11/13/2011 " above.

Updated 7/20/12 I keep going back and forth with this tobacco. I've found you have to rub the entire kake out, let it breath and dry and in a month you have a nice blend. Open the tin and fire away, it tastes like Burley. 2 1/2 stars and a nice change of pace if preped right.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	quantumboy (130)	2011-04-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I really like that C&D only uses distilled water, no propylene glycol to mess up the leaf. That little technique really comes through with BF which is a very natural-tasting, tasty treat. Not overly sweet, not overly bitter, it's like a good IPA with a great balance of sweet and - as we say here in Louisiana in reference to iced tea - unsweet. And I really like the crumble cake format which is very easy to rub out.

The leaf comes a bit drier than average, which I enjoy, packs great (I pack it firmer than most otherwise the draw is too free) and burns impeccably. The flavors are earthy and natural, and I always get a smile on my face when I reach for the Fox.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JohnnyMcPiperson (119)	2011-03-11		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I enjoyed this blend although for some reason or another it tended to kick me in the pants. A simple enough blend, the flavors are smooth and delicious, I really enjoyed the way it packed and smoked. I only had a sample of this, but I fully intend to purchase a tin at some point for a more full experience.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-01-14		Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

IMO there was very little tongue bite, although this does need to be smoked very slowly to enjoy the taste of the Virginias that blend together.

This is an excellent Virginia

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sparks (7)	2009-10-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I first want to start by saying I am a big fan of C&D, my three staples are C&D blends. It is also important to say that I am no longer a regular Virginia smoker. My staples are in the Burley & English genre. So, with this is mind, take this review for what it is worth.

As with all C&D tobacco, there is no doubt this is quality leaf. The tin note is enticing. The little pressed brick presentation is also quite nice.

This tobacco needs a bit of drying IMO. Right out of a new tin, it is on the moist side and it becomes obvious that it can use a bit of age to smooth it out.

Without going into too much detail, I will suffice it to say that I was not a fan of this blend. After opening the tin, and giving it several months to smooth out, I find it harsh and bitter at times. It burns hot and certainly causes a bit of tongue bite. Overall I find this blend hot, harsh and bitey.

I will not be buying this one again. Sorry C&D, they can't all be perfect.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-10-09		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Briar Fox is one of the best straight Virginia blends I've tried. It's natural sweetness and effortless smoking pleasure are the best points of this blend. The humidity level is just well for packing. It burns evenly. Once lit and you can go till the bottom with a long lasting high quality smoke. It leaves only a soft whitish ash at the bottom. Just puff it away.

The sweet Virginia taste satisfies my palate and tongue. The nicotine level is just my favorite and it kicks when I reach the half of the bowl.

A must have in cellar. I am sure it will age great.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-09-17		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I wanted to like this blend, but something just didn't sit well with me. I like my Va's to have some sweetness and be a bit milder in strength. This one left a bad taste in my mouth and I just couldn't finish it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-09-02		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a good straight VA. If it was a wine, I would compare it to a dry red. The flavor is full on VA. However, it isn't a sweet VA. This isn't a bad thing, but if you are looking for a sweet VA, this isn't gonna float your boat. It floats mine as a change of pace, palate cleansing smoke. The presentation in the tin is great. It rubs out nicely from it's cake form. For me, a tall narrow gage bowl works best. It burns to a fine gray ash all the way to the bottom. If smoked too hot, it can bitter in the bottom 1/4 of the bowl. So, smoke it like it was meant to be smoked. Slowly. No bite detected. Just a good smoke. I will keep a pound of it around for aging and enjoyment.

Happy Puffin'

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (251)	2009-08-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I love the cake presentation. Like the tobacco, but not my favorite. Seems to smoke fast and hot. I do detect a cigarette-like taste, but quality cigarettes like Nat Sherman, not Dorals. Tin doesn't mention Burley, but it's there. If I can manage to smoke it slowly, and if it ages well opened, maybe I can learn to like it more. I would think before I gave a C&D two stars, but personally this one is a two. I give it three in a public review because it is a quality blend which simply doesn't fit my personal tastes, like the Hebraica series.

