Cornell & Diehl The Beast 2023

This production uses St. James perique from 31 Farms. It comprises over half the blend as it provides a wealth of mildly sweet plums, spice, floralness, earth, wood, and a few raisins. The red Virginia cavendish offers a fair amount of tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, mild sugar, vegetation, tart citrus, floralness, and a couple blades of grass. It secures a secondary support role. The dark fired Kentucky produces a little earth, wood, vegetation, nuts, herbs, floralness, sourness, and light barbecue as a condiment. The bready, unsweetened black cavendish is mainly a flavor holder. The effect of the spicy dark rum is a couple of notches over the medium mark though it slightly weakens toward the finish. The strength and nic-hit are strong. The taste is very full. No chance of bite or harshness. Has a few rough edges. I saw no need to dry it as it isn’t overly moist. Burns cool, clean, and slightly slow with a mostly consistent plummy, dark fruity, spicy, rum, floral, slight barbecue, very piquant flavor that extends to the pleasantly lingering after taste. The room note is a bit pungent. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a couple more than an average number of relights. It’s lightly less potent and sweet than earlier offerings, and is more plummy, and a tad spicier. Designed to provide punch and depth, it’s not an all day smoke. I recommend a slow puffing cadence. Three and a half stars rounded up to four.

-JimInks

Tin note of mild sweet rum and pungent sour stank. Tobacco is a Ribbon and rough cut of dark brown, black and brown. Moisture content is good, few pipe smokers will want to dry it a bit. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is strong and nic is medium to strong. Flavoring is medium, with notes of spiced dark rum. Starts out strong on initial light, but fates to the background in the first 1/4 and I could no longer detect it by the end. Taste is full and moderately consistent, with notes of semi-sweet toast, spiced rum, musty herbal vegetation, moderately spicy, very woody, rich earth, fermented hay, semi-sweet plums, floral, dark dried fruit, mild sugar, mild lemon grass, a slightly bitter semi-sweet citrus peel background note, and a very peppery retro. Perique is leading with Cavendish, Virginia, Kentucky and Flavoring supporting. Room note is strong, and aftertaste is great.