Cornell & Diehl - Simply Elegant Series: Manhattan Afternoon pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 22 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
bteddy	02/24/2013	Very Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Tolerable
Not what I expected, there are many better Virginia blends on the market, this was way too mild for my taste with hardly any note of honey. Has a somewhat barn taste - like wet grass clippings, didn't even finish the bowl.
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Pipe-arazzo	04/16/2011	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
The blenders at C&D, not to mention their many happy customers, must have very different palates to mine. I won't judge their taste, and trust they'll extend me the same courtesy. This was yet again a disappointment to me. Imagine making a sandwich out of untoasted white bread and hay. That's about the flavor I got from this, no matter how dry or wet or rubbed out I smoked it. Toward the end of the tin, after it had dried out too much and had to be re-hydrated, there was more sweetness (perhaps really a muting of the other flavors, allowing the sweetness to come to the forefront) and more nicotene. That was better, but still nothing to write home about. I still have some C&D blends in my cellar and in my list to try, but so far my luck with them is dismal.
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Pipe Gent	03/03/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Searching through hordes of aromatics, I finally found a tobacco that could be smoked indoors, yet that still retained the "pure" tobacco taste. I enjoy a true aromatic on occasion, but this is great--it just straddles the line between aromatic and straight virginia, and allows me to get away with smoking it in the home without offending company. The flakes in the tin I received were lovely to look at, but did fall apart fairly easily. I will admit I am still a flake rookie, but I was able to get a nice bowl going. Upon lighting up, I was surprised to find that although the golden virginias were prominent, the honey was also more noticeable than I expected. However, this is not a negative trait about this tobacco--the honey and the golden virginia marry very nicely together and the experience as a whole was both pleasant and calming. The honey was by no means overpowering and lent itself nicely to a pleasing room note. This might still be too mild for some, and the virginias might not be "unspoilt" enough for the virginia purist. Still, I consistently enjoy it when it is too cold to smoke one of my more robust blends and makes for a nice variation and a peaceful evening. If you are interested in flakes, virginias, and don't mind a drop of honey in your pipe, do try this.
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Nick O'Teen	02/15/2011	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
A pleasant, mild smoke. The honey is not overwhelming and this one burns to nice, white ash. I prefer my Virginias with a little more moxie but would not hesitate to recommend Manhattan Afternoon to someone looking for a milder, sweet smoke.
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Ian	11/14/2010	Mild	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
An anecdote: I sat on the landing over my building's mailboxes waiting for the postman to arrive. This is a blend I've wanted to try for six months, and yet I couldn't wait for it to get here. The tin: I prefer the European-style screw-lid tins, and this was my first American tin. The artwork is lovely, and the neat little note inside made me overjoyed to try know the work that went into this blend. I took a big whiff. Plums plums plums. Almost the same smell as opening a bag of prunes. The flakes are thick and mostly intact, which I can't say from when I buy loose flakes from my tobacconist. Packing and lighting: the flakes were moist and springy. I usually like mine a bit drier, but went ahead anyway...too excited to wait. They folded well and crumbled a bit, which made it easier to get into a small conical Kirsten bowl. It took a little work getting it lit, but it stayed lit and burned evenly. The smoke: Again, plums. A very rich taste. No sign of any honey that I can detect. this burns very cool and no bite (my tongue is sensitive, so that's saying a lot), with no drying. Occasional hints of citrus, and a little bit of hay, but not as much as PS Luxury Navy, my usual go-to. Burns to a grey-white ash. Room note: I gave that rating because I find that inevitably, with a few exceptions, pipe smoke goes stale very fast: aromatics smell like acrid chemicals and virginias smell a bit like cigarettes, so I'm being more objective than the average piper. The sidestream is strong, but the room during the smoke is leafy and sweet and really adds to the experience.
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DoctorHoo	09/13/2010	Mild	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant
I'm going to be presumptious and review MA and Interlude at the same time since they are quite similar and I'm giving them both three stars, even though neither of them is really my thing. They are both obviously well made of high quality tobaccos. Unlike at least one of my fellow reviewers, I like the semi-broken flakes. For me, though, the flavoring is just too strong to enjoy smoking either of them regularly. Someone with a better pallate might be able to taste the subtlties of the tobaccos through the casing through the flavoring but I really can't. Like others have said, though, this would be a great introduction to "real tobacco" for an aromatic smoker Plus, if I ever win the lottery, I will be buying several pounds of one of these to smooth out some of the the over latakiaed or overly nicotined blends that haunt my tobacco shelf.
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Pipestud	09/05/2010	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.
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mskywalker2000	08/30/2010	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Bright Virginia, muted by honey. Honey does not particularly stick out.
