Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop

I really wanted to try Haunted Bookshop after reading the book of the same name by Chris Morley which can be downloaded for free here; http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/172

Learning that this blend was one of Bob Runowski's made it even more appealing since he also blended one of my favorite burley blends, Morley's Best.

Now, I totally enjoy great burley blends and this one is one of the best out there. It packs and lights easy and has an immediate nutty burley taste with just a hint of perique. Like Morley's best it has superb burn characteristics and is a great all day smoke for burley fanciers. Four very solid stars.

Like one or two of my fellow Haunted Bookshop reviewers, I first read Mr. Morley?s book The Haunted Bookshop while firing up a bowl (or five) of this distinguished Cornell & Diehl creation. I found the combination enchanting. Even if one doesn?t care for burley blends, I highly recommend this charming book. I got my 2-ounce pouch as bulk, and opened the rather industrial poly bag to be greeted with a dusty nutty burley aroma. The stuff was dry! I was worried, but I packed it carefully into a 50?s vintage Algerian briar Wilke Author, (promotion number two: One can still have one of these from Carole Burns at Pipeworks & Wilke ? she found an unsmoked stash of many of the old shapes and is offering them on the P&W website), and the mixture of chunky cube cut and ribbon cut loaded without trouble for a fine draw.

Initial light took two tries, which was surprising considering the dryness, but cubes usually take the match gently. The ensuing smoke was voluminous, cool, and richly nutty with a very slight sweetness. This is strictly a natural blend. Most gratifying! There was not much variance from this flavor until mid-bowl.

The last half of the bowl was as dry, cool, and ashy as the hero of the book. This is a good burley, and what little Virginia is present lends suppleness to the finish of the smoke that shores up the usual final sag in flavor that is often characteristic of even the best burley,

I was surprised by the seemingly low amount of nicotine in this tobacco. Though the last few draws gave me a bit of spiciness at the back of the palate, I found myself without the little buzz I would have expected from a mostly burley blend.

This is not a complex mélange of more than two or three flavors, so it is great for smoking while one is otherwise occupied ? presumably reading ? but it leaves one satisfied and somehow refreshed. Another masterwork of creative blending from Cornell & Diehl, simply and elegantly executed. Good stuff!

After seeing this name around ASP for a couple of years now, I decided it was time. Actually, it was the latest issue of P&T that prompted it. In it were several mini-reviews of new C&D blends, and since it was time for an order....

I was looking over the vast array of C&D offerings. I needed to come up with five for a sampler pack. "Hey," I thought, "why not try a bit of 'Bookshop'?"

There's not much description on the site or the brochure that Craig sends out with orders, just "A predominantly mixture of Burleys with a touch of red Virginia and Perique." Well, that's factual enough.....sort of like saying that the Grand Canyon is a fairly large hole in the ground!

The pouch aroma of this blend that reminds me of my Uncle Jerry, the only pipe smoker in our family. He was a dedicated smoker of Revelation, and I guess the Burley base of this blend gives me that sensation. BTW, a little research uncovers an interesting similarity of ingredients, e.g., Kentucky Burley, Va bright and Perique are apparently common to both. There is something spicier about the Haunted Bookshop, though, which is intriguing.

Craig notes on his website that most C&D blends may seem drier than the customer is used to, but to me this pouch is not 'dry' at all. The tobacco packs very easily, and the first bowl is under way.

The initial light is even and complete. After tamping and cooling, I re-light, and the tobacco springs to life evenly across the bowl. My first impression is that this is a very mild blend. Several quick puffs bring a good volume of smoke into the mouth, and I detect the first sensation of sweetness. I like this flavor; there is a bit of nutty quality as well.

In the first half-bowl, the flavor increases and broadens considerably. I detect more of the spicy quality that was hinted at in the charring light. I'm sure this is the Perique doing what Perique does so well. While it's a real presence in the total mix, it's not at all overpowering. I can definitely taste the fruity/spicy highlights against a separate underpinning of the nuttiness.

As the bowl burns down, I am impressed with how evenly the tobacco burns. About mid-way, the spice seems to give way to the nutty quality. That happens to be a personal favorite of mine, so I'm a happy camper at this point.

The last of the bowl is fuller-flavored, but still mild. In fact, after letting the pipe sit for some time and re-lighting, the fullness of the blend is more prominent, but still pleasant. At the finish, the bowl has become a smooth, gray ash, and nary a gurgle anywhere. I am delighted!

(The pipe, btw, was a Jirsa Rhodesian, well-broken in, and a really decent, inexpensive little smoker.)

