Cornell & Diehl Sunday Picnic

On my initial look, Sunday Picnic's contents seemed mostly similar to Embarcadero--Virginias and Smyrna, or Izmir (depending on your preference), in a flake form. I haven't tried Embarcadero and was thinking about it until I compared the reviews. Sunday Picnic had a wealth of praise, even more than Embarcadero, which I decided to push back to a later time.

I should say that this was my first experience with the newer C&D flakes (the much older Bayou Morning Flake was an early, favorite smoke), and they do it differently, which I like. The thick flakes look beautiful lined up in the protective sleeve, their squarish shape perfectly sized to the C&D two ounce tin. It's a very light press, and they fall apart easily upon handling, reminiscent of Penzance. I can't say whether C&D flakes will get firmer over time, but it's a welcome change, and it's nice to see something other than a ribbon or a compressed ribbon crumble cake. My only complaint would be the paper insert, which embeds little white shards in the tobacco, and can be a pain to fish out of the flakes. I noticed that the newer Samuel Gawith tins also have this problem, and it's annoying.

This blend has some strength to it, though not quite overpowering, certain to give you a nic jolt in a larger bowl. It's rather sweet, though not so much as McClelland's Tudor Castle, another blend that does the Virginia/Turkish/Perique combo very well (and the first to get me on this mix). I've found the Perique there more for power than taste, and having missed its inclusion while reading the tin description, had a bit of an "ahah!" moment while scouring the reviews. The components are enough to vary the flavor through the smoke, beginning with familiar hay-like notes, and deepening as the sugars caramelize into a toasty, slow burning explosion of complimentary flavors, the Turkish leaf contributing a bit of spiciness, but mostly restrained.

Now, with my Sunday Picnic finished, I'm off to Union Square, and I suspect there will be more stops down the line.

Five of Five.

Don't let the tin note stop you, yes, it smells like a barnyard. The moisture level is pretty high and I found that it packed and burned better with a little dry time. Once burning, if you take it slow, you will be treated to a smoke that bounces back and forth between a creamy sweet taste and then a peppery tingle on the palate. If you puff too vigorously you will miss out on the suttle nuiancies and get more of a one dimensional smoke of medium strength. This will not be a daily or all day smoke for me and I can't see that it would fit it into that category for many, but for if you are looking for that unique occasional smoke that rewards the process of perpetration, packing, and cadence then I highly recommend giving this a try.

Sunday picnic is a pretty good name for this one.. kind of what you would expect.. a light and bright spring/summer driven taste.. pretty crisp on the palette.. Sweet hay/citrus with just a touch of spice from the turkish and perique.. the Virginia is way in the lead here.. and it burns pretty hot as you might expect.. I consider it a thin walled billiard sipper if ever there was one.. it does not overwhelm in flavor or strength.. while this could certainly work in its favor during hot weather, I don't think it is one that i would reach for on a daily basis.. when I'm in the virginia mood 9 times out of 10 i like a tangier deeper red Virginia.. got one in the cellar.. definitely thinking 5+ years on this would do wonders.

Cracked this open today and was immediately entranced but the wonderful smell of Virginia and Perique a spicy and floral tin note to be sure.

Rubbed this out thoroughly and loaded it up knowing that this was going to be a good one. From first light the Virginia takes off with a wonderful sweet flavor and then in swoops the perique warming the mouth up and balancing the Virginia nicely. About mid bowl I need to relight, and got the Virginias to come through again almost to for the rest of the bowl. The Perique seemed to take a back note from then on, could be I just got use to it.

Try as I might, I didn't get a lot of the oriental flavor I thought I would get. It is there to be sure but that tangy sour seemed to get lost in the spicy Perique.

Mechanically, there was no bite to the blend at all. It was pretty well behaved with few relights and burned to the bottom with little to no dottle left. Might need to make another order of this one soon. A few more bowls might convince me to make this a four star review and put it in regular rotation.

My first tin of this was when I fell in love with a turk spiked vapor. The tin note is of hay and spice and everything nice. I find myself craving this tobacco and comparing other VaPer blends to it. The Red Carpet blend is similar to this but I find that it lacks the spice and has a harder nic hit. Although I enjoy them both this has been my favorite blend in the elegant series and a close first by c&d as a whole. Also, this flake seems to hold together better than other c&d flakes.

The tobacco looked very attractive with a very nice tin note as well. It rubbed out easily, packed effortlessly and took light with ease.

The first quarter of the pipe was a bit on the harsh/sharp side. Probably the Virginias, but lacking the sweetness I was expecting. It actually felt more like a Burley based smoke initially. I didn't get much of the Perique either. Halfway through the bowl, she calmed down and mellowed out, with the Perique becoming subtly apparent, and a slight sweetness making an appearance along with a very nice nutty flavor. Toward the end of the bowl, the Perique really shined, ever so slightly spicy and just right.

Had the entire smoke been like the first quarter, I would have given it about one and one half stars. Perhaps some aging would eliminate the harshness I experienced initially. After the smoke settled down, it was quite enjoyable with more than a few flavors bouncing around the palate. It smoked quite cool, with zero dottle, but I did feel a very slight tongue bite when finished.

All in all a pleasant smoke made with quality tobaccos. It has just the right amount of nicotine in my opinion to elicit a relaxed mood, and a desire to smoke it whilst perched in a leather recliner as opposed to an all day smoke.

It will not be going into my rotation, but I can definitely see it as an occasional revisit when I open my cellar and want something different. Nice tobacco, this.

Update: I let this one dry out a bit in the tin, got zero tongue bite this time around, but it did seem to dry my mouth out. As mentioned in many other reviews, definitely the hay aroma and flavor going on (quite pleasant actually) with a bit more sweetness than when first tried. This one appears to be growing on me a bit.

