Cornell & Diehl Innsmouth

Well, I really wanted to love this blend. I’m generally a big fan of VaOrPers; Cairo ranks high up on my list and Sunday Picnic checks a lot of boxes. There’s a creamy fruit sweet underneath a *very* youthful harshness in this blend. The tin I was smoking from only has 4 months on it though and C&D tends to need at least a year, if not two, to come into its own. As it stands though, I’ve had to put this into mylar and seal it up for a couple of years to see what happens. If it can smooth out the harsh roughness I think it has potential to be good. However, if I’m being honest, this feels like one of C&D’s redux blends where they slightly change one of the components of another blend and market it. Which is fine, but I get a similar profile from Sunday Picnic and that seems to be better executed.

I'm not getting any of the tin notes that others have described and the ribbon was quite dry when popped. I do think C&D has started shipping blends *much* drier than they previously did, probably to fight the potential for mold.

This is a Somewhat Recommended blend to me as it currently stands. There’s potential lurking underneath, but just be aware that it is a buy now smoke in 2-3 years blend. And, even then, I can’t say for certain that the wait will be worth it. Is it smokable now? Yes, theoretically. It’s just not all that great. But with a slow cadence and a higher tolerance for young leaf than I have, you might find this enjoyable. I’ll report back in a couple of years with how it’s done with a nap.