Cornell & Diehl Five O'Clock Shadow (Working Man Series)

The red Virginia is very mildly tangy dark fruit sweet with some wood and earth, acting as a base for the other components, which drown out some of the red. The other Virginia is grassy, very lightly tartly citrusy, and not very noticeable otherwise. The perique is very spicy, raisiny, and slightly figgy, and adds a big kick to the experience as a secondary star. The dark fired Kentucky is spicy, earthy, woody, herbal, floral, smoky, slightly nutty, dryly sour and sweet, and is more obvious than the description allows as it has a important say in the flavor. I would list it as being a touch more than a condiment. The strength is in the center of medium to full. The taste is slot past that mark. The nic-hit is a rung below the blend's strength level. Won't bite and has no dull moments. An easy to break apart Krumble Kake that burns clean and slow with a mostly consistent sweet, spicy, mildly savory flavor that translates to the lingering after taste and slightly stronger room note. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights. There's a light creaminess present that rounds out the flavors, though it can get a touch harsh near the finish if you puff fast. Not an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

This working man series is just messing up my routine and Five O'clock Shadow is no exception. This is really a pleasant smoke. The krumble kake is really easy to break down to pipe size. It crumbles easily and packs nicely. It does have a little more oomph than the others in the series. I enjoy it at five or later in the evening. You get a lot of creamy smoke and it is easy to get too eager so go gently. The complexity of it is kind of lost once you get going, but relights show there is a lot going on in the bowl. I recommend it. Oh and don't fill a large pipe this tobacco burns a long time. I small bowl it most of the time. A large bowl will take forever.

I love this blend! It's rich earthy and easy to smoke. It comes as a crumble cake that is really easy to deal with. Some drying time would be reccomended. It's got a little punch to it but to me that just makes it that much better.

It's called five o'clock shadow but to me it's better at five in the morning. I really enjoy this with my morning coffee. It might not be the most complex smoke but that's fine. Sometimes you want something that's easy to smoke,tastes great and has the perfect amount of nicotine.

The taste I get is mostly hay or sweet hay from the Virginias. The perique has a nice spicy note sometimes swaying over to the raisin flavor. The Kentucky ads just enough earthy note and some nicotine. Overall this is a great all day smoke. I will be ordering more. Would like to see what some age does to it.

The only problem I had was you can rub it out too much and have some really small pieces that can go through your pipe.

Had my first go with Five O'clock Shadow this evening. The first thing that caught my attention was that the tin was bulging like a swollen tick! Pulling the tab resulted in a whoosh! that spooked the cats that were milling around my feet in hopes I was opening canned cat food followed by a raisin-y, tart, funky aroma coming from the tin. I cut and rubbed out about a half a bowls worth (a good thing as this blend burns S--L--O--W ) and retired to my smoking chair. For a strait from the tin baccy it took light easily and mostly stayed lit. The initial puff blasted me with a spiciness had me thinking "OK, this is a lot like Three Friars" which is fine but why add another blend to the cellar? But as I smoked something happened... A caramel like note started developing so that as I sipped on this blend I would get the tangy, spicy hit of the perique on the retrohale and then the Virginia and burley would chime in on the finish with the sweet caramel. I found it very unique and VERY enjoyable! This one is going in my cellar!

This is a wonderful blend in the Krumble Kake form that I really like. Sweet Virginia combined with the smoke like presence of stout dark fired Kentucky made for a dandy smoke with strength and depth. The Virginia is at the forefront and keeps the overall presentation from running away with one's palate.

I think I recall when this blend was released that it was really Kicking Chicken (KC was a limited release blend for the now defunct Pipe Smoker's Forum) with a different name. Whether that was accurate or not, I couldn't really say; nor does it matter as Kicking Chicken is no longer available. Even if it isn't identical to KC I can see why someone would think it was as I find this blend to be a dead ringer for that blend.

I bought a few tins of this a while back but hadn't got around to trying them. When a forum friend decided he wanted to repay my kindness and said he had some of this open, I jumped on the opportunity to try some.

As I stated I found this blend about identical to kicking chicken and I really liked that blend a lot. Which is also to say, if you do not like perique that much, then you will not like this blend. It is a strong blend with perique and Dark Fired Kentucky taking the lead in many cases. Sure, there is Virginia which offers subtle sweetness. I am sure this blend would be overwhelming without it. But it is spicy, and as some may say, a pepper pot.

I still have a tin of Kicking chicken from 2012 which I may have to compare the two more closely when I get around to cracking the tins. Until then, I am happy to know that C & D has made a worthy replacement for that blend.

I am only going with three stars on this one for now as my sample only probably netted me about 5 bowls. But I expect this one to get a fourth star when I later revisit the blend.

The tobacco comes a a pressed brick about the size of a brownie. Mine was pressed a little too firmly to crumble, so I sliced it and rubbed it out. The result was short chopped flake and fish food. I smoked it as delivered and did not dry it.

The smoke initially is sweet, earthy and spicy. It is a tasty smoke and delivers on the flavor. It seemed to pick up a little strength as the bowl progressed and there was more of the earthy fullness and less of the spice. Depending on your palate, this earthy fullness might present as having a harsh edge at the end.

This was a very slow burning blend in the various pots I used to smoke it. It was easy to sip and keep lit and did not require a lot of relights.

The tin price point for this is a little high for me to make it a regular smoke. If I were on a desert island with this as the tobacco that washed ashore, I would smoke a lot of it and be grateful. It is a solid 3 in the recommendations.

One warning is that this is probably not a good blend for you if you have a nicotine sensitivity.

Edit: As the block of pressed tobacco dried a little (and perhaps with a little handling), I could just pinch off a hunk and rub it out to load from my palm like Briar Fox. Some blends wear on you and some get better as you are about to finish the tin. This one is in the "gets better" category.

This is another fine example of a Virginia/perique blend with a little Kentucky added.. Has a nice richness to it.. More on the earthy/spicy side but also with some sweetness from the Virginia.. Pleasant and satisfying in the strength department.. I find a couple minor drawbacks.. it is a very dry smoke with a little bit of harshness to it.. fatiguing is the word some might use.. it also is what it is.. not loaded with complexity.. but that is not necessarily a bad thing.. the tin I had was of the older more hardly compressed crumble cake type.. breaks into very small pieces.. I like to dry it substantially.. I really like this blend but there are quite a few others in this genre i prefer.. i will say it has an interesting tin note.. kind of earth and chocolate with a little spice. I am noticing that this one smokes better in certain pipes.. I have a small billiard that really likes it.

Straight pepper hits first, with an earthy leather following. It transitions in to a sweet caramel later on, that pairs well with the other flavours. Full bodied and very enjoyable, kind of like a nicaraguan cigar. I'm buying more.

Remarkable blend,well matured virginias,a generous spoon of perique and a wise touch of DFK.Close to perfection.It is some strong by the perique side,not al all because DFK.Not for all the day,but perfect for a non quite big bowl every day.Optimal combustion after an easy breaking of the most typical crumble cake.Magnificient smoke.Underrated master piece of C&D.I forgot,steady and slow burning.A dream,but not a sweet dream,a solid dream.