Tobaccos Cornell & Diehl - Christmas Blend 2016 (Corn Cob Pipe and A Button Nose)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3046)	2016-07-25		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant

The bright Virginia is a little grassy, lightly floral with some tart and tangy citrus. The red Virginia has some tangy ripe dark fruit with a little earth and wood. I observe the red just a little more than the bright. The burley is nutty with some earth, wood and molasses, and a touch of cocoa as an important supporting player. I get mild honey, toast, grass notes from the Virginia cavendish. The black cavendish is in the background, and mainly provides a little brown sugar smoothness. The chocolate topping has a silky richness, along with a slight bitter hit from the chocolate bitters. I notice them more than the subtle vanilla from the marshmallow. The toppings sublimate the tobaccos without drowning them out. The tobacco is more like small pieces rather than cube cut, which helps the burn rate. The nic-hit is fairly mild. The strength and taste levels are mild. Won’t bite, and has no dull or harsh spots. Lightly moist out of tin, I only dried it (a little) twice out of the many bowls I smoked for this review. Not really as complex as my review implies as some of the nuances are very slight, but it burns cool at a slow to regular pace if not dried. Moderate puffing, and a light dry time is recommended. I find it does better in a cob. The flavor is very consistent as the toppings do not weaken at any time. Requires few relights. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, but no goop or dottle. Has a pleasantly lingering sweet, light bitter spice after taste and room note. An all day smoke.

-JimInks

29 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2016-08-23		Mild	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

This is a delightful little aromatic with an unusual, pebble-cut texture that I'd almost describe as "sand cut," because the grains are so fine. I just pour the mixture right into my pipe, give it a gentle tamp, and I'm off to the races. I will tamp a bit more firmly as I progress through the bowl. Doing so, I find, coaxes the most flavorful smoke from this tobacco.

And what an interesting tobacco it is. I get just a little bit of hay and sweetness from the Virginias, but I mostly taste the burley. It's nutty and sweet and creamy. The cocoa note is very present on the nose and also on the palate, supported by a backbone of molasses and a deep fruity note.

The burn is relatively steady, slow, and even, and there is no bite unless you really try to push it.

This is one of those rare aromatics that tastes exactly as it smells. I'm a big fan and will be stocking up for the holiday season.

Three and a half stars.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Perique (163)	2016-09-15		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Corn Cob Pipe (and a button nose) presents as medium brown cube cut, bordering on overly fine. The tin note is predominantly of eggnog and marshmallow, with some light cocoa, vanilla, and caramel.

Takes a match well and burns surprisingly dry for an aromatic. The burley adds a bit of wood and a hint of nuttiness with the flavor profile otherwise reflecting the tin note, albeit with the light chocolate more towards the forefront. In the first third of the bowl, the Virginias are overwhelmed by the flavored Cavendish and burley base, but let's face it: you're not buying this for the Virginia, right? Yet by mid-bowl there's a touch of white sugar on the tongue, suggestive of the portion of quality Virginias that set this series of blends aside from more mundane aromatics. In the final third the Virginias disappear again as the flavored Cavendish reasserts. The final third can get a touch sour with aggressive puffing, so try to take it easy on the cadence here - a challenge given the wonderful Christmas favors.

Overall this is an excellent aromatic, and one that doesn't become a goopy mess by the final third of the bowl. Smokability is far better than the very fine cube cut would suggest. Smokes a bit hot in the pipe, but that heat doesn't translate to the tongue. Leaves surprisingly little moisture in the bowl. This blend pairs exceptionally well with a sweet liqueur, and I look forward to smoking this from Thanksgiving to Christmas with family and guests that always appreciate a nice room note.

*Interestingly, this does seem to come alive in a cob. The power of marketing, or a purpose-built blend? You decide.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2080)	2016-11-29		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Cornell & Diehl - Christmas Blend 2016 (Corn Cob and a Button Nose).

