Cornell & Diehl Gray Ghost

Full-flavoured indeed!

GRAY GHOST is the only tobacco containing cigar-leaf?in this case, Connecticut wrapper?that has ever actually tasted like a cigar to me. At first I almost choked, at the unexpected tang of the thing. I let my Copenhagen Style billiard (a second by Gubbels, the Dutch maker of Big-Ben and Hilson pipes) go out, drank some cold water, and re-lit.

An ounce of Grey Ghost had been a free sample that Mssrs Davidoff of Geneva gave me, upon purchase of two tinned tobaccos, Peterson's University Flake and Robert McConnell's Original Red Virginia. The sample, from a bulk jar, was rather excessively dry, which might have exacerbated the piquancy of an undoubtedly strong mixture. Unlit, it didn't smell like much of anything!

I re-lit cautiously. Things were decidedly more enjoyable this time round. Frankly, I have never understood the idea behind putting cigar leaf into a pipe mixture. If I want cigar taste, I smoke a cigar! Having said that, Gray Ghost is a powerful, strong, pungent, cigar-like experience. After a dinner of highly spiced Indian cuisine, a large bowl of it was very pleasant indeed. At the end of the double whammy, I just had to irrigate my sorely surfeited throat with a large tankard of cold beer, which, not to put too fine a point on it, hit the spot.

An interesting experience, once in a while.

Mostly cigar leaf with just a hint of Virginias. While it tastes like decent quality cigar leaf, it lacks the character of a cigar. As cigar smokers know, a large amount of a cigar's flavor and character come from the wrapper leaf. This is like smoking just the filler which has very little appeal to me. I'm of the opinion that this is why cigar leaf, in a pipe tobacco, should be used as a condiment. This blend very badly needs other components that will compliment the cigar leaf and add some character. Here it's the main course and falls a bit flat. It's not offensive in any way though so it gets 2 stars.

Medium in body. Medium to full in taste. No added flavoring. Burns very well.

Way back in 1999 Cornell & Diehl only sold in bulk and I bought a pound of this. If my memory serves me correct I paid like 16 dollars for the pound. Fast forward to present day with taxes and inflation and at one website for $9.78 per 2 oz can the same amount comes to $78.24. I could not find it sold in bulk anywhere on the web to make an accurate comparison but you get my point. Yes, I am showing my age and as a kid I bought cokes for a dime, Copenhagen for 50 cents a can, etc. Anyway back to the review. I have about a half of jar left of this and it was dry to start with and is really dry now, almost like sawdust. It tastes strong and does have a somewhat cigar taste to it but there really is not much else in flavor. Could be maybe it has seen better days age wise not sure. Obviously if I still have a half pound left it did not have me reaching for more. It is okay but I will probably not buy it again and if I live long enough will finish the rest in probably another 19 years.

Cornell & Diehl - Gray Ghost

I recognize the virginia base on this as having the same sweetness, flavor and quality as the virginia portion from Bayou Morning, one of my favorites.  The cigar leaf portion recalled memories of the famous King Edward VII Imperial cigar and I'll leave it at that.  These two leaves were well balanced but yet the blend somehow felt empty, somewhat lacking in body I guess, like it either needed a magical third component in small measure to round them out, or else maybe if the cigar leaf was more rich, had more depth of flavor. The strength of the blend was good, a decent kick.  I would consider buying this again but it seems like it would make a better hot weather cigar leaf smoke than a cold weather one.

Hmmm, not quite the experience I was expecting. It has a dry natural flavor but I was "expecting" more; I don't know why. The cigar flavor was present but the rest of flavor was a little "watery". I love C&D blends and I shall age some; see you in a couple of years.

aj

The blend description is "Stoved and plain red Virginia are mixed with fine Pennsylvania maduro cigar leaf to form a full-flavored smoke."

Composition: Almost a uniform short-ribbon mixture of light brown color, with the occasional flex of dark brown.

Pouch aroma: Pungent and sharp, the cigar leaf is the dominant scent, I do not smell the familiar vegetal sweetness of Virginia leaf.

Taste: Expecting the strength of the cigar leaf to shine through, I chose a small bowled (group 2) Upshall smooth prince. Flame hits weed, and I taste...nothing. In all fairness I did smoke a bowl of Civil War right before this, but I am drinking water now to cleanse my palette. I slow down my pace and am trying very hard to pick up the nuances of this blend. Perhaps I was expecting a blast of flavor, but this blend is very subtle. It did not grab me at first, but it is pleasant enough to be a good exercise for your pallette. The cigar leaf is hardly noticeable, I think I was expecting this blend to taste *like* a cigar. This is my mistake, there is no reference to the strength or dominance of the cigar leaf in this blend, my own suppositions were misleading. I do not think I will be purchasing any more of this blend, the two ounce sample possess will last for quite a while. The finish of the bowl was consistent, though hardly monotonous. Unfortunately a DGT of this blend introduced an unpleasant harshness.

I give this blend a rating of six out of ten. The quality of the ingredients are undeniable, the proportions simply do not motivate me to purse this blend.