Cornell & Diehl Nutcracker

Cornell & Diehl - Nutcracker (Wintertime Reserve).

Don't expect flakes which necessitate a serious rub, these are falling apart in the tin and a bowl's worth can be pinched out, easily. The main colour's medium brown with just a few lighter specks. The aroma's of a VaBur with a definite 'twang' of Perique. My tin had perfect moisture.

The Perique seems a little stronger for the first five minutes, after this point the VaBur side supersedes it and the Perique becomes more of a rich seasoning. The leading flavour emanates from the white Burley; being nutty yet very 'dry'. The smoke gets a fruity sweetness from the Virginia, but not much sharp grass, or 'freshness'. It burns well, maybe a little too well; it can go fast and also seem a touch warm if pressured.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not bad!

Nutcracker? If it weren't for the mechanics I'd love it, but considering these I'll just give it three stars:

Recommended.

I received a tin of this from Smokingpipes.com with the purchase of a Petersen during their sale. I liked it enough to pick up more when they offered it after the holidays for sale.

Typical C&D style broken flakes. Tin note def has the perique in it along with some nuttiness. Tobacco is good quality and the moisture was a little higher than some of their blends, but manageable.

I broke the flakes up and loaded one of my Fat Author Bones pipes. It took a little effort to get a good charring (needs to dry a little bit), but then it was easy to keep lit during the pipe.

Flavor was nutty (burleys), sweet (VAs) and a little spicy (periques). All three flavors continued throughout the pipe from start to finish and really complimented each other.

The tobacco reminds me of another CD blend or two, but I can't think which ones of the top of my head.

I'm aging the ones I picked up after the holidays and plan on having one during each Holiday season going foward. I'll update the review if the age makes a big difference.

Overall it was a pretty good smoke, ran a little bit hot and definitely had some steam in it but that could be user error since i didn’t let it dry very long. The body of the smoke was almost unnoticeable but still slightly there. The taste is mild in my opinion with notes of sourdough bread and green grapes/ white wine. It starts out a little astringent and then sweetens up the further down the bowl you go. I liked it but it wasn’t an incredible blend by any means. I think the burley really shines through during the first half of the bowl and then the virginia takes over near the end.