Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop

Hunted Bookshop is a wiiiner, that is if you like Burley, and I do! The Burley is the big player but you cant ignore the sweet virginia or the spicy plummy Perique. Excellent mixture for those damp cool fall days when I need to kick back with a strong cup of teaand a pipe. While it is not Old Joe there is still plenty of strength to slap you around. Not an all day smoke for me but certainly an everyday smoke.

Haunted Bookshop has been referred to as Old Joe Krantz Lite. Both tobaccos were blended by Bob Runowski, who knows his Burley. The constituents are similar, but the nicotine dose of HB is considerably lower than that of OJK. However, to belittle this blend as a "Lite" version of anything else is to really sell it short. I think it may be a blend that you either like or don't, but I also think that any burley lover should really appreciate Haunted Bookshop. The tin opens to a mix of brown and tan ribbons, with some of the cut being pretty big ribbons, consisting ofBurley, Virginia, and Perique. Keeping with the comparison to OJK, the cut is finer. The aroma from the tin is sort of earthy, and pure tobacco goodness. For my tastes the moisture level in the tin is just about perfect; on the slightly dry side but with enough moisture that I still let it air a bit to dry. Sometimes, while it dries, I like to just smell the tin. It packs well into a pipe, but I suggest packing it more lightly than most other blends as it seems to condense easily, tightening the draw if not. Upon lighting it is the burley that drives the blend, but at times I notice wafts of flavor that remind me of the taste of a good cigar. Obviously the burley, but what a great taste! The Virginia adds a top note and sweetness to the blend while the perique adds spice and depth. HB stays lit nicely through a smoke. Good clouds of heavy smoke are produced, but if smoked slowly, with lighter puffs and clouds, there are rewards from all three constituents not found if puffed heavily - the burley is a flavorful one with more nuance than many, the Virginias provide a nice high end with wisps of fine sweetness, and the Perique's fig-like nature provides a flavor delight on the bottom. Regardless of how it is smoked, though, HB has a rich, full earthy flavor. It reminds me of walking through Durham, NC, in the 1960s. Early in the smoke I notice the "hot" flavoring of the Perique, but this dissipates further into the bowl, then makes a fairly dramatic return in the last quarter or so of the smoke. The pipe and the smoke stream stay cool and dry to the very end. Unfortunately, my wife isn't fond of the room note, and this is a problem. Because I smoke a lot of this stuff! (Thank goodness for Lampe Berger!) And I can smoke pipe after pipe without tongue bite. Haunted Bookshop has risen to the top of my favorites list, where it has stayed now for at least a couple of years. There is more of it in my cellar than there is of any other blend. I can smoke it in the morning to relax on my long drive to work, in the evening after a good meal, and all day while watching football or walking the dogs. Like other blends from C&D, it needs to be aged before it is opened, but once aged it is Nirvana.

Update 4/29/2009:

This is now my main smoke. I smoke as much of this as all other blends put together. A few more months (total of 9) tempers the bitterness a bit more to a level I find perfect for any occasion. The last few puffs at the end of a bowl have a nice Va/Per flavor which makes the bottom of the bowl something to look forward to rather than dreaded. I find this blend tastes a bit acrid in large bore pipes. A medium or small bowl pipe works best. This blend will not wow you at first but wins you over given some time.

"The Haunted Bookshop" is a book by Christopher Morley which features a lot of pipe smoking. It is no longer copyrighted in America, so you can read it online, for free, at:

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Christopher_Morley/The_Haunted_Bookshop/index.html

Smoking this blend while reading it's namesake is a very relaxing experience.

Original review 12/16/2008:

This review is for the tinned version of HB. As with all C&D non-cavendish blends, don't even think about smoking it unless it has some age on it or you will be rewarded with a poor smoke. I waited until my tin had 6 months on it. It was dry but not excessively so. Packing and lighting are a breeze as long as you leave a bit of room for the cube cut burley to expand. For the first 1/4 bowl, it is slightly sweet, grassy, mild, and light in taste. After that, welcome to flavor country. The burly really comes forward with a nutty bitterness which is tempered a bit by the perique and VA. This goes great with a sweet cup of coffee, but if you aren't in the mood for an earthy, non-sweet tobacco flavor, it can be overbearing. But this is the flavor it was obviously designed to present, and it does so well. There is nicotine here but it is not overbearing. It stays like this to the bottom of the bowl. This blend reminds me of Prince Albert, except that it far more flavorful and of vastly higher quality. It isn't finicky about pipes or puffing pace. The room note won't win you any friends as it is somewhat cigarette like, but I appreciate the straightforward tobacco aroma. I like it and would buy it again, but if the bitterness were just a bit more subdued by a smidgen more VA, I would smoke it more often and I think it would win over a few more fans.

Please pardon my indolence, I blogged a review to this on another site I frequent and figured I couldn't say it any better. So here it goes: "Even a cursory comparison of the constituent tobaccos of this blend and OJK will immediately gear you to expect something very similar to OJK. Nothing could be farther from the truth. While the ingredients are indeed the same, the presentation, character and taste of HB is an entirely different animal.