Update: It's growing on me. I tried something interesting. I pulled off a square piece of the cake and did not rub it out. Instead, I stuffed it whole into my largest bowled pipe, a cool handmade cherry. Then I sprinkled the top with finely rubbed tobacco so I could get it lit. It smoked for almost an hour and was quite tasty! I will experiment some more.

1-11-10 OK time to upgrade this one. In less than five months opened, all of the harshness I originally noted has disappeared, and it is one of the tastier Virginias I have smoked. I don't know if everyone will have the same experience, but for me letting it stand a while really did the trick. It has everything I want in a Virginia; no bite, complexity, notes of dried fruit, improves towards the end. Drier is better with this tobacco, but I could see buying 8oz fresh and letting it dry slowly in a mason jar. I would give it two stars indeed! Doesn't fit my personal tastes, how could I? Sometimes first impressions aren't correct.

1-22-10 Finishing the tin, not all of the bowls were four-star. I didn't get another bowl like the one which caused me to upgrade. Forget which pipe I smoked it in; maybe that is it. No need to take the star back-if it smoked like that once, it could again. I guess this tobacco is what they call "temperamental."

10-31-2022 I must have changed my opinion a bit after writing this review, because I bought a 1 lb. can in 2011. It is still sealed, and I have resisted any urge to open it, and somehow have this idea that it may even survive me and stay in the family, because my last name is Fox! So, now I can't really remember it after all those years...have gotten out of the TAD habit, and have plenty of well (in some cases VERY WELL) aged blends to smoke in tins and jars, but am thinking of ordering a (young) tin of this just to try it again, and remind myself of why I bought that pound...

2-19-23 I opened that pound tin in early December, and it has served me well, and become a go-to tobacco. Will I buy another pound? Maybe. There are other good pipe tobaccos. One thing to note: do not expect a crumble cake. Cornell & Diehl make some great pipe tobaccos, but they cannot make a flake, plug, or crumble cake to save their lives. To Cornell & Diehl, a crumble cake is something that crumbles before you even open the tin. They just don't press it enough. Other than that, a great blend, though it would have been a tad bit better if they had left out the Burley, even if it is quality Burley, and left it a straight Virginia blend. Can't complain too much though; I love it, especially at twelve years old!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-05-10		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

This is my first post ever.

I have a large selection of pipes and tobaccos.

One thing that I learned from these posts on Briar Fox is that it is important to puff slowly with this particular Virginia Crumble Kake. As soon as I tried it with the new attitude Briar Fox came into it's true potential as a role in my rotation. It becomes light with subtle flavors that make it an easy relaxing joy, which pipe smoking is for me. Also I think it is better in smaller pipe bowls, because puffing slowly I can get an hour out of one pipe full.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-03-12		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This one is for all the VA lovers out there that is in the market for a straight VA without any of the toppings/casing. It is in Cake blocks, but breaks up very easily, and the tin aroma is reminiscent of raisins/figs. When packed loosely this blend smokes great and the flavor lasts through the bowl, the flavor I am refering to is straight VA flavor. For me this blend is up there with the Two Friends Heritage as far as C & D VA goes, great all day blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Moe (46)	2009-02-20		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

A very nice smoke and I went through a tin in two weeks. It is another middle of the road tobaccos for me. Not in quality, but I mean middle of the road medium- taste, nicotine, overall buy again factor. I can see why some love it. Its worth a try if you havent already.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe4ever (204)	2009-01-23		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

This is a pressed Crumble Cake Virginia with very natural Virginia aroma and flavor, the packing is relatively easy and the burning is amazingly cool and bite free for a Virginia, the taste is very straight, full and extremely natural, however some may find this Va somehow bland and lacks vibrancy with one single note, and this is also true, however I am sure this is a Raw Virginia at its primitive state, without any topping or casing.

