Cornell & Diehl Golden Ash

(3.42)
Rough cut and cube cut Burley, Latakia and golden Virginia flake provide a mild English blend.
Notes: This was an Amar Blends Co. mixture. Cornell and Diehl bought the rights of all their old recipes. Rough cut and cube cut Burleys combine with bright Virginia flake, cavendish and a small dose of Latakia to provide a natural, mild taste.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Blended By Amar Blends Co.
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type English
Contents Burley, Cavendish, Latakia, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Coarse Cut
Packaging Bulk
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

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

Average Rating

3.42 / 4
11

6

1

1

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 19 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 20, 2016 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
The burleys are very nutty, toasty, and earthy with a light molasses note. They are the star component. In a support role, the gold Virginia is mildly grassy with a little citrus and spice, less than what one usually expects from that varietal. The smokey, woody Cyprian latakia is a back ground presence with a little less sweetness than is the norm. The nic-hit is mild to medium. Won’t bite, but there are a couple rough edges here and there from the burley. Burns well, is fairly cool with minimal sweetness and a very consistent flavor. Easily burns to ash and leaves virtually no moisture in the bowl. Requires few relights. Has a decent nutty, smokey after taste. Though I rated it as mild to medium, I would not consider this a routine all day smoke.

-JimInks
14 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 07, 2014 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
I see some here find this similar to Morley's Best, but I however do not. To me it is a lighter blend perhaps reflecting a different Virginia flake and a lot less Latakia. The Latakia is present but in so small an amount that in a blind test I might not pick it out at first. In MB it is up front. Golden Ash is an old blend the recipe for which was purchased by C&D. I assume it is the execution of the recipe which makes this blend such a long lived survivor of the corporate ax which mergers can bring on. It is incredibly smooth with the burleys being a lighter selection than what is in Morley's Best. The Virginias provide a subtle sweetness but nothing overwhelming in that department. The Latakia is barely a seasoning, appreciated but truly in condiment quantity. With all that said, I have a hard time classifying this as an "English" - Latakia and Virginias notwithstanding. It is a refined burley blend and very tasty. No need to stoke this for more flavor, Golden Ash qualifies in my world as an everyday , even all day, smoke. That coming from a confirmed Engine 99 smoker might say something as well. As far as nicotine goes, Morley's Best packs a huge punch, this does not. It's potency is just perfect for me. Of course I like Engine 99 which despite its very full flavor is medium at best, or less, in nicotine. I smoked this at first, 5 or 6 bowls, in a cob. It seemed at best a 3 star blend. But when I loaded it into my briars it showed itself much better.

Unlike Morely's Best which for me leaves a strong, long lasting aftertaste, this leaves a very pleasant and short taste - a "short finish" in cigar jargon. I do like it and see no reason not to keep some around here. One gets tinned blend quality for bulk pricing.
Pipe Used: Kaywoodies, corncobs
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: New production
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 15, 2015 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The Burley is nutty and sweet. The Virginia flake adds to the sweetness and provides a little spice. The Latakia adds a mild amount of smokiness and adds to the spice of the Virginia. So here we have the Burley and Virginia combining their sweetness, the Virginia and Latakia combining their spiciness. That's a fine example of components complimenting each other. This is a fine blend that I can highly recommend.

Mild to medium in body and flavor. Burns well and cool. Came a little dry, but that's the way I like it.
Pipe Used: MM Country Gentleman, MM Mark Twain
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: fresh bulk
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 10, 2017 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
It seems to me that Cornell & Diehl have quite a number of blends containing Burley. My guess is that they buy huge quantities of it and use it as filler for the incredible variety of blends that they market. A tin full of Burley, a dash of this, a pinch of that, and it becomes something "unique" to be sold in behind an attractive label.

I've bought several of Cornell & Diehl's Burley blends, and in particular this one, expecting that the accolades they garnered would show me the quintessence of what can be achieved with Burley.

Nope. I tried and tried and tried. I smoked most of them to the bitter end. I was browsing around for something new to try and I noticed, to my surprise, that I hadn't rated this one! I was sure I had! The aroma was interesting, and suggested it would be a complex, tasty blend. What I got was mostly cheap cigar filler--a rough, dry Burley that tasted like ground-up drugstore cigars.

The Virginia and Latakia? There is a suggestion of them in the aroma of the unburnt tobacco. A suggestion, mind you. And I think I see them. There was nothing subtle, refined, flavorful, distinctive or pleasant about this blend. Moderately seasoned sawdust.

