Cornell & Diehl Old Hollywood

(3.08)
A blend of red Virginia, Latakia, red Virginia cavendish, Turkish and cubed burley designed to bring out the best in these rich tobaccos.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Blended By Craig Tarler
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type American
Contents Burley, Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 2oz. Tin, 8oz Tin
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

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

Average Rating

3.08 / 4
9

10

5

1

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 25 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 15, 2004 Medium Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Old Hollywood-the very name suggests a certain sumptuous and lavish lifestyle, perhaps even larger than life. There are these wonderful images, to me at least, of a manly John Ford and the Duke, the uber-intellectual appearing and suave Leslie Howard, and on and on... This tobacco blend seems to complement those images.

Old Hollywood is a distinct treat for the mature smoker. It is in that personally desired area of not-English and not-aromatic, but flavorful and constant. There is complexity within the blend, seen to by the oriental leaf and the latakia, but this also quite the robust blend of red virginia and cubed burley.

Old Hollywood is visually distinct, with the mottled browns and tnas, and the sensual aroma and blackness of the red virginia cavendish. It lights well and stays lit, fragrant clouds of blue-gray without a hint of bitterness or tedium. There are layers of taste within the blend which seem to vary in each of the ten or so bowls which I smoked. it seems that each puff is a new treat of nuttiness or sweetness or unmasked strength.

This is a very fine blend and highly recommended. Remember LS/MFT: Let's Smoke My Favorite Tarler Tobacco.
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 25, 2005 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Old Hollywood is similar to Barking Dog, but with more teeth. Others here describe the Burley/Virginia/Latakia taste as "American." I'm not really sure what that means unless "old fashioned" is the descriptive intent. I usually hear "American Blends" described as cheap, flavored Burley - which this offering most certainly is not.

It is my understanding that Old Hollywood was originally intended to be a one-time only batch, but that its popularity was surprising to Craig Tarler and convinced him to put Old Hollywood in his starting line-up.

Burley/Latakia were the two flavors I picked up on the most. An interesting and unique (strange?) flavor develops as you near the final third of the smoke.

Old Hollywood won't remind you of Gone With The Wind. But, its right up there with The African Queen - solid, if not spectacular.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 04, 2016 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The tangy dark fruit, earthy red Virginia also sports a touch of spice, and is more obvious than the toasty, mildly fruity red Virginia that is processed in the cavendish style. The red Va.s form the base of the blend, but are more team players than leaders, partly because the cavendish-style Virginia lessens the impact of the other red Virginia. The nutty, mildly molasses sweet, earthy cubed burley is an important, competitive secondary player. The woody, dry, buttery sweet, and sour Turkish is a complementary ingredient. The Cyprian latakia adds a condimental smoky, woody sweet push to the mixture. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite or get harsh. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a fairly consistent flavor where some nuances reveal themselves at different times. Leaves very little dampness in the bowl, and requires few relights as it easily burns to ash. Has a pleasant woody, lightly sweet after taste. Can be an all day smoke. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 14, 2014 Medium Very Mild Medium to Full Pleasant
I suppose I should put in the boiler plate descriptions of the leaf colors, tin scent, whether or not it produces volumes of smoke and the color of the ash. I decline. OK, appearance... Old Hollywood is what I call a Scottish mix, i.e., everything except (hmmm... puff, puff) perique. No perique. Feel free to add it to complete the set. It looks like random leftovers found at a tobacconist shop, and don't doubt it was created that way. I'm glad they reverse-engineered it.

I love the stuff and enjoy picking out the components, provided I had the foresight to select a clean pipe to begin with. It has cased burley sweetness, aged Virginia sweetness, latakia background smokiness, diluted out with toasty cavendish. There's nothing particularly unique about it; it's middle of the road (just right, as Goldilocks might say) on all aspects except taste. I get a lot of taste.

I enjoy the old-fashioned room note particularly, probably from the burley and turkish components. With all the smoke nazis about, I get self-conscious when smoking outdoors in public places, yet I get only smiles when this is in my bowl. Go figure. This is the tobacco I grab for public smoking.