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dogwood	07/23/2010	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
it smokes cool and smooth. the flavor is great. it has just enough honey to complement the tobacco but not overpower the subtle sweet flavor. i've been looking for an alternative to hal o' the wynd b/c of it's immense nicotine content. this blend is a good alternative yet not quite as fine as hal which to me is the bench mark. the only downside is the absolutely BONKERS cut that C&D use for their flake tobacco. it would be nice to rub out into ribbons but instead you get tiny useless specks of tobacco. i've found smoking small pieces to burn faster and produce harsh bitter smoke. you must smoke this tobacco in broken flake form or fold large half flakes into your bowl. C&D should just sell this as a crumble cake like briar fox, blockade runner, etc. that's how the tobacco is cut anyway. at least then there would be a logical reason for the odd cut. even with the wierd cut this is still a fantastic blend and well worth checking out.
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EJinVA	12/16/2009	Mild	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This has quickly become one of my favorites. I find it very mellow and delicious, a good relaxing smoke. I can't add much more to the favorable reviews ahead of me. No bite, no bitterness, just a good sweet Virginia.
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Pip	08/28/2009	Very Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
This is a very nice Virginian flake. The flakes rubbed out easily and the moisture content was just right. In both the tin and in the smoke the Honey casing is barely noticeable but, it adds a subtle sweetness to your pallete. Try it with some Drambuie or nice cup of tea to enhance the honey effect even more. I got to bite at all from this one. This is a nice light blend to relax with and enjoy your surroundings.
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Captain bob	07/22/2009	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant
Another winner Flake from C&D. I love them all! The "honey" note comes through ever so slight as you smoke. This is all natural,delicious and sweet Golden Virginia tobacco. Pressed and sliced to perfection. Slices were completely intact and moisture was perfect. An easy rub, crumble and pack. I packed a large bowl two-thirds full and smoked for an hour and a half. It was perfection all the way to the bottom of the bowl. I love Flake tobaccos, the way they burn, smell and taste. You can't go wrong with this one, either. A classic prepared to perfection. Four Stars.
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chgo.piper	03/29/2009	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
sweet, light and tastey. pretty good smoke volume for being a lighter blend. To mild for me though.
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Aunrd	01/28/2009	Mild	None detected	Mild	Pleasant
The fastest I've ever gone through a tin. This was my go to smoke for quite a while. Light and tasty. Highly recommended.
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proc2000	01/01/2009	Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
A nice, slightly sweet tobacco without being overly sweet. It takes awhile to get the packing of this one down correctly, but it burns very nice once you do. Light honey flavoring comes through and is very light. The taste of the tobacco is at the forefront, and is naturally sweet in and of itself. A nice Virginia.
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SmokeKing David	11/09/2008	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Good tobacco; basically Briar Fox with a light honey casing. The honey seems to mute any underlying complexity. So don't expect nuances of flavor. But it burns pretty well and doesn't bite. All in all, a solid choice but not a bell-ringer. This somewhat reminds me of MacBaren burleys, but I like the Macs better because I find they have more depth. The Macs are, to me, just more interesting and satisfying. Govern Yourself Accordingly, SmokeKing David
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Stan	08/13/2008	Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant
Looked like an interesting Virginia flake but smoked too hot for me due to all the brights and honey added. Tried to age it for many months, but stayed about the same.
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Packer	08/13/2008	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
C&D's "Simply Elegant Series" is............. Yet another winner from the Tarler's at C&D. This is the sixth blend I have tried from this GREAT blender of fine tobaccos. I have rated each one 3-4 stars. M A is simply a fine golden Va. I detect no casing, only sweet mild tobacco. After drying and rubbing out I find that M A packs, lights easily, and burns cool. Briar Fox, and Sunday Picnic may be slightly better, but I will be buying more of this for now, and the cellar. It will only get better.........for now a give this one a solid * * *
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NEWMAN	11/26/2007	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant
These nicely prepared flakes are typical of the C&D craft and had an ideal moisture content from the tin for packing. It smoked cool and without bite from start to finish without any further rubout. In my larger sized bowls (5+), some condensation developed in the bottom 1/3 which spoiled the smoke. I didn't taste the honey but enjoyed the sweet tobacco taste. However, overall the smoke was one dimensional but may improve with aging.
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SMOKETSES	10/25/2007	Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Of course, sweet gold Virginia leaf with a dose of honey in the flake. A very good Virginia, with a very beautiful, sweet and natural flavor, which makes me be sure that I was in a hurry to characterize FVF. It is a tobacco of high level which we have to supply in a good quantity and keep him at least 1-2 years. As the reviewers say, when it gets more mature, it will become more enjoyable. Dry till the end, it does not warm up the bowl, no coughing at all. P.S. I need a Joker guys, so I can visit their laboratory. The more you smoke, you understand that it is a TOBACCO. These kind of tobaccos, define to a large extend the smoking philosophy of each country. Americans smoke in a different way than the Europeans and the British.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 22 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >