Cornell & Diehl Red Odessa

C&D English/Balkan blends are very hit or miss for me. I either find them smooth, balanced and tasty or they tend to be rough around the edges, and lacking in refinement. Red Odessa is a winner in my book. RO is a very creamy, slightly sweet, slightly tangy smoke with the Turkish leading the charge. The red Virginias complement the Turkish very well. As others have pointed out there is a little sweet and sour here, but in a good way. There is more than a little bit of Latakia in RO, but by no means does it take the lead. The Perique is there, but only really shows itself around mid-bowl. After smoking a little more than an ounce of RO, I am not quite sure it’s a four star blend, but it is darn close. I think that a couple of years in the cellar will make this go from a very good blend to an outstanding one.

Excellent take on the classic "balkan" style of tobaccos... er... with the addition of perique. I seem to be finding more and more latakia blends with perique these days. In this one, the perique seems to be more for smoothing out the burn rate than for flavoring. This one tasted mostly of latakia and orientals to me, which was fine because that's what I was after when I bought it! The tin is about a year old.

A reasonably harmonious blend, this reminds me of a somewhat calmer version of Pease's masterful Charing Cross. The flavors are similar, but more relaxed here. Interestingly, I thought I was after that very thing when I first smoked CC, but I prefer CC to this. This is very good but less forceful. The latakia speaks loudly and clearly and meshes well with the oriental piquancy and sour-sweetness. The VA is robust but does tend to leave the arena at intermission, after which the Turkish strains are left alone to mingle. Nice wide-cut ribbon, easy to load.

And now for the downside. I could not keep this stuff lit! It was unimaginably reticent to hold a flame and the extra lights caused it to heat up to unacceptable levels. There is no reason I can see for this but it was consistent despite varying the moisture content. I like my balkans a bit on the moist side and it was here that it tasted its best, but dry is when it stayed lit. Odd. Still, this is a good one to try if you're a balkan fan. Hopefully, you'll be able to keep it burning.

Cornell & Diehl - Red Odessa.

My main problem with its sibling, Odessa, was the amount of twigs I discovered in the pouch. This, on the other hand, is twig free. The tobacco arrives with the right amount of moisture.

Red Odessa isn't a Lat-bomb. The Latakia's the smoother, creamier, variety, rather than being the rich, woody, and over smoky kind. The Turkish is easy to identify and works wonderfully with the Virginia; a sweet, sour, and slightly sharp combination forms the leading taste. Mechanically Red Odessa behaves well, burning reliably, cool, without bite.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not great.

Red Odessa? A good blend but I'll refrain from awarding four stars as it couldn't be a regular for me; I prefer more of a 'traditional' Lat-bomb when I have an English! So three stars it is:

Recommended.

Yet another cornell and diehl bulk english. I have smoked more of these than I have reviewed, and many are similar. Not in the sense that many taste similar ( although many do since they are spinoffs of each other) but because they all give a similar feel when smoking them. For some reason when I smoke Cornell and Diehl blends I feel like I am smoking an old timey American tobacco (okay maybe its just the names and the artwork). The tobacco is dry, sometimes bone dry, sometimes just dry enough. It is not nuanced like many tinned blends. They are, at least in my opinion, simple, high quality, good tasting tobacco blends.

Anyway,Red Odessa is definitely a worthy tobacco. I have smoked a little over half of a two ounce sample over the course of 6 months to a year. When I first smoked it, it was fairly sweet. Not a cased type sweetness, but a red va type sweetness. However, it was also fairly "rough". Like Many C and D blends it is not very refined. It is a "manly" smoke. However, I am nearing the end of a large bowl and the several months of aging have tamed it a bit. It lost much of its sweetness and developed a more woodsy flavor. Still relatively sweet compared to other Cornell and Diehl english blends, but it has changed quite a bit.

Overall a pretty good smoke worth trying.

My initial impressions of this one have held up over many bowls. This is great tobacco. This is NOT an English or Balkan, not in the strictest, traditional sense. Rather, this is a great blend that just happens to contain Latakia as a major component. It's more like an American blend than an English, except there is no Burley and it doesn't taste like an American blend. That make sense?

This is Red Va, Turkish, Perique and Latakia. Sounds familiar, right? It's not. This is a genre busting tobacco. Not like any of its contemporaries. Do you like blends like OJK and Three Friars? If you like Latakia as well you will love Red Odessa. I know I keep calling this one Three Friars with Latakia. It's the best I can do to describe a tobacco that is like nothing else. It's sweet, it's smoky, it's got a fruity tang from the Perique. I bought two pounds already. This won't be for everyone, but everyone should order at least an ounce for the experience. I love Lat blends. This is not like other Lat blends. I don't care, I still love it.

968R or Red Odessa is a lovely tobacco in appearance. C&D gives us a ribbon cut mix of medium browns with a stray black strand of long cut perique and a very rare dot of greenish Turkish. The latakia is used very sparingly here it seems. No great wads of blue-black leaf are present in the tin. The aroma on opening the tin is soundly ?Balkan?. I would guess that a good portion of the brown leaf is not red Virginia, but a Turkish variety.

