By now we all know the song of the Cellar Series: Designed to mature, delicious immediately. On Friday, we released C&D's latest entries into the Cellar Series lineup, Bourbon Bleu and Old Grove. But with so many tasty blends on the market to choose from right now, so many new mixtures yet to try, so many unopened tins in an-ever growing tobacco cellar, why pick up two more you might not get around to smoking this year?

Because they are hella good.

And they're interesting. The whole Cellar Series is interesting, really. It's a new route for C&D; it shows maturity, discrimination, demonstrates their passion for innovation, and it's somehow not entirely out of line with what they've done before. Cellar Series is to Cornell & Diehl what 'Two Against Nature' is to Steely Dan: self-evident, really good, and a testament of time. Bourbon Bleu and Old Grove, in addition to Chenet's Cake, Oak Alley, and Joie de Vivre is C&D's way of recognizing its roots as a small batch workshop (not to be confused with the mass market factory). That C&D makes one small batch of tobacco at a time, by hand, has always been and continues to be the case. It's their heritage. C&D is just getting better at talking about it, and it seems that pipe smokers are starting to listen.

Bourbon Bleu

Out of the tin Bourbon Bleu smells faintly of white chocolate combined with the aroma of dry summer turf. Being familiar with C&D's crumble cakes, I know I'll want to break off a chunk from a corner, rub it out into a semi-fine rough cut, and then gravity pack it, loosely, into the pipe's bowl. The tin description states the blend is bright and red Viriginias mixed with dark-fired Kentucky and Perique, and a visual inspection of the stuff, predominantly gold, speckled with flecks of dark red and black, suggests the red VAs, dark-fired Kentucky, and Perique are present mostly as condimental ingredients, that the star of the show is flue-cured golden Virginia leaf.

The Smoke

The initial light is grassy in flavor, and the effect of the bourbon on the mixture, salty and spirity, is immediately noticeable. A few minutes in, the smoke is delicately sweet, especially in short, imbibed puffs across the apex of my tongue. And halfway in, the smoke is settling down nicely; there's more body and strength here than one might guess by looking at the tobacco. And there's a piquancy and spiciness that plays well with round sweetness of the blend. At the bottom of the bowl (and I have managed to get it to smoke all the way down to the bottom), as one might expect, the overall tone of the flavor is concentrated and zesty without going ashy or bitter.

Reflection

Unlike the first three Cellar Series entries (again, Chenet's Cake, Oak Alley, and Joie de Vivre), Bourbon Bleu isn't a powerhouse, which to my mind makes a blend like it, soft and sip-worthy, a welcome inclusion to the line. I expect BB to age quite well, as it claims it will, in a few years, in a way similar to such blends as Orlik Golden Sliced, Escudo, and F&T's Cut Virginia Plug. I really like Bourbon Bleu right now, and am sure to smoke through a tin of it right quick, but I think I'll love it enormously in a couple of years.

note: It's my opinion that Bourbon Bleu is best smoked slowly, with as few relights as possible

Old Grove

This blend is being talked about as the aromatic offering in the Cellar Series lineup. And while the pomegranate flavor does add a scent and taste to both the tin and the flavor of the smoke, respectively, Old Grove is an aromatic style pipe tobacco like Haddo's Delight is. So that's to say 'kinda'. Quickly, let's talk about pomegranate. Does anyone know what pomegranate smells like? As fas as I'm concerned, what one should sniff as one buries one's nose in a fresh tin of Old Grove is a sugary, citrusy fragrance married with the dark perfume of a high proof black rum. And yes, there's a whole bunch of black Cavendish in this mix, but its entire composition is also 25% Perique, and there's plenty of white and dark seed burley to be found too. 1-Q this is not.

The Smoke

And so upon the charring light, tons of Perique. Winey, dark chocolatey, figgy, peppery Perique. The profile is enormously big and bodied, like Chenet's Cake and Oak Alley, right off the bat. The Punica granatum topping is noticeable, though I think the taste is more comparable to grapefruit or the slightly bitter rind of blood orange. Halfway down the bowl and this is just a really strong, kick ass Virginia/Perique that benefits some in sweetness from a topping that's mostly burned off. The bottom is rather intense, it's souring and becoming a little bitter, though not unpleasantly so, and it certainly hasn't become harsh or acrid.

Reflection

Like Bourbon Bleu, Old Grove is a bit of a departure for the Cellar Series: its format is different, it's heavy on the black Cav, and it's fairly topped. Though in some ways Old Grove is truer to the blends that have come before it, simply in terms of its strength and body, likely on account of the huge amount of Perique and burley. I expect this blend to transform magically around the six-year mark. And I think this blend has real potential to be famously popular in the meantime.

note: Seriously, don't let 'pomegranate' or 'aromatic' throw you. This is a unique kind of mixture; I can't think of more than a couple of blends like it on the market right now.

Similarly to beer and booze, when it comes to pipe tobacco, I prefer to sample new things rather than be married to one. I suspect I'm not alone in this regard. At that, absolutely find a way to try Bourbon Bleu and Old Grove. Buy a tin of each and if neither one of them tickle your fancy right now, jar them up, date them, and toss them into your cellar for a year or two. They're going to change over time. You might change some too. Cornell & Diehl certainly has.