Tobaccos Cornell & Diehl - Blockade Runner

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3019)	2017-05-03		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The hand stoved red and golden Virginias offer a little grass/hay, citrus and stewed fruit, some dark fruit and earth, along with a touch of spice. The rum topping has a little richness, and sublimates the tobaccos without drowning them out. The nic-hit (which can sneak up on you as you go along) and strength levels are closer to medium than they are to mild. The taste level just reaches medium. The krumble cake easily breaks apart to suit your packing preference. Burns cool, clean, and a mite slow with a consistent flavor from start to finish. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a little more than an average number of relights. Has a pleasant after taste, and is almost an all day smoke.

-JimInks

24 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2003-05-31		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bone dry, rum soaked and different, Blockade Runner is unlike any Navy flake I have ever encountered. Not a super star, but very flavorful and surprisingly punch strong as its foreboding, dark appearance would indicate. It crumbled and packed nicely.

I'd purchase another tin and enjoy it.

18 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-07-26		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

An intriguing tobacco, the strong scent of rich rum burst from the tin on opening. I, too, found the two wrapped blocks, which were slightly oily to touch, and crumbled with a little effort. My initial sample was smoked in a clay churchwarden, mimicking the methods that those sailors would have used in days past. the reward was a full-bodied robust flavor, heady with rum notes and walnut taste. After a few days, the tobac was drier, the rum notes more muted, but the flavor as intense. An excellent late night smoke with a flagon of ale or stout, good in briar, but finishes wet at the end.

17 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2016-08-15		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

A very nice example of a Navy Cav. A nice tang with notes of hay and dark fruit. A good bit of sweetness from the Virginias and a little more from the rum that also provides a light note of molasses. Has some body and strength to it. It's about a 3.5 smoke for my taste, but I'm gonna round up to 4 just because I want to.

Body is medium to strong. Nic is medium. Flavoring is mild (probably because I like my tobacco dry). Taste is medium. Burns very well when dry. I like McClelland's Navy Cav just a shade better than this, but this is a close second.

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

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2015-05-23		Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Update: 7-31-15. After smoking more of this I've found that the virginias used are just too harsh. Theres a bitterness no matter how you smoke it. If the tobacco is dry it's much worse. I find dry tobacco bitter anyway but this is very bitter dry. It's too bad because I love the cake and the rum used. It's fun to smoke while gardening but I reach for Navy Cavendish 9 times out of 10 instead.

Great range of virginia flavors with a wonderful rum flavor. Flavor seems to be only quality rum and like it was truly soaked in it. The cake is fun and nostalgic. The only problem I have is that the cut can rub out to be too small sometimes. I tend not to rub out as much as flake tobacco because I'm afraid I will end up with saw dust or fish food. I pack little bunches and put very small pieces on top.

One of my main smokes is McClelland's Navy Cavendish. I prefer NC to blockade runner. It's a better all around smoke. BR is good to have on hand though and I have it once in a while for a change of pace. It's not quite a regular smoke like NC, though.

High quality but the cut is weird! All in all good stuff and fun. It's nice to bring on a fishing trip or camping with some cobs for friends who don't smoke pipes much (cigar smokers). Most of the non smokers comment on how nice the smell is.

Pipe Used: briars & cob

Age When Smoked: new

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Slender (9)	2018-08-03		Strong	Mild to Medium	Full	Tolerable to Strong

What this blend is trying to do, it does well -very well, in fact. First of all, the presentation is wonderful; the cake is very easy to break apart into a medium/fine cut by hand (it tends to peel into layers) and though it can feel quite dry at this point, resist the urge to hydrate it. This is a blend that is definitely best smoked as it comes right off the cake.

Initially, it smells strongly of rum, though in the actual smoking it is the virginias that are the main player. Dark and rich, they give this blend a lot of body without ever becoming heavy or musty as C&D virginas can sometimes be. All the while, a gentle and above all NATURAL spiced rum flavor floats around in the background. This favor is both sweet and smooth, but it also really nails the spice and pleasant mouth burn of a good rum that gives it an almost perique-like character at times. This alternating sweetness/spiciness really keeps things interesting in what would otherwise be a high-quality but fairly pedestrian straight virgina.

This blend absolutely shines in a smaller pipe, particularly in hot weather. It never bites and it generally burns right down to a light-grey ash with only one or two relights. As other reviewers have noted, aging does improve the overall experience and even as little as six months can produce a noticeable difference. Nicotine-wise, it can take some getting used to if you are sensitive... it is comparable to, say, Nightcap in strength. However, I consider this part of its charm and it seems to really fit its character as a truly great, lazy summer smoke.

Pipe Used: Tsuge Mizuki 942

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Young Piper (304)	2014-05-27		Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Strange I thought I reviewed this back in 2004 when I first tried it. I can remember clearly driving down the Garden State Parkway with my Father as we were buying our first boat. I was smoking it in a mini meerschaum, you know the ones with plastic stems that look ridiculous compared to real pipes. Well back then even in that tiny tiny pipe I got kicked by the nicotine. Fast forward to 2014 and I am smoking a fresh tin, still next to dad, in a MM Country Gentleman and the strength is perfect. Amazing what a decade does to the ability to handle Nicotine. Anyways BR smells like Myers dark rum, has the most ingenious cardboard container inside the tin that keeps the block intact. Red and black Virginia is evident. Burns easily, is a little spicy through the nose although no perique is present, must be the Spiced Rum I taste in the snork. 3+ years make this blend a 4 star event. Fresh its tasty but the Virginia has not had time to relax and get sugary, so I did what I learned over the last 10 years to do: buy two tins to age while I smoke a third. Smoke in a narrow pipe like a MM Country Gentleman, slowly like every breathe and you will be rewarded with butterscotch and baked bread flavors. I'm thinking buttered croissants Mmmm! Roomnote is not terrible, I love it, bystanders say its not that bad. Whats not to like, the cuts great, black and red V - A+ and all held together by dark rum... O btw it never bites.. the spicyness might seem like bite but its not. Enjoy Me Hartys!!!

Pipe Used: Various Missouri Meerschaums & Mini Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: fresh tin

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

Similar Blends: Cornell & Diehl - Black Frigate, Cornell & Diehl - Briar Fox.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2075)	2017-05-19		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Cornell & Diehl - Blockade Runner.

The 2oz tin contains a whole, unbroken, kake, with an unequivocal smell of rum emanating from it. Filling a bowl is easy, a smokes worth can be easily pulled away from the block, so there isn't any necessity to have to sit for fifteen minutes or so crumbling the whole thing.

For the initial part of a bowl the rum's a lot sharper, with more actual alcoholic traits. After about a third of a bowl it develops more of a molasses sweetness, and becomes soft as opposed to sharp. The temperature and burn are good: cool, and slow. The smoke has a nice texture, being thick and palpable, and at no point in a bowl does it bite me.

The room-note scores 5/10, and the nicotine's just below medium.

I love a good krumble kake, I think it's a nice way of presenting a blend, but when the mood takes for one me I'll stick with Cornell & Diehl's Back Frigate. That's one star better!

Recommended.

Pipe Used: Friday Altinok Lee Van Cleef meer'

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Corvus (36)	2015-01-17		Medium to Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable

A really satisfying smoke. During a bowl I'm never blown away, and yet it seems to be one I crave. I'm still relatively new into the game, and I'm still purchasing lots of things to try, but this is one that I really missed when it was gone. I was initially attracted to its description as what seemed to me an authentic navy weed, Virginias cased in rum- and I think it delivered on that.

First, the tin art is nice. The presentation of the cake is great- the first one was quite dry and easily broken, the second was slightly moister and more durable as a result. The tin aroma is pure tobacco, slightly woody, with some distinct rum tones. I keep the preparation simple, merely breaking off what I need, which is then easily rubbed out. It takes the match readily, but the dry tin really packed a wallop before quickly settling down.

