APPRECIATING MORLEYSSON -- BLENDS BY BOB RUNOWSKI

I never met Bob Runowski, who passed away in July of last year, but I have smoked his tobaccos. Bob had a great affection for air-cured leaf.
It was the old-fashioned American blends that he liked best.
His own stuff evoked a bygone era, and a golden age.
Americana, Bailey's Front Porch, Bayou Morning, Elegant Emu, Epiphany, Good Morning, Haunted Bookshop, Home From The Hills, Morley's Best, Old Joe Krantz, Pegasus, Purple Cow, Riverboat Gambler.

Over all, excellent pipe mixtures.

My favourite Runowski blend is probably Haunted Bookshop -- I look at my cellar, and I seem to have the most of that -- but all of his creations deserve praise. Bob was the master of Burley blends, which probably explains why some of his sterling efforts are no longer available. Cornell & Diehl has been Laudisified, and Burley leaf, not being the most popular of blending bases anymore, represents an older America that is fast dying off. The younger crowd prefers fruitloops and cotton candy.

Nope, shan't sneer at any of the berry farts that are now so prominent.
But I will mention that other than Black Vanilla Cavendish (from various manufacturers) and Cherry tobacco (from various even more misguided manufacturers), one of the most popular products among the younger set appears to be Molto Dolce, by Sutliff. Molto Dolce is a soggy abortion, greasy to the touch, in which black Cavendish, Virginia of some sort, and alledgedly a smidge of Burley are drenched in vanilla, caramel, and honey.
It is a flamboyant whore, and may destroy civilization.

This is where the future lies. Laudisi have probably recognised this, and if Bob Runowksi were still alive, he would be horrified.

I avoid Molto Dolce like the plague, as well as its fans; for all I know it might indeed be smokeable. It is, after all, combustible, or so I've heard. I use the open can of Molto Dolce to show what tobacco is NOT supposed to be, as well as to scare people of refinement and good taste.
Tobacco, embalmed with moisturizers.
Bomb shelter shreds.


THE GHOSTS OF PAST LITERATURE

At this very moment I am enjoying a bowl of Haunted Bookshop. It was tinned in 2007. Burley, red Virginia, and a subtle hint of Perique.

Many younger people will not like it, because it is unflavoured, and requires a brain to appreciate. Gandalf imitators with their churchwarden pipes may barf in consequence, and their sponge-brained wives will wrinkle noses in disgust at so horribly un-hobbitlike a smell.

No, I cannot tell you what the room-note is, I do not have a hobbit bitch infesting my living space. Women who like aromatic mixtures are to be strenuously avoided.



I think it probably smells like tobacco.



SHORT CAPSULE REVIEWS

Follow brief descriptions and reflections on products for which Bob Runowski bears responsibility. He will be greatly missed.


AMERICANA
Black Cavendish, Latakia, Burley, and Virginia.

A reliable old-fashioned blend that delivers a steady smoke for the man who wants something unpretentious in his pipe. Not very complex, but it is reminiscent of many of the tobacconist products of yore. If this doesn't remind you of the shop where your father bought his weekly two ounces, nothing will, and you may be dead above the neck.
Highly recommended.
OOP


BAILEY'S FRONT PORCH
Burley, Latakia, Perique, Virginia.

Smoky, mellow, sweet, and earthy. A pensive blend for old-fashioned people. Sometimes the Virginia adds a tanginess when you don't expect it, sometimes it doesn't. It is a very old-school product, and may whomp you with the nicotine. Especially early in the morning.
Good.
Not great.
But damned good.


BAYOU MORNING
Virginia and Perique.

Red Virginias meet peppery Perique. Figgy, and fermentive. Sweet, creamy, zesty, refreshing. An adult tobacco. Memorable.
Undertones of a rich earthiness.
Not for wusses, nor Hobbits


ELEGANT EMU
White Cubed Burley, Latakia, Red Virginia, Perique and Black Cavendish.
Blended By Bob Runowski and Craig Tarler

Burley and Latakia forward, supported by other tobaccos. Smoke it slowly for fullest enjoyment.  The black Cavendish may throw you for a loop; it is not fully a player, and it can be discordant.


EPIPHANY
Burley, Latakia, Perique, Virginia.
Tarler & Runowski
Lightly topped.

Figs, prunes, citrus. Modeled after an old Philip Morris pipe mixture.
Nicely balanced and harmonious. Some people love it.
I don't.


GOOD MORNING
Latakia, Turkish, and Virginia.
Tarler and Runowski

I can't tell you anything about this, as I bought it primarily for the label art, and have never opened a single tin. They're sitting on a shelf with all the other tobaccos.
I suppose eight years age means I should sample it....
But I've got too much other stuff going on.


HAUNTED BOOKSHOP
Burley, Kentucky, Perique, and Virginia.

Robust, and extremely likeable, like a sailor on shore leave. The tin note is tangy, and makes me remember summers long ago. Yeasty. Hay and wild grasses. A lovely product that leaves you feeling satisfied; you will not need to smoke anymore for a while.
I think you should have some tea after puffing this.
Or lunch. Definitely lunch.


HOME FROM THE HILLS
Burley, Latakia, Perique, Virginia.

Ethereally sweet, and slightly nutty. The spiciness of Latakia becomes smooth and chocolaty in conjunction with the air cured leaves. The Perique is a delicate touch.
Virginias: sometimes unnoticeable, sometimes charming visitors. Figgy.
OOP


MORLEY'S BEST
Burley, Latakia, Virginia.

Sweet, creamy, with a very slight spiciness. If you suck furiously, the sweetness fades and the Latakia jumps out at you. This is a blend that requires a sober approach, and will reward forethought.
Not a casual tobacco by any standards.


OLD JOE KRANTZ
Burley, Kentucky, Perique, Virginia.

Coarse and unsophisticated of appearance, providing a potent sweet-nutty-creamy smoke. This may very well be the most straightforward tobacco you will ever smoke.
It is strong, and not for the faint of heart.
Hobbits beware!


PEGASUS
Virginias, Burley, uncased Black Cavendish.

Prominent Burley nose, not surprising given that there are three different types playing together. Nuttiness, almost cigar-like flavours, sweet, ever so slightly fruity from the beautiful Virginia, and clean burning. This is NOT a heavy product, but neither is it for dilettantes.
This stuff smells fantastic.


PURPLE COW
Burley, Cigar Leaf, Latakia, Virginia.

If it weren't for the Latakia, one might be baffled. Cigar tobacco is largely a wuss; in the first few weeks it dominates and dries the mouth, but after several months it will quiet down, and eventually barely be noticeable. This is pleasant and mild, and does not smell appealing to other people when smoked.
Toasty, with the faintest hints of burning sugar and fruits.


RIVERBOAT GAMBLER
Burley, Turkish, Perique, Virginia.
Blended By Bob Runowski and Craig Tarler

Complex, resinous, slightly sweet with a hint of bitterness. Bold. It can hit you in the face. The Turkish proves itself a necessary component, if only to tone down what would otherwise be a cudgel.

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EXHAUSTED ROOSTER

Cornell & Diehl are known for their sometimes whimsical naming conventions, having sent several tobacco mixtures with oddball appellations into the depths of the pipe-smoking universe.

Not all fine leaves need to have English images or British-sounding nomens; the Danes, Germans, and Yanks, all manufacture some fine traditional products, and at this point in time there are more splendid Oriental mixtures and pressed Virginias than what Blighty still produces.

The use of traditional bog and sod and teatime and empire jingoism is a rather stale reminder of the glorious era of London between the 1890's and 1960, when all the legendary tobaccos were still put out by respected eccentrics operating shops for gentlemen and factories adhering to mediaeval production codes.

Rather than exposing you here to a selection of Cornell & Diehl's rebellion against stodge, I would rather direct you to their website: Cornell & Diehl, Inc., where you can explore their world at your leisure.
Alternatively, there is a list of all their tobaccos reviewed (*), on Tobaccoreviews.com, which should always be in your flip file.


I will, however, offer a brief description of a product of theirs which I recently revisited.


EXHAUSTED ROOSTER
Pressed Virginias, fire-cured leaf, and Perique.

Presented in a flake form.


Fruity, tangy, and altogether good. This is a lovely product; Cornell & Diehl hit it out of the ballpark on this one. No, I do not know what a ballpark is or why hitting something out might be a commendable thing, I got that from a book.

I had rubbed-out a handful of flakes to air, then jarred them once the correct moisture level (nearly dry) had been reached. Letting it sit for a day or two in its glass tomb allowed the remaining moisture to redistribute and equalize, as well as an aroma to develop.

Mighty fine stuff. If you like VaPers with a blondish touch and just a hint of naughtiness, get yourself some. Life will be sunnier, your mornings will be exciting, and the fact that the big-breasted amazon took off with your credit cards, cuff-links, and the Ferrari will escape your mind. And that is a good thing. You didn't really need the cards and the car anyway, did you?

I do not have a multiplicity of cards or a snazzy crimson convertible. But smoking Exhausted Rooster made me forget entirely that I never picked up a crazy sex-bombe in an East-German dancehall. Nor have I ever worn tailored shirts with diamond cuff-links, or rafted down the river Oder wearing nothing but leopard skins.
Why, it could have happened!

I am not a big muscle-man, and my chest is not excessively hairy. Nor do I shoot elephant seals for fun and profit. But this excellent straightforward flake tobacco pushes all that into the background.

I am NOT an 'exhausted rooster'.
But sometimes my tobacco is.
It is mild on the Perique.
Attracts fruit flies.


Good smoke.


Dinner this evening will be curried chicken.

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THAT VICTORIOUS MORNING SMELL

Sometimes you sense that people are looking at you funny despite no one else being around. And it must be stressed: no. one. else. around.
Empty apartment. Not another person.
I hear no breathing under the bed.

Probably the stuffed animals. Their cotton-filled brains disapprove. Glass eyes glare in judgment.


No, I'm not Douglas MacArthur. But that IS a corncob.

Burley mixtures are excellent in cobs.

First smoke of the day.


No. 107 - HAUNTED BOOKSHOP
Cornell and Diehl, Inc.

Burleys, with a little red Virginia, touch of Perique. Not for folks who don't like Burley blends. Darn good product, wonderful tobacco. That's it. What else do you need to know?


There's was no well-photographed landing on the beach at Leyte this morning. And besides that, I have no clue what the general smoked. I'm guessing shoe-leather and drug-store syrup, he was that kind of man. The big Missouri Meerschaum he huffed was probably more a personal advertisement, much like Napoleon always sticking his right hand into his armpit before he greeted someone, or Wellington being secretive about his coming and goings. The quirk or foible by which the man may be known.

I do not have any quirks or foibles. Being a humble and realistic man myself. The corncob is a smoking tool, hardly an affectation. Burley blends are purely excellent in cobs, that's all there is to it. Haunted Bookshop is ALSO excellent in a regular briar pipe. My right hand smells of Burley leaf far more often than of left armpits; never of French oxster.

Burley stimulates, as it has more nicotine that most other tobaccos. Consequently it goes well with that first cup of coffee. The entrance to my apartment mate's room was firmly shut by 9:02 AM, and windows were open for ventilation. The tin aroma is of wine, of vegetation, and of villages in Autumn. Coffeeness and herbs.
Malty, cidrous, and lushly reproductive.
I am by no means crazy.


There's a fruit fly in the apartment.


NOTE: My schedule has changed. Baby-sitting the cigar smokers all weekend now. Mondays have opened up again.

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JUST AN OLD-FASHIONED DEGENERATE

Lately I've been indulging in a mixture which Keith at Cornell & Diehl recommended back in early January. It is probably one of the most disturbing things to which I have ever been exposed.

Regular readers know that tobacco blends, by their particularity and unique nose impressions, are memory sparkers of no mean magnitude for this blog.
What something smells and tastes like often reminds me of times, places, and people from my past.
Which is very useful, and great fun too.

Plantation Evening (No. 416) does none of those things.
Leastways, none of them well.

But it is exceedingly addictive.

No, not the way that the usual sour-old anti-tobacco agitator or rabid Berkeley do-gooder imagines. There is nicotine in the blend, naturally, but what I mean is that after each pipe-full I have an urge to promptly light another, because it tastes so good.


PLANTATION EVENING
By Cornell & Diehl, Inc.
Morganton, NC
800-433-0080

"A smooth, reasonably light blend of aged Virginias, Latakia, Perique and a little Turkish. An outstanding, middle of the road English blend with a delightful flavor. "


Mild, mellow, musky, and with a smoothly intense velvety smokiness from the Latakia. Like many Cornell & Diehl blends it is at it's seductive best if you wait a while to open the tin -- they ship soon after compounding, before the tobaccos have had a honeymoon -- and it does need a bit of air after the components have married, but the reward is worth the wait.

The sun shining in through the backroom window, the sounds of construction on a luxury condo complex a few streets over, wild parrots squawking overhead............
And this intoxicating smoky fragrance wafting around.
Jayzus, this is sinful good.

The pipes I've been stuffing it into are a Comoy Grandslam Liverpool (shape no. 30) that may be several years older than I am, a Parker Russet straight billiard which is also ancient, a Sasieni Royal Stuart squat bulldog (shape no. 95) from a by-gone era, a Peterson Canadian shape stamped 'Dublin & London' and 'Made in the republic of Ireland' -- so definitely quite old -- and a Sasieni bent bulldog with four ivory dots.
It's like having historical relics in my mouth.
Positively worshipful.


Possibly even worth killing for. Definitely worth bashing an anti-tobacco agitator or rabid Berkeleyite over. But then the world has so little use for such people anyway.


Thank you, Keith.
Great recommendation.


If we ever meet, breakfast is on me.

TOBACCO INDEX

Post Scriptum: Yes, I really am up this early on a Sunday morning. Can't figure out why. Found out on the BBC news site that an important military facility in Damascus had been blown up by Israel. It looks like the Alawite dictatorship is banking some of its materiel in Lebanon with the psychopaths of Hezbollah. This indicates that regime change is getting closer.
On a different note, according to Dutch newspapers the Amsterdam soccer team Ajax has become the national champion third time in a row (5-0). Excellent news! Congratulations.

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GUARANTEED WOMAN REPELLANT

Once in a while I light up a bowl of Sam's Blend by Cornell & Diehl, Inc.
This is against my better judgement, because both during the smoke and afterwards the chances of women running away from me screaming hysterically are pretty much a safe bet.
Not that this has happened yet, but I know it is only a matter of time.
And seeing as I am still trying to lure a woman into my net ("come here, sweetie, you wanna smell like an off-shore oil-rig?"), you will readily understand that setting fire to a pipe-full of a tobacco mixture which is composed of all the foulest things in Christendom is not a good idea.

Certainly not a bright thing to do.

But it's very good indeed.

Weird man's tobacco.


SAM'S BLEND
Made by Cornell & Diehl, Inc.
Morganton, NC.
800-433-0080

A smooth blend of Cyprian Latakia,
Perique and unsweetened black
Cavendish. An all day smoke.

Yes, it is nice. Sooty, tangy, and sweet. An entirely black compound that includes absolutely nothing for the fairer sex, though the idea of a nice young thing smoking this in secret tickles me pink. She's no doubt blushing fiercely as she puts flame to the bowl. It's so delicious! But what will she tell her classmates? How will she explain the pronounced reek of burning tire?


"I fell into a smouldering garbage dump on the way to school..... nurse said that it will dissipate within hours, and it will probably NOT damage your DNA."


Rich, intoxicating, semi-full, and over all too soon. If this were my all-day blend, it might quickly pall. But as an occasional delicious perversion I can highly recommend it. It's a bit more brash than Dunhill's 'Nightcap', not as ethereal and civilized as Germain's 'And So To Bed'. Why either of those mixtures utilize an end of day metaphor is quite baffling, because like Sam's Blend, they are perfect for that first cup of coffee, although it would be considerate to wait till everyone you live with has left the building.
So probably the second cup of coffee. Make it strong.
A better breakfast than you've had in a while.

It needs a little drying out, and due to the Perique and black Cavendish it will still feel a bit moist, oily even. For something that isn't alleviated in the slightest by paler leaf, it has a surprising subtlety underneath the masculine machotude. Yes, I really can imagine a lovely young lady huffing on this!
One with self-confidence, quiet charm, and a devilish sense of humour.
A woman who reads books that her peers have never heard of, and concerning which their thoughts would consist of "whut?"

This is a fine way to start the day, for regular pipe-smokers -- you'll want something more nicotine-rich later, such as a full flake or matured Virginia, or better yet Greg Pease's 'Navigator' -- but if you are a sometime smoker, this could very well be your go-to tin. A tobacco to enjoy while perusing a book of poems by the Wicked Wasp of Twickenham.
Or Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, if you're into more sprightly stuff.
Spritz some attar of roses behind your ears afterwards.
Before you rejoin your parents downstairs.
Best wait until they're tiddly.
On sherry or port.


If they say anything at all, just tell them you were burning love-letters from an elderly suitor who has joined the priesthood. They should be used to your rare 'individuality' by now.
Or just plain scared.


Like many Latakia-powerhouses, this becomes a harder smoke at the end.
Renders a gritty medium ash, not particularly powdery.
Evenso, I recommend it.

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A SUITABLE PIPE TOBACCO FOR A WOMAN

Back in the seventies many manufacturers started producing tobacco mixtures with what can only be described as whore-house scents.
At that time it was virtually unthinkable that a well-bred woman would smoke a pipe in public, and such people were clearly not the intended audience for these noxious concoctions.
Their dissolute older brothers were.
There is something very unnatural about a cavendish that reeks of strawberries and coconut. It's Frankenleaf.

Unsurprisingly, such things appealed to men of questionable tastes.
As well as highly individualistic clothing choices.

Back then such people did not have tattoos or piercings, and the poor dears had to express themselves in a different vulgar fashion.

One of the selling points of these perfumed monstrosities was that they would not offend the gentler sex. It is more than likely that they offended so well that the anti-smoking movement was given a boost beyond all reason.
Even pipe-smokers like this blogger were almighty upset.
For years, whenever I smelled burnt cherries or chocolate vanilla and boiled nicotine exudate bubbling in the unclean brier of some macho degenerate half a block away, I was outraged, and resolved to give the hairy savage a piece of my mind. Of course my youthful indignation was tempered by the realization that it is useless to lecture such people, as it only makes them more convinced of their own irresistible sex appeal. They will puff up, and think to themselves "dang I must be studly....... because of this wonderful aroma of tropical fruits and nuts!"
It was usually a balding dweeb with a beer gut.
Pathetic, but let the man be.
He's got issues.
Idiot.


If a man shouldn't smoke crap, then a woman should not either.


A WOODSY SORT OF SMELL

In the early eighties I knew a woman whose taste in pipes and tobacco was beyond compare. One of her prizes was a Sasieni sandblast that made men swivel their heads when she entered the room. To my knowledge, she never ever smoked an aromatic therein, solamente full Latakia mixtures (Drucquer & Sons Blend 805 -- now no longer made). The fragrance was heady and sensual, and added more to her attraction than she could possible realize.
Because of her, all over Berkeley there are middle-aged men who still associate the smell of certain tobaccos with likable lovable women. Especially bespectacled brainiacs with a ready wit and impeccable taste.
She didn't drink, by the way. That wasn't her thing.
Good books, fine pipes, excellent tobaccos.
Absolutely ladylike. Well-bred.

Nice women should smoke nice tobacco. Leave the questionable fruity stuff for questionably fruity boys.

Go for smoky Latakia blends and good pressed Virginias. Perhaps something full and dark, or a robust British flake. Even a Burley mixture for solitude, and also if you have a fondness for corncobs.
In fact, there is nothing wrong with a corncob; properly cared-for these will last for years and yield an excellent smoke, especially if you stuff air-cured leaves in them. Burley and a cob are miraculous.

