Cornell & Diehl Da Vinci

I've had this tin cellared since 3/11, tin date 2010. I have no idea why I never opened it, maybe because I often reach past it for the Pirate Kake. Anyway, I just had surgery so I'm off work from the firehouse, so I have nothing better to do than open tins and write reviews.

I love the tin aroma of the fermented Va's. Reminds me of the smell of the fruit bowl of the counter after you leave a few apples, pears and maybe a few peaches out to ferment to feed the fruit flies. Three shades of leaf in this tin, obvious enough you could separate each addition. A bit on the dry side, but typical for C&D. This blend allows easy packing, and lights fairly well, although relights are common. This is definitely Latakia dominant, no sweetness whatsoever. Campfire aroma, enough to drive the wife to the other end of the house. I understand this blend is designed by C&D to taste exactly like it does, but a touch of sweetness would've made a world of difference. Great outdoor blend, but I still smoke it inside. Paired well with JW Black in the evening, but was also terrific this morning with a cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain. Smokes down to a chunky grey ash, little to no moisture.

The tin states that the blend is heavy in Latakia and that is no lie! Something like 75% Latakia in this one and some Burley too. So, it is strong and strong. I powered through a tin of this and while I enjoyed it and was happy for the experience, I will simply recommend it to other Latakia lovers but I do not see myself going for another tin. But I think it is the Burley that kind of pushes me away from this one.

There's a fermented, pungent and an old school ''soda'' like smell in the tin. The dark, black and mahogany strands of tobacco are very thick. Moisture level is perfect to light it right away.

The Cyprian Latakia is delicious, smoky and as expected will leave you with a cotton mouth. Having smoked pure 100% Latakia, I can honestly taste the other tobaccos. The Burley's nuttiness and woodiness is there in spades and the bright Virginia flake imparts some sweetness sparingly. I smoked the bowl surprisingly fast and was left with a dry white ash and no dottle.

I prefer Pirate Kake as the Turkish does a better job with the 75% Latakia than the Virginia of this American/English mixture. It also left me wanting for more tobacco taste after I finished my bowl, a thing that didn't happen with Pirate Kake.

Virginia lover

This was my first experience with Latakia, and about my 5th pipe tobacco back when I was first starting pipe smoking. It is heavy latakia and I'm very fond of this blend, and will always have extra tins in storage and open on the shelf in an mason jar.

Tin note is very strong latakia, with nice sized tobacco leaf inside. It smokes great, down to the bottom with very little dottle, and layers the pipe nicely. Dedicating a pipe to just this blend makes it even better. Like it was stated above, this will always be in my collection of tobacco.

Is exactly what it purports itself to be. Heavy Latakia. After smoking other Latakia blends da Vinci has grown on me more than I would have imagined a few years back, and it is my go-to when I want a smooth, slow burning Latakia smoke.

I recommend this to Latakia lovers, but I can't see why someone not into Latakia would smoke this.

Da Vinci is indeed a heavy Latakia blend. 75% of the smoky leaf is a measure unsurpassed by any other blend on the market I'm aware of. But the high Latakia content is also the blend's Achilles' heel, especially if you like a little complexity in the smoke, for plain and simple, there is none. Lot's of woody smokiness, with a little tart Virginia sweetness, the Burley is hardly noticeable at all, but certainly gives some body to the smoke. And the taste stays the same throughout the entire bowl.

Mind you,uniformness in taste is not always a bad thing, quite the contrary. When I'm working on things that demand my undivided attention there's hardly anything better to accompany such tasks as absent-mindedly puffing on a bowl of Da Vinci. The same holds true for a smoke to go with a dram or three of a peaty Islay Single Malt that I like a lot.

But one should be aware that, after a bowl of Da Vinci, one will not be able to taste virtually any other tobacco for a while, so either reserve this blend for the last bowl of the day or don't smoke anything else all day long.

Practically a softer and already rubbed out version of Pirate Kake. It smokes wonderfully, with an incredibly intense taste: latakia is clearly the main character, but nutty burley plays a significant role too. Of course it doesn't feel as "full" and sweet as some more typical English tobacco, due to the lack of orientals and a light hand with the Virginias: it's just a spice feast. Tasty but doesn't calm the appetite, not "meaty" enough or complex at all. The Latakia is clearly similar to the leaf used in some GLPease blends, as it has quite a similar taste. Very good, anyway! Minor complaint: too much fine tobacco dust in the tin!

Another interesting product from Cornell and Diehl.C and D is one of the most innovative blenders in a market that is often driven by tradition. The krumble-kake koncept they are famous for is a good example.("...overwhelmed by the smoky pungent aroma of Cyprian Latakia"- it almost sounds too derogatory to put on your label!) .

So... I had high expectations DaVinci. Now let me say right up front that I like this tobacco, even though it had a few strikes against it. First off, the tobacco in my tin was too @#%& dry, even by C and D standards! Bone dry! Dry as the death of a sponge. This of course could be remedied. It was also in poor condition consistency-wise, however. Tiny pieces of ribbon and lots of powder. Seems like it was the very bottom dregs of the batch, 'cause no one would purposely sell tobacco in this condition intentionally. This being one of my first experiences with C and D I was quite disappointed. (In retrospect, I guess the consistency is what you would get if you over rubbed-out something like Pirate Kake.)

So I put a little unsweetened burley cav. in the bottom of the bowl to keep the crumbs out of my mouth, filled up a half bowl and lit her up. Surprise, this stuff tastes good: "The perfect blend for the true lover of Latakia". Well not perfect, but definitely a good latakia fix. I would say that the burley is of fairly high proportion in this blend (C and D love their burley blends, don't they), making this an atypical "english-style" smoke. All the component tobaccos made their presence known as the bowl smoked down, with a little sweetness from the Virginias poking through from time to time

Though I had rehydrated it a bit, it was still quite dry, which seemed to work OK. The dry powdery texture was easy to light and burned fast, giving amazing clouds of lat-heavy smoke. I kind of enjoy that. A real "mouth-feel" to the dense smoke. It is no Pirate Kake, mind you, but still good stuff.

One interesting feature of the tobacco IMHO is the immediate and short-lived ammonia-like aftertaste this tobacco has near the bottom half of the bowl. I am struck by this every time I smoke it. Not too bad,just weird.

In my book this is a "niche" latakia blend that has me coming back for more when I am in the mood. Sure hope my next tin is in better condition...

What a wonderful blend. I ordered Da Vinci on a whim. I was expecting the 75% Latakia blend to be a bit of a gimmick but I was pleasantly proven otherwise. What a splendid example of what Latakia is capable of. Smokey, smooth relaxing blend sure to invoke deep thoughts. The perfect blend for those time you just want to be alone with your thoughts. The tobacco burns slow, even and produces thick, milky smoke. The flavor is also of the highest caliber. Bold, smokey with just enough Virginia to add a sweet undertone to this bold lakakia blend.