Cornell & Diehl Awakened Elder

The very smoky, woody, musty sweet Cyprian latakia is the lead component. The woody, earthy, floral and incense-like, lightly spicy and clove-like, mildly sweet cigar filler Indonesian Kasturi is a strong supporting player. The nutty, earthy, woody burley and the citrusy, grassy, lightly dark fruity, earthy Virginias are condiments in their effect. The burley is a little more obvious than the Virginias. The plumy, raisiny, spicy perique and the sugary black cavendish are in the background for the most part. The strength is medium, while the taste is a step past that level. The nic-hit is a little closer to medium than it is to mild. Won’t bite, but the spice content may tingle the tongue of a fast puffer. It does have a couple rough edges. A fairly well balanced blend with nuance, it burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a rather consistent, deep, rich, sweet and savory campfire flavor that sticks with you in the after taste for a bit. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Not an all day smoke, but it’s certainly repeatable during your smoking day. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

Huge fan of H.P. Lovecraft's mythological horror works. So, browsing new tobacco on the Cornell & Diehl website, I was thrilled to see a few blends with cryptic names familiar to all Lovecraft fans. I didn't even look at contents or descriptions, I just ordered what I could find. And this is the first one tried.

The tin art is simple and suggestive - matte black with algae green lettering, complete with tentacles and a brief reference to the reawakening of the Elders. Popping the lid, you're met with dominant smoky, leathery latakia, some sour notes of orientals, and a peaty sweetness of perique and VA. Cut is a mid-length shag and is of typical makeup. I've not had experience with Katsuri before, but I'm assuming it's the yellowish white pieces seen in the mixture.

Just a tad damp, I air dry for about 15 minutes to get it perfect packing ready. On lighting, I'm surprised at first to find the latakia does not take center stage, but shares the lead in a mid-range fashion. I get plenty of its fermented smokiness, but I equally get an interesting tartness from the Katsuri leaf...interesting because it's not as bright or high-end as most orientals I'm familiar with. The burley is discernible with some nuttiness backing up the tart, but I can't seem to place the VA or black cavendish. I can tell the cav is smoothing the smoke down, but it's tastefully done.

I'm happy to have tried this blend, but I want to see what age will do to it. There's nothing to it that really rocked my world, but it's a solid 3 stars for now. C&D always puts out quality tobacco and this one is no exception. I'm excited to see what the other Lovecraftian blends will bring to the table.

I'm a very big fan of this tobacco. it's got a full, smoky, earthy flavor to it. I found it to be very spicy as well. The nic hit was there without being overly powerful, which I like a lot. I have a pretty amateur palate, and still had a ton of flavor come through. Even the aftertaste when I finished the bowl was pleasant. It may sound kind of strange, but that aftertaste sort of reminds of saltwater.

A great tobacco

The tin note has a lot of leather, heather and a bit of barnyard funk.

Like many English blends, it feels a bit dry, but smokes just fine. The Kasturi is one of the key elements of the blend. It works together with the Cyprian Latakia, oriental and perique to bring a spicy, smoky, incense-like taste. It reminds me of pine resin, and there are floral notes of heather

The burley is only noticeable where it brings a bit of a woody, earthy note, which works really well with the rest, the same goes for the Virginia which adds a bit of extra sweetness as the bowl progresses.

I find this a very relaxing tobacco. The tobacco is strong enough to give me just enough of a buzz to take some of my stress away.

It burns to a fine powdery ash, and requires an average number of relights. The smoke has a nice, rich texture.

If you are an English fan like me, this is one to keep in stock. The Lat/Ori is not overpowering but is well balanced, still strong though. The Cavendish is an excellent back note with limited aromatic quality and the burley provides enough balance to keep the bowl going.

While not as powerful as say Squadron Leader right out, it is very pungent on the nose but pleasant. I find that the slight aromatic nature and the addition of the Katerini make it quite enjoyable. I would recommend a longer stemmed pipe (l like it in my warden) to allow the smoke to cool. It has a powerful taste that sticks with you, has you wanting a second bowl, and begs to be paired with a strong bourbon or Isle scotch. A wonderful smoke to relax and read with or to simply sit and clear your head.

