Cornell & Diehl Anthology 2023

C&D Anthology 2023 - This blend took me a few bowls to really appreciate it . It smokes better in smaller to medium sized pipes for me . This is a little sweeter and mellower than the usual Carolina Red Flakes .Not as much nic hit either but not mild by any means . It still has the signature C&D earthy notes but the red- orange sweet Georgia leaf is upfront . It reminds me of past Christmas cheers that were red- orange variety . It is fruity , a little spicy and floral . Tiny bit of hay and sourdough bread . Very smooth , tangy and sweet . It is still available and I just ordered more . Should age well . Keep up the great work Jeremy Reeves and the C&D folks doing God’s work with the Virginias!! 4

Tin note of sour vegetation, bread, and mildly sweet. Tobacco is a Flake of light brown and brown with a little tan and dark brown. Moisture content is great. No drying needed. Flakes need little rubbing to rub out. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and mostly consistent, with notes of bread, sour fermented fruit, floral, mild tangy citrus, wood, lemon zest, earth, hay, a spices and grassy background note, and a peppery retro. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is good.

After being blown away by Anthology 2022, I knew I was going to try this blend immediately.

Tin note is fruity and figgy. Requires no drying time, burns relatively slow. No bite and I smoked it pretty fast with no problems.

The two dominant tastes are sweetness and earthiness, with the sweetness in the lead. Somewhat reminiscent of the VAs in 2022, except more pronounced sweetness in this one. The smoke retains only the sweetness quality, earning this tobacco a pleasant room note. Nic hit is medium and the taste is hard to pin down, depending on your preferences. I love my VAs to have a nice earthy quality so I give this one medium to full.

C&D is producing some of the best straight VA blends out there, and this one is another winner in their already impressive lineup.

A rich, full tobacco, exactly what a straight VA smoker wants in their pipe. Note: I've cellared several tins of this and only opened one at this point, which did not have mold on it, which is a particular complaint with this blend.

As I am primarily a straight VA / VAPER smoker, this is precisely what I'm looking for in my blends. It's full in flavor and scent, without being overly ambitious.

These virginia tobaccos are a goddamn godsend. I can't tell you how much I love them, I can only tell you that it's worth the risk of getting a tin with mold in it. The blend is so bready, slightly sweet, full but kind to the mouth, that I can only imagine this blend being one of my all time favorites. If you're a straight VA fan and you haven't gotten any of Anthology 23, I must call you a fool - its the best example of what's available out there, bar none.

Both tins I received had white mold growing in them upon opening. A third tin had none growing and I did smoke that. It was definitely very sweet and made from the best Virginias. Very nice aftertaste and gets sweeter as the bowl progresses. Definitely would have bought a dozen tins to cellar but I guarantee they will have mold once they are opened! Such a shame because it is such a great tobacco. Cornell and Diehl needs to figure this out and not let such choice tobacco’s get ruined from mold. Buyers beware. Those of you who didn’t see mold after popping a tin I’m willing to bet that it will grow in your sealed tins and possibly jars if you’re trying to age it. Smoking pipes made it right with me and is sending me Interlude as a replacement. Without mold 4 stars because of the mold issue 1 star.

The 2023 Anthology from C&D is a straight Virginia in serious need of some cellar time. All of the well known stars are present, but it’s like they got their scripts recently and haven’t had time to practice — or in this case, to integrate. The blend burns very easily despite a slight moisture to the touch. The tin smell is heavenly — that good Virginia tobacco (different ones) but the taste is … well, its a work in progress. If you like straight Virginia, I’d get a tin or two of this and put it down for a few years. Or press it if you’d like to hurry the drama along a bit. It’s not that Anthology 2023 is not smokable now, but that the stars are new to the screen and need some maturing up.

There are a few different descriptions of this blend floating around. The one I pasted below describes the 2019 Georgia reds as being stoved. The reason I bring that up is because I do get an occasional toastiness in the flavor profile.

Anthology 2023 is a similarly celebratory blend, though it celebrates the year 2023, showcasing a curated selection of exceptional Red Virginias from across the year's releases. The blend comprises a mixture of 2013 Steamed Virginia Reds, 2019 North Carolina Reds, 2022 North Carolina Reds, and 2019 Georgia Reds that are treated with Cornell & Diehl's proprietary stoving process and sliced into flakes.

For me this is a pretty decent anthology of Virginias. It's bready, citrus, hay, and an occasional wink of toastiness. Perhaps just a tad brighter than some of the other straight Red Virginia flakes out there. It has a slight spicy character to it. I knocked a star off because of the mold issue that some are experiencing with it.