It has been a couple of years since I've posted any C&D blend reviews and I have smoked nearly 100 tins of their various offerings in that time. So, it may be awhile before I get to all of them.
I initially bought a pound of this to use to beef up some of my Latakia blends with a lot of flavor but little bottom. And, while this one has a lot of Burley I also wanted the Virginia Cavendish base for a more gentle approach to the beefing up game. The Cavendish did the trick and I mostly smoke it with Rattray's Black Mallory, which I absolutely love but think is thin in body. Just for fun I did smoke a bowl of this straight and believe it or not, the experience was good although lacking in any kind of variance as I smoked it.
Possibly the ugliest looking single-color tobacco in existence. This looked like someone sliced up those little propeller thingys that drop off the trees in spring and mixed them with rope (actual rope, not rope tobacco). Very light in color, and almost no pouch aroma.
Immediately upon light-up, the burley takes the fore. It's not a nutty burley but a moderately heavy cigar tone takes over. There's the tiniest bit of underlying sweetness that pops up from time to time but this is primarily a stout burley. Not as bold in character as Kelly's Coin, but this would make a good blending tobacco (as indeed that is its purpose), particularly for those too mild blends that taste good but could use a kick in the pants. Fairly high in nicotine. Not a lot of flavor but what is there is robust, if that makes any sense. My experiment was mixing this 20/80 with some goopy cherry blend I had lying around. This kicked the cherry blend into high gear and toned the cherry flavoring way down to the point where it was just a nice sweet note. Recommended for blenders.
I am reviewing several C+D blending tobaccos as a precursor to some blending experiments. I know not many people blend, but these reviews may provide some hints to those wanting to do so.
The most "burley" tasting of in the traditional sense. Cigarette like but not in a bad way (and I hate cigarettes). Nutty and smokey - and perhaps a bit rough due to the VA. Cowboy tobacco though not particularly potent. Would seem to add a nice kick to an otherwise mellow mix.
Individual reviews are the opinion(s) of the
contributor and don't reflect the opinion(s) of Tobacco Media Group. Published review content of
this website is considered the copyright intellectual property of the reviewer and Tobacco Media
Group and may not be reproduced in any manner without the expressed written consent of Tobacco
Media Group.