Cornell & Diehl Oriental Silk

I became interested in non-latakia Oriental blends after trying Peretti no. 9507, GLP Embarcadero and McClelland Black Sea Sokhoum. After running a search on tobaccoreviews.com, I learned approximately a dozen Oriental blends that were rated recommended and highly recommended. My search criteria had to contain Virginia, and or Turkish/Oriental tobaccos. I excluded latakia, burley, dark fired Kentucky, Maryland, cigar leaf, cavendish (but not black) and no flavoring. Some blends contain perique, but that was acceptable.

My one ounce sample came moist and I recommend drying first . The small ribbons are mostly light brown. I packed it loose at the bottom and springy to the rim.

Upon lighting, my initial sense is a mild, mouthwatering sour but pleasant taste. I also note hay, grass, a trace of wood, some sweetness and a very mild bit of spiciness.

It’s not harsh and burns at a moderate pace. The bowl will get hot with quick puffing. It smokes well in various size briars. It’s mild in body, while the nicotine level is faint.

Oriental Silk can be smoked mindlessly, and all day. Oriental aficionados will enjoy it. It works best for me as an early morning pipe. It’s good now, but I think it will sing with a few years of age.

This blend is absolutely magnificent! I was not expecting this blend to be as good as it is based on description alone, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

So as you can tell, I really like this blend and it has become a regular in my rotation. The tin note is grassy with a bit of fruity sweetness, but then the orientals play in the background giving off some sort of nutty, tangy, earthy smell that I can't really describe (the Perique may be contributing to that tangy smell).

On first light I am bombarded with the virgina. It is a Virginia forward blend (which makes it perfect for me). The oriental settles in pretty quickly providing that nutty mysterious flavor throughout most of the bowl. The perique though is what really keeps the whole thing interesting. It's not as perique heavy as other blends in my opinion, but its just enough to warm the senses with its spicy flavor. What is impressive to me is that it smokes just like a good old Va/Per, for an all day smoke if you'd like, but you can also sit down and tease out the different nuances and enjoy the blend. It is just a great over all blend that I especially will enjoy in the warm summer months.

Mechanically, I've never had any relighting issues except those caused by user error. The blend smokes down to a fine white ash every time. I did get it to bite me once when I was really puffing hard on a short smoke break, but it was an extreme scenario. I don't think you will experience tongue bite in most normal situations.

I'll be picking up a pound of this sometime this year to cellar. I bet this will get better over the years to come.

Well balanced blend that delivers through the bowl. Orientals are sharp, but not harsh, particularly on retrohale. Sipping fills the palate with a pleasant sweet flavor. Burns clean to the end. Definite four star blend!

The tin note was pleasant, with a sour, sweet aroma. My tobacco was at a moisture ready to pack. It took a few charring lights, but once lit, it stayed lit. Burned nicely to the bottom with a nice dry ash. I enjoyed the oriental tobaccos flavor and aroma. Overall this tobacco was sour, slightly sweet, and a bit spicy, more spicy towards the bottom. It also had a few puffs with a musty flavor in the middle, but in a good way. I enjoyed this smoke alot, and recommend it fully. I normally smoke aromatics. As a side note, the pipe I smoked this in was a smaller Kaywoodie Flame Grain 12B Straight Bulldog with a meerschaum lining.

Exotic, musty, slightly pungent, and kind of herbal; this is a delicious blend with a sweet tobacco flavor and a very slight woody finish. The Perique works well in the mix without upstaging the complex flavors of the Orientals. No Latakia.

Appearance: The 2 oz tin of tobacco had a production date of "April 06, 2022." Considering that this tobacco is sold by bulk in the United States, a year is plenty of time for it to age. The blend is quite bright in shades of red, yellow and light brown, and the individual components are easily distinguishable. The cut of this tobacco (a wide and short chopped ribbon of Virginia broken flake and a narrower ribbon of oriental with small pieces of perique) is similar to a cigarette, which hints at a relatively hot combustion. Also, the tobacco is a bit dry. It's easy to stuff, easy to light, doesn't require drying and doesn't go out.

