Cornell & Diehl Izmir Turkish

A C&D-type cut of wide ribbon mixed with long cut and chop cut, yellowish in color and a musty, sweet/sour bag aroma. This one I decided I could smoke straight, as it was very tasty. I found a hint of a buttery taste but mostly this was kind of dry and spicy. Fun to smoke straight. But again, the point was as a blender.

I'm a big fan of C&D's Oriental Silk, but I've had a few people tell me that the perique content of that blend is too high. Smoking a single bowl of this tells me why they feel that way, as this has a kind of perique-y taste, but of the peppery kind rather than the fruity kind. I've always found the perique to be light in OS but the Turkish to be heavy. This must be the Turkish they use, as the flavors are similar (OS switches gears with the addition of VA and perique, of course). Good straight, but as a blender, this one can take over a blend if too much is used. It worked wonders for my oriental blend and also helped spice up straight burley and Virginia. Using a popular "latakia bomb" blend as a base, this helped tone down the latakia but didn't help out the dusty flavor I get with those blends (which is Me, not the blend!). For basic Balkans, I found this to be insufficient, as I suspect more or different strains of Turkish are used in Balkans. But in my preferred Scottish blends, this stuff sung like Harry Lauder (off-key at times, and with a humorously heavy brogue!). It seems to prefer a lighter dose of latakia, but then again, it's probably just me that prefers that. So this one delivered as expected! Really nice tobacco and I'm going to be using it a lot. Highly recommended.

Cornell & Diehl - Izmir Turkish.

Some straight tobaccos, like C+D's White Burley, I reviewed the other day, shouldn't be smoked neat. They need blending to enjoy them, properly. Yet, others, like this, can be enjoyed either way!

See the photo here: Izmir Turkish is presented as a medium brown, mid-size ribbon, with a few coarser strands, but nothing 'hefty'. Being from bulk mine had aired, and the moisture had lessened to perfection.

Due to the moistness I.T. lights easily and gives a top notch smoke; I enjoy it neat! There's a floral note present, albeit, the florals don't dominate the smoke. Behind the florescent note there's a buttery sweetness, which makes this a delectable smoke, on its own. A bowl of T' Izmir, smoked neat, does so in a cool manner, with bite only occurring if REALLY pushed.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: I quite like it.

Izmir Turkish? I don't consider myself a steadfast fan of Oriental/Turkish blends; more of a VaPer or Balkan fan. But, smoking this has reminded me what a joy this leaf can be. Highly recommended:

Four stars.

Finally! A C&D tobacco that I can smoke. I'm a virginia smoker and I really don't smoke for nicotine, so I'm S.O.L when it comes to C&D blends as they are mostly the opposite of what I prefer. This Izmir is a wonderfully spicy, sour/sweet Turkish tobacco that is what appears to be in broken flake form. Go ahead and try it on it's own, it won't bite., you can definitely spice up some mediocre blends with this or use it in your own blending. Very reasonably priced and well worth it.

This is an absolute pleasure to blend with. It is such an exotic, spicy, well tempered tobacco. It is much more tolerable to smoke straight than a bowl of just Latakia or just Perique though still slightly overwhelming for my palate. As a blending component it offers spice, sourness, and some cedar woodiness. I also find that Izmir is a great tool in reducing tongue bite. Pairs wonderfully with Perique, Virginia, Latakia, Burley, everything really. 10% Izmir is the sweet spot I've found. Any more can dominate the blend and any less leaves you asking for more. Major kudos to C&D for offering to consumers!

C&D taunts this as a high grade Izmir. I do not doubt that in the least. My initial few ounces purchased for blending, both outright personal blend and tweaking other blends was used up rather quickly. I reordered in greater quantity at which time I tried it straight. Expecting a sourish smoke, I got a very pleasant sweetish experience with some tang showing through from Izmir's base Virgina pedigree.

I found it does not take much of this to yank a mediocre tinned blend from other houses into much better territory.

An incredible value price-wise as well.

This is a nice blending tobacco, and as such I think it should be used, but you can always sample it on a stand-alone basis. It has sour and spicy notes, but it is lacking the deep and woodsy profile of Latakia. It can be used in virginia and burley blends to add a silky profile with salty undertones. Without the addition of Latakia, you might find it lacking or boring in one way or the other, but I think this is all down to what other components you might be using in your blend. The addition of dark fired Kentucky or perique is optional too, so you might want to tweak it a bit until you shall tune in on something that you like. My advise is you go and use this leaf as a condiment, not as a base tobacco.

I've tried this straight just once, but was quite impressed. The jar/pouch note is just the nicest baking spices, natural classic tobacco and the faintest ripe cheese (somewhere I heard it compared to a Romano or Parmesan cheese and I have to concur).

In the bowl: wonderful, soft herbal notes with a touch of cedar. I've also blended this in with an English blend I concocted out of other C&D blending tobaccos. So, while being a very well-rounded and approachable tobacco on its own -- I would seriously be quite satisfied on a desert island with a pound of this! -- it is also the perfect condiment (or perhaps even base, but will have to get back to you on that one) to any Virginia/Latakia mix.

Highly recommended.

Smoking now:

Not really sure how to give this stars as it’s a straight Izmir Turkish tobacco. It is what it is. Came perfect for blending, not wet but not bone dry.

Smoking it straight and hey it’s not too bad. It’s slightly sour, woody, earthy, a little floral. Maybe a slight spice. Has a sharp taste to it, not in a bad way, zesty maybe. A bit harsh to smoke straight all the time but it has a nice flavor.

Would recommend for blending of course and to expand your pipe tobacco knowledge.

I’ve been blending it with C&D Derringer or Yorktown and damn it’s not bad.

Great for blending some into your favorite blend, I really enjoy this with some Burley-based blend such as Pegasus by C&D. I also mixed some with C&Ds other blending tobaccos (CUbe Cut Burley, Dark Burley) and it also works great.

The Turkish has some zesty, exotic aroma to it. Slightly sharp note to it, which isn't unpleasant at all. Great thing is that you only really need a small pinch between your fingers to spice up the blend/mix, which makes this very efficient. My 1oz is still lasting me a bit. Had great smokes with it, no doubt, I'd always buy this again and it makes some of my most favorite blends even more enjoyable. 4 stars.