Last night I had the idea that I would smoke nothing other than Cornell & Diehl’s Black Frigate for an entire day. Usually I smoke several different blends of tobacco throughout the day but I’ve been on a quest for that one “special” blend that I can enjoy all day long. Not that I plan to exclusively smoke one tobacco for the rest of my life or anything insane like that. I just like the idea that there is one blend that I could enjoy any time of day. Plus it gives me ideas for tobacco’s that I might like to order in bulk. Which is always a good thing.

When I first tried Black Frigate I was almost immediately struck by how much I enjoyed this blend. It’s a little bit navy flake, a little bit English blend and it has some rum mixed into it for sweetness. I’ve read other reviewers who don’t enjoy the mixture of rum and Latakia for some reason but I honestly love it. For me the rum seems to mellow out the spicy tang of the Latakia and makes it less of a powerhouse in the blend. Another reason for choosing Black Frigate has to do with the nicotine level of this blend which seems to be high enough that it satisfies my cravings for vitamin N.

Morning Pipe…

My first bowl of the day was on my ride to work. I enjoyed it with a cup of strong black coffee in my Crown nose warmer. Since Black Frigate comes in a plug I prepared my pipe before leaving the house but I don’t think I rubbed it out well enough because I had a few big chunks in the bowl that had a hard time staying lit. I don’t usually smoke plug or flake so this is something I’m going to have to work on throughout the course of the day. I had to tamp and relight once or twice on my ride which is only about 15 minutes but I’m definitely not going to blame this on the tobacco by any means. I was in a hurry and didn’t do as good a job as I should have preparing the tobacco.

Despite the fact that I screwed up the prep work it was still a damn good morning pipe. Again the sweetness of the rum seemed to balance out the sharper qualities of the Latakia in this blend and made it a smooth smoke to enjoy in the mornings. It has enough nicotine to wake you up but doesn’t make you feel like a golf ball is lodged behind your Adam’s apple. I was able to smoke about half the bowl on my ride and just bumped out the ash when I arrived at work. I will smoke the rest of the bowl when I take my first break at around 9:30 or 10:00… But so far so good I’m really enjoying this blend.

First Pipe Break…

On the side of the Black Frigate tin it reads, “Latakia and Turkish are added to Navy cavendish, pressed and sliced. A Royal Navy blend, not for the faint of heart.” which (to me) sounds like Black Frigate should be an ass kicker in the bold smokey nicotine department. Honestly I have to say that Black Frigate is pretty mild compared to some other blends I’ve smoked when it comes to this. To me this blend is very similar to C&D’s Pirate Kake but with the rum added. Both of which are a quality blends that are very well balanced and presented in a cake or plug. But to say this isn’t for the faint of heart seems like a bit of a stretch. Maybe I’m just more accustomed to stronger, bolder tobaccos or some people are just sissies… It’s hard to tell.

In any event, for my first pipe break of the day I put a little more in the bowl on top of the unsmoked tobacco from my ride to work. I’m sure some of you reading this are gasping and cursing my name for this breach of pipe edicate… But I assure you I did this on purpose. Growing up I knew a few old timers who smoked pipes all day long. These guys were the hardcore sort who never took the pipe out of their mouths. They would smoke and smoke and smoke and the only thing they did was pack more tobacco in the bowl on top of what was already lit use their thumb as a tamper and keep right on rolling. So in the tradition of those salty old bastards I have decided to do the same here.

Burning down through the fresh tobacco seemed to blend well with the morning pipe tobacco. This blend in general seems to build up as you smoke it which is something I had noticed about it before. It starts out smooth and picks up the pace the deeper into the bowl you go. Again, for me, this isn’t a bad thing and I think it changes the dynamic of the smoke and brings out other qualities of the blend. By the bottom of the bowl I was tasting the zesty spice of the Latakia which gives it a nice earthy, leathery peaty flavor. With this second bowl of the day I didn’t have nearly the problems keeping it lit and once rolling it smoked smooth and even all the way down. I ended up with a nice grey ash very little dottle and no gurgle at all. A very nice smoke on a chilly, rainy Ohio day.

Lunch Time…

For me the true test of any tobacco is how it satisfies after a meal. As a long time cigarette smoker there really isn’t anything more satisfying than an after dinner smoke. It really takes a lot to curb your desire for a cigarette after a meal and not every pipe tobacco can pull it off.

For lunch I had a bowl of home made chili and some corn bread. I was happy to discover that Black Frigate was able to work well with the spice of the chili and eventually overcome the flavor in my mouth. It is robust enough without being overpowering and I didn’t end up with a train wreck on my taste buds like I was worried about. This time around the earthy, peaty flavor was in full swing and the sweet spice of the rum took a back seat. It probably has a lot to do with the spices used on the chili but I was again surprised to find that even this didn’t detract from my enjoyment. Now I was enjoying a very leathery, smokey blend with a more pronounced Latakia flavor. I smoked this bowl a bit faster than normal because I was in a bit of a hurry and it brought the Latakia “tingle” more into play than before. Again I have to say that this blend really builds up power as you smoke it. What starts off as a mild smoke really finishes with a punch. While this isn’t a unique attribute to Black Frigate I will say that it is much more noticeable with this blend than others I have smoke. C&D’s Pirate Kake comes to mind but even that doesn’t have such a ramp up in my opinion.

