Cornell & Diehl Jolly Old Saint Nicholas 2018

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas tastes mostly of black cavendish and orange oil, with a ginger ale aftertaste. The cavendish gives the blend a sugary sweetness that is pleasant in a holiday blend. The orange flavor is a darker/stronger orange oil flavor, not candy sweet orange and the ginger hit me on the exhale with a slight ginger bite on the tongue and lips. I wouldn’t nessarily want this blend very often, but it would be a nice treat for the holidays.

Not your typical aromatic, the orange and ginger play very well with the perique, sweet and spicy, and very well matching its name and the season. Burns well, not hot, no tongue bite for me. As a usual smoke I'd probably give it a 3, but this Thanksgiving and how well this matches my holiday feeling I'm giving it a 4!

Another “seasonal blend”, difficult to understand why blenders choose to add what apparently is considered Christmas flavors to what otherwise could be a good tobacco. But heck, I bought it.

Golden Virginias, perique and black Cavendish with a pronounced orange liqueur and ginger topping. Ribbon cut, moist in tin.

Burns even, soft smoke but with an unpleasant aftertaste, I think it’s the ginger but not really sure.

Probably not a fair review, as I am not an aromatic fan. Smoking an orange is not something that makes sense to me, but I am not the target consumer I guess.

The Orange Liqueur comes through fairly well and is enhanced with a Whiskey & 7. I found the Perique to be fairly faint and the Virginias to be almost overpowering. I failed to catch any hint of ginger. The room notes are far less tolerable than a lot of custom blends I've smoked, though I've noticed that my wife's eyes water less with St. Nicholas than they do with Bill's Blend (a custom blend) from Rich's Tobacco. However, she prefers the scent of Bill's Blend significantly (Vanilla and Black Cav). The flavor of St. Nicholas is good for a break during daily activities, but I don't know that I'd want it for a deep bowl/slow-burn/all-day-smoke. I get an after taste similar to smoking a cigarette, though this could be from my pipes. I thoroughly clean them, but I can not discount them in this. Oddly, the after taste changes to a bright orange, almost like sucking on an orange flavored candy, with a sip of whiskey. I would definitely recommend this to any pipe smoker. It is clearly a complex blend.

Very interesting tin note and I picked up immediately the Orange and Ginger in the tin.

Ribbon cut, easy to pack, easy to light. Moisture from tin seems just right.

I picked up the orange at the beginning more then more ginger in the middle. A friend of mine I gave a bowl too was almost "overwhelmed" by the ginger at his light but got more orange as he smoked.

This is not a goopy aromatic and the ginger portion of it reminded me of Valle Crucis out of the Two Friends collection.

I jarred the tin and will enjoy through the holidays and winter as a nice change of pace from my usual blends.

Preface: I'm not a typical aro smoker. That said, this is pretty good. I am smoking the 2018 blend in Dec. 2022. It has dried out quit a bit...not at all bone dry though. Frankly its perfect, moisture wise, at this point. It, for an aro, has aged well. The flavoring/topping is still there and pleasant and the tobaccos have a little age on them and have improved, not that they were bad fresh out of the tin. But, a lot of c&d leaf is pretty green when opened right after purchase as you all know.

So, out of the tin, there is light brown ribbon and small chunks of dark leaf. Smelling the tin is pretty typical for an aromatic. But, if i were to try to discern what im smelling of the flavoring, probably more of the ginger than orange but the sharp orange peel is there if you put your mind to it. But, more ginger.

Smoking, at this point there is no tongue bite. Very smooth. The orange flavor is more present and the virginias are the main player on the tobacco end which is very nice. The perique is adding to the fruit notes, dark fruit, raisin plum notes are def there when sought out.

The room note must be pleasant, my nose is toast due to retro. But, its going to be very pleasant to a none smoker, no doubt. I'm enjoying what I can for sure. I'm almost to the bottom of the bowl which is not typical for an aro for me. The only other aromatics I'll smoke to the bottom is Petersons sunset breeze and cult blood red moon.

All in all...next time they sell this(probably a few years) I'll be sure to get another tin. Worth the buy and worth a little age on it surprisingly.

It would be really wonderful if this tasted the same way it smelled, because it smells fantastic. But the added flavoring just does not hold up to combustion. I cannot taste the perique. This really tastes like chemicals to me, although it is mild compared to other aromatics. Not quite as harsh as other aromatics, but definitely not worth ten bucks for two ounces. Seems like it would make an excellent potpourri.