Cornell & Diehl Sunday Picnic

C&D Sunday Picnic

This blend part of the simply elegant series truly is as the name says simply elegant.

I thought this blend would be an overpowering flake of orientals and Turkish and would force the VA’s and Perique to hide in the background never to be tasted.

The exact opposite happened to me, unless I just grab the parts of the broken flake that had primarily Va’s and perique, as the flavor was primarily this.

As stated previously this flake arrives somewhat broken and easy to pull apart, which makes folding and stuffing much easier, my preferred method of smoking flakes. This blend lit easily and needed one relight probably more so my fault than the blend.

The VA’s are yellow and bright with a sweet flavor and the Perique is figgy and peppery giving me a slight nose tingle that I welcome gladly. The orientals are there but I rarely noticed them on occasion but never overshadowed anything.

With age this blend could be an even bigger all-star, Fresh out of the tin it’s great also. If Elizabethan left tomorrow as it did before this would be my replacement.

I will get a few more tins to age. I give this three stars, but would rate 3.5/4 total.

My ususal and all time favorite Virginia Perique blend is Escudo - been smoking this since my first years in college around 1972. But I like to have a little strange every once in a while so several years back I purchased several tins of Cornel & Diehl's Sunday Picnic. I was not impressed - no taste, hot and with that typical virginia "grassy" taste of a young tobacco. So I thought to myself this blend may just need some aging to take the edge off the Virginia.

I put two tins in the back of my pipe cabinet - that was February 2012. This year one of my daughters gave me a pipe for Christmas, so while I was arranging things in the cabinet I found this can of Sunday Picnic. Wow says me this stuff is really old - so I immediately grabbed a deep bowl pipe to try it out.

I popped the lid and all I could smell was the scent of dried apricots - marvelous I thought as I decided on a pipe, started to drool and headed for the bottle of cognac. The color was a golden brown caramel, no mold and not too wet. I grabbed a couple of pieces and rolled it between my fingers - taking in the fantastic aroma. I packed it with a moderate amount of pressure and lit it up. After an initial charing and a light tamp the tabacco lit easily and burned evenly with a steady draw on the pipe.

At first I couldnt detect the perique and just barely could smell the Ismir Turkish - it was all virginia. About halfway into the bowl the turkish and perique taste arose taking the lead over the virginia - from there on out it was a waltz between the perique, turkish and virginia - simply fantastic. The flavor continued to increase all the way to the bottom of the pipe. The residual ash was light gray and dry. Nicotene content was mild.

Although I'm not going to walk away from Escudo - this tin of Sunday Picnic was a nice surprise that I attribute to the cellaring. I don't know that it's necessary to age it as long as I did - but just about any Virginia will improve with a little time.

As of this posting I've had 5 bowls in 3 different pipes all of which are at least 35 years old. I'm puffing on my 6th bowl as I write this and just as soon as I'm finished I plan on ordering several more cans so I can lose them in the back of the pipe cabinet and be surprised at another Chrismas years from now.

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.

Purchased a tin in September 2012, it was my first Va-Per blend. Many of you spoke very well about this tobacco, so I was encouraged by your opinions.

Man… if a Va-Per blend smells and taste like (or better than) this, I will cellar more tins for sure!

Tin-note : piquant, peppery, tangy, sweet, fizzy, nose-tickling, undefinable, kind of extravirgin olive oil, oriental note that, according to the label, is the Izmir leaf.

In the bowl : a good balance between the hay / grass character of fresh golden Virginias and the particular spiciness both of the Turkish and of the Perique used.

It’s really, really tasty. I got pleasant note of orange zest quite often, especially when exhaling through the nose.

It smokes cool, dry and slow : you won’t disappear in thick clouds of smoke.

It lights up pretty easily and the taste evolves with a nice spectrum of bright, lively shades.

Nice fat tasty flakes overall. I’ll surely purchase more of it when I will get more familiar with this kind of blends.

Cheers Everyone, Brandr ODS

A great smooth blend perfect for mid day. To me a great Virginia blend that is suited for the mid afternoon as it is not so strong and has a agreeable aroma for outside. The flavour of smooth Virginias mixed with a slight black pepper note from the Perique and aueromatics from the Turkish bodes well for a mild smoke on Sunday or any given relaxed afternoon.

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.

Gaining some experience by "trialing by error" with C&D, I would like to share my impressions when it comes to approaching C7D and G.L. Pease blends. As for Exhausted Rooster, I tested a brand new 2 oz tin of SP, then I let the other one age for over a year before opening. The results are dramatically different. The brand new tin offered a tabacco that was way too wet, had a harsh taste, didn't taste much and bite like a SOB. I can't say that I enjoyed it. But with the second one, I was facing a totally different ball game. The VA, Izmir and Per had time to adhere together, revealing a gorgeous mixture of sweetness, spiciness and smokininess that was thouroughly enjoyable. As with ER, this is a rather rich, tasty and strong tobacco that is pleasant if you like a good level of nicotine.

EDIT 2/3/2020

5 yrs ago I must have forgot that I took 2 ounces and jarred it right after opening the 8 oz tin. In 2014, my cellar was quickly becoming a disorganized mess, so this makes complete sense. When I started getting organized a few years later, I was excited to find the jar.

Well, I recently popped the jar after a 7 year nap and it was really wonderful. The sweetness from the Virginia leaf had intensified, the sour of the Izmir toned down and the Perique was still light. If I had to rate based on aging I would likely go back to the 4 stars I started this one at, but I don't know if that is a fair way of rating the tobacco as it seems most people do not age their tobacco.

If you are looking to store some away and age it, this one is a fine candidate and I would certainly recommend it.

EDIT 11/26/2014

After finishing off an 8 ounce tin of this, I still think this is a great blend. There is a nice sweetness to it from the Virginias which seem to be the star in all the "simply elegant series" blends. The Izmir takes that hay like sweetness in another direction and I find the Perique subtle but hardy enough to give it a good nicotine kick.

I am knocking a star off though as I have recently had the luxury of trying HU's Flanagan which I enjoy more. It is similar in that it contains Virginia, Oriental and Perique. I am not sure of which orientals that blend is comprised, but it is a better tasting smoke IMO. While I still recommend SP for both its availability and price which is substantially cheaper than the German alternative, I can't say I am as enthusiastic in my recommendation at this time. And besides, I have way too many four star reviews and should narrow that down some.

Original Review 6/18/2012

I really enjoyed this blend. I think it worthy of the four star rating it is currently carrying. I do think that this would be better in a dedicated pipe however as it is susceptible to tasting a little like the last thing you smoked even when the last thing you smoked is not something known for ghosting of pipes. This is why i have put the taste at mild.

Not sure what the big deal is with this one. Granted, I've only tried a few VaPers so far, but this just seems too dry and harsh for the flavor that IS good in it, even if I sip it slow.

EDIT: On a much later second run, this stuff ain't so bad after all. Upgraded to 3/4.

EDIT: On later runs, it's still good, but I've had better VA/Or/Per blends. There's a certain nasal note that I can't pinpoint, but it's just weirds me out. It also just doesn't seem to agree with me for some reason. 2/4 final

If you're like me in your feelings for this blend, but still want to have a VA/Or/Per blend, then try McClelland's PCCA Tudor Castle. It's fantastic. Nothing against Sunday Picnic -- it just doesn't agree with me.