Cornell & Diehl Joie de Vivre

(3.23)
Joie de vivre, that magnificent ability to see the joy in everything, and the very embodiment of the festive spirit of New Orleans, is the inspiration for this singular, eminently cellar worthy blend. A foundation of fragrant Latakia and sweet red Virginia is joined by equal amounts of Perique and Katirini Turkish to enhance complexity, and then finished by a dash of unsweetened Black Cavendish for extra smoothness. Estimated peak: 8-12 years from tin date. But it's delicious right now!

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Series Cellar Series
Blended By  
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type English
Contents Black Cavendish, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Krumble Kake
Packaging 2 oz Tin
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
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.23 / 4
5

6

2

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 13 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 04, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The musty sweet Cyprian Latakia provides a fair amount of smoke, earth, woody, floralness, light incense and spice, and while it is a star component, it doesn't drown out the other tobaccos. The red Virginia offers plenty of tangy, dried dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, sugar, mild citrus, floralness, and touches of spice and vinegar as a supporting player. The Turkish is a little woody, earthy, herbal, floral, spicy, dry and slightly sour as it produces secondary support. The earthy, woody, plumy, spicy, raisiny perique is noticeable is every puff. It is a couple of notches above the condiment line. There is a light creamy brown sugar sweetness from the unflavored black cavendish that tames any potentiality of harshness. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is a step behind them. No chance of bite or harshness, and has very light rough notes. May benefit from a light dry time. Well balanced with some complexity, it burns cool, clean and slow, and I suggest packing your bowl loosely or risk the tobacco hardening at the bottom, especially if you are a wet smoker. The fruity, sweet, floral, spicy, smoky flavor is mostly consistent to the finish. Has a pleasant after taste, and room note. It is repeatable during the day, but isn't quite an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks
16 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 20, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
A very nice tasting English. The components are melded together giving, at first, a "traditional" English flavor profile. Perhaps a little sweeter than "traditional" due to the addition of the Black Cav. Not a great deal sweeter, but mildly sweeter. That's probably good for the aging process. There is a fair amount of Perique which becomes more evident the deeper into the bowl you get. It's nice and spicey by the time you get toward the end. Medium in body and taste. Perfect moisture right out of the tin. Crumbles easily and burns perfectly. Seems like a blend that will age nicely. I'm adding it to my stash. Once again, I'm reserving a star until I've tasted the aged product. 3 stars for now.
Pipe Used: MM General, MM Country Gentleman
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: fresh
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 13, 2018 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
I've decided to review to cellar series blends from C&D upon purchase (or thereabout) and after the recommended amount of aging to see the changes. I intend to update the review after that period of time has elapsed.

Now:

Wow is that a potent tin note. It smells most strongly of peat. As a fan of peated whisky it already has me excited.

This looks and acts more like a crumble cake than the plugs I've experienced, and I found slicing or breaking off bits and crumbling are both fine methods of preparation, with neither being better than the other. The taste is that of a sweet English. It is very smoky, peaty, and earthy. This one grows one you, even though it already started out good.

My video review of this blend unaged can be found here:

https://youtu.be/B1SuT9M2-4w

Aged:

Stay tuned.

