Cornell & Diehl Innsmouth

(3.18)
A strange piece of jewelry sends you on a quest down the accursed and decrepit streets of Innsmouth. Armed with this singular blend of Virginias, Katerini, perique, and black cavendish, it's your duty to uncover the truth. The Deep truth.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Series The Old Ones
Blended By  
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type Virginia Based
Contents Black Cavendish, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 2 ounce tin
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.18 / 4
5

3

3

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 11 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 19, 2018 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The light and darker Virginias offer a bit of tart and tangy citrus, some fermented, tangy dark fruit, grass, wood and earth, light bread, and a drop or two of honey. They form the base of the blend. The rather smoky, woody, buttery sweet, lightly spicy, earthy, herbal, sour and floral Katerini starts out just behind the Virginias, and take a small lead just before the half way mark. The raisiny, plumy, figgy spicy perique is an important condiment. The brown sugary black cavendish adds a smoothness in the background. The strength is just past the center of mild to medium and almost reaches the medium level in the second half of the bowl. The taste level is consistently medium. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. No chance of bite or harness, and barely has an occasional rough edge. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a sweet and mildly savory, woody, rich, moderately consistent flavor that translates to the pleasantly lingering after taste. The room note is a tad stronger. Burns to ash with little effort on the part of the smoker. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Can be an all day smoke for the veteran, and perhaps for the less experienced as well.

-JimInks
29 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 18, 2018 Medium Mild Medium Tolerable
I’m really enjoying this blend. I might just make it a favorite.

When I cracked the tin, I got a sweet cocoa note. The tin note was so sweet I almost thought this blend was supposed to be an aromatic. After an hour or two of airing out, it transitioned into a natural va/per/or blend similar to McC’s Tudor Castle or Pease’s Cairo. This blend has a beautiful ribbon cut that almost rival’s Dunhill’s, and a moisture content that is ready to smoke after a few minutes of dry time. The smoke is fantastic. It starts with woody and spicy Perique and oriental notes, with a subtle sweetness. After mid-bowl, the sweet and tangy Virginia’s take over. I’m almost through my first tin, and I’m ready to order more. I haven’t had a blend grab me this quickly in awhile. I’m looking forward to seeing if it stands the test of time. Four stars so far...
Pipe Used: Various briars
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: Fresh
17 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 17, 2019 Mild None Detected Medium to Full Very Pleasant
It's late and I'm pushing my 70th b'day. Short post. I've been smoking a pipe for almost 50 years. This is my favorite tobacco ever. My tastes have moved towards the light Balkan blends, then towards the same mixtures without any latakia. I need about 5 tobaccos (though I may have 500+ stored) -- Provost, H&Hs, Red R., etc. Anyway, my favorite tobacco from first light to finishing puff.
Age When Smoked: one year
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 19, 2020 Mild None Detected Mild to Medium Unnoticeable
Well, I really wanted to love this blend. I’m generally a big fan of VaOrPers; Cairo ranks high up on my list and Sunday Picnic checks a lot of boxes. There’s a creamy fruit sweet underneath a *very* youthful harshness in this blend. The tin I was smoking from only has 4 months on it though and C&D tends to need at least a year, if not two, to come into its own. As it stands though, I’ve had to put this into mylar and seal it up for a couple of years to see what happens. If it can smooth out the harsh roughness I think it has potential to be good. However, if I’m being honest, this feels like one of C&D’s redux blends where they slightly change one of the components of another blend and market it. Which is fine, but I get a similar profile from Sunday Picnic and that seems to be better executed.

I'm not getting any of the tin notes that others have described and the ribbon was quite dry when popped. I do think C&D has started shipping blends *much* drier than they previously did, probably to fight the potential for mold.

