Cornell & Diehl Pennington Gap

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.

A Burley blend with heavy bourbon casing. Excellent cube cut that burns evenly when dried slightly, Gravity pack lightly or you will not get the proper draw. The burley gave me the typical sour flavors and the bourbon was just enough, but overall it was nothing to write home about. The nicotine punch was heavier than the flavor.

A friend gifted me a tin of this just today. It is my first C&D blend. The tin was dated 4-14-09, so just a little over a year old. Upon opening the metal lid to the tin, I took a whiff of the tobacco and it smelled just like alcohol-soaked bananas - and VERY over the top. It also reminded me of very sweet bubble gum. "Oh, oh, where's the tobacco," I thought. It was also quite moist for the tobacco to have been 13 months old. You couldn't tell it was really cube cut Burley by the feel as all of the tobacco was very spongy. I loaded up a meer-lined briar and smoked a bowl. I have to say I was not impressed. Surprisingly, the strong tin note did not translate into the taste. As a matter of fact, there was no taste of it whatsoever. All I tasted was a spiciness that I attributed to the Perique, disagreeable at best, and thankfully, not all of the time. Not like what I am used to with Perique or Kentucky leaf. It actually made me a bit nauseous. Mostly, the experience was of smoking hot air - very boring and not enjoyable.

Now in all fairness, I will leave the lid off for a week at least to dry this some. I want the tin note to vanish as much as possible (hopefully all of it) in the hopes of bringing out some real tobacco flavor next time I smoke it. Until I dare try it again, only 2 stars. Not a good introduction for me to the C&D line. I almost wonder if I got a bad batch considering the many 3 and 4 star reviews for this tobacco.

UPDATE 9-3-10: No change from previous.

UPDATE 2-13-12: Looking for something different to smoke tonight after a long day of teaching which kept me on campus till nearly 10pm, I dug Pennington Gap out of a tobacco cabinet that consists of "hardly ever smoked" tobaccos. Although it had dried out considerably since its tinning from over 2 years ago, if given to me without prior knowledge I would say it was still quite fresh. It wasn't sticky to the touch, but stuck together with compression and a tad more springy. It still smelled of alcohol soaked bananas but not nearly as when first opened. In all fairness I would have to say it was like smoking hot air. Only the Perique made itself known from time to time with its spicy signature. There was a mild side-stream sweetness at times but not enough to satisfy. If there is any Burley - or Kentucky Burley for that matter - it has yet to make itself known to me. Now I am a lover of good Burley and smoke Aged Burley Flake, Burley Slice, and Edgeworth Sliced on a regular (daily) basis. The Burley in Pennington Gap is nowhere in the same league in my opinion. I know it is all about personal taste, but I just don't get all of the glowing reviews where the Burley is touted to be the holy grail here. I just can't see it, let alone taste it! Out of respect for my fellow pipe smokers I will hold to 2 stars, but personally, that's a stretch for me.

This is a decent blend that definitely differs from typical aromatics. There is a slight taste of Bourbon and a bit of woodiness but what you really taste is the Perique and burly. The blend has a good balance and lights as well as any tobacco I have ever tried. The casing does not foul up a pipe, and is very light. There is a bit of a kick from the Perique but it is most evident in the tin note, which is almost of rotting fruit.

This is a unique blend. The cubed burley is pretty good here. The accent of spicy Perique combined with the bourbon topping give you a great sweet/spicy combo. I smoke mostly English blends at this point. But this has a place in my rotation. It's really hard to describe this blend. Try it if you are looking for something different.

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.

This is a nice blend that definitely needs to be dried out so to enjoy its qualities most fully. A very nice sweetish aroma mixed in with some nuttiness. It burns well after drying and produces a moderate volume of smoke. I found a chunk of stem which looked look a piece of mulch in my 2oz tin...C&D has some quality control problems as others have noted before. The perique hangs in the background but raises its head from time to time, not overpowering. All in all a nice bourbon cased burley but with little depth.

This blend basically tastes like every other blend of whiskey flavored burley, the only exception being that this one doesn't bite. It whiskey flavored tobacco is your thing, you'll probably enjoy it. It's rather dry and rough cut and causes no dottle in the heal of your pipe.

Something about topped cube-cut burley blends doesnt agree with my palate. They simply taste like slightly sour hot air to me. While I can recognize that this is a good blend, it simply doesnt do it for me. Still, its a well made natural aromatic and I would recommend it to those looking for such a tobacco.