Cornell & Diehl Engine 99

Engine 99 is a great mixture in which to begin transitioning from medium English blends to strong English blends. It is not overpowering but it's strength is noticeable when compared to many medium category English mixtures. It is a good blend to make one's standard. Heavy in Virginia and Latakia with a rich Turkish undertone. The Black Cavendish cuts the more robust tastes of the Oriental leaves with it's sweetness while the Perique spice cuts on the sweetness.

A nice English smoke. Hevay on the orientals and, as it happens with most C&D's, with a strong Burley presence. A good, quiet smoke but nothing to write home about. If you like a slightly muted English/American smoke, this is it.

About a month ago a fellow pipe club member gave me what was left of a 2 oz bag he had picked up somewhere. I had three small bowls of this in an Acorn Corn Cob. I like Pirate Kake though I have never tried the Red Odessa but find this blend nice and smokable. So many Latakia blends out there I do not know how to describe them to differentiate them from each other. Also, three bowls really aren’t enough to give it the proper review and respect it deserves but I may buy some more down the road. I would give it a try.

Pipe smoking is an amazing hobby. I smoked cigars for 20 years before I braved my way into pipedom. You can never go back to a good cigar and see if it changes over time. The caveat to that is, I guess, you are wealthy and buy boxes of several cigars at a time and can go back to a box with the same, exact cigars. I am revisiting some C&D and GLP blends. I decided early on that I would start a tobacco collection that allowed me as much variety as my wallet would allow. I am blessed and have dozens of open tins in jars along with unopened tins put down to age on a whim. I know the range of my pallet and try to buy blends that I know I will like, not to many wide ranging purchases. C&D and GLP have so many lines that appeal to certain tastes, that you cannot say this blender will have a "type" Each line has a type. As I have broadened my collection I realized that I had to backtrack and re-experience some blends. Having gone from John Bull pouches to Penzanze and back again, I had found my preference and upon revisit rediscovered some amazing blends. Engine 99 was one of them. This tobacco is something you cannot appreciate until you appreciate Red Virginia's. This English takes in the earthy, mellow and spice character of the Red VA and plays it off of the other varietals of leaf masterfully. The Orientals and Latakia are the stars of the tin note. Sour, smokey are the two that hit you first, the sweetness of the VA and some dark fruit is also in there but way in the distance The smoke is really interesting. My first pass on this was Latakia and classic English. Not a Balkan, I think the Perique is what kills the malty flavor I love in Balkans, but that does not mean that it kills this blend as a leader in this genre. The lead flavors come from the Red VA and the Latakia, to my palate they are in a dead heat. The Latakia is smokey and sweet and it plays wonderfully with the Red VA. The earthiness and the smokey sweetness are prominent from first light to the end of the smoke. The Perique provides a white pepper spiciness that work well with the Turkish/Orientals that are woody and a bit buttery (I think that is from the interplay of VA and Oriental). There is Burley in here but I cannot call it out as a "flavor" in this blend. I think in all great blends that you are not supposed to be able to call out each leaf, we only try to show off in our reviews, the Burley is a complement to all of the other leaves in this blend. I really like what C&D did here, I can't say it is a favorite but it is an amazingly good blend and each time I go back to it I am surprised all over again at how good it is. A must try.

I passed by this blend many times while shopping for interesting English styles. I read and reread the numerous reviews many times thinking this might be one to try sooner or later. I have to say that it was Briarpatchs' review that made my interest pique. As with all things consumable, you tend to find people who have like tastes, never identical, but similar. His reverence for Standard Mixture Medium was one of the indicators that we could share some flavor profile interest. I have to say that I was correct, at least on this blend.

To begin, I agree with the assessment that this is a very solid blend. Plenty rich and full flavored with a solid English profile with one very overt exception. Perique. Now don't get me wrong, I really am a perique fan, and like it alot when it works in a blend. Here is the exception to that rule. The perique content is very, very low. But, the flavor is there. It is detectable. And that is where the rub is, because it just doesn't work in this blend. It would be a solid four star blend if it didn't have any perique. It would be even better if there was just a breathe more Turkish. Maybe replace the perique with a like proportion of Turkish.

Having said all that, this is a tasty tobacco. The flavor of the perique here just holds it back alittle. It doesn't ruin it. I would recommend this to anyone who likes the English genre and doesn't mind a pinch of perique flavor in the mix.

The burn rate is good, not exceptional. The vitamin N content is on the low side of medium and picks up to just short of a solid medium level at end of bowl. Packing was a breeze, although I rarely have problems packing any tobacco. No bite detected even when pushed a bit. A slight bitterness detected if you heat it up though, so go slow and take your time with this one. The complexity level should keep most smokers interest throughout the bowl. A good one to smoke while I write at the computer, and equally good for moments of quiet contemplation.

Verdict: three stars...will keep a good supply on hand to cellar...perique haters need not apply...otherwise, give it a try. Cheers!

The lat leads the way from the start. It is smokey and sweet. Unfortunately, for me, it takes over at just after the half way point and is too dominate crushing the other components. This keeps it from the fourth star for me. Otherwise it is a great smoke. Behind the lat is burley which is nutty and earthy with notes of molasses and a very faint cocoa nuance once in a while. The orientals are there as well, they are woody, slightly sweet with a nice sourness that I associate with them. I also get a creamy flavor that may be from them as well. They also have a slight musty note on occasion when they move forward. The VA always stays in the background for me but they do have a tangy dark fruit note that I find in red VA's. There is also a very vegetative note that comes and goes and I am not at all sure which variety this is coming from. The perique is almost unnoticeable. I do get a faint pepper note here and there and perhaps a raisin like note that comes and goes but is also rather faint. The nic is really closer to mild it will not satisfy a craving but it could be someones all day lat blend if the lat does not overwhelm the palate like it did for me. Still for those of you who love higher percentage of lat without heavy nic this would be a good one to try.

This is one of three recent C&D blends I purchased, the other two being Star of the East and Mountain Camp. After much research, I felt confident in buying 8 ounces of each, hoping I would not be disappointed. Engine 99, by strength, is in the middle of the pack and, to me, seems to be fairly close to what I consider to be my definition of a standard English mixture (even with the Cavendish and Burley). It does get a bit heavy towards the end of the bowl though. The basic components are there, the sweet/sour aroma of the Virginia along with the heaviness of the latakia. I can't detect much of the Perique it contains (but not really an expert though) but does have a somewhat "nutty" flavor to it. I assume this is the Burley tobacco. I'll say you can't go wrong with this blend. It's a very middle-of-the-road English (not great but not bad at all), readily available from C&D direct or from several on-line stores and very reasonably priced as most of the C&D bulk blends seem to be.

This is one latakia heavy blend, that needs to be stated early on. If one is not looking för that, this surely won't be a snug fit. The second thing about it one should know is that it is not sweet. Rather there is a wood-ish quality about it reminiscent of that of a cedar infused cigar, however not quite as pungent. There is not much to this one in terms of complexity, it offers up a straight profile that does not change throughout the bowl. For me, that does not matter. I enjoy it, quite so actually! For a latakia smoker who feels like smoking something straight, no surprises, it delivers. And for that price, one can not really ask for more.

I'm a big fan of Latakia/English blends and this one is a keeper! I found it while exploring said blends at a cigar/pipe tobacco shop and was drawn in by the canister aroma (kind of like the cookie stores in the mall). While I prefer a somewhat stronger tobacco, this one is smooth, burn well, and does not produce a lot of extra moisture when smoked at a slow-to-medium rate. Flavor is broad but not too hard of a kick in the palate.