Tobaccos Cornell & Diehl - Lunchtime Blues (Working Man Series)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blackhorse (96)	2013-08-19		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Highly recommend, if you like this sort of thing. And I do. I do indeed. Slightly deep notes from the Burley base, sweetness from the VA's and delicious notes from the Oriental, which I think is Turkish. Oddly, my fresh tin opened with an nasty skunky aroma, which then dissipated over the course of a week. What was left is a stellar smoke, truly a delight. There are lots of blends out there that use Turkish as a condimental to play against a VA or less often, a Burley base. This one is a solid addition to the genre. Definitely a 4 star offering from the dependable folks at C & D.

18 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	plexibass (5)	2013-05-25		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I dont know what the folks over at C&D do to set themselves so far above the bar with their blends, but I just hope that they keep doing it. I received a generous sample of this from pipe maker & repairer MARK STEWART over at http://www.pipecraft.org. 1st, visually this is a stunning looking tobacco. It looks like it tastes. It smells like it tastes and it tastes like heaven in a bowl! I'll steal this quote from MARK STEWART, but I don't think he will mind: "I have just had the pleasure of smoking 2 of C&D's new "Working Mans Series blends" and cannot overstate how terrific they are. Morning Drive Time is the perfect morning smoke with that initial cup of Coffee or Tea. Lunchtime blues is, without question, a great mid-day pick me up and is the perfect all day smoke. Although I am a great fan of their tobacco, they have really out performed themselves with these 2 blends. Morning Drive for breakfast, Lunchtime Blues for lunch and Crooked Lane for dinner. This is now my daily routine of smoking perfection."

WELL SAID MARK, AND ADVICE WE ALL NEED TO FOLLOW.

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2017-03-29		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Aside from the tin art, the next best thing about Lunchtime Blues was the Burley. It really stood out and was accompanied nicely by the Virginia. The Orientals were sparse but I could taste them on occasion. For the medium strength Burley fans out there, I can see where this blend got its name. They'll be wishing lunch was still going on when the fire goes out. This was nice weed! I hope to order more as it was a fun back to back to back smoke for me while I was working in my office. I thought that would be appropriate since this is a C&D offering from their Working Man's Series.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	periqueguy (43)	2013-05-16		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

After tasting this I've decided that this blend will be my noon to 7:00pm smoke every day. The burley base coupled with the natural sweetness of the Virginia and unique, exotic taste of the Oriental makes this an exceptional all day blend.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	incognitopoet (37)	2016-01-20		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Pleasant

Back in the mid 80's, when I was just getting started, I read Carlton Hacker's 'Ultimate Pipe Book." I learned a lot from the book, but somehow I came away with the idea that burley was less sophisticated than English blends or straight Virginias. Having tried a lot of burley Cavendish "drugstore" blends I decided to avoid burleys entirely. This stuff has changed my mind about American burleys. It is easy to pack, easy to smoke, tastes great, and it is perfect for afternoons spent writing. I love flakes, and I always will, but the convenience of just packing a bowl between paragraphs is wonderful! I don't pay a lot of attention to how I am puffing when I am working, and this selection from Cornell and Diehl's "Working Man" line is perfect. It won't get hot when I am puffing away, and it stays lit when I am sitting with the pipe in my mouth thinking.

February 12, 2016 Update: I am going through some of my past reviews just to see if further experience with smoking each blend over time. A half pound later this blend is still gentle, nutty, sweet and still reminds me of my grandfather's pipe smoke. This is what drug store burleys should taste like!

Pipe Used: Peterson 302, 303, 307, 313, 314

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Dottle (162)	2014-02-10		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It’s been quite some time since I have posted a review and, for this, you can all be thankful. But I just have to sing the praises of this great blend. I wholeheartedly agree with the esteemed Blackhorse that the tobaccos in this blend are well-balanced and play off each other very nicely, and I can’t put it any better than he did. But I was not presented with a skunky aroma opening the tin as he did.

Lunchtime Blues is a bright leaf blend that sings in the bowl and stays mellow and sweet all the way to the bottom, unlike many burley based blends that tend to grow harsh, bitter and stronger in their death throes. It has become one of the two blends I CRAVE; the other being LJ Heart Burley. I suspect others who have not rated this tobacco favorably are not fans of burley.

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

I rate this blend 9.999999 out of 10. (There is no perfect blend.)

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	butman (50)	2013-10-12		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I smelled an open can of this at Cigar and Tabac. A new can went home with me and I opened it today. Wow! I really enjoyed this one. I had an afternoon pipe full and it was just quite pleasant good tobacco flavor and it burned to a nice bit of dry ash. Some Burley blends are too burley and lack depth this just rounds out and smokes quite nicely. It may become my all day smoke. It even tastes good tonight.