The flavor is full, and to me the dominant taste is of malt or unleavened biscuit. At times the Va hay notes pop up, especially on harder puffing, but more often the malt mixes with wood notes, and hints of sweetness and nuttiness. The nicotine is there, but is very well matched to the rest of the experience. It's not particularly complex, but what is there is nice and tends to flatten out towards the bottom of the bowl with a slightly ashy taste. I find I can enjoy it without wholly dedicating my attention or continually hunting for more hidden tastes. It burns very well, requires little attention other than light tamping, and smokes great outdoors even in wind. It easily suffers abuse, but the taste and nicotine content are sufficiently high to preclude the need to puff hard. The quality of the tobacco is undeniable.

This will certainly be a staple for me. Someone looking for a historically accurate mix would be very well served by this offering.

Pipe Used: Boswell bent billiard, Sasieni bent billiard, cobs

Age When Smoked: 3 months and 6 months

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrT999 (317)	2017-05-09		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The VAs are nicely balanced and form a good structure, but for me, the rum is the slightly stronger player here. It's not a sweet smoke, but there is no doubt about it being flavored (although it is not as strong as the tin note suggested). The crumble cake certainly crumbles, sometimes into too fine of particles, so this is one blend that would be easy to over-pack, esp. if too moist, and sometimes it needs a relight. Overall, fans of the flavor of a Navy flake who aren't fussy about the form should give it a try.

Pipe Used: briars, cobs, and meers

Age When Smoked: 15 months

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Redd (117)	2015-12-10		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Strong

This being my first Crumb cake. Upon open the tin I was hit first with Rum the with a closer sniff. It smelled like an old wet bowl of smoked tobacco. With much reluctance I cut a piece with my pocket knife and started packing my bowl. I wasn't sure how strong of a smoke this would be. If all those reviews I read were right and I would get light headed. Okay Now!!!! Ready 3 2 1 Light it Up!!!!! Much to my surprise this blend was neither over powering or load with enough nicotine to give me head spins. Now this is how I perceive this blend Blockade Runner. This is a good Rum based Cavendish with that good Ol' C&D Tobacco Flavor. This blend did not bite no matter how hard you puff. The smoke itself was very musky and smokey but with a good enough of a Rum Punch aroma and flavor as not to make this an overly sweet smoke. I truly enjoyed this blend. It Burns and lights well no relights needed. Mild enough for an all day smoke. The aroma is good and pleasing to only the pipe smoker. So room note is not applicable to this blend. If you like a change of pace and going back to those good ol' liquor cased blends then this is one you cannot pass up. and for all those who thought it was to strong then "Man Up Dudes." This blend is a medium smoke with good dimensions.

Pipe Used: 1984 Paradise small Churchwarden

Age When Smoked: July 2015

Purchased From: smoking Pipes

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Capt (339)	2016-03-10		Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

I wish I had found this tobacco when I started smoking a pipe many years ago. It would have saved me so much money, and my cellar would be deeper than it is wide. This is by far, the best Navy Cavendish blend I have ever smoked.

Upon opening the tin, I found the biggest block of tobacco I had ever seen (besides Wessex). a good 1.5 inches by almost 2 inches long, the cake weighed in at 2 and 1/8 oz.

Intoxicating aroma of high quality rum, along with great moisture content. Crumbled as a Crumble Cake should, loaded nicely. Initial lighting is easy, if sipped at an even, slow pace, the rum lasts throughout the bowl. Burns clean flavorful down to the bottom. Most Navy Cavs I have smoked burned the hell out of my mouth and became harsh after mid-way. Not Blockade runner! Never a hint at biting.

If you are looking for a great Navy Cavendish, look no further. I can see this blend taking over as my most smoked tobacco of all time. It may even surpass Escudo!!!!!

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Perique (163)	2013-01-17		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable

A square block of old school navy cavendish, heavily cased with Rum. Stout and full-bodied. I really like this in the evening after I've spent a day smoking sweeter Virginias. I like the tactile feel of breaking off a chunk of this tobacco, rubbing it out, and seeing the dark patches on my fingertips. I usually smoke this with a sweet liqueur like Jack Daniels Honey or Cuarenta y Tres. Definitely recommended for anyone looking for something off the beaten path.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2008-08-03		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

I've been struggling with this blend now for a couple of weeks, and despite at least half a dozen bowls, I just can't get it to work. I managed to come across a decently aged sample, dated to 2002, thinking this would be heaven. Unfortunately, I've had nothing but trouble.

Many reviewers have noted that their cakes have come rather dry in the tin, which is normal with C&D blends. Despite six years of age, my tobacco was soaking wet, a bit understandable considering the tobacco was doused in rum. I tried foolishly to smoke several bowls, in pure agony as my tongue blistered in pain. Then I got smart and decided to break apart the cakes, rub them out completely, and leave the tin open for as long as necessary to crisp the tobacco. This took a couple of days. I was ready to enjoy my stoved Virginia goodness.

I'm left with more burns and little to show for it. Blockade Runner just never materialized for me. The two stars are offered in respect for C&D's commitment to quality work. They certainly didn't cheap out on the ingredients, which is more than evident.

In my book, Blockade Runner is a rare miss from the folks at Morganton. Happy smoking...

Two of Four

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2017-02-08		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Nice solid compressed cake. Mostly light brown intermixed with golden brown. Aroma of light rum out of the tin. Crumbles easily into small pieces. For me this tobacco likes to be lightly packed and lightly tampered. Cold draw it is sweet rum and nice bright tobacco flavors. Tangy. Background of dried fruits. Takes a couple lights and tamps to get going, probably because I enjoy a light pack on this one. Charring light flavor is grassy, citrus and rum. Needs to be puffed slow or the tobacco gets harsh and single noted. Slow puffing rewards with an extra sweet Virginia smoke. The rum disappears and just comes across as a sweetener to the tobacco. Real simple and basic VA flavor, the extra sweetness really helps it for me. Room note is light tobacco. I plan on buying another tin and letting some age get on it.

Pipe Used: Briarworks Dublin

Age When Smoked: 2 months

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	steppx (186)	2016-07-28		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Cornell & Diehl make some very good tobacco blends. Im not sure this is really a winner....but, it gives you a good hit of Rum taste in a krumble cake and even when you reach the bottom of the tin and its dried out a lot, the rum doesn't go away. Its not the most complex navy flake out there, but perhaps its not meant to be. But I can understand those who become huge fans of it. Smokes cool(ish) and once dried just a bit it wont need relights. I buy it regularly but its not in the pantheon of all star blends. Aging will probably help cool the smoke I suspect. There can be a tendency to get a bit hot at the bottom of a bowl, so sip this one.

Purchased From: 4noggins

Similar Blends: its not really comparable, actually. In theory its a navy flake but it occupies a very unique corner of that designation. It is not unlike C&Ds Bourbon Bleu ...if you added a bit of Kentucky and used bourbon and not rum. Both are krumble cakes...ala C&D, and the nic hits are comparable..

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MAPiper (10)	2015-08-08		Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

The virginias used are harsh. The rum used and the cake are great but the virginias leave a rough aftertaste. I think this is the reason another reviewer said it tastes like they are soaked in tobasco sauce. I don't think it's the rum used because that has a nice flavor. The rum may be the virginias saving grace. Also some of the tobacco is cut too small. It seems to be partial ribbon and odd little confetti cuts. Because of this I'm wary to rub out fully. I pack little chucks of the cake. It's really too bad because I love the rum and the cake presentation. It's really a fun tobacco but I don't know what's going on with the tobaccos used. Everything seems like great quality but with an odd harsh taste. Seems a notch or two over medium in nicotine strength. I'll rate as medium strength though. Good tobacco to smoke around non-smokers. The room note is very pleasant.