C&D blends (including GLP), at least the ones I buy, always seem to benefit from exposure to air for at least a year. I bought a pound of this blend back in 2009, opened the tins in 2012 and use them to refill smaller tins that always seem to need refilling. I'm convinced that the air exposure alters the tobacco to my liking. One aspect is moisture: I like this blend drier than average- just flexible. I suspect the air also halts certain aging processes that don't benefit this mix beyond a certain point.

This is not my favorite tobacco; there are too many out there to keep each at the top of my list. It definitely is on the next shelf down and is a good go-to smoke.

Pipe Used: Clean medium sized briars or cobs
Age When Smoked: 3 years in tin, 2 years open
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 09, 2011 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The particular tin of Old Hollywood I opened was 7 years old and it was bursting from the fermentation, so my review is going to be different than a review of a green tin.

The overall character of the blend is somewhat "muddy" as another reviewer described, as none of the tobaccos really come through in their own right (it isn't a bad mix though; it's robust in its own right, just ambiguous). The taste is great though and particularly satisfying. The aroma is purely a warm tobacco aroma. I would say this is a perfectly enjoyable smoke that you don't have to think too much about but you still want a robust tobacco flavor and aroma.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 04, 2010 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
I like most of what I've tasted from C&D. I try to like them since they're in nearby Morganton, NC.

Old Hollywood appealed to me because I like English-style blends AND I like burleys. But this is not a marriage made in heaven, I'm afraid. At least not in this iteration from C&D.

It smells like a typical English in the tin (dark fruit and charcoal), but there is a subtle nuttiness from the burley. It packs well into any size pipe, and lights easily. It burns to a medium gray ash without much fuss.

The problem lies in the flavor. These tobaccos do not play well together! The burley erases the complexity of the orientals and latakia, while the orientals overshadow the sweet nuttiness of the burley. The result is a muddy, bland flavor. The aroma is pure tobacco.

If I were to liken this to a drink, it would be Famous Grouse. Strong, but without character.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 18, 2005 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Tolerable
Appearance and Tin Aroma: Variegated colors with no one leaf dominating.The burley and latakia dominate the tin aroma, but the red Va cavendish is right behind adding a nice sweet note.

Packing and Lighting: easy with both the size of the leaf and the moisture perfect.

Initial Flavor: The burley is in the forefront with the VA close behind.

Mid-bowl: this is a delicious "American" style blend with everything in perfect balance. Yes, the latakia is quite noticable, but it is mainly for support.

Bottom of Bowl: it is a good idea to slow or even DGT to keep the Burley from getting bitter. The Red VA Cavendish is at its best at this point too, adding a nice sweet finish.

Overall: this is a classic American blend and its name is appropriate. All the components are top notch and can be smoked even when the tin date is recent. I liked this blend over "Easy Times" even though that blend is a little fuller in flavor. This won't be a go to blend for me as I am still a "Balkan" man as they say, but I will definitely keep some tins of this blend in my cellar and open from time to time. The component that adds dimension to this blend is the red cavendish VA. I believe C&D has done a stellar job in blending with this leaf and it especially shines in this blend. Lastly, this blend can nip, so restrained puffing is requisite. Enjoy...
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 27, 2015 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium Tolerable
Not a thoughtful blend, in my opinion, although interesting visually in the tin. Tobaccos were not well married together and here perhaps the general thickness of the cuts, including several roughly 1x1 inch Virginia pieces, played a roll. Some stem material found.

Moderate latakia with burley adding body, orientals adding some interest, but overall a rather dull smoke with more than average nicotine . Slight bitterness sensed from the burleys as bowl smoked down. The red Virginia and red Virginia cavendish contributed surprisingly little sweetness. In summary, not bad, but many better American-style English blends are available (e.g., Peretti D-7485).
Pipe Used: Pot
PurchasedFrom: Local tobacconist
Age When Smoked: 4 years
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 27, 2012 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
WOW! This rocked! It was very much like Billy Budd, but with a very nice earthy Burley in place of the cigar leaf. It really worked well for me. Where BB can sometimes be too much, OH would stay just shy of that cliff.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 30, 2009 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
OH is a completely satisfying tobacco for the sophisticated pipe smoker. A very flavorful blend with a unique taste. I just tried my first few bowls and feel that this was a well kept secret. I will be making this a daily pleasurable experience worthy of 4 stars only because 5 stars isn't an option.
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