Cornell & Diehl Engine 99

What a delicious blend! A complex smoky, sweet and spicy blend! The only thing that I do not like about it is that it is inconsistent in the bowl. You either need to age it first or press it (which yields fantastic results!) to get a perfectly consistent bowl of pure goodness.

I did not detect a lot of taste. It burns well, a few relights. My daughter didn't like the room note. It's not too strong but is strong enough. It is a pleasant and flavorless smoke.

Engine #99 is an awesome bulk option for a full English. I purchased 2 oz from my local brick and mortar where it was in a jar. The tobacco was extremely dry so I rehydrated it slightly, but this tobacco will feel fairly dry compared to most tobaccos fresh out of a tin. And I believe this actually serves as a decent reminder that we should all probably be drying our tobacco out more before smoking. This blend’s mechanics remind me of Haunted Bookshop - it smokes cool and dry without any possibility of tongue bite. Hard puffing will produce more acrid flavor but that’s it. It requires a below-average number of relights, and is just the second tobacco (the first being the aforementioned HB) that I can consistently smoke down to pure grey ash with no Doyle. If you’re an English-lover, this would be a wonderful tobacco with which to break in a new English-dedicated pipe.

The Latakia leads the way upon lighting, but I wouldn’t describe it as overwhelming at all. You get cedar and smoked meat and incense, backed up by a nice background of earthy and semi-sweet flavors from the virginias and burleys, as well as some plummy flavors which I’d attribute to the periphery. About halfway down the bowl, a little spice from the perique becomes noticeable, and the flavors darken and deepen a bit. By the bottom of the bowl, the flavors are dominated by leather and woody incense and spice.

The nicotine is medium, it’s noticeable by the bottom of the bowl but shouldn’t overwhelm the average piper.

I would describe this blend as moderately complex, it’s not going to have poems written about it like Penzance but it’s not a one-dimensional smoke by any means and has enough going on to keep it interesting if you want to pay attention. But this blend is so easy to smoke that it’s also perfect for having a bowl that you don’t need to pay much attention to while reading or working while still enjoying great full English flavor. The room note is standard strong English, it’s not going to change anyone’s mind about tobacco smoke, but my wife generally prefers the aroma of Latakia-heavy blends to those of straight virginias or, god-forbid, straight burleys (sad face).

This is a strong recommend, especially at bulk prices. It’s my go-to english these days.

There´s some kind of tobacco that delivers their magic at first hit and here we have definitely one of them. Do you know that kind of tobacco that is so good that when you give the first puff you widen your eyes unconsciously??... This tobacco shows its quality at first puff.

Simply one of my favorite English mixture(E.M) from all times.... do not need many relights, smokes cool and dry, the nicotine level is just perfect, good body, dense smoke, full of flavor, this is exactly what i expect when smoking an E.M.

All stars possible, go for it !

This is my go to tobacco at least for the time being as I'm still early in my journey. I love the campfire smell of this tobacco. I find it a touch peppery, smokey and full bodied. I don't get much of the virginia other than a hint of sweetness. This is my favorite "english" if it can be called that in my local cigar shop.