Cornell & Diehl After Hours Flake

I like it.

I'm finding that these C&D flakes have a tendency to grow on me. When I first encountered them a few years ago, I was less than impressed. Presentation was messy compared to the familiar Euro-flakes in the small, rectangular tins. And C&D flakes seemed to be more lightly pressed and fragile than the better European versions. At the same time, they seemed to be thicker sliced. Fat and loose. Rarely an appealing combination, except for maybe a half hour after last call. But once I set aside the pre-light aesthetics, I saw a number of delicious tobaccos offered both under the C&D banner and under the C&D-manufactured GLPease label. Union Square, Opening Night, Star of the East Flake…the list goes on.

I can now add After Hours Flake to the list of C&D Flakes I smoke on a fairly regular basis. This is pretty pleasant stuff…one for the ditch after a night of stronger tobaccos. After Hours Flake arrives as a set of pretty, chestnut brown flakes with a few yellow streaks. Tin aromas are dominated by grassy Virginias and a light caramel-vanilla profile associated with the advertised rum topping. The topping is lightly applied and is more akin to something like F&T's Special Brown Flake than to a heavy rum aromatic like Altadis' Buttered Rum. This is a flake aimed primarily at Virginia smokers not aromatic smokers. Perhaps it might even serve as a happy middle ground between the styles. Then again, the light topping may also run the risk of pleasing no one.

It smokes pretty much like a straight, mild Virginia. The sweetness builds as the bowl progresses and if I have a single complaint about this stuff, it is that it occasionally takes on an ashy flavor profile toward the conclusion of the bowl.

I doubt that this will improve measurably with age. The already light topping may fade into oblivion, but I think that might take away some of the blend's quiet charm. Nonetheless, I've tucked a few tins away for a rainy day.

Tasty and different... I believe C&D hit a home run with this unique flake. Lots of rum like smell when the lid is popped, and, unlike many C&D blends this one arrives more moist than dry. In fact, I had to let the tobacco sit for an hour or so after I fully rubbed out my first bowlful.

The Virginia leaf was just a wee bit rough, but did please me. I thought the added alcohol was a nice compliment and not too heavy. Rum soaked blends tend to burn hot for me, but After Hours Flake is a cool burning son of a gun from top to bottom.

Unique and a nice change of pace.

Cornell & Diehl - After Hours Flake (Simply Elegant Series).

I got this one from my friend on Tobacco Reviews, Gentleman Zombie. It's not one of the 'reviewed but not liked' blends we often trade, I just fancied trying it myself.

The blend isn't presented as an intact flake, it's sort of half broken, if you get my drift; still recognizable as being flakes, but only in need of a delicate rub. Some of the blend can be stuffed straight into the bowl immediately without any extra work. The tin has a definite aromatic smell, and the moisture's perfect.

Once lit, which is easy, the strongest added flavour I initially get is the caramel, it takes about ten minutes for the rum to start coming through. When the rum announces its presence it does so in quite a tame way: rather than lots of alcoholic sharpness it gives more of a subtle spiciness. I notice the added flavours become stronger as the bowl burns; what begins as mild to medium becomes medium to strong- I'll tick medium for added flavour! I can't really configure much to say regarding the tobacco's flavour: simple Virginia which some will love and some may find boring?

I don't find After Hours has too much nicotine, it's just above mild, and the room-note's only okay.

After Hours Flake is very well made, smokes well, burns very slowly and is easily worth a recommendation.

Three stars.

Meet Carolina Cream Flake! This real sleeper from C&D, which is the only one of their blends (of the several I have tried so far) that I really like, has many similarities to Kendal Cream Flake, one of my favorites. There is a sweet topping/casing here, noticable especially in the tin, but less so (usually) in the smoke. Weirdly, I noticed the topping more in the earlier smokes when I left the tobacco rather wet. Then it was sweet and tart, somewhat vinegar-like. But later in the tin, I noticed the rum more if the flake was dry. Then it was simply mild, smooth and sweet. Don't have any clue why that is. But otherwise (i.e., dry at first and wetter later on), the rum is definitely in the background, smoothing out the virginia more than adding a distinctly noticable sweetness. Then the virginias come to the fore, and here again is a similarity to Kendal Cream: the tobaccos are earthy, dark, coffee- and cigar-like. Pipestud is right that there is a sharpness to these base tobaccos. I wouldn't call it "harsh," but there's a certain edge that was actually very pleasant to me. A kind of heavy, substantial "presence," if you will. A rough smoothness?

Thus it varies, as I said, in terms of flavor, but it is always cool-burning, always smooth (in its way), always satisfying. Because of the contents, this could arguably be called a navy flake, but I liked it a lot better than the "navy flake" tobaccos I've tried so far.

If I had to choose one and only one tobacco, this would at least be on the short list. Hurrah for C&D!