But under most circumstances, the well-bred young lady should probably tend toward fine tinned tobacco with a noticeable Latakia content, up to nearly half of the mixture. These inspire thoughtfulness and vibrancy, and abundantly reward the woman of good taste. Nothing adds to a good book as much as a nice long smoke, quietly by oneself, while any relatives or roommates who lack understanding are off gallivanting about elsewhere.
If you were to have a spot of sherry or a cup of oolong tea while thus engaged, that would be excellent too.


Looking around my own rather crowded living quarters, I can spot several tobaccos that would be utterly perfect.
Wilderness, Legends, Three Oaks - made by McClelland.
These are well-balanced full Latakia mixtures.
Over two hundred tins of G.L.Pease tobaccos, mostly somewhere in the Oriental spectrum, ranging from mild Latakia and Turkish content all the way up to Westminster, which is a lovely full mixture with a profoundly old-fashioned character, splendid with a strong cuppa.
Samuel Gawith and Germains are well-represented - again, full Orientals, additionally various lovely Virginia compounds.
A three year supply of Rattrays, mostly the Virginias, but also Accountants, Black Mallory, and Red Rapparee.
Several boxes filled with tins by Cornell & Diehl in Morganton; full Latakia, exotics, and Burley blends.
More boxes, containing various Dunhill tobaccos, nicely matured.
And of course numerous jars with my own blending experiments, the majority of which range from 20% Latakia to 42.5 percent. Given that I do not have access to the range of raw leaf that commercial blenders can command, I seldom go beyond the low forty range in my Oriental mixes.
My best blends are around one third Latakia or slightly more, and one of which I'm particularly fond is only in the low twenties. In all cases I rely on a good solid Virginia flake to give spirit to the blend; that is key.

After you've had one or two bowls, and before your housemates come home, air the place out a bit, and wash your face. If necessary, fry up some bacon to confuse their sense of smell.
Yes, you will still have an echo of a dark perfume.
But it will be mysterious and alluring.
Quite complimentary.
Enchanting.

A few good pipes, a selection of tobaccos, a favourite tea-cup, and a private place to smoke. That, and a book you cannot put down. Can you imagine anything nicer?

If your room overlooks a garden, open the window one summer evening and enjoy a bowl of flake in the twilight. It will be magical.


AFTER THOUGHT

Of course it is not a good idea to drink tea late at night, and while sherry or singlemalt are nice, you might not have them on hand.
And perhaps you do not drink alcohol.
In that case, I recommend a glass filled with equal measures of ginger ale and cold water, pepped-up with a squeeze of lime. The slight sweetness and the acid will prevent dry-mouth or minor discomfort on the tongue, and will also help bring out the flavours of the tobacco.

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OLD HOLLYWOOD

Several months ago, when Grant's Tobacconists on Market Street still existed, there was an open tin there from one of my favourite manufacturers.
So I sniffed it. Sniffing is very much something that pipe-smokers do, in which we resemble canines somewhat. It's a nose-brain thing.
But unlike your family dog, we do not go around sniffing the private parts of other creatures. We think we can tell enough about their personality, gender, and state of being from their eyes and their conversation.
No sniff test required.

For example, a scowling Berkeleyite Earthmother Type glaring at my pipe with undisguised disdain is clearly a narrow-minded self-righteous diphead, sexually frustrated, and quite likely constipated too. She needs hydro-therapy, heavy medication to make her more socially smooth, and likely a sharp clout upside the head to get her mind off her own sanctimonious self.
I need not smell any part of her to know that.

Unfortunately, I usually CAN smell her. The reek of cramped shrunken soul, coupled with frowsty tribal shmatte from somewhere spiritual and politically correct, as well as soap made out of backyard compost, carries for at least a block down Market Street during rush hour, to disturbing effect.
It's kind of like soggy dog.
Rancidly moist.


There are precious few people whose private parts I wish to sniff.

You probably have the same problem, don't you?

Let us NOT trade notes.


Anyhow, back to the open tin. As that is what leads to this.


OLD HOLLYWOOD
Cornell & Diehl, Inc.

Tin blurb: A blend of red VA, Latakia, red VA cavendish, Turkish & cubed burley designed to bring out the best in these rich tobaccos.
End cite.

I purchased all tins that were left on the shelf. And recently I augmented my supply. I've been smoking it an awful lot lately. Like many of the Cornell & Diehl products that contain Burley, this is neither a blend to huff or hot-box, nor one to slow-sip.
The best tack is to load lightly, and after setting match to it, let it smolder along with some encouragement. It can be enjoyed slowly and steadily down to the bottom, yielding a spicy and almost perfumy note which is incredibly pleasing.
Lightly sweet, and subtly zesty.

One bowl after the shower, another before lunch. One in mid-afternoon, then one more at tea-time. A blend for lightheartedness in any season.
It performs well in pipes of various bores and depths.

It may actually be modelled after something available in the Los Angeles area when my dad was young. He probably smoked something similar as a boy.
As I recall he preferred light Orientals with a bit of Burley among the Virginia.
His pipes gave ample evidence of that.


Blends like Old Hollywood give a hardness to the carbon layer inside the bowl, without the brittleness associated with standard English Mixtures. On that note alone I would recommend it. But Old Hollywood is also a darn fine all-day blend, with enough spice to intrigue.

Oh, and it definitely irritates the living spit out of sourly self-righteous wheatgerm-snarfing Berkeleyite earthmoms.

But that is purely icing on the cake.

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MANHATTAN AFTERNOON

This blogger is a restrained and abstemious person.
I only have good habits. Nothing peculiar.
Nothing I do qualifies as 'bent'.
Especially smoking.

If you see a dapper-looking middle-aged dude walking in your neighborhood with a handsome piece of briar sticking out of his mouth, that might be me. Especially if you live in Sany Francisco, north of California Street; anywhere between Van Ness Avenue and Chinatown.
I like to wander around Nob Hill with a pipe.
Sometime between noon and tea-time.

That's 'San Francisco'. Not 'Manhattan'.

One of the things I'm currently smoking is 'Manhattan'.
Manhattan-ish. Between noon and tea-time.
Hence the title of this post.


MANHATTAN AFTERNOON
Manufactured by Cornell & Diehl.
From the 'Simply Elegant Series'

Tin blurb: Naturally sweet Golden Virginia leaf with a drop of honey sliced into flakes.


The tin I opened dated from 2009.
It bulged in a disturbing way.
Which is a good thing.
Nicely fermented.