Pipe Used: Joe Hinkle, Shamrock, cob

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: 4 Noggins

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2017-04-14		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

All three components have roughly equal influence on the overall flavor. To my taste the Orientals hold a very small lead. It's a little more sour than sweet and there is a mild harshness that becomes more than mild if your pace is too quick. Not my cuppa tea, but it's not an offensive smoke.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in taste. No added flavoring. Burns very well.

Pipe Used: MM Little Devil Cutty, Little Devil Acorn, Marcus

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Adrian B. (29)	2015-04-30		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This is my second tin of C&D Burley, the first was Haunted Bookshop.

This is, of course, a Burley forward blend and the dominant flavoring is natural, earthy, nutty Burley. There is Virginia and some Orientals in the blend as well. The Virginia's show up for me as a nice sweetness on the light and initial few puffs. After that the Burley takes charge and I don't notice the Virginia anymore. This could just be a problem with my taster though. The Orientals are present thoughout as a subdued spiciness.

The usual cautions associated to big burley blends apply; smoke slowly or risk the cigarette/ashy taste.

This blend has a bit of a nicotine hit, but not as strong as Haunted Bookshop was. The tastes are similar enough, at least to me, that the lower nic in this blend will cause me to prefer it over Haunted Bookshop. If you enjoy natural Burley, you'll probably like this. Recommended.

Pipe Used: Briars and Cobs

Age When Smoked: Tin fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HeavyMetalPiper (64)	2019-02-06		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

The smell is mostly raisiny. Citrus is the predominant flavor. Burley is in there, and the Virginias go nicely with it, and the Orientals do their job nicely to compliment the main ingredients. Nic is high, might be a bit much if you're going to go back to back with this.

You can view my video review of this blend here:

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Bent Diplomat Apple

Age When Smoked: 1 Year, 5 Months

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2016-05-10		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is another stout offering from Cornell & Diehl that I had the pleasure of sampling. Nearing my final goal for my cellar, this one may have passed me by if not for the generous act of a forum friend. Now, I will have to buy a few more tins of this for the cellar as well.

this is primarily a burley blend with tasty condimental orientals added. This gives it a different taste from many of the other C&D burleys on the market. It is strong in the nicotine department like many of the C&D blends, but I found this to be a little more forgiving to the heavier puffer than many of the others. Perhaps the oriental grades help tame the burley a bit. I am not sure, but I found all bowls to be quite a joy to smoke even with a preoccupied mind.

I don't think this could qualify as an all day smoke though due to the heavy nicotine content, but it is a great change up for when a heavier nicotine blend is what is called for.

As this was a smallish sample, 5 bowls or so, I am holding off on going to four stars on this one and will give it three for now, but it will be on my next order from SP for certain and I will revisit this review after I have had a chance to smoke a tin. This very well could be a four star blend in my book.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Earthmane (11)	2019-03-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Strong

Predominately nutty, like unsalted pecans. Very faint tang from the orientals. Little to no sweetness. Slightly Cigarettey and more than a little acrid. Sample was on the dry side. Not the type of thing I want to taste in my pipe. Maybe if you have a history of cigarette smoking?

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum legend

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bel007 (4)	2019-02-28		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

A mild flavored burley blend with some slightly sour acrid tones. Not enough flavor for my tastes to make it interesting, at all. Smokes cool enough if smoked slowly. There are far too many better burley blends available to spend more time with this one.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rick778 (13)	2019-02-27		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

Lunchtime Blues gave me the “blues”. I don’t get much when it comes to flavor. I get some burley, but it is very muted. As I continued to search for flavor, maybe I sense a little Virginia. Maybe it is this Virginia, or Orientals, that dilutes the flavor, but it doesn’t add anything, just leaves a bland lackluster taste. The sample I have was pretty dry, burning easily with few, if any, relights. As a conclusion, if I was going to compare this with a beer selection, it would be the “Bud Light” of burley based tobaccos.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Porto Cervo 320 KS

Age When Smoked: 1 Month

Purchased From: TobaccoPipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	UncleJon (2)	2019-02-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

The smell from the bag was nothing out of the ordinary. Good quality burley smell. Tobacco had the perfect moisture content, but it had been taken out of the tin and put into a ziplock bag, then shipped to me as a sample. My first couple of bowls resulted in a pleasant, all day typical burley smoke. More stout and flavorful than OTC burleys. I didn’t really notice the Orientals all that much. While smoking my last couple of bowls, I got the familiar burley nic hit that I often get with Haunted Bookshop or Old Joe Krantz. Not as pronounced as those, but noticeable. I usually feel it high up in my chest about the same area where I feel heartburn. Perhaps it’s the presence of the Virginia or Oriental that tones down the burley a bit. Packs and smokes easily with no tongue bite. Nothing wrong with this blend, but nothing overly special about it either. If you like burley, there’s a good chance you’ll like this. I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: tobaccopipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DenizBeck (323)	2018-12-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

A most interesting burley blend! This has to be one of the most unique (tasting) burley based mixtures I've got to taste and I albeit I have tasted the combination Burley<->Orientals several times and loved them, Lunchtime Blues comes along as something totally different for me!

