Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop

I see that the overwhelming majority of reviewers here enjoy Haunted Bookshop, and I can certainly understand why. With focus on enhancing "pedestrian" Burley leaf, I think C&D has found a niche. Pennington Gap and Old Joe Kranz were winners in my book and Haunted Bookshop works for me too.

Haunted Bookshop's robust Burley taste has been elevated by a smidgen of Perique and a delicate touch of Virginia. This one is more sweet than bitter and more heavy than light. Although not at the level I enjoy most, the nicotine content is recognized with no problem either. As is the case with most Burley blends, Haunted Bookshop is an extremely cool burning smoke with no bite to it.

I finished my tin in a week and will seek more in the future.

Prince Albert fans will probably love this. Burleyphiles probably will as well. The rest of us... um... perhaps, perhaps not.

The high quality leaf gives this an extra star from me, but frankly I find little going on here. Very cigarette-like in flavor, the burley overwhelms to the point where the virginia and perique are barely noticeable. The taste doesn't change its shape as the smoke progresses unless it's to become harsher. It's a lot like smoking hot air (which might be what reviewer Old Puffer meant when he said strong but dull, or words to that effect).

The blend is not cantankerous in the least, and smokes fairly easily down the bowl with no tongue bite. I guess as predominantly a virginia and VaPer smoker, I'm just used to a lot more complexity. There is something to be said about a tobacco that doesn't demand much of a smokers taste buds, however - something comforting, perhaps. It's just that when one averages only about 10 bowls per week, perhaps something with a little more personality is required. At least for me. With tobaccos, as with most things in life, your mileage may vary. I'm going to add a dash of blending perique to this and see if I can spice it up a bit.

UPDATE 1/21/10

As I become more enamored of burley and try different blends, this one needs to be elevated from 2 to 3 stars. This is a great take on the American OTC blends and is something I'll return to occasionally. The complexity I mentioned above... well, I'm not sure complexity is the point here. I think this is just a nice, tasty, interesting bowl of tobacco that one could smoke all day if one were so inclined - and I think that was true of most of the old OTC burleys. Good stuff!

I get a kick out of reviews for burley blends that state the tobacco tastes like cigarettes. Cigarettes have burley as the main component. That's why burley tastes like cigarettes. Unless you sauce the hell out of burley, you're going to get cigarette "flavor" at some point. Even Aged Burley Flake, which is so highly revered by so many tastes like cigarettes.

It should be no surprise to anyone who knows anything about tobacco that Haunted Bookshop tastes at times like a cigarette. But it's a damn fine cigarette! If I could have bought cigarettes that tasted this good, I probably would still be smoking them.

The perique and virginia tobaccos lend themselves well to the overall balance in the fine blend. The perique goes from peppery to fruity and back again throughout the bowl. The virginia adds a nice but subtle sweetness that remains constant.

At times the burley tastes a little like chocolate, at others it's kind of nutty. It's subtle and if all you think about while smoking this is that it tastes like cigarettes, you'll miss it.

The first light is harsh. It takes a couple of minutes for it to settle down. It's not pleasant, but it is tolerable. Don't freak out.

It burns nice and clean. Easy to keep lit. It's a great burley.

Don't smoke it if you don't understand burley tobacco. This is a great blend and deserves to be reviewed by those who can appreciate burley for ALL of its flavors and nuances.

This is a tobacco that I got 4 oz. of and never reviewed. I ended up buying a pound, so that makes it a 3.5 in my book.

Edit 1/1/17 I have now smoked three pounds of this.

The pouch note is a musty, slightly agricultural note from the perique. It takes a match well and is an easy smoke.

This one is a cousin of OJK, and it has a very good flavor profile. It is a hearty earthy and slightly bitter burley experience. The Kentucky and the perique present as spicy, although the perique could be adding to the sweet. That sweet could be the Virginia too, but I am not getting any of the distinctive Virginia flavors. They just contribute a little to the burley. I don't detect any topping. There is a distinctive slight tingle to the tongue after a bowl that I attribute to the Kentucky.

