OK, maybe not as bad as I originally thought. My first bowl of this overly topped, heavily scented maple confection of a pipe tobacco left me wondering why the hell I had ever bought an ounce of it. Made by Cornell & Diehl, I’d read glowing reviews of this stuff for a couple of years and decided to see what the hubbub was all about.
The pouch note can only be described as overpowering, artificial maple syrup. Like falling into a vat of Log Cabin or something, and accidentally inhaling half a gallon of it. I’m mystified as to why you’d call this “Autumn Evening” and not something like “Pancake Breakfast”. This stuff is comically over-the-top maple scented.
My first bowl was nothing short of terrible. Ashy, no maple note. I gave up and wrote off the jar until for some reason I decided to give it another try tonight. I let a couple pinches dry for a bit, but had to move the tin lid I use for drying away from me; the aroma was overpowering. I’m not exaggerating here. I almost tossed it, but decided that since it wasn’t overly moist I’d load it up and try it again. I filled the bowl of an estate Everyman billiard pipe and lit it up. This time around I decided to try a much slower pace and see if a lower temperature helps. Well, unsurprisingly it does.
Still no real in-your-face maple flavor, which is good. I can’t speak to the room note; I was alone in the garage at the time. It produced thick, luxurious clouds of smoke, so I suspect there’s some PG or glycerin there, but it wasn’t enough to produce any goop in the pipe, so that’s nice. And maybe it was just high sugar content from the topping, I don’t know.
Keeping the pace slow and the temperature lower helped a lot. It was not an unpleasant smoke, not outstanding but nice enough. I’m accustomed to English and VA/Pers and it’s been a while since I smoked an aromatic blend, but it wasn’t bad. The burn rate was pretty brisk, needing fairly frequent tamping and a couple of relights. At one point it started to taste a little ashy, and I was a bit surprised to find that was because I’d hit the bottom of the bowl. Just for fun, I let it sit for a while, then re-lit the dottle and took a few slow puffs. There was a slight sizzle, nothing harsh, and no notable moisture left in the bottom of the bowl. Honestly, for an aromatic I’m impressed that it’s not too moist or goopy. I’ve heard that about C&D.
So, I take back most of what I said about this stuff the first time around, at least about the smoking of it. It’s still overwhelmingly, cloyingly maple scented before lighting. Once lit, it smokes fine if you don’t overheat it. So, will I buy more? Probably not. Will I finish what I have? Eventually, probably, sure. I’ve got several aromatics left… some 1-Q, Ennerdale, Bob’s Chocolate Flake, maybe something else I can’t remember. I figure at my present rate of consumption of aromatics that will last me a few years. I don’t hate aromatics, but I have to be in the right mood for them, or I’ll smoke them around people who might not enjoy the smoke from a heavy dose of Latakia or Perique. The person who doesn’t love the smell of a bowl of 1-Q is a rare person indeed. Probably true for this stuff too. I’ll try it at our next evening around a fire pit or something.