Cornell and Diehl Oak Alley Dated 2014

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Jul 15, 2011
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I originally bought three of these, the idea being that I would smoke one when it was fresh and I would let the others sit for a little while and see if it made any difference. Well, life kind of happened, and here I am, 6 years later, and I finally decided to crack one of these bad boys open. Had a great aroma when I cracked the can open, that typical raisiny, chocolatey smell that is indicative of a good virginia/burley blend. Comes in a nice "brownie", I don't know if you would classify this as a kake or a plug, but in any case, it breaks apart with very little effort. I just kind of broke it up with my fingertips and loaded it into a good size Bjarne basket pipe. As far as the flavor, if I had to sum this blend up in one word, it would be "inoffensive". There's nothing really wrong with it, but after reading the description on the side of the tin, there wasn't nearly as much complexity as I would have hoped. The flavor is that old Cornell and Diehl burley flavor, through and through, but the burley is really about all I taste. I think that the Virginias help to play a supporting role and knock off some of the harsh edges of the burley, but as far as the Turkish and the Perique, I feel like they get a little bit lost in the shuffle. The burley has those nice nutty, earthy, sort of barnyard notes, and the nicotine level is just perfect. This is by no means a bad thing, and the taste is very familiar and comforting, it's just a little flat, in my opinion. The blend takes a match effortlessly, only needing 1 or 2 relights to reach the bottom of the bowl. In the end, I don't know if this was just a case of my expectations being too high or my taste buds being a little off, but if you like Burley, this will certainly fit the bill. If you're looking for something with a huge amount of depth and complexity, you might want to look elsewhere.
 

renfield

Lifer
Oct 16, 2011
4,231
31,387
Kansas
Give it a week to breathe. It’ll probably open up and become more interesting. For whatever reason C&D’s blends seem to benefit from this more than others, even when “fresh”.
 
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