By Bob Tate
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The pouch aroma of this blend is quite tangy and tickles the nose a little and induces a little mouth watering effect. There is also a very light sweetness to the aroma that sits far in the background. The moisture content of the tobacco is perfect for smoking right away, as most of C&D blend are. The tobacco is what I would call a coarse cut, because it is quite chunky. I left it chunky and did not rub it out at all.
I filled the pipe using a two step packing method. I packed it a little on the loose side and proceeded to the charring light. On the charring light, I picked up a little sweetness in the aroma but none in the taste. The taste was a straight forward tobacco taste. I settled in for the smoke.
For the first half of the bowl, there was nothing that really stood out for me. It was a straight forward tobacco taste. There was no sweetness from the Virginias and I did not detect anything from the Perique. At the mid point of the bowl, I started tasting a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of peppery/spiciness. These tastes maintained through the rest of the bowl. This blend uses good quality tobacco but is not complex at all. This blend smoked cool and did not bite at all.
I would call this a decent blend, but there is nothing special about it. I prefer my VA/PERs to pack a little bit of a punch and some oomph. I find this blend lacking in that and is on the lighter side of VA/PER blends. I think that the Burley in this blend takes something away from it. There are a lot of other VA/PER blends made by C&D that I would much rather smoke before this blend. It is a decent and smokable blend and I will finish what I have left. I will not purchase this blend again based on the fact that C&D makes other VA/PER blends which better suit my tastes.
But if you like your VA/PER blends on the lighter side, I Recommend that you give this blend a try.
(Note: I know that this blend contains Burley and is not technically a VA/PER blend. But I refer to it that way in my review just to shorten the description.)
Brand: Cornell & Diehl
Blend: #972 Three Friars
Description: A combination of Virginia ribbon, Brown Virginia Burley and Perique.
Country: US
Cure: Air Cured
Cut: Coarse Cut
Tobaccos: Virginia, Burley, Perique
Strength: Medium
Taste: Straight Tobacco, Very Light Sweetness, Little Peppery/Spicy
Room Note: Pleasant to Tolerable