Cornell & Diehl Pegasus

Pegasus is very complex for what I was expecting. This being the second blend that was created by Bob Runowski, I'd say he had a great taste with tobacco.

My 2 oz baggy is on the dryer side but it's right were I like it. The bag aroma is a typical burley with the faintness of unflavored black cavendish. What has really drawn me to enjoying this is how every bowl is different. The flavors generally follow the same profile with every bowl but they may change at different points. The overall profile is creamy coffee, creamy chocolate, nutty, earthy, and spicy. Very cigar like. It burns cool with no harshness.

Once again another great burley blend from Cornell and Diehl. I have been rotating between Pegasus and Haunted Bookshop and have been thoroughly impressed by both.

While I do love Virginia's, finding one that replaces McClelland Virginia's has become tiring. So I've decided to search for a different flavor profile and I believe these 2 are it. Of course I'll never stop trying other things. But when I want something that hits the spot. Pegasus and HB fit the bill.

For me this tobacco are always a good choice, because it's honest. It have a good body and can be smoked any time during the day. your smell are smooth and when you buy (I bought 2oz) this tobacco the moisture are right in the perfect point to smoking. Ideal for begginers and for that smokers more experimented.

The aroma of this blend takes me back to my childhood. My grandfather smoked Grainger, my dad smoked Edgeworth Ready Rubbed. I had an uncle that smoked Bond Street. This blend falls right in line with those venerable old classic American O.T.C. tobaccos. The only difference is I think this stuff is a little smoother and it's probably the addition of the black cavendish. When I started smoking a pipe in my teens, I smoked what my dad smoked...I think a lot of us older pipe smokers started that way, so I'm no stranger to burly based tobaccos. This blend is not one of my all day smokes but it is a nice change of pace when I'm feeling a little nostalgic, and I can say with all honesty, that this is a damn good one. It burns clean and consistent from start to finish and never really overpowers the smoker. While it can be a little harsh at times if you are not careful, it has a quality that only an old fashion pipe tobacco can give...it is satisfying like a good cigar and goes well with a nice strong cup of evening coffee. I will definitely keep this on hand right next to my Match Edgeworth Ready Rubbed.

I bought this tobacco in bulk two years ago expecting a sweet, nutty burley blend that would be an all day smoke. What I got was an acrid, cigaretty tasting smoke that I immediately consigned to the back of my cellar, thinking that I would never return. Two years went by and I eventually tried it again... Lo and behold, I found a sweet nutty burley blend, an all day smoke. Lesson learned. If you buy this blend in bulk, jar and age. You will be rewarded with a smooth, semi-sweet nutty blend, with a nice N punch.

I've been a big fan of C&D's Old Joe Krantz. Its the perfect driving on a long trip tobacco. Pease's Cumberland is good too. This is just personal. Dan Tobacco's Mellow Mallard (straight virginia) is another easy to smoke blend but with enough nic hit ( in mallard its barely enough, but its there). C&D's Crooner is fine if you like deer tongue. But Pegasus might be my new favorite. Ive been partial to un cased black cavendish in other blends but its very pronounced here. The virginia's are in the background and taste like the sort C&D use a lot. Its got a medium nic nit. Not nearly what OJK is, but this is a very very very easy to smoke and fine tasting blend. Its one of those tobacco blends you simply do not get tired of. I like Pease's Montgomery for example. But you just cant smoke it all the time. Im not sure how that works, the psychology of taste, but some blends one can love.....just not all the time. This is an all time tobacco but not bland. Macbaren's My Mixture is a good all the time blend...but its bland. And there is little nic hit. Its delicious, and i keep a tin around but i dont smoke it as often as i might think. The burley here is nutty...like OJK...and the cavendish is mildly earthy, nut like, but more walnut than cashew as it were. The whole thing is just wonderful. A great everyday blend of great quality and it also holds its taste start to finish. In fact thats one of the best qualities of Pegasus. It is totally consistent.

Pegasus is a very popular blend in the same "family" as Haunted Bookshop and OJK, but much less nicotine than either. It's a nice burley blend with a little virginia and unsweetened cavendish thrown in. IMO those two tobaccos don't take the edge off the burley enough. You are left left with a slightly harsh tasting smoke. Good for mixing with aromatics.

