Cornell & Diehl – Autumn Evening

“Our proprietary Red Virginia Cavendish is lightly cased with a delicate maple flavor resulting in our best selling aromatic blend. The smoker will appreciate the taste of Virginias while those around will flock to the warm, inviting fragrance” – Cornell & Diehl

In a recent article I wrote for TobaccoPipes.com,  I had a sit down interview with Jeremy Reeves, head blender at Cornell & Diehl.  We talked about many different things, but began discussing what beginner pipe smokers should fill their bowl with first.  WIth no hesitation, Jeremy said Autumn Evening.  The strong flavor combined with the cool smoking quality of Autumn Evening is exactly what every beginner smoker needs in order to introduce them to the world of pipe smoking (Cornell & Diehl Cellar Series).

To this date I have been searching for my favorite aromatic smoke.  I have experimented with the big label blends that seem to be everyones favorite, and I have just been disappointed.  I had a hard time finding a burley or black cavendish blend that just really satisfied my craving for a full flavor that didn’t taste of syrup.  I had heard of Autumn Evening, but had never tried it out.  It wasn’t until a close friend of mine bought me a bag that I realized what I had been missing.  It wasn’t until both my close friend and Jeremy had told me to try it that I did.

As soon as I tried it, I understood what all the rave was about.

To be honest I feel as though there are 100 ways to eloquently describe this blend, but I don’t believe any one could give this tobacco the introduction it deserves.  So I plan an giving you some basic information about it, some of the reasons why I loved it, and just allow you to write your own story as to why this tobacco is so special.

First Impression

Upon opening the bag (I ordered in bulk, not a tin), there is the richest and smoothest aroma of maple syrup that one could ever hope for.  The aroma was so sensual that I reckon is could make a Canadian syrup farmer quiver.

Autumn Evening is made up of only one type of tobacco: a red virginia cavendish.  In my opinion, this is the perfect route to go when trying to create the perfect aromatic.  The red virginia aspect is going to allow this blend to age very well and have a flavor depth that is much more intricate than most aromatics.  Meanwhile the cavendish aspect gives the blend permission to have a sweeter context.

One thing thaI I truly love about this blend is the low moisture content.  Most aromatics seem to be dripping with oil and casing.  These other blends tend to smoke hot and leave a bad case of tongue bite.  Autumn Evening was approaching the “crunchy” stage, which told me that this was going to smoke very well.

One of my few complaints about this tobacco was that I seem to find either a lot of stems, or a lot of long cut, thick pieces of tobacco that felt like stems because they are so dry.  While I have smoked tobacco with much worse consistency, I always had to remove those pieces and it was slightly annoying.

Smoke

My smoking experience with Autumn Evening was one of the best I could have hoped for!

Immediately when I began to draw and taste the first few hits of the tobacco, my palate was overloaded with a strong flavor of Red Virginia tobacco.  The maple syrup flavor was there as well, but surprisingly was not as strong as the tin note suggested.

While this may seem like a bad thing, I thought the balance and simplicity of the flavors were perfect.  Too much top note flavor would have caused this blend to no longer taste like the perfect Virginia tobacco it is made of.  Instead the maple syrup acted as a compliment and side-kick to the tobacco, pairing perfectly with the natural flavor of Red Virginia.

Something I noticed when smoking this blend is that it tends to leave a “tingly” effect in the back of your throat.  Some other people described this effect as being “scratchy”.  I am not sure whether this is a bad thing or not, but I should warn you, that if you have a history of having full flavored tobaccos hurting your throat, or causing you to get hiccups, then this blend may cause that.

Other than that, this blend smoked absolutely perfectly.  I didn’t have to relight but maybe once.  It smoked to the bottom of bowl without getting super hot, it has a very smooth and full ribbon of smoke, and the flavor profile is spot on and gives no bite.

Room Note

Now while this tobacco was perfect in flavor, the star aspect of Autumn Evening is definitely the room note.

The delicate aroma of this blend is without a doubt that of maple syrup covered pancakes.

I tend to smoke this blend in the car a lot.  The other day, I was driving through main street of Winston Salem during lunch.  The streets were crowded with people.  As I was at a stoplight, I rolled the windows down to let people smell the glorious smoke.  I saw multiple people that were about 10 feet downwind turn around and look for the source of that wonderful smell.  I did not hear what they said, but I was positive that they were loving it as much as I was.

Pairing

Instead of suggesting a food or drink to accompany this blend, I will give you a situation in which I think this blend is most enjoyed.

I think the BBQ setting is the perfect time and place to smoke Autumn Evening.  When friends and family arrive, light up a bowl of this full flavored bland, instead of a heavy english blend, and enjoy the attention the smell will give you.  I guarantee you that all people will be dying to know what exactly you are smoking.

Strength

Don’t be fooled by the fact that this is an aromatic tobacco.

Autumn Evening has a full flavored strength to it.

It is for this reason that I believe this is the perfect tobacco for so many people out there.  The old smoker who has a callused palate is sure to taste this tobacco in its entirety, and at the same time the new smoker who is just learning how to differentiate tastes is going to finally understand what it means to taste the flavor of pipe tobacco.

Overall Score

If I were to criticize this blend, I would say that it can be too much for some smokers to handle, it can leave your throat a little scratchy, and it has stems in the blend.

But in reality, while these problems seem severe when reading only this review, Autumn Evening is an incredible tobacco when compared with other blends.

I give Autumn Evening a score of 8 out of 10.

Honestly, this may have become my favorite tobacco.  I think after smoking through my pound bag, that it may be hard to smoke most other blends.  Autumn Evening truly is fantastic.  Pick up your tin of Autumn Evening from an online site such as TobaccoPipes.com.

I promise that once you smoke Autumn Evening, you will start to understand how beautiful this blend is and your passion of pipe smoking will become even more special.

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Pictures provided by Cornell & Diehl and Laudisi.