Age When Smoked: new

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RyeWhiskey (43)	2013-07-14		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Strong

A very nice krumble cake. Gotta love those krumble kakes from C&D. This one is a tightly packed, strong to the nose tobacco. The cake breaks off in little pieces that are readily put into the pipe. Usually when it breaks off, fine 'unspent' dottle falls on the table. It's a strong tobacco, plenty of nicotine. My wife hates the smell in the tin and in the smoke. This one is an outsider. It reminds me of what I think they might have smoked on a navy ship for sure. The cake is a dark and light brown flake.

I tasted a bit of casing, not much though, comes and goes, mostly just a nice hardily stoved Virginia. Stout, nicotine, nice kake.

Doesn't that sound appealing, try some. If you like it a bit strong, you'll like this one.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sasha (228)	2006-05-14		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This blend is beautiful in the tin, but my expectations about it were greater. It crumbles and burns easily, but the taste left me puzzled: the rum taste is not so strong, and this can be good, but the Virginias are raw, toasted, almost bitter...In my opinion, this type of blend requires more refinement and sweetness. As always, however, here you can smoke a good quality leaf but it isn't one of my favourites.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greybeard (62)	2021-01-20		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Upon opening the tin I get a nice blast of rum. The kake crumbles easily. First few puffs after lighting seemed a bit harsh, and bowl heated up fast. After a bit it calmed down (or I just slowed down) and the sweetness from the Virginia and the rum comes through. Usually with flavorings I notice they fade as you smoke, but with this one the rum flavor seems to become stronger as I went along. That was the impression I got (maybe it's just the rum talking). Stayed pleasant til the end of the bowl. Recommend for any pipe smoker.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Caramella & Corn Cob

Age When Smoked: Fresh out of the tin

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Noorrmm (192)	2004-12-01		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

A friend sent me an opened tin to sample.

In apperance, a small brick of medium colored tobacco. When torn apart, it falls into a short cut, almost granulated. This is typical of C & D pressed tobaccos, as is the quite dry stateiin which it arrived.

The aroma was predominantly RUM, with undertones of RUM. I couldn't smell the tobacco.

Packing and lighting were fairly easy, no surprises here.

The initial flavor was still mostly the rum, with some hint of Virginia leaf. Way too much rum for me. Deja Vu all over again, I had the same reaction to Pennington Gap.

The blend did not show much development through the middle of the bowl, only gaining in tobacco flavor toward the end.It was fairly cool (when puffed slowly) and smoked dry, leaving a nice gray ash.

In summary, I have to consider it an aromatic. Quite high in quality, but still an aromatic. Now for the bad news: it showed a remarkable tendency to grow mold. This must be due to the rum, as I have not noticed this in other pressed blend from C & D.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LiterarySmoker (143)	2021-04-14		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I love rum. Ever since I had 18 year old Cuban Rum in Mexico I can't get enough of it along with well made sipping Tequila. Something about the innate smoothness, the caramel, toffee, and spice that makes me think of fond memories. Mind you. I never set foot on a beach when I was there, but rather sat at the local bars, went on the town, and tried to get a wholesome experience. So the idea of a VA cake that has been pressed with rum sounded right up my alley.

The tin is fun, with a steamboat alluding to all the boats that would anchor off in international waters during the years of prohibition. When you open up the first time the cake has yellow/brownish tinge, but after 2 years that changes to a brown/red. The tin note smells of raisins, oats, citrus and hay with some rummy sweetness as an undercurrent. It's easy to rub out and pack. It has some wetness, but not enough to need serious dry time. It takes to a light pretty well.

Right off the bat, I taste lovely bakery/bread notes. There is a well matured sweetness that hangs on to the citrus notes of the bright Virginias. The hay doesn't come through on taste as much as it does on smell. Plenty of dark fruit and a mild oatiness coming from the Red Virginias. This isn't a blend that will walk up and slap you with RUM. I can barely taste it until I puff very slowly. When I do the spice and sweetness of the rum marries perfectly with the other tobaccos. It doesn't want to dominate.

The taste is a medium. Slow puffing will be rewarded. Lady N wants to take a backseat. I find the strength a mild-medium. This blend on a hot day, with a cold drink is what dreams are made of. I find this really enjoyable, but it's not an everyday sort of blend for me, I typically smoke it when I have time to relax. I give this four stars. It does what it says it will and its really enjoyable.

Pipe Used: Kaywoodie Birkshire Large Billiard

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	1979 (62)	2017-07-26		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Cornell & Diehl - Blockade Runner

A mottled virginia crumble cake, more earthy in overall flavor.  Not much treble in the flavor profile, the treble there is is played by some hay, bready in the middle and almost some dark chocolate at the bass end.  And then there's the rum, a darker sort of rum flavor that adds some raisiny and spice, and holds throughout most of the bowl.  The tobacco is generally the more dominant flavor, though sometimes they're neck and neck. It can be a bit rough around the edges, a quality that I enjoy.  No bite, respectable nicotine power. Three and a half stars.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JosephJames (12)	2015-03-19		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I opened the fresh tin and was greeted with the aroma of rum and the tobacco. A pungent tin note that was not anticipated but not bad.

Appearance is a cake. I just used my fingers to break off enough for a bowl. Packed well. Not dry and not overly moist. It required two relights.

I found this tobacco to be unlike any other tobacco with a rum additive. Excellent flavor. Not overly strong in nicotine but it scratched the itch well.

This one is going into my regular rotation and I highly recommend it if you are a fancier of tobacco with a rum flavor.

Well done, C&D!

Pipe Used: Rossi

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: Pipes Ltd.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Backwoods Piper (70)	2013-12-14		Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Tolerable

Pipestuds review really summarizes mine. This tobacco was in my cellar since 07 and I was expecting something more austere! This blend is not what I imagined it would be. With the imagery on the tin I envisioned a nice full Virginia tobacco with a lot of body and strength. Instead I got a mediocre uneventful VA with hardly any punch and not much to offer flavor wise. It presented well out of the tin. A nice dark cake and a sweet aroma. This tabac rubbed out decent and lit and burned okay but lacked the sophistication and depth I was hoping for. Certainly not a horrible tobacco but not noteworthy. I most likely will not purchase another tin.

Age When Smoked: About 6 years old

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-08-23		Medium to Strong	Medium	Overwhelming	Very Strong

Arrived very dry and very crumbly. I broke a corner off and rubbed it out and stuffed it into my MM Great Dane. I should've known by the black dust on my fingers after rubbing it out that something was wrong. It was like smoking something soaked in Tabasco. Just plain nasty. I will try and rehydrate it a bit with some Pussers Navy Rum and see if that helps. It sure as hell couldn't get much worse. First CD offering I have genuinely disliked.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr. Watson (3)	2012-12-01		Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Recently, my B&M had runout of BR and awaited for my tin to arrive. A week or two later, it awaited me on their shelf and promptly took this blend home. Initially, BR was my first "krumble kake" and lay rather moist in it's tin. After a good rub and a short spell drying on my desk, it lay ready for savoring.

BR starts with a heavy kick of the classic aged Virginia aroma similar to McClelland's own Navy Cavendish, yet without the acidic aroma. BR greeted this eager smoker with a heavy alcohol smell, and of dark, muted cavendish. The kake's top had removed a portion of itself (mutiny?) and begged to get rubbed into pieces. As it dries, the smell becomes of the typical Navy blend with less spicy Periques to savor.

Initial lighting yields a nice, smooth cavendish sweetness that tells of mellowed Virginias and a hearty flavor profile. The kick of Vitamin N can dizzy some, but smoke this easy for the Virginia is rather unforgiving in bite. The smell according to girlfriends and passerby as "nice" or "mmm...that's good". Burns slightly hot, but with some care it is definitely sure to please.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-11-15		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

i did not like this at all. it tasted like whisky from hell mixed with the worst cavendish i hated it every time i had it. that taste was just putrid and it made me and my dad fell sick and we have never felt this in all of the tobaccos we have smoked. i dint like it but to each its own

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	piedpipester (19)	2011-06-17		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

I've smoked a couple of tins and have decided that I like this tobacco very much. It's not an all day(or even every day)smoke for me, but I visit it on a regular basis. The rum is evident in the can aroma, but I can't really taste it in the pipe.

