What are they putting in C&D tobacco?

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WarneOut

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This is not a purposely inflammatory post, but I've had such an atrocious first experience with C&D tobacco I feel it necessary to ask what they put in it and what's going on at the factory. And I've given them enough money by now that I should be entitled to honestly appraise what I've bought.

For starters, every one of the 12 blends I have smells like a different version of wet dog. Same musty smell in all C&D and GLP blends, unpleasant and permeating.

Everything I've smelled so far from Peterson, the entire MacBaren HH series, and Peter Stokkebye has had its own signature brand smell across different blends, but they all have smelled quite pleasant.

First red flag: I found not one, not two, but many grey hairs, presumably beard hairs, in multiple different C&D blends. This is not ok. We all know hair is one of the fouler smelling (and tasting) things when combusted, and finding several of them interspersed with something you plan to ignite is just bad business.

Bigger red flag: inhaling through the unlit pipe irritated my mouth like a mild allergic reaction. So far I've tried about 30 different blends from different brands, not one of them has this effect. Every single C&D tobacco has this effect on me. I get this may just be a "me" thing, but nonetheless, if it's only happening with C&D and nothing else, they must be putting something odd in their tobacco that others aren't.

The lit taste of the C&D blends I tried is similarly and predictably acrid and disgusting, and irritates my mouth more significantly. Needless to say I did not make it through a full bowl of any of the 12 blends I bought.

This is beyond dislike of flavors or nuances, this stuff is flat out poison -- for my body personally at least -- and I can't wrap my head around how it's popular in any way. The high ratings for nearly every GLP blend baffle me beyond comprehension.

I guess my question is, does anyone have any idea what C&D would be putting in their tobacco that makes it so uniquely vile to me, but that other people seem to be unaffected by?
 
Ouch sorry to hear you experience with C&D. I have anyways enjoyed their tobaccos. Can't think of anything they would add to it that disagrees with you so much.
 
I've never had a problem with any C&D blend. I get a different tin note from each blend, they taste great, and I really enjoy them. I find the GLP stuff to be fantastic.

With that said, I believe C&D uses very young Virginias. I need to be careful with any Virginia blend, they bite me, but I need to be extra careful with some of the C&D Virginia blends. Once they get some age to them, they seem to mellow out for me and I have no issues.
 
Maybe it is the burley they use? I just read that a lot of people are allergic to burley, or maybe certain burleys? There must be something to this, because I've known smokers who couldn't smoke any MacBaren tobaccos. They got severe tongue bite from all them.

I have a limited experience set with C&D. I like Night Train a lot, but the few others have been ho-hum for me. Same goes for GLPease, but I also don't have a ton of experience with those either. I haven't been anxious to remedy this and try more C&D and GLPease.
 
I am intrigued. Would you please name the 12 blends you mention? I have my own experience with C&D and have generally found the various descriptions I've read different from what I would say. Even when sharing a specific C&D product with another piper we would have different tasting notes to compare. I may be able to comment further if I knew the blends you had. Your reply really appreciated.
 
Musty, and wet dog scent........that's not necessarily a bad thing. Did you try calling them about it?

Well, in my experience it's bad compared to every other brand I've tried lol.

And no I haven't called, maybe I'll shoot them an email to see if there's an ingredient I'm reactive to. But that still doesn't account for the smell and taste.

Bottom line is, if people like what they're doing, they aren't doing anything wrong.

But I can't remember a time that my experience of anything was so profoundly incongruous with the crowd's consensus. It's a bit of a shocker.
 
Maybe it is the burley they use? I just read that a lot of people are allergic to burley, or maybe certain burleys? There must be something to this, because I've known smokers who couldn't smoke any MacBaren tobaccos. They got severe tongue bite from all them.

I have a limited experience set with C&D. I like Night Train a lot, but the few others have been ho-hum for me. Same goes for GLPease, but I also don't have a ton of experience with those either. I haven't been anxious to remedy this and try more C&D and GLPease.
Interesting thought. I quite like Burley in other things, Stokkebye Burley, HH Burley Flake, Prince Albert, Carter Hall, etc.

But yeah maybe they use a particular tobacco that doesn't agree with me.
 
I am intrigued. Would you please name the 12 blends you mention? I have my own experience with C&D and have generally found the various descriptions I've read different from what I would say. Even when sharing a specific C&D product with another piper we would have different tasting notes to compare. I may be able to comment further if I knew the blends you had. Your reply really appreciated.
Sure. They are:
Shandygaff
Three Friars
Pegasus
Habana Daydream
Super Balkan
Engine 99
Autumn Evening

GLP:
Odyssey
Quiet nights
Abingdon
Westminster
Blackpoint

Though the problem is, it's the way in which they are similar that I find off putting, not to do so much with their individual characteristics.

Not to mention the horrible mouth reaction I get. It's not like tongue bite, it's more like some kind of chemical irritant. I get that even when I inhale through an unlit pipe, which to me is especially weird.
 
Gosh, that is strange - you can pick out the individual characteristics of the different blends though the over-riding wet gray dog. That coming though an unlit pipe as well makes me suspect some penetrating contaminant spilled on the shipment or ??? I am overwhelmed by possible explanations. Remember the benzene found in some water bottles from Source Perrier scandal? Stevia, aspartame and sucralose are common chemical irritants to me that others find attractive for some reason. Good grief, one of my dogs likes to roll on spilled gasoline. I am recalling the fuss by some over the intolerable Latakia "undetected by most" but considered important by GLP in his Fillmore.
Does/did the packaging have some taint? Anyone else available for a second opinion (HERE I AM) before returning them for investigation.
 
I get the non bite but more chemical burn when a blend has Red Virginia in it regardless of the age. I also agree that C&D bulk blend need a little time or they will have some rough edges.

OJK is a great example for me. Smoked a few bowls after ordering and wondered what the fuss was about and jarred it. A year later it was the best tobacco I ever smoked and ordered more.
 
I have been nursing a tin of anthology now for a month and it is just as wet as when I opened it. Any other manufacturer would be dry as toast after a month. It has me feeling that they are PG'ing their blends after the mold fest they experienced a few years back.
 
I've tried a few C&D blends over the years and find them rather ho hum, nothing to write home about but nothing I'd throw out in the rubbish either. Odd as I love GLP blends.

I do remember a similar reaction to another tobacco years ago, one of the Solani ones. On first light my tongue was on fire, the next time I tried a different pipe and did an unlit test inhale first up and had similar tongue tingles as you did. That tin was promptly given away and smoked quite happily by the recipient.
 
I cannot tolerate the perique C&D uses (or used in early 2000s, I haven't purchased since).
I do recall green, ammonia, undercured tastes that diminished in time, specific to C&D. Rather than continue dealing with them, I buy other brands.
 
I cannot tolerate the perique C&D uses (or used in early 2000s, I haven't purchased since).
I do recall green, ammonia, undercured tastes that diminished in time, specific to C&D. Rather than continue dealing with them, I buy other brands.
Interesting, thanks for the reply. I've also pretty much accepted that C&D is simply not for me. No accounting for taste I suppose.
 
I cannot tolerate the perique C&D uses (or used in early 2000s, I haven't purchased since).
I do recall green, ammonia, undercured tastes that diminished in time, specific to C&D. Rather than continue dealing with them, I buy other brands.
They use the same Perique that everyone else does.
It all comes from the same place.
(Twenty minutes from my house.)
 
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