Cornell & Diehl Golden Days of Yore

Well, looks like I get to crack the seal on this one. The tin note on first opening was not overpowering. Kind of put me in mind of Epiphany. Thick ribbions and chunky would describe the cut to me. Not overly moist, good condition to smoke. Tobacco appears to be of good quality, packed and lit well. Burnt well with few relights. Upon smoking the first bowl I should say I was not overwhelmed. The blend was not bad or good just run of the mill. Decided to let this one set for a week before trying again. A week did make a great difference. The tin note did seem stronger and put me in mind of egg nog with rum, to me that is a good think. Loaded up an old Grabow and fired it up. The quality of the tobacco came through this time. Again it burned well, not too strong but had a bit of nic through the last half of the bowl. Good solid Aro for my part. Have smoked numerous bowls with good satisfaction. I will most definitely jar some of this to age a bit. This blend like Yule fruitcake and egg nog will either hit you with love it or hate it. Advice is not to evaluate it too quickly.

Surprisingly complex and enjoyable. The flavors are all over the place and are pretty punchy and distinct. Every puff, I get something completely different than the last. One puff I'll get something sweet like cherries jubilee and the next I might get a satisfying blast of something smokey and woodsy. A roller coaster for your nose. A slight harshness keeps this from being a perfect smoke, and I found myself having to take a break every now and then because of it, but this is still highly enjoyable and festive that I hope comes around next year!

I'm surprised this one got so many 1 star reviews. This is a man's man aromatic blend, lightly topped with plenty of tobacco flavor, no goop and perfect moisture level to smoke straight out of the tin. I really enjoyed this stuff and I think Jeremy Reeves is really proving himself to be a fine blender. Nicotine is medium which is nice to see in an American aromatic as most are usually nearly void of any nicotine. Great Christmas blend through and through. If you were hoping for a 1Q style blend repackaged as a Christmas blend then I could see how this would be disappointing, otherwise I thought this was a truly unique and tasty blend

Wow! I thought this one was no longer in production, it's good to see that it's available again!

Well, i usually don't care for aromatics but i was looking for a Christmas mixture and watched the C&D's Youtube video so I decided to give it a try. When i opened the tin the tin note was very light. Thanks to dixcreek's review i poured the tin content into a jar and left the jar in my shelf for two weeks. When i opened the jar the tin note was stronger. I could smell the rum and hints of other sauce components.

The tobacco smells delicious and natural. It burns well and don't overheat easily. I experienced no tongue bite. You can taste sweet-sour taste of Turkish tobacco and tangy Virginias. The burley gives body to the mixture and aromatic casing doesn't overwhelm the tobacco taste, just complements.

I finished the 2oz tin and hoarded an 8 oz one. I am wondering if aging will improve this already delicious aromatic.

Egg nog, the tin note on opening definitely gives me the impression of Egg nog. By the way Egg nog is one of my favorite things. I got this as a gift in December 2016 and enjoyed several bowls. I then jarred and have smoked it occasionally since then. The note in the jar is even more pronounced after 15 months of aging. There's nutmeg, vanilla, whiskey, cocoa. It's quite the melange and they do all come to the fore on the smoke. And everything works well together, in addition to the topping, there are moments when the tobacco flavor comes to the front. The room note definitely has a holiday feel to it.

The tin note for this blend is full of holiday nostalgia, cinnamon and nutmeg and vanilla give you connotations of cookies and eggnog. The flavor on light and through the bowl is mostly sweetness from the virginias and creaminess from the turkish coindimental leaf.

I think a sipping on this blend slowly will yield the most flavor and limit its capacity to bite.

I think this is a fantastic blend for those that want a quality aromatic.

2020 Edition

I was surprised by this one as it has a lot of tobacco flavor with the toppings playing on top. The flavoring seems to die in the 2nd half of the bowl and the orientals then take the lead.

The moisture level in the tin is perfect to light it up on arrival. Packing and lighting is easy with the ribbon cut. Tin note is stronger than the flavor comes across.

I'm enjoying the tin and will pick up a few more for the holidays to alternate with my favorite Corn Cob Pipe.

The key part of the name is "days of yore". It comes across as a very old-fashioned tobacco, very sparse on the aromatics.

The flavors I detect distinctly are a bready taste, with a hint of golden plums for sweetness, and a bit of baking spices to fill it out. From the description I was expecting a more aromatic tobacco with the spices taking a lead role, but that is not the case. On the retrohale, all the above flavors are a bit stronger. The texture of the smoke is a bit thin. I suspect that a bit of age might greatly enhance this tobacco.

I consider this to be a nice all-day tobacco for during the winter holidays, where in the evening you might perhaps switch to something richer in flavor.

The room note if very pleasant, mellow and sweet. Like someone is baking some nice baked goods for the holidays. To get the full sweetness, I find that sipping it slowly works well; if smoked fast, it can start tasting a bit ashy and unpleasant.

If you're normally smoking natural tobacco blends and want a little bit of aromatic for the holidays, this might be just right for you. If you want full-bodied, full-flavored sweetness, this might not be your cup of tea.

2020 batch review:

The first real snow of the season is on the ground and Christmas lights are going up around the block. I’m evaluating this blend with the season in mind, which matters for a novelty blend such as this one. It’s mildly aromatic and pleasant. It’s not a wet sticky glop of humectants and chemical flavoring.The base tobaccos are more robust than in the archetypical glop fest aromatic. It tastes like rich, spicy , woody, natural tobacco with a bit of added sweetness and subtle Christmas spice. The cocoa notes are most obvious to me, followed by the nutmeg/clove/cinnamon. Very subtle and unobtrusive. It’s a quality ,rich, lightly aromatic holiday blend and it does it’s job well. It’s a role player tobacco for a small part of the winter season and it plays it’s brief role well. I’ll burn through this tin over the next few weeks and enjoy it as another part of the holiday festivities. If you like full aromatics with less overt tobacco taste, try a sample from a friend before buying a sleigh full, as this one might not be aromatic enough for your tastes. Recommended for those who don’t enjoy typical full aromatics but want to dip their toes into novelty seasonal flavors without sacrificing real tobacco flavor. I can’t really evaluate room note as I smoke outside, but the scent on my jacket is somewhere between a less well accepted natural tobacco and “ generic pipe tobacco smell “ ( which I enjoy, it’s a beloved classic for a reason). Give it a test run before lightning up indoors at a crowded holiday party of non-smokers.