Cornell & Diehl Old College

(3.13)
An outstanding blend of Latakia, black cavendish, Virginia and burley. A surprisingly smooth taste.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Blended By Cornell & Diehl
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type American
Contents Black Cavendish, Burley, Latakia, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging Bulk
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
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

3.13 / 4
5

7

3

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 15 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 26, 2007 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
Now this is my kind of tobacco. A Latakia blend with both a bold taste and strength! This American style English blend is about three steps up from Barking Dog and one bowl will satisfy your pipe desire for awhile.

The Virginia and Burley in this blend contain an unusual amount of strength and the Latakia plays somewhat in the background although you will sure taste it. The cut is somewhat broad, yet small and it loads and packs easily. I have found few C&D blends that do not stay lit well and this one fits in with the majority.

Strength and Flavor.... I'm going back to Old College soon.
10 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 14, 2014 Medium Very Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The flavor profile is of a sweet, smoky, Burley with just a hint of toast. Medium bodied and flavored. I think the Black Cav has just a touch of artificial sweetness. Not a problem for me. I think it's a nice touch. All in all, it's enjoyable and satisfying.
Pipe Used: MM General, MM Country Gentleman, MM Freehand
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
Dec 11, 2014 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Tolerable
Leaf/Looks: Somewhat flaky Virginias, the rest is a ribbon cut. Tin Aroma/Smell: Very light on the latakia, subtle sweetness. Not overpowering at all. Pleasant to the nose Taste: Straight forward mild english blend. Very well put together. The latakia is very light after the initial light up. Slight nutty taste on the retrohale. The Virginias are very nice and sweet. Not a whole lot to say about this blend. It is a tasty english blend from start to finish. There is no hidden complexity, and its well blended. Nothing in there is overpowering at all. Smoke Ability: Smokes great with no relights down to the bottom of the bowl Drying Time: 20 minutes tops didn't need a whole lot of time
Pipe Used: Cobs, Briar
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: New
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 19, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
C&D has been my main tobacco preference for several years now. I've always been impressed with their quality and consistency. Even after the business deal with smokingpipes.com I've not seen a single skip in their beat of consistency. This should give comfort to those seeking a company with a reputation for quality and consistency. All of this is a segue into my absolute endorsement of their bulk line of tobaccos. My tastes run from Old Joe Krantz to Pegasus to Big N' Burley as my main smokes. Old College fills a gap for that all day smoke that keeps your interest but is consistent.

Upon first light Old College may seem like a Latakia powerhouse but very quickly mellows out into a sweet, smokey and slightly nutty blend. There's not a lot of variation after the first calming down and remains consistent to the end of the bowl. The only (minor) drawbacks may be some slight ashiness towards the bottom and a slight, but not unpleasant, burley bitterness on relights that have sat for longer than 15 minutes. The cavendish really smooths out this blend and for those who did not like the bitterness of Morley's Best this blend may be more to your liking if you want a bit of latakia.

Overall a very good blend that is certainly worthy of consideration if you're a pipe smoker looking for a blend that is a bridge between different genres. It's perfect for the English smoker looking to get into burley's or vice versa. It also can bridge the Virginia smoker into English or burley blends. It's quite tame and there wasn't ever a moment of nip or nicotine overload. It's no weakling either and will certainly satisfy with a pipe load. It's not a blend that will wow you into cellaring pounds and pounds but it one to keep on hand for when you need an easy smoker and like a bit of latakia. Certainly recommended and I would jar this for 3 months before trying to let the leaves get to know each other a bit.
Pipe Used: Upshall Bent Rhodesian
PurchasedFrom: www.smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: 3 months
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 19, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Old College is another rough/chopped cut tobacco from C&D that arrived with just the right amount of moisture. At first light it was a bit sharp, but quickly settled down. I was having a hard time finding the right pipe for this blend and found it worked best for me in a very wide (for me) bowl of about an inch. OC is smoky, but not a Lat bomb, and at points a touch of sweetness would pop in and out. While not what I would call a strong blend, it does have some kick to it compared to many English blends. I did wish for a bit of Turkish that this blend seems to lack. At the bottom quarter of the bowl OC turned a little acrid. I sometimes can smoke a little quickly and I think I may have avoided this late bowl foulness had a slowed a bit. By the time I was finished with the ounce of OC I bought, I was left wondering why I find many of the C&D English blends tasty, but I would be hard pressed to find one that fit into my regular rotation. I think most often it is because the common habit, at least with the blends I have tried, to add Burley to many of their English blends. I think it is also because I find a lot of C&D’s blends to lack the “polish” that I view many of my favorite English blends seem to have (Dunhill, Schurch, Pipeworks & Wilke etc.) although I thought the discontinued Orient Express was pretty darn good. I haven’t given up on C&D and I don’t claim to have the “corner” on English blends, but this isn’t good enough to buy again, C&D lovers may feel differently.
Pipe Used: Several, but large bowled Morrisette worked best.
Age When Smoked: New
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 08, 2015 Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
This could easily become my everyday go-to English smoke. Per other reviews it is an interesting cut but to me that adds to the character....kinda "rustic". It burns nicely, evenly, and has a pleasant, good overall character. I'd recommend it for anyone wishing to venture into the non-aromatic English blends.
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
Oct 23, 2007 Mild to Medium Mild Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Boy, is this stuff good. I love American Englishes and this is one of the best I've had in a long time. I've been smoking it in a variety of MacArthur and General cobs and if I were ever to choose an "all-day smoke," this would among my top choices.