Very good quality Va. for Virginia pro.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Backwoods Piper (70)	2008-06-21		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I purchased this tobacco back in August of 05 and have just gotten around to smoking it. Of all the designer tobacco lines around I must admit C&D's is one of par excellence. Briar Fox is yet another hit for me. I really enjoy opening new tins of tobacco and the first impression aromas that escape the tin upon cracking. The first impression in BF was that of a sweet woodsy aroma made me think of a cold autumn evening in the middle of June. The moisture content was perfect right out of the tin, as most C&D blends. I love the compressed mixed crumble. It kind of reminds me of plug cut chewing tobacco. BF rubbed out into a beautiful blond, brown to dark brown crumble. BF packed easily and lit evenly and well. BF stands true to form in most VA's a little hot on the light and best enjoyed gently sipped instead of puffed. The layers of flavor for this smoke range from sweet and light, to rich and nutty mid-bowl to knock out. This tobacco never comes on as overpowering for me and does have a nice kick in the nicotine department. I consider this offering an excellent mild VA almost suitable for all day smoking, especially if it was cut with a good burly. I will add this to my Virginia rotation and smoke this on a regular basis.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-04-03		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

C&D has done it yet again. You get all tobacco, no excess moisture with this blend. I love a good kake and this one is "top drawer". Peel off a layer and rub it out, load, and light. It can't get any easier than that. Taste is all tobacco, and what a taste it is. Mildly sweet, and cool. Nice combonation for a Va. blend. Great burn...few if any relights. Burns all the way to the bottom of the dry bowl. I love this stuff...one problem is cost. At nearly $40 per pound it is rather pricey, but you can't take it with you. I might as well burn it up now, rather than leave it behind for others to blow. **

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mo (81)	2008-04-03		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

I recently openened a tin of this blend and have smoked it quite a bit since then. I find as a smoker of Virginias, that this blend fits in very nicely amongst my "need to have" blends. I do not really smoke lots of Latakia blends and have great difficulty as a nicotine junkie to get my fix from the likes of Rattrays etc. This is now my evening Virginia smoke.

The taste is really wonderful for when one craves something hearty in the evenings or after a big supper. It has a very faint sweetness and the right kind of bitterness and lots and lots of cool smoke with no bite. That wonderful taste lingers in my mouth for a while and keeps me satisfied until the morning.

Now I need to explain why it gets 3 stars instead of 4. Unlike Rattrays HOTW this blend is not very sympathetic to relights and I would reccommend smoking it in a bowl size that you can finish in one sitting. If you do that, you will be rewarded with a very enjoyable smoke indeed.

#UPDATE. I have to upgrade this blend to 4 stars. It has become indespensible in my rotation. Really good stuff and I am stocking up

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-10-29		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK VERY MUCH THE REVIEWER PIPESTUD CAUSE AFTER READING HIS REVIEWS, THE LAST TWO YEARS, I LEARNED A LOT, REGARDING THE TOBACCOS TASTING With the opening of box, the light sweet and sour smell of its quality leaf of Virginia came immediately to my nose. The level of humidity is precisely right. I cannot detect certain aromatic wrapper. It reminded me of the taste of cigarette with more elegant flavor. As long as you smoke this tobacco, it becomes more tasteful and stronger. Quite heavy with strong dose of nicotine in it, Briar. Certainly it is a tobacco which gets much better (after one or two years), when it gets mature.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-09-28		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

much like ciggarettes. simple VA... several tins later (I cant just give up) it is in fact more complex than at first. has nutty, woodsy element others describe, I would buy this, but be aware this takes a little time and thought to find the sweet spots.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-08-06		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A very fine VA. I can smoke this one all day. No bite whatsoever for me...just good clean virginia taste. This was my first krumble cake and it was a litte strange at first, but I found it was very easy to break off what I wanted. I will buy more of this.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-01-02		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

There's not much I can add to the descriptions already provided. I submitted this review mainly to contribute to the average rating. I like it that much.

