Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop

I consider the three C&D blends of Old Joe Krantz, Haunted Bookshop and Riverboat Gambler to be closely related family members. However, I consider Riverboat Gambler to be the best of all three because, for me, it combines the best of the other two and then some!

Haunted Bookshop is a delightful and very mild blend. Virtually a non-aromatic. The extremely light topping strikes me as possibly just a touch of Anise. I consider it a non-aro. I enjoy the quality leaf, the easy light and comfortable smoke it delivers. I do highly recommend it. But you should also try the other two as well or you will be missing something.

This is an excellent blend for Burley lovers but it has a bit more character than a pure Burley. This is something that I welcome in a blend of this type.

Enjoy it. It could be an easy all day smoke if you are looking for one. It is a good investment and will likely not let you down.

INTRO: Burley is such a versatile creature. I think of it as the rice of tobaccos. Alone it is nutty, full, creamy and higher in nicotine than its condimental counterparts. Used properly in a blend it will take on any flavor thrown at it like a chameleon running across paint swatches. When used improperly, it is bitter, harsh and just plain nasty. Haunted Bookshop is one of those blends where prime leaf is used and used very well. The burley base retains much of its nutty flavors yet gets along very nicely with the red Virginia and Perique.

CAUTION: The cut is rather fine and upon inspection the visual appearance looks like something you would see in a little jar of seasoning. Due to this cut, I have noticed a lot of "dust" in the tins which makes packing tedious as one tends to get tiny particles of tobacco in the mouth when testing the draw and lighting up. Lightly shaking the tin helps to settle a lot of the finer particles which helps to avoid having a sandstorm hit your tongue.

CHARACTERISTICS: Haunted Bookshop burns faster than most other blends. It also makes a lot of powdery ash that usually requires dumping halfway through the bowl. Tamp this tobacco lightly and you should have no problems. It burns dry, bites very little and leaves the pipe clean. It will "color" your pipe on the first bowl so avoid trying this in a favorite pipe to avoid ghosts.

SMOKING: On the initial light you taste the cigar-like flavor of the burley and Perique. Throughout the bowl the cigar flavor trades places with the subtle sweetness of the red Virginia. The nutty flavors are there and the prune-like presence of the Perique speaks its voice each time you sip it softly. When puffed hard the burley flexes some muscle and you get a big bold bass note with a sidekick of nicotine.

SUMMARY: This blend is similar in the vein of "Old Joe Krantz" but with more high notes, sweetness and less nicotine. It is strong enough to satisfy a nicotine craving, yet light enough to be enjoyed all day.

Haunted Bookshop is a natural blend reminiscent of the old-school blends of a time when a man came home to a clean house, a hot meal and a happy family. No fancy tricks here, just good honest tobaccos skillfully put together to form a delightful and relaxing smoke. Well done!

Haunted Bookshop is a mixture with a plain, grassy, natural aroma, predominantly from the Burley component. It is composed of mid to light brown leaf, and IMO the Perique and the Virginias are very lightly applied. Compared to many bulk tobaccos, this one comes fairly dry in the pouch, smokes very dry (not stale) and clean, and has an overall nutty and slightly piquant bouquet. I must say this is my first experiment with a Cornell and Diehl blend, and I was very impressed by the quality and excellent craftsmanship of Haunted Bookshop. Packing it in a rusticated medium size Savinelli Octavia was quite simple, and it took the initial light gracefully and immediately. A very cool and dry smoked followed, with that intriguing though rather dulled Burley flavour, alleviated by the somewhat impish presence of the Perique and the smooth, sugarless variety of matured Virginia. There were no surprising twists throughout the smoke, the flavour remaining consistent. Only had to relight almost at the end of the bowl, after DGT. Though I did enjoy this tobacco, I did not find anything particularly extraordinary about it, nor did it remind me of any bookshop, haunted or not. Rather, it projected a country like feeling, as if in open fields. Pardon me for saying so, but IMO this tobacco can be seen either as a sophisticated and highly upgraded version of Prince Albert, or as an unsweetened and brandy less version of Barbary Coast. The Burley here is superior than the variety used in PA, but not as rich and smooth as the one employed by G.L. Pease. All in all a very good quality smoke, light and simple, quite along the lines of Larsen?s Kentucky Gold, though not as strong.

Definitely an earthy tin note upon opening. Stays lit without any noticable issues and was the perfect moisture out of the tin

It has a sweet and spicy taste with the spice being especially noticable on the retrohale. Not a complex smoke, but that isn't a negative, sometimes it is nice to know what you're getting so the brain can stay wandering to other thoughts. The room note is not a knock your socks off experience as most of you who smoke these kinds of blends have come to expect.

If you're looking for a simple smoke that lets your mind wander other places, look no further.

As an added note: i didnt pick up on a super strong amount of nicotine, but years sailing has basically given me an immunity to the "buzz" so dont take my word for strength.

From bulk Haunted Bookshop comes on the dryer side and ready to smoke. It’s a ribbon cut with a few larger chinks and broken flakes thrown in. The tin the note is earthy, nutty, musty, a little sour, with a touch of fruit.

