Alec B.

Reviews


Cornell & Diehl - Billy Budd 2oz
Incredible hybrid experience
I love this blend so much. The cigar leaf brings that weight and volume of smoke I like cigars for, but the sweet and deep muskiness I love from pipe tobacco. Good amount of nicotine thanks to the Burley, perfect latakia seasoning to balance it out. This one's a hit with the pipe buddies too. Great job, this one is in the permanent collection, I'd be bummed to be without it.

Cornell & Diehl - Atlas Balkan
It's just not for me I guess
So there's a lot of C&D I love: Billy Bud, Old Joe Krantz, Bayou Morning Flake, Carolina Red Flake, among others. I really enjoy Balkans too when I feel like going down that road. Gawith Hoggarth & Co's Balkan Mixture is a standout for me. A buddy and I were excited to try Atlas. We were both underwhelmed. Neither of us are snobby tobacco smokers as a rule. The blend was a little extra drying, and the flavors weren't as complex as many other Balkans tend to be. To me it seems a little too mild for a Balkan, a little too unnoticeable. So this one just wasn't for me I guess. It's rare that I find a nice non-aromatic pipe tobacco blend that I don't love, so it's notable. Atlas is going to be in my cellar for eons so I'll return to it every year or so, to give it many more chances.

Cornell & Diehl - Haunted Bookshop 2oz
2nd time I loved it...
The first time I smoked this it really shocked me like I was smoking a cigarette. But at that time my palette was all autumn evening and other aromatics. I wasn't really good at even smoking a pipe yet. But then I had a season of being really into cigars which I think really smarted up my tobacco palette. Then I got back into pipes with non aromatic tobaccos and really came to prefer the pipe. In that time my haunted bookstore had aged in a jar for 2 years. I just pulled it out tonight and it I love it now. The nic hit is reminiscent of a cigarette and so is the flavor, but like the most delicious cigarette you've ever had. A chemical free one you rolled yourself. It's great. The virginia sweetens it up just enough, but I like the roll-your-own cigarettiness of it.

Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Balkan Mixture 50g
Extra Soul-Soothing
This tobacco tastes how a monastery smells. The Latakia produces a resinous incense aroma that sends me to the sanctuary of an Orthodox monastery in the mountains. This is the tobacco I reach for when I want to contemplate how the cosmic murmuring of the quantum realm intertwines with my breath. It's the tobacco to reach for when you're chasing unclean spirits out of the old building you just opened a business in. This is the tobacco to smoke when you're witnessing the awe-inspiring beauty of old oak trees dancing on the breeze. Will buy more.

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A Long-Ago Father's Day
  • ► This is really well written! Thanks for posting.
Small Batch: Sun Bear Navy Cask
  • ► Hey Chuck, I enjoy your writing here and I know you're an old print jockey (me too). I thought you'd be interested in a start up quarterly pipe magazine that came out. It's called Timber & Smoke, and the young publisher is making an attempt at a literary, pipe culture magazine. You should check it out, I think you might appreciate it. www.timberandsmokeco.com