It was destabilizing one of the stacks of tins on a bookshelf, so I had to open it. Rubbed it out fully and dried it to the moisture level that I prefer.

The slices of flake where beautiful, of a hue that indicated a lot of deep brown goodness. The aroma was intoxicating, though not overly so. Rubbed out, the constituent tobaccos are somewhat evident, though guessing the proportion of blonde to brunette would be difficult. Some blondes are at heart brunettes.

[Never trust blondes. Good rule to live by.]

I'm about half-way through the tin now, it does not pall. Unlike finer-cut flakes it needs a bit of attention, but the pay-off is well worth it. Smooth, sweet, with a very pleasant rich taste, and an excellent room-note. The drop of honey is more noticeable in the tin-aroma than in the smoke, by a wide margin. And unlike gooped-up blends it does not leave a layer of skank in your bowl.
Remarkably, it is both tangy and creamy at the same time.
Blondes can be a bitch, but this one is very nice.

Smokes down to a fine ash that sounds crisp when stroked across the walls.

Blondes benefit from maturity. This product proves it.

I still have one tin of that vintage left.


*      *      *      *      *      *

I've always admired the attention to detail that the Tarlers of Cornell & Diehl showed in their products. Craig Cornell Tarler passed away on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, aged eighty-two.
He was an all-round good man, and the fraternity will miss him.
Morganton, North Carolina, is a less exciting place now.
R.I.P.

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TOBACCO COMPANIES, TOBACCO BLENDS

This post is about pipe-tobacco, and consequently there will not be much here for many of my regular readers; sorry, but I promise that there will be the usual zany antics later on - in particular something quite perverse in time for Purim.

[NOTE: There are several links scattered throughout the text below - clicking them will bring up my own posts on that subject (EXCEPTIONS: GLP and C&D).]


TOBACCO COMPANIES

Since the nineties several of the old tobacco houses have changed, due to the deaths of guiding hands and profound legal and tax developments in Britain.


DUNHILL

Dunhill blends have not been made in the British Isles since the late nineties, and have been unavailable for the past few years nearly everywhere.
British American Tobacco, which had owned the blends since Rothmans ceased to exist, quarreled with the company to which they had farmed out the manufacture.

Dunhill tobaccos were made in England till 1981, when Rothmans (who had acquired the company from Carrerras in 1972) moved manufacturing to the Murrays factory in Belfast. While a lot of later smokers praised the Murrays product in comparison to what Orlik put out, it should be remembered that the early Murrays tins were quite unsmokeable - sourcing and quality control improved considerably over the years.


RATTRAYS

Now manufactured in Germany by Kohlhase, Kopp und Co. KG (who also do Astleys, formerly of 109 Jermyn Street, as well as the blends of Robert McConnel) according to the recipes developed by Charles Rattray in Perth. The Germans are doing a decent enough job. The one thing they cannot reproduce is the microclimate of the Scottish home of these blends - moisture content in the air, temperature ranges, and the eccentric non-standardization of manufacture combined to produce some very fine tobaccos. What Charles Rattray never realized was that combining different batches of the same blend had more impact on smoking quality than his much vaunted panning method. A variety of ages united to produce richness, whereas uniformity of age and heat treatment makes for a mono-dimensional smoke.

[PLEASE NOTE: The Rattray Virginias are described in this later post: RATTRAY'S VIRGINIA TOBACCO: OLD GOWRIE, MARLIN FLAKE, BROWN CLUNEE, HAL O' THE WYND. They are excellent, still. If you age the tin for a year before popping the seal, you will have a treat. There's enough Rattrays of various ages stashed under the bed, in the book shelves, and on the desk to last quite a long while. Good stuff. ------- ATBOTH, August 12, 2013.]


SAMUEL GAWITH

Still the same, still in Kendall, boruch Hashem. An ancient company with all of the eccentricities of previous generations smoothed out by age, still producing tobacco as they believe it should be. Except for a few monumentally odd aromatics, they are right. They also make snuff.
Supplies are spotty at present - no explanation.


GAWITH HOGARTH

Less pronounceable a name than their cousin Samuel, but no less respected. More steampressing, and more aromatic disasters, but a fine company.
They also make snuff.


MURRAYS

The originators of Erinmore. Which has been described as the painted whore among the tobaccos, the veritable clapped-out harlot drenched in cheap cologne that shakes a syphilitic tit at the unwary. The factory closed in 1998 and the blends moved to Denmark. If you ever wondered why Dunhill Flake seemed reminiscent of a perfumed tart, now you know - same factory and same machines as Erinmore Flake.
Which, despite my austere Calvinist tastes, I am actually fond of, though I will not admit it.

Erinmore Flake, calmly smoked, burns down to a fine white ash, and leaves scant funk. If smoked fast, the top-dressing boils into your cake, and you will experience profound regret.


J. F. GERMAIN & SON

This company makes some very fine tobacco, both under their own flag and for Esoterica Tabaciana. Unfortunately it is becoming harder and harder to find either - blame the continentals for that, as the Europeans have become as daft as the Californians and wish to cripple the tobacco industry entirely. A good place to start the final assault is small eccentric family companies, in the estimation of Brussels.
Supplies are spotty, there is no explanation. And that is likely to continue.


BALKAN SOBRANIE

Yes, it was only a matter of time before I brought up that name - you were anxiously waiting its appearance in this text, weren't you? The company was started by an Eastern-European Jew with Russian and Southern Slav connections. He made very fine cigarettes and a limited range of pipe-tobaccos. The Balkan Sobranie Mixture in the white tin was more famous than any other product, and is no longer available. Nor could it be reproduced exactly in any case - European Tobacco laws would prevent it.

In order: Syrian Latakia, Yenidje and other Orientals, a medium flake, a lighter Virginia ribbon, a dark toasted or steamed flue-cured leaf, and something I cannot identify that wasn't tobacco. Probably deertongue, but I wouldn't stake my life on it. Combine everything except the Latakia and meld with light heat, then add the Latakia, age for a few days, and press it into the tin - which means more heat. Like many tinned tobaccos, the moisture level was upped to make it more malleable and less likely to crumble and fragment with this treatment.

Note that the preferred Syrian Latakia in the sixties and seventies was choice Shek El Bint with far more smoke-curing than is used for any Latakia-style tobacco nowadays. Consequently that exact flavour will not be possible. Yenidje may be replaced with other Greek or Macedonian tobaccos - again, not an exact match. Prilep might not be a bad choice, with Samsoun and Smyrna for a better spectrum. It is worth experimenting, but don't get your hopes up too high.
For more about the Balkan Sobranie Mixture than you would ever want to read (no exaggeration), click here: BS CLICK

[NOTE: Because this post discusses Balkan Sobranie, as of this writing it will be the very first post that you see - simply scroll down for other articles.]