Burley, latakia, black cavendish, and Virginia. Those are the ingredients according to C&D's website. I don't know if the cavendish is sweetened or not, but there's only a pinch of it in this blend, which has an undercurrent of unobtrusive sweetness that I quite like. It's got a nice strength, too--not too powerful, but by no means weak. Perfect for smoking bowl after bowl, which I've been doing. If you like the combination of earthy burley and latakia, you'll like this.

Old College packs and lights with ease, and I don't go through very many matches while smoking it. This is classic stuff and you should try it if you haven't already.
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 11, 2006 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
This is a funny tobacco. I'm not quite certain what I expected from the sample that I had, but I think that I was hoping for a singular latakia moment, for the latakia to overwhelm me. The pouch presence was unremarkable, shades of blacks and browns. I could not detect that characteristic twinge of the nose, like from a John Cotton. "Old college" spoke to me of undergraduate days when my professors preferred BSWHite or Constantinople, and the air in the classroom resembled a Turkish train station. Here, latakia didn't push the limits. The sensation was more of a well-balanced medium strength blend, perhaps suggesting even an all-day smoke. The latakia and virginias were present and obvious, while the burleys provided a smooth under-base and the cavendish offset any bitterness. All-in-all, a very serviceable American latakia blend, w/o bite and a clean burn to the bottom of the pipe.
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 21, 2020 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Old College is a well balanced English/American blend. I don't have the palate to describe nuances of blends [As an inhaler I'm told that I'm missing out on subtleties of flavour] but I can say that no one leaf dominates the other. It's just really well balanced. 7formy1911 makes a good point that OC does benefit from a few months jarred [I've found that many blends taste much better several days after being jarred] for the leaves to harmonise.

The latakia is noticeable in every puff but it certainly does not dominate. It's the right amount for my tastes. Closer to mild to medium than medium. It's a rather smooth smoke.

Nicotine is a couple of steps past mild. As I'm used to smoking blends with mild nicotine, OC is not an all day smoke for me but for those who like a touch of Lady N this could be an all day satisfying smoke for sure. [I'm very sensitive to Vit N so please don't get the wrong impression. There's just enough for me to notice]

Old College is best for me smoked in an MM cob. A smooth satisfying well balanced English/American. 3.5 stars.

Pipe Used: MM cobs.
PurchasedFrom: www.tobaccopipes.com
Age When Smoked: One year old.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 13, 2020 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
Similar to Old Court, minus the Perique. Pouch aroma is a wonderfully toasted aroma of burley with a nice addition of smokiness from the Latakia. A little sweet note from the cavendish, and a slight vinegar from the Virginia. Short, choppy ribbon makes packing easy. Typical moisture level of C&D bulks, slightly on the dry side (which I prefer). Initial lighting is easy with this moisture level.

Upon lighting, the Latakia seems to fight the burley for the most attention. The Va offers very little sweetness. As of now, this blend smokes hot and acrid with a very sharp tone. This like many other C&D bulk blends seems very, very young. For now, I see this as a 1 star blend. I will age this at least a year and come back to it.

Stay tuned...….

Update 6-2-20

Even with just a 6 weeks this blend has leveled out and melded well. The sharp tones are gone, amd a nice medium-full English blend is What we have now. From 1 star to 3! I recommend this, but age it a few months to a year!
Pipe Used: several
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: fresh
2 people found this review helpful.
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