Cornell & Diehl Manhattan Afternoon

(3.00)
Cornell & Diehl's Manhattan Afternoon is a naturally sweet golden Virginia leaf, with a drop of honey, sliced into flakes.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Series Simply Elegant Series
Blended By Craig Tarler
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type Straight Virginia
Contents Virginia
Flavoring Honey
Cut Flake
Packaging 2 ounce tin
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

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

Average Rating

3.00 / 4
12

19

8

2

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 41 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 05, 2010 Mild Mild Mild Very Pleasant
This is "sippin' leaf," for sure... A lightly topped (with honey), Virginia leaf that is smooth, cool and slow burning due to the flake cut. I smoked very slowly for best results. It'll deliver a nice palate pleasing taste but won't rattle your cage with strength.
13 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 14, 2014 Mild Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
The Virginia is a little spicy with a few tangy citrus, grass, acidic, earth notes. The honey topping is light, but noticeable. Not complex, but it's a pleasant enough smoke, though the spice is kind of tingly on the tongue, but it won't bite. At times, it disrupts the smoothness of the smoke. The strength is mild, and the taste is a couple of steps past that mark. Has a very mild nic-hit. Burns fairly cool and very clean at a slow to moderate pace with a mostly consistent flavor. Requires a few relights, and needs to be sipped for full enjoyment. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, but no dottle. Has a decent, short lived after taste, and room note. Can be an all day work and play smoke. Deserves another half star, but it's too monochromatic to be a three star blend.

-JimInks
11 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 31, 2013 Medium Mild to Medium Medium Pleasant
I first tried this blend fresh out of the tin and while a very flavorful smoke, it was a touch moist for my tastes and was hard to keep lit and it tended to be a little burning on my tongue. I left the tin open for a few days and it dried to a nice moisture content and mellowed into a very pleasant smoke. It has been pressed and cut into thick ribbon flakes and it is a medium brown in color. They are rather long flakes and can be smoked either rubbed out if you like it moist, or as is if you let it dry somewhat. It has a very sweet clean tin aroma, smelling of the straight VA that it is but you can also get a whiff of the honey flavoring added. I have found in the past that honey flavoring can make a blend smoke hot, but this is not the case with this blend. It has just a hint of sweetness to the already sweet flavor of the VA. Moist and you can pack it to tight but dried a little and it packs nice in the pipe and gives a nice slow smoke that stays lit pretty well. It burns slowly down to the bottom of the pipe with a medium grey ash and just a little dry dottle at the bottom of the bowl. The room note is a pleasant sweet VA aroma and not overwhelming at all to others. OK, here is why I did not give it a 4 star rating, while it gives pleasant smoke and my tin did seem to empty awful fast, if you smoke it even a tiny bit fast it will bite. But smoked slow, it I very satisfying. I also would have liked for it to have been cut thinner to speed up the drying process and to make it where it would be easier to roll out before smoking. Overall, this is a very enjoyable smoke, jut not among the top ones out there. Well worth a try though.
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 10, 2017 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Mild Very Pleasant
Cornell & Diehl - Manhattan Afternoon.

Medium brown, sweet smelling, easy to prepare, flakes.

The flavour would be perfect for a lazy day in the sun. A notable honey addition, but it isn't too strong. As well as the moderately applied sweet note, there's high quality Virginia leaf. I get no tongue bite, it burns well, and I find the temperature relatively low.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: super.

I've been looking for some blends to take on holiday with me and this will be one of them! Highly recommended:

Four stars.
Pipe Used: Various
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: Three months
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 01, 2016 Medium to Strong Very Mild Medium Tolerable
I was anxious to try this blend as it seemed to be similar to Interlude that I enjoyed a lot. I was given a pretty small sample of this one in Chicago that only worked out to be two and a half bowls, so I don't feel like I really had enough to give a solid review. This review is probably more for my own recollection rather than being helpful to others, but here I go anyway.

This is a Virginia blend touched by some honey as the description says. This is the same combination as is in interlude. I found this to be a little fuller than Interlude and not quite as enjoyable even though I still did enjoy this one. A friend of mine found the exact opposite with regard to the fullness of the vas, so I guess like anything else tobacco, we all have our own tastes.

The Virginia in this and, all the other simply elegant series, does taste like Virginia should. I say that because many C&D blends that contain Virginia tend to come off as burley tasting with some harshness. The SE series tend to give you all the hay sweetness you would expect with a good amount of nicotine as well. The honey topping is light yet does seem to heat up the blend a little as you are smoking it.

I am leaving this at three stars until I have had a chance to try out a full tin and can more accurately share my impressions.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 05, 2013 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Mild Strong
After a long debauch with strong dark flakes I felt the need for a lighter virginia. Remembering C&D's sublime Opening Night I thought it might be time to crack open that five year old tin of Manhattan Afternoon I'd been cellaring and give it a try. A light Va, delicately sweetened with honey sounded like just the ticket.

The smell on opening the tin was surprisingly strong and acrid, redolent of wet hay and young plums. Smoked right from the tin gave a bitey, acrid smoke that wouldn't let me parse the flavors correctly. Letting it dry out a bit gave a much more pleasant smoke, but still not the sweet Va with a hint of honey that I was hoping for. The honey is definitely noticeable if you slow down -- a lot -- but the honey doesn't integrate with the flake so much as sit lightly on top of it. One thing is clear, though, as others have said, this must be sipped very slowly to be appreciated.

bteddy says that it "has a somewhat barn taste". I think there's something to that. That's why I think calling this blend Manhattan Afternoon is a misnomer, since there's nothing simply elegant and urbane about it. I think Morning Hayride or Podunk Barnraising would be closer to the mark.

