Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening

Excellent example of a seasonal blend for me, only smoke it in the Fall. Quality blend of tobaccos with flavoring that combines everything from candy corn to Carmel apples. Not a bite in a bowl full. Consistent flavor of the tobacco and toppings throughout the smoke. Not goopy and sloppy like some blends of a similar nature. Can see why C&D sells a lot of this. Solid 3 for me!

I bought a 57 gram tin of this a couple of weeks ago for the whopping price of $96 Australian dollars. It's pretty good, but won't make my favourites list. Opening the tin, you get the lovely sweet fruitcake/caramel like aroma which is pretty common among a lot aromatics. Smells great, and tastes alright. Made the house smell pretty nice outside the room I smoked it in. My wife sitting on the other side of the room, just said it smelled of smoke. Stepping out of the room, and even outside the house, there was a lovely bit of room note though. There's a bit of nicotine kick with this one. After every bowl, I was feeling a bit of a buzz. Not strong enough to sicken me. I would potentially buy this one again, particularly if none of my favourites are available for whatever reason.

Cornell and Diehl Autumn Evening

Initial flavors are pancakes and maple syrup along with maple flavored pork breakfast sausage. In the beginning I think I am smoking a pure cavendish aromatic. After a couple more puffs , the Virginia does come through creating a mesh of natural tobacco flavor melded with maple and butter topping.

I’m not a big fan of aromatics , but this is pretty fun and enjoyable so far! While the flavors are nice , they also are pretty one dimensional, not really changing much throughout the bowl.

Room note is very pleasant. Overall maybe a little bit too flavored for me , but I can see why people really love this blend. I got a bowl of this in a trade and I think I’ll buy a little tin , just to have around.

A 2.5 for me, not quite my style , but I’ll give it a 3 star. I definitely respect this blend and don’t want to bash it.

- Jan

This is a very nice desert tobacco for after a heavy meal. The only flavoring i detect is pure Virginia and citrus and it's not hard to detect. For an aromatic, This is definitely not bland. No searching for flavor is necessary. It's there.. If you like citrus with a slight nicotine kick ( Buzz ) or if you are a Virginia fan, This one is for you.

For starters, the tin aroma is heavenly! Maple and some caramel coffee!

First smoking impressions were great, it really captured the essence of maple syrup, made me think of pancakes for some reason. If these first impression qualities would have stayed consistent for future smokes or even for the remainder of the pipe, then this would have been perfect... unfortunately the flavour faded past mid-bowl for me, almost every time. The room note did attract an older lady and two bypassing girls in a timeframe of 5 minutes, so that's something.

The loss of flavour might be an issue of too much casing or just my palate. I plan to save this for occasions when I want to treat myself with something sweet. Small bowls and days between!

Recommended!

Somehow - and contradicting to both C&D's description as well as the mentioned flavourings on this site - my nose perceives the flavorings as *"Coffee!!...ish..."* Coffee-ish with some hazelnut, milk-chocolate and some hints of vanilla and fruits .. oh.. and some mild, yet very pleasing maple backbone is there as well! By the way: The tin note somewhat reminds me of 'Momoyama I' by Japan Tobacco. All in all it's a bit artificial in its character, which grants it somewhat of an "OTC-feeling" (somewhat artificial and rather intense flavorings with the tobacco in the background, but it somehow just fits the bill of the blend, without making it "a bad smoke".)

Anyhoo... it smells rather inviting and I somehow really enjoy it! Albeit maybe being a bit intense.... I'm usually no aromatic guy. Yet the tin note was pleasing enough for me to load a cob and try my first bowl... which wouldn't be my last bowl! 😉

"The smoker will appreciate the taste of Virginias while those around will flock to the warm, inviting fragrance." - it says.. and besides the pleasing (yet slightly artifical) topping which also presents itselfs with the coffee-ish aroma as the main actor. Warming, rich coffee which got infused with hazelnut, vanilla, milk chocolate syrups! Oh, and the edge of your cup is iced with maple syrup, mhm delish! There's also a rather pleasing spiciness that outbalances the flavorings and of which I'm not sure where it comes from? Maybe a "spice-flavoring" in the mix? It's too spicy to originate from the Virginias alone I suppose!