Upon lighting the Burley leads and smacks you in the face. It’s a pleasant punch if you’re a Burley lover. It’s earthy, nutty, with light cocoa. Walnuts come to mind. The VAs are Red and offer a hint of sweetness, with a little fruit and spice. It trails behind the Burley by a few paces. The Perique is used as a little more than a condiment. It’s plumy with a bit of a black pepper kick and spice. You have to be a burley lover to enjoy this one I think, but it is an amazing blend once you “get it”.

Haunted Bookshop plays well. It takes to flame well and stays lit without hassle. It doesn’t get hot, but can offer a sharp, rough, cigarette note if puffed aggressively. It left a clean dry bowl behind and a very fine ash. I don’t think it is as strong in the Nicotine department as some folks let on. It’s not light, but it isn’t heavy. It lets you know it is present and when you’re done with a bowl you’ll feel “full” after but not stuffed. It goes great with morning coffee and also after a meal. 3.75 out of 4 stars.

As a relatively new pipe smoker, this blend knocked me on my butt. Made me feel like a teenager again going green from ducking down their first cigar. Definitly an interesting flavor but something I will have to come back to when my palate developes

A Christmas gift from a friend who bought if because of the name/tie-in. Gosh it is awful. It tastes like an old stale cheap cigar. Not just old, or cheap, but old stale cheap. That's the best thing I can relate it to, almost to a T. There is nothing at all about this that left a good memory. I was told the room note, I quote, "stunk". Maybe they use moldy old books. I'll give it 2 stars because I feel I must be missing something. PA is just plain old average, and whips the dust jackets off of this stuff.

Tasty, nutty, earthy, I tried a 2 oz tin then ordered a pound. I definitely will be keeping this on hand, C&D have a winner with this, definitely a favorite.

Presentation: Rough cut/ Chop cut pieces. Nothing real special about the form factor. An array of red, brown, burnt orange and a few dark leaves from the perique. I have heard that some are getting longer, semi-broken flakes in their tin or from bulk, but decanted into a mason jar revealed none of these. I opened a 7 year old tin and perhaps the processing is different now. Came more dry than average, and was probably the driest blend I've smoked, other than Bayou Morning. Had a large and noisy hiss built up inside.

Palette: Opening the tin and removing the paper disc, I was met with a super tangy and semi-sour scent, along with a brown sugar sweetness. A tad musty that can only be described as fermented grain or leaves left in the damp waiting to dry out for the burn pile. The burley offers a very nutty, somewhat dry taste on the tongue. Reminds me of last years wood pile that is now the perfect dryness for the firepit. I don't get any of the chocolate notes that burley is famous for, but this format is still delicious. The VA's offer a very tiny touch of sweetness and a bready tone and compliment the burleys to add some balance. The perique here is somewhat more than lightly applied, but the retrohale is where it really comes through. I don't get it too much in the taste, other than the famous tickle of my nostrils.However, the spiciness recedes a bit after 1/3 of the bowl. I do reckon that the perique does contribute to the the plummy and sour funk in the tin aroma. Alot of nicotine, at least from my experience. I had only eaten a snack about and hour before trying this and had to put it down after 2/3 of the way. I recommend a full meal before smoking.

Performance: Lights up pretty well. Burns more hot than average, probably due to the dryness and the cut of the tobacco, but it doesn't in anyway translate into the smoke itself. The smoke itself was relatively cool and stayed consistent. Just the bowl was a bit warm for my liking.

Conclusion: I've heard through and through that HBS is like a cigarette. While I can see some comparison, especially in the room-note, I think HBS shouldn't be put on the stoop with cancer-sticks. If you go into pipe smoking with previous knowledge of what cigarettes taste like, then I can assure that no matter what tobacco you smoke in your pipe, you're going to find a similarity somewhere. If you however have never tried a cigarette, then this blend should have no qualities of it. I think that HBS has been mocked and downgraded because of this. If you want to review HBS, compare it to another burley tobacco or even just another blend that has similar components, not cigarettes. If you want to do cigarette reviews, there's a website for that. It's like comparing a high-end S Class race car to the first car your parents get you in highscool. They are both cars, but both have different purposes. HBS and cigarettes are tobacco, but they shouldn't be compared for the same reasons. Perhaps I'm biased in that I had a 7 year old tin and yes, I have mentioned some qualities of other blends to having notes of a cigarette, but to outright claim you should just smoke cigarettes instead of this is just bonkers.

All in all, HBS has great potential for aging, as my experience has lent me and is a great blend if you disregard the cigarette fiends. It reminded me of Briar Fox, but with the burley and VA tobacco percentages reversed and added perique. The tin note was almost identical and I got some of the VA notes in HBS as I did in Briar Fox, which I really liked. The bready, sweet and brownsugarness in the background. I'm not sure if I will buy this again as I am currently comparing other burleys (PS CubeCut, McBaren Golden Extra, Newminster Light Burley), but it sure has left impact if anything. There is a reason why it has so many reviews and is one of C&D's best sellers. Either love it or hate it.