Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop

In the tins I’ve opened you have ready to smoke tobacco. It burns well, but don’t work it too hard or you’ll get more than bargained for on the palate. This is a good one to enjoy slowly.

I’m not a big Virginia smoker, but I can tell it’s in there. The perique definitely speaks louder than I thought it might. But in the end, this one’s more about the burley. It is somewhat of a boring smoke, although I do enjoy it. I think you have to understand straight tobacco to enjoy this blend because it’s not going to be enjoyable to anyone who desires an aromatic. In the same breath, this has a sweet note in it, perhaps the “plum” from the perique. Masked by the fuller burley and tingle from the perique. On the light and relights is when I get a mouthful of burley flavor. Once it settles down is when you get a more balanced flavor.

This is going to be a sometimes smoke for me as I enjoy a few other burley blends more. I prefer to have this blend later in the afternoon/evening. I am a little disappointed with the nic though. For as strong as the blend can taste, it’s not quite where You’d expect this type of blend to be.

Overall, it’s a good smoke for the tobacco tested. Not a beginners blend and might even turn off a seasoned pipe smoker.

Tin notes of earth and citrus. Easy to light and burns evenly. Burns really hot if you puff too fast. Pretty strong nic hit but pretty good overall.

This blend was my return to pipe tobacco after years and years of cigars, and this reminded me of the Avo Domaine Avo 50. It's earthy, nutty, enjoyable. Being the first time back to my pipe, I had a lot of issues with this blend due to my technique. I didn't pack it tight enough and I had to re-light it a dozen times. Newbie issues. I will try this one again though.

2022-07-30 Update: I smoked some 30-month-old Haunted Bookshop in my Peterson Mycroft. I think this is the most cigarlike smoke in my cellar. It's funny that I came up with an Avo Domaine Avo 50, and that's the same cigar I referenced in my review from 3 years ago. I am much better with my technique now, so I didn't have any problem with re-lights until I got down to the bottom of the bowl. I thought it was very hard to describe the details of this smoke besides nutty and toast. Maybe some red peppercorn. This is an enjoyable smoke, and it's perfect for when I'm in a cigar mood. I tend to enjoy more complex blends though. I felt the nicotine on this immediately, I was done with the nicotine before I was done with the bowl, but I am a featherweight.

This is a good, but not a great blend. I know it's very popular and it has a nice nic hit to it, but it's a little to bland for my tastes and it seemed to get a little bitter towards the last 3rd of the bowl. It also started tasting a little bit like a cigarette. It could use a little more perique in my opinion. I have some blending perique on hand, so I added about 22% to it and I put it away to age a bit. I will dig it back out here in about a year or so, to see how much it has improved, if any.

First, the name is very appealing, and the name may be appropriate. Rather than "haunted" bookshop, it should be called old, dusty, used bookshop. But, that really does not roll off the tongue. It has a very earthy and woody taste from the burley with a hint of perique for a little spice. I had it stashed in an airtight jar for a while, so it was dry. It may have been too dry. Bookshop smoked well with only a few relights. I was able to smoke down to the bottom of the bowl with no tongue bite.

It smoked well with a decent amount of smoke. The lady said that the smoke did not appeal to her, so this may be a back porch smoke for me.

Great name but doesnt really live up to it. What i got was a fairly rough and ready strong burly mix that you would more likely expect to get from from a home grower or straight from the farm. Not terrible but pretty crude. Plenty of strength and nicotine.

This burley based blend is named after a rather bland book from 1919. I guess that's why this blend is pretty ok. Nothing special here folks. Burns well and easy to light, but no complexity.

This blend was interesting at first but seemed to lack a good bit of desired complexity. I imagine the prolonged smoking of this blend would leave one growing tired and bored with it.

This is definitely a Burley smoke. I am personally just not feeling this blend but I can see those having the taste for Burley absolutely loving this blend. If you smoke it too harshly it will give off a bit of a cigarette taste, which wasn't pleasant at all. The tobacco was very dry and burned pretty well. I don't really know if I will explore this blend further or not.