Cornell & Diehl Jolly Old St. Nicholas 2022

Cornell & Diehl - Jolly Old St. Nicholas 2022.

I'd call it a mixture rather than ribbon, it includes some large leafy pieces. The smell is orangey and spicy, quite fragrant.

At first light the orange liqueur is easy to identify, odoriferous, sweet, a little sharp. Then the ginger comes into play. The spicy ginger pairs beautifully with the touch of spicy Perique. Like the 2018 version, the orange becomes a lot stronger toward the end. The Perique is miles behind the Virginia and black Cavendish, these two give the majority of leaf-character. It burns well, consistent and independent, at a below-medium speed due to the leafy cut of a lot of it.

Room-note: nice. Nicotine: mild to medium.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas 2022? Highly recommended:

Four stars.

The golden Virginias provide a wealth tart and tangy citrus, sugar, grass, some floralness, mildly sour lemon, and a pinch or two of spice as the lead components. The mildly sugary unsweetened black cavendish is a supporting player. The perique offers some earth, wood, plums, and raisins. It’s just above the condiment line. The ginger topping is a tad more obvious than the orange liqueur as both moderately tone down the tobaccos. The strength and nic-hit are a step short of the center of mild to medium. The taste is a notch short of the medium mark. There’s no chance of bite or harshness. Has a few minute rough notes. Well balanced, it burns cool and clean at a reasonable rate with mostly consistent sweet and spicy, floral flavor that extends to the mildly lingering, pleasant after taste. The room note is pleasant, too. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste and room note. An all day smoke that has more depth and consistency than the version I tried a few years back. Three stars.

-JimInks

To start off wow! What a great tobacco that can be enjoyed by both aro smokers and non aro smokers. The tin note smells of orange/candied ginger as described. It’s a bit over powering of a tin note, with that being said I can’t say the same for the smoke it’s self. A very pleasant mellow ginger, vanilla, and orange flavours all come thru! The flavours really shine thru when it’s sipped slowly. Towards the middle/end of bowl those flavours take a back seat to a very pleasant tobacco flavours! If you have the chance to get this I highly recommend it! Side note this blend does require about 15-20 min of drying time. As when I smoked it a bit too wet it turned sickly sweet/acrid

I love Christmas blends! There, I said it. I will buy and not smoke most due to the over cased/topped tendency of most blenders but C&D stands out in this regard. A Va/Per with cavendish and casing? Hell yes! The room note is usually the star of these but the scant amount of perique that avoided my old tongue is present in the room note, although more the next day than while smoking. It has a pleasant room note while the smoke hangs in the air like wreath's. The Cavendish is the star player and but the VA's do provide some grassy and citrus notes. The Cavendish is sweet and the topping is a light Vanilla/Honey flavor to my palate. I cannot detect the Perique at all on the tongue but in the retrohale there is a little tingle. Solid tobacco for the Christmas season.

Prep: The blend is a bit on the wet side but not enough for me to dry out.

Notes: What's immediately noticeable are the Virginas and the Ginger. The Golden Virginas are tangy, lightly grassy, lightly sweet. The Ginger is prevalent throughout the smoke but it does seem to taper off a bit in the 2nd half of the bowl, with the orange liqueur taking the lead.

The perique is most certainly 'a whisper'. It offers a hint of deeper fruit notes and some spice but dont expect a typical Va/Per blend.

This is more of a Spring/Summer blend for me, though I understand the Christmas connection. I'd also prefer more Perique. But all in all, a nice aromatic blend. 6/10

https://youtu.be/Jef9EGbJ6Rc

With the holiday season right around the corner thought I'd give this a try and glad I did. I normally don't smoke aromatics, this one is made up of high quality tobacco with a topping that actually enhances rather than detracts from the tobacco. The citrus from the Virginia is amplified by the orange liquor flavoring, while the Cavendish adds some sweetness, especially with the ginger topping. Rather than spicy, the perique adds undertones of fig. To me the flavors remained consistent throughout the bowl. It is never boring and could serve as a multiple bowl smoke throughout the day. I must point out I am surprised the community has this blend typed as a Virginia/Perique. The orange liquor, ginger smell is obvious on opening the tin and remains with you throughout the bowl. This strikes me as an aromatic and if you are looking for the expected VA/PER experience this is not it. However it is a pleasant smoke using good quality tobacco with toppings that actually enhance the taste. As I said, I'm not an aromatic guy, but this one hits the mark and I would recommend.