I would describe the flavor as full virginia, sweet, dark and concentrated, and high in nicotine. I like fooling with plugs and crumble cakes when i'm at home, but not during the day, so this is a recliner/feet kicked up before I go to bed smoke. I alwasy try to have a little beverage with it so the vitiman n doesn't get me started hickuping. I will always have a can around to smoke when the mood strikes.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TK Pipe (101)	2010-12-10		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Blockade runner, Comes in a crumble cake form. When starting a fresh tin, I do the crumbling outside to minimize the mess. There is some dust, so I smoke this stuff in a filtered cob or a Dr. Grabow (1/2 a filter does the job) Smoking this while active is a waste, this is a recliner smoke to be savored, and what a smoke it is. Burns great, has just the right amount of Nic. and has a flavor profile that leads the pack in its genre. This is no small admission, coming from a guy that prefers burleys. If VA's are your thing, this blend is a must try. 4 stars My personal raing 3/5

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-10-23		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a crumblecake that doesn't crumble. Which is no problem for me. A sharp pocket knife to whittle off a slice. A quick rub out to small chunks load up and fire up. The flavor is superb. It burns well and will have a home in my stash.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Davetopay (43)	2010-05-23		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is fun stuff. It comes as a crumble cake, but the rum has bonded the bits of tobacco together in such a way as to not crumble, but peel off in layers so as to create something of a flake. It smells interesting in the tin. Kind of musty, earthy, and faintly of molasses and rum. Mine seemed a bit damp straight from the tin when I broke it up, but it didn't need to sit for more than a few minutes before loading and lighting. Having been smoking a few different "Navy Blends" in the last few weeks I am really enjoying comparing these to each other and getting a better feel for the genre. There are some very similar notes to the VA with rum flavors you get in PS Lux Navy Flake, but the lack of Perique in this blend leaves it a bit more mellow. When compared to McC's Navy Cavendish, it seems darker, fuller, and has a MUCH bigger Nic kick. As for use, I just crumbled some up( go figure), packed it in a pipe which when compared to others in my rack might be considered small, and didn't force the density of the pack. I found that this stuff seems to prefer to be left on the loose side in the bowl, so don't get a crazy with the tamper. Getting it going can take a little work. For me it was light, puff puff, tamp, light, puff puff, light again. After that it was sit back and hold on for the ride. I can't comment on the room note to deeply as I tend to smoke alone, but I found myself thinking of a good double maduro from time to time when I would catch a whiff coming off the bowl. Don't expect it to be rum flavored like an aromatic off the drugstore shelf, but occasionally, there would be something you might discern as rum-like in the back ground. But for the most part it comes across as a melange of virginia leaf. Sometimes sweet, sometimes soft and buttery, and sometimes it fools me into thinking that the tastiest burley in the world is in there.....I don't think there is, but I like the effect. SOme folks have called BR boring , dull, or monochromatic. At the risk of sounding accusatory, I will declare user error! The flavors in this will change drastically depending upon you puffing cadence. I have had a blast through changing my pace and making the tobacco bend to my will. Get it a bit hot and you can snork that warm baking cookie/cupcake that good VAs are known for. Keep it on the cool side and I can find butterscotch or caramel with a hint of hot buttered rum. Somewhere in between I ran into a smooth, soothing note that makes me think of watching the ocean on a damp, gray day. I've been smoking it in two pipes, a Savinelli Milano deLuxe, and WWI era WDC Navajo. Both are smaller straight billiards with moderate bowl thickness and a very light draw. I haven't had any gurgles from BR, and don't have much if any need to swab with pipe cleaners mid smoke on either pipe. Also, this is as bite free a navy blend as I have tried. Just don't let bite free fool you into forgetting the vitamin N content. If you have a low tolerance, have a seat when you smoke this. If you have been wanting to jump into the world of navy smoke, give Blockade Runner a shot, and make sure to buy some other labels as well. Half the fun is in comparing them!

....if there was a 3.75 stars choice, this would get it. I was tempted to go for 4 stars, but I need to delve into more of the Navy genre and possibly rerate in the future.

The above results are mine alone and may not be the same results YOU get.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2010-05-04		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This review is based on nearly a tin in several different pipes. I found the moisture content to be just about right. I fully rubbed it out and it packs well. I wanted to like this tobacco as I like tobacco's made with rum or cognac. However, it simply tasted very flat to me. Almost boring. I found the rum note to be very subtle. I can see how some folks would enjoy Blockade Runner, but it just isn't for me. I think that there are much better tobacco's out there in this class.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BrSpiritus (18)	2009-12-15		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I decided to hold off reviewing this blend until I had smoked more of the tin. Now that almost all of it is gone I feel qualified to give a proper opinon. First off let me say that in the main I really am not a fan of Canvendish tobaccos but this one really opened my eyes to how good cavendish can be. Subtly sweet, mild and flavourful without the mailed fist taste of my preferred english blends. For me this tobacco is a diversion but a welcome one. I found myself taking it along to smoke on a day at the beach and a boat trip I took with friends. It's really a great no-nonsense tobacco that is easy to prepare (if not a little messy), lights well and stays puffing for a good long while. I have a 1923 Frank Tidewater pipe dedicated to this blend and find myself smoking it about 4 times a week. Give it a go and you won't be dissapointed.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Big Nick (74)	2008-12-29		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Some say it arives too wet, some say it arives too dry. Both are problems that can easily be corrected. Be patient and dry out or humidify. IMHO most aromatics or booz infused blends seem to burn better, taste better, and have minimal tongue bite when smoked on the dryer side, still pliable but not crunchy.

My tin arived with the standard two chunks of crumble cake, perfect moisture and crumbled apart easily. Loaded easily and lit up very easily, in fact it started a little fire on top. I guess some Rum had burned off. Funny thing though, I never got any aromatic scense or flavor of Rum. There was an obvious added flavor of sweetness, but nothing like the tin note implies "soaked in premium Rum for seven days".

All of that being said, This stuff is good ! Nice Virginia flavor with a little something extra. Not overly sweet, very pleasant and approachable. Meaning no tongue bite ! Steady from start to finish and burned nicely to the bottom of the bowl. Not very complex, but tasty from start to finish.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DoctorThoss (146)	2008-03-16		Medium to Strong	Medium	Mild to Medium	Strong

I really like crumble cakes, and from an aesthetic perspective this is one of the nicest I've ever seen. It crumbles easily into your pipe, lights effortlessly and burns steadily while never growing hot. The Vas used are clearly top-notch, and I was pleased with the nicotine hit. But ... The flavoring used on this blend was literally nauseating to me, so much so that I tossed out the tin after four bowls. Others apparently like the taste and aroma, however,so I'm going to recommend this one for those smokers who want to try this style. I have no intention of ever smoking it again, but it's a home run insofar as burning characteristics, presentation, etc. are concerned.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-03-01		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I really like this tobacco but it has some faults, as other reviewers have stated it arrives bone dry. Smoked like this it can burn hot and quick. I found that a few days in the humidor at 70% RH makes this a different smoke. Slower and cooler smoking and not as potent to my throat. Still has a wonderful Rum taste like a good Navy blend and typical C&D quality.

I'm sure that arriving dry gives us more tobacco as opposed to the SG and MacB offerings that are too wet. I urge everone to buy a humidor, at the cost of 5-6 tins of tobacco they keep your tobacco at, in my opinion, the proper moisture level. I have one for my more aromatic blends and one for my "English blends" to keep them from mixing.

