Cornell & Diehl Hearthside

Cornell & Diehl - Hearthside (Wintertime Reserve).

Just like Nutcracker from the Wintertime Reserve range this is more of a broken flake. So, same as that, I can just pinch some and load my bowl. The tin smells chocolatey sweet, and the moisture's perfect. Oh, I opened this as I'm waiting for my Sam G' Chocolate Flake to arrive and it placated my sweet tooth!

The chocolate easily wins out of the toppings. Because the softer Virginias also win against the Latakia this makes for a very relaxing, decadent, smoke. That said, yes the chocolate is forefront where the toppings go, but it isn't a sticky, sickly, flavour; think of rich, slightly bitter cocoa, not gloopy Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate!! The lesser amount of vanilla counteracts the sharpness from the chocolate and tames any alacrity. The vanilla gets more notification, from me, after halfway through. Now, practically speaking it goes perfectly: consistent, cool, and reliable. All without a bite; to me.

Nicotine: maybe medium. Room-note: nice.

Hearthside? A definite four star blend:

Highly recommended.

The Virginias offer some tart and tangy citrus and grass, along with a few splinters of wood, earth, and a touch of tangy darker fruit as the lead component. The earthy, woody, smoky, musty sweet Cyprian Latakia is a condiment. The dark chocolate is more obvious than the vanilla, and both sport a little richness. They moderately sublimate the tobaccos. The strength is in the center of mild to medium. The taste is a couple of steps closer to medium. The nic-hit is just past the mild mark. Won’t bite or get harsh. Burns cool, clean and a tad slow with a very consistent sweet and lightly savory flavor that translates to the lightly lingering, pleasant after taste and room note. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires a couple more than an average number of relights. Can be an all day smoke.

-JimInks

This stuff does NOT age well.

The tin in question was aged 2 years, it was puffy, and gave off the telltale hiss when popped that indicates fermentation has occurred.

Tin note is definitely chocolate heavy, with a spice and fruity note. Cocoa Pebbles cereal with cardamom, nutmeg, and allspice dumped on it. There was a hint of something else I couldn't quite place, and honestly; I really couldn't be bothered. It didn't smell bad, just, weird. Almost as if someone threw the contents of a spice rack, and a pack of instant cocoa onto a seasoned Yule log fire.

The moisture level was pretty damp, and the latakia was quite prevalent in the flakes. Big chunks of it.

After rubbing the broken flake out, and allowing about 20 minutes of airing out and drying; the entire room smelled rather pungently of chocolate, and spice. It wasn't terrible, but the cat ran out of the room gagging. That may have just been a hairball, but I digress.

Loaded up the bowl, and did the charring light. I was immediately awash with scents of chocolate, and spices. Tamped and true lit... A pleasant flavor of cocoa, and snickerdoodle type cookies, but then; Every nasty gas station incense smell (Nag Champa, Sandalwood, Frankincense, Myrrh, camel dung, and grandma's over atomized perfume) created a dense, cloying, noxious cloud in the room.

No tobacco could be tasted, just toppings and incense. Five bowls in and a week of jarring netted no change.

If you are at an office Holiday party, and wish to evacuate the building; then this tobacco is for you!

Absolutely terrible.

Now, what shall I do with the other three tins of it I have taking up space in my cellar? I know! Put them in the stockings of the naughty. A lump of coal would be preferable.

The Pipe used was an old Don Gustavo that now has a permanent Ghost of Christmas Past residing in it that will definitely remind me to never smoke this filth again. Not only did it ghost the pipe, but it ghosted my study.

Two friends english chocolate would be the easiest way to describe this blend, i wish there was more to it. This however comes in more former brittle flakes (typical of C&D) in a sense the latakia is standing out more in the blend appearance so you can pick the leaf accordingly with less or more latakia in each bowl which i liked. The taste is identical to the compared blend, slightly sweet and smokey. The room note is more smokey but not very unpleasant. Burns good with minimal drying time. Good for what it is but not superb.

Tin note of smoky dark chocolate. Tobacco is a flake of a marbled brown, dark brown and black. Moisture content is great. Flakes break apart and rub out easily. Burns slow with a few extra relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is mild, with notes of cocoa. Flavoring was mild throughout the smoke, mostly in the background. Taste is medium and very consistent, with notes of mild cocoa, smoky, toast, incense, spicy, buttery, fermented sour, spices, wood, earth, herbal floral hay, dry bitter musty vegetation, a sharp grassy, tangy citrus background note, and a peppery retro. Latakia is leading with Virginia and Flavoring supporting. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

I’m not an aro guy, but this one isn’t bad. Typical C&D broken flake of Virginia and Latakia topped with chocolate and vanilla. The smokiness of the Latakia combined with the sweet toppings give it sort of an oatmeal cookie tin note. There’s a line for me where the aromatic toppings ruin the tobacco. Hearthside comes a few steps shy of crossing that line. Not bowling me over, but I am able to enjoy it for what it is. Two and a half stars.

This is an exemplary VA aromatic for tobacco lovers. Very present, bready, yeasty, VA flavor (and nicotine). Wonderful, warm, toasty, slightly fruity topping. Great for the holidays. A VA blend that can stand up to cold weather. I’m very impressed!

Nice smoky aromatic. Tempted to call it an English aromatic but that's not really the case. The tin note is predominately chocolate and latakia. The taste is smoky chocolate with vanilla playing a supporting role. This will be a nice occasional smoke but I could not smoke it everyday.

Came free with 2019 Peterson Christmas pipe. And I'm so happy that it did.

Beautiful rich broken flake. Easy to pack and smoke. Excellent tin note which, if I didn't know the content, I would've said high quality creamy chocolate-cherry with a hint of alcohol, but not the chemical type. Blend is very balanced, with the Latakia playing a secondary role, with just the right amount of smokiness and a bit of spice.

Since it's so well balance, I wouldn't be able to label this as either straightforward aromatic nor Latakia blend, although in the end of the day it is an aromatic. Very delicious and can be a everyday, all-day smoke, if there was only enough of it out there. Instead, I'm going to save this for special occasions. Until this disappears from stock, I'll buy a few more tins.

Can't give it 4 stars yet only because it's not as exceptional as some other similar blends, but it's almost there. Maybe just a bit more of chocolate-vanilla would've done it.

Wanna taste Christmas? I'd go for Cornel & Diehl's Hearthside.