Cornell & Diehl Epiphany

This is a great smoke. bottom line.

I tried at first to compare to HOW version, which is all I have to reference as far as Revelation is concerned, it doesn't compare at all.

The only experiences I have of the "ol' american" style of tobacco is what blenders like C&D, have recreated for me. I have tried and liked Baily's Front Porch by C&D which was "like" Revelation as well.

This though actually reminds me of Yale mixture alot. And that is a good thing. There is a deep wine-like chararistic to this from the Latakia and Va mix.

Tin - Smokey, sausauge smell

1st light - As wonderful english style,the flavors of the Lat, VA and the burley make themselves known in a well blended way. Clean and smokey

Mid bowl - This is "meaty" and as I mentioned "Wine-like" at the same time. the Va is playing pivot to the Lat and then to the burley. at times it tastes like a great Va/Lat smoke, and the next minute it tastes like a Va/Bur smoke with Lat in it.

Bottom Bowl - Nicotine is good and solid now. the blend has come together and no longer varying. grey ash. no gurgle. I am one with the pipe, as you could say. Very good smoke, responsive like a cigar.

This is indeed a fine tobacco. The nicotine is not overwhelming but still makes its presence known. It burns very cool and doesn't bite, even when puffed hard. Stays lit very easily, as do many burley blends, and leaves a nice fine ash.

In my humble opinion, the burley gets lost in the virginia and rather strong latakia.

A good smoke, I find the Latakia strong enough to dictate this be only an occasional smoke for me. I would compare it to bitter stout (which, by the way, it goes very well with): it's nice on a cold night and when you're in certain moods, but you wouldn't want it all the time. Definitely not an all-day or (for me) every-day smoke.

This is an OK blend. I got the tin with the white paper label. It's an "American" but I can't quite define for myself what that means. Yet. It has a little bit of everything. So one could say it tastes like everything, or conversely, that there's nothing distinctive about it. I tend to let it smoke hot because I keep trying to draw some particular flavor out of it, but I don't get either a revelation or an epiphany. Drawing slowly produces a decently cool and pleasant smoke. It burns well with just a couple of re-lights. I will likely not get another tin, but I wouldn't refuse if someone offered it to me.

A friend brought over a batch of Einstein's brainy blend to try, and while the tin had been opened for a bit, and the contents were likely dryer than when it was first opened, the smoke likely wasn't too off from a fresh tin.

The open tin was quite alive with a sour, nose tingly spiciness that was inviting. The ribbons were of course somewhat dry, small, and kinda crumbly. The smoke was dry and I barely noticed any fruit/citrus, but on a whole it was a satisfying Burley experience.

I could see why other would enjoy it more than I did, but as an Aromatic smoker at heart, it was just... fine.

I think there is a gap in the C&D burley chart for this kind of blend, but I do not see it as an everyday tobacco, no matter how much I like it. It fits in quite nicely in the Big n' Burley, Haunted Bookshop, Old Joe Krantz, etc., lineup, but this one is more medium than full. The burley leaf is still there, but it seems to lean more onto the English aspects of this blend. Not a latakia bomb by any stretch of the imagination, but it will progress to fuller and fuller every quarter of your bowl. I personally would not have added any topping to it, but it is not horrible anyway. In addition to this, the perique is barely noticeable. The Virginia leaf combines quite nicely adding a sweet/creamy back note to it difficult to miss. I seem to enjoy it more as moist, producing little to almost no smoke. In the last quarter it seems to lose some of its character, but all and all it is a good blend.

When I open the tin, I am struck by the typical aroma of mixes containing rum coating (this happens to me because I have not previously read the reviews here). I had only seen the tab for this blend where it appears: “Flavoring - Fruit / Citrus”. Tobaccos with rum coverage are not my preference, so perhaps I am not the best one to take as a reference in my evaluation. It's not that I don't like them or that I can't get to enjoy them, but that I prefer other types of mixes. An exception here would be McClelland's Navy Cavendish, which I find very tasty.

It took me a bit to keep it on since I am one of those who hardly dry any tobacco, except those that come almost dripping. For this reason it worked best when the tin had been open for several weeks. For my taste, the coating covers the flavor of the ingredients more than I would like. I smoke it from time to time, like a change of pace in between my rotation, but I think anyone who likes this kind of mix will have a lot of fun with this one.

The first time I smoked this I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. The burleys were very nutty, and they with the Virginia’s stood out the most. The Latakia was there but only every now and then and the perique was basically non existent to me. The casing was subtle af first and I couldn’t put my finger on it, but after a few bowls I have come to the conclusion that it’s cherry. I really liked this blend and though I am not an all day smoker, I did consider at one point that this could be an all day smoke. I’ve smoked and smoked on this blend for a week now and I am now rethinking my original impressions. At first it was a winner but the more I smoke of it the more I get this dark NyQuil flavor, so much so that it’s sickening and I can’t even get pick out the flavors I once tasted. Maybe I just need to set this aside for a while and come back to it in a few weeks as it’s like that feeling you get when you eat to much desert. Still gonna give it three stars because the first few impressions stuck with me the most and they were of a well balanced, slightly sweet, nutty smoke.

I usually stay away from blends that claim Latakia as a major ingredient. Epiphany is far from your normal Latakia blend. Everything comes together and forms a mellow, almost aromatic note that is easy to smoke and the room note is not that of a strong Latakia smoke. It is one of a delightful tobacco scent with a hit of Latakia. Just perfect for my palate.

Of the several English blends I've tried this is my least favorite. I really tried to like this too, and I'm not a novice to English blends. I guess that it just wasn't my thing. I tried it in several pipes with the same outcome in all, just a "I can't get into this" feeling. I gave my left over 4 oz. to a friend who absolutely loves it. I think the Perique is what is throwing me off, at least from my perception of what a true English blend should be.