Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop

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.

This is another Burley Mixture from Cornell and Diehl. For me, I note only the Burley and the Perique, but not the Virginia. Is somewhat good, decent, I like, but is clearly inferior to other Burley based tobaccos as: Butternut Burley and Old Joe Krantz. 2 Stars.

I kept seeing people tout the positives of this weed, so I pushed down my aversion to C&D products, saddled into the Mystery Machine, and joined the gang to solve the "is it any good?" mystery.

The bag opened to some lackluster nose appeal. As advertised, there were no Aromatic flavors inside, nor was there much presence from the background Virginia, just the subtle damp earth Burley to greet you. The cut was pretty shaken apart for being coarse (likely due to being a bulk), but there were still a few flakes to rub apart. Great moisture and packed like a champ. My first puff (and I have no idea why) caught me off guard and I actually started coughing, my second puff (after calming down), while still strong, brought me to a world reminiscent of a cigar. The effect was a leathery, unapologetic, deep tobacco taste, which I didn't hate, but was overwhelming for my default Aromatic sensibilities.

I got used to the smoke midway, and ended up being less intense than a heavy English, so it was within the realm of smokable strength for me, just not something I personally crave (again, think cigar here). The room afterwards reminded me of the air that hangs in a well worn smoke shop, likely filled with dozen of customers who crave this type of concoction, so to that extent, I get why folks gravitate towards this Haunted Bookshop, but for myself, I'll be down the aisle reading another book.

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.

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

This blend sealed is just not for me. I pick up nutty, woody, and earthy notes that are associated with Burley. Its molasses character comes through as well. The dark prune note from the Perique adds a bit more nuance to the character spectrum and it is consistent in its pepperiness.

The flavor is fairly full and the nic level is near strong.

I have a great enjoyment of Burley Flakes but this blend leaves me quite wanting in flavor and actually gives a bad after taste. Out of respect for its reputation and Matches860, I give it a 6/10. Unless I add additional Virginia to it (which I'll probably do), I wont return to it.

The haunted bookshop I smoked to write this review was cellared in 2008, so be aware that this is the well aged version of this blend.

Haunted bookshop is a very interesting tobacco in the sense that it really separates the pipe smoking community. People seem to absolutely love it, or absolutely hate it. I don't mind it but it is not a favorite.

I have smoked this in the past and remember it being alot more brash and acerbic, but this ages sample was nice and mellow. The tobacco is pretty dry by today's standard but I find this to be the case with most C&D blends.

This blend lit well and stayed lit well. The first half of the bowl had this fragrant perfume like taste, but only in a natural tobacco kind of way, there is by no means any flavoring added here. That fragrant flavor that I loved eventually transitioned in to a nice mellow nutty burley flavor. Not bad.

What interested me at first was how dry and natural this tobacco is. Others have described a peppery taste, which dominates the first part of the smoke. As you progress the rich burleys come through and virtually no sweetness enters into the picture. This was a tough one to get used to but, one of the nice things was the strength--just right for me; a little kick of nicotine to relax the nerves.

Overall I think 7formy1911 nailed the description. My review comes somewhat recommended mostly because I'm an English lover at heart. Top quality tobacco though, as you'd expect from Cornell and Diehl.

Haunted Bookshop? I just had to try this just to find out for myself. Nothing haunting about this one, unless it cries out for more of almost everything that this stuff is made of. Not bad but not that good either. It can stand to be a little sweeter along with everything else it seems. The only good thing about it is the strength department, whereas the big N word is satisfying enough but nothing really worthwhile beyond that. Skip on this one in favor of something more interesting, as C&D has much more interesting blends.