I've taken to smoking my pipes more on a full-time basis recently, and I have been on a search for tobaccos that are milder -- for all-day capability -- but still flavorful. Haunted Bookshop really answers that description precisely, and it will definite be a regular blend for me. Tony Florida

I purchased a bulk 2 ounces of Haunted Bookshop from a local tobacconist. The pouch note recalls sourdough and straw and was perfectly dried with an even amount of moisture. The burley is nutty and creamy; the Virginias are consistently grassy and hay-like and sweet throughout. The perique is very forward with a complex spice, plum, and stone fruit quality and a hefty amount of nicotine —the strength is a hair shy of strong and is almost cigar-like. This is a rough-cut burley blend that offers a hefty kick. The room note is tolerable, with an almost Turkish cigarette odor, so do not expect a lot of compliments from passersby. A definite recommended blend for cigar-lovers, ex-cigarette smokers, and burley-heads.

One of my favorite blends / pieces of art in tobacco blending - possibly my favorite. Burns like a dream! Smoky and satisfying. Perfect nicotine content. Smoke it straight out of the tin. Pretty much a full strength full flavor and full taste blend that stops where it should and doesn’t overdue itself. Burley at its best along with the musty perique and slight presence of red Virginia. I am smoking the HB cake right now and I’m not sure how different it is from the ribbon cut HB because I am out of it because I smoke it all so fast every time. However the cake is doing just fine for me however it seems a little more rounded without the rougher edge that I actually prefer. But I still love it in cake form. If you take a lot of perique out of old joe Krantz you would have some version of HB. If you like natural burley and perique , you will love haunted bookshop and it will most likely be your holy grail. And that’s another good point - this is natural tobacco with no addition of any flavoring. Smokes cool and really does seem to be OJKs younger nicer brother. Only downside is probably the room note because I don’t think a non smoker would appreciate it at all. I haven’t had a single relight on this pipe once since I started this review and I am taking my time writing. No nonsense straight forward tobacco. If u like it you love it if you don’t like it you’ll probably hate it. This blend kind of reminds me of burley flake 1, 2 , and 3 , but it’s just a little lighter than those blends and has a much a more manageable nicotine level as well. So if u like the burley flakes but can’t handle the nicotine, try this. You will love it. And that’s not to say there is not a decent nicotine here. It’s close to the high mark on nicotine, but I believe it’s still falls in medium level in that catagory.

Hugely underrated blend. The tin note reminds me of cigars, but the taste is really different. I get an earthy, mushroomy, woody flavour which I haven't found anywhere else. An excellent blend for sure.

When you get this blend it comes with lighter brown ribbons that are on the drier side, making them perfect to load straight into your pipe. The tin or bag note on this is shocking. At first is smells like a good rolling tobacco, but then has an overwhelming funky note that I've grown to love. This tobacco overall in strength is just a hair over medium and the taste is also around a medium. I would like to describe this blend as being on the darker side of the flavor spectrum, but it comes around in a strange, unstrong way. What you can expect from this blend is a very earthy, nutty, and dry flavor. The burley dominates this blend, with the virginia providing almost no sweetness, and the perique adding the occasional pop of sharpness and pepperiness. If I could explain this blend, I would say that it is very similar to eating a bowl of plain oatmeal. The flavor is there and it is delicious and stout, but it isn't anything too crazy. I always smoke this blend when I want something simple and satisfying. This blend smokes cool and easy, but can be a bit to strong at times. This is a great unpretentious tobacco that smokes well and will be loved by any burley lover.

This is my favorite tobacco, hands down. A predominantly burley blend with a bit of Virginian and Perique added.

The taste is balanced with just a touch of sweetness and pepper to compliment the nuttiness of the Burley, and it works perfectly.

C&D's Haunted Bookshop

Wow!

Just "Wow" . . .

"Wow" why?

"Wow" #1: This stuff is great. Pryhosm hit the proverbial nail on the head: "Dry white wine -- nutty, woody, crisp."

"Wow" #2: I can't believe this is only a "2.4" with 42 ratings in the 1-star category (and 85 in the 1-to-2-star arena).

I mean, I do "get it" -- I would not be wanting to load my Ashton XL with this stuff in the midst of an August heat wave. I was lucky enough however, to have loaded a simple sample of HB into a Peterson Belgique on a crisply cool autumnal September morning, and the results were . . . "Wow"! I mean, if there ever were a blend that was perfectly crafted for a crisply cool autumnal morning, this is it -- and I would encourage all of those 1-and-2-star raters to reconsider HB in a small bowl, sipped on a cooler morning -- perhaps in the middle of a pumpkin patch somewhere . . .

Superbly sublime (keep the "white wine" thing in mind) . . .

4-sols