Pipe Used: SMS Meerschaum Skater
PurchasedFrom: Smoking Pipes
Age When Smoked: Unknown
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 15, 2015 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
Joie De Vivre is an absolutely wonderful English blend. Popping the lid off of a sealed tin dated 3/14, I am greeted with the wonderfully smoky and strong smell of the Latakia, and a nice compact 2 oz cake of tobacco. It is obvious while looking at the cake, that the tobacco is of high quality and due to the presentation, there will be no twiggy or woody bits mixed in the tobacco. I’ve had these tins both fresh and with some age on them and I have to say that as they age they become much darker in appearance, almost jet black, and as they age, they tend to become much smoother. The tin note is rather enticing, with the earthy aromas of a smoky hardwood campfire, that is slightly peaty. As for the Virginia, there is a very faint or subtle sweetness that can be smelled in the tin, but the aroma is hard to detect due to the Latakia. The Orientals and the Perique is much harder for me to detect in the tin note, but again the Latakia is truly the star of the show here. The moisture level of this particular tin is spot on perfect and there was no drying time needed before being able to smoke, however I have gotten some tins that needed to be broken up and set aside for quite some time due to being overly moist. I suspect that the moisture level is intentional as the cellar series of tobaccos are intended to be aged and be at their best in ten to fifteen years. Breaking the tobacco up and rubbing it out was rather easy, but as the cake ages, I have noticed that they will become much firmer and I have had some that I have had to cut like a plug. Once broken up or cut into fine ribbons, the tobacco is easy to pack and readily takes a flame. Upon lighting, the first flavors that I notice come from the Latakia, and there is a rich smokiness and creaminess that it brings to the blend. I have to say that the Latakia is silky smooth in this blend and plays beautifully with the Virginia, Perique, Turkish, and Cavendish. The Virginia provides just a hint of sweetness and works well with the slightly tea like flavors that I get from the Turkish. The Cavendish provides the blend with just a slight nuttiness and smoothness that works well with the creamy Latakia. The Perique definitely lets you know it’s in the mixture with its spicy mouth feel, but I have a hard time detecting the flavors of this tobacco through the Latakia. As for burn characteristics, I did not have to tend this blend at all, and when finished, the tobacco burned down to a fine white powdery ash which made cleaning the pipe rather simple, only requiring that I run a pipe cleaner through the stem and around the inside of the bowl to remove any remaining moisture. As for the room note, those around me made mention that the tobacco smelled much like a hardwood fire, so I take that to mean that it is tolerable. Overall, I have been very satisfied with Joie De Vivre, and it has quickly become my favorite of the cellar series. I can only imagine what it will continue to become with ten years or more of age. With this in mind, I purchased several tins so that I could smoke a tin now, and cellar several, comparing my notes later on down the road. I would recommend this blend to anyone who enjoys a silky smooth creamy Latakia blend.
Pipe Used: Various Dunhills
PurchasedFrom: PipesandCigars.com
Age When Smoked: fresh from tin and tins aged two years
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 23, 2014 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Very Pleasant
This is a fantastic blend and since it is of the new CD cellar series, it will be very interesting to see how this progresses with time. This blend is not flooded with Latakia, quite refreshing. Now don't get me wrong, I love the smoky condiment, but find that so many blends are overloaded and so strongly impart its essence, almost exclusively. This blend allows for one to really enjoy the fine sweetish, VAs and the Turkish gives a nice sour counterpoint. Perique is added, not shyly, and as a result it helps to monitor the other elements, keeping all in check. The Cav gives some fuller body, mind you this is not sweetened black Cav, but a stoved Burley which adds to the overall body of this preparation. The moisture content was perfect in the 2 cakes and they broke easily apart and took the flame quite well. Once lit the volume of smoke was impressive. One word to describe this would be difficult, but I would have to say "balanced", and indeed it is. I have 6 tins on the way and have not been able to pull myself away from the heady aroma and wonderful mouth feel since opening this artistically labeled tin. Some will go to the cellar for sure, but some will find a place in one of my pipes daily. One bowl was very filling, but I'm a bit of a glutton and find two or three during the day suits me very well. Highest recommendation! MJBWY
Pipe Used: Stanwell bulldog
PurchasedFrom: Pipesandcigars.com
Age When Smoked: Fresh Tin
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 19, 2020 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable to Strong
Wow, I don't get this one.... yet. I accept that its part of the "cellar series" and is supposed to have some real aging potential. And I've stuck a few jars in the cellar to give them time, but cracked one to try it. What a funky little blend right now....

The red virginias are way out front, fermented flavor, tangy. The tin note is atrocious -- smells like old sweat socks mixed with moonshine. I found the smoke overwhelming and unbalanced. There was a sour fruit note that kept trying to dominate. The various component flavors were vying and fighting, not harmonized at all.