The cut packs quite easily and the light is just as simple. Instant gratification.

On first light I notice the Orientals with a slight undertone of sweet from the red Virginia, kind of like Fox Campanile if you?ve tried that, but sweeter. Then the latakia walks in quietly. There is no harshness or heat. This is a cool exotic smoke.

As the bowl progresses the perique begins to add spice, but the Orientals and Virginia keep the foundation solidly consistent. By mid bowl the perique is pushing too hard for me, tingling the tongue and soft palate. Honestly it is detracting from the early promising lushness of the Virginia and Turkish.

By end of bowl the perique has pretty much taken charge. The Virginia has given up and gone home and the Turkish is trying to give all it has left with its usual ending sour mustiness. So I feel what is left is stinging spice, a hint of latakia, and the not-best-part of the Turkish.

I would never presume to claim the experience and knowledge of C&D?s truly paragon blenders, though having done a bit of blending in days gone by, I think I follow the logic: Perique slows the combustion and makes a great moderator for the otherwise hot Virginia and Turkish. Same with latakia, but I think C&D (admirably) didn?t want to lay it on with too heavy a hand ? so used more perique. Unfortunately, the thermal solution may have undone the intention of the taste.

If perique disagrees with you, or you expect a sweet red Virginia experience, you?ll probably be digging this out of the pipe around mid bowl. HOWEVER, overall, this is a very elegant blend. Not big on nicotine, this is about flavor. Quite pleasant and cool smoking with a complex interplay of flavors tending toward the namesake oriental.

I tested this at the same time I got my Orient Express and Odessa first purchases as figured while I was waiting for my favorite Engine 99 to come back into stock at sp.com I could see how close this would be to the Engine, and the difference between it and Odessa. It hard keeping all these impressions apart to make these reviews, similar blends but each distinctly its own. Take the Burley out of Odessa, replace it with Red Virgina. Sounds simple. The effect is dramatic however. Had I not known of the sibling relationship I never would have guessed related pedigrees between these two. The Latakia is in condiment quantity unlike Pirate Kake or Star of the East. Very pleasant

On top of that, while I can readily taste this in Engine 99, it grows within that hybrid into a better smoke for me. This is sweet with a characteristic Red Virginia tang (but no bite) augmented by the sweetish Izmir. Strangely, given that it is a component of my favorite blend I rate it just shy of my opinion of Odessa, but still three stars. A desert island finalist. Not an all day blend, yet, but it could grow on me.

I find this blend to be complex and spicy delivering different effects depending on what stage of the bowl I was in. Upon opening a bulk bag of this blend, my first impression was that of Copenhagen smokeless. I found it had to be packed very carefully due to the long ribbon cut. After charring, I noticed many flavors and notes I cannot easily describe. Good with coffee and quite tangy. I started smoking a pipe again after 36yrs. I put 2 quart jars away for future reference to see what happens to it after awhile. I’m leaving the rest in the bag with bag open for a couple of days to dry it out a little. Maybe it won’t require as many re lights. Overall, I find it smooth, spicy and somewhat tangy. Sorry I can’t distinguish the many different flavors yet as I have only been smoking a pipe again for a few weeks. Ok, this blend has improved in only the few short weeks I’ve been smoking it. I’m glad I bought bulk and put away 2 jars to age. Love this blend.

It’s really beautiful to the sight; the adjective ‘red’ is very apt. It comes in a mixed ribbon cut with some wider some narrower cut with colors ranging from light brown to black with the reds dominating.

Tin note has a rounded smoky character with cedary and musky tones . It lights easy and stays lit burning completely to the end and produces an abundant full bodied smoke.

This tobacco has really two quite distinct facets. Up until the middle of the bowl it is a bold but smooth and creamy smoke without any edges. All the elements are sublimely integrated with each other and none stands out as they all contribute to a harmonious and tasty whole. Latakia is not very pungent or smoky, on the contrary, it is quite elegant and complex and I think also a little sweet. Also sweet is the red Virginia which provides a nice tangy floor upon which the Orientals (which if not solely Izmir, I guess predominantly so) offer a nice sweet-spicy nutmeg-like aroma. Perique’s presence up until the middle of the bowl only shows a spicy fruitiness but as the bowl progresses it becomes very prominent as a black peppery spiciness which tickles the tongue transforming the blend at the end to a Perique lover’s delight – so be aware! After mid-bowl the tobacco transforms to something which I find overwhelmingly spicy.

It’s a very interesting and complex full bodied blend which I could smoke all day were it not on the one hand so satiating and on the other so peppery at the end. It’s not high on the nicotine side and it’s not overtly strong, but it has a fullness which to me is very satiating. On the first part it plays a little bit on the bass notes and lacks a little freshness but this is only a very minor complaint. Could it be enhanced by the addition of a little bright Virginia or maybe a little sour Basma? I will definitely try it in some microblending. But at the end it becomes a little too much for me…

If you enjoy Oriental forward English blends with an American flair and you also love Perique, this blend was made for you! For me though it’s a three star blend although I feel stingy not giving it four… The first part of the smoke is definitely four though…