Cornell & Diehl Sunset Harbor Flake

This has come highly recommended from folks in the Bones Pipe Club.

My tin has a 032819 date on it, so just over a month of age. Tinnote is fruity/spicy. The flakes crumble apart, haven't seen anything quite like that. Easy to load and light.

Taste starts out smoky from the latakia. There is def some fruit taste from the Perique and some "spice" from the Turkish. It is a real consistent smoke as I didn't notice much difference from beginning to end. Nicotine was stronger than I expected but not overpowering.

I can see why this one is so popular.

Cornell & Diehl
Sunset Harbor

Blend notes: “For those who love the sea few things in life are more satisfying after a long day on the salt than dropping anchor in a quiet harbor and enjoying a beautiful sunset. C&D invites you to enhance the experience with a bowl of Sunset Harbor Flake, a classic Balkan style blend made with the finest Izmir Oriental to add a touch of spice to the end of a perfect day.”

This is a moderate strength Balkan if by the term we mean an English with more than the usual amount of Oriental leaf. In this case Turkish Izmir.

Soft. Delicious. Lighter than Quiet Nights but tasty. Once lit it stays with you. Very comfortable like chatting about nuance with an old friend. Smoking isn’t about smoking as much as letting the moment flow. Very, very good indeed.

The Latakia brings mild smoke and some sweetness. The Izmir brings mild spice. Sunset Harbor is a very approachable blend. In my view on a par with Maltese Falcon, Father Dempsey, Odyssey, White Knight and Tashkent but different from all of these.

A 4 star out of 4 blend.

Sunset Harbor has been a difficult blend for me to rate. It's Latakia forward, with a rich smoky flavor, and backed up by other Orientals with a floral essence. Perique is not overpowering and just gives this blend little extra spice. No difficulties with lighting, or tongue bite, and perfect moisture out of the tin.

I enjoy the richness of the Latakia, but just doesn't have the wow factor I've enjoyed in other English/Balkan style blends. I can really only give this a somewhat recommended as I don't think it's for all pipers.

Tin note of tangy fruit, smoky, and mild spice. Tobacco flakes rub out super easily. The dark brown flakes need no drying. Burns slow with a few extra relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild to medium. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and consistent, with notes of smoky, raisin spice note, lemon zest, musty sour wood, dry earth, floral, mild tart plums, mild sweet grass, mild bitter herbs and a moderately peppery retro. Latakia and Izmir are tag teaming the lead, with perique providing support. Room note is tolerable to strong, and aftertaste is great.

Appearance: 2 oz tin, production date May 19, 2010. 13 years is a long time for a Balkan blend, so I suspect the latakia has weathered a bit. The blend has dried slightly and over the course of storage has turned into a broken flake, almost entirely the color of a medium roast coffee, in which it is almost impossible to distinguish visually the individual ingredients. The tobacco is very easy to prepare by simply kneading the particularly large flake pieces a bit. It's light, lush, a little dry, and generally ready for immediate consumption.

Flavor: A smoky, slightly woody, cheesy acidity blend of latakia and oriental is the first thing you smell. The latakia notes are very mild, smoky rather than peaty. Smoked cheese on an oak board comes to mind. A little later, as the aroma begins to pick up new notes, spicy cardamom and allspice open up. Very light notes of raisins and prunes make it clear that the perique has been used only as a spice in this mixture. After lying in the air, mixed with woody and spicy flavors, the initial excessive acidity turns into something that looks like a slice of green apple. Other than that, the sweetish notes in the flavor are generally absent.

Taste: creamy-spicy, slightly sweet, with a mild hint of meat juice, nuances derived from a mixture of latakia and oriental, somewhat dominate the palate. For the second roles there is a slight spice of perique, quite noticeable only at the beginning of smoking. The overall bouquet is bright enough, but smooth. Towards the middle of the pipe, the taste gains a little more woody notes, and the smokiness of the latakia goes into the background. The tobacco becomes a mild-sweet and spicy blend and stays that way until the end, which I find somewhat atypical given the lack of Virginia in the lineup. The woody notes are more pronounced in straight pipes than in bents. The strength of the tobacco is somewhat above average, a slight nicotine kick is possible even in a medium sized pipe. The tobacco burns slowly, evenly, very cool, does not bite, leaves some moisture in the pipe. The aftertaste is not persistent, woody and spicy.

The smoke from the tobacco has a spicy smell with a hint of smoldering wood. It is persistent enough in the room, but quite bearable.

Conclusion: A rare old-school blend among Balkan blends that doesn't contain Virginia. Its absence may scare off those who are afraid of large amounts of latakia, but in this blend it is very mild, and nicely flavored with izmir. The amount of perique is insignficient, and almost doesn't affect the overall flavor and taste picture. I believe the taste will be more vivid when fresh, but the old tobacco was very good, although I would not call it an everyday tobacco. It's a tobacco for the mood. A glass of rum would be a very good accompaniment to it.

Like too many C&D flakes, this is not. Best described as a very rough broken flake. Another all too common problem with C&D flakes is an extremely odd 'chalkiness' in the feel of the tobacco. It put me to mind of tobacco dust that had been compressed. And should you try to rub this out, that's exactly what you get: dust. A tug of war between latakia and Orientals, with a pronounced aged cheese and latakia aroma in the tin. Zero bite, cool smoking. But a dull, and blunt flavour profile. It's missing that incense and spice I usually find in an average Balkan or English. Not nuanced or complex enough to be one of the greats. No point in aging as the Virginia content is low and of mediocre quality. There are many many better Balkans.