Cornell & Diehl Pennington Gap

My absolute favorite aromatic tobacco that I have smoked thus far. This comes as no surprise given my affinity for bourbon whiskeys. The initial tin aroma smells strongly of bourbon - possibly strong enough to put some off. However, the burn is not accelerated. Instead, it burns steadily and evenly, giving off a wonderful aroma. The taste itself is unique - extremely satisfying, full and sweet. It's extremely relaxing - best suited for when one has the time to enjoy it (or rather when one doesn't have the time, but would like to get one's thoughts in order). It seems to get better with every tasting. The perique, burley and cavendish complement each other almost perfectly - each picking up where the others leave off. This is an absolute must try, to say the least.

This is a wonderful blend. It's one of my favorites; up there with Haddo's Delight, Barbary Coast (which is very similar), Escudo Navy Deluxe, and some of the Wm. Serad line. I like VA and/or burley with Perique and especially when topped off with some type of liquor. Pennington Gap is sweet, but not artificially so. It is aromatic, but not overly so. It is eminently satisfying, but does not bite. It has body and adequate strength, but it is not harsh. I give this blend an "A".

I must admit, the more I try the Cornell & Diehl blends, the more I become a fan. I've already added Frog Morton Bayou, Mississippi Mud, Cross Eyed Cricket to the rotation, with the sole exception of Canal Boat not quite meeting my tastes. That was a disappointment, as I was hoping to add a mild burley (besides a Captain Black type) to my collection. I've read the reviews here for this one, so decided to try it out, and was pleased from the start. I didn't get that green taste I often detect in a burley blend, and the dark fullness reminded me of a mellow slightly sweet coffee, with perique adding some spice. This brand is pretty expensive in my area of the woods, almost 15.00 a tin (ouch) but I don't regret the experiment, and have foumd a perfect after dinner smoke, particularly when sitting outside on the porch. The one caveat, it smokes a lot stronger when in a moving car, etc, and the extra heat seems to make the nicotine effect a lot stronger, even with a cap on the pipe. However, that's my experience with it.

I do not have the time to describe the attributes of this tobacco in detail as others do. However, as I do wish to contribute some feedback, I will simply rate this tobacco on a scale of 1 ?10, including tenths.

Absolutlely a great tobacco with nice flavor and extremely good burning qalitites, no doubt due to its fine cut. I rate this tobacco 9.9 out of 10. You can't miss with this offering from C&D!

Appearance: Cube cut, fairly small and uniform size. About 50% dark, 50% medium brown colors. Quite moist for a C&D offering. I had to let it dry out bfore packing it.

Aroma: Opening the can releases an almost overpowering sweet and boozy aroma. After it dries a bit, some burley nose appears, although the booze seems to predominate.

Packing: While still moist, it can easily overpack. When dried properly (for my taste)it packs easily into any size bowl.

Lighting: Lighting is the usual two match affair. Not too slow or too fast to catch.

Initial flavor: To me, this tastes like Borkum Riff original. Way too sweet, and too much of the Bourbon. Much sweeter than Barbary Coast, which I like.

Mid-bowl: There is some tobacco flavor as it burns into the middle part of the smoke, but I still find the flavoring way too dominant. Burns cool and dry for an aromatic. (There, I said it. It's an aromatic, nothing but an aromatic).

Finish: Not much change at the end. It left the pipe dry and clean, and surprisingly little of the aroma lingers

Summary: No place in my rotation. There are other Burley based blends much more to my taste. This is probably the lowest rating I've ever given to a C&D product.

01/14/2004

I purchased a tin of this at Campbell's Smoke Shop in East Lansing, Michigan. He must not sell a lot of tinned tobacco, because there was a pretty thick cover of dust on the lid of the can I purchased. I made the purchase on the strength of the reviews on this site. I was not disappointed.

Others have lauded the virtues of this fine blend so well that that there is little that I can add. It is pleasant to the eye. Its fragrance in the tin is rich and pleasant. I find the components unusual: Burley, Black Cavendish, Perique!, AND Bourbon. The blender did exceptiona work in conceiving and bleding this fine tobacco.

It is a delight to smoke. I rated it "I smoke this on occasion." only because at $10.00 per 2 oz. tin locally I will cannot afford enjoy it more often than an occasional treat. Pennngton Gap and MacBaren's Burley London Blend, though quite different,share one common denominator: they are two exceptional Burley based blends. I recommend them both.

Beautiful aroma in the tin, like berries of some kind.

First Smoke: First puffs are only the slightest bit sweet. There is a dry, astringent smoky taste that is probably the bourbon topping. I don't think I particularly care for it. If the underlying blend were slightly sweeter it would be better. Later in the smoke the flavor becomes somewhat sweeter and the bourbon smokiness lessens to bare detectibility.

Second smoke. Less smoky-bourbony this time and sweeter. Nice and sweet, gorgeous virginia flavor. You may ask why I said "virginia". Well to me this tastes like it has Virginias in it. Perhaps it's the Kentucky that tastes that way. Anyway this is a keeper.

If you're averse to booze-flavored tobaccos, don't be put off by the presence of bourbon here. This is a very well-put-together cubed burley blend. As with most C&D/Serad/Pease burley blends, it has a slightly "green" taste to it. This mostly gives way to the classic burley nutty flavor by halfway but never completely vanishes; the Perique keeps things lively, while the Bourbon-cased cavendish adds a bit of body and subtle sweetness.

Cool-burning, tasty, and bite-free, this is an ideal tobacco for breaking in new pipes, and the cube cut makes it well-suited for pipes with wide bowls, such as Savinelli Autographs. Were it not for the "green" taste, this could be an all-day smoke for me.

This one has a very crumbly, cube-cut texture which makes it a very even burner, and it smokes

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dry and clean to the bottom for me - in this respect outdoing its cousin Cross-Eyed Cricket, although CEC has a more flavorful taste.

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There's a noticeable bourbon flavor which gives it a unique smell, but which isn't overpowering at all in the smoke. Perique is noticeable,

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and the burley rounds out the offbeat flavor to a very enjoyable finish. This is an understated tobacco for me... When I first tried it, my

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reaction was muted, but with each subsequent smoke it has become better and better.