It's been said already, but the blends appearance is a little quirky! I'd describe it as a Micro Cube: it's an obvious cube-cut blend, but the cubes are tiny. The tin gives off a lovely aroma, one that's not just sweet. It smells a bit like Baileys Irish Cream liqueur.

On to the smoking: as the cubes are tiny getting a burn going's an easy job. And then, straight away, I notice the immense volume of smoke this produces; OPEN EVERY WINDOW IN THE HOUSE! Joking apart though, it gives a wonderfully flavoured smoke. I find the added tastes a little stronger than the other reviewers up to now do: chocolaty and creamy with a touch of eggnog. To be fair, more of the tobaccos' can be detected for the initial part of the bowl, especially the Virginia, but the casing gets stronger as the burn progresses. And whilst I'm on the subject of the burn, it's a very good one. Despite the fairly strong casing tongue bite needs a bit of imploring to occur; I smoked three bowls back-to-back this morning and didn't get bitten until halfway through my third.

I find the nicotine just above mild, yet not quite medium, and the room-note very pleasant.

I always look forward to the Christmas blends, my favourite to date being Peterson Holiday Season 2014. I couldn't have this one as a go-to blend, but I think it will make a perfect smoke for the Christmas period.

Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Peterson Harp #05

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Doctor Willet (13)	2018-11-20		Mild	Medium	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I recently opened an sixteen-month-old tin of this blend, and was instantly overcome by scent of chocolate liqueur—which I'm almost certain is in the topping. After some more deep whiffs, I caught the unmistakable aroma of Burley, as well as Virginias, and hints of cinnamon and vanilla. It's a wonderful tin note that non-smokers will appreciate too. The moisture level is just a little more than what I'd deem appropriate for smoking, but is far from being wet. I let it air-dry for just a short while before loading my pipe.

Though its flavor is strongly influenced by its topping, the tobaccos come through noticeably, and the two stay together throughout the smoke—the topping lasts right through to the end. Rather than playing off one another, the flavorings and tobaccos combine and make a cohesive flavor that I'd describe as chocolatey and spicy tobacco, and unique to this blend. Along with the delightful and unique taste of C&D's red Cavendish (also found in Cajun Kake), I taste Burley, as well as both bright and red Virginias. Although chocolate or cocoa stands out quite a lot in the flavor profile, there is enough plain tobacco flavor here to satisfy my palette.

In the handful of pipes I've had so far, I've found this blend extremely satisfying—going back for seconds as soon as I'd finished my first pipe. The flavor practically embodies the flavors you'd associate with the Christmas holiday. Cornell & Diehl is often very good at striking a balance in their holiday aromatics, making them with something to offer to most all pipe smokers. Although this is (or was) a Christmas blend, this could easily be a popular blend for year-round consumption under a different name. It's that good.

The room note will most definitely please the wife or lady in your life, and any non-smokers who happen to be in the vicinity. This is certainly one of those blends that'll solicit compliments when non-smokers catch a whiff of it in a public place.

While there's no shortage of flavor, the nicotine level is about a 3 or 4 out of 10 (low). Of the three Christmas blends C&D made in 2016 and sold until 2017—this has the most added flavor, with about a 3:2 ratio of tobacco to added flavorings in the taste, but it's not overwhelming. Should you ever come across this out-of-production gem, grab it!

Pipe Used: MM Cutty, Rossi Bent Pot

Age When Smoked: 16 months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kribbage (32)	2016-11-27		Medium	Very Mild	Very Mild	Unnoticeable

I am sorry to say I do not share the good vibes others have written concerning this blend, or for that matter, ANY of the numerous blends from this company. The overwhelming taste of this tobacco really turns me off....mainly the grassy, hay taste, and I could not get past it. The cut of the blend reminded me of the bottoms of tins and bags of tobacco where it is so fine, it literally clogs up the air hole of the pipe. I was really looking forward to trying this blend out, and I was VERY disappointed. I felt I was smoking a pipe full of mowed grass.