I sense potential with age, but I've had it in a jar for 4 months now and still find it unpleasant. I think this is a high quality tobacco, I think it may age into something special, but fresh it's really funky.
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 25, 2018 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Cornell & Diehl - Joie De Vivre (Cellar Series).

It's nice to have a spare hour to sit and post a review. My divorce has monopolized my week, so far! This, however, has brought me some joy!

My kind of plug! Meaning, it's more of a kake than a plug; easily prepared. Sure, a lot of folks will think it too moist, but I like tobaccos to have a scintilla of moisture to them; easier to dry out than it is to rehydrate. Albeit, it smokes fine fresh.

I'm inclined to stand with the reviewers who find it fuller tasting. It has a lot going on: the Lat' leads but doesn't 'govern' the smoke. A Lat-Bomb it isn't. The Virginia adds a fruity, sweetness, and then there's some sharpness from the Perique; there seems to be a good dose of Perique in this. The black Cavendish lends a creamy, silkiness, to the smoke and the Oriental an arboraceous, woody, top-note. I can't fault the burn: cool, reliable, slow, distributing a bite-free smoke.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: pleasant to tolerable.

Joie De Vivre? The highlight of my tough week 😉 Four stars:

Highly recommended.
Pipe Used: Erik Nording Freehand
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: 03/25/14
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 11, 2017 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
I popped my first tin of this well before the estimated peak as my tin was nearly four years old at the time. I can't say I was too crazy about this one. It contains many ingredients and they all just meld together to form a smoke that is less than alright to my palate.

There is an overriding sour taste to it, likely the result of the orientals, that is my primary turn off on this smoke. I did not find the latakia to be as prevalent as other reviewers did, in fact, I found it pretty tame with respect to latakia. The presence of perique was definitely felt, yet was not overwhelming.

Virginia seemed to be the primary focus in the blend. Since this is the cellar series and since no other tobacco benefits from aging more than Virginia, this is as it should be. IMO I think the other elements are doing too much to effect the taste of the Virginia. Maybe in 8 to 12 yrs when this peaks (per the description) the latakia and oriental will mellow some and it will provide the flavor described. As I have another tin, I will pop that one at that time and report back.

To me, this is just kind of confused tasting as it just does not deliver a good taste to my palate. There were moments, however, that this did come off as a good three star smoke, but those moments were fleeting. I would put this between two to three stars, but to my palate it is two and that is where I am leaving it for now. If, after smoking the next tin at the estimated peak, I find this to have achieved the expected flavor, I may add a star.
Pipe Used: Basil Meadows Merchant Service Bing
Age When Smoked: 3 yrs. 8 months
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 10, 2015 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
This is a great English. Smokes beautifully. Great Latakia flavor and tones. Goes really well with a cup of Earl Gray. Can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the Cellar Series from C&D.
Pipe Used: Various
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: Fresh Tin (3 months from tinning)
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 04, 2020 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
A very pleasant blend, but not for me a show-stopper. Red Virginia, Latakia, Périque, Oriental—all favourites of mine. What's not to like? Well, for me, the balance was wrong.

The topnote is red Virginia, pleasant but not exceptional. The Latakia was present but not dominant, which I liked. The Katirini oriental added a very nice light, grassy aroma. The black Cavendish was hardly noticeable. But where was the Périque?

Now, I admit I'm a Périque nut. I smoke it straight on occasion (it's surprisingly smooth & mellow, tho fearsomely strong), but a small amount is also a great addition to almost any blend. But this blend is supposed to evoke olden times in New Orleans. Admittedly, St. James parish is 60 miles west of N.O., but still, I expected a heavy hit of Périque—and didn't get it.

I would like to try the "Turkish" Katirini on its own, but it seems to be rare & hard to get hold of.

Now I've got that off my chest, this blend is still worthy of praise. The Krumble Kake cut does indeed crumble easily, with hardly any rubbing. It smokes smooth and mellow and medium-mild to the bottom of the bowl. Overall, a good blend, but not quite 4 star.
Pipe Used: Carey Magic Inch, briar churchwarden
PurchasedFrom: smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: Fresh in tin
1 person found this review helpful.
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