I love Virginia's, however, I tend to enjoy the milder ones the best. This one is all I could ask for. It is also worth noting this is my first "crumble cake" and it allowed me to overcome the intimidation of pinching and rubbing. This is an easy tobacco to crumble, smoke, and enjoy! Thanks again Cornell & Diehl!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DoctorThoss (146)	2006-11-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is an exceptionally good VA cake - it crumbles and burns exceedingly well, and it has a rich, deep flavor. It's not a VA I'd smoke every day, but it's an interesting change of pace when I'm in the mood for a medium-strength VA with absolutely no hint of flavoring. It also excels as a blender.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-10-26		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

BARK, WOOD, EARTHY

A nice Virginia. Slow and relaxed will bring out raisin/fig sweetness. Hurried doesnt work well with it. It most certainly comes too dry. Worthy of anyones rotation. Earthy,Woodsy, Nutty, Sweet, Light/Smoky. Crap. The next few tins I bought were more earthy and unilateral. woodsy,woodsy,woodsy. i AM THINKING THAT c & d LACKS in the consistancy dept.

BETTER PICK: MCCLELLAND CHRISTMAS CHEER 05' OR 06

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-09-02		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

It is my turn to completely revise my earlier review of this tobacco. I removed it because it was not a very well thought out comment.

Briar Fox, over a period of a year, has become a regular in my rotation. So much so, that I have completely become a VA snob. It has forced me to say farewell to some of the tobaccos that will remain nameless, that had a series of subtle flavorings in the background that were meant to mask sour and inferior VA tobaccos with low sugar content from a variety of continents. While I mean no disrespect - there's no comparison of the high quality of this tobacco to some of it's global cousins.

I make slices of the plugs so that I am left with a more uniform size morsels to pack. It crumbles rather easily so the slices are more virtual than literal. The array of colors mahogany, reds and a spec of gold here and there are a clue to what's ahead. There's a wonderful toastiness to the blend that makes me think of fire roasted cashews. As previous reviewers commented ... nutty - woodsy / woodsy - nutty ... but with a very subtle and unmistakable caramel sweetness sneaking through. Mind you, I'm talking about rich VA sweetness not that of additives or flavorings. I've smoked this in all shape and size bowls and they have all smoked well but typically I smoke it in a medium size which suits my slicing method best.

When smoking, I try to puff this just a wee bit above a smolder. If you get too aggressive with this blend you'll miss all the complexity. Even the non-smoker is curious about the room note - which is nutty and sweet but unmistakably fine tobacco - no flavorings here. It burns to a white ash and never disappoints. However, I would keep this as an 'indoor only' smoke.

Wonderful stuff !!

Cheers, VC

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Buster Bluth (56)	2006-03-06		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

I really like the versatility of this 'crumble cake'. I've horizontally peeled off and fully rubbed thin slices for quick smokes, as well as vertically sawed off hunks and slowly stoked the ember. Each time I smoke this a different way I notice different notes.

Each time it is a rewarding, cool smoke with good Va flavor, that smokes down to a white ash. While I found the room note extremely pleasant, non smokers only found it tolerable.

While Briar Fox is extremely smooth, I do not find it super sweet for a virginia. The tones are earthier and woodsier, compared to something like pipesandcigars.com "Marble Cake", which is sweet and sticky with more abrupt flavor changes. "Marble Cake" is in the rotation as well, but Briar Fox is more sly, sleek, and mellow. It's aptly named. It also doesn't require a Ph.d in Virginias to be enjoyed like the ketchup club #24,#25,#27, and Dark Star. It's very accessible.

Hats off to C&D and 4 stars!!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-01-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I know of a couple people who only smoke Briar Fox when they want a Va blend. Now I can see why. I'm not saying that this is the be-all and end-all of Virginias, but it is pretty darned good.

