Cornell & Diehl Warped: The Red Hunt

Getting to the bottom of the list for Warped blends is The Red Hunt. This is the only tin of the lineup that doesn't contain any cigar Leaf components, but it does boast one of my favorite Orientals: Basma. I fell in love with Basma by smoking Petersons Old Dublin. The tin gives me some Game of Thrones vibes, and is very interesting. Opening up, there is a broken flake that is mostly dark browns in color. The tin note smells of dried fruit, plums, hay, tangy Orientals, fermented sweetness almost rum like in character, and a slight breadiness. I think the flakes come at a perfect moisture level to stuff and light, but your mileage may vary.

When I light my pipe, I get some very interesting flavor combinations. The perique seems to be up front like it was for Kings Stride and it offers a lot of fruit, plums, and spice on the retrohale. The amount is definitely less than Kings Stride, but more than a typical VaPer. Next I taste the Orientals, they add herbs, tang, and incense. The Virginias are a mix, and I can taste citrusy and haylike bright Virginias, and the soft bread like Reds. I taste something slightly rummy in character and I'm not sure if that is a topping or just the interplay of leaves in this particular blend, but it is nice and slightly captivating.

The taste is a medium. I don't ever feel overwhelmed smoking this blend and it produces a fair amount of smoke. The strength is a medium. Even with the amount of Perique I think this is a regular affair for Lady N. The room note is typical of a VaPer and I fond it interesting. This blend tends to burn slow and cool. I could easily smoke this all day long.

The aroma that comes off when opening the tin is spectacular, similar to the one that comes out of a box of chocolates filled with cherry liqueur, with a touch of orange. Makes you want to eat it ... At first I am skeptical that the flavor can be similar to its aroma, since it is something that does not happen in many of the blends that I have tried with such outstanding aromas. The tobacco comes a bit wet but can be loaded directly from the tin without any problem.

When I light the pipe, I am pleasantly surprised that the initial cold aromas are reproduced exactly after smoking, especially in the first third. It seems that this mixture contains two types of oriental, Basma and Izmir, and yet I have the impression that they have been applied discreetly, just to give some aromatic and spicy nuances typical of these tobaccos. Towards the last third of the pipe an earthy, chocolatey flavor, similar to burley, lingers on, surprising me again, as this blend is not supposed to contain burley. And yet this would explain the presence of those marked chocolate notes.

Coincidentally, a couple of weeks later I opened a Redwood tin -Two Friends-, which has some similarities. The most notable is that aroma of chocolate when smelling it in its tin and that is also reproduced later in the flavor during the smoke. This tobacco that I mention does not have burley either. It is made up of Virginia, Perique, and Black Cavendish. So the only thing that could add that chocolate note would be a slight added topping. Either that, or I don't know anything about tobaccos, or both at the same time ...

Returning to The Red Hunt, I see it highly recommended to try it because I think it is difficult not to be surprised and that already seems important to me as an experience. Of course, in my case it is not a tobacco for every day, since it can get tired.

I give it three stars because it fills my mouth with too much flavor.

Too moist right from the tin; without some drying this leads to too many relights; with drying, no bite or condensation; didn't get much from the Perique compared to my normal VA/Pers