Pipe Used: Corncob, Sasieni Pembroke

Age When Smoked: Right out of tin

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Similar Blends: Nothing I have tried up to this point, thank goodness.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Theosprey247 (73)	2016-12-23		Very Mild	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I've been on a year long quest to find an aromatic blend that I like and was about to give up when I noticed this blend. I decided to give it a whirl coz I like snowman. Opening the tin the first thing I noticed was the fact that the tobacco was mostly cut into little cubes. This made loading up my pipe a snap (just pour the stuff in). Second was the pleasant aroma of cocoa.

After getting the blend going the nuttiness of the burley makes itself present underneath the flavoring of cocoa and every once in a while chocolate. The flavoring is not over powering, but rather complements the burley. However, I did not taste the Virginias. Not harsh at all and didn't bite me.

Highly recommended it is a perfect cold weather blend.

Pipe Used: Cobs

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RipNpiper (4)	2016-10-01		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Very Pleasant

When I first opened the tin the smell hit me like a ton of bricks. The tin note is outstanding, it reminds me of homemade hot chocolate my grandma makes during the Holidays. The cut to me seems a little small, but that doesn't phase me at all. It lights easily, little to no problems. Mid bowl I started to get a nice chocolaty taste with a hint of rum, I also picked up a vanilla taste in there as well. The nicotine is very subtle. This is definitely a perfect cold weather smoke. I'm going to jar this and open it up around Thanksgiving to enjoy throughout the holidays.

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gr8tefuldawg (87)	2020-03-18		Very Mild	Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant

C&D- Corncob pipe and a Button Nose

I cracked this tin from 2019 open the other day at pipe club, I was on the prowl for a nice cocoa flavored aromatic and boy did this fall short, I had two bowls and gave the rest of the tin away.

I found the cut to be paper thing and weird, the smell was fantastic as with most aromatics, but the flavor did not translate. This never burned hot for me, and smoked relatively well.

This blend had been sitting in my cabinet since it’s 2019 tin date, was slightly moist but lit easily.

I’ve resigned myself to the fate that I will most likely never find a true aromatic were the smell of the tobacco translates to the flavor.

Also the cocoa flavor in this one was a little off, not chocolatey, and very artificial. Seeing as I found nothing great about this.

1.5/4

Pipe Used: MM general

Age When Smoked: 3-4 months

Purchased From: Tobaccopipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	J. Ward (70)	2019-12-03		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Corn Cob Pipe and A Button Nose is a delightful smoke. The tin note is pleasant and the combined aroma reminds me of hazelnut. As others have noted, the fine cube cut makes it easy to pack and gives the blend an impeccable burn with no bite. The Virginia gives balance to the leading, cocoa sweet, nutty burley, which is well complimented by a deftly applied vanilla and chocolate topping that is never overbearing. The strength and nic approach medium past mid bowl, which is satisfying. Surprisingly, this blend truly does come alive in a cob. A very nice holiday season smoke.

Pipe Used: Cobs and briars

Age When Smoked: Fresh

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BlueDog1950 (17)	2018-10-21		Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Very Pleasant

Corn Cob Pipe (and a Button Nose), Cornell and Diehl 1 star

Weird! Weird components, weird name, weird taste, weird cut. Weird even for a “seasonal” blend.

Weird aromatic blend. Tin description says Red Virginia, Burley, Cavendish, cocoa and (marshmallow if you can believe it). Other sites indicate Vanilla and Chocolate. Cornell and Diehl usually have outstanding quality of tobacco, impossible to say exactly what the quality of tobacco is in this blend.

Tin note is so confusing I cannot comment on what it smells like.

Easy to light, burns steady (regrettably), no relights needed. Like most aromatics, burns hot. Puts out a lot of smoke, and actually a pleasant room note which may be the only reason to smoke this stuff. It sort of smells like pipe tobacco.

Bland mild smoke, no strength, not mild, no strength and not much flavor. No nic. I cannot really taste any of the so-called Christmas flavors. Cut is cube cut (actually more like granules) with flecks of Virginia leaf that somehow escaped the coffee bean grinder this was apparently run through.