This is another great tobacco in the Simply Elegant series by C and D. I have been trying the blends in this series and so far I have to say I have been enjoying them very much, this one included.

First off, upon opening my tin, I am presented with very loosely packed flakes of ribbon cut tobacco of a thicker variety. The flakes are composed of a sweet and moist tobacco running from light khaki to dark brown coloring. The tin note is sweet but not the hay like sweetness of Virginias. The rum topping applied here instead has it more of a sugar flavor with a little spice added to the sweetness. The flakes were easy to break up and as they were very moist, I broke the flakes up onto a bowl and set it out to air dry for a few days. Upon doing this, I was rewarded with a very easy to pack and light tobacco that is very pleasing to smoke. It stays easy to keep lit after the drying out and burns nice and slow down the pipe with a sweetness on the palette of a nice virginia with the added sugar flavor of the rum. The rim topping gives the blend a rich fullness on the tongue, yet the rum was not overwhelming in any way. While it did mask some of the flavor of the virginia, it added it's own element to the blend and makes for a very enjoyable smoke. To add to the goodness of this blend, it smokes bite free, in fact it is very cool smoking. The room note is pleasant, a little heavier than most straight Virginia blends but with a pleasing sweetness to the aroma of the smoke. It burns down the pipe slow but nice leaving a steely grey ash. Most of the time it leaves just a touch of dottle in the bottom of the pipe bowl, but not a lot. Overall, this is a very nice blend that I enjoyed very much. I struggled with a three or four star rating as it is right on the edge but after realizing that it is a very well represented example of this type type of flake, I decided to give it a four and highly recommend.

A good Va rum flake.

I think the guy who opperates the press at the C&D factory must be frightened of hurting the tobacco. Every flake I have had from them is so fragile that you can't pick it up without destroying it. This doesn't trouble me, particularly but if you really like to fold n' stuff, you might have some issues.

The topping is pleasant and sweet with flavours of alcohol, maple & licorice. And, whilst it is always present, it doesn't block the smoker from accessing the taste of the tobaccos.

Like most cased and topped tobaccos it will smoke hot so a slightly more reserved puffing cadence is recommended. I have also noticed it turn sour if taken too quickly, a trait it shares with Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Rum Flake. Which doesn't surprise me as I find these tobaccos to be very similar in many ways.

Initially After Hours has a very unique flavor of dark rum with the virginias in the background. It has a strong spiciness due to the rum. If any wisps of smoke goes up your nose, your going to notice the spice.

After aging in a jar for a few months, the blend mellowed out and virginias became more predominant, which made After Hours a great smooth smoke.

Just like all of C&D blends, After Hours had perfect moisture level opening the tin. This blend smokes nice and dry without bite.

After Hours is usually the last bowl of the day for me because of the satisfying nicotine, smooth taste and the dry smoke will help dry out the pipe I have been smoking all day.

C/D Afterhours … C/D Afterhours … Billed as a Virginia flake with spiced rum. My (2oz) tin was filled with thick broken flakes, that provided a long cool and somewhat wind resistant smoke. Nice for those that smoke outdoors.

After about two weeks of on and off use of this fine blend, these are my impressions. To start with, this stuff has a learning curve; it took several bowls, and some trial and error to appreciate just how special this baccy really is. It's a fuller bodied smoke than say their “Opening Night”, maybe due to its somewhat spicy (maybe “rough” is a better word than spicy) flavor, which gives the impression of a more robust taste. Whatever the reason, as far as I'm concerned, this is a real smoking weed. Overall a pleasantly full Virginia taste, with very adequate vitamin N, bite free and for my taste, totally satisfying.

After Hours Flake is, IMO, a rather undistinguished Virginia flake. The tin note is pleasant but nothing to write home about. For a straight Virginia it is not very sweet (I like sweet tobacco) or flavorful. I don't detect much of the caramel or rum flavor (not necessarily a bad thing). Unfortunately, I don't detect much else in the way of favor. I can't say it's a bad tobacco, it's just that there are so many other, better tobaccos to smoke that I will probably not visit this one again but, if you like plain Jane Virginias, this one may be for you.

Cornell & Diehl Afterhours is a strong and spicy broken Virginia flake. Don’t necessarily buy this one for an aromatic. The tin note clearly indicates the rum casing, however, I had to dry it out quite a bit to be able to enjoy it. In the process, you also loose some of the casing.

To my palate, it tastes now closer to GLP Laurel Heights or even CD Bayou Morning than any aromatic (Although containing no Perique, the casing seems to provide something similar to mix, not quite, but you’ll get the idea). It’s deep, dark and spicy with a subtle malty sweetness. The nicotine is above medium and it didn’t bite at all. I preferred Afterhours in a Stanwell Vario 95 without filter. The room note is pure tobacco, predominantly red VAs. Neither bad, nor outstanding.