Hmmm... Not my favorite of the Old Ones. When the series released, this was the first to catch my eye, but I kept talking myself out of trying it. "Just one more tin of Mad Fiddler instead..." I wish I had stayed in the Mad Fiddler rut. There isn't anything necessarily bad about this blend (besides the room note, more of which anon), but there really isn't much to distinguish it from the glut of medium English blends on the market. Even the unusual Kasturi leaf contributes little; perhaps a bit more spice and body than your run-of-the-mill Lat blend, but it also adds an oddly vegetal/sulfurous undertone that clashes with the other components. Despite the Virginias and Cavendish, I can't find an iota of sweetness. Latakia leads the charge, shifting to more cigar-ish notes at the halfway point. Smokes a bit hot but dry, and the level of spice can be a touch numbing. Room note will likely provoke a call to the HazMat team (for toxic exposure). On that merit, it has a place for when I am in public and want others to keep a wide berth. Considering that is more the rule than the exception, I might reorder, or just save what I have to use as Human Repellent.

I’m surprised there’s hardly any reviews for this. I must admit the Old Ones series feels a little gimmicky to me. Just a whole lot of kitchen sink blends. But this one. Really good stuff. It surprised me and it’s a fun tobacco. Lemme explain …

This blend is like a Mullet. Or a centaur. Business in front, party in back. (Even though they don’t say that about centaurs, they should.) Anyway.

I say that about this blend because upon first light, it’s an English. Full bodied, heavy Latakia. Cream from the Black Cavendish and spice from the Indonesian leaf. Red Virginia brown sugary-ness. But then towards the tail end of the finish you get a hint of classic C&D burley. Nutty, toasty, caramel-y goodness, but then after THAT on the retrohale…Oh man. On the retrohale this stuff tastes like a VaPer. Leathery, tannic, earthy Perique and the oriental makes a second appearance as well in the form of chili pepper kick. If you’ve ever wondered what “rough edges” taste like in a blend, this has it. Not to an intolerable degree but the roughness is there. Very fun blend. It’s practically like two blends in one with how much this blend changes on the palate throughout the smoke.

Like a Mullet or even a Centaur: Weird. But in the right setting, good.

I really enjoyed this blend and will definitely buy it again. It's got a great tobacco flavor the smokey Latakia and I'm guessing that the katsuri is the tobacco that has the nice slightly salty flavor. It's got some burley of which I'm not a big fan but the black Cavendish counters it's flavor perfectly. It smokes cool and has no bite. It reminds of the old nightcap. This one is going into the rotation.

I like to consider this blend to be the "Moxie" of pipe tobacco. It has almost a certain dish soap floral flavor to the standard English style blend. You either love or hate it.

An interesting blend that is unique in its own right, but may not appeal to everybody.

Upon opening the tin, you’re greeted with a musty, earthy, tangy, slightly smoky, and spicy aroma. There’s a lot going on with the aroma. It smells like an English with something a bit more, which is essentially what this blend is.

While lighting it, you get a strong spice, earth, smokiness, and a slightly nutty flavor. There’s sweetness every once in awhile, and the perique flavor shows up in the finish. Getting it lit was a bit of a challenge, despite it being relatively dry. At different points in the bowl, it tastes like multiple different blends. Sometimes it’ll taste like an English/Balkan, sometimes it’ll taste like a spicy burley blend akin to Haunted Bookshop, sometimes it’ll taste like a cigar, sometimes it tastes like all of those things combined. It’s definitely an interesting blend, though I’m not sure if it’s something that keeps my attention due to the ADD-like behavior it exhibits. I can’t explore the flavors thoroughly because they change so often. For some people, blends that vary a lot throughout the bowl are appealing. I’m more of a consistency type of smoker. I like a blend that has a consistent flavor throughout the bowl that also has a lot of nuance and gives me time to explore those nuances. Throughout the bowl there is some roughness, but nothing too bad. Nicotine wise, it’s on the medium to strong side. I think the Kasturi adds to that factor.

Overall, this isn’t a bad blend by any means. It contains very good, quality, flavorful tobaccos. However, it’s just not my type of blend. Still, if somebody gave me this to smoke, I wouldn’t complain. I’ll give it 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 due to the fact that it may very well appeal to some people and the fact that I’m a sucker for anything Lovecraftian.