While both OJK and HB are certainly modern incarnations of my beloved codger burlies. In presentation, OJK would seem to be a perique blend with large quantities of burley and a little virginia to mitigate what would otherwise be a perique flavored tire iron to the face. OJK is cigary, acrid and borderline harsh, everything that HB is not. Although the ingredients of the two are identical, HB remarkably seems a very different tobacco. No harshness at all here. If OJK is Thai food, HB is meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn with just a healthy sprinkle of black pepper.

The uninitiated have sometimes referred to HB as boring or monotone. I just don't see that. Like it's big brother OJK, HB is simultaneously simple and extremely complex. For me, this blend smokes like a parfait. The top of the bowl is very lightly cigary. Mid-bowl the grassy sweetness of virginia comes front and center with the burley just perceptible enough to make the virginia a bit doughy and totally bite free. Towards the bottom is a grab bag of any taste you've ever heard assigned to burley (i.e. bread dough, chocolatey, nutty, cigary) with the grassy sweetness of virginia peeking in and out just strong enough to be noticed before it gently fades and another burley taste emerges. What about the perique? Well, it just doesn't seem to be a huge part of this blend. At its strongest the perique in HB is condimental. Seems just enough to provide that extra "something" that is neither burley nor virginia but not readily identifiable as perique either. I would compare the perique content of this to something like PS Luxury Navy Flake (i.e. just above invisible). Without a doubt this is an old style burley blend but is light-years ahead of most codger burlies with regard to sophistication and character. It is a smooth, all day smoke which remarkably does not lack vitamin N. So perfect is the balance of burley and virginia that one could nearly be persuaded that there are equal quantities of both in this blend. They just seem to take turns being the tobacco in front. At times, this could probably be mistaken for a virginia with condimental quantities of burley and perique. Other times it is unmistakably burley with condimental quantities of virginia and perique.

In my rotation HB initially was my light change of pace tobacco from OJK. More and more though, I see Haunted Bookshop and OJK sharing my pipe days in equal measure. Haunted Bookshop covering the earlier portion of the day and OJK for the afternoon kick in the pants. I would strongly recommend HB to any virginia lover exploring burlies. Even if body chemistry conspires against you and your are averse to perique, I would think you'd be OK with Haunted Bookshop (this means you Rick!) It's low maintenance codger burliesque smoking manners would also make a great "doing something else" tobacco great for yard work, fishing, driving, woodworking, etc. If your normal fare is heavily latakia'd and smokes like a shredded truck tire, Haunted Bookshop would be a great, light, change of pace without having to contend with the vitamin N depletion normally brought on by most "light, change of pace" tobaccos. This one is a keeper. The more I smoke of it the more I like it. Top Shelf Smoke for sure, Well done Mr. Runowski, well done.

I would only add to this a spot on analogy made by my most excellent friend Quaffer, "OJK is the Beast and Haunted Bookshop is the beauty."

The differing palates of individuals is a fascinating thing and thought that I was tasting a different tobaco that several of the recent reviewers when I saw their ratings. My reaction to this was more in accord with pipestud. I like perique but my stomach doesn't. So was delighted when I tried this tobacco. Has just enough perique for flavor without assaulting my stomach and melds so well with the burleys. For burley lovers who enjoy a tad of perique, can't think of a better one and it is currently one of my mainstay blends.

I really enjoy a good burley blend and this one qualifies as one of the best I have smoked. Strong enough in the nicotine department to satisfy and mild enough not to be a large bite risk. It is somewhat on the dry side in the tin, which is a good sign. It packs easily an lights without any effort. A very satisfying and flavorful taste that burns well all the way to the bottom of the bowl. An excellent all-day smoke. If I could sum it up in one phrase, I would say it's a good blend with a smokiness in the background that really satisfies.

Came across this by purchasing the C&D sampler. No tin descriptions so I began looking up the contents of each tin on this website. The description lead me to the book - purchased the book on a lark. Loved the book! Classic 20's americana with great references for the bibliophile. I'll get the first now: "Parnassus on Wheels". The tobacco itself is true americana, in the vein of House of Windsor; and I really am a sucker for historical or literary links. So far so that I purchased a Peterson Shannon Sitter specifically for this tobacco. Buy the book - buy the tobacco - tell me you can't picture yourself in that second hand bookshop! This one for me was a really fun discovery. Highly recommended journey!

I am very pleased that quality burley blends are so widely available. If you like burley and don't have anything against perique, you're almost sure to be happy with Haunted Bookshop. The tin description is concise and to the point, as is the taste of this blend. What you see is what you get. I would highly recommend this tobacco to anyone looking to explore burleys so I've given it four stars.

Norm's review pretty much summed it up. A good solid burley blend this is! After enjoying Old Joe Krantz, I wanted to try this more burley-focused version as I am a big fan of C&D's burley blends. It didnt disappoint. It has a delicious woody sweetness and smokes nicely down to the ash. I'll keep some of this around for when I feel like something a little less perky(less red va and per) than the OJK. Haunted Bookshop is yet another great vaburper from C&D, highly recommended!