Cornell & Diehl Christmas Blend 2014 (We Three Kings)

Tin Note: Mixture of black, brown, and gold leaf with a few stems. Smells pretty much like the tin says: allspice and vanilla, except I don't detect a cinnamon scent. To my nose the vanilla is up front and I also pick up a hint of raisins.

Charring Light: I packed my smallish, smooth Nording Queen using the air pocket method. First light yielded a few different flavors: definitely vanilla up front, and now the cinnamon that I didn't notice in the tin comes through along with a slight note of tea leaves. The leaf lit well with not a lot of smoke, rose well above the rim, and stayed lit nicely on the first tamp.

The first third of the bowl started a little harsh, probably because I pushed too hard to see what I could coax from it. Definitely have to treat this with care or it'll bite. I finally found the sweet spot in my cadence with very light tamping. At this point the Cavendish is forward to my palate with it's mild vanilla sweetness. I'm not a big fan of the aftertaste; it reminds me of cheap, hard candy for some reason.

Near mid-bowl the Cavendish begins to take a back seat as the Virginias and Turkish assert themselves. The sweetness shifts to a grassy/hay variety and the spicy cinnamon flavor weaves in and out. It has an almost peppery quality to it like an atomic fireball but not nearly as strong; more like Big Red chewing gum but not as sweet. The retrohale is fairly pleasant and the aftertaste has improved quite a bit.

The last third of the bowl is pretty much the same except the vanilla has somewhat made it's way back into the picture. The ash is predominately gray with flecks of white, and the burn was consistent throughout. Can't comment on the room note since I'm an outdoor smoker.

Overall this is good pipeweed and very fitting for the season; the cinnamon spiciness does remind me of Christmas. It's not in my wheelhouse so I doubt I would smoke it on a regular basis but it's a very nice change of pace. I'm curious to discover if my opinion changes as the weather gets colder.

Although sold as a holiday blend I believe that this tobacco could be smoked just about any time. The tin note reminded me of vanilla, nutmeg, rum, and spice and was very pleasant. Before lighting there was a sweet and spicy like taste in the pipe when drawn which hints at what is to come. The tobacco was easy to load and pack and took the initial light well, staying lit through the majority of the smoke, although I did have to relight midway through the bowl, but this is meant to be smoked slowly in order to avoid any bite. The taste was mild and slightly sweet with a hint of vanilla and a touch of spiciness on the initial charring, but progressed into a more spiced, almost ginger like note by mid-bowl. Towards the end of the smoke there was an almost fresh baked bread taste that was detectable with just a hint of the sweetness coming through. The room note according to the wife was warm and pleasant. All in all, a good smoke any day of the week

I've been itching to open a tin of this blend for a long time. Enough to say, after it was introduced in 2014 as a Christmas gift (later replaced by Golden Days of Yore), the blend became quite popular, and it continued to be released for at least two more years. At any rate, I have in my collection a 100-gram tin from 2015 and a half-pound tin released in 2016. It's certainly interesting to compare how the tobacco has changed over the year, and when the 2015 can comes to an end, I'll leave some to make that comparison. For now, let's talk about the tin that was released in January 2015.

Appearance: a blend of tobaccos ranging from yellowish-brown light Virginia to almost black Cavendish. The blend is sliced in ribbon and flakes of varying sizes, with cavendish mixed in. It's not an even ribbon of Dunhill or McConnell, but it's not a rough cut of Amphora's Virginia blends either. The quality of the tobacco is very high - no dust, no extra moisture. A little dried out over the years, but the tightly sealed jar kept the tobacco intact. I kept it in the jar for a day to moisten, and the tobacco was ready.

Flavor: unconditional vanilla, rum and a complex bouquet of spices, with cinnamon standing out. The tobacco also has a slight whiff of berry sourness, which I attributed to its age. In addition, I caught a note of incense in the background. Of course, there is also the actual scent of tobacco - some dark Virginia fruit, notes of spicy Turkish tobacco, woven into the overall bouquet, a little bit of sweet prune from the cavendish. The overall impression is that of a well soaked rum cake with fruit and berry and vanilla filling.

Taste: sweetish note of caramel sugar, dried fruit with a slight sourness (very similar to small Turkish dried apricots), some wheat bread and to all this - an acceptable dose of spice mixed with white pepper. Surprisingly balanced, the blend now no longer feels lightly flavored, it has character. The blend is quite mild, with only a slight roughness that quickly goes away. The flavoring gets weaker as you smoke, the pepper takes over, and the result is quite a light tobacco, which nevertheless tastes closer to natural blends than flavorings. The tobacco smokes medium-hot, does not like heavy puffs, quickly heating up the pipe. The strength is below average - a large size pipe is not enough to get a nicotine hit, but XL pipes can remind you that this is tobacco, not a hookah blend for teenagers after all. The ash is light gray, not much of it. The tobacco leaves some moisture in the pipe, but virtually no tar. The aftertaste is sweetly rummy.

The smoke from the tobacco is very pleasant and yet dense enough to hang in the room for a long time. It has a vanilla-caramel aroma with a cinnamon-berry flavor.

Bottom line: a great holiday tobacco that could well be smoked as an everyday dessert. Fans of pure aromatics may not like it for its hint of natural flavor, but the rest will probably be very happy. The cherry on this cake is the fact that Golden Days Of Yore and We Three Kings blends have been re-released this year, in anticipation of Christmas, so they should absolutely be on our shelves at the end of the year. I highly recommend buying both blends by the can or two to try. They are well worth it.

C&D's We Three Kings, 2014 Christmas Blend is truly a treasure fit for a king of Orient or any other king. It's easily one of the nicest aromatics I've smoked, and definitely one of my favorites that I'm sure to keep at hand.

Not overly sweet - no heavy casing like many cheaper aros - this one is gentle and tasty, with the Virginias and Turkish components blending very nicely with the cinimony, nutmegy, light spicy, vanilla flavors of the dark Cavendish, without being overpowering. Not at all moist or goopy like typical cheaper aromatics, this burns nicely, like a high quality blend.

Other favorable reviews here describe very well the experience of this marvelous blend, with not much more I can add. A pleasure to smoke, especially during cold winter months here in Toronto Ontario. It really does epitomize the smells and essence of the Christmas holidays and spirit! Cheers!

After using half of my jar I wrote the review. This tobacco is one of the good aromatics. I got the Valina taste from this one and the room note is not bad. The strength is mild to medium.

A few years of age really enhance this tobacco, which I do not usually find to be the case with aromatic blends. The katerini melds with the allspice and cinnamon—offering flavors reminiscent of a mild clove cigarettes without the harsh clove flavor. The black cavendish and vanilla casing add a creamy sweet flavor to the smoke. The smoke is quite mild but a good smoke. If you can find one of the few tins out there in the wild, grab it—you won’t be disappointed.

You can imagine the tin note was indeed lovely, and the scent of the components was detected easily enough, I think. The cut is mainly a fine ribbon cut of the virginias, with chunks of black cavendish and perhaps some of the Katerini turkish being a bit chunky as well. The tobacco is not overly moist, and in fact seems to be just about perfect for smoking right out of the tin. I let mine sit out a few minutes regardless.

Char light was lovely, with flavors of vanilla and a hint of cinnamon greeting my tongue and my nose. Tobacco flavors were there, not washed out by the aromatic flavoring. But then after tamping down the char light, all flavor became very mild, but began to pick up quite well again after a few short minutes. About late mid-bowl I began detecting a scent and taste that were quite fruity... the allspice perhaps? Regardless of what it was, it was quite enjoyable. I detected absolutely no tongue bite. Nicotine was there enough just to say, "Hello." And the tobacco burned very nicely, with three relights. One relight because I set the pipe down for a couple minutes.

All in all, I found Cornell & Diehl's We Three Kings a very enjoyable smoke. And one that I think will be enjoyed much more with cooler weather. I'll definitely be ordering a few more tins of this for the holidays. Lovely stuff. :puffy:

Very interesting aromatic/Va blend, the two aspects interplay with each other very nicely, the christmas spices of nutmeg and a hint of cinnamon/clove play very well with the virginias in this blend, it overall a very nice smoke with a pleasant room note!