About half way through the bowl a pleasant and somewhat peat-y and slightly sharp booze note becomes more and more present to me. It reminds me more of a Whisky rather than rum and it's this very note, which I find myself longing for as soon as I set the bowl alight.

The fact it also offers some pleasing, earthy spiciness, as well as the factor that the flavorings aren't as intense as in the tin note makes this a pleasing, calming and "warming" smoke for me.

Even when I'm smoking the pipe I can sense the room note, which I usually never can when I don't leave the room for a few minutes - and it's a warm and pleasing room note! Indeed it's "warm" as described by C&D, and really comforting.

Nothing I could smoke All-Day, but an aromatic lover may consider this to be an All-Day I suppose. It's mild in strenght, rich in taste, smooth on the palate and caressing the soul with its uncomplicated and "OTC-ish flavor". Usually I'd go with 3-stars, as I'm not that much of an aromatic gut, but I feel this one deserves all 4 stars, as this is one of the best, if not the best (straight) aromatic I've had so far (not taking the "semi-aromatics" (only slightly flavored, rather natural blends) into consideration).

I'd like to end my review by quoting DK's review: *Making a decent aromatic pipe tobacco is probably the easiest thing for a blender to do. Making a great one is probably the hardest. This one is probably as close to perfection as there is in an aromatic.*

|| Personal rating: 3,5-stars | Attempt of an 'obective rating' : 4-stars ||

**Edit:** somehow my last smoke gave me an aftertaste of "Maggi" (german spiced sauce for soups and alike...) that was very persitent and has put me off this blend eversince... totally odd! I'll respond if I dare to pack it again, as the pipe also smells of 'Maggi' now... am I loosing my mind? My GF also mentioned it to smell very puky and odd... totally changed somehow? Stored in mason jar.

Downvoted to 3 stars whilst I'm inspecting this!

This is an enjoyable tobacco for the first half of the bowl. It's one of those aromatics that truly tastes the way the blend smells. A great mixture of Maple and Vanilla. I bought this blend mainly for the maple since that's my favorite type of aromatic, but the maple isn't prominent here. It's not hard to detect, but it's not incredibly strong either. It complements the other flavors in the casing well.

The tobacco itself is a dark, course cut tobacco. I couldn't smell any specific tobacco due to the topping of the blend. The tobacco itself was a bit on the dry side and didn't need to be dried out before lighting. Burns well and I didn't have to fight with re-lights.

My dislike was about halfway through the bowl. It seems that the taste of the topping fades away and I was left with a taste of ash and bitterness. I try to smoke it like all my aromatics... barely keeping the tobacco lit so it doesn't burn too hot. I've had this experience every time I've smoked it. Starts out great, but ends up ashy and I usually don't finish the last 1/4 or so.

The room note is fantastic. I ordered this in a tin and am going to age it to see how it changes. I've read positive results from people that have aged this.

This stuff is my go to arromatic blend. It's mild and sweet and reminds me of breakfast at my grandmother's house where pancakes and maple syrup were always a staple. Unlike most C&D blends this one needs a little drying or it bite a bit. Unless you have a strong aversion to maple flavoring I recommend the you at least try this one.

Disclosure: I smoke mostly English blends.

With that in mind, C&D's Autumn Evening is a welcome occasional treat for me. While most reviews have noted a strong maple flavor, I for some reason put it closer to maple syrup (as in Trader Joe's) and vanilla-flavored pancakes adorned with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

This blend has come close to biting my tongue -- but then again, most aromatics I've tried do that to me. So proceed with increased caution if you experience the same.