Cornell & Diehl Pennington Gap

Opening the tin I expected to smell that usual "whisky" flavor standing way above the rest.I did not. What I smelled was IMO,smelled like....(don't laugh)...Banana Pudding. I just happen to love Banana pudding though,so thats a good thing. I pulled the paper cover off the tin(which was before the blessed 8oz tin), and had a peek at the weed. RICH DEEP BURLEY CUBED THE BEST I EVER DID SAY I SAID, and PERIQUE,lawdy mercy,that good ol tobacco from down the road,so good and so right. Beautiful chunks with BLACK CAVENDISH mixed in. This is one of the most premium tobaccos of the whole damn wide world. It packed well and surprized me when it lit so well and stayed that way. The taste is again one of those lucious burley nutty warm/cool smokes. The bourbon is just right and plays softly in the background,disapearing and high-lighting the wonderful rich leaf. The Louisanna leaf has that stewed fruit taste,and it all goes together so well. True tobacco taste. An excellent tobacco blend from an excellent tobacco blender,Brother Craig Tarler. A+++++

update; Hey listen up here,you ever been to the fair? You know how ever thing cooking smells so nice and you wanna eat everything but the wife says you gonna get so damn fat and you eat it anyway? Well,thats how this tobacco is,it tastes like a dedgum carnival! TRAVEL east down to the carnival and taste this delicious tobacco.

Cracked open a tin with just under 4 years of age on it...

Appearance: Mostly dark with some brown chunks mixed in..very "rough cut" if you will..smells deeply of fermenting fruit with a slight tinge of alcohol. Really smells good to me...but I don't detect bourbon in the note..

Packing & lighting: Easy 3-step & go. My sample is at the ideal moisture content, that is to say a tad moist..which I prefer over dry. This enables a nice springy pack and it takes easily to flame.

Smoking: Pennington Gap starts off with a nice sweet note. To me it tastes of a "watered down" cavendish, in a good way. I get the black cav tastes but not in an overwhelming way. I like the occasional bowl of BCA etc.. but I tire quickly of that flavor. Its well presented here not dominating the smoke at all but just contributing a bit to the note and smoothing out the burley. I don't get the perique here really at all..if the description didn't list it I wouldn't have guessed its present. Perhaps a slight spice of it here & there but not much more. All & all a really balanced blend of its component tobaccos perhaps leaning slightly heavier on the black cav. I also don't get much of the whiskey flavor but it is present and for my tastes I wouldn't mind if it were a bit stronger. I was looking for an alternative to Borkum Reef whiskey which I enjoy the flavor of but cannot smoke due to how insanely bitey it is..speaking of bite you will find none here. This is an extremely well behaved tobacco and will tolerate poor technique without issue. A great trait for those times when you're not paying much attention to the smoke and get sloppy on cadence/tamping. That said, its worth taking the time here to really ponder the smoke as it can develop into something more then the sum of its parts would indicate. While its not a "complex" or "heady" smoke by any means you'd be doing a disservice here by not giving it a chance. Burns to the bottom with minimal relights..

Finish: Nice finish here sweetness remains to the bottom without any burley bitters. No goop or dottle mess left behind. Although this is an aromatic I can't imagine this ghosting a pipe with anything other then perhaps a slightly sweet essence.

Overall a good smoke worth the price of admission...can I have a bit more bourbon in mine next time though?

I have a three year old tin that I opened, sampled, didn't care for and put away for the future. Well the future is here and I'm smoking this now.

When first opened the tobacco was quite moist and the bourbon was much in evidence. Now with drying and aging the bourbon has calmed down and the tobacco is much drier, a good thing is this case. Due to the fine cut this almost packs itself and a single match had it off and running. Flavors are varied but a pleasant nutty burley, some raisins (the reviewer who said "dark fruit" hit the nail on the head) the a bit of spice from the perique pretty well sums it up. Takes very little draw to keep going, making it a cool, mild and "quiet" smoke. This will definitely be a regular. though not necessarily everyday, smoke. It is very well prepared and has a taste that's something different. This is one you'll want to try when you can sit and enjoy it.

UPDATE: Time in the tin has mellowed this blend for me and made it more palatable. The sourness seems to have been minimized (perhaps this is due to the bourbon casing wearing off?) and the perique does not seem as overwhelming. As a result, I am upgrading this by one star. It is still not my favorite aromatic and definitely not my "go-to" blend, but it deserves a try. Original review below.

I have to dissent on this one. On the positive note, it DOES actually smell like whiskey out of the tin (unlike most so-called whiskey-flavored tobaccos) and it has a nice medium strength and very good room note. However, the bourbon flavoring is nearly undetectable upon smoking it and all I got, time after time, was a strong sour/spicy taste. It does not taste that sweet at all. Not that this is totally unpleasant tasting, but nor is it something I crave.