If you like a rich Va flavor, Briar Fox is well worth a try. It smokes cool for a Va, and delivers plenty of flavor - and a bit of nicotine in the process as well.

Easy to handle, lights well, and stays lit. If you're into DGT, this is a great candidate. Nice and smooth, light on the tongue.

Try it, you'll like it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Dottle (162)	2005-06-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

The tin contains two krumble cakes that would look like two bricks of chewing tobacco if they were compressed and contained considerably more moisture. Of course the cakes don?t contain much moisture at all and that is why they ?crumble.? Actually, I found the two cakes to be ?bone dry.? After breaking and rubbing them out, I re-hydrated the tobacco just a little.

This is a delightful, pure VA blend that is smooth, natural, straightforward and with a nicotine kick. It does not have a pronounced, classic VA sweetness and this it where it differs from many other VA blends. Briar Fox may be a bit harsh for some at first light but it soon evolves with pleasurable sweet and sour notes and a ever so slight spiciness / tanginess in the background as you progress down the bowl. Can I say this tobacco has a ?sweet tartness? or is that an oxymoron? As with all VA blends it is best enjoyed with a slow, smoking pace if not just sipped. It has excellent burning qualities with no bite. I think that any cigarette or cigar smoke would especially enjoy Briar Fox as it is an all natural blend with substantial nicotine. If you don?t like blends high in nicotine, stay away from ?the Fox.? If you are ?perique intolerant,? BF would be a good, pure VA blend to try.

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this tobacco 9.5 out of 10.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2005-05-04		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I like this tobac very much. Nothing spectacular, but a good honest virginia that can be smoked anytime of the day. As is common with C&D blends, the background taste has a dryness to it which I like on occasion. But there are a couple of great attributes to Briar Fox; no tongue bite and a clean refreshing aftertaste. Smoked in a large bowl for a long time seems to bring out the subtle virginias; a small bowl definitely seems to concentrate the flavors. I like and will keep a tin or two on hand.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2004-05-11		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This tobacco packs a nicotine kick. Otherwise, it is a unique crumble cake with nothing but VA tobacco. Sort of reminds me of C&D Bow-Legged Bear without the Latakia/Perique. On the dry side, but no bite. Burns to a clean ash. This VA does not have that spicy/tart VA component that is so pronounced in McClelland VAs. Much more moderated and smooth.

Again, this is strong on nicotine but medium in flavor. My eyes are still dialated. Nevertheless, a unique VA tobacco that a veteran pipe smoker should try. It sort of has that iron fist/velvet glove thing going on. Kind of like tossing back a Cognac at the end of the evening. Tasty but makes the head swim a bit.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Paddy (127)	2003-11-15		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This Virginia brings to mind Three Friars, Bayou Morning and Pease's Stratford without the Perique. It is a very straight Virginia with the a distinctive red wine element which I find in some of the C&D tobaccos. This could be an all day smoke for the Va. lover. It is a tobacco I will be coming back to over the years. Paddy.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pounder 5000 (178)	2003-08-16		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

This is a unique blend that should be tried at least once. It is the virginia version of C&D's Pirate Kake. This is a very rich, simple virginia that is completely bite free. It's very basic to my tastes, and reminds me of what I imagine tobaccos must have tasted like in past times. This is a typical C&D blend: high quality and great burning characterisitics. I have to admit that it is just not quite my style. I need a little more complexity and natural sweetness in my straight virginias. This would make a great all day smoke if someone was into virginias this much.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	kbosi (16)	2003-07-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Another excellent blend from Cornell & Diehl. If you like Virginias, you must try this one. no bite and a wonderful flavor.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2003-06-25		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This fills the gap in my rotation for a mild, flavorful, and tame Virginia pipe tobacco.

I really do not like the smell of casing when I open any tin, and I smell casing in Briar Fox. In BF, casing does not seem to interfere with the smoking aroma, taste, or temperature in the experience that counts.

