Cornell & Diehl Lunchtime Blues

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.

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:

https://youtu.be/vrjcHCd_l2Q

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.

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!

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.