Cornell & Diehl Old Grove
(2.67)
Sitting between City Park Avenue and Bayou Metairie lies the Old Grove, home to ancient, moss covered oaks and many more of New Orleans' oldest trees. Worthy of any cellar, this Cellar Series blend, a complex, ribbon-cut mixture, combines bright and red Virginias, dark burley, Katerini Turkish, black cavendish, and granulated perique together with a subtle pomegranate topping to create a blend that will age as gracefully as the old grove itself.
Details
| Brand | Cornell & Diehl |
| Series | Cellar Series |
| Blended By | Cornell & Diehl |
| Manufactured By | Cornell & Diehl |
| Blend Type | Aromatic |
| Contents | Black Cavendish, Burley, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia |
| Flavoring | Pomegranate |
| Cut | Ribbon |
| Packaging | 2 ounce tin |
| Country | United States |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Mild
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Medium to Strong
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 2017 | Mild | Mild | Mild | Tolerable |
I seem to be on a run of buying tobacco collections where the seller has included three or four recently opened tins, which is okay with me as I get to try them right away. The most recent had four open tins and this blend, C&D Old Grove, was one of them and the first that I tried. I was impressed with the ingredients list but somewhat confused by the pomegranate topping, as I had never seen or heard of it's use in tobacco blending. The blend made a nice visual presentation in the tin and the fruity topping was relatively strong. That was the end of anything that could be labeled as strong about this blend. The smoking aroma and taste were disappointingly tepid and very middle of the road all the way down the bowl. My conclusion: Old Grove is a weak pipe blend and it's weakness limits how much one can enjoy it. C&D are famous for their stiff back-boned blends and this one joins at least two others with the same weakish and top of the bell shaped curve strengths: Rocking Chair and Crooked Lane. As to the discussion on the label predicting a positive outcome for ten to fifteen years of cellaring, my tin of Rocking Chair was twelve years old when I opened and reviewed it and it wasn't any better or stronger than newer tins that had been reviewed already. In fact, it has been my experience that aging of pipe blends yields a softer smoke than when they are younger. Next I tried to use Old Grove in blending but that didn't produce anything better. All in all, a blend with some possibilities but rather limited scope and I give it a limited recommendation with two stars.
Pipe Used:
Michael Parks billiard (2006 NASPC pipe)
PurchasedFrom:
another pipe smoker
Age When Smoked:
current
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 15, 2015 | Mild | Strong | Medium | Pleasant |
Old Grove is an aromatic in Cornell and Diehl’s new cellar series and for some, this may be the best blend in the series fresh from the tin. For me however, it was a hard blend to dissect due to the heavy topping that has been applied to the blend. Popping the lid off of a sealed tin dated 4/15, I am greeted with a wonderfully fruity, red wine like aroma. It is obvious while looking at the tobacco that it is of high quality, although I did find one small twiggy or woody bit mixed in with the tobacco in the tin. The tin note is rather enticing, with the aromas of fruit, said to be pomegranate, being the major player. As for the Virginia, there is a very faint or subtle sweetness that can be smelled in the tin, but the aroma is hard to detect over the fruit topping. As for the other tobaccos, they are lost as well, and I have yet to be able to identify them in the tin note. The moisture level of this particular tin is spot on perfect and there was no drying time needed before being able to smoke, however I have gotten some tins that needed to be set aside for quite some time due to being overly moist. I suspect that the moisture level is intentional as the cellar series of tobaccos are intended to be aged and be at their best in ten to fifteen years. Due to the cut of the tobacco and the moisture level of this particular tin, it is easy to pack and readily takes a flame. Upon lighting, the first flavors that I notice come from the Virginia and they are slightly grassy almost tea like, but they are quickly overtaken by the sweet fruitlike topping that has been applied to the tobacco. The topping is rather heavy in this particular tin and it makes it very difficult to detect the natural flavors of the tobaccos. As for burn characteristics, I did not have to tend this blend at all, and when finished, the tobacco burned down to a fine white powdery ash which made cleaning the pipe rather simple, only requiring that I run a pipe cleaner through the stem and around the inside of the bowl to remove any remaining moisture. As for the room note, those around me made mention that the tobacco smelled very sweet, so I take that to be pleasant to tolerable. Overall, I have had a hard time dissecting this blend, but I expect that there are some that would really enjoy this blend due to the sweetness and fruity flavor. I can only imagine what it will continue to become with ten years or more of age. With this in mind, I purchased a few more tins so that I could smoke a tin now, and cellar several, comparing my notes later on down the road. I would recommend this blend to anyone who enjoys a very sweet aromatic.
Pipe Used:
Italian Briar
PurchasedFrom:
PipesandCigars.com
Age When Smoked:
fresh from tin
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Oct 21, 2017 | Mild | Medium | Medium | Pleasant |
Picked this up on a lark just to give it a whirl since this mixture is not the usual aromatic concoction. The tin note and taste are not overpowering, which is a good thing. The mixer of this had a restrained hand on the flavoring of this fine blend. It works quite well with the very different tobaccos used here. The only down side to this is there could be a bit more nicotine in this one. But one can't have everything. All in all, not a bad addition to the C&D collection. Recommended.
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