Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop

The ratios, it's all about the ratios. Whereas Old Joe Krantz is quite heavy on the perique, Haunted Bookshop is more balanced and won't develop rough edges because of this. All things being equal, I'd have HB any time over OJK. The nutty properties of this tobacco are more apparent here than in OJK. The problem with OJK is the perique will take over soon, and this will push back the burley properties of this tobacco. About HB, the main role of the burley leaf is not to add support, or to improve the burning properties of the blend. Burley leaf is rather added as the main component; this blend is all about the burley. There is nothing worth mentioning about the tin note, it just smells of tobacco, but if you like burleys you will probably find the smoking experience out of this world. Sadly enough, it tends to burn faster than expected, but it smokes quite cool in your bowl. The perique leaf appears to transition from tangy to peppery in the last quarter of your bowl, which is something to be expected. As for the nicotine content, it is still high, I'd say, but nowhere near OJK anyway. I think they call this blend HB because of the musty properties it develops as you progress with your smoke, but I say this in a good way. Yes, this tobacco ticks so many boxes for me, so it is going to get a rating of 4 stars.

(Edit 17/11/2017) PS. It looks as though they've named this tobacco "Haunted Bookshop" in honor of a novel written by Christopher Morley.

Another C&D blend of rather crude, high nicotine burleys. I can't understand why people can like this blend. Despite it's whole grain character with slight tang and fruit from the trace amount of perique and red virginia, the taste is just acrid and ash. I have smoked much smoother whole leaf burley than this stuff and I have to wonder where they are getting this leaf from and why choose it to blend with. There are much better choices with smoother taste for those looking for a robust non-flue cured tobacco i.g. Tabac Manil Semois, G&H/SG dark-fired shags, ropes, flakes, Five Brothers. Despite coming in a tin there is nothing premium about this product and definately is not worth the typical price for such a pathetic blend of unrefined and crude burley.

This is dry, not in the humidity sense, but in the dry white wine sense. Nutty, woody, crisp, did I say nutty? A mild hint of a dry caramel back ground, if that make any sense. White pepper on the finish. base of earthy red VA, but I am not even sure it is a base or just a phantom I cannot say that this a dry smoke enough. I have never found anything like this in any other tobacco. It is a very unique smoke. I can't say I'd want to smoke this in a regular rotation, but it is quite good. Nose is cigarette tobacco our of the bag. All around a great Burley, I might say the best presentation there is. If you love Burley this may be Nirvana, if you don't it may be a nice distraction.

Summary: a Burley-forward blend with a Va/Per hidden within.

Cornell & Diehl makes a range of its Burley, red Virginia, and Perique blends, starting with "Haunted Bookshop" on the gentle end, moving to "Old Joe Krantz" in the middle, and inching just a little past that with "Burley Flake #1." If you want sweet tobacco, go elsewhere; also, this uses a lot of the dark Burley which hits some people quite hard, especially in the digestive tract, and so they will rank it as having more nicotine than it does because the effect is greater on them. The slightly "green vegetation" flavor that accompanies such Burleys hovers in the background of this blend, which brings forth a harmonious relationship between the Perique and red Virginias that provides an undertone to the white/dark Burley mix which dominates its flavor. Over the course of the bowl, the Virginias caramelize and meld into the Perique flavor, making it more spicy like dark-fired leaf and less tangy like the sweet-sour taste of most Va/Pers. If you view "Haunted Bookshop" as a Burley blend that flavors itself with a Va/Per, the delight in this flavor combination becomes apparent. The low moisture content means that this blend burns quickly unless incubated with a breath smoking technique, and if you smoke it quickly, it will turn ashy. This is an all-day smoke for me, but only because I am inured to the Burley gut punch and it takes over an hour for a medium-sized bowl. Sweeter than "Old Joe Krantz" (or the massively dry-tasting and almost dusty "Burley Flake #1"), "Haunted Bookshop" delights Burley fans who want a blend without the intrusion of toppings or the sugar blast of bright Virginias.

So for the last 40 years I've been primarily a VA/Per or Balkan style smoker. For the couple of weeks prior to trying Haunted Bookshop I have been smoking my last tins of Frogmorton on the Bayou and St. James Woods (both purchased in 04/2012) Also I'm rating a bulk tabacco and not the tinned version of this C&D blend. I mention these two points because it may impact my review of this blend.

