Cornell & Diehl After Hours Flake

(In a Cockney Accent)

"That's Very Nice!"

This is a very, very good tobacco.

After an initial tug at After Hours, I cellared it for a month. I am very glad that I did, and very glad that I pulled it out this evening. The cellaring definitely mellowed out the strength of the Rum note, and I swear it added a touch of Vanilla to it.

After Hours serves a great purpose for me tonight as a palette cleanse and a reset button. I regularly smoke strong Latakia heavy blends, and that can sometimes lead to rut and overload. An ample bowl full of AH in the Oom Paul, and I feel brand new.

This is a very even tobacco, that gives a fair share of spicy- ness, sweetness, and a hint of toasty-ness.

Overall I would say it tastes like a lightly toasted cavendish, dipped in spiced rum.

The medium buzz from the Vitamin N is at the perfect level...perfect enough to carry into the pre-bedtime novel.

Solid, and very nice.

Gosh I hate to be the lone decenter at this point but there was nothing in this blend that grabbed me. Well I did like the room note and the fact that my wife did as well, but at the end of the day I would rather have a great smoke than a happy nose. The VA was of decent quality and the tobacco did have good presentation. The tin note was strong of rum and raisins. The tobacco did taste slightly of rum and more heavily of in a Meerschaum, but towards mid bowl it was more peppery than rum. I just did not like the combo. This blend is one of my least favorite C&D blends. Sorry guys,

Anyone that knows me knows I'm partial to C&D blends. Up until this point, Sunday Picnic was my favorite of their Flakes. Up till this point. Afterhours Flake is by far the best Rum Flake on the market. Open the tin and there are lovely, well cut flakes, and the smel of Rum comes on strong. At first this worried me, becuase in some blends this spells tongue burn-But not here. Full rubbed out is my favorite way to go- and this is not pipe specific. Takes to light well, and the flavor is a full, nicelt flavored Virginia flake. The Rum Flvor gives it a bit of spice and a deep flavor- But not what you would expect from the smell- It's more subdued. No hint of bite- the flavor stays constant and reliable. A Great Flake. If you like the thought of a Rum Flake-This is it.

Working my way through the Simply Elegant series, I picked up a tin of After Hours during a recent sale. Tin date is 6-18-20 so it is about 5 months in tin.

The tin note shows the rum casing to me. It was just a touch moist which is rare from most CD products. I gave it a half-hour to dry out some.

The broken flake is easily rubbed out or could be folded and stuffed. It was easy to keep going after a charring and first light. It puts out above average amount of moisture and wants to be smoked slowly or it can get warm. Required a couple of pipe cleaners during each smoke. The strength to me was medium and I "felt it" more than some other VA flakes.

I was surprised that the first portion of the bowls tend to be peppery which made me wondered if there is a touch of perique hiding among the Virginias. Below the pepper, there is a sweetness which is not overpowering and grows as I smoke through the bowls. It has a rich creamy smoke to me and my wife thought it smelled "decent". The flavor lasts through at least 3/4 of the bowl and it burns down to a nice ash.

It's a good blend, similar to some other C&D offerings. I can't see cellaring this to add to my rotation, but it's a good smoke. I smoked probably 1/2 the tin and jarred the rest to see what differences a few months of cellar time will make.

This came bone dry in the tin, which all but one C&D blends that I have tried have been. Hardly any topping was detectable. A generic and flat virginia taste one rehydrated, very little taste to speak of.

Not recommended unless you want pure bland.

I liked this flake. Had a good nic hit. Just the right amount of perique. It packed and burned real nice. Nothing special about it. Just a good everyday flake.

Very enjoyable smoke with a good nicotine punch to be smoked slowly ,good flavor burns all the way down to a fine ash smoke in a medium bowl pipe

A solid 3 star flake from C&D, already lots of fine reviews.

I think this much prefers being rubbed out a bit, but for whatever reason, the nicotine REALLY kicked me the second time I had it. I'd used about 3 flakes total, with one of those being unrubbed on top. Getting it started wasn't too bad, but abiut a third of the way into the bowl I had a decent flavor. Another third and I felt like I'd been drinking rum alongside it. I'm sensitive to nicotine, so it doesn't take a lot to get me buzzed. I definitely went too fast with it and once it went out for the last time (I'd reality maybe once or twice due to letting it sit) I didn't bother relighting. I was already above my usual nicotine comfort. It's bit a bad smoke at all, but it humbled me with a reminder to pace myself next time.

It's not a super complex flavor, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. It's a reasonable, straight forward and honest smoke that I enjoy, in moderation.