Cornell & Diehl Pennington Gap

When you open the tin, the smell of some kind of liquor immediately floods the environment. When you bring it to the nose, it seems that instead of tobacco, it is bringing a glass with some type of alcohol, until the unmistakable perique that fights with the topping for the prominence also appears. The mixture is mostly very dark, with a good number of black leaves, and to a lesser extent dark brown, nothing strange if you take into account the tobaccos that compose it. In the tin that I bought, the tobacco cut does not come in cubes but in ribbon, with some black flakes rolled up on themselves that I took care of unrolling for better drying and equalizing the size of the strands. I let it dry for about fifteen minutes and although the tobacco is still a bit damp I carry the Santambrogio, one of the pipes I have for smoking aromatics.

When lighting the vapors of the alcoholic topping that it carries are released. Once in operation, the aroma and flavor are quite intense at first and similar to what it promised when opening the tin. Generous amounts of heavy smoke are produced during smoking and the tobacco burns evenly and constantly without requiring more than a few re-ignitions, even though the drying time was quite short. For the topping it reminds me of some other aromatic based on whiskey but unlike those this one is drier and does not attack my tongue at all, although I am smoking it with a faster and more carefree cadence than I usually do with this type of mixtures. The liquor gradually disappears during the smoke and, reaching the middle of the bowl, it only appears subtly from time to time. Curiously, the same thing happens with the perique, as if they were hand in hand from beginning to end. From then on the smoke loses a lot of grace and becomes progressively monotonous and flat.

In general it has been pleasant in its first half and I look forward to repeating it tomorrow in another pipe to see how it behaves the second time.

"What a lovely piece of work Craig Tarler has done on this one!" "Pennington Gap taught me a lesson. Don't judge a blend strictly by its ingredients." "Pennington Gap is just great." "I normally don't care for aromatics, but I have to say this is some nice stuff."

With the above comments as a guide I bought two tins of this blend - I'll be buying my next installment in bulk. My normal Astley's, Dunhill's, Pease's, Gawith's, etc. are still my cherished friends...but bowl after bowl in pipe after pipe I really enjoyed this. The term "fun" has been often used in reviews (Fun? Hmm-m-m-m. We'll see about THAT.) Well, I can only say that I agree wholeheartedly. I sipped, I sidestreamed, I puffed like a steam engine going out of the station. It all worked, though severe puffing brought out the gurgle. I didn't care, pipe cleaners are cheap...I was having FUN! The aroma is OK, the burn is easy and complete, the taste is excellent, the SMOKE is sublime. With a nice satellite photo I'm sure you could pick out my smoke stream from 200 miles up! Clouds of the stuff! What a delight! Layers - no. Subtlety - no. Development - no. Back slapping, knee whacking, by gosh I like this stuff fun - you betcha! Buy it. Enjoy it. You'll be glad you did.

Update: I tend not to smoke many non flake blends, finding they smoke to fast, but this seems great in a smaller bent pipe, as I have recieved bite from prolonged bowl-fulls of this, my small bent cured this & allowed constant waves of the very nice sidestream smoke!

THis one was craned straight to the top of my favourite " other than VA's" -smoke list, this is a premium burley/perique blend with an aromatic bent. Some may think this too heavily topped, but I think the perique & cube cut balance the whole thing out very nicely. The rich woodsy/cherryish/spicy-sweet tin aroma is very appealing to me, both in the tin & bowl. Fairly intense this is , The C & D fellas Don't hold back with the perique! So if your like me & you like the intensity of a perique-heavy blend you will enjoy. Now this & McC's 2015 are my 2 favorite smokes to sit back & sink roots with a bottle of mash with. ( in moderation)

As I continue on my journey through the world of burley tobaccos I decided to give this blend a whorl. Wow- Tasty! I hesitate to describe this blend as a burley only because it is much more of an aromatic than anything else. I normally don't care for aromatics, but I have to say this is some nice stuff. The relights are sweet rather than bitter like most burley blends and the smoke is nice and rich. The casing is one of the better even though the tin smell is very strong. You can definitely taste the quality tobacco used in this blend, however the flavoring is certainly the dominate taste. This is fine in this case since the bourbon topping is done quite well. The only other aromatic tobaccos that are flavored with booze that I don't mind are mephisto and Orlick's scotch mixture, and both are not as good as this one is. It burns nice and cool like a nice burley should. If you are looking for a great burley experience and nothing else this may not float your boat, but if you want to try an excellent aromatic with a fine rich tobacco taste, give it a try. I think you will be surprised!

I hate to say it but this great tobacco may just well be the final nail in the ol' Latakia coffin. Until a short while ago, I was a sworn Latakia addict. That is until I met Barbary Coast and other fine high-quality Burley based blends. These types of tobacco have that real "tobacco" taste without being focused on a particular flavor (such as Latakia). Why it took me over a decade to figure this out is beyond me.

Pennington Gap is just great. Don't be fooled by the Bourbon casing. While the tin aroma is Bourbon big-time, the flavor of the tobacco is not. Instead, it has a full-bodied all natural tobacco flavor with touches of Perique spice and Cavendish roundness. Hints of natural (not casing) sweetness. A nice aroma but not aromatic in that goopy sort of way.