Last Break…

Headed out with yet another bowl of Black Frigate. Still a steady drizzle of rain and the sky is grey but I didn’t let that didn’t stop me. In fact I let it fuel my imagination a bit. I could see a weathered old sea dog standing on the deck of a ship, his trusty pipe clenched in his jaw looking out over the cold stormy sea… In much the same way I was looking out over the parking lot from the shipping and receiving dock here at work.

I’ve pretty much worked my way through the flavors present in Black Frigate so I’m not going to keep beating that dead horse. What I will say is that as far as an all day smoke I’m pretty impressed with how well it has preformed. It’s given me a lot of flavor and a lot to think about and the quality of the smoke has been top notch. It’s a creamy rich smoke that lights easy (once you have the hang of breaking up the plug properly) burns even and stays lit even in crappy Ohio weather. I like Latakia but there are times when it just isn’t what I’m after. There are times when I just want a nice Burley tobacco or even something as simple as a bowl of Captain Black. Maybe it’s just the motivation of writing this that has kept me interested but I can honestly say that there is enough going on with Black Frigate to keep my interest all day long and still look forward to my smoke breaks. Next up will be the ride home where I relax and try to forget the work day before spending the evening with my family.

The Drive Home…

Ahhh… what a perfect compliment to the end of the work day. I loaded a bowl for the ride home and headed out the door. Once in the car I lit my pipe and puffed away happily. I was about a quarter of the way home when tragedy struck. I noticed my pipe was slowly dying so I gave it a light tamp and… plugged up the draught hole… son-of-a-bitch… so I did the only logical thing I could do. At 60 miles per hour I was fishing a pipe cleaner down the stem of my pipe to open up the airway. As luck would have it I was smoking my Crown nose warmer so it didn’t take much to get the problem solved and after a few minutes I was once again puffing away happily.

Evening Pipe(s)…

With a new baby in the house and two (twins) toddlers I don’t always have much time to reflect on the finer qualities of a tobacco. Usually I sneak out on the back deck or into the garage for a few minutes while the natives don’t notice I’m gone and take a few puffs of a pipe. At home I usually use my larger pipes, fill the bowl with whatever blend I want to smoke that evening and then work on it for the entire evening. That was exactly what I did with Black Frigate in a MM Cob.

As a compliment to the quality of the tobacco I have to say that I enjoyed it all evening long. I would get a few puffs and then put the pipe down and let it go out. Relighting this blend isn’t difficult and since it already has such a smokey flavor you don’t really notice the first few puffs of the re-light which can be ashy or bitter with an aromatic or non-aromatic blend. Over all, I didn’t have much time to enjoy the finer qualities of the smoke but I did like the nicotine and the few minutes of peace and quite smoking my pipe allowed me before heading back to the front line of being a Dad.

Last Pipe…

Finally I just sat and enjoyed the last pipe of the day. The kids were in bed the house was quite, the day was done… when I bought my house I was lucky enough that it came with a finished garage (including heat) so I’m not forced to brave the elements while smoking my pipes. I sat in my garage and enjoyed the last bowl of Black Frigate while listening to the radio.

Pound for pound this is an excellent smoke and one that I have really enjoyed throughout the course of my day. I spent some quality time with it and I honestly feel like I have learned a lot about it. It kept me interested and was complex enough that I was always finding something new and interesting about it. When I didn’t have the time to really analyze it I still enjoyed it for the simple fact that it was an enjoyable blend with great flavor and characteristics. My next step is going to be ordering another tin (perhaps 2) and cellar one of them for a year or more. Then I will revisit Black Frigate and see how time changes her for better or worse.

Final Thoughts…

As an all day blend I would say that Black Frigate really holds it’s own. Even though I had committed myself to only smoking this blend for the day I never thought… Oh man I have to smoke this again… I was still looking forward to it all the way up till my last pipe of the night and that’s saying a lot. As someone who likes to smoke a lot (and I do mean a lot) of different tobaccos I was really pleased to find that I could pull this off without becoming bored… or worse… burning myself out on it. In fact this morning I smoked another bowl of this on my way to work. Cornell & Diehl has really created a great tobacco here. It might not be for everyone and I can understand why some people might not like the nicotine or flavor of the rum, to each their own. Personally I started off liking this blend and slowly fell in love with it the more I smoked it. It was a great experience and I am glad that I selected this blend to spend my day with.

-Clint

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