Cornell & Diehl has been hand blending boutique pipe tobaccos for more than 30 years and continues to innovate, continuously originating new methods and techniques, sourcing the finest tobaccos grown, and serving a dynamic pipe-smoking public world-wide. Our Small Batch mixtures highlight the finest components attainable by our Head Blender, Jeremy Reeves, who scours the world and maintains relationships with producers to guarantee exceptional quality. Our Cellar Series is specifically designed to capitalize on the properties of tobacco aging for delayed and enhanced gratification, and our everyday blends are commended by the same care and quality. We've even sourced our own proprietary Perique, working with the Roussel family of 31 Farms in St. James Parish, Louisiana, to ensure that it is traditionally grown and processed and genuine in historical accuracy.
We also produce all of the blends in the well-respected G.L. Pease, Castello, Captain Earle's, Briarworks, Warped, and Two Friends pipe tobacco lines, all blended by hand and lovingly prepared by our team of passionate enthusiasts.
Today, Cornell & Diehl is a thriving and vibrant entity in the tobacco industry enjoying tens of thousands of square feet in a modern facility with top-of-the-line equipment, all while maintaining a commitment to traditional methods, hand blending, and exceptional components.
Craig and Patty Tarler
In 1990, however, when the company was launched, things were decidedly different.
The company's name originated with its founders, Craig and Patty Tarler, who thought a tobacco company would be a fun retirement activity. They bought the old, almost-out-of-business Amar Blending Company and rechristened it with Craig's middle name and Patty's maiden name. They did not receive any buildings or equipment; they were able to load the entire tobacco company, such as it was, into the back of a rented van.
With humor, charisma, and a dedication to having fun and being part of a highly involved and interested pipe community, Craig and Patty continued expanding and watching their efforts become more and more popular.
C&D began producing the G.L. Pease line of tobaccos, as well as Two Friends, a series of collaborations between Gregory Pease and Cornell & Diehl. International demands for C&D products were rising, with accounts in China, Malaysia, Switzerland, Israel and Japan. The little part-time retirement hobby originally proposed had become an internationally recognized mainstream manufacturer.
Craig and Patty had been talking with Sykes Wilford over the years about the possibility of Laudisi Enterprises merging with C&D. The need for help in modernization had become apparent and the Tarlers were convinced that Laudisi could provide what C&D needed to advance to a new level. It is unfortunate that Craig did not live to see it come to fruition, passing away in 2012, but in 2014 Cornell & Diehl merged with Laudisi Enterprises. Some may wonder why C&D was interested in such a business deal, with all the growth they were experiencing; it was clear to everyone at the company that modern production and inventory controls needed to be established, and Laudisi was particularly experienced in those categories of expertise.
Laudisi staff converged on Morganton and disassembled the entire operation, rebuilding as they went. It was an impressive sight, with racks of computers and the bundles of cables running from room to room, various equipment being unpacked and set up, and an endless bustle of professionals performing unintelligible tasks. What was most noticeable, though, even beyond the incomprehensible deconstruction and rebuilding of the premises, was the enthusiasm of everyone involved. Everyone sensed that this was an important moment in the history of pipe tobacco.
A few months later, C&D moved its facilities to South Carolina, where it was housed in Laudisi's large new corporate headquarters. Production continued to increase, though, and It turned out that even that was too small, so we moved again to our own building two miles away. Production was streamlined and made more efficient. Inventory control measures were structured for ease of location and utility. Virtually every process was examined for efficiency in the new, larger scale that we had attained. C&D has doubled its staff since moving to South Carolina, as well as increased production to keep up with demand. In the first year of the merger, production was about 19,000 pounds of finished tobacco. 2015 finished over 27,000 pounds, with 32,000 pounds in 2016, 44,000 in 2017, and 56,000 pounds in 2018. In 2023, C&D produced over 120,000 pounds of hand-blended tobacco.
That is not an impressive amount when compared to, for example, the cigarette industry, but it certainly signals increased popularity of C&D's pipe tobaccos. Several other brands are now manufactured by C&D, including Briarworks, G.L. Pease, Captain Earle's, Two Friends, Drucquer & Sons, Low Country, Warped, Kramer's, and the Maverick brand in Russia.
Jeremy Reeves has gone to great lengths to source blending components for consistency and excellence, always looking for increased quality in any component that would benefit a blend. He's also been pursuing a knowledge of USDA labeling codes, which make it easier to decode the maturity, quality, presence of green leaf and the proportion thereof, and overall monetary value when assessing and purchasing tobaccos. These codes were developed to help tobacco growers make sure they were being paid the correct sums, as well as helping the USDA for insurance claims. Jeremy has taken three courses so far, one on the codes for Flue-Cured (156 different grades), one for Dark-Fired (57 different grades), and one on Air-Cured tobaccos, with continuous future education pending.
Jeremy Reeves at 31 Farms
C&D moved locations again in 2023 and it is quite possibly the company's final relocation. The new facility is in Loris, South Carolina, and houses everything C&D needs. C&D was the first part of Laudisi Enterprises to make the move to the new, comprehensive corporate property, which is being modified to house all South Carolina-based Laudisi employees and operations, except Low Country Pipe & Cigar, the company's brick-and-mortar retail shop in Little River.
Cornell & Diehl now looks to a future with bright prospects. It is better able to maintain inventory and has been able to expand at every necessary juncture. We have developed and deployed new processes, like the double-steaming process used for SteamWorks, released in 2023, as well as new automation and better equipment, while the staff remains dedicated to meticulous, hands-on manufacture.
Boutique pipe tobacco for the discerning smoker will always be in demand. C&D is about the only remaining boutique pipe tobacco company, taking that position and covenant seriously. Pipe smokers around the world depend on C&D. It's a great responsibility taken personally by the company's stewards, and as Cornell & Diehl moves forward, committed to the manufacture of the finest hand-blended smoking mixtures available, we gratefully acknowledge the impressive work of the people who built it from scratch and the smokers worldwide who rely upon C&D for the solace and comfort found in any great smoke.
