Cornell & Diehl Red Carpet

I'm halfway through my first tin of Red Carpet. It's from the first tinning; I bought it at the Chicago Show in '07. With a solid year and a half of age, I believe I'm getting a sense of this blend. The flakes are primarily dark brown with some bright leaf and a red hue. The flakes are first-class. C&D has come a long way in their flake production. The flakes came just a tad on the moist side, but dried very quickly.

The burn is outstanding, with flavors leaning toward the sweeter side, but with something extra I'm attributing to the Izmir. The perique must be in short supply. I get a tingly feeling on my tongue and the back of my throat that I haven't experienced before. Is it the Izmir? I am a Va/perique fan, and I thought I'd tasted every possible variation, but this one's different folks. Definitely worth a try.

Update: 6/4/10 After finishing this tin of Red Carpet I have to upgrade my recommendation. I have enjoyed this blend more with every bowl I've smoked. It's absolutely delicious and has outstanding smoking qualities. Too bad I only have one more tin in my cellar; I should have bought more back in '07. I'll stock up as soon as I can afford to.

**"Rosebud"

One look at the one pound tin's attention to detail clearly demonstrates C&D's love of ingredients and pride in craft. The two tissue wrapped bundles of joy show the superior care that elevates a mere blender into maestro status. Bravo! The contents are very good too.

Youth is wasted on the young, but in this case it became the center of attention. This tadpole needs some aging. But its youthful exuberance is so much fun to tangle with. Bright, Sassy and full of promise.

As an infant, it smokes with brassy high notes from the Orientals and the tang of Virginia. The Perique aroma in the tin doesn't translate into the flavor of the smoke...it merely plays peek-a-boo. The deeper flavors of red virginia don't come into their own until mid-bowl, but are delicious.

**My nickname for this tobacco, and Citizen Kane's final word on his deathbed. I hope I utter the same word while puffing on this wonderful weed on my deathbed..... In about forty years.

I want to go quietly like my great-grandfather did. Not screaming and wailing like all his passengers.

I found this blend to be as good as could be expected, after having tried other similar C&D products. That is, after I found the right pipe for it. Let me just throw this in- after trying the best that England, Denmark and Germany had to offer, then bringing it back home to put these guys up against McClellands...aside from the Grand Orientals, C&D wins my vote as best blenders IN THE WORLD. First I tried RC in my Peterson Barrel because I love to smoke Sunday Picnic out of it. Seeing as how the blends are siblings from the same series, and different only in the type of virginia used, I thought it would be close. Oddly enough, these siblings don't get along in the same pipe. At this time, I only have so many Petersons and clays that I will smoke, so I try to keep similar blends labeled for specific pipes.(This is probably not uncommon.) Eventually, I'd like to have one for each, but for now this blend works very well in my Peterson 150, which is dedicated to Fillmore, Kajun Kake and Bayou Morning Flake. I'm trying to keep the training wheels on my new pipes a while, so I'm only packing half a pipe for the sake of the cake building process. So far, it's been fantastic. I'm just as pleased as I was with Sunday Picnic from the "Simply Elegant" series, when I christened the Barrel with it. It starts off just mildly sweet in the VA department, with a gentle perique presence. Halfway through the half-packed bowl, the turkish spoke up a bit and the gingery spice of perique moved aside. For a moment, the turkish brought forth a slight curry-like sensation that merely presented itself and drifted back as though it were part of a good bluegrass trio. A little nicotine tingle, (less than Fillmore) but nothing to go running downstairs for a glass of milk to coat my stomach over. I really can't say say a bad thing about it, other than 2oz will not be enough now. Great change up for the die hard VaPer fans. And before you know it, the show is over. No fuss, easy lighting, no glop and a nice powdery ash. If I have something I don't like at first, I try again later. That happens to me and my pallet...what's bad today seems good tomorrow. Who knows, the sinuses and condition of your tastebuds can drastically change the way you experience something. Sometimes some C&D blends seem a little off at first, but the more I smoke them, the more I like them. Find the right pipe, and I bet they're all winners.

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Petersons Rule!

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(especially with C&D blends in them!)

Firstly, I got to say that smoking an American blend is somewhat rare to my available options. So there it is a nicely appeal to the blend cause of its rarity to me. I find the smoke pretty pleasant, almost peppery stout but on the medium to light strength. If that makes sense the red Virginia and perique on this one reminds me a mixture of marlin flake( rattray's ) and university flake( peterson's ) but rather a more elegant light version of them (ageing ain't the factor here ,cause it's compared to similarly aged blends of those three). I could recommend it for a more official evening smoke occasion, perhaps before a main event (like weddings etc). Highly recommended to 3.7 out of 4!

Cornell & Diehl Red Carpet is a high quality VaPer with an above medium, on the front foot strength. There’s the perfect amount of peppery, spicy Perique; from gentle, nose-tingling beginning to forthright, throat-catching end – gorgeous! Take straight from the tin, rub out and gently pack. Relights well after resting, if you need a break. A delightful blend that engenders quiet attention and deep contentment. Highly recommended for VaPer aficionados.

After smoking this baccy with great potential of only getting better with age, I've had a dozen tins in the cellar for a couple of years now... I don't think I'll be disappointed in a few more.

Now this is good stuff IMHO. Kind of a cross between Embarcadero and Fillmore. I'm going to buy a couple of pounds of this tobacco for aging because I think that with a year or more in the can, this tobacco will be even sweeter and approach Medium to Full in the strength department. As I start smoking a bowl of this tobacco, I am struck with the sweetness of the Virginias. In the nose warmers I smoke these days, I also get an aroma from the bowl that is very close to the tin aroma. As the bowl progresses, I notice more of the Perique and Izmir. This is just a very tasty tobacco for me.