C&D - Time For Some Focus?

[aristokles]

85% of my tobacco "cellar" is comprised of C&D bulk English, VaPers, and burley blends. The remaining 15% is in tinned product from other houses. None are aromatics. I am an unabashed fan of C&D products. To my somewhat embarrassment I was an earlier hand-wringer about the merger and must admit that most of my worries have not materialized, yet.
I did note that one blend I keep (because both I AND my wife like it, for me to smoke, her to smell) is Pirate Kake. I was dismayed at seeing it no longer a bulk but only a 2oz or larger tin at smokingpipes.com. This resulted in a huge price increase to me, a most frugal smoker. Realizing this,the next I day drove to my B&M and stocked up at his high (but not $48-$72 per pound equivalent now offered) price. Such is life. The apparent loss of the "pressed option" on bulks was noted as well. Beyond that the product and pricing seem still a superior value that no other blender can touch, in bulks.
The C&D website needed reworking. I am sure Chris would readily admit that. IT guys they are not. Tobacco men they are. However I am confused at the work-in-process new C&D site. At first glance it seemed more directed at their trade business to retailers rather than to us, the consumer. Silly me.
I now appreciate having smokingpipes.com offering the complete C&D line up of what they make and directly market brand-wise. Before all my favorites were just not stocked at sp.com and to get a complete order I was pretty much forced to order direct or split my order among two or more other online sources.
Quite obviously we are seeing the evolution of a company from "boutique" status to something else, better we hope.
I spent many hours over the years seated in front of my TV with my laptop sitting on my lap (imagine that!) reviewing C&D's website for possible purchases among the then offered 250+ blends. Invariably I would end up with a huge list and eventually just order my standard favorites. The product line needed reworking, I think.
But if they mess with my Engine 99 I will sell my pipes and go back to cigars.

 

[macattack]

Cornell and Diehl's menu can be a little daunting. I ain't scared though.
Exhausted Rooster, Sunday Picnic, Briar Fox, Pennington Gap and Lunchtime Blues are a few of their blends that I really like.
I always liked the artwork on their tins. I would hate to see that go. I don't like the idea of generic labels to follow some "This is our _____________ line" look. I can read a description and make a decision to try it or not. Hell, I may even buy a tin of something I may not like because of the label art. Now I sound like a comic book collector....wait....I am.
I don't own the place so I have zero input on that situation.
Anyway, I hope the merger goes as planned. I like me some Cornell and Diehl tobaccos and look forward to trying their/your new stuff.

 

[jon11]

C&D are heavily represented in my cellar...Opening Night, Sunday Picnic, Exhausted Rooster, Red Carpet, and Bayou Morning Flake are my favorites. All excellent blends that have aging potential out of this world! Also smoked a tin of Five o clock shadow recently and is very different from Triple Play, and is one that I will definitely load up on!

 

[swilford]

Thanks for the nice comments, Aristokles.
But:

However I am confused at the work-in-process new C&D site. At first glance it seemed more directed at their trade business to retailers rather than to us, the consumer. Silly me.

Really? Um, in that case we did something wrong because it's really intended as consumer focused (albeit without a sales component). What do you think we should be doing differently with it? Obviously we need to work on it in that case.
When we were figuring out Cornell & Diehl's website, we thought of it as consumer focused and thought of LDG's website as trade focused.
Sykes

 

[grouchydog]

Wow, I think the site is great, especially for a WIP - the blend-filter function is spectacular. As a newb, I've not tried any C&D blends precisely because of the "drinking from a firehose" number of different blends. I've picked up a few Pease blends to try, but that was based on GLP's site descriptions, not C&D's.
On the new C&D site, I found within literally 5 minutes probably a half-dozen C&D blends that I just may pick up.

 

[leonardw]

We're not suits sitting in New York or Atlanta looking at income statements.

For the record, I rarely sit.

 

[matchstickman]

I have always been a fan of C&Ds burley offerings for some time because they're a nice, easy burning smoke with a nice hefty punch, and I love a good nic hit. I've dabbled in their English blends and a lot of them are really nice if you know what you're looking for, Billy Budd and Pirate Kake being some of my favorites. Their VAs and Vapers are really kind of hit and miss for me, the red VA heavy varieties being the ones that are least to my liking, but that being said, their catalog being as diverse as it is, it's really hard for someone to at least find 2 or 3 blends to their liking. *shrug* Just my .02

 

[bubblehead33]

I don't have anything constructive to add to this fine post but I have to lol @ Leonards's post

 

[aristokles]

However I am confused at the work-in-process new C&D site. At first glance it seemed more directed at their trade business to retailers rather than to us, the consumer. Silly me.
Really? Um, in that case we did something wrong because it's really intended as consumer focused (albeit without a sales component). What do you think we should be doing differently with it? Obviously we need to work on it in that case.
When we were figuring out Cornell & Diehl's website, we thought of it as consumer focused and thought of LDG's website as trade focused.
Sykes

Sure. I will gladly reply in separate email directly to you with a few observations.

 

[mso489]

When a number of Cornell & Diehl blends are dropped from their list, some of us will go into loud

lamentations, even for blends we never mentioned before, but that's human nature. As the old

song says, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

 

[captainbob]

tennsmoker,
I must admit that I was taken by surprise when Craig Tarler asked me if I would try the already established Epiphany (after Captain Bob's Blend was released to the public). I did. He said it was "right up my alley". He was right. Epiphany was a light English aromatic, as well. The "sauce" was tweaked for my blend the way I wanted it. While not by any means identical, it was similar from the standpoint that if you like the popular Epiphany Blend, you might like Capt. Bob's Blend. The point is that Craig had a tremendous talent to identify what the particular pipe smoker wanted in a blend. I will forever be grateful for Craig's assistance to help me create the blend I always wanted and could never find. He and I did it and it took two and a half years to refine it. If I never create another blend (and I probably won't) I can state that I am so grateful for my friendship with Craig, Chris, Patty and Bob Hayes (son-in-law) married to daughter Pam. This has been a major achievement in my lifetime to realize a dream after 40 years of studying tobacco and blending. Craig made it happen for me and I am forever grateful for the relationship. I am very happy for the merger!

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