UPDATE: In an effort to even out my reviews providing more useful and honest information, I'm updating my review of Pegasus. Like Crooner, this blend is in a very difficult category, the semi-aromatic burley. While this is probably the best of the breed that I have sampled, it still is what it is. It smokes quite a bit smoother than some of the genre (which typically turn into horribly bitey, diluted burlies and/or horrible aromatics). Pegasus is guilty of none of the aforementioned charges it just seems a bit timid for my tastes. When stacked up against Old Joe Krantz, my current front runner, it just can't compete. It's quite like comparing apples and oranges I know but to my tastes, Pegasus will only occassionally have guest appearances in my rotation.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Every once in a while, you encounter a blend like Pegasus and why you smoke a pipe becomes very clear. I have to be honest right up front and say that initially, Pegasus was one of those blends that just didn't grab me. I couldn't point to anything wrong with it but it just didn't grab me right up front. But anyone that has smoked a pipe for any length of time knows that there are three kinds of pipe tobacco: Blends that are instant hits and you know from the first puff that you love (i.e. OJK and Prince Albert in my case), blends that you despise from the first puff and vow to never attempt to smoke again (mixture 79, Borkum Riff Cherry) and finally blends that you have no specific complaint against but they just don't grab you right off (i.e. Pegasus and Edgeworth RR). The first two categories are fairly straight forward, I love it and plan to smoke a lot of it or This sucks I'll never smoke this crap ever again. The final category is a bit more complex. These are the creeper blends that you don't get at first but suddenly begin to reach for more and more until all the sudden you discover a certain taste that is fantastic that it just took you a while to warm up to. This is where Pegasus sits with me. This process of exploration is one thing that makes pipe smoking as enjoyable as it is. A cigar tastes like a cigar, a cigarette tastes like a cigarette, but a pipe can taste like a million things and half the fun is figuring out what is good to you personally. Initially, I found nothing wrong with this blend but likewise found nothing very exciting either. But the more I smoked it the more I began to appreciate the interplay of the various component tobaccos and what a unique and exceptional flavor it really is. Very mild, very tasty and very simple to smoke. At the end of a bowl you are left with a pipe full of grayish white ashes and an anxious anticipation of your next bowl full of Pegasus. The black cavendish is largely responsible for the fragrant sweetness but lest you be fooled this is a good, old school natural blend through and through. Burley runs the show here. The trace amounts of virginia merely enhance the subtle sweetness and provide a bit of body and complexity. The black cavendish is an amazing touch of subtle sweetness and aroma but does it very smoothly and quietly without the goopy, soapy taste normally associated with more heavily cased black cavendish. Once again, Bob Runowski, The Guru of All Things Burley has delivered in fine fashion. The desert island blend is a distinction I rarely find appropriate but if I were leaving to be stranded on a desert island today I think Pegasus, OJK and a few four-digit Kaywoodies would be essential gear. If you are a burleyphile, this one is a must try but the lesson learned (at least for me) was that sometimes even great blends take some time and patience to appreciate. Don't expect immediate fireworks with this one but give it time, once you get it, it's well worth the wait.

Tin: Pegasus smells like sweet toast. Rough cut, light to dark brown, with a mahogany hue, there is the occasional black fleck of roughly 10%. Albeit, having read the reviews, I would agree that it has a slightly sweet classic American signature, with no Latakia smoke or oriental incense. There is no medicinal smell from doctored up burleys as in some burley blends. Pegasus is on the dry side.

Taste and Aroma: I have heard Bond Street praised in reviews of other blends and it must have been a tad bland because Pegasus is no effusion of taste or aroma. The subtle sweetness of the black cavendish is contrasted with a typical stale burley taste and aroma. Again, to its credit, Pegasus is not a cloying, mediciny burley, but feels natural. Smoked outdoors, there is some goopy moisture which drains out of the stem.(An anamoly? This didn't happen indoors.)

Room Note: Decent, for a burley, but still the typical light stale burley aroma.

Nicotine: Medium to strong, closer to strong. It is no more heady than the last blend I tried, an oriental-based tobacco.

Overall: One of the few burley blends I can appreciate, it doesn't have an overly heavy burley smell. As burleys go, good, 3.2 stars. Compare Pegasus to two extremes of flavored burley blends, Half and Half, a drugstore aromatic completely flavored, and Prince Albert, not nearly as cased as H&H, but having decidedly less natural taste then Pegasus. To a degree, I recant what was said about burleys being bland, having sampled a VA afterwards. Perhaps burleys are sometimes described as bland because of the way they naturally taste, and that there is less sweetness.

It's a decent blend but nothing outstanding. C&D offers far better classic American blends such as Old Joe Krantz and Haunted Bookshop. This to me seemed a bit harsh and bitey. There just isn't anything special about this blend.