Probably not the most economical blend I have smoked. My medium-large sized pipes seem to gobble this crumble cake up (I get 8 bowls from one 50 gram tin; a few bowls less than what I am accustomed).

A worthy Virginian. It is the first C&D blend I have tried, other than Two Friends. It will keep me trying more. Give it to a newbee for a proper introduction to premium tobacco.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2003-06-15		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Not only does Peter Heeschen make fine pipes he (and Craig) know how to put together a fine virginia blend.

In The Tin: This comes in crumble cake form. I generally prefer ribbon cuts to all others but if it has to be something else this is about the easiest form to deal with. Just pinch off an edge and roll between finger and thumb and you get a nice packable mix. The aroma is a gentle sweet Virginia smell with just a hint of sour.

Taste: The first few puffs don't yield much taste. But after that it's all good. Pleasing subtle Virginia flavors and just the right amount of sweetness. The smoke is moderately rich and billowy, and quite satisfactory in mouth feel.

I would recommend this to pretty much anyone. It is the best introduction to pure Virginia blends out there. I'm going to be smoking my way through a good bit of this.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Quiggifur (99)	2023-02-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Tin note bright, raisins. Smoke is floral, fruity. Not sweet to speak of. Flavor wanes quickly. Crumble kake was on the dry side, breaks up and rubs out easily.

Rehydrated the second bowl with my breath, getting the barest hint of sweetness now and a little tartness. Mutes some of the floral and fruit notes, but what flavor there is lasts longer into the bowl. Pretty much just a sort of grassy sweetness. Still pretty underwhelming. Retrohaling any quantity of smoke causes a sharp stinging in the nostrils; the second-hand smoke is fairly unpleasant, acrid. There's enough here to enjoy, but barely.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (561)	2022-11-12		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Tin note of fruit syrup, sour plums and liquor. Tobacco cut is Krumble Kake, the chunk of tobacco is marbled brown, dark brown and black. Tobacco breaks apart easily and rubs out fairly easy, it is also slightly moist and needs no drying. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild-medium. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and fairly consistent, with notes of wood, toasted nuts, sweet grass, lemon, floral, mild carrot cake note, mild stewed fruit, mild cigar, mild bitter coco powder, and a moderate peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Burley supporting. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is great.

Pipe Used: 2015 XX Ashton Sovereign Prince

Age When Smoked: 8 years

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	GlSal (1)	2021-08-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

One of my favorite tobaccos. Light mustard, which is not approved by many, I really like. Smoked from different pipes, at different times of the year - amazing!

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2014-07-28		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is as good as it gets for an almost straight VA ;) The blenders @ C&D are highly qualified and make excellent quality blends. If you like Straight VA however, this will also do the trick. Very little tongue bite. Recommended:

Pipe Used: Straight Billiard Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-08-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is realy great virginia...

Its cruble cake, pressed like a cube...Rubbed it out and easy to charge your pipe...Tobacco almost dry, its very good...

When i smoke first bowl i say its not %100 virginia, like added some difrent stuff...But after that smoke i feel pure virginia and some sugar...There is no bite (if you smoke like a ferry its not too :) )

I asked for Craig from C&H how to be quick aging for this beauty...He says there is no...And send to me some notes for Briar Fox :

"This blend is mostly Virginias and it will age, brining out the sugars. About six months from the date on the bottom of the tin should do it. Just do not open the tin. "

Thanx C&H for this beauty and elegance tobacco...

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-07-01		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I hadn't smoked this in a few years, but I had a tin from '02 stashed and decided to pop it for this review.

The tin aroma of this thick-cut crumble cake is woody, grassy, and earthy with a slight tang of VA ferment.

The flavor is sweet, but not penetratingly so, with a low-key, husky, and slightly grassy character devoid of brightness, nuance, or variation. It has a good nicotine punch.

