Cornell & Diehl Sunday Picnic

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.

A lovely blend that checks a lot of boxes for me in the VaOrPer genre. The spice from the orientals blends rather nicely with the fruity tones of the perique. The VA supports the two beautifully with an earthy haylike butter sweetness and a bit of a honey note. There's a dimension of incense to this blend which some may find rather enjoyable and others may not be much of a fan of. But it's very clearly present to me and I enjoy it. But I guess that's part of the deal with VaOrs.

My tin came with a year already on it and that's always a nice bonus. There are still a few edges to the blend that I think will disappear at the 2-3 year mark, but they're distant at a year. Standard C&D tin pricing on this which places it in the perfectly reasonable purchase category.

This isn't really an "all day" smoke for me; the incense gets overwhelming if one does too many bowls in a row. But that's fine, it gives a great change of pace from my normal VA/VaPer fare. I think I'll be adding 4 or 5 tins of this a year to the cellar to age out and have a nice stockpile to draw from in the future.

A Highly Recommend blend if you're a fan of the genre and an easy cellar choice for me personally.

I was ready to be disappointed by this - C&D blends are hit-and-miss for me - but this was a stunning smoke. Grassy, sweet, floral - befitting its 'picnic' name. I was also happy that it didn't come overly dry in the tin, as all the other C&D flakes I've tried seem to. It's good to smoke straight from the tin, but has enough moisture to prevent a pipe inferno.

Another of the Simply Elegant series I have been enjoying of late, this is a very fine tobacco. It is a ribbon flake pressed and then sliced composed of brown to dark brown tobaccos. I like it best if I rub out the flakes and leave out for a few days to dry. It is fine right out of the tin but is fantastic if allowed to dry some. When the tin is opened, the tin note is very sweet smelling and fresh, and my mouth waters when I sniff it. It packs well and is easy to light. It burns down mice and cool with a cigar ash colored ash and burns dry to the bottom of the bowl. The room note is very pleasant, at least to me, and it has a sweet full flavor on the tongue with just a hint of spice from the perique. The Turkish gives it a full body but the lightness and sweet flavor of the Virginia comes shining through.

This is a very nice blend and one that I am enjoying very much. It could easily be an all day blend. I highly recommend it.

Opening the tin, the first thing I notice is the pungent Izmir. There is a noticeable sharp, cheesy aroma that I’ve gotten from orientals before. While it may be off putting for some, for me it’s a sign that the blend is going to be quite flavorful. You can also strongly smell the fruity, tangy Virginias.

Upon lighting, the Virginias are very sweet. They have a very nice dark fruit flavor. There’s also a bit of grass as well. Beneath that, you can taste the herbal and incensey oriental. The incense really shines in the finish, and adds to the overall sweetness of the blend. The perique seems to be quite muted, and adds only a bit of spice.

When I first tried this, I was expecting it to taste primarily like a VaPer with only a bit of oriental, but the Virginias and orientals are definitely the main players. It has the sweetness and smoothness of a full VA blend with the added dimensions of the orientals. Interestingly, when I go back out to the patio after I’ve smoked a bowl of this, I get an almost cotton candy like aroma from the tobacco, which is why I rated the room note as pleasant. Quite possibly the most pleasant smelling non-aromatic blend I’ve ever smelled. I’d definitely recommend this to anybody looking for a sweeter non-aromatic blend.

Probably my favorit Virginia Perique tobacco, really creamy with a very good smell (Izmir give it something new that made an intresting taste). Really curious to try it again afther some aging year.

Very interesting blend. When you open the tin you are pervaded by the typical countryside smells, wet grass, wet earth, manure... Well it is in some ways the kind of smells you have during a picnic on Sunday!

The tobacco is very nice, sweet and spicy. The izmir really gives that additional flavor tone to the golden virginia, that is zesty a just a bit sweet. the Perique add some dark cocoa and coffee note and little spicyiness on the tongue. In turn a very well made and balanced mixture, probably one of the best tobacco of the entire C&D catalogue.

Sunday Picnic is one of the tastiest VA/Per & Oriental infused tobaccos I've ever tried. The combination of tobaccos meld together very well after the first 1/3 burns off to deliver one of the tastiest smokes of this genre. The apportionment of the various types of tobaccos seem to be just right to create a remarkable, well rounded flavor. If Yenidje, rather than Izmir leaf were used, it would taste similar to McClelland's Tudor Castle... another extremely tasty oriental blend that is "Gone With The Wind." Well, "That's The Way Love Goes."

It doesn't get much better than this & the oriental adds an extra dimension that creates a unique, well rounded flavor that will leave most pipers craving for more. This mixture smokes cool & won't bite. Although not overly abundant, there is enough Lady N in this mix to add plenty of extra pleasure to an after picnic dinner. Needless to say, C & D are "crafty" blenders. Many fine blends circulating & this Simply Elegant series is aptly named. This stuff will keep calling you back for more... especially if you're not too nitpicky & enjoy "picnicking," especially with a pretty young lady who knows how to "cook."

Craig Tarler responded to an email I sent him shortly after this blend hit the market & thanked me for complimenting C & D on this Sunday Picnic blend & appreciated that I left a good review. I smoked both of my tins in less than a week and went back for more. I still love it to this day. I think it's a great value... less than thirty dollars for an 8 oz. tin. That was then, twenty-ten... that's how long that it's been & now, being almost 2019 is to quote the frog, "Time's fun when you're having flies." I think I became more addicted to the flavor than the tobacco itself. Try it! You'll like it. I couldn't possibly comprehend why a piper wouldn't like it.