On another note: The tin is only half-full (as some others have noted), which might be due to the fact it is sopping wet (with whiskey?), resulting in a very dense leaf. Amazingly, it actually stays reasonably lit without drying in this state. So, I don't see a lot of value per ounce here.

Pennington Gap might be a good one to try out for those you who normally hate aromatics but need something that won't offend others since it's little bit of sweetness seems to come mostly from the tobaccos rather than casings. For me the burley is too sour and the Perique is too much (it makes my nose sting) and the taste is just "ok". I would not buy it again.

This blend was a nice change of pace for me. It burned well with very little drying out, the flavor of tobacco and the backdrop of bourbon consistently called me back for another bowl, and the aroma was very pleasant. I tend to drink ale or bourbon with my smokes, so this worked well. Also matches well with a dark coffee. I liked it slightly above Barbary Coast, but not by much.

what a lovely piece of work craig tarler has done on this one! the bourbon topdressing can definitely be detected in the pouch aroma, with some minor fruit overtones in the background. the blend is mostly dark brown and black in coloration, with both cube cut burley and black cavendish in abundance. the real treat begins when match is touched to weed. the first flavor is a sweetness similar to a fine red Virginia, even though none is listed in the ingredients. apparently it's the bourbon working with the burley to create a different and delicious treat for the taste buds. perique is also listed, although i really don't seem to be able to detect it. maybe it's also working its' magic in concert with the bourbon. like any burley, the real key to enjoyment is to smoke slowly at moments of relaxation and contemplation. i wouldn't pick this as a tobacco to puff while mowing the yard; it would be too easy to rush the burn and ruin the experience. i'm a big fan of smoking burley blends in cob pipes. as i write this, some morley's best (another great C&D tobac) is tickling my tastebuds in a medium sized cob. speaking of which, sometimes i think we in the pipe community can get a bit too hung up on high grade pipes and expensive tinned blends. i've had many a good smoke with cobs and prince albert or half and half. sorry to get off the subject a bit; back to Pennington Gap. this is an EXCELLENT blend with a good room note. if you are any kind of burley fan, you MUST try it. will i be buying more tins? probably not; craig has been courteous enough to make it (and his other tinned blends) available in bulk. if i make it to the KC pipe show, at least one bag will be coming home with me, to be squirreled away in the cellar. can't wait to see what this one is like with some aging! bravo, craig!!

When first opened, this is a wonderful aromatic--smooth, sweet, tasty, with real character. A fun smoke, especially in the summer. Unfortunately, as with most aromatics, the fun subsides the longer the tin is open. After awhile, this seems to be nothing but a nice burley jazzed up with a bit of Perique and some black Cavendish. It's ok, but nothing spectacular.

That being said, if you like high-quality burley as your main smoke, you will probably like this. It's not nuanced, but it is reliably smooth and tasty, especially at first.

If you are an aromatic smoker, especially one who smokes Lane bulks or drugstore blends, run, don't walk, to get a few cans of this.

I tried Penningtoan Gap gap based on the review and recommendation of a friend (here and on a message board). He was right on the money.

When I first opened the tin and took a big whif I thought "Am I supposed to put this in a glass with ice, or in my pipe?" The bourbon smell was really strong. I wondered if I would taste anything else in the tobacco. I needn't have worried. It's a nice looking blend too. Mostly darker browns with some light brown and a bit of black. Felt a bit damp, but that proved to be no problem.

The cube cut made this an easy load. Just gravity feed it in, using the tamper once a while to even it out across the bowl.

The charring light tasted like a sip of bourbon. On the re-light, things got going well. I expected the bourbon flavor to disappear pretty fast, but it didn't. I suspect the topping combined with the Perique to keep a nice toned-down bourbon flavor going to the mid-bowl point.

After mid-bowl the bourbon flavor faded and the Perique came out a bit more. Then the burley started to show up with a slightly nutty flavor. It combined well with the Perique. There was a bit of an underlying sweetness that made an interesting combination with the burley. Must be the Black Cavendish.

Toward the bottom of the bowl, the Perique became pronounced, but not too strong.

Overall, a good smoke. Left a nice fine ash, and the pipe was nice and dry. Required minimal re-lights.

If you like Barbary Coast, Pennington Gap will be a good choice. Not as complex, but a nice change of pace.

Pennington Gap is a unique blend! The tin note is, well, to say the least off putting at first. The flavor in the pipe is very good, the Burley is nutty and earthy with a bit of chocolate to my palate. The Black cavendish brings a smidge of sweetness and the Perique adds a tad of stewed fruit to the mix. The bourbon is there but not as present as it is in the tin note. Getting past that initial whiff of fruit soaked in Southern Comfort you have a pretty good smoke. Burns clean and consistent throughout the bowl leaves some moisture and has a pleasant room note. The nicotine is middle of the road for me. All in all a well done blend. Solid 3 for me.