I am very confused how this gets high ratings. I cannot taste any of the flavors noted by others. I guess one could smoke it Christmas night and leave a mild pleasing room note so the rug rats would think Santa came by. Poor Santa if this is what he has to endure on his sojourn. Do Santa a favor and leave him a tin of Cornell and Diehl’s “We Three Kings” along with the cookies.

I have no idea why Cornell and Diehl puts this blend out.

Endnote: Did I mention this stuff is weird.

Smoked of course in a cob.

Pipe Used: cob

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Thepipehunter (43)	2020-11-28		Mild	Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

Cornell & Dielh's Corn Cob Pipe and a Button Nose is a festive aromatic that is like sipping on your favorite hot chocolate. The cut is a very small cube cut, perhaps the smallest I have ever seen, with a few ribbon strands if you look close enough. The aroma from popping the tin was overwhelmingly strong: Hot Chocolate and Whipped Cream. The topping was sweet smelling and I could actually pick out the chocolate and whipped cream separately. I almost get a liquor or a rum note too, but I have not seen any site mention this. There was a touch of cocoa from the Burley, but it was fairly masked by the topping. This moisture level was perfect from the tin, it packed easy and took to flame well.

This blend smokes just like it smells, cocoa and whipped cream. I also taste a fair amount of chocolate, which is a little different then the cocoa I taste. The topping is strong and doesn't die down much as the bowl progresses. It is very sweet, but in a rich way, much like chocolate pie is rich. I get notes of cinnamon as well, and the rum I smelled from the tin sneaks into the flavor profile of the smoke. Again, I have not seen rum listed as a topping anywhere, but that is what I could smell and taste. The burley ads of touch of natural cocoa and molasses, the VAs have a touch of grass if you look for it, and there is a brown sugar note that shows up every so often that I am sure comes from the Cavendish. There is a honey note I pick up on, but I am not if that is from the toppings or one of the tobacco components.

All in all, Corn Cob Pipe and a Button Nose taste like it smells, stays consistent throughout the bowl, and is a simple and unsophisticated blend. It would be a perfect blend to enjoy on a snowy walk with your loved one, and I plan on doing just that. It taste nice and I'll be surprised if anyone finds the aroma unpleasant. A little bit of this goes along way do to the richness, but this a perfect desert smoke to keep on hand.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2020-04-03		Mild to Medium	Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I will keep this one short and sweet. Great tin note as you would imagine, light tobacco with chocolate and a hint of vanilla/maple. This is basically Autumn Evening with Chocolate. I am not a regular aromatic smoker but I do really enjoy a few. Autumn Evening is one of them. So ipso facto I like CCPABN. This is a sweet aromatic with chocolate tones and you can taste some nice Red VA tobacco flavor.

Pipe Used: Cob's

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	The Sunday Evening Pipe Smoker (54)	2017-07-27		Medium	Medium	Mild	Pleasant

Tin note first impressions was very much of nuts with a hint of cocoa. More nuts than cocoa to my mind. It actually reminded me of a slightly less hazelnut version of Nutty Irishman.

At first, I couldn't really detect much of either flavour in the bowl, but as it progressed down to the latter half, I could definitely get more of a sense of a slightly nutty, slightly chocolatey flavour and I enjoyed the second half more than the first -- a rarity as I find it usually goes the other way.

Would be interesting to pair this with a hot chocolate actually and see how it works out.

Wouldn't be a regular go to, but not a bad option as an occasional dessert tobacco.

One thing I should note, as you get about halfway through the bowl, you will notice the nic-kick; not so much as a strong blend like Nightcap or Royal Yacht, but it is clearly there.

