Cornell & Diehl Green River Vanilla

Not impressed. Quality tobacco, but I expect that from C&D. I also expect better flavor, which was completely absent from this blend. Very flat and bland for an aromatic. Not recommended.

If you like cheap cigars, this may be an ideal blend for you. This reminded me of a Dutch Masters corona deluxe that had been soaked in vanilla extract. This was a bulk sample that, given its obvious moisture in the bag, I did not transfer to a jar for safekeeping. Yet, 6 months after sitting in the bag, it is still wet and sticky to the touch. The leaf is jet black, and when held up to the light is actually translucent from all the casing, and more chocolate brown in color than black. Amazingly, the casing actually stained the inside of the bag. It smells of artificial, chemically vanilla, and the vanilla topping barely comes through in the taste. I dried a couple bowls worth out by leaving it in a room with a dehumidifier running, and came back two days later to more manageable and smokable dark brown leaf. This tobacco tastes like your least favorite cheap cigar. It starts out with an inoffensive cheap cigar flavor profile that rapidly unfolds into a sour acrid mess. This marks one of the few times that I can ever recall saying to myself after half a bowl, “I am never smoking this again.” Visually it is appealing, and the idea of a simple vanilla aromatic isn’t unattractive. Don’t be fooled.

I bought this as a sample pack here in Australia and could not believe how soggy and goopy it was, perhaps i simply drew the short straw and got what was left in the bulk bag . The burley is black as imagined from a fire cure with poor bag note other than a sour bitter tea smell , the bowl was difficult to light with the crackling sound of bacon on an over hot bbq plate , producing little smoke cloud and poor flavor to access and could not keep my bowl alight . Other C&D products i have bought from this Aussie distributor have been good but need to alert fellow Australians not to bother with GRV from this retailer.

Being a fan of aromatics, such as myself, i try hard into giving my best shot on each blend that i try. Most are pretty good and some just does nothing for me. This blend from C&D just doesn't cut it. I was rather hoping that it could at least give MacBarens Vanilla creme a run for its money and taste, but it falls way short of even being a delightful aromatic smoke. Upon opening my tin of this promising stuff, i found that it could most definetly air out for a few days. It was hard to light and stay lit and normally i don't have a problem with that. G.R.V reminds me of a few Mclelland blends that i've tried. Too moist and goopy to even think about burning a bowl. Sorry, but this just doesn't cut it for me.

I wanted to like this tobacco. The tobacco is moist in the tin and sticks to your fingers. The first bowl or two were just okay. As I worked through the tin it become less remarkable. The last few bowls were nothing more than warm air with an ashy taste. There was no vanilla note present and it was never “sweet” as many described. In fact it had a bit of a sour note to the tobacco. There are plenty of other fine aromatics on the market. I wouldn’t spend time or money on this one.