Rustic and tasty, Briar Fox is a moderately rich VA which would satisfy those looking for a no fuss VA which is flavorsome and smooth. Though this was always a mellow blend, aging has broadened this characteristic slightly. This went best in a narrow to medium gauge chamber.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-07-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is a staple VA for me when I want sturdy VA taste, no danger of bite, and a no fuss pack and burn. Great stuff, tho maybe a bit different than what you are used to.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-05-22		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This has more upfront flavor than most straight Virginias I've tried. I like it. It will bite you if get too excited though. I love the smell in the tin; like sweet, slightly fermented hay. I like the room note also, but I don't think everyone would. The moisture level in my tin was absolutely perfect.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-02-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A quick update: I cracked two tins of Briar Fox last night that have been aging since September of '06. I put the two seemingly - small bricks into a Mason jar. This morning, I rubbed some out, and have to say - this ages magnificently. What I tasted this morning was one of the very best straight VA's that I've enjoyed to date. I like this when it's fresh and young, but like so many VA's, aging transforms this into something quite different. If you have the luxury (and patience) to set some tins of this aside, I would highly recommend doing so!

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A top-quality Virginia. Neat Krumble Kake, rubs out well, or does fine just lightly stuffed in a larger bowl. Equally wonderful in any sized bowl, I've found. Nutty, rich, really satisfying. Just great stuff. If this was the first VA I'd ever tried, I might not have switched mostly to latakias. Moisture content from the tin is fine with me, possibly just a little dryer than I'd prefer, but it just works down fine with nothing but a little ash left. Cool, dry, and packed with flavor. Four stars with no reservation.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-12-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

NapaWineLover nails this one in his review. I'll just add my own three cheers for this flavorful Virginia offering.

The price of a tin is a little steep, but it's woth the money.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-08-19		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is a good Virginia straight out of the can. I like the C&D dryness, it seems like they are playing fair and not selling watered hams like even the nicest butchers do these days. (yes, tobacconists are butchers, vegetable butchers. It's not a put down, just an analogy). Anyway, Briar Fox is good stuff. But with and little age and, more importantly, the tiniest bit of rehydration, it is a great blend. Hydration is a big deal with this stuff. It can be Great. Not spectcular, but still 4 stars. And because this is a cake and not so heavily pressed, there is more variation of flavors throughout the bowl than in, say, Full Virginia Flake, or Marlin. . A very good all-dayer.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-08-09		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is terrific stuff - earthy and deep. It has given me new appreciation for Virginias and for the pipe in general.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-06-03		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Okay, I will join the debate.

First, I am always amazed at how different folks feel about the same tobacco. Kinda gives a new meaning to "truth", and pardon the philosophy.

I find this tobacco to be a wonderful blend, worthy of those special moments, when you want to settle into something really tasty, and you have the time to do so.

In the tin, this blend has a really earthy, almost farm-like quality to it. That is the first hint I might like it.

It is a nice cake, that crumbles and rubs out easily. Initially, out of the can, I think it needs just a small amount of hydration, which I do with one of those little aluminum pouch hydrator things, which I keep in the can.

Upon my first try, I had the sense this tobacco was too dry, and had too much nicotine, but first impressions are not always the best impressions. Sometimes you just gotta get to know something better.

Upon subsequent tries, this tobacco came to life. A little hydration, a calm, slow, relaxed, and purposeful smoke brought out the best in this gem. And smoked slowly, the nicotine will leave you alone. Rush this, and it is another story

Rich, ever so slightly sweet, and full bodied Virginia flavors envelop you for the duration of your smoke. Just good solid tobacco flavors here folks, the likes of which will keep you returning again and again. Just relax, enjoy it slowly, and smile. This one is a winner. Highly recommended.

P.S. I am learning now to smoke pipe tobacco more slowly, more purposefully, and with a more relaxed attitude. The reward for doing so is finding all those flavors and nuances that have always been there, but that can definitely be missed by too fast and too vigorous puffing. Likewise, smoke it right, and you will be left with all the impressions a great tobacco can leave, rather than the haze the nicotine can immerse you in!!!