That said, if I had Lane I Q and / or Nutty Irishman around, I'd probably get my adequate fill of an aro. that way, but it could be good for a change or if you just want the psychosomatic aspect given by the winter/Christmas marketing.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bibster (7)	2017-06-10		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I first tried this under less than ideal conditions, in 80-degree temperatures while riding a lawn tractor. Nonetheless, Corn Cob Pipe turned out to be an extremely pleasant smoke. This was the most finely cut tobacco I have ever seen and I had some concerns that it would actually clog the pipe, but that was not a problem. It was a very easy tobacco to smoke -- I simply gravity filled my pipe, gave the tobacco a light tamp, lit up and started smoking. The tobacco required no relights and smoked cool and dry to the end of the bowl. The chocolate/cocoa/marshmallow taste predominated for the first half of the pipe and that was enjoyable, although it definitely seems more suited to a relaxing smoke in front of a fire on a cold Winter day. The flavor was fairly strong, but it wasn't overwhelming or cloying. The hot chocolate taste was much less noticeable during the second half of the bowl and the grassy taste of the Virginias seemed to predominate with the burley more in the background. That was also quite pleasant and seemed more suited to my lawn mowing. I tried my second bowl of this a couple of days later inside my house and this experience matched the earlier one, except that I was able to appreciate the fantastic room note, which my wife quite enjoyed, as well. All in all, a quality aromatic and a decent smoke. However, I am going to set it aside until the weather turns cool again.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum corncob

Age When Smoked: One year

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Novaki (41)	2020-11-03		Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Pretty unoffensive burley blend. I enjoy codger blends quite a lot, and burley is one of my favorite tobaccos so it's no surprise that I enjoy this. I haven't had Prince Albert yet, but by the description, this is how I imagine it tastes, for what little that's worth. Depending on the day, the burley spice tingle can be more noticeable than others, drying seems to tone that down a bit. Also, fresh out the tin the standard C&D red-VAs are more pronounced, which makes it faintly reminiscent of something like Autumn Evening. The flavored cav comes through here and there with hints of marshmallow. I think the cocoa must be very light or coming from the uncased burley. When I first opened the tin, I didn't like it as much because I was expecting a more traditional aromatic, with perhaps a bit heavier topping, but it's really grown on me. I also like the cut which makes it super easy to pack and light and smokes like a charm, just don't puff too much as this does seem to get noticeably warm pretty quick if you aren't paying attention. If it smoked just a touch cooler this might would be a 4/4 star blend.

Pipe Used: Roma Pastor, MM Cobs

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greybeard (66)	2020-10-20		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant

This is highly aromatic. The hot coco with marshmallow flavor comes through both in the tin note, as well as during the smoke. There is a slight tangy fruit flavor I'm thinking from the virginia tobacco. It does burn hot, so smoke it slowly. The biggest knock on this for me is the cut of the tobacco; it's cut so fine that it's like tiny bits of confetti, and can easily come through into your mouth as you puff. Still, overall a great Christmas blend for aromatic fans, and good one to smoke around others with it's pleasant room note.

Pipe Used: Corn cob (what else)

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Barclay Pipe, Tobacco, & Cigar

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DenizBeck (323)	2020-01-07		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Well.. my tin only arrived today, christmas seems far, far gone already, yet the it's still uncomfortably cold outside here in Germany... .. but it's still cozy and warm with a pipe lit in your home! So here we go, testin' this christmas/winter blend:

Love the tin note! Somehow I think of coffee with marshmallows, rathers than hot chocolate w/ marshmallows..definetly some dark chocolate notes in there as well. Maybe a coffee-shot-infused-hot-chocolate iced with some marshmallos :-D Anyways.. it's delish!

Only slightly moist and very fine in cut this one's condition just perfectly for my gusto. Nice brown colour with few brighter and darker specks I couldn't help but a reach for a cob and set light to this button-nose boy.

The taste instantly is very cozy and warm tobacco to my palate, with a soothing sweetness that really does remind of marshmallows. You can sense the toastiness and aromatic qualities of the (brown) Cavendish, which sits comfortly on a rustic-wooden chair of burley and Virginia. Not only for the tin-note, but also for the flavouring - which is rather mild and unobtrusive, yet has an important and comforting impact on the blend's taste - I'd go with "Coffee-Shot-infused-Hot-(Dark-)Chocolate, topped with ever so comforting marshmallows just as mama never used to put them into my cup o' cocoa... ha... I guess this is an american thing?

