Cornell & Diehl Good Morning

This is a really great all day English blend. I’ve smoked so many “match” blends and I’m always disappointed when I smoke them as a substitute. I now go into match blends with the caveat that it is it’s own blend. This very well may be just like EMP- I don’t know. But what I do know is it’s a very enjoyable smoke to start a day with! With a cup of coffee it’s hard to beat. The Virginia’s are really the star to me. They are the classic C&D Virginia. They always remind me of semi sweetened Baked goods in the room note. Very much reminds me of the Virginia’s in C&D poplar camp. There’s just enough Latakia to know it’s there. Honestly I get more Latakia in the “beard note” after I’m done smoking, than when I am smoking it. The orientals are really perfectly balanced, too. Perfectly balanced is a great 2 word review of this blend. I think any fan of a light English will be very happy with good morning.

This is another pair of C&D tins retrieved from the large tub of tins that I bought at our 2017 NASPC show (see King Weed 03-24-19 @ C&D Easy Times). Located at midpoint of the tub's layering, they bore tinning dates of January 2009. This is another blend I saw come onto the market in the early 2000's that I never seemed to have gotten around to smoking. There is a lot of scatter/chatter about this blend being a clone of Dunhill Early Morning Pipe and, while I disagree with that viewpoint, there are some similarities. When opening the tin, you get a similar color range to EMP from light tan through medium browns and some darker bits; but, the texture is coarser due to a wider ribbon cut. The tin aroma is in a similar range to EMP's, but slightly stronger in both the Latakia and the Oriental/Virginia realms. I've opened many tins of EMP in my time and they have an interesting and slightly sour odor behind the Latakia aroma. Here in this blend, I get a somewhat sweeter background aroma. When I lit my first bowl, with it's tall and narrow chamber, Good Morning began to speak to me in a vernacular that said - "place me in your top ten English blends". There are some blends out there that are so skillfully blended that they are an absolute joy to smoke, never let you down and just keep on satisfying no matter what pipe you light them in. I find C&D's Good Morning to be just such a blend. When I smoke this blend I can taste every component clearly and concisely and, simultaneously, I can taste the components working in unison to present a magnificent English profile. Craig Tarler and Bob Runowski, both unfortunately gone now, created a pipe blend that is, yes, an emulation of Dunhill Early Morning Pipe. At the same time they created a blend of their own design that stands on it's own merits. I have smoked this blend in all sorts of pipes in my collection and have since raised it's status to my all time top five. Speaking of fives; I would award this blend five stars if I could, but give it our highest ranking of four stars. If I loved this blend any more than I do, my wife would divorce me.

Being a Latakia fan, I did not appreciate this mild Virginia blend. Orientals are present in homeopathic doses, Latakia is so far that I didn't detect it. It is ok for an undemanding smoke. 2,5/5 in my personal rating system.

Very good quality. A satisfying VA blended with some orientals and a slight hint of Latakia. Sweet with depth and a hint of sour. Excellent all day smoke.

Many times comparisons are unavoidable, but sometimes they are unnecessary and even undesirable. That said, C&D Good Morning is an excellent mixture of great mostly lemmon Virginias and Orientals, delicately spiced with Latakia (no more than what you can find in Fillmore, now that we're into similarities). Is it an Oriental mixture or a mild English? I don't know. The main component here is Virginias, that is for sure.

Good Morning is a great smoke for any time of the day.

This one did surprise me both with its strength and flavor. It comes very close to the original Early Morning Pipe by Dunhill. I thought the mixture is as close as it can get, and it is a clear winner.

Out of the tin, it does not smell particularly good, 'spicy' perhaps. Expecting the smell would translate into an unpleasant smoke, I was positively surprised by how good - rich and full - it actually tasted. The best, in fact, of the "English" mixtures I have tried.

This one almost smokes like a strong cigarette. Halfway through the first pipe, I started to note a slight hand tremor.

Later, having smoked quite a few bowls of it, I still have to put the pipe away intermittently because I can feel my blood pressure rise! Boy does it give you a buzz!

Unlike the other C and D blends I have tried, this did not come bone dry: the tobacco was nice and springy to the touch. The tin aroma was muted. In the pipe it lit and burned well.

On its own it is a pleasant enough Oriental of no great distinction. The comparison to EMP stretches the imagination. I had a tin of Murray made EMP open and was able to compare the two mixtures. EMP had an opulent elegance coupled with manly but not brutish strength. In comparison Good Morning was insipid and weak. To enjoy this concoction one has to give up all thoughts of the Dunhill product, and consider GM on its own merits. It is not too bad.

Like G. L. Pease's Chelsea Morning, C & D's Good Morning is trying to fill the EMP gap. I find it extremely well done. It is more Virginia-oriented that Chelsea Morning and there is only a hint of Latakia. The result is a sweeter blend of Virginias and Orientals that is perfect for a first pipe. It would be a bit too light for me as an all day blend but is great with morning coffee. Unlike some of C & D's ribbon cuts, GM is easy to keep lit and doesn't arrive too wet in the tin.

Good Morning is likely to get lost in the huge mass of C & D blends but is really worth a try for those who appreciate a light Balkan as a day-starter.

Edit 04/06/2011: I don't smoke this blend anymore as Classic Burley Kake has taken over as my AM smoke. It's still a great tobacco and maybe I'll revisit it again in the future. Downgraded to 3 stars.

WOW... all I can say is wow! Having had the chance years ago to smoke Dunhill EMP I can say that I really think they nailed the flavour with this blend. This is a definate keeper in my storage and one that I smoke every morning with my coffee... which is really what it's ment for. The flavour is extremely well balanced with many nuances jumping out at you as you slowly puff away. My second tin had 1 year of age on it and had developed some nice notes of plum, prune and apricots. If I could give it 5 stars I would, I just don't think 4 stars does it justice.