I guess Latakia blends to me are like Scotch whiskey, whereas Pennington Gap and other similar Burley blends are like Sour Mash. Both are dark and naturally woodsy/sweet, but one is smokey and the other is not.

Really good stuff. Try it!

I purchased this tin based on it's description. I like some Burley blends and the addition of Perique to spice it up a bit and Black Cavendish to smooth it out sounded very much to my taste. Finished with Bourbon I thought might be good if not over done.

When first opened, I found the blend to be a bit on the moist side compared to other C&D Vintage Blends. The aroma of Bourbon was pretty strong.

After letting the tobacco get a little drier, I dug in and fired up a bowl. My initial smoke was nothing special, perhaps a bit of sharpness from the Perique but not exceptional, just good.

Smoking several more bowls over the course of several weeks really put the hooks in me. This blend is very smooth and flavorful, with a welcome bit of sweetness I wouldn't expect from Burley. The Black Cavendish element contributes this I suppose, but it doesn't overwhelm. The Bourbon flavoring is done very well, it should please both fans of good aromatics as well as fans of Burley. The tobacco flavor is predominant, and it is good. Pennington Gap, like most really good blends, is more than the sum of its parts. It is a rich Burley lifted up with a sparing amount of Perique - which I have come to appreciate.

The cut makes for very easy loading and smoking. It seems to burn a bit quickly, but that is probably because it is so enjoyable. It seems to like larger bowl sizes. "The Gap" smokes very nicely to the bottom of the bowl and has earned a place on my short list of favorite smokes.

Pennington Gap is described on the tin as "finished with bourbon for that touch of southern hospitality." I'm not a big fan of blends finished with spirits, as I find they tend to bite a little more than I'd like. The tobacco itself is a "crumble cake," a coal-to-chocolate color with bright flecks of cube-cut burley, and the tin aroma is sweet, fruity, and slightly nutty (the burley shining through, I presume).

The tobacco's exposition is smooth and clean, with an easy light and an initial burst of flavor. There is a definite casing that is well-balanced with cavendish and burley, and burns off quickly, leaving distinct flavors of cavendish and something slightly sour (the bourbon?). Perique makes intermittent appearances through the first third of the bowl, becoming more pronounced as the bowl progresses. It's a tasty and satisfying smoke, very smooth, cool and gentle, exceedingly pleasant through the nose. I've smelled a friend smoke this blend as well, and it has a wonderful aroma.

I notice a bit of the sweetness returning towards the end of the bowl. It seems to take on some fuller dimension and linger on the palate at its finish, and leaves behind a very fine white ash.

This is easily my favorite C&D blend, and a great blend for a regular smoke.

Pennington Gap taught me a lesson. Don't judge a blend strictly by its ingredients. Based on the description, I should never have even tried it. Burley?no way! Cube cut?absolutely not! Bourbon?.I can't stand the stuff! And some way Perique and that Black Cavendish stuff is going to bring it all together?.Impossible! But I was tempted as I noticed that other reviewers that prefer English Virginia, Oriental, Latakia blends "suprisedly" liked this blend. And so do I. The pouch aroma is heavy with burley, and the aromatic prevails. The blend looks like something I would have made in a food processor. But, in the pipe, the burley and bourbon and Cavendish combine into a very pleasant uniform nutty smooth taste. Each seems to mute the strength of the other and combines into a very pleasant flavor. The Perique adds a snap to the blend. As much as I have tried, it is impossible to make this bite. Burley blends usually grab me in the back of my throat, but this blend does not do that. Although it is fairly moist for a C&D blend, it smokes dry, and cool. The flavor remains consistent from top to bottom. The bottom of the bowl had nothing but a very dark, blackish ash. The room aroma is very friendly. This is one of the few blends that I can notice and enjoy the aroma while smoking it. I prefer it in a small bowl, and I have been smoking it in a very small Meerschaum. In fact, I do not like it in a large bowl where the burley becomes more prevalent. My overall description of this blend would be "fun". It goes well with beer, burgers, dogs, and apple pie. I also recommend it in bulk rather than in the tin form. This is a heavy tobacco by weight (one can gravity feed this from a long distance), and the bulk form is vacuum sealed, and it looks and feels like a brick. The package could be a lethal weapon in the wrong hands. You can reach into the bag and run your fingers through the funny cut components adding to the fun. This would also be a great blend for a beginner for it's a non-goopy aromatic with plenty of flavor, great aroma, and no bite. Although it cakes easy, I would not use it for breaking in a new pipe for the aromatic may flavor the briar. I would recommend this to anyone regardless of their normal blend preferences?..just for fun.

Dark sour berry flavor, sour oaky cask taste, pungent Perique and woody Burley.

This is a deep, funky, earthy, woody smoke with a familiar sour berry note found in Iwan Ries Dr. Bradley mixture.

This is a love it or leave it. All but the most open minded will have a strong opinion on this one.