Cornell & Diehl Nutty Irishman

I get a little toast and nut flavor from the earthy, woody burley, but a lot of it is covered up by the toppings. The Frangelico has an essence of hazelnut that I barely notice, though the Irish creme is more obvious. I see a little black cavendish in here, but it must be unsweetened because I'm only getting brown sugar from it. The strength and nic-hit levels are mild. The taste is in the center of mild to medium. It's a little moist, and may need a slight dry time, but it burns cool and clean at a moderate rate with a mostly consistent, if fairly routine taste. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, and requires a few relights. Won't bite or get harsh. The pleasant after taste and room note are weak. It's pleasant enough for a work day smoke.

-JimInks

I've smoked a few Hazlenut flavored tobaccos before but the extract version only. This was my first (and probably last) foray into the world of Frangelico flavored leaf. The nutty alcoholic essence (thus the name, maybe?) just didn't do anything for me or the Burley within. Kind of a downer... Oh well.

A good aromatic with an irish mist topping. This is a pretty good blend as aromatics go; and this is what I would expect from C & D, who is known for high quality burley leaf and not using PG in their products. So for this fact alone, I will give it three aromatic stars.

What is keeping me from awarding a fourth star is twofold. The first would be that I seldom looked forward to a bowl of this and used it mainly as a way for me to enjoy a smoke while putting off a pleasant room aroma. But the second, and more important reason, is my discovery of CAO's Eileen's Dream. It is a similar based blend with the same type of topping that I really enjoy. So much so, that Upon opening a tin of the latter, I gave the rest of my Nutty Irishman away. There wasn't too much left.

Tin note: Hazelnut (C&D call it Frangelico, but what it amounts to is hazelnut in other words; that is what Frangelico tastes like. They also mention whiskey -- Irish Mist specifically -- but for whatever reason I always have trouble discerning a whiskey flavour in any blend. To me it just comes across as a slight sweetness.)

Taste: Hazelnut, hazelnut -- and, oh, did I mention hazelnut?

If I were to put this in a nutshell it would be this: If you like hazelnut flavoured coffees, chances are pretty high you are going to like this. If you don't, you probably won't like it.

It's actually a pretty good blend. I don't have many aromatics I'd consider cellaring -- Lane 1 Q and Cult Blood Red Moon have been the only two I'd consider doing that with so far (and I haven't yet) -- but this one I would and plan to do just that.

I smoked it on a cool summer evening and it was great. I could also see it being a nice autumn or winter's evening smoke. It could even be considered a Christmas smoke.

I think this one will probably become my top aromatic for when I want a change from my norm. Something about the flavour of nuts, like dark fruit, just seems to work really well with tobacco. Cult Blood Red Moon can get a bit ashy toward the bottom, but I didn't find this with Nutty Irishman. Nutty Irishman too has a more distinctive flavour than Lane 1 Q (though I think Lane 1 Q still wins the room note war) and that is more often than not what I want when I decide to pick up an aro instead of my usual picks like Old Dark Fired, Aperitif, Brown Sugar Flake, Cut Virginia Plug or Frog Morton's Cellar; i want a dessert blend at that point.

Definitely worth trying and definitely worth tossing some tins in the cellar. I doubt it will age any better mind you, but just to have some around in case it disappears off the market.

I was pleasantly surprised by this blend. It smelled great in the can..noting nuts and sweetness. When I smoked it tho...it wasnt at all what I expected. Maybe my tastebuds are different but to me Nutty Irishman was like smoking the equivalent of a spiked holiday eggnog...and I liked it. This is going to be a brand I will smoke again.

So far I'm really enjoying this blend. Creamy and smooth, with a touch of nuttiness, perhaps hazelnut, that comes through occasionally. Not overpowering, and definitely a good blend for a novice piper or aromatic fans.

The bag-note is most delicious to me, wow! Very rich and quite complex aroma of candied/caramelized hazelnuts in the forefront greeting you 'Come in, have a seat, a pipe and a drink!'. You clearly get some of the honey from the Irish Mist, as well as a very mild boozy undertone and - what I find very interesting - a somewhat herbal quality in the back! I was stoked by now..

In the smoke it revealed itself as something I wouldn't have expected this blend to be! I was expecting a strongly flavored aromatic to be quite honest.. and - albeit the flavoring clearly dominating the tobaccos - the flavoring itself is very unobtrusive and "smooth on the palate". A potpourri of aromas, of which none ever takes the main stage!

There's the wonderful note of candied hazelnuts, a very pleasant, buttery creaminess, that's harmonizing and interacting wonderfully with the distinctive herbal qualities of the blend. It's less sweet than the scent would suggest, as you'll also find these tart, herbal and spicy notes in perfect balance with the sweet notes. The burley drops in with its nutty, oaty, and earthy qualities, as well as he adds a 'toasty' character to the smoke. A mildly boozy undertone is everpresent and very unobtrusive, as well as natural feeling!

Quite a surprise, but I really like this blend and I consider buying a tin or two when I get the chance to next time! 😉 Nutty, herbal, spicy, creamy.. a lot of things going on (don't expect an overly complex blend though, yet there's a lot to find, if you look for it!)

|| Personal rating: 3-stars | Rated for what it is: 3,5-stars! ||

Cornell & Diehl - Nutty Irishman.

Note: from bulk.

A blend comprised of mainly medium brown ribbons, with a smaller proportion of darker ones. My moisture's good, but as this was a bulk purchase I can't comment on a tin's.

Subjectively speaking, the toppings don't work well together for me. The Irish Mist would be better without the Frangelico: the creamy, decadent, flavour of the Mist is contested by the caustic Frangelico. It's a shame there's not more black Cavendish, this might smooth it out some, but seeing as I can't taste any, it doesn't. The Burley tastes good-enough, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: pleasant.

It wouldn't be fair to rate this with just one star, but it's certainly getting no more than two:

Somewhat recommended.

I never did like Irish Mist so when a guy in our group shared a little of this I had my doubts. Smelled like Irish Mist and nuts right out of the bag. Light up gave me plenty of that Irish Mist flavor along with some nuts. You know while I did not care that much for the overall taste it was a rather pleasing smoke. I can see if someone drinks Irish Mist they would love this blend and the nutty background is nice. To me not in my rotation but it was a nice smoke.

I'm a NASPC member and work a shift on the front table at our annual show. People give us items to raffle-off and lots of them are tins of tobacco. This year, in addition to the many unopened tins we received, were four tins that were opened and half full. We winnowed them out and, at the end of the show, another member and I split them. Nutty Irishman was one that I took and smoking it has led to this review. I liked this blend as soon as I sniffed it and smoked it. The tin aroma is somewhat akin to sniffing hazelnut coffee beans, in addition to traditional tobacco aromas. Smoking this blend was an interesting experience. The tin aroma did not translate to the smoking aroma at all (that I could perceive) and the first bowl broke down into a sequence of experiences. The top fourth of the bowl was devoted completely to burning off the practically unnoticeable toppings and allowing the Virginia components to run in front of the burley. At about the third bowl mark things mutated into a wonderful smoke of burley and black Cavendish tastes that was four star material on it's own. Unfortunately, this all unraveled somewhere in the bottom third of the smoke. I can echo the sentiments of reviewer Ivycap 2010-09-11 in that I thought that this blend became tasteless, ashy and hot in the bottom third. So, smoking it puts the taste and aroma of your smoke all over the place. Still, I can recommend it - three stars.