But it works exceptionally well, I've tried it for the first time whilst christmas time and really loved it.. in fact, I must've aten half that pack of marshmallow with that tiny cup o' hot chocolate :-D

... and indeed.. this blend gives me very similar vibes as a real cup of hot chocolate! A very fine smoke to me, nothing for my regular rotation, as I'm by no means an aromatic-guy, but if I crave for an aromatic, I typically reach for one made by W.O. Larsen (namely Old Fashioned, Maple Mixture (No.50), their Curly Cut (No.32) or recently the 155th Craftsman Edition), and I'd consider this right up that alley. I just love chocolatey tobaccos!

To put it in Adrian Belew's words:

I LIKE IT!!!

Pipe Used: Pumpin-Pipe.. nah.. Corn Cob of course!

Age When Smoked: 10/21/2019 tin date

Similar Blends: W.O. Larsen - Old Fashioned.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2019-12-07		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

Update 2020-11-15

After the holidays had past, I found myself continuing to smoke this on a regular basis as my primary aromatic in the rotation. I stocked up during sale at Smokingpipes just in case they don't re-release this one again.

The cube cut burns so well and the flavor comes through. I've been "doctoring" it with an extra 25% of CD Cube Cut Burley which increases the nutty background and pushes the cocoa/sweetness a little further to the rear. This is the one aro that I always have going in the rotation and it's a rare day that doesn't see me at least smoke one bowl of it with my coffee in the morning.

-------------- 2019-12-07---------------------- I've been smoking from the 2019 release but I'm assuming it is the same as the 2016 mixture.

I just finished my 3rd tin for the year of Corn Cob Pipe and I have to admit it's all I am reaching for on a daily basis. I enjoy other smokes in the evening, but for the commute in the morning (great with coffee), at lunch, and on the way home this is a winner for me.

The cut is perfect for smoking in my radiator pipes. Also smokes great in Corn Cobs.

Easy to pack and go. Tin note is a cup of hot cocoa. Makes me want to grab a marshmellow or two and put them in the top of the bowl. The flavor comes through the smoke

The room note is incredible. Chocolate cookies/bakery. The wife has even been adding it to her RYO cigarettes.

It burns down great with no fuss. Does leave some moisture (really noticed in the radiator trap). No tongue burn and I could easily call it an all-day smoke for the holiday season.

Pipe Used: Radiator Pipes, Cobs

Age When Smoked: a couple of weeks

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ShwnFromWashington (1)	2018-09-06		Mild	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant

A very cool burning smoke with the perfect amount of cocoa and vanilla flavors, delicious. I really pick up the cocoa flavors on the retrohale, this is a perfect blend for cold winter nights and burns evenly all the way through to a fine white ash, very few relights if any. The room note is incredible and garners a lot of compliments from those around. If you are looking for an aromatic to enjoy over the holidays look no further, corn cob pipe and a button nose is my go-to smoke for winter nights and cool fall days. Highly recommend.

Pipe Used: Homemade billiard

Age When Smoked: 1yr

Purchased From: Smoking pipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RMB (7)	2018-04-09		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Not my favorite. Have trouble keeping this lit. Despite gravity filling and light tamping I continually have to relight this. The flavor itself is pleasant enough, I get a bit of chocolate and this constituent tobaccos come through, but it always seems that it is missing something. Room note is ok, but it is surpassed by many other aromatics. I'll finish what I have but probably won't be back. Mildly recommended.

Edit:. Well, call it magic of age. Either on me or on it. With a greater appreciation for burley that I've found and the nearly 2 years of age it has gathered, as well as improvement to my smoking technique this has improved greatly. 3 and a half stars easily now. Flavor is much, much better than before. Still a touch of trouble keeping it lit but nothing like before. Very enjoyable.

