As with all my reviews, the opinions expressed are 100% my own and your mileage may vary. The tobacco being reviewed has been purchase by myself and I’ve personally smoked several bowls, in various pipes before writing this review. I’ve also linked the TobaccoReviews.com review for your cross reference.
Photo Info: Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop Pipe Tobacco, Savinelli Churchwarden, Kitchen Matches, Halloween ornament, Northwest Gentlemen Bison Leather Tobacco Mat. Photo by TheSaintlyCatholic
Pipes Used: Briar Only
Age When Smoked: New
Purchased From: TobaccoPipes.com
Strength – Medium
Taste – Medium to Full
Flavoring – None
Room Note – Tolerable
Tin Note – Earthy, Woody
Rating – ***
My Review
I normally publish my tobacco reviews on Friday, but with Halloween falling on Thursday I felt it was only fitting to publish my review of Haunted Bookshop on Halloween. I’ve had this blend sitting in my cellar, unopened for over two months. I had been saving the first smoke until just before Halloween. After all, if one is going to open something “Haunted” might as well do that on the scariest day of the year. Right?
Not all tobacco tins include a lot of detail about what is actually in the tin. My tin of Haunted Bookshop included the following statement written on the label. “Another of the late Bob Runowski’s blends, named in honor of the famous novel written by Christopher Morley, Haunted Bookshop is a Burley and Virginia blend with just a touch of Perique”. This “touch” of Perique is what I believe makes Haunted Bookshop a special blend for me.
As I have noticed in a few of the VA/Per blends I’ve tried, my palette just isn’t too keen on Perique. Especially where the Perique is front and center or equal with the other tobacco. With Haunted Bookshop (as stated on the tin and what my experience has been) the Perique is very much in the backseat and doesn’t overpower the Virginia and Burley.
Due to the fact that I only just opened this tin a few days before Halloween, I’ve only smoked two bowls and both have been in a briar. But I have no doubt that Haunted Bookshop will smoke just as well in a cob. I’m looking forward to smoking more bowls and then trying a few of the other Perique blends I initially didn’t care for and see if this will help my palette. Of course, I suppose there’s always the approach of just rip the band-aid off and just smoke the heck out of the stronger Perique blends until either I begin to enjoy it or eventually just give up and say Perique is just not my cup of tea.
In any event, I have enjoyed this blend (even with just two bowls under my belt) and look forward to more. Due to the less than desirable room note (according to my wife), this one will need to be a man-cave or outdoor smoke. But that’s fine as I have plenty of different aromatic blends I can enjoy along with the company of my wife.
TobaccoReviews.com
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1572/cornell-diehl-haunted-bookshop
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this review. What are your opinions on Haunted Bookshop? Please leave a comment below.
Until next time,
Happy Smoking!
Jerry