I can understand what others see and appreciate in this flake, but it was not what I was expecting. It's not a sweet nor a creamy smoke. Still, it's not a terrible smoke, so I'll finish the tin and update my review if my opinion changes.

Update 07/17/13:

I do not find this an agreeable flake. I'm almost through the tin, and I have not had a single relaxing bowl: the cut is difficult to work with; it smokes very hot; it needed constant tending to. The flavor occupies a unique alto range that I like, but I suspect the honey turns the flake acrid rather than sweet when burning, which gives it a sharp character that is unpleasant to my tastebuds.

I've had a few sips that revealed its secrets to me, but it's too little reward for the effort: the flake requires such a slow smoking rhythm, is too acrid, and requires so much attention when burning that it's not worth the trouble.

That said, though I think it's not a smoke that most will enjoy, I suspect there are some for whom the flavor will hit the bullseye, since it is a quality flake that occupies a unique flavor profile. So I think it's worth the gamble for the serious virginia flake lover who wants to try something different in a medium-key smoke that's acrid but with hints of sweetness. But it's definitely not for me.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 15, 2014 Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Full Pleasant
This tin comes in a very easy to light, if done right, flake. It's a very long lasting light smoke.

During the entire bowl, even the end, I got a great subtle honey overtone. A greatly done casing. The main flavor was a solid C & D bright Virginia. The room note was obviously great. The wife loved it.

This blend isn't exactly as mellow as some, but I enjoyed that factor. Still an all day smoke, and one I would like to stuff a pipe with, and drive across the country. A must try.
Pipe Used: AKB Freehand Meerschaum, H.I.S Egg Bent
PurchasedFrom: Smoking Pipes
Age When Smoked: New
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 17, 2019 Mild to Medium Mild Medium to Full Very Pleasant
If you are looking for a blend with a variety of tobaccos, you need NOT apply. This blend is EXACTLY what it says on the tin, i.e.; SIMPLY ELEGANT! So don't expect smokiness from latakia, or woodsy, spicy nuances of Turkish/Orientals, or undertones of dates and raisins you would get from Perique. Why you ask? Because, there are none of those tobaccos in this blend. hence the word SIMPLY, it's a derivative of simplicity. This is a Va blend with a touch of honey... that is IT. That said, this blend is for a pipe smoker who enjoys the taste and simplicity of pure Virginia tobacco. In this case Va flakes, with an added sweetness from the purest source mother nature provides us with-honey. That honey adds to the already sweet nature of the Virginia tobacco, in addition to nuances of earthiness, nuttiness, and a bit of hay. Yes HAY, like Virginia is suppose to taste like. There is a spiciness as well and I will agree there is a bit of tingle that hits your tongue, if puffed to quickly. The blend is certainly more enjoyable if smoked at a slow pace. I cannot understand why people do not take heed to what the label says. In other words, C & D did not produce this blend with any intention of it being complex, and therefore, in my humble opinion, does not take away from rating of the blend. I give a rating based on the tobacco that is in the tin, period. This tobacco does not deserve any lesser of a rating because it doesn't have the complexities of a Balkan or an English style blend. If want a burger with cheese, I order a cheeseburger. I don't order a hamburger and then complain it wasn't good because it didn't have cheese on it; it wasn't suppose to. Or, complain that Ragu or the "GRAVY' had meat in it, when I should have ordered marinara. Final word... This blend contains high quality Virginia tobacco, with a really nice added sweetness from the honey. If you are a VA lover or someone who is looking to veer off the path of just Aromatics, by all means this is an excellent blend to try. Additionally, if you are looking for a blend that is not so complex, that you don't have think too much about, that you want to take your time with and enjoy- this is it. I love all blends, I am huge fan of English and Balkan blends, and this blend was perfect for when I wanted something different from that. I could easily smoke this blend all day, it has just the right earthy, mellow blend, that if I had to sum it up in two words, for some reason "Simply Elegant" comes to mind. Wink.
Pipe Used: Petersons
PurchasedFrom: Smokling pipes
Age When Smoked: Fresh
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 07, 2016 Mild to Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
Mine came as a small sample. It had a good level of hydration - maybe a hair on the dry side. I rubbed out the flakes. The pipe of choice was a GBD pot that favors Virginias.

I pick up a slight citrus and some hay. There is a hint of honey, but the topping is very mild. It is slightly sweet and smoked easily. I found the flavor consistent but with some added strength at the bottom of the bowl.

This was a satisfying and tasty smoke. It is not especially complex, but it is pleasantly satisfying. Virginias are reported to burn "hot" and this one did not for me.

For a similar smoking experience in a ribbon, try C&D Virginia Ribbon.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 28, 2013 Mild Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Tolerable to Strong
somewhat acrid, with a small hint of sweetness from the honey. as others have said it almost tastes like a barn.

smoking qualitys: burns very hot and needs a lot of attention whiles smoking it very slowly.

Im mostly a fan of burley, but i thought id like a light virginia for a change, cant really say im impressed by this blend unfortunatly.

appologies for my bad writing skills...this is not my native language.
4 people found this review helpful.
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