It starts when opening the tin.. at first intensly sour, but that will fade away after the tin was opened for 1-2 days. Still, a certain sourness remains, which isn't unpleasant though, and rather making me interested in this blend.

Once in the pipe the tobacco burns excellently (due to coming quite dry out of the tin) and steady for my preferences. If you like your tobacco on the drier side this one should fill your bill! The burleys clearly dominate the blend: Richly earthy, a slight touch of nuttiness.. the pure, raw and "warm tasting" charme of burleys - especially the ones C&D uses - for me!

But what's surprising is the most exotic and distinct aroma of the Oriental(s?)! I was expecting the typical ethereal-oily, floral and spicy-dry aroma I've grown to know and love about oriental leafs.. but the Oriental(s) in Lunchtime Blues are only slightly ethereal(-oily), slightly floral, but moreso they offer an interesting sour-spicy twang! Hard to describe its aroma, it's very unique in its taste to me and opposed to other blends with Orientals in 'em I'm having a hard time naming the exact flavors I get out of this varietal - due to lack of terms! "Exotic", "sour-dry", maybe even a bit of what people describe as "Umami"? Or Curry? It's hearty.. sour, and distinctively spicy.. and very... unique! It took me 2-3 bowls to really appreciate these qualities, as I was confused at first, that it wasn't the ethereal, dry and spicy type of Oriental leaf. Now those very qualities are what keep me interested in Lunchtime Blues!

There's only very little sweetness, but enough to keep balance and the smoke is dominated by the hearty, tart and spicy nuances of the Burleys and Orientals! Not really complex, but due to the interesting aroma of the Oriental(s) this blend keeps my interest - to be honest I even find it more and more interesting as I progress through my first tin!

I may be influenced by its name, but indeed I do smoke this after Lunchtime quite ofen! It just fits the bill of a hearty, stout (albeit not too strong!) and interesting blend, that'll abstract you from the boredom of existence for an hour or two ;-)

4-stars, I really like this blend! I smoke a bowl almost every day in the mid-day and it really is perfect for these occasions in my opinion. Thanks C&D, you guys rock!

Edit: I somehow lost the interest in this quite quickly, so I have to down-rate to 3-stars!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	KrzysD (24)	2018-02-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Not my thing at all the blend is very bitter , so much so that I can’t get past It to find any other flavors. Some people like that sort of flavor profile but not for me

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	rintrah (14)	2013-05-16		Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild	Tolerable

sample from chicago show 2013. awful stuff. typical unrefined and harsh c&d tobacco. if you like it more power, for me this continues to be a blender to avoid.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	nach0 (35)	2022-06-25		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

i wish i could write something more interesting but IMO here we have a simple tobacco for all day smoke, a good "go-to" tobacco when you are looking for something light and easy, definitely not strong, really low in nicotine, doesn't bite at all, good humidity which makes it burns well, delivers what is expected from it but it´s not my cup of tea.

Pipe Used: many including briar and cob

Age When Smoked: straight from the tin

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pi'd Piper (11)	2019-02-03		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

Full disclosure: I'm a new pipe smoker.

Mixed emotions. Mechanically, the blend is decent. Found several stems and so forth, but it lights well. Burns a little hot, so pace it carefully.

The burley gives this a full body and rich creamy smoke, but the flavor can be a bit flat at times. Some nuttiness (think unsalted pecans), but most of the flavor comes from the slight oriental tang and the very mild hay sweetness from the virginia. As the name implies, this feels like a summer afternoon blend, not a winter evening blend for sure.

Not bad, but won't make my rotation. 2.75 stars.

Pipe Used: MM Rob Roy

Age When Smoked: 1 month

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Spinkle (16)	2019-06-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Strong

Cornell & Diehl – Lunchtime Blues

I purchased a sample of this as a part of a special offered by an online retailer in conjunction with a YouTube piping channel.

I am a former cigarette smoker, and when I opened the tin (ziplock bag) all I could smell was the familiar scent of cigs.

The tobacco is a ribbon cut, fairly light tobaccos. Came in bone-dry as a result of it being a sample bag I’m sure.

I lit this up and it became the first blend that I could not even finish a single bowl. This just tasted like sucking on a cheap native reserve cigarette that we get up here in Ontario.

I would steer clear of this blend unless you are a fan of cheap cigarettes. I found nothing worth recommending here.

Pipe Used: Brigham Bulldog

Age When Smoked: Unknown

Purchased From: Tobaccopipes.com

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