Cornell & Diehl From Beyond

Ribbon cut from a round tin. A large variety of colors. Mostly light colored leaves with some amber, chestnut, and black leaves mixed in. The aroma is smoky but not overbearing. It reminds me of GL Pease Spark Plug, or Presbyterian. It's less smoke, more pine or fragranced wood as opposed to Byzantium or White Knight, which in my opinion are smoke bombs. The tobacco is not sticky or goopy, it's actually drier than most C&D tins. To me it seemed ready to light straight from the tin with no drying. The latakia is gentle and bolsters the Oriental tobacco. It is tangy, creamy, with a noticeable pepper spice. This is like a more distinct Presbyterian with added perique. I saw that it was inspired by Night Cap, but I don't really see the comparison. The mouthfeel is similar but it is less smoky, and the flavors are not as mixed together. The tobaccos each shine through out the smoke. You can really catch bits of each component as you work your way through the bowl. The SmokingPipes listing shows Burley, but I don't think there is a lot and probably helps with body more than flavor. It needed a few relights, and once I actually lit it up, it was more moist than I originally suspected.

This is better than I expected. It's a fun blend, where everything has it's moments and nothing takes the lead. The #1 component is probably the Orientals. The latakia and perique balance each other and keep it earthy and spiced. This is not a latakia bomb, but you get some of the good qualities of the latakia, like the distinct creamy mouthfeel and almost milk like taste. If you didn't get a tin, you are not missing a true gem and there are plenty of other blends that match it. To get a similar experience you may just want to toss in a little perique to any light English and you'll be close.

The arcane imagery and words on the label not with standing; what we have here is a light/medium and Oriental-forward Balkan mixture. Spicy from a modest amount of Perique yet Latakia starved, it makes for an interesting smoke. Habitual English smokers will feel deprived when they smoke From Beyond, however, light English and Virginia/Oriental smokers might find this blend an interesting variant. I enjoyed smoking this blend for it's spicy and Oriental presentation; especially the top third of each bowl. The middles always toned down in every pipe regardless of chamber dimension or shape. The bottom thirds consistently came back to life, now, with no hint of the scarce Latakia and smoked surprisingly stout for a nominally light blend. I liked this blend but want a tad more Latakia in my smokes. This yields a recommendation at three stars.

Picked up a few tins at the Chicago pipe show several years ago and never smoked them. I cracked one of these new tins and need to compare it to the older ones.
Standard tin note for an English blend, nothing remarkable. This is one of the most unique tobacco's I have ever smoked. The first few puffs on the pipe are very spicy! I have never had a blend hit me with this much spice. Both tingly spice but also exotic spices: cloves, cardamom, sandalwood are front and center. The Turk/Orientals offer some dry and woody notes. The Perique is the star of the show and the retrohale will clear up your sinuses. The Latakia is a distant second fiddle with some sweetness and cream. The base of Virginias provide some earthy and bready notes to round this out. I find this a bit sour and sharp, but in a good way. I attribute this to the SJP and the Eastern tobaccos>
Not going to be a regular smoke but I will return to it when in the mood for something....from beyond.