C&D Harshness "Solved"

[WhiteCrown]

It's been a year or two since I have posted here, but I had an epiphany that may help others who may be having the old recurring problem with C&D, and it doesn't take a year in a jar. This wont be an earth-shattering finding for most of you, but I haven't seen this stated outright, and it took a while for me to stumble into it. In the interest of saving others the time, here it is.

Two days ago I opened what will be the last HH Pure Virginia tin I will likely ever smoke. I noted how smooth it was, and though I'd never given it much consideration, the "Hot Pressed" on the tin jumped out at me. While having that smoke I decided it was time to re-up my cellar which has dwindled by a couple pounds. Since having Sun Bear Tupelo I have been re-investigation C&D's blends for a while now, and based on sampling I have done over the past two years here is what I ended up bulking up on:

Burley: Pegasus (black cav)
Aro: Autumn Evening (all red VA cav)
VA: Yorktown (stoved twice)
VaPer: Poplar Camp (stoved and black cav)
English: Smooth English (black cav)

Looking at my order confirmation I noticed a trend, and it shared something with the "Hot Pressed" on the HH tin. These tobaccos all either contain cavendish and are (or have components that are) other wise heat treated beyond the curing process. I know this not exactly a ground-breaking concept, and I have known the textbook effect of unsweetened cavendish this whole time, but without realizing that I have been specifically favoring blends that employ it (such as Black Duck, Red Rapparee, and Windjammer).

If you struggle with harshness or rough edges from C&D's blends, and have been given many recommendations, I think you should specifically try one with a stoved or cavendish processed component. At least while you are are waiting for others to age a bit.

I know I essentially just said "If you are thirsty, try drinking something wet", but hey, some of us aren't that smart. I am one of those dummies who also likes cheap stuff like Smoker's Pride Classic, and who misses the Sutliff Match blends and smokes even though I supposedly can't afford to because I liked Sutliff Victorian and not Peterson Elizabethan. If you are stupid like me, I hope this helps. Sorry for the mild PTSD outburst. Cheers!

 

[ThermionicScott]

I've been thinking about trying Winchester for that reason.

 

[Skippy Piper]

I'm one of those folks who find nearly all of Cornell & Diehl's blends to be really harsh and even their stoved blends and ones with black cavendish still pummel the everliving daylights out of my throat. At this very moment I still have a sore throat from just ten minutes of smoking Haunted Bookshop in an unfiltered pipe four days ago.

However, I do really enjoy the flavor and body that a lot of C&D blends have and I'm particularly fond of Pegasus and Yorktown; and after a bit of trial and error have figured out how to smoke them without getting a sore throat. My solution has been to smoke them in a pipe with a charcoal filter, and my favorites are White Elephant's 9mm charcoal filter for 9mm filtered pipes and Vauen's Dr. Perl Junior 6mm charcoal filter for 6mm filtered pipes. Neither of them have a significant impact on the flavor of the smoke or the tightness of the draw, and they work wonders for smoothing out the rough edges of C&D's blends and eliminating the harshness.

I have tried quite a few other filters, like Dr. Grabow and Medico's paper tube filters, Savinelli's balsa wood filters, and White Elephant and Savinelli's 6mm charcoal filters; but all the paper and balsa filters didn't do much to smooth out the tobacco and the other 6mm charcoal filters both made the draw ridiculously tight and muted the flavors of the tobacco much more than I'd like. I highly recommend White Elephant's 9mm charcoal filters and Vauen's Dr Perl Junior 6mm charcoal filters though if you're someone who's throat is bothered by the harshness of C&D blends like mine is. They really work wonders for smoothing the tobacco out!

 

[Eireprof]

I’ve been loving Pegasus lately, though it’s the only C&D I’ve smoked. So, good to keep in mind, OP.

 

[theTomTom]

Im giving up on cornell and diehl. I have no luck with it. nutty irishman could have been good, but that damnable burn of rubbing alcohol killed me off the taste of it

 

[Sig]

I remember several old timers tell me they would leave tins of tobacco on the dashboard of their cars/trucks in the Summer to "stove" the tobacco. They claimed it worked for so-so blends.

 

[HeadMisfit]

Leaving it in the car does help, but when it comes to cornell and diehl blends, i find if the blend is bitey, doesnt taste good, its best to just toss it if you cant find a victim to give it too.