Off of that soapbox and back to the tobacco, I like the rich tobacco flavor and as I am a Rum drinker I have found my match for a late night drink and smoke, Blockade Runner, 8 year old Rum and a Wessex bent.....Ahhhh, life is good.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-12-07		Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin: Two pressed cakes wrapped in paper. Rather than repeat previous descriptions, imagine the appearance of a plug of chewing tobacco such as Days o Work, which is reviewed on this site. Of course, BR is not sticky or gummy like chew. It seemed to be at just the correct moisture level; mine had been shelved for nine months. BR has a sweet rum smell, sans the ethanol, which if I hadn't known it has rum, I would have likened it to a very sweet, fruit aroma, or sweetened dough.

Packing & Lighting: 1/8" layers were pealed off the top and crumbled into medium-sized pieces. This process was as easy or easier than with any other cake. Lit easily with one match.

Top: smoked outdoors, nondescript VA taste, the bowl itself a refreshingly sweet cream aroma.

Middle: same, but with gurgle

Bottom: one relight, the bottom being very sweet; a nicotine rush kicking in. A sweet fruit and cream taste, with a spicy effect. The bowl did not get hot at all. Moisture was left in the shank.

Nicotine: strong

Room Aroma: smoky fruit

Overall: The bowl had a quite sweet cream smell, as was the taste at the bottom 1/3 of the smoke. Rather strong nicotine effect; almost could not finish the bowl due to the nicotine rush. The biggest detractor was that the bowl was left very dirty with a coating of char inside the bowl and took a lot of effort to clean my meerschaum. I am not aware of others experiencing this, so, maybe it's me.

I have found subsequent bowls to be disappointing. The sweetness that developed, as the bowl progressed, just wasn't there. The strong nicotine effect remained. Perhaps the rum gunked up my meerschaum, but I've seen this char with subsequent C&D's. After a fews bowls, I am back to a sweet tobacco experience, and it remains heady in nicotine. 4 stars for the first bowl, maybe 2.9 thereafter.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-11-28		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Very nice, intense and clear smell from the rum, when you open the box. As long as you smoke, this smell declines. It causes a pleasant burn in your throat, similar to the BBQ sauce.

Flake with very nice red, brown and black color, it smashes very easily and you can smoke him immediately without drying up. It is not heavy and makes a cool smoking.

At the end of the bowl, there is no unpleasant, bitter flavor, as it happens with other tobaccos. It has a very nice perfume in the room. The first Navy Flake I have ever smoked. Date of packaging: 29/01/2007.

Negative comment: He is more humid than I expected, in the end of the bowl and that is why, I will not give him 4 stars.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-11-23		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Inside the can are two little bricks of tobacco, the smell is a little musty and faintly rum-like but not at all in a cased aromatic way, just like you poured real rum over your tobacco - not "rum essence."

Grab the cutlass and slice off a few bits - go from the top and you are in for hard work, slice "with the grain" and you get, well, very "flakey" flakes. Looks like it's going to be damp but, no, it's just right.

Here's where I went wrong. Put some in a smaller "flake pipe" fairly unrubbed. Smoked nicely but really "becalmed" - this just doesn't steam along like I wanted.

Left in the dock for a while and forgotten about.

Late one night I spy it from afar, slice it and rub it out fully. Fill a big freehand with walls thick enough to withstand any broadside. Ahhh clouds of sweet fragrant smoke, loads of sweetness and flavour, faint rum aroma. This is more like it - a fantastic change from both English and VA blends. Tends to be ashy at the last so beware of those final puffs.

Great, of course, with a dram of your favourite rum.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-01-14		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Thank you Craig and company for giving us one of the very few true Navy blends left on Earth. This has become a favorite of mine over the past several years and I've decided to review it at last.

Appearance: A very attractive presentation awaits in a nice little cat food can. Pop the top and along with the satisfying ?whoosh? noise is a distinct blast of ripe Virginias and Rum. After a pause to get my eye patch, bandanna, parrot, wooden leg and other things ?Navy? I remove the little card tin insert, gently part the tissue paper and behold sometimes 2, sometimes 3 little loaves of tobacco. They are dense little ?crumble cakes? of delightful tobacco, very dry to the touch and aching to be crumbled into a waiting bowl. Mostly dark brown with a slight mottling of tans and reds.

Tin aroma: The first thing that is apparent when opening a tin of Blockade Runner is mature Virginias and Rum. Tangy and rich, almost like what happens when one smells a good BBQ sauce, but neither tasting or smelling anything LIKE BBQ. It just gets you in that ?spot? in the throat, and starts your mouth watering in anticipation.

If anything, this tobacco arrives dry, although when flame is applied it rapidly re-hydrates to a perfect moisture content. As peeling flakes off for insertion is next to impossible, I just tear off little chunks and rub them out roughly and pack my bowl using the 3 layered method, once like a baby, once like a lady and finally like a gentleman.

For this review, I?ve chosen a Peterson POTY 2002 Rhodesian which is used for flavored tobacco mixtures. I've pre-smoked several bowls over the course of a week on Blockade Runner in this pipe in preparation for this review.

A one match light is brings billows of rich white smoke, followed with a brief visit of the tamper. The Rum is immediately there and while a bit tangy at first becomes a nice compliment to the fine quality leaf underneath. Flavors Rum and Red Virginia are dominant throughout, the Golden VA's rounding out the edges and corners so to speak.

Mid Bowl: Approaching mid-bowl, the fullness tends to build and while I wouldn?t call this mixture particularly complex, the Rum gradually fades completely into the background but never leave the scene. The Virginias build in depth and character there is also a very subtle sweetness just in the back ground. A nice slightly spicy stewed fruit maturity of Red Virginias is the main statement and is persistent throughout. There seems to be a high sugar content to this blend, but it does not come off candy sweet as so many others do. One should bear this in mind while smoking, as it can become hot if puffed to rapidly and tend toward tongue bite, though that's never been an issue for me. I find myself relaxing ever more deeply into my stuffed chair, smiles widening across my face.

Home Stretch: As end of the bowl approaches, I find that it becomes more intense though never overpoweringly so. The palate is not very complex, it is however very rich and satisfying. The tangy quartet of Red and Golden VA's presented in a true Navy Cavendish style complimented by Dark Rum is fascinating and a strictly adult taste sensation. Unlike most ?Navy? blends these days, this one delivers the goods in grand style. One day, I'm going to have to smoke this blend over salt water, I've smoked it on boats over fresh water, but I'm assuming the briny air will complete the adventure. Not that I've served on a 1700's or 1800's American Navy vessel (that I'm aware of) this homespun product is exactly what I call to mind when reading what those men smoked.

Supplemental Notes: This is a regular part of my rotation as something reached for when mature adult pleasures are craved. ** 4 full stars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Dottle (162)	2005-03-18		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

BR is a krumble kake with a rum aroma. Tried as I might, I could not finish the tin. The bowls were monochromatic from beginning to end and I found the sometimes bitter taste unappealing. This tobacco also tickled my nasal passages.

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

I rate this tobacco 4.5 out of 10.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2003-11-28		Very Mild	Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant

Ahhh the old Navy Flake tobacco of old when I sailed the seven seas and...well we didn't get to rape and pillage, but we did shoot the Mighty Mo's sixteen inch guns quite a bit. This tobacco is fantastic.The tin arrived in the new C&D tin with plastic sealing lid. It was rather moist and needed some drying out. The tobacco is HARD pressed (crumble cake) into three neat rectangular cakes. The tin aroma was of Rum and I do mean R U M, real one hundred percent Appleton Estate type Rum. The tobacco consists of Red Virginia and Golden Virginia that has had some stoving and then soaked in RUM for seven days. One might think that this tobacco would produce hellfire on the tounge and a wet pipe. Not so, oh brother of the briar. Packing is nice as the flakes are crumbly. Lighting is an ease, and the initial taste is just right. A dry sweet Rum, sweet Virginia, cool taste.In all I'd say it's a fair navy cavendish. (This was the second tin, as I had to send the other back because it was covered in mold).

