Cornell & Diehl Winchester

This is an interesting blend. It struck me as a blend that came about when someone at C&D wondered what you would get if you replaced the burley in Pegasus with red Virginia. Initial impression is good but nothing too exciting.

It grows on you, and I have a pipe with a tapered bowl that gives me a wonderful smoke with this. It is slightly sweet with a hint of fruit from the red Virginia, and there is a smooth, soft quality to it. The last half of the tapered bowl picks up in sweetness and intensity. There is a certain delicate quality to the taste, and it is very enjoyable. I do not discern any topping, and the tobacco flavor is good.

Mine came a little damper than probably anything I have ever bought from C&D. I have not dried it, and have smoked it as is, being careful not to pack it too tightly. Eventually I may try drying it a little, but I have not had problems with damp heel or gurgle.

This is a remarkably good smoke that falls in the "all-day" camp. It is subtle and not a powerhouse. I claim it benefits from a dedicated pipe. It may not appeal to everyone, but if the description sounds remotely appealing, you should give it a try.

Winchester is good Virginia blended with quality black cavendish. This means that it gives the smoker a multilayered but never cloying sweetness. One will taste the warm, bracing flavor of simple red Virginia leaf, which has, in and of itself, an underlying sweetness. Couple this with Cornell & Diehl's black cavendish, the single most honest and masterly black cavendish to be found today and you have a combination of mere mild sweetness and a genteel, restrained sweetness that common aromatics could never aspire to. There is true tobacco flavor here, but it flirts with you from behind a voluptuous, velvet curtain. It puts me in mind of a seemingly proper, but slightly naughty Southern hostess.

There’s not a lot of blends like this on the market nowadays. An unsweetened, old-time American mixture of Virginia/Burley/Cavendish with no topping, no hint of liquor, no vanilla, just tobacco.

I found the flavor of Winchester to be centered on the subtle bitterness of C&D’s burley. The Virginia and Cavendish help to sweeten and round out the edges but they don’t entirely spell the character of the burley leaf. Oddly, the Cavendish is noticeable and it lends body and a gentle creamy quality to the smoke that really comes through by midbowl where the overall flavor is much more harmonious than dissonant. This is a decent smoke with pure tobacco taste and a woodsy, bittersweet & slightly spicy finish.

Altogether, Winchester performs well. It’s easy to pack and light and burns cool regardless of cadence. This tobacco produces a large volume of smoke and even smaller sips can be worthy of a smoke ring or two. I ran this through a few cobs, which seemed fitting, but for whatever reason it tasted best to me in a briar.

C&D's Winchester features a gently sweet/zesty Va melded with a velvety Cavendish to produce a creamy, luxurious non-aromatic smoke. Sip on this one and allow wisps of smoke to wreathe through the nasal passages while the full mouth-feel of the Cavendish washes across your palate. The honest tobacco taste is manly: assertive without being harsh; sweet without being saccharine; and earthy without being bitter.

Easy to light and burn; good smoke volume; medium nicotine hit; nice alternative for smokers who are tired of the ubiquitous, overworked condiments: Latakia and Perique. This works best in a well seasoned pipe with, in my experience, a medium capacity bowl (I use a ¼-bent bulldog, ~17mm). It puts me in a serene, contemplative mood. Can you tell I like it?

I Like it. Good clean tobacco smoke. Sweet Red Va, and a cav condiment. Not quite like anything I have tried before- and I appreciate that. I love having my boundaries challenged. This is a great, solid, tasty smoke only made better by an interesting historical name. Starts with solid tobacco taste, but gets sweeter as you go. An experience worth having....

This is my first %100 non-aromatic. It makes a great transition blend in that respect. Very mild comparatively, however it never tastes flat or dull. Always rich and satisfying. This blend showcases all of the flavors I was looking for in my aromatics but could never quite find under the casing of those blends.

This is a red VA blend that gets very little attention here on TR despite being one of the older Craig Tarler blends. Admittedly, I can see how red VA and unflavored burley based black cavendish could sound dull on paper. After smoking around 20 bowls or so, I came to the conclusion that Winchester contains 15% BC at most.

This tobacco has almost no distinct pouch note, it just smelled vaguely sweet and raisin like. The tobacco came wetter than most C&D products, and I initially feared heavy casing or humectant application. This is not truly the case. There are some pleasant dry fruity notes upon ignition. The majority of the experience is dictated by the red Virginias, which yield varying themes on red fruity notes. At times, the the fruity tones were tangy, vinegary, or even more dry/Demi sec. There is no bite. The smoke is smooth unless it is carelessly puffed wherein it turns ashy and acrid. If you respect this blend it will respect you.

This blend was unusually stemmy with sizable twigs in my purchase. It burns down fairly well to a wet clump of dottle no matter how much I dried it out. As far as C&D Virginia leaf goes, this is a solid choice that deserves more attention. I can only imagine that the BC functions to smooth the reds out, and I cannot perceive it independently as an ingredient.

Another good vabur from C&D. The roundness of the black cav and the sharp sweetness of the red va are an efficient combination. Much smoother than most red va blends i've tried. This stuff doesn't jump out and grab you by the neck but it's a solid natural tobacco blend that I enjoy on occasion. Since I'm not a huge fan of red va's this won't be a regular in my rotation but I may come back to this one once my never-ending exploration of C&D's proliferation of blends is...uhhh...complete.

As noted, in part, at C&D?s web site:

"Winchester - the city, not the rifle - is strategically located at the mouth of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Winchester was the most fought over town of the Civil War. It changed hands 72 times and was the site of three major battles.?

Winchester (VA) changed hands 72 times in the Civil War? So neither the Confederacy nor the Union could WIN WINchester (for any length of time) but which side finally WON WINchester? It makes no matter now but the winsome WINchester, the tobacco, WON me over. This is another nice blend from C&D that I found to be on the medium to strong side with natural, tobacco flavor. At times, it had cigar-like notes about it. At other times, it could be ?red Virginia sweet? and flavorful. I also noted that in some pipes it did grow a bit harsh towards the bottom third of the bowl but this could have been because of an inadequate cake. In most well caked pipes this was not a problem and proved to be a great smoke from beginning to end. This is not an everyday smoke for my tastes but it is a real nice after dinner smoke on the front porch.

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this tobacco 8.7 out of 10.