Cornell & Diehl Blockade Runner Pipe Tobacco

Perfectly smokable, but I actually don't really pick up the rum much in the smoke which kind of defeats the purpose of a blend like this.. I smell it in the tin, for sure.. but it doesn't translate well to the smoke for me. It's a solid Virginia though, so if you like straight VA, this one will be a winner anyway. I find that the rum pops more in the related blend "Black Frigate".

Only when I opened the tin I realized that this is my tobacco. Great smell of Virginia and Rum. The tobacco blend is blended from Virginia Gold and Red. A weekly impregnation with rum followed by drying and squeezing did the trick. The cake is great. Every pipe smoked with this tobacco is a delight. Definitely on the list of the best tobaccos for me!

This does not distinguish itself to me in any particular fashion, but it is pleasant. My palate complexity is in a steep learning curve as I am in the process of trying many new tobaccos. At this moment in time I think it's a little better than average. The prep and the burn seem to be consistently easy and I haven't been tongue troubled by it yet. I've also thrown it together with a little something else I only had a small amount of, and it plays well with others. The rum flavor is delicate to me.

This is a very nice blend. Loads easily and burns well has a very good richness as you get to the bottom of a bowl. I have tried a number of this type blend and all seemed to lack one detail or another, might be too bitter, or lack richness. Blockade runner has one main flavor and does it well. While I do not always have rum/navy blends every week, I do enjoy when I have a tin of blockade runner on hand. I think all pipe Enthusiasts should try this blend at least once as the method used to produce it is close to how you would back in history so sort of a time-traveling blend for those of us interested in such anecdotes.

This Navy cavendish crumble cake with its hand stoved red and golden Virginias and a pleasant soaking of rum made it through the blockade with two cakes to the tin. Upon opening, the tin-note was mildly sweet and grassy as expected from the Virginias and the rum was definitely there, but not too strong. The moisture content was "Goldilocks" and crumbled out, loaded and burned nicely. It was a pleasant smoke with sweet hints coming from the Virginias and the rum. Mild and no bite. I tend to like tobaccos with the rum treatment. I liked Blockade Runner at first blush, but I'll finish the tin before decide whether we "Run" together or not. The only negative at this time came from my wife and others in my "pipe appreciating " household who did not like the aroma. In fact, one used the "S" word.... that is "stink" not that other "S" word. I suppose blockade running was and will remain an outdoor sport. Happy piping!

super sweet rummy virginia. smoked slow, and elegant, not a lot of moving parts to the flavor just sweet virginias and rum