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2003-09-24		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I would have to agree with others that Blockade Runner is nothing like MacBaren's Navy Flake (whis is largely burley) and not that similar to McClelland's Navy Cavendish either. For one thing, C&D's Krumble Kakes are dry, and once rubbed out, are quite a different smoking experience. Plus, I find the tastes quite different. Makes one wonder in these days of market-niche awareness, "just what is a 'Navy Cavendish' anyway?" Va+rum, I guess.

The color is fairly dark for "red and golden virginias", indicating a significant stoving has taken place. The tin aroma is somewhat off-putting IMO. To me it has little of what one might call a signature virginia nose. Not what I note as a classic rum odor either. Rather, the melange smells like... well... burnt rubber. Not real strong, but not real pleasant either IMO.

Fortunately, the flavor does NOT resemble the tin aroma. While this may be an aromatic, it is not noticably sweetened beyond the natural sugars the virginias provide. C&D often does a good job on "dry" (vs. sweet) aromatics. Initially (first third of bowl), I have a hard time identifying the rum in the flavor. Early on, the taste is kind of a dryed-out virginia flavor, nothing prize-winning. There is a bit of a slightly bitter bite, which may be due to the rum topping volatilizing as the tobacco heats. As the bowl progresses, the flavor increases considerably. Still not sure that I taste rum, though the sweetness is much more evident. The flavors are in the low range- no tanginess of virginias here.

The pulverized nature of the rubbed-out kake makes for a potentially very hot smoke, so a bit of care is in order. Even though I use a cadence that would keep a partially rubbed-out flake smoldering- my preferred virginia technique- BR still burns like a house-a-fire towards the second half of the bowl, producing billows of smoke. However, though the pipe warms right up, I have not experienced the expected bite.Yay! Because of the rapid combustion rate, a bowl of BR burns pretty rapidly. The nicotine is noticible as well, probably accentuated by the rapid burn, but not over the top. The finish comes rapidly without any nasty ashy, bitter flavor. I am often surprised that it is over already.

I classify this as an atypical virginia offering, but certainly enjoyable on an occasional basis when I am looking for a change of pace.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-08-24		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The above reviews do this tobacco justice, just a couple of notes for those of you who enjoy Navy Flakes. This tobacco is nothing like MacBaren Navy Flake. Since Macbaren was my first exposure to Navy, I wanted to try some others. Blockade runner is very good, but not the same type of product. I think of it as a good aged Virginia with a little sweetness and no bite. The flavors are deep, not bright. It is a good rainy day smoke. Also, the ash is the finest I have encountered in any blend, which would lend itself to building cake quickly.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-03-11		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Pouch Aroma: Dry and grassy with a light sweetness.

Appearance: 70% medium brown, 20% light yellow-gold, 10% dark brown and black. I like my tobacco on the dry side, but this arrived almost crumbly. It's so finely broken that I fear a hot and dusty smoke unless I take much extra care. It appears to be mostly VA with perhaps a touch of Turkish, all in small broken-up flakes with a considerable amount of dust in the bottom.

Between the cut, the dryness and the pouch aroma, this tobacco just screams "Cornell and Diehl".

Packing and Lighting: I decided to pack this into an old 1967 Dunhill pot - it's the best-caked pipe in my collection and always smokes dry and cool to the bottom of the bowl. The packing went easily enough, and the match raised quite a crown as the bowl lit. The first puffs are very creamy and mild with very little sugary sweetness, and a quick tamp and relight has a coal well-laid and smoldering nicely.

Exposition: Although a bit milder than I prefer first thing in the morning, it's quite a tasty smoke. The smoke is very smooth and creamy on the palate with mildly spicy undertones and a room aroma that reminds me of . . . pancakes. No really, I'm not kidding.

Once I've smoked it down a bit I'm sensing a bit of nicotine kicking in while the flavor is deepening and losing some of its sweetness. It's a bit light for me right now as I've been smoking much heavier tobaccos than usual lately, but that's no fault of either tobacco or blender.

The Story: Approaching the halfway mark, I'm picking up an interesting sourish note which complements the remaining sweetness, and I can feel the tingle of nicotine on my upper palate. The creaminess is still there in force, and the room aroma hasn't changed. This is a nice, no-nonsense tobacco that doesn't smell offensive and smokes well and easily while remaining quite satisfying for such a mild tobacco.

I am finding it a bit difficult to smoke slowly enough to avoid condensation, but there's been not a hint of bite or burn yet. Next time I'll add just a touch of moisture and see what that does to the burning properties. This looks like it's going to be a two-cleaner smoke thus far.

Denouement: A rest and a relight have done nothing but good for the flavor of this tobacco, adding extra fullness and a small amount of sharpness that makes for a nice, spicy finish. This quality stayed until I was down to ash before I realized it.

Pros: Good flavor and burning properties, nice room aroma and it left a very clean smell in my pipe. It smoked surprisingly cool considering its cut and low level of moisture.

Cons: I had a bit of trouble with condensation but I think that was mostly my fault for puffing too fast. I think I was compensating for the lightness of the smoke since this is the first non-Gawith, Hoggarth & Co tobacco I've smoked in two weeks and I got quite used to their body and richness. I doubt I'd buy this again as I have better tobaccos of this type around, but it was a pleasant experience and a nice change for me.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ZachJJ (13)	2023-01-24		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This can smoke good and then grab it again and it is bitter. I find it to be picky about the pipe used.

C & D have heavily invested in red Virginia and so almost everything they produce (almost) has red as the base. I find their stock uneven, often overly woody and verging on bitter - like walnut pith.

When it’s good, Blockade Runner is very sweet and graham like. I think it needs more bright leaf and a lot more time in the can to be it’s best.

Pipe Used: Bent poker, billiards, Falcon

Age When Smoked: Fresh to 2 years

Purchased From: Iwan Ries

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonius (3)	2019-05-24		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

Smoke this not that! Bellowing clouds of Virginia leaf burn carefully and dry with only a hint of rum that lingers in the tin. Puff gently as you dream of clipper ships sailing from your lounge. Nicely packed cakes await you to sail on..

Pipe Used: Corn cob

Age When Smoked: 2018

Purchased From: C&D

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ambush1964 (19)	2016-04-05		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Very nice tin note exactly as expected of sweet tobacco and rum. The cake crumbled, rubbed out and packed very well. It was perfectly moist, ready to smoke right away. The charring light expanded the tobacco slightly and with a tamp and another light burned well all the way through to (almost) the bottom. No tongue bite, great flavor. It didn't quite burn to gray ash, but I wussed out, it had been awhile since my last smoke, so the nic hit crept up on me. I think it would have finished in gray ash as my stem kept dry enough that I didn't need a pipe cleaner. All in all a very nice smoke and I recommend this tobacco highly. I was pleasantly surprised.

Pipe Used: Vintage Smaller WDC HandMade straight billiard

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cumarinophil (108)	2015-03-29		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Somehow I feel Blockade Runner is best described by the picture on its tin. A primordial, vintage Navy crumble VA cake that tastes a bit like it smells from the tin. Strong, spicy and slightly piquant tobaccos are supported by a rum casing, never feeling perfumed or actually flavored. Taste and smell remind me of an old coal oven (not that I ever tasted one), with the slightest of malty sweetness in the background. I find it exceptionally smooth and pleasing in the second half of the bowl, but also a bit too much in very large bowls.

Smokes well when dried out a bit. A unique blend that I like best in a small corn cob with an old b/w movie or book. Not a regular for me, but good and recommended nonetheless, especially if you are into vintage stuff.