Even though these companies and many others have disappeared, the situation is comparatively rosy. Here in the States we have three companies that make enough fine English tobacco to sink the empire.



GLPEASE

Greg Pease worked at Drucquer and Sons in Berkeley nearly a decade after I left that firm. He learned far more than I ever did. Drucquers was known for its English mixtures, and Greg continued that blending tradition on his own. To such commendable result in fact that his nickname on the internet is "The Dark Lord".
G. L. Pease owns Latakia in the same way that McClelland owns flake.
He has in recent years also done some very fine things with pressed tobaccos and Virginia mixtures.

[For all other posts mentioning his tobacco, click here: GLP. This post will also be shown - just scroll down to whatever you have not read yet. Same rule holds for some of the links embedded elsewhere in this post.]


CORNELL & DIEHL - CRAIG TARLER

Despite having a peculiar fondness for Burley tobaccos, Craig produces some of the best blends in the business. As well as manufacturing Greg Pease's blends. If you are so inclined you can purchase many blending tobaccos from his company, or simply order the blends that your local tobacconist does not stock.
I particularly recommend Red Odessa.
Yale Mixture and Old College are also very fine products.
His flakes are excellent and deservedly well regarded.


MCCLELLAND

By now this company has the hoary veneer of respectable age, having been founded over a quarter of a century ago, and many of the other tobacco houses having disappeared since then. This company is famous for pressed Virginia, on which they more or less base all their products. They also employ heat and steam for particular effects. Many house blends at local tobacco stores are bulk McClelland mixtures; many other retailers depend on blending tobaccos supplied by McClelland. Not everyone likes them. But without them, pipe smoking in America might have disappeared.
You can find out everything you need to know about them elsewhere.



With GLPease, Cornell & Diehl, and McClelland in the market, we need not worry overmuch at present. These three are keeping America's smokers more than adequately supplied with high quality pipe-tobacco.



BLENDING A BALKAN MIXTURE

Balkan Sobranie Mixture as made by Gallagher was probably around 36.00% Latakia, 24.00% Oriental (Yenidje etcetera), 32.00% Mixed Virginias, and 8.00% Black Virginia (steamed and baked, rather than pressed or fired), or an unflavoured Black Cavendish.
Black Virginia is quite unavailable nowadays, and unflavoured Black Cavendish is extremely hard to find.

If you simply want to blend a good Balkan, you may increase the proportion of Latakia or Virginia - the Oriental is nearly at full capacity anyhow, and as long as you use some remarkable Virginias you can not go wrong.

Fluffed flake should not be much more than the other Virginias unless you are aiming for a slow and almost boring blend; ribbon Virginias increase smokeability, but also heat and tongue-bite.
Plain Cavendish is smooth, and doesn't add much flavour - it can be used in lieu of too much yellow ribbon.

Toasted Cavendish (actually fire-cured Kentucky) up to one twelfth of the total adds depth and body. Any more and you might end up with something too acrid.

If you use Perique, be discreet. Optimum percentages are between four and eight.

Avoid dark pressed (black) flake as a blending tobacco. It doesn't really work, as it is only narrow-range compatible. Which means Virginia mixtures and nearly nothing else.


Final note: Do NOT create a Latakia dump. While Latakia is a remarkable tobacco, it works best in concert with others, not as a solo. Anything over fifty percent is both juvenile and excessive - maximum 45% is plenty. You can increase the dark component of your blend by adding unflavoured black Cavendish (if you can find any) and Toasted Cavendish (which is actually similar to Burley and other air-cured leaf).
Doing so will produce something remarkably Scottish in character, which is probably what you want anyway.


LABELS

For further reading, do please note all the labels underneath this post. Clicking any one of them will bring up all posts which have those labels appended - today, this post is on top of the heap (and you have already read it) so simply scroll down to the next one.

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MUSICAL INTERLUDE

A gentleman recently came into the pipestore to enjoy a quiet smoke.
It was not to be. San Francisco is determined that your personal smoking time be as discordant, nay, disruptive even, as possible. Largely because many of the natives are discordant. And even disruptive.

[If you smoke outside, some yenta will invariably walk past and either loudly exclaim her disgust, or start yelling at you. Someone else will make a wide (and loud) detour. Yet another person will threaten to call the cops, or give you a long lecture about what a horrible degenerate you are. Children will stare at you in wonder - "mommy, that man has a piece of wood in his face!" - "Hush, darling, he's a very BAD man, just IGNORE him!" You will be thanked for ruining someone else's lungs, and a complete stranger will threaten you with a dry-cleaning bill. So you smoke at the tobacco store, or skulk near fast-food joints. Bitches.]


After he had got his pipe lit we exchanged pleasantries. He had been trying to find a substitute for the Saint Bruno Flake, which, if memory serves, was a Virginia style tobacco made from Kentucky leaf. Formerly manufactured by Ogdens. Smelled like shaving soap. Although it has also been likened to old socks and digestive tablets. Spicy and fruity at the same time, due to a top-dressing reminiscent of stale Earl Grey tea.
Not as strong in pong as the Erinmore Flake (Murrays), nor as powerful in flavour (or nicotine kick to the beitsim) as Condor by Gallaher's.
It has its loyal aficionados.



IF THE DEVIL BLENDS TOBACCO, THIS IS IT: DAEMON PUBES

As we talked I remembered the product. Not with any great affection (due to a vomitous experience many years ago), but even so with a straight face. Which was made much harder by the fact that a pilgrim outside the store appeared to be having a fit. A street person with a straw hat had found a notebook lying on the ground near the plate glass, and was happily singing from it. With verve, and what might be talent, he was translating the clearly visible sketched contents into riotous song, veritable paeans of emotion.


"If you like flakes, have you tried..." I would begin, only to discover myself drowned out.

"Eee ah, eeeeeeeh ahhhhhh, my lord, wingggsss!!!" sang the street person. The illustration that he was interpreting showed a tree with birds in it, in smudged charcoal.


"This lovely flake from Cornell and Diehl..."

"These winggggssss of fire, and feathers of flaaaaaaaame" yodeled the minstrel, gesticulating with his straw hat. There was a sail boat on the page that he sang from, no text, no musical notes. He didn't mind.


"...really very nice tobacco, with a touch of Peri......."

"Higher and higher, wings of fayarrrrrrrrrr, yeah clouds, clouds, clouds of glory!!!!!!"
Even from my perch at the back of the shop, I could tell that his teeth needed work. Specks of spittle landed on the plate glass. He was looking at a double spread - a voluptuous nude holding grapes.

His enthusiasm, having reached a very high level, made all talk inside the shop impossible.