This is a Somewhat Recommended blend to me as it currently stands. There’s potential lurking underneath, but just be aware that it is a buy now smoke in 2-3 years blend. And, even then, I can’t say for certain that the wait will be worth it. Is it smokable now? Yes, theoretically. It’s just not all that great. But with a slow cadence and a higher tolerance for young leaf than I have, you might find this enjoyable. I’ll report back in a couple of years with how it’s done with a nap.
Pipe Used: Sav 802 and 702
Age When Smoked: 4 months.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 14, 2019 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Unnoticeable
Innsmouth, from Wikipedia is a fictional town created by American author H. P. Lovecraft as a setting for one of his horror stories. From www.sekesa.com, “The Katerini Tobacco variety is known to be one of the finest in the world. It grows in very few regions of the world, one of which is Katerini region of Greece. Katerini Tobacco belongs to the "flavoring" tobacco types and is used by tobacco industries mainly to add flavor.” Now that the history lesson is out of the way, on with the review. I bought this tin the other day dated 080818 which gave it a good year of age already. The tin note is a strong, sweet, slightly sour-ish smell. It appears to be your typical ribbon cut and is easy to pack into your pipe. The smoke is of a sweet, cigarette (Turkish) taste that is really light tasting to the palate, in other words, no Latakia in this blend. You can really taste the Katerini and I find this one a refreshing change of pace. Kind of in a category of its own. I might even buy a couple for down the road. If you are looking for something different and like Macedonian leaf give this one a try.
Pipe Used: Briar
Age When Smoked: 1 year
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 14, 2019 Medium Very Mild Medium Tolerable
Bourbon and vanilla with your Orientals? Me neither; or so I thought before I tried this blend. My tin of C&D’s Innsmouth was just over a year old when I popped it. It smelled like cocoa laced granola, with attitude, with some vanilla, but no "Bourbon". The moist, short ribbons range from khaki to light and medium reddish browns, to medium and very dark brown, nearly black, reflecting the listed varietals. I’ve had no trouble with loading, lighting or smoking it right down, although it is very sooty, so I recommend having a couple of pipe cleaners at hand when smoking Innsmouth. For me, the “right pipe” for Innsmouth is a large-ish one that’s free from Latakia or DFK, and that’s also had a prep bowl or two run through it. This way, there are nice, subtle side notes along with the main themes. If I hadn’t been told otherwise, I would have supposed Innsmouth contains some codger-ish Burley, because it is slightly floral and earthy in that way, and there is also some tannic sharpness and bitterness, not overwhelming, but “bracing”, for sure. Absent this, I look next to the VA’s, which seem to be stout, also vaguely musty and earthy, a little grassy, and more grain-y. After the pipe is prepped, there is a nice balance of savory, woody kabob and sour Middle Eastern bakery spices from the Orientals and some sour, spicy prune from the Perique, which pretty much stays melded with the Orientals throughout the smoke. The Cav may well smooth things, but “smooth” is not the first word that comes to mind for Innsmouth, as it is rather “prickly”, or “sparkly”, through the smoke. The Cav also amplifies by contrast the sourness from the Orientals while adding some sweetness, and it may well be the source of the cocoa, which fades considerably soon after the tin is opened. As for the "Bourbon and vanilla sauce", it is very restrained, indeed, but whatever it really is it remains throughout the smoke in fragrance and in tastes, and it works for me, reversing my initial misgivings. Despite Innsmouth burns quickly, I leave it fairly loose in the bowl, in deference to the Orientals, and I’ve gotten to where I puff away, once it’s well lit, pressing but holding on to the complexities. For me, smoking it like this, the strength is past medium, and the tastes are also past medium. I like the room note, but it’s probably enjoyed by pipe smokers only. The aftertaste is a fairly fast trailing off of the best of the smoke. FWIW, I suspect this blend will age well, and rest certainly has not hurt it, so far. Rounded up to 4 stars.

Update: 02-05-20: With this much rest, I'm thinking the "strange" additive is tonquin. Not so much as 1792, for instance, but it's there, all right. First Oriental blend with tonquin I can remember trying.
Pipe Used: large, selected and prepped briars
PurchasedFrom: Liberty Tobacco
Age When Smoked: 1 year
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 01, 2020 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
Cornell & Diehl - Innsmouth (The Old Ones).

I'd had this in my stash for over a year but didn't feet the urge to pop it open until now! It's dated 12/07/17 so has a bit of age on it.

Although, as it says, the blend's a ribbon, my tin had one rather large piece of flake on the top. The aroma's quite stalwart, but there's a touch of natural sweetness in there, too. The moistness of mine couldn't be faulted.

The smoke has a fairly pertinacious flavour, but falls below the 'heady' mark. The Katerini's a formidable ingredient, and leads for the initial part. But, after a short while the Virginias calm the floral, incense, note, by giving notable sweetness and rich fruit to the smoke. The Perique offers some spice, being in third position, but any black Cavendish gets quite lost in the mix; for me. I've had an impeccable burn from every bowl, creating a mid-temperature, bite free, smoke.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not great.

Innsmouth? A well put together smoke, but not something for my rotation. Albeit, 3 stars for quality:

Recommended.

Pipe Used: Rattray's Six Friends Oom Paul
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: 12/07/17
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 20, 2019 Mild None Detected Very Mild Unnoticeable
This tobacco is a mystery to me. The tin note at the open was obvious Virginia. No fruit or honey subtle notes as discussed with others. The tobacco is ribbon cut and not moist, but just right for packing. It has a mild wood fire taste and aroma. It is a suspiciously mild smoke. It completely baffles me as it is neither strong, nor scented , nor flavored. The retro-hale reinforced that this is a mild blend of tobaccos with no attempt to introduce a top note casing. I can't call it an aromatic. The nicotine strength was apparent. It would actually make a good choice for cigarette rollers.... UPDATE.... This tobacco needs to 'open up' and after a few bowls I have come to really enjoy the smoke. I change my rating to 3 stars.
Pipe Used: New Molina Barrasso Unfinished - Bent Rhodesian
PurchasedFrom: TobaccoPipes.com
Age When Smoked: recent purchase
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 23, 2021 Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Tolerable
C&D- Innsmouth

I opened this tin and packed a bowl, and immediately upon opening I can smell an almost plum or wine topping. Its very strong but not entirely pungent. It seems to burn off relatively quickly though.

I enjoyed this a bit more when I let the tin air out a bit.

Virginias and Perique show up on occasion more a reminder than a full time friend.

The oriental tobaccos are somewhat floral and sweet, this is almost a kitchen sink blend, and its good but not great. I'll finish this tin but I'm officially leaving Innsmouth.
Pipe Used: Chacom billiard, Rossi 320
Age When Smoked: 5 months
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 14, 2021 Mild Mild Extremely Mild (Flat) Tolerable
I respect Jeremy Reeves as a blender and enjoy many of his creations. This isn’t one of them. Quality leaf and somewhat interesting, boy it’s not for me. I guess they can’t all be winners. It may be your holy grail, but it ain’t mine.
1 person found this review helpful.
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