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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.