Edit 2:. 2021. This stuff only improves the longer it's in the jar. It burns incredibly well now, it's flavor is now so well integrated and mellowed, I love it. Bumped to 4 stars. I hope they make another batch one day so I can get some more aging!

Pipe Used: Various meerschaums and cobs

Age When Smoked: 2 years - 5 years

Purchased From: Burners Cigar Company

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	FreePancakesForAll (10)	2017-05-18		Mild	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Tin note: A mug of cocoa with lab-created marshmallows bobbing on the surface. And some figgy pudding.

Taste: This blend tastes almost exactly how it smells in the tin. I'd say the leading note of this is a fantastic burley, laying down the base of cocoa and nutty goodness. Then I pick up the cavendish adding that vanilla marshmallow highlight. And finally (and most welcomed), the virginias. They linger in the background and add a light sprinkling of figs that have been soaked overnight in a dark liqueur. They're somewhat fleeting in this blend for me, but when they hit, they hit beautifully.

Smokability: One of the easiest blends out there to smoke. Perfect moisture out of the tin and the cube cut packs beautifully. I just drop a few pinches in, tamp lightly, and light up. And for the worried, non-aros out there, this is not a goopy blend. It packs and smokes just like a regular burley blend.

This is a fantastic holiday release. Is it a one-note aromatic? Pretty much. But that note is a toasty mug of cocoa to fill your pipe on a cold winter night. My only gripe is that I start losing the secondary flavors half-way through and by the end feel like I'm smoking a bowl of Carter Hall (which isn't the worst thing). So my solution has been to pack smaller bowls and smoke it on shorter sessions.

Overall, a richly flavored, easy smoking holiday aromatic that tastes just how it smells.

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	GabrielCRT (115)	2016-08-31		Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant

I've smoked quite a few bowls of this now and every time I've heard compliments on the aroma. This blend is just fine in a briar but better in a corn cob pipe! The base of small cube cut burley is nutty and brings the overall strength of the blend to medium. The bright Virginia contributes a background hay note while the red Virginia is earthy with a little fruity sweetness. The cavendish keeps the burn cool and soaks up the topping. And what a beautiful topping this has! The vanilla actually tastes like marshmallows here. The chocolate bitters are unbelievably tasty. It is easy to burn this to nothing but ash with a little dry time. My favorite Christmas blend yet, I see an 8oz tin finding its way to my cellar.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2021-05-06		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I bought some tins of this blend when it first hit the market to put back. The unfortunate part is that I didn't open one right away. Had I done so, I would have enjoyed the wonderful and cocoa flavored smoke that early reviewers gush about. Five years downstream from the tinning date has worked some negative chemistry on the flavoring agent(s). I feel about the early stages of Corn Cob Pipe smoking as does reviewer Gr8tefuldawg 2020-03-18; the flavoring was off, was weird and very artificial. There was nothing of chocolate, cocoa nor vanilla in my tin; only a strange aroma of stale fruit(?). Annoying and unnecessary, this stale aroma plagued the top half of each of my early bowls. The bottom halves, on the other hand, were a joy to smoke. Once the annoying aroma was burned off, I enjoyed an above average and quite solid Burley dominated mixture that I had no trouble going back to again and again. I was also impressed with the unusual cut that other reviewers have mentioned; a kind of mini cube cut that I have not seen before and was very reminiscent of pouring Prince Albert into a pipe bowl circa 1960. Beginning with my third bowl, I allowed long air out times and this evaporated the majority of the topping. This lengthened the good part of the smoke. I liked this blend and, annoying topping not withstanding, I can easily recommend it to the reader at three stars. In reality it is a three and 1/2 star blend.