In silence, we passed tins back and forth - the tobacconist has a large number of open tins for sampling, including Cornell & Diehl, GLPease, Germains from the Channel Islands, Esoterica, and others.
Every time someone tried to speak, as if by magic (or concentrated evil motives), the squalling from outside would interrupt.

A customer came up to the counter with some cigars from the humidor. Tom at the register tried to ask "did you remember how much these were?"
But what everyone heard (from the now fiercely vibrating songbird) was
"I shall exchange, these cruel chains, for a crimson steeeeeeeeed!!"Tom went into the humidor to note the prices, money changed hands, thank yous were mouthed, and the musical gentleman in front of the store practiced vocalizing - "eeeeh, ah, eeeeeeh, ahhh, eeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
Then he belched. Before continuing.

The other pipesmoker, having finished his bowl of University flake, loaded up on the fine product from Cornell & Diehl.


'EXHAUSTED ROOSTER'
C&D's annual blend for the 2008 Chicago Show. A tasty flake of Virginias, Dark Fired Burley and a dash of Perique.


I hope he enjoys it. Cornell & Diehl make some very good tobaccos. If I see him again, I will have to ask. I didn't stick around to find out.
Having finished my own pipe too, I headed back to the office. I'm not a very social person by any standards, and the operatic performance outside the shop had drained me.
As I turned the corner, I could hear "marble pillars, marble floors, gilded ceilings and oaken doors" floating out over Market Street.

What IS that kind of voice called? Heldentenor? Maybe a tenor buffo, but one with a very rich round sound.
It is very, very annoying.
And I think I've got acid indigestion now.

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INTERNATIONAL TOBACCONIST CONSPIRACY

A correspondent who is newly posted to the barbaric hinterlands sent a plea that speaks volumes of the primitive hickville swamp-burg where he is in exile.

Well, actually, that is not quite correct.
It really indicates that he is seriously buckling down and working, rather than off gallivanting around town with the hot hot hot shiksas.
Oh, those zesty native girls. A hardship.

He asked "how does one order a 50g tin of Dunhill London Mixture via the intertubes?"

The question establishes three things.
He is spending much time at his desk with the books.
He is running out of stuff to smoke.
He has good taste.


"How does one order a 50g tin of Dunhill London Mixture via the intertubes?"


With an excess of faith.
That's how one orders London Mixture.
Seriously, good luck. It may no longer be available.

There are several stores that do business over the internet.
I have dealt with these two:

Cup O` Joes: http://www.cupojoes.com/

PipesandCigars.com: http://www.pipesandcigars.com/



ALTERNATIVES

In lieu of Dunhill London Mixture, you might like Cornell & Diehl's Red Odessa. It has less Turkish, but is a profoundly old-fashioned style English blend.
Of course there's also the GLPease stuff - Westminster comes to mind - but that may not be what you are looking for.
[I say this because I know that you have been exposed to much of the Dark Lord's domain. If it satisfied you, you would not need to consult me.]

Other good medium-range English mixtures with a Turkish overtone are Peterson's Old Dublin, Esoterica (actually Germain's) Margate, and J. F. Germain & Sons Latakia Mixture or King Charles Mixture.
All are deliciously degenerate.

There's also Samuel Gawith's Squadron Leader - a perfect Balkan style blend, very old fashioned, nicely reeky. Bit of a broad cut, which makes it a little hard to get used to, but once you've got the rhythm of it, delightful.



ADVICE TO EVERYONE, NOT JUST TOBACCO MAIVENS

In regards to "read-testing" a blend before you buy it, tobacco reviews dot com (http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/browse_all.cfm) is a good resource, and can be very amusing, as a pipe smoker who realizes he just spent fifteen dollars on a tin of boggy sphagnum he would never touch again, even if it were the last tobacco on earth, becomes a very angry, very venomous, very eloquently foaming at the mouth critic. Such a man's review will spill out in lyric sputtering rage exactly how he feels about the heart-wrenching loss of fifteen bucks. The heavens will tremble, the earth will shake, and all the world will know of his agony, despair, and righteous indignation, by gum. He has been robbed, and he seeks justice!

Many of such reviews are seriously good reading.
You will really feel for the bereaved cheapskate.
Or resolve to rib him without mercy if ever you meet him.

==============================================

On a different note, I think I have succeeded in blending Arcadia. Arcadia is properly called the Craven A Mixture, which was formerly produced by Carrerras, and has long been unavailable.


ARCADIA

The writer J. M. Barrie was a customer of Carrerras at Wardour Street during the 1890s. His book 'My Lady Nicotine' mentions the Arcadia Mixture, which he later admitted was actually Craven A. With Barrie's approval Carrerras featured this in his advertising, thus cementing the association of Craven A with Arcadia - which Arthur Conan Doyle subsequently drove home in 'The Crooked Man': "Hum! You still smoke the Arcadia mixture of your bachelor days, then!" (Holmes to Watson upon entering the latter's bachelor digs).
[See: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Crooked_Man
From 'The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes', by Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 1894.]


Arcadia was heavier on the Orientals than a regular English blend, though lighter on Latakia than you would assume. It had a range of Virginias for several different notes of flavour, and a touch of Kentucky ("Toasted Cavendish") to accentuate the Turkish.

Drucquer & Sons had a blend called Arcadia when I worked there in the seventies and eighties. It was quite good - very Oriental, though with a smidge too much Kentucky.
McClelland acquired a decades-old tin of the Craven A Mixture in the late nineties or early two-thousands, and analyzed it meticulously, eventually producing 'Arcadia' as part of their Sherlock Holmes series. It is decent, but it has that well-known McClelland characteristic, and to my mind far too heavy a Virginia taste.
Craig Tarler of Cornell & Diehl avers that his Yale Mixture is in fact the nearest approximation of the famous blend. I will gladly admit that I am fond of it, and will attest that it is a very fine product indeed.

But personally, I think they're all wrong. Of course.
What I have comes closest to Arcadia.

Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener.
Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener.
Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener.
Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener.
Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener. Neener neener neener.

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UNWASHED FLATULENT PEASANT, WITH A HINT OF CITRUS

We carry scars from the past in our souls. What hurt many decades ago still floats to the surface in the quiet of the night; we must have pacifiers to distract us from unwelcome memories.

Books, entertainments, and pretty things - these are the baubles that lead the mind away from minefields.


Oh, and pipes and tobacco. Of course! What would life be like without pipes and tobacco?


During my childhood I developed a taste for good quality pipe tobacco, which cost four or five times as much as the pouched dreck common to the hordes. It was a profound hardship. There were many times when I did not know if I would be able to buy that precious tin of Balkan Sobranie or Dunhill London Mixture and I often worried that the tobacconist would raise the prices, or not order any more...... being seemingly the only person in Valkenswaard with a Latakia fetish was the full extent of my teenage angst.
Yes, you sympathize. I can tell.