The aroma of the fresh tobacco in the bag is unremarkable - definitely the woody mushroomy smell of burley dominates. The fresh cut hay smell of the virginia is there, but you have to conciously look for it as it is overwhelmed by the burley. I could not detect the aroma of perique at all. I purchased 4 ounces of Old Joe Krantz at the same time. They look similar and smell very similar so I would suspect a very similar smell & taste while smoking.

It packs well in the pipe but has but has a "springyness" to it that is good to the extent that it will reduce the chance of under or over packing. It took the charring light well and after tamping once or twice the next light was even. It is easy to keep lit so re-lights are minimal.

I tend to be a controlled sipper and that worked well with this blaend. I would think that long heavy drarws and this stuff would give you a serious case of tounge bite and a real nicotene rush. But with small sips it burns nicely.

The flavor changes very little in the course of smoking, but I noticed about half way into it and I was getting a noticible nicotene kick - most likely from the burley. If there is any perique I coudn't taste or smell it, so it must be a very small amount. To finish the bowl I had to get a glass of water to counter the nicotene hit.

So overall I'm not impressed with this blend - maybe if you are primarily a burley smoker you would enjoy it more than I have. I'll take the remaining 4 ounces and cellar it for a year or two and see what happens. Off hand I couldn't think of anything to pair it with - the nicotene content is high enough that after a cup of coffee I'd be bouncing off the walls. Likewise with black tea. Spirits like Scotch or Whiskey would probably make this blend taste bitter.

Tonight’s feature presentation is Haunted Bookshop, and Burley is the star of the show! This is my anytime, anywhere, any mood pipe tobacco. When I can’t decide what to smoke, this is what I reach for. This burley blend always satisfies. Burns cool and dry. Lots of smoke output. Slightly above medium nic hit. Can’t beat it for the price when bought in bulk.

Another hit on my quest to sample the best of C&D’s Burley-forward blends, Haunted Bookshop breaks the mold (pun intended) with cheek by actually smelling like a musty old tome both in its popped tin and when it’s lit and smoked. Short ribbons are at perfect moisture, so HB is easily stuffed, lit, and smoked down to nothing. Burn rate is a fair clip. The Burleys are quite nice, adding fragrant woods and some meadow flowers to the scent. The Perique is musty and a little sour, to balance the tannins and spices. The VAs seem to be mostly piquant, earthy reds, and perhaps some earthy browns, adding some sugar and some structural body to the blend. There's plenty of smoke. I smoke HB meditatively and it is consistent, top to bottom. Strength is medium. With a little application, tastes are toward full. Aftertaste is the best of the smoke, trailing off with Angostura. Room note is great for me, hopefully tolerable for captives.

I suppose Haunted Bookshop won’t be a 4 for everyone, if only because it’s different in a different way. I’m in the aye camp, very pleased I followed other reviewers who have enjoyed this blend and reported their findings here at TR. My tin is young, and I’ll update here, apropos.

Just from smelling this one unlit, you know you're in for a ride. Now, I'm not a fan of ribbon cut. I usually find it too light for my Single-Malt-Addicted pallet. But this blend… It works… Lighting it reveals how burley should feel like. It bites just a bit (which I like), just to remind you the fact that you're having a pipe right now. The taste is earthy, nutty and rich – but not fermented and cigar like which means that it's just the right amount of Perique. Behind all that hides a sweetness, so mild that you'd need to meditate to detect. The right amount of Virginias. Pretty quickly, after a few tamp, flavor develops and balances. The body rounds up a bit and right there I moved to the breath method to enjoy the mid-bowl properly. The nicotine content in this one is mild-medium.. Didn't knock me off my chair, but also didn't really got that itch... It's a good blend for mid-day, but lack some nicotine for my taste.

Now, I love this blend but note that it's on the heavy side. Many pipers I know found it too heavy (which is good for me, since I got their batch), so I'd recommend trying a sample or a 1 oz batch before acquiring a stock of it.

Supposedly there's VA in here somewhere...can't prove it by me. The Perique comes through with a bit of pepper and of course the nicotine punch in the jewels, but taste-wise for me, this blend is all Burley. Really good Burley though.

You really need to like Burley to like Haunted Bookshop I think. I don't think this blend would be a good choice if you just want to dip your toe into burley blends. The nicotine content is pretty high so if you're sensitive to that just beware and like most big burleys you need to puff this slowly. If you don't it just tastes like a cigarette and what fun is that? The other thing is the room note...it doesn't seem to be popular. Probably too much like cigarette smoke.

Keeping all that in mind though, I'd still give this 3 stars. If strong, earthy, nutty natural burley is your thing, this blend should work for you.