Its one thing to mix random samples together to see what happens, but completely something else to go buy a pound of tobacco just to mix up a tin of baccy that you find to be sucky

 

[Worknman]

I'm one of those folks who find nearly all of Cornell & Diehl's blends to be really harsh and even their stoved blends and ones with black cavendish still pummel the everliving daylights out of my throat. At this very moment I still have a sore throat from just ten minutes of smoking Haunted Bookshop in an unfiltered pipe four days ago.

However, I do really enjoy the flavor and body that a lot of C&D blends have and I'm particularly fond of Pegasus and Yorktown; and after a bit of trial and error have figured out how to smoke them without getting a sore throat. My solution has been to smoke them in a pipe with a charcoal filter, and my favorites are White Elephant's 9mm charcoal filter for 9mm filtered pipes and Vauen's Dr. Perl Junior 6mm charcoal filter for 6mm filtered pipes. Neither of them have a significant impact on the flavor of the smoke or the tightness of the draw, and they work wonders for smoothing out the rough edges of C&D's blends and eliminating the harshness.

I have tried quite a few other filters, like Dr. Grabow and Medico's paper tube filters, Savinelli's balsa wood filters, and White Elephant and Savinelli's 6mm charcoal filters; but all the paper and balsa filters didn't do much to smooth out the tobacco and the other 6mm charcoal filters both made the draw ridiculously tight and muted the flavors of the tobacco much more than I'd like. I highly recommend White Elephant's 9mm charcoal filters and Vauen's Dr Perl Junior 6mm charcoal filters though if you're someone who's throat is bothered by the harshness of C&D blends like mine is. They really work wonders for smoothing the tobacco out!

9mm charcoal filters are where its at.

 

[seanv]

I opened a tin of C&D Burley Flake #5 a couple weeks ago. It was the most bitey blend that I have ever smoked at the time. After a few days of air and about 10 smokes, the bite is gone and I am enjoying the blend.

 

[Waning Embers]

I remember several old timers tell me they would leave tins of tobacco on the dashboard of their cars/trucks in the Summer to "stove" the tobacco. They claimed it worked for so-so blends.

Tins are baked in ovens as well.

 

[HeadMisfit]

Tins are baked in ovens as well.

then you have the naysayers telling you that will just release toxic chemicals into our pure, virgin harmless leaf.

I have a few tins I would like to try cooking with a heat gun. But I havent figured out the right temperature to hit.

 

[Brad H]

Tins are baked in ovens as well.

Yup yup.
If you stove a C&D tin, put aluminum foil on top incase it goes pop!

 

[Waning Embers]

then you have the naysayers telling you that will just release toxic chemicals into our pure, virgin harmless leaf.

I have a few tins I would like to try cooking with a heat gun. But I havent figured out the right temperature to hit.

Stoving Tobacco and Thoughts? :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion

Hello all, I recently tried stoving a couple of tobaccos I owned that I thought were a bit one dimensional. A. Capstan Blue. B. Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake C. Peter Stokkebye Luxury Flake. I followed a recipe from a YouTube smoker suggesting the "four 2's". 200 degrees in the...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[Waning Embers]

then you have the naysayers telling you that will just release toxic chemicals into our pure, virgin harmless leaf.

I've never heard that mentioned.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I’ve been known to vacuum seal and sous-vide a blend or two. An hour at 200* and setting in bag for a week to reconstitute does well for some biters.
I did such things more in my first year though, before smoking multiple pipes a day toughened my pie hole and my technique improved.

 

[irishearl]

Interesting. I've long smoked C&D almost exclusively, (and not the blends with cavendish in them), and have never had an issue with harshness.

 

[Pypkė]

Interesting. I've long smoked C&D almost exclusively, (and not the blends with cavendish in them), and have never had an issue with harshness.

Likewise.

Oh once upon a time I did... but not anymore.

 

[woodsroad]

Im giving up on cornell and diehl. I have no luck with it. nutty irishman could have been good, but that damnable burn of rubbing alcohol killed me off the taste of it

Interesting. I've long smoked C&D almost exclusively, (and not the blends with cavendish in them), and have never had an issue with harshness.

And that right there is why tobacco reviews and other such arguments of flavor and partiality are fairly meaningless.

 

[Piping Abe]

A lot of C&D blends are not cased or topped with anything besides water. So you enjoy the softened and cased tobacco.

That is why it is harsh to you.

I am thankful they are here because they are the only ones that let the leaf stand on its own. Not all of us want honey toasted bread crumbs with marshmellow sweetness.

 

[Pypkė]

Not all of us want honey toasted bread crumbs with marshmellow sweetness.

Who wants to smoke Count Chocula? Yech.