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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 😀 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 😀

... 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!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Zosej0Vr0

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.

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2019-12-07

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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.

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.

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.

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.