I had to convince myself that there was something redeeming about the blend the entire time I smoked it. I have no idea how it garnered such high ratings from other reviewers. After smoking this, and the other purchases I made, I am very suspicious of anything from Cornell & Diehl that has Burley in it.

Maybe I got a bad batch. Or bad batches. Or maybe Cornell & Diehl are pulling the wool over your eyes with this "1001 flavors of Burley" scam.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
AC
Jul 12, 2017 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
This is a great and classic smoke. In my quest of trying to find new (bulk) "companions" for my favorite C&D Burley Flake #1 & #4, I came across C&D's Golden Ash. It has a similar profile, save the fact that the sweetness of Flake #4 is somewhat attenuated in Golden Ash. Still, it is flavorful, complex, and often surprising. I find it smokes particularly well in the greater sized bowls, which I prefer anyway. Highly recommended!
Pipe Used: Custombilt
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 14, 2019 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
This one is starting to grow on me. I remember the very first time I smoked it. I was on my way home from work. I was tired, hungry and a bit under the weather. This tobacco knocked me on my butt. I’ve smoked many bowls since, and that never happened again. It’s actually medium strength at best. Quite perfect in the nicotine department. This definitely falls into the C&D burley based genre by taste. Although it’s an English by definition. Typical Virginia and burley tobacco characteristics. The difference with this one though is that the Latakia smooths out all the rough edges. For a hand blended tobacco, it melds incredibly. I definitely can’t single out the cavendish. The Latakia is almost undetectable on its own also, but my experience helps me recognize the roll it plays bringing everything together. This could be a great smoke on a cold January night, or great on a dog day August afternoon. Behaves well. Puts out lots of smoke and the cut is perfection. Highly recommended if you enjoy other C&D burley blends. UPDATE; I now DO detect the cavendish at certain points while smoking Golden Ash. It’s a very enjoyable toasty nutty flavor. Not sweet or goopy, and adds some nice body to the blend.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 30, 2016 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Golden Ash is a light American English that smells in the pouch mainly of Burley and Virginia. In the pipe, the Latakia is present, but it is only condimental. My complaint with many C&D blends is the roughness of some of their Virginias and the desire to use Burley in so many of their English blends. In this case, the Virginias were smooth, and the Burley added some nutty and earthy quality to the blend. There is no bite and it burns cool. The Burley doesn’t turn bitter in the later stages of the bowl either. As mentioned, the Latakia is lightly used, but it is noticeable. I smoked a total of one ounce of this and didn’t see any Virginia flake in mine, although it could have been ground down. All in all, a decent blend for fans of lighter, American style English blends.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 21, 2015 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Certainly an American English, Golden Ash is aptly named as the appearance is that of golden crushed ash as the cube burley is about as fine a cube cut as I have found. In fact, I do not recommend this blend in pipes with open air chambers as the leaf can get sucked up into the shank and stem right along with the smoke. Similar in taste to the old HOW Barking Dog, but with a little more Latakia flavor and less bitter.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 10, 2018 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
Cornell & Diehl - Golden Ash.

A pleasant enough smoke, just a little boring.

The Burley holds a firm first place, with the Virginia and Cavendish supporting. I get the least flavour from the Latakia, a touch of woodiness but not Lat Bomb smokiness. It burns very well, necessitating little maintenance, delivering a medium temperature, bite free, smoke.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: pleasant enough.

Golden Ash? It's okay, but can't have any higher than two stars:

Somewhat recommended.
Pipe Used: Peterson Spigot XL02
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: New
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 25, 2014 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
I am fortunate enough to have a B&M near me who stocks few aromatics and lots of english and natural blends. I had never heard of this blend before, but since it is a C&D burley blend, I thought it was worth trying, and I'm glad I did. It's a very pleasant old style American burley/Va with some latakia. It's a bit of a cameleon in that it's taste varies from pipe to pipe, but this keeps it interesting. The main player is burley with the Va and Latakia in the background, though with some pipes the Va and Latakia are much more prominent. I like the fine cut which I can just gravity feed and it's ready to smoke. It burns very easily and is great to puff on when reading or otherwise engaged. It is not a knock your socks off blend, but a pleasant and reliable companion. I like it enough to have 1/2 pound around. Fittingly enough, this American style blend smokes best in my American made Edward's pipes. C&D says it is an old Amar blend, so it has probably been around for around 50 years and has withstood the test of time. If you like the Ronkowski blends such as Haunted Book Shop and Morley's Best, you will probably like this.
3 people found this review helpful.
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