[Balkan Sobranie Mixture: Somewhat less than half smoky Syrian (Latakia), nearly a quarter resinous Oriental (Yenidje from Thrace or Macedonia), and for the rest, charming flue-cured leaves (Virginia). It stank. But tasted very very nice indeed.
Dunhill London Mixture: More than forty percent Latakia, twenty four percent Turkish (Smyrna, Samsoun, etcetera), plus Virginia Cavendish, with perhaps a smidge of something else. It stank. But the taste was quite appealing.]


I am scarred - I got kicked out of a bar once for smoking Dunhill Nightcap.

[Dunhill Nightcap: Fifty percent plus of Latakia, on a base of dark Virginias and Cavendish. Need I mention that it stank? It was delicious!]



SOMETHING ABOUT APPLES, TREES, AND DISTANCE


Recently I was at the local tobacconist, observing a transaction while I smoked. An elderly gentleman was buying a pipe for his son. Between the two of them they carefully examined most of the good quality briar in the store, before carefully choosing the specimen that pleased them both. After paying the father asked about certain tobaccos - he fondly remembered Balkan Sobranie.
Alas, Balkan Sobranie is no longer available, hasn't been for years. The Dunhill he asked about can no longer be found either. The fragrance of remembering has been diminished.


The son, being of a more recent vintage, was perfectly happy with Greg Pease's Westminster, and also smoked Abingdon - both are English style mixtures of Latakia, Oriental, and Virginias. His dad had brought him up well.
Evenso, he lacked some of the crucial background data necessary to fully participate in the conversation. His stinky memories are not the same as our stinky memories.
Our stinky memories are better. Much much better. Positively putrid.


After they left I purchased four tins of Germains - two Tilbury, two Dorchester.

I cannot remember which one of the two has been described as having a pronounced odeur of unwashed flatulent peasant, with a hint of citrus - both blends are aged Virginias mixed with other substances, so it could be either. At some point I shall find out.

It will be delightful.

==================================================


THE PEFUMED IMAGINATION


Currently working on a tin of Cornell & Diehl's 'Old College' (#530), which is a robust and flavourful interpretation of full English with a touch of air-cured leaf among the Virginias, darkly fragrant. The tin has been aged for two years. It is very good.

Other English blends by Cornell & Diehl which smokers of English mixtures would like are Red Odessa (#968R) and Yale Mixture (#531). Red Odessa is quite enchanting, Yale reflects a less Oriental persona admirably. Both have substrata of some very lovely Virginias.

Craig Tarler has champions with these three products.
They are the past recaptured, in several wonderful ways.

As always, age first, then air a bit.

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EPIPHANY; A PECULIARITY

Confession: I have never smoked Revelation, which Albert Einstein enjoyed when it was still made by Philip Morris, nor the version later produced by House of Windsor. The closest I've come are some of the Burley blends made by Drucquer & Sons in Berkeley -- not available since that estimable enterprise was run into the ground by many bad decisions nearly two decades ago -- as well as some mighty weird crap from Sutliff. Consequently, I have nothing to compare Bob Runowski's recreation of that disappeared product to. I'll just have to assume that Epiphany is as close to Revelation is can be got.

Oh, and I've tried some Iwan Ries stuff. Which was educational.

But I really like Bob Runowski's oeuvre, so I gave it a shot.

This may not become a regular part of my rotation.



EPIPHANY
Blended by Bob Runowski
Packed by Cornell & Diehl

Burley, Virginia, Latakia, Perique.

Essentially this is an American tobacco with an English attitude. It has that characteristic roundness of taste one expects of a Burley blend, and the Latakia is restrained rather than obnoxious. And it is easy to like.
It does not knock my socks off. The Perique is a nice touch.
Complex, woody, generous.

I've heard that there is a light fruit scent added; it is not really noticeable, but I distrust such things, and that may be shading my opinion. Many old fashioned American mixtures were like that, and anything with Burley may benefit from the treatment. Air-cured leaf often leaves me strangely dis-satisfied, though, and toppings seldom ring my bell.

Epiphany is a very good product, but I have to be in the mood for it. Sometimes it just isn't the right time of day. I hasten to add that I am not at all like Albert Einstein, and have a perverse fondness for Turkish tobacco, which many regular American blends lacked entirely.

It does make me wish that I had smoked both the Phillip Morris and House of Windsor versions, though. Having those nose-memories would have made smoking Epiphany a remarkable adventure.
Perhaps I need to smoke more of it.



Add it to the reference library.

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OLD COLLEGE, AN AMERICAN STYLE ENGLISH TOBACCO

Cornell & Diehl produce a huge number of tobaccos that can best be described as English Mixtures with an addition of Burley, and one might almost think that they intend to own that market. Unfortunately, that isn't exactly a growing segment, as aromatic crap has dominated the trade for at least the last three decades. The Europeans, of course, tend to prefer panty-waisted odoriferous abortions, but even here in the United States, fruity whore house perfumes overwhelm the unwary.

You know, stuff that smells of berries, cherries, peaches, and apricots.
With unsubtle additions of vanilla and caramel.
All very popular!

Cornell & Diehl is not participating in a popularity contest. Most of their offerings replicate the feel-good experience of a reliable old-fashioned tobacconist, and though they have a peculiar fondness for air-cured leaf, they do well with the English mixtures and know their condimentals.


OLD COLLEGE
By Cornell & Diehl

Latakia, plain black Cavendish, Virginia, Burley

Initially the Latakia dominates, but it is soon gentled by the other components of this likable blend. Soon you notice that yes, the Burley is not shy, and inserts an almost chocolaty note into the discussion. If this is smoked fast, the Burley may clobber you, and ask that you refrain from re-offending, at least for a while.

Burley often communicates in the form of tongue-bite. Which with this blend it has done for me at times. I should only smoke this calmly after nightfall, not in the middle of the day. And bourbon goes remarkably well with it at that time.

When this product sings, however, it is almost beyond compare.

It should be on your shelf, though not an every day indulgence.

Smoke it when you enjoy being alone with your day dreams.



Old College sounds like the sort of thing that students should smoke, but this is not a tobacco for young lads. Instead, one imagines elderly mathematics dons jamming this into their briars, before setting off through the groves surrounding the campus to surprise lubricious naked couples and raccoons in the underbrush. Perhaps they have blackthorn walking sticks with which to whack at the wildlife.
In any case, beards. Big bushy beards.
And very smelly tweeds.



Not suitable for aromatic perverts or young degenerates.
A very civilized and educated tobacco.

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