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2005-09-11		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Notes: Originally blended by Cornell & Diehl for the pipemaker Peter Heeschen, this blend is thankfully available to the rest of us as well, as a secret too good to keep should be. I have smoked a number of tins of this as well as the bulk version, all of which I found similar. I like it best in a tall narrow briar pipe, as the blend seems to prefer a small bowl.

Appearance: Unusual. A dryish uncased plug, essentially. This blend comes as a "crumble cake" (i.e., a block of tobacco pressed from small flakes), usually a few inches on a side. Moisture content varies but, as with all Cornell & Diehl blends, is on the dry side. It is easy enough to peel a few layers off of the cake and crumble them up to fill a pipe with the rubbed out mixture, which is a complex mix of light brown, reddish, and darker brown leaves.

Aroma: Sweet raisin, brown sugar, prunes, cherries, fresh plums, maple syrup, Brown Bread, Boston Baked Beans.

Taste: Very soft and gentle flavor on the palate, though it can burn a bit if puffed too hard. Nutty, smoky, sour, ashy. Figs, vinegar, salt, fresh bread, walnut shells.

Comparisons: Like DAN's Hamborger Veermaster, this presents itself as a working man's blend, but with a warmer, fuller complexion. The leaf is of high quality, equal to Gawith's Full Virginia Flake, but it lacks the same elegance, having a more woodsy feel.

Bottom Line: A under-rated blend, that rates among the best, but which needs to be appreciated on its own merits. If you are seeking a full, rich "working man's" Virginia blend, you should try a tin of this.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2005-07-31		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I found Briar Fox in a sample pack I had ordered through C&D. I had several very good tobaccos in this package, but saved the Briar Fox till the end because it came tucked away in a can. Well, long story short, I eventually opened the can, smoked two bowlfuls, and immediately rushed the can to my friend, Joe, who happens to be my friendly neighborhood tobacconist.

"You gotta try this, Joe. I got this in a sample pack from Cornell and Diehl"

"Okay, sure, I'll give it a try."

Within a few minutes Joe's eyes had the same look of pleasure that I imagined I had when I first sampled the tobacco.

"Hey! This is good! It has kind of a "woody-nutty" taste!"

"That's exactly what I said, except I thought it had a "nutty-woody" taste!"

Long story short, Briar Fox became a staple of the store. Any newcomer who longed to try a "good Virginian" was referred to this blend. Soon, even Latakia smokers were seen purchasing a can of the Briar Fox!

In addition to tasting "nutty-woody" this tobacco also has the advantage of coming in convenient crumble cake form. I find the cakes sufficiently moist and easy to rub out. Many of my fellow pipe smokers tend to rub a cake or two out upon openning the can. My experience is that it stays moist enough to "pre-rub" for a surprisingly long time, but I got into the habit of grabbing a piece of the cake a little at a time.

My only warning is that, because this blend is pure Virginia, it burns on the hot side and should definitely be smoked slowly.

So....judge for yourself....is Briar Fox "woody-nutty" or "nutty-woody"? Tastes great....or less filling?

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2005-06-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Briar Fox like the tin reads Exceptionally Smooth! I enjoy the twang at the top but the best part is the round full finish.Perfect moisture.DGT works well.Note all three of the tins I have smoked had over a year of age.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2004-06-09		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This was my personal favorite. Crisp...fresh. All tobacco flavors are somewhat subdued, but present.

= update = I have demoted Briar Fox, having found that newer tins had a tendency to burn a little hot. It still is a part of the diet, but has been usurped by Royal Yacht as the principle.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2003-11-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Man this is a smooth VA, there is a bit of strength here from sweet Miss Nicci belied by its smooth, mild mannered nature. Sure is a great smoker though, with its subtle lemon-peppery zest...

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