Cornell & Diehl Pegasus

Based on my hazy memory of Bond Street, I think Bob Runowski did very well. This is a burley/VA/cavendish blend with a predominantly burley taste and a nice room note. I liken this one to Hearth & Home's LJ Heart Burley. This one burns more cleanly than LJ Heart but doesn't have quite the flavor explosion. It reminds me of a cereal I use to love as a young man - Fortified Oat Flakes. A nice, oaty, slightly sweet flavor.

As with a lot of C&D blends, the cut of this one is all over the map. As always, I'm amazed that it burns evenly but I blend on occasion for myself and I leave the blending for others to the professionals. If you enjoy a nice, lightly sweet, meaty blend that can be smoked all day and you've eschewed burleys in the past, this is one good place to start with burley blends. I doubt I'll return to this one very often but it was a nice experience.

The combination here works. I especially enjoyed the cavendish "nut like" flavor that came on strong with the Burley, particularly over the last half of the bowl. The Virginia stayed in the backround from start to finish, but did lend to what I termed a solid "bottom" once I got there.

I've had better tobacco, but I've also had a lot worse. The 50g tin was worth the price. I was reminded of days gone by - good ones, I might add - while smoking this tobacco. I think Grandpa would have enjoyed it, too.

This blend is nicely balanced between the Burleys and the Virginias. Can't say that I noticed the Black Cavendish. Nice body, nice flavor, and satisfying. I like it for an occasional treat.

The third blend in what I refer to as "Bob Runowski's Holy Trinity." Pegasus is an enjoyable smoke, although after indulging myself with Haunted Bookshop and Old Joe Krantz, I must admit that I miss having a little perique tucked in with my burley. The flavor of Pegasus is most certainly burley driven; it’s nutty, earthy and slightly sour with touch of bitterness. The Virginia does add a delicate natural sweetness to the mix and the Cavendish gracefully softens the edges.

There's an excellent balance of bite free flavor here and just like Haunted Bookshop, the more I smoke this blend, the more I want to smoke it. Pegasus does have a bit of a kick to it, but this is a nice starter mixture for anyone looking for good ol' fashioned sweet tobacco flavor. A perfect blend for a well seasoned cob.

Pegasus isn't complex, and I don't think it’s intended to be either. I held off on doing a review for a while because I wanted to really "get" the blend. The other reviews here are pretty high, so I thought I was missing something. In the end, Pegasus simplicity is its highest attribute. I believe it was blended to be an all day smoke, and all day smokes are seldom complex powerhouses. It's burley forward, and has a nice medium earthiness with some light pepper spice to keep it interesting. The pepper could be mistaken for a touch of perique, but it’s probably the dark burley tobacco. The cavendish is detectable, and adds a mild toastiness that always reminds me of a burnt marshmallow. The cavendish also does a lot to improve the room note. Nicotine is not overpowering, especially for an C&D burley offering. Which makes this a great all day smoke in my opinion.

I have been a huge fan of Bob's blends since the early 2000's and was really saddened at his passing, but like all legends, his blends live on for future generations to enjoy. Pegasus came packaged dry with the usual C&D Burley rough cuts (wild cuts) and a fresh hay, almost vegetal aroma in the tin, no aromatic essence whatsoever. Whereas OJK and Haunted Bookshop can beat you up with their Burley and Perique 1-2 punch, Pegasus keeps things subdued with the addition of unflavored Cavendish. The Burleys, Virginia and Cavendish all work in harmony to make a Medium strength Burley blend that has an OK room note but not one in which you will win any friends within smelling distance. I think Haunted Bookshop could benefit from having a little of this Cavendish added or perhaps adding a little Perique to Pegasus, either way I feel I am missing a little spice in this blend but it is pretty good otherwise.

This is an awesome burley-based blend. Not quite a set and forget blend for me, when I pay attention is when I see this tobaccos charm most. The three burleys are nutty and toasty with oats. The Virginia is bright and grassy sweet. I get a honey sweetness from the black cavendish which brings the whole blend together. I taste honey-nut cheerios when I smoke this one. Great combustability, room note, and consistent flavor.

I like this blend. This is a nice chewy tobacco...by this I mean it had great mouth feel, it wasn't flat at all, I knew I was smoking something and felt the substantial quality of the smoke. C&D only uses distilled water to hydrate their tobacco so this was not flavored by any humectant and it arrived more on the dry side. It had a nice mildly sweet aroma that mixed well with some nuttiness and slight haylike character. The Burlies and Virginias are quite well balanced and the Black Cav. lends something, but not much since there just isn't much in the tin. Nicotine content is moderate and when I puffed on some of the Pegasus in the early morning it was definitely an eye opener and helped me get moving, in many respects (grin). Moderate volume of smoke, burns pretty well. This is a broad ribbon-like cut so it tends to burn quickly but if you are partial to a burely blend with a moderate kick and some sweetness that is not overdone at all...give this a try. Hell you'll probably give it a try anyway if you are obsessed with trying new blends and on the persistent hunt for your tobacco "Holy Grail".

I've recently been in a "hold the latakia" phase. Maybe it's the Summer weather that drives me to Burley blends, maybe it's just that I like 'em. I believe it's a given that C&D are one of the premier blenders of Burleys and I tried this one out after pouring through reviews, looking at component tobaccos, etc. hunting for blends that featured Burley along with VA. Perique, and perhaps other condimentals...but NO LATAKIA. An innocent little tin of 'Exhausted Rooster' kicked me into gear. If you haven't tried it and you have any affection for Perique, then you need to get some ASAP. THIS one (Pegasus) was purchased via an online sale in an 8 oz. tin on the basis of reviews here. To my delight, the tin I got was put up in September of '07. Nice! (I got another tin, of VA Gentleman in the same order that was put together in March of '06!) You can read other reviews here for the nitty gritty of this or that nuance...it's all pretty personal or often depends on the pipe in which it's smoked. But this is certainly a high quality, well flavored blend that should suit the likes of Burley smokers. Of special note to me is that in some ways it mirrors the flavors found in Edegworth Ready Rubbed, but smokes cleaner in my experience. Some have commented on what might be a flavoring added...it's slight, and if anything it reminds me of dark molassas...adding to the deep Burley flavor in a very positive way. Call it a semi-aromatic if you will. To me, there are a number of Semi's out there in which the added flavoring enhances the tobacco blend in question - a whisper as opposed to a shout - this is one of those cases. Burley usually needs SOMETHING added to get it off the ground a bit, asside from the high quality tobaccos used this one was designed with a deft hand.