Cornell & Diehl Da Vinci

Please let me begin by saying - I am a self-confessed Latakia addict!!

Wow Wow Wow!!!!

This fantastic creation is full of the beautiful black stuff my whole being cries out for. Its Latakia all the way!! If you dont like Latakia then please dont buy this!! I love it!!

another beautifull journey, smoking that tobacco, hight quality, nice taste.

Ok, I just deleted my original review of Da Vinci because I was way off. When I wrote it I had just received a can of it and went right to town on it and didn't really give it much of a chance. I put the can in one of my kitchen drawers and forgot about it until I found it about 4 months later and gave it another shot. I don't know if aging has anything to do with it or if I've gotten better at smoking pipe but this is great stuff. I'm a full flavor kinda guy and this stuff knocked me for a loop. The first time I smoked it I compared the flavor and aroma to that of a camp fire. I have to admit I was taking pretty big puffs which was a HUGE mistake. This time I took my time and really got lost into the whole smoke. I found the flavor more complex. I noticed a really woodsy smoke smell which turned into a sweet taste and aroma. It burned really cool and slow and the flavor was excellent to the end. I was getting ready to give up on Latakia after my first experience with Da Vinci but now I'm a changed man and I suppose second chances do pay off. I have to say I've found this very addictive and it's hard for me not to smoke it all the time but it overwhelms the pallet and so I save it for my last smoke of the day.

I will preface this review by saying that I normally smoke English tobaccos with a heavy latakia content and that this is my first premium blend to contain burley (although I have been smoking for several years).

This is a great smoky tobacco with zero bite, zero nicotine kick and zero drawbacks. I have finished 100g's of this blend recently and plan to make this my new all day smoke. Da Vinci burns clean and dry. I does not even leave a bad taste in my mouth afterwards (something new for someone smoking Nightcap for years).

Da Vinci does burn rather slow and cool making it a perfect tobacco, like the advert says, to break in a new pipe with. I am new to C&D blends but if they all smoke this good then I look forward to sampling many of their other blends.

If you like a big, white cloud filled smoke with the sweet nutty flavour of burley then give this blend a go.

Tim

Holy crap, this is great! Electric tobacco, shiver your timbers for sure.

A new smoker, I was afraid of this blend. Latakia? 965 was shit -- mixing it now with Devil's Holiday, a pain to smoke and get rid of.

I bought Da Vinci to break in some pipes, and why not? Supposedly good for it, they say. I was expecting a chore. Two half-pipes later I'm hooked -- can someone provide this in bulk?

Wow!

I had high expectations of this blend, being a Latakia lover. However, I found it rather dissapointing. It is not as rich as the Dunhill blends I am best aquainted with, despite its high Latakia content, nor does it have any of their balance. While blends like 965 and Nightcap blend harmoniously to produce a truly majestic smoke, this mixture seems rather discordant.

I suspect that Latakia needs to be supported by the musty Orientals to bring out the best flavour in it. This blend contains Burley, which does not seem to add anything. I presume the reason for adding it was to cool the smoke and prevent bite. But Latakia smokes cool and does not bite. Latakia is spice, and without the correct tobaccos to support it, it has no backbone, no body.

I was also dissappointed by the preparation. Moisture content has remained ideal, despite the unusual tin, but the tobacco has crumbled to a very fine consistency. When I first got it, it was cut too wide, and was a pain in the neck to light, and kept going out. However, its now mostly dust, and burns a little too fast..

The tin is like a cat food tin, which was quite a novelty at first, but it's annoying having to watch the sharp edges inside the top of it when taking tobacco out.

However, it is quite a pleasant smoke, and easy to puff away at when I'm at the pub with friends, I'll use it up there, and afterwards, will know better how to appreciate the magnificent Nightcap!

[This review was originally written on 25 November 2005. One slight change was needed (reason for the update).] Cornell & Diehl products have always stuck me as inferior. Perhaps it is the name that they give many of their blends or the art that is chosen for their tins that has caused me to feel this way. [...] Whatever it is, I have not tried any Cornell & Diehl tobacco blends until daVINCI. Regardless of what I have just written, the name is good and the tin art is uncharacteristically splendid (even if the lid does not bloody fit). Equally surprising, I like this tobacco for its flavour. With an abundance of Latakia it is shocking that this weed is so mild, nevertheless. I would have preferred what I expected from a blend that boasts 75% Latakia--something stronger. It has such wonderful flavour, however. Visually, it is lacking. It looks like tobacco scraps, choppy little pieces, and does not pack well as a result. The roomnote is dreadful--like a mixture of sweat, liquor breath of an alcoholic, and stale cigarettes. (Hmm, I suppose that particular pong is akin to a busy pub the morning after.) I am going to try some more Cornell & Diehl blends in the future (if only because I already have purchased multiple tins), but I will not be able to purchase this again even if the mild flavour is fantastic. The flavour does not outweigh the weed's other problematic issues.

I have changed my opinion on this blend. It really is sorta,kinda,maybe tasty for the Latakia lover. It does however have a noxious odor,uh, I mean aroma. C&D has many other better offerings. Their best Latakia Mix in my Opinion is the 5 star Strathspey. This Davinci will help you lose friends and not influence people. Take a pass.

The sample I was gifted was dry which prompted me to slowly smoke this blend - a tactic that payed off in a very high quality experience. The treatment of the Virginia and Burley leaf is a careful composition for the background influence of a rather mild latakia. A tawny visual presentation of browns and near black shades hint at the artful product of a skilled blender's hand. This smoke should be good indoors or outside as there are no nuances that need attention but instead a tour de force of full flavor. Not an everday smoke, it provides diversion to those seeking a full bodied evening's entertainment. This is not a blend for the novice, but instead a blend with swagger to capture attention from beginning to end.

Meerschaum Man Smoking a CAO Dunhill Man Pasha