Cornell & Diehl Lunchtime Blues

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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!

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.)

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.

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.

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