Update again: After even more time in the tin, this smoke is steadily grabbing my affections. I find myself alternating it occasionally with my McClelland's Blackwoods Flake which is saying a lot. This is a superior blend and worthy of mention. I have just ordered an 8 ounce tin and extend a bravo and a handshake to Craig Tarler the blender of this outstanding offering. Upgraded to 4 solid stars! Amazing... As Craig Tarler has apparently passed away and left us at the age of 82, I hope he has shared his craft with a worthy study who will continue the fine tradition and art of blending.

I bought a tin of this almost 2 years ago and ever since it has been throwing the easy going of a sunday picnic at me every time I visit my baccy cellar. Once opened I found the baccy to be perfect in moisture and presented beautifully. After rubbing out slightly it took two matches to light up and burned strait down leaving a fine gray ash. This is one of those smokes that I can't just put my finger on exactly. I picked up the hay, sweetness with a bit of spice here and there. Nothing was over powering just a fine balance with a little complexity that will keep you coming back for more. The nicotine was their but not over powering for me, and I experienced 0 tongue bite. Overall SP is one that I will keep on hand at all times and it very well could be an all day smoke.

Having read all these positive opinions, I bought a 50g can of this tobacco. Good stuff, it went in a few days, and I have still no clear ideas about it. So I bought another tin, to make a deeper aquaintance with Sunday Picnic. Unfortunately, after a few days the tin was empty again! So I got the third tin, and this time with no doubts I could be sure it is a good tobacco. The problem with Sunday Picnic is that the 50g are keen on disappearing automagically, or the tin has an hole in it which I cannot spot. Otherwise I wouldnt explain why the tobacco vanishes so quickly.

This said.. I have smoked several tins of this tobacco. I would define it a "full smoke", very rich in taste, spicy, linear from beginning to the end, tobacco will burn to white ashes entirely. I remind, there is no latakia here. The oriental Izmir Turkish is complementary to the perique, rounding the taste and making the virginia literally shine. It is one of the best tobacco I have ever smoked, and I tested more than 200 so far. This is memorable, and the fact it is so good explains why once you have open the tin you will smoke it bowl after bowl without feeling the need to rotate.

It is not a mild tobacco, on the contrary it is certainly tasteful and medium strong. I could not find a similar tobacco among those I have smoked. Many Virginia Perique blends are excellent, like Dunhill DeLuxe or Davidoff , but this is just another story, so much better.

I smoke it in the pipe I keep for VaPer blends. It is excellent also in corncobs ! It comes in broken flakes, but I strongly suggest you do rub it, rolling it with fingers until it is well rubbed and more "broken", and simply plug it in the bowl. It does not need to be relighted once burning, if rolled correctly.

I had lied to them. I told them we were braving the zombie hoards for food and water, but the truth was I had caught word of a seller at what was once our local mall who had a stash of tobacco, Sunday Picnic to be exact. I needed this tobacco, my only vice and last sin in life. I didn't care that I was lying to the 3 men with me, they had been nothing but trouble since the beginning. Stealing food and water, skimming off the top wherever they could... I couldn't prove it, but I knew they were doing it. I was tired of my living situation in that plaza with those greedy idiots.

The four of us, prepared for our run to the mall, including Tommy, Jim's nephew Lil. Jim and the Bull dyke Claudette. I was in lead of the run, so i was best armed; 2 pistols and a shot gun... Nothing was gonna stand between me and the pipe! We snuck out of the plaza, hoping that the zombies wouldn't see us. But this was wishful thinking once Lil Jim decided to fart and laugh about it. I couldnt believe it, a 24 year old farting at a time like this. I was glad that he got his kicks in, cause i was going to kill him first. The zombies began to come at us after Lil Jim's stunt and soon found dozens of zombies bearing down on us. As the zombies came closer, I knew we needed to slow them down, There weren't enough bullets to go around. So I did what I had to, I shot Lil Jim in the leg and let the zombies take that annoying fool as lunch so that we could make it out of there. As we kept running, blowing zombies out of our path we arrived, 2 miles later at the mall, safely behind a tall metal fence.

We sat outside the mall as we took a water break. The bull dyke was starting to get on my nerves with her short cut hair and tanktop. She looked like GI Jane, and it pissed me off. She had begun to poke at me for what I did to Lil Jim, told me i was wrong and she was going to tell on me. I told her to shove it, because it was his fault that the zombies saw us in the first place and he had been complaining non-stop since i had met him. It was his time to go. After I told her to shut up, she mockingly bowed to me and said "As you wish, your majesty."... I wasn't going to tolerate that, so as she got up from her bow, I blew her brains out with my .45 Glock. Tommy stared at me, looking like he was gonna piss himself, he began to reach for his gun, but I pointed mine at him first. "Dont even think about it" I said to the rat. I had no respect for Tommy, he had been skimming food and water for months and played around too much. His time would come soon.

As we stepped into the mall, we reached the dealer. I tried to get the tobacco, but he could obviously tell that I was desperate because of my first request for tobacco. Tommy began to fuss about the lie that I had told about food and water. The Merchant there told me the steep price for the pipe and tin of my favorite sin, i told him i would trade him for Tommy. Tommy fussed, but i disarmed him and threw him in the direction of the merchant, once the pipe and tobacco were on the table I painted the wall with the merchant's brains, ending him with a saturday night special. At this point his body guard jumped at me, but not before I could stick a tanto knife through his heart. Tommy had started to run screaming, about to bring every zombie within 10 miles this way. He had gained about 100 yards, but I knew I could get him from here. With my pistol i took steady aim and put him down at 150 yards. He went down without a fight, the coward. After that i found some Pabst Blue Ribbon hidden away in the merchant's den and drank and smoked my heart out, and all was well in the world.