OJK for me is more of a special occasion smoke - like after dinner. It is a mouthful of flavor and comes with a nicotine punch. I like the stuff, but I don't just fly through a pound of it. I could not smoke OJK all day as much as I might want to. Haunted Bookshop is more of an all day smoke for my palate, but I like burley and don't mind a little of the vitamin N.

It is a solid recommendation. If you like burley, it is really a 4.

You would expect a pipe tobacco named Haunted Bookshop to smell musty. You would expect a pipe tobacco named Haunted Bookshop to taste musty. Cornell & Diehl's Haunted Bookshop does in fact smell and taste musty. This pipe tobacco is a solid offering for burley-philes.

Open the can (or bag, it is also available in bulk) and you find a reddish mixture of tobacco which also displays some specks both lighter and darker. The cut is varied, partially small cubes and partially ribbons. Sniff it and you get a bready and musty smell, not at all different from what you would find in a used bookshop, haunted or otherwise.

Haunted Bookshop loads easily and offers no challenge in getting a good light. I find no difficulty in maintaining the light throughout the smoke, and only very occasionally need a relight. Unless you puff vigorously the burn rate is slow. The pipe produces heavy clouds of white smoke, and burns to a dry ash with almost no dottle. Few tobaccos offer less challenge for tongue bite than this one.

The basis for the blend is burley,supplemented by Kentucky (smoked burley), red Virginia, and perique. The burley/Kentucky dominate with a nutty, musty taste, offering a full but nevertheless mellow smoke. The perique is obvious, although not strong, but the Virginia lurks in the background.

The room note is pleasant enough, natural tobacco, but without the sweetness that wins compliments from non smokers. In fact, the aroma is not unlike a non filtered cigarette. The nicotine punch is medium to medium plus. Haunted Bookshop is sometimes labelled as Old Joe Krantz Lite in reference to its C&D sibling which consists of the same tobaccos. OJK has a similar, but fuller taste, and a considerably brawnier nicotine hit.

Haunted Bookshop does not ghost your pipes. As a consequence you do not have to be too careful as to which pipe you smoke it in. Nevertheless, I most often use a cob, as cobs and burleys mate well together.

Few smokers who really enjoy burleys will fail to find this a satisfactory offering. Those who primarily smoke latakia, aromatic, Virginia, or Virginia/perique blends, but who also use burleys as a change of pace will most likely find HB a perfectly good smoke, although most will not put it on their keep-in-stock list

I would have to say this might have been my first introduction to VaPer burley type blends.

The tin note is identical to a box of raisin bran. The nuttiness of the "flakes" comes from the rich brown burley, and the "raisins" from the sweet Va. The perique adds a distinct mustiness to the bookshop. Packing and lighting is as easy as it gets. Easy on the tongue, never wants to bite.

Volumes of tart, white smoke envelope you in your favorite smoking chair.

In the bag, along with some rich, earthy scent, there is a definite whiff of something added. As the tobacco undergoes a little needed dry time, the scent dissipates. At first light, there’s a sharpness to Haunted Bookshop that I didn’t like. But it quickly settled down with a lot of nut, and earthy flavor from the Burley. I am with Pipestud on this one in that it is a bit pedestrian, but not poor. The red Virginia adds a touch of sweetness and there is more than enough Perique, but not overpowering. I am convinced that there is a manually, albeit very lightly added sweetness to HB. Since most Burley has some sort of casing in the processing, it may be just that. All of this comes together rather well as this is a flavorful smoke. There isn’t a lot of complexity and I don’t find it as strong as some have claimed, but I tend to smoke higher nicotine blends so your mileage may vary. I think that proper cadence is really important to get the most from this blend as a warmer bowl detracts from the flavor a bit, although it never turns bitter. Although I am not an everyday Burley smoker, I could easily see Haunted Bookshop as an all-day blend for Burley lovers, especially at HB's bulk price.

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.

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.