Pipe Used: Various briars, corn cob

Age When Smoked: fresh to almost 2 yrs

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	natibo (169)	2014-12-07		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I liked this better than I thought I would. A couple of reviewers whom I respect did not seem to like it that much. The cake is a little hard and you dirty your fingers quite a bit packing it. However, it had a nice light rum topping and a decent amount of nicotine. It reminded me of GLP Navigator. Oh, if they had a 5 star rating, it would be three. I struggled between 2 and 3. But the last 3 bowls were so good, I'm going with 3.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-09-04		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

I've smoked Blocked Runner off and on for about three years and was initially attracted by its old school qualities of a straight tobacco like what was probably widely available in America during the 19th century. I'm reminded of a civil war historical placard I read in Raymond, Mississippi, near Jackson, that told of a Union soldier's account of seeing one of his officers firing his revolver in the heat of battle until spent, stopping to load not his weapon, but a meerschaum with tobacco, followed by his weapon and then, nonchalantly, resuming fire on the Southerners lining 14 Mile Creek. If he didn't load a latakia blend then I'm sure it was something similar to Blockade Runner. By itself, this can be a bit harsh for my taste, although I recently struck upon a self-made blend that I'm very excited about. I take one disk of Escudo rubbed out fully, one half teaspoon of Prince Albert and one to 1 1/2 tablespoons of Blockade Runner, mix and stuff in a pipe. The blend can be on the sweet side like a good VA with a bit of zip from the Escudo and mellowed with the addition of burley. As I mentioned, Blockade Runner by itself can be harsh, but the best qualities of its old time cavendish nature are brought out by this blend. I love its toned down flavor, old school quality tobacco aroma and the sweetness that seems to compliment the VA/Perique of the Escudo. Lots of folks say they can smell and taste the Rum, but I'm not one of them. I think what they are smelling and tasting is the cavenish process used to make this tobacco which is a good thing in my book. The rum residue may add to the sweetness, but for the life of me, I can't taste a bit of rum and I'm a rum drinker too-- Pussers, thank you very much, so I know what rum tastes like. Give this tobacco a shot and if you don't like it by itself then try my blend or experiment with your own-- it's one of the great things about our hobby.

Update: forget the Prince Albert and use Pipeworks and Wilke Nut Brown Burley instead. A huge step up in burley quality!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-03-24		Very Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Wowwie that is one powerful smoke! I am not shy with having my daily intake of vitamin N, however I found this blend to be full, strong, and hearty. Surprising for an all virginia blend. After about five bowls I decided I needed to smooth it out and water it down a bit by mixing two parts blockade runner with one part of a cavendish blend from my local tobacconist. I was impressed with the form of the cake when I opened the tin as it was a perfect block. I asked my wife if she wanted to take a bite of the new tobacco brownie I bought; she did not find my humor amusing. Right out of the tin Blockade Runner has a smooth rum smell to it (more Myers Dark than light Bacardi), not acrid and alcohol smelling like some other liquor blends I have had. The taste matches the aroma, smooth and full- not burny and thin. Good moisture, lights just right, and keeps on burning. My only complaint and reason for not wanting to buy this product again is that I found it to be too strong and full for my taste. I have been smoking this blend out on my porch in the evening, and several folks out walking have commented on how nice it smells, so I figure the roomnote is an "A". I will certainly try more cornell diehl products, as I was impressed by the quality of tobacco and that the company actually gave what is promised by the labeling on the tin.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pip (80)	2011-08-31		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This was my first experience with plug tobacco. I was intrigued. I cut off a slice crumbled it up and examined the tobacco. Nice moisture…nice leaf indeed with a very light scent. Sometimes I'm not sure if its rum at all. Some kind of alcohol for sure. I just can't put my finger on though.

I packed the pipe pretty loosely with the bacci and it lit up right away. Nice smooth sweet smoke with no bite at all. Burns to a nice white ash all the way down to the bottom of the bowl. All in all pretty good. Would I buy again, probably not.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-08-15		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Just starting pipe smoker. Several years as a cigar fan. I wanted an English blend with no flavorings but the reviews made me pick this even though it contains rum. There is not a noticeable taste of rum. I found this to be better if smoked slow and with a light draw. If not smoked slowly I did receive a few gurgles. Plenty of nicotine. Sit or recline and enjoy as a before bed smoke. I especially like it in my churchwarden.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-02-08		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This tobacco is a high quality blend of stoved virginias. It smokes well and the crumble cake is fun to work with. But, for all intents and purposes, it is just that a crumble cake virginia. The promise of the added rum element starts and ends in the tin. The rum is definately present in the smell from the tin but never shows up in the smoke or room note. While it is a high quality virginia cake, IMHO it is not worth the price for a premium tinned blend ($51.00 / lb. + Shipping)without a stronger rum note.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-07-22		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

i really like this blend. the rum flavor is at the right level for me- just enough. i like that there are no other flavors just the rum.

this is one of the smoother cavs i've had but it still has those toasty strong off flavors to it. i think cavs are for advanced pipe smokers. you need to smoke them slow!

i really like how this tobacco feels like an old time blend. very good stuff and fun to rub out from the cake and smoke. i wish the tobacco cut was a little bigger like with all C&D tobaccos.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-06-21		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Being a Latakia lover, I use VA as a resting bowl, a way of cleaning up my smoking, or a beginning of the night start. This blend has a welcoming presentation trough a beautiful and appealing crumble cake, that easily breaks into small pieces to get into the bowl. Since I like not to rub flakes, I slightly broke it and fill the bowl with small pieces, not getting to a mixture aspect. Rum is just suggested into smell and taste, altrough some liquor was burning at the beginning. The rum note was slightly perceived at the beginning, but I clearly felt that it is a VA straight taste. For that reason, nicotine gets quicly into the taste and the evolution is quite flat. I will probably do not buy a second tin since some other Virginia, like SGawith flakes give to me a similar result, and here I was looking for a more aromatic option, the rum note being an uncomplished promise. But this is surely a good choice for VA lovers.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Funn (16)	2010-02-14		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Opened up a tin of this several months back. Bottom label says 9/8/08, it is STILL moist. Filled an Ed Burak small bent prince/tomato briar. Comes in nice sized bricks. Just rub the sides and it forms granules perfect for packing IMHO. Seemed kind of strong in the Burak pipe,had to slow down to appreciate it. As it got to middle bowl it seemed to blossom into a milder va. w/a modicum of strength. When it got to what I thought was ashes it turned around into an extremely enjoyable smoke. Filled up a Ben Wade bent Acorn smooth and walked my grand dog with it. The larger bowl for me seemed to detensify the strength into a delicious Va. It tasted like raisins I assumed from the Red va.s but not as strong as before. Where the smaller pipe didn't allow the blend to develop into a mild good smoke,the larger bowl gave me fantasticness (Funn Dictionary) from the first match. Really can't tell if it's a rum flavor or not. But whatever it is it is great! Possibly the larger bowl and being outside calmed the blend down. Continued it in the car and finished it back in the house. Va. wise I smoke mainly mild pure Va.s,PS Va Longcut,Old Gowrie, Woodstock Races Va.Gentleman.et. al. This fits right in as being a little bit strengthier (Funn Dictionary) but it comes and goes. Nothing detrimental implied. Can't wait to try it in one of my Smooth Peterson Systems. Highly recommended for va. smokers. Pack it light and go slow,as you should w/Va.s. Will get some more at this year's CORPS Show. Burns down to a nice ash. Don't dump it from sight,tamp lightly and re-light..thats when it really gets excellent, just when you think it's done. Going back to my Va. pipes with this one!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-07-25		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

If nothing else crumble cakes are fun, sometimes only to experiment with, leave as chunks, rub out, sprinkle on top, what to do? I always picture myself sailing on a schooner in the middle of the Atlantic,(salt water enhances the taste and adventure), while smoking this marvelous blend. My tin arrived as I like to say "ready to load". I broke off chunks and rubbed out a little, packed pipe, sprinkled a little dust on top and sailed away. Some might call this "monochromic", whatever that means pertaining to tobacco, but really is a long lasting taste of smooth Virginias working together for a pleasurable, non-biting, subdued sweet taste of fine Virginias, just like the old days. As a break, sometimes daily, from English and VaPers, the experience of a true Navy cavendish is well worth the time. Truly enjoyable.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Croaker (13)	2008-08-03		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Blockade Runner comes as pressed blocks of tobacco. One...well... crumbles a portion of the crumble cake before stuffing and lighting. This tobacco required too much attention to stay lit. And I?ve never been able to get it reduced to white ash. While it never bit my tongue, Blockade Runner never really developed either. The room note and the nicotine were neither strong nor weak. The rum flavor is subtle and only hints at combining flavors with the Virginian throughout the bowl. The Virginian?s flavor is not very robust.

