Cornell & Diehl Lunchtime Blues

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?

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.