What can I say? I can impulse buy with the best of them. That tin? Put it in the cart before even thinking about it. Here is what is going to be strange about this review. I am going to give this blend a good review, and I didn't even like it. Bear with me here.

This is an interesting blend. The description mentions alcohols and ginger and some other things. Upon opening the tin, I am hit with a scrumptious smell. This smell was so familiar for me that I racked my brain for a while trying to figure it out, and it came to me. The tin note of this blend smells EXACTLY like Panettone. Like spot on. Such a good smell.

I was surprised to see that this smell did not come with the usual sticky goop of an aromatic of this nature. In fact, while a bit moist, this blend is perfectly smokeable from the tin, an oddity. Mostly a ribbon cut with some big chunky black cavendish pieces. Here is the thing, I did not like the taste. There was something there that did not sit right with me. I could not pick it out individually. It could have been the ginger addition in this blend, not sure, but there was a sourish flavor that made me wonder if something had gone off a little. So why the three star review?

Well, taste is very individual, and I am sure for many this will be a scrumptious aromatic. Here is what it not individual, the behavior of the tobacco itself. When I bought this blend, I expected the same results I always get from these tobaccos. The description sounds amazing, the result is anything but. For an aromatic, this performs unbelievably well. It is not sticky or goopy. It stays lit very well for this class of tobacco, and instead of just warm steam, there is real flavor here, and some of it does resemble the tin note. You cannot ask more than that from an aromatic. The taste may not have been to my personal liking, but I can say, this is an excellent performing tobacco, in a class that is sometimes known for poor performance. Hats off to the folks at C&D, and give this one a try, you may love it.

It may contain Virginia and perique, but I definitely wouldn't classify this as a VaPer; I'd instead describe it as a lightly aromatic Virginia. This is very high-quality leaf. The Virginia is dominant, the Cavendish is definitely there but not overwhelming, and the light touch with the perique rounds things out. The flavoring is very light and adds just a touch of Christmas spirit.

I was really surprised by this one. I purchased this primarily because I thought it would give a pleasant enough room note for my family not to complain too much during the holidays compared to the latakia-dominant blends I prefer. I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would. I think the quality of the tobacco is a big part of this. I debated a long time between giving it 3 vs. 4 stars. In the end I had to go with 4. There are few aromatics that I've enjoyed as much as this.

ok. tin note is pleasant with a faint citrus/vanilla. tasting I get no orange. a little alcohol with a bite of ginger on the taste buds. a bit of a numbing effect. the perique lends to the spice. the Virginia is at the front. as with any aromatic the cavendish carries the topping/flavor. moisture is about right. not gooey. overall, a pleasant smoke. smooth and a very pleasant room note.

This is a very fascinating aromatic. The tin note smells strongly of orange liqueur like Cointreau or Dry Curaçao. That orange note is the first taste to appear when you light up the bowl. It's quickly followed by ginger which is enhanced with the spiciness of the Perique. The Virginias wrap it all together with a mild sweetness. The flavours don't burn off and persist to the end of the bowl. The room note is a wonderful sweet aroma.

I have tried quite a few aromatics with perique, and I find that it rarely works. Anise is a good compliment, but ginger might be the best. Perique enhances the flavour of the ginger by adding a spiciness that makes it taste like fresh ginger. This is a very well constructed blend, and I highly recommend it. I will definitely be stocking up on the next release. 4/4