VA/Per

Cornell & Diehl Haunted Bookshop

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.

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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

October 31, 2019 by Pipe Smoking 0

Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake

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.

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Photo Info:  Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake, Savinelli Roma 602 , Generic Golf Tee, Generic Kitchen Matches, Northwest Gentlemen Bison Leather Tobacco Mat.  Photo by TheSaintlyCatholic

Pipes Used: Briar, Cob
Age When Smoked: New
Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

Strength – Medium
Taste – Medium
Flavoring – Mild
Room Note – Tolerable
Tin Note – Grass, Hay, Earth
Rating – **
Cellared – No

My Review

Pretty much off the heels of the review I published last week for the Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake, I’m providing my overall thoughts and impressions of Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake.  I think what I’ve learned from these two blends is that I’m not a huge fan of Louisiana Perique.  Or perhaps I should say that I haven’t smoked enough Perique to fully develop my palate to the unique taste this tobacco offers.  Either way, I’m of the opinion that we all love what we love, like what we like and can choose to pass on the rest if we want.

While I’m not 100% sure, my assumption is the main difference between the PS Luxury Navy Flake and the Luxury Bullseye Flake is the Bullseye Flake features the additional Black Cavendish center.  Regarding tin note, my nose couldn’t detect any difference between the two blends.  In other words,  the Black Cavendish isn’t enough to show itself on smell alone (at least to my nose).  The tin note of the Bullseye Flake features the grass and hay smells I talked about in the previous review.  It’s actually very nice.  However, in my opinion…the Black Cavendish helps to tone the blend and reduces the spice of the Perique just a bit.

All-in-all, while I enjoyed smoking this blend far better than I do the PS Navy Flake, I’m not sure I will keep this blend on-hand.  Life is short and we need to focus on the things we truly enjoy and as this all relates to pipe tobacco, there are just too many blends I absolutely love to necessarily worry about trying to develop a taste for a specific type of tobacco.

TobaccoReviews.com

https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/2679/peter-stokkebye-luxury-bullseye-flake-no-403

Coming Up

As I just mentioned, life is short and we need to focus on things we truly enjoy…I picked up a few OTC blends the other day from my local store including Velvet and Half & Half.  I haven’t tried the Half & Half yet, but the Velvet…OMG!  No really!  OH MY GOD!  While Lane 1-Q will most likely always be my absolute favorite blend and certainly my favorite aromatic blend, Velvet will be something I’ll keep on hand.  But I’ll save the review for later and let you get on with your day.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this review.

Also, make sure you follow me on Twitter, Instagram and drop me a sub on YouTube.  Thank you!

Until next time…

Happy Smoking!

Jerry

September 6, 2019 by Pipe Smoking 0

Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake

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.

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Photo Info:  Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake, Missouri Meerschaum Bent Washington Pipe, Czech Pipe Tool, Zippo Lighter with Thunderbird butane insert, Northwest Gentlemen Bison Leather Tobacco Mat.  Photo by TheSaintlyCatholic

Pipes Used: Briar, Cob
Age When Smoked: New
Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

Strength – Medium
Taste – Medium
Flavoring – Mild
Room Note – Tolerable
Tin Note – Grass, Hay
Rating – **
Cellared – No

My Review

Unfortunately, this is the first tobacco which I just really don’t care for.  I’ve tried to like it…I really did!  I ordered a one ounce sample (along with a few others you’ll see reviewed in time) from SmokingPipes.com and I’ve smoked a few bowls over the past couple of weeks.  This is the first VA/Per blend that I’ve tried so it might just be for that reason why I’m not overly enjoying this blend.  Now understand, I don’t hate this blend…I’m just not loving it.

Part of the reason I’m ordering these samples and writing these reviews is to have the opportunity to try different types of tobacco and of course have something to write about here on my blog site.  Everyone will have differing opinions on what makes an awesome blend of tobacco.  I’m not an expert and I don’t pretend to be.  As I’ve stated before, I mostly enjoy aromatics and I believe that upon returning to the pipe smoking hobby over a year ago I absolutely got lucky.  Almost immediately I was introduced to Lane 1-Q and for many months that’s all I really felt I needed (or wanted).  But the more I got involved with the YTPC (YouTube Pipe Community), the more I wanted to broaden my tobacco horizons.  This effort has introduced me to some really great tobacco blends, and even some in the non-aromatic category.  But enough about that.

One thing I really do enjoy about this blend is the tin note.  I grew up in rural Texas and love the smell of grass and hay.  Sticking my nose in the bag/jar brings me back to my roots and memories of the time I spent hauling/stacking hay.  There’s also light earth/wood scent which just helps round it all out.

I’ve smoked several bowls and have tried different methods with the flake from folding to rubbing out.  Each bowl seems to require more relights than normal, but that’s OK with me.  While I love spice, it really seems to be a little more powerful than what I’ve tasted in other blends.  Also the nicotine hit is a little more powerful as well.  For me, I need to make sure I’ve eaten before smoking this blend otherwise my head is spinning for a while afterwards.  According to my wife, the room note is tolerable but she prefers I smoke non-aromatics outdoors.

In contrast, I also ordered Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake and prefer it to the Navy flake.  But I’ll save this discussion for later.

TobaccoReviews.com

https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/916/peter-stokkebye-luxury-navy-flake

Coming Up

I’ve added many more blends to my collection over the past few weeks including Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake & Black Coffee, Lane Limited BCA & RLP-6 and others.  So please make sure you return next week for my next review.

Thank you for taking the time to read this review.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on this particular blend.  Please leave a comment below.  Also, make sure you follow me on Twitter, Instagram and drop me a sub on YouTube.  Thank you!

Until next time…

Happy Smoking!

Jerry

August 30, 2019 by Pipe Smoking 0