Cornell & Diehl Riverboat Gambler

DK compared this to be the gentleman sibling to OJK.. I haven't smoked original OJK (only the blue label), but smoked and love the Haunted Bookshop which is said to be very similar to OJK. From the first bowl on I had the feeling that Riverboat Gambler is a more nuance version of Haunted Bookshop! It has the same woodsy and earthy Burley tenor with the same zing and fruity, peppery edges as Haunted Bookshop (from now on "HB") has.

First off the tin note...its very natural, tobacco-ey, earthy and woodsy with a slightly sour-fruity backbone. Actually very similar to HB! Mahagony colored tobacco. Reddish, brown, few bright streaks and a moderate amount of black Perique leaf (I'd estimate it about 10% maybe).

In the pipe the smoke is richly earthy, decently woodsy with a nice, yet mild aroma of nuts. Very(!) reminiscent of HB in the Burley department, this nice earthy-woodsy, tart-dry aroma.! BUT - and this is where Riverboat Gambler satisfies me - the Turkish/Oriental adds its very own, special charme to it. It adds a mild, buttery and somewhat woodsy, mildly ethereal note to the smoke, that make it very pronounced and refined. It harmonizes perfectly with the very slight caramel-y sweetness from the VAs. RB is a tad sweeter than HB, but still rather a spicy smoke and makes for an excellent All-Day-Smoke - be it sipping consciously on the porch, or doing paper-/gardenwork.. Riverboat Gambler will deliver!

Burley in front, with delicate Perique zing, exotic Turkish spice - a very harmonious blend of richly flavored tobacco leafs! Good Blend!

The bold, rough burleys offer plenty of earth, wood, nuts, light cocoa, sugar, and spice as the lead components. The very floral Turkish produces a lot of earth, wood, dry sourness, spice, vegetation and herbs in a support role. The spice from the earthy, woody perique combines with the spice from the Turkish, so it’s hard to gauge its impact. Plum is its most obvious aspect as the perique is just above being a condiment. The Virginias provide a fair amount of tart citrus, grass/hay, some vegetation, bread, mild sugar, floralness, and a touch of acidity. They form the base of the blend. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the medium mark. The taste is in the center of medium to full. Won’t bite, but fast puffing may result in a harsh, cigarette note. Burns a tad warm and clean as a moderate pace with a very consistent sour, nutty, floral, spicy, mildly sweet, rugged flavor that extends to the long lingering after taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. The room note is pungent. Not an all day smoke.

-JimInks

A Coarse Cut with irregularly sized bits in different brown shades and a few black spots. The scent in tin is rather unpleasant, sort of sweet-sour Ketchup. Moisture is perfect. Good stuffing and lighting properties. It burns quite dry and fast, leaves back grey ash and a clean pipe.

My preferences of pipe tobaccos are Perique forward Va/Per blends, and heavy English Mixtures. Now, I like Perique, I like Orientals, I like Latakia, but I generally don’t like the combination of Perique with Orientals or Latakia. That’s why I wanted to give this mixture a try, for a change and new experience, and because my 87-year-old father likes it. Here we have Virginias, Burleys, Perique and Orientals.

Over all I find it interesting and not unpleasant, in fact I find it a very harmonious mixture of these different tobaccos. Complex, yes, but not deep digging. The most prominent here is Burley, slightly earthy and nutty. Then there is a pleasant, spicy, peppery Perique that donates power to the mixture. The Virginias are present with notes of bread and yeast. The Orientals are subtle and give a cushioning body to this blend. There is almost no sweetness, and absolutely no flavouring detectable, something I like about this robust mixture. The nicotine level is quite high, unfortunately. But, as always, YMMV. Definitely recommended, it’s out of the ordinary and offered me a new terrain to explore, although I will not buy it again.

this is a flavorless, harsh blend done waste your hard earned money. I tried different pipes still the same result. tried my second tin same thing harsh and flavorless.Smoke half of first tin and 3 bowls of second tin before I trashed them

I love old time burley,virginia and perique blends and nobody does these better than C&D. Somehow, the bitter flavor mentioned by some of the other reviewers also got the best me. It has to be the turkish. OJK is one of my all time favorites and the contents are almost identical with the exception of the turkish leaf in Riverboat. They smell very similar in the tin as well. In my mind I was thinking that the addition of the turkish would add another dimension to this blend, but it just didn't work for me. On a more positive note, the quality of this tobacco is superb, just not to my taste.

If you like Burley , this is an excellent blend with medium Perique content and very light Orientals (The Virginias goes almost unnoticed), good nicotine and with a dry taste, this a very flavorful smoke.

Update: This blend deserves more attention from Burley Smokers in my opinion, its Outstanding Stuff!!!

Well I couldn't decide easily if this blend fits for a three or four star rating. It has a fantastic combination of flavors. But is it too robust for my tastes? It also has a straight, real tobacco taste which is similar to cigar smoking. I think just the lack of some more sweetness was the problem for my rating decision. I can easily detect the different and enjoyable flavors of the tobaccos in this blend. It offers a nice quantity of nicotine. Packs well and burns even.

I hate to say it, but I was a bit disappointed in this one. I really enjoy many of C&D's other blends in this vein (Old Joe Krantz is my favorite), but I found this to be bitter and a little harsh. Otherwise, the taste was fairly nondescript -- a lot of smoke, with a hint of burley or perique making its way through every now and then. In fact, it reminds me a little bit of Haunted Bookshop, which also didn't ring my bell. The presentation and smoking characteristics are top-notch, however.

Yep, this seems like an old time blend, like in the days when Edwards Vintage Cube was fuller or Smokers Haven Pedigree was more potent.

I agree this blend seems on the "milder" side of Old Joe Kranz (very strong) and Haunted Bookshop (moderately strong to medium) in that order of strength. Maybe more Virginia is in it. Maybe even more elegant! But it does have taste and natural body. Neverhtless I have had puffers tell me they felt woozy after a bowl. I don't think it has that that much perique for such an effect, but beware.

It does have a dry (non sweet) taste but it is very tasty nonetheless. It has more of a white burley taste than OJK or HB which have more of a Kentucky side I feel. Maybe that is the turkish reacting with the blend (but I don't detect that leaf too much otherwise).

The perique seems much less that OJK (20%!), and it doesn't kick in until the bottom half, making the taste more spicy.

It is a dry smoking blend too that burns quicker than most. No gurgles here.

Recommended for the white burley fancier who likes some extra body.