I like most C&D blends and I wanted to like Blockade Runner. While this is not a terrible tobacco, even with my prejudice I can?t recommend Blockade Runner.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-06-03		Strong	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The tobacco presentation is very attractive; two pressed bricks. Upon opening, the aroma was overpowering! It does not smell like rum to me....more of a musty aroma. It did not have any mold as previous reviewers encountered. I had to let this stuff air out x 2 days, after rubbing it all out, before I could smoke it (I tried a bowl fresh from the can and could not finish it). Once it had aired out, the topping (rum?) was much more bearable. Mine was stoved to almost black in color. I have to smoke it slowly and in small bowls due to the nicotine content. It lights easily and really billows the white smoke, but it just does not smell nor taste like rum. I cannot taste the virginia either. This tobacco tastes just like Samuel Gawith's 1792 flake (another heavily stoved to blackness tobacco) which is flavored with tonquin. Definitely not an all day smoke, but for a mid-day pick me up it will certainly do the trick.

I'll give it 3-stars for the presentation of the bricks,the nicotine strength, & billowing smoke, but I was dissappointed that it lacked the sweet taste of rum &/or virginia.

Update: 6/3/2007 I will have to downgrade this stuff to 2 stars only. I tried to smoke this a couple of more times and could not enjoy it....maybe I got a bad batch.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2006-01-06		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Since Blockade Runner arrives nice and dry like all C&D blends, I smoked the first bowl immediately after opening the tin. Subsequent bowls had less of the rum flavor, which was good, because the rum overpowered the Va's at first. I had a couple of bowls then closed the tin up and let it sit for a week or so.

After a week, the rum was toned down and much more pleasant because it let the Va's shine though. I didn't finish the tin then either. I put it away for a while. A couple of months later, I remembered it.

Wow, what a difference. The Va's are out in front now, and the rum is considerably more subdued. That prompted me to increase by rating from 2 stars to 3 stars.

Though I haven't ordered more (yet), I find myself missing Blockade Runner. But for future tins, I will break the seal and let it sit (closed) for a while.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-12-07		Mild	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is eye candy. I could look at these chunky little bars of krumble kake all day. They're beautifully packed & crumble nicely into the bowl. Tin aroma is swell. Too bad the taste didn't match the anticipation. The whole thing leaves me flat. I might like this better if it were dark stoved sans the rum. The same goes with C & D's Black Frigate. It would be better without the soused Jamaican in the background. Actually, they do have such a blend, and it's called Pirate Kake. If they could do the same with this one, I might enjoy it more. A bit too one dimensional for me, but I appreciate the effort.

Two and a half of five stars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-11-28		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

The reason I gave this 4 stars partially has to do with the fact that it is what it says it is.This is a wonderful Krumble Kake mixture flavored with rum. It delivers exactly just that in flavor and consistency. I am strictly a burley man and actually do not care for most Virginia flakes or mixtures.This however, is excellent! It is the coolest and I mean absolutely no bite Virginia blend on the market.This is in the same league as Stonehaven, or Gawith's Chocolate flake.It is a very natural tasting tobacco with a heavenly room note.This is truly toasty and nutty. Actually, I think the reason I liked it so much was the fact it reminded me more of a burley type flake. The RUM serves as an enhancement to this blend.It is not in any way typical of most "Booze" blends.The rum here is neither sharp or biting. It gives the Va. a wonderful mellow outdoorsy flavor.You "experience" the rum in this blend. If you can imagine Black Frigate without he Turkish and Latakia,you have Blockade Runner.I would recommend this highly to burley lovers and guardedly to Va afficianados. With that being said. This gets 4 of 4 natural tobbacco tasting stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2005-05-08		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I like Blockade Runner from C&D. Yes, this is one of the few liquor-flavored tobaccos where one can actualy smell the rum when the tin is first opened. Other whiskey or rum flavored tobaccos have a medicinal-type aroma, but with BR, one can easily identify the rum. My favorite C&D tobaccos are Briar Fox and Bayou Morning Flake, so BR fits in with these two very well. The flavor is dry and clean to the palate but, a little DGT does this tobacco wonders. Occasionally one can pick up on the fruity tang of the red virginias which I love so much. I recommend sipping this tobacco slowly; not because of any bite, which it doesn't, but the subtle flavors are fantastic. When smoked hot, BR can become boring.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-03-12		Strong	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A good pipe smoking friend gave me an opened tin of this rum-soaked crumble cake. Like a fool, I smoked a bowl late one night before turning in. I must admit it was good but it didn't floor me. I lay in bed staring at the digital clock: one, one-thirty, two, two-twenty-nine, two-thirty...good God, will this stuff ever give up?! I arrived at work the next day hung over and mumbling. My rec: smoke this early in the evening or better yet the late in the afternoon.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-11-05		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Tolerable

It been a good while since I have smoked anything that could be described as flavoured. Keen to try something different this seemed to take the quality aproach unlike the usual aromatics. This one came in 3 small blocks and rum was very evident, not rum flavoring out of a can but like a bottle of Havana club poured all over. At first the flavored tobacco was strange , but as I worked my way through a tin this one really grew on me. Pressed rather than a flake the crumbled leaves steeped in rum really grew on me. Not as you might expect a gurgle maker it smoked dry. This is a very fine tobacco. I really enjoyed the name of this one with some iroiny.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2001-03-11		Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Blockade Runner arrives like all C&D blends...dry as a bone! This isn't a bad thing for me as I prefer my tobacco a little on the dry side anyway. I didn't add any water to this blend so mine smoked rather hot and fast. I think adding water would enhance the length of your smoke though I couldn't comment on the effects to flavor or aroma. This blend reminds me of quite a few Navy Flakes out there, Orlik and MacBaren to name a couple. The rum flavoring is very apparent and complements the flavor of the Virginias nicely. I didn't really detect the rum aroma in the smoke. Not much more to say about this blend. A nice occassional change of pace. Not in my regular rotation, but I do have some stashed away to see what a little aging will do to the blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PaPiper (35)	2023-01-20		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Extremely dry out of the tin when opened. The cake was falling apart. Some parts rubbed out to dust even though I was careful. It had a sour oder and left a very bad aftertase in my mouth. Let it sit a few monts and still no change. C&D has to watch their quality control. Make fewer blends and focus on quality blends.

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: Fresh to 6 months Jarred

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Novaki (41)	2022-08-01		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

I should note that when I first got this blend, I found it a bit harsh on the nose. After a few months sitting in a canning jar it dramatically changed how the blend smoked and curbed some of the things I didn't like about my initial experience. So this review will focus on how the tobacco tastes now, after it's set a spell instead of how it tasted right out of the tin.

If you would have told me when I first started smoking a pipe that the things I didn't like about boutique blends would be what I found most enjoyable about them I would have called you crazy. When I started, the point of pipe tobacco for me was to have the most comfortable and relaxing smoke possible, which I found in milder codger and OTC blends that generally used a lot of white burley. If you would have handed me Blockade Runner when I was fresh into pipe smoking, I would have probably hated it or at best not gotten it. You could have told me it was using higher quality leaf all day and I still wouldn't have been able to appreciate it simply because my taste for it hadn't been developed yet. Now, I'm tasting that finer leaf and finding it to be extremely pleasant and nuanced, whereas before I would have likely thought it too strong and possibly even found it off-putting.

Pipe Used: MM Cobs, Peterson Dublin Filters 106 & 107

Age When Smoked: New - A few months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

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