Pipe Used: Ashton LX Old Church 1/2 bent billiard

Age When Smoked: tinned 6/30/2016

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Corn Cob Pipe reminded me of another Burley dominated blend that ,also, had a terrible odorant problem in the beginning stages; BRG by Sutliff. Like Corn Cob Pipe, it smoked quite well after shedding it's annoying topping...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	David blum (1)	2020-03-28		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I really enjoy it it taste mild to me and would recommend it to everyone. It smells amazing and my wife enjoys the smell of it

Pipe Used: Corn cob

Age When Smoked: 35

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Randy Tuggle (46)	2017-12-19		Very Mild	Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant

Great when fresh from tin but do not cellar the rest of the tin. This blend will not hold up once opened. When fresh, this aromatic is a cube-cut burley that burns great and turns to a fine white ash. It delivers superior flavor and is quite unique. After cellaring the remainder of the tin from 2016, all flavor and aroma from the tobacco was long gone. I threw the cellared portion in the trash and will not cellar any Cornell & Diehl aromatics at all in the future.

Pipe Used: Peterson Christmas 05 2016

Age When Smoked: 0 weeks

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Legionnaire (26)	2017-12-16		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This blend, along with C&D’s 2012 Christmas release is a true favorite among C&D’s Christmas offerings. Cube cut Burley whose flavor reminds me a great deal of Safe Harbor Flake. Very pleasant, easy to pack, mild and slow burning. There isn’t much not to enjoy about this blend.

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: N/A

Purchased From: www.justforhim.com

Similar Blends: Safe Harbor Flake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BJBurn (5)	2017-11-18		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

For me was a pleasant evening smoke, but by the end of the bowl I had to go in and lay down. I seem to get nicotine headaches quite easily. I was hoping more for a Christmas spice but this one was more towards the hay and some cocoa flavor. Not really what I enjoy.

Pipe Used: Ropp 9mm

Age When Smoked: just purchased

Purchased From: smoking pipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JohnnyMcPiperson (119)	2017-07-24		Very Mild	Medium	Mild	Pleasant

I found this to be good for an aromatic, but there are others I like better. It was pretty steady throughout the bowl, grassy with subtle notes of marshmallow, hot cocoa, and nutmeg. Overall a creamy, but haylike smoke.

Pipe Used: Old Dominion Pipe Co. - Virginia Planter

Age When Smoked: 1 year old

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: We three kings, 1Q.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Philo Beddoe (221)	2016-10-28		Very Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Pleasant enough, but this didn't have enough of a Burley flavor to keep me interested. The topping has a very nice Christmas aroma and taste to it, very similar the Christmastime Yankee candles my wife buys. I would definitely recommend this to pipe smokers who smoke primarily aromatic blends, as this is quite nice in that regard. But for those like me, who want a nice aromatic flavor on top of a real tobacco flavor, I think you will be disappointed.

Pipe Used: Various briars and meers

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Local B&M

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (557)	2022-11-26		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Tin note of coco powder, mild tangy dark fruit, and toasted marshmallows. Tobacco is cube cut is light brown and dark brown. Tobacco is moist, maybe a little drying if preferred. Burn is slow with a few relights. The strength is mild and nic is mild. Flavoring is mild to medium, with notes of semi-sweet dark chocolate, caramel and hints of vanilla cream. Taste is mild to medium and consistent, with notes of earth, sweet bread, wood, roasted nuts, mild tart fruit, floral, very mildly spicy, a mild sweet grass background note, and a moderately peppery retro. Virginia is leading with burley and cavendish expertly supporting. Room note is very pleasant, and aftertaste is great.

Pipe Used: 2015 XXX Ashton Brindle Author

Age When Smoked: 6 years

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bumble (65)	2021-11-04		Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Christmas blends are my favorite, I want to try them all, so I go into each Christmas blend with great expectations! Purchased in 2020, not the 2016 blend in title... I was a bit disappointed, as the tin note was not what I was expecting to smell from the products description. It wasn't bad, just not matching the product description. The flavoring was not bad either, but I didn't get "Christmas" from it. I did have some tounge-bite with this blend.

Pipe Used: Peterson 2017 Christmas (87)

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: tobaccopipes.com

Nobody has rated this review yet.