Flavor: The leading notes are spice, frankincense and citrus, but the raisin and fig notes of perique are also a serious support. The flavor is uneven and if you sniff it for a long time, the hay and grassy notes of Virginia occasionally become stronger, and then disappear into the background again. Barely noticeable woody notes complement the overall bouquet, adding volume to the blend, but in total, the flavor of tobacco is quite light.

Taste: Initially, the set of spices with a sour hint of lemon and badian prevails in the bouquet, accompanied by a mild spice of perique, with almost no room left for the sweetness of Virginia. Overall, the flavor is simple and not overly expressive. Gradually, the blend gains density with the support of sweet and biscuit notes, but remains, to my taste, not bright enough. Around the middle of the pipe, the blend becomes softer, the spiciness of the perique goes into the background, the flavor weaves into a unified bouquet - not too complex, but pleasant. The tobacco behaves about the same in different forms. By the way, the blend is somewhat critical to the smoking temperature - if you overheat, the sweetness immediately disappears, and, although the mixture does not bite, it in a moment loses all the charm, turning into a fairly faceless tobacco with medium strength and almost cigarette taste. The blend burns into a light gray ash, leaving almost no moisture in the bowl. The aftertaste is sweet, not persistent.

The smoke from the mixture has a smell of sandalwood and spices, it easily disperses.

What's the bottom line? If you're looking for a replacement for the prematurely departed McClelland and their Grand Orientals series, Oriental Silk is obviously not the right tobacco. Virginia is a filler, so the manufacturer skimped on it by using a rather cheap variety. In addition, the perique in the blend argues for attention with orientals, although, as a result, it has to concede. Overall, however, this is an appropriate blend for every day. I, however, would prefer less perique and more oriental. There are plenty of good Virginia-perique blends on the market, but good quality Virginia/Oriental blends are rare.

Oriental Silk is one of the better Oriental blends I've had. It's Oriental forward, yes, but not overly so. The herbal and sort of mysterious incense flavor is there... that lush, sour earthiness. But it's sweetened a bit by the fresh, lemony tang of the Virginia's. The Perique is a bit light, but still essential. It adds some pepper, and a faint spicy plummy flavor in the background that, despite being mild, is an important addition. I've seen reviews saying Oriental Silk isn't complex, but I disagree. There's a fair amount going on. I usually smoke a tad fast, and Oriental Silk can get harsh when smoked fast. It really benefits from slowing down and enjoying it to get the full effect. And when it's gone, I always lament not using a larger bowl.

Bottom line: A pleasantly sweet Turkish forward blend that is quite unlike most other blends out there.

This is an OK tobacco.

Cut is loose and smell is perique forward. Taste wise orientals shared protagonism with perique and virginia stays in the background barely noticible. As with many other C&D blends with perique I found this one to have too much perique, to the point of stepping over the orientls. Also related to C&D blends found the taste to be too harsh and dry.

I'd like to taste this blend substituting the perique with more virginia. Recommended to those who enjoy C&D blends and also oriental blends.

Two and a half stars.

This review is based on the tin version.

Tobacco is mostly blonde, although some strands of brown tones also appear. The cutting of these strands is fundamentally in ribbon, although there is also some piece of flake that is of a darker color than the rest of the tobacco, so I deduce that the perique is there. Its tin aroma is one of the lightest and most confusing that I have seen to date in this type of mixture, and I think that in a hypothetical blind tasting, if I did not know in advance what are the ingredients that make up this mixture, it would cost me specify it based solely on your tin note. Once I know what these ingredients are and by sharpening my sense of smell, I think I appreciate the slight fermented aroma of the perique, but very subtle, as well as slight notes of hay from Virginia and perhaps very deep the fragrance of the Orientals.

Once the pipe is lit, the flavor is very rich. Virginia and especially the fragrance of the orientals take center stage, the perique remaining somewhat hidden, with slight appearances in some puffs. In my personal experience with this tobacco, I have been able to observe that it is not convenient to load it too tight, but rather loosely, thus obtaining a better experience because the tobacco burns better and needs fewer re-ignitions. Recommended.