Ciao, ragazzi. Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of Tasting Notes. Today, I'll be reviewing a tobacco that just feels like it was made for me personally — I'm talking about the latest edition of Cornell & Diehl's Small Batch: Sansepolcro. This latest refinement in the blend elevates the mixture's signature Italian-grown Dark-Fired Kentucky leaf with a number of excellent grades of Virginia, and is offered in a beautiful flake-cut format. So without further ado, let's get into the review!

KY-171 Dark-Fired Leaf

Sansepolcro, for those who recall, has been released in the past. The most interesting aspect about the blend is the use of Italian-grown, Dark-Fired leaf, specifically KY-171 seed, which is grown and processed in the Sansepolcro region on a small farm, and then combined with some lovely Virginia grades.

I am a huge Dark-Fired fan. I love Dark-Fired tobaccos. Honestly, I start most days with a Tuscan-style cigar, a Toscano usually, and I find that it really is a good palate primer for the rest of my pipe smoking and cigar smoking throughout the day, and I really love the flavor and the complexity. It is a magical tobacco, and I think it works really well as a component in pipe tobacco, as featured in Sansepolcro. So I'm going to set this down for a minute and come back to that later.

Flake Cut Format and Multiple Virginia Grades

This year's release of Sansepolcro sees the cut change from a ready-rub to a flake. This has been pressed for seven days before being taken out of the presses and cut into flakes. This blend features multiple grades of Virginias: 2019 Bright leaf, KBJRL-19, which is 14.9% sugar. A modest amount, relative to some of the Bright leaf that Jeremy has used in recent memory. There are also two grades of Red Virginia: a 2021, 5521 Red Virginia that is 13.2% sugar, and a TA-22 from, you guessed it, 2022, that is 13.53% sugar.

Italian Dark-Fired Leaf, Affording Elegant Sweetness

Typically, the difference between Italian Fire-Cured and American Dark-Fire-Cured is that the Italian is a little more, let's say, elegant, and a little less rustic. You have fruitier notes, maybe a little more sweetness, and just the right amount of spice. Now blenders at Toscano, for example, use both Italian and American leaf to great effect, combined with each other in a variety of different blends. However, in the pipe-tobacco format, this particular KY-171-seed Italian leaf is absolutely perfect paired with some really interesting grades of Virginia.

I've got to be honest: I smoked this before I paid attention to what was in it, and I'm glad I did that because I would've been shocked to find the sugar content even a little higher here. I think it's perfectly balanced. There's a dry, rich finish that really lets the intricacies of the Sansepolcro-grown and -processed Italian Dark-Fired leaf come through.

Reimagined Tin Artwork & Visually Stunning Flake

So first I'll say that I love the artwork; It's very evocative of the Sansepolcro region and features a cool little crossbow on the back. That region is really famous for its crossbow games, Palio della Balestra, which is something that has been happening since medieval times and continues to happen today, so that's a nod to the region. But mostly what is impressive here — and this does differ from past iterations of Sansepolcro — this edition of Small Batch: Sansepolcro comes in a flake format versus a ready-rubbed format as in the past. I really like that.

Visually, it's a really beautiful flake. It's really supple. Again, I can tell you from my experience aging the first editions of this, that this does have very long legs. I've been checking back in on other editions of Sansepolcro over the years and find that it's coming along very nicely, even in the ready-rubbed format. And I think that leaving this in the flake format is going to do a little bit more to really mature this elegantly long into the future.

I should also note that the three lovely grades of Virginia and the very beautiful Dark-Fired leaf from Italy are pressed into a flake and rested for seven days before being taken out of the presses and processed.

Initial Aromas

As for the tin note, It has everything that a Virginia flake fan wants. There's very slight hints of something almost citrusy, a lot of these grainy and bready type of notes, maybe even something a little sweeter, like baked goods, and a very gentle spice. I'm kind of struggling to pick out what I think that is. It might be cloves and cinnamon. There's a little bit here that reminds me of cinnamon raisin bagels, or bread, or muffins. There's also a hint of that Dark-Fired leaf, like just enough. It's not coming through as really smoky. It gives you more of the earthy and floral qualities and maybe even a bit of fruitiness. It's a really elegant and lovely tin note that I think is reflective of the smoke itself, for sure.

Easy Preparation

I will say that the flakes are beautiful. They handle really well and are easy to rub out and load up in your pipe. They also take to the flame really well. I do not give this one a ton of drying time, it's more of an aeration than actual time drying out. I think that there's so much complexity here and so much subtlety that you really just want to get this straight out of the tin and into your pipe to enjoy it at the optimum level. Of course, so much of the moisture content is personal preference, but I do recommend this one straight out of the tin.

Tangy, Complex Flavor Profile

There's really awesome malty and cereal notes, immediately. I have to say that in the Virginias, the backbone of this blend, I do tend to pick up more of the Red Virginia character than the Bright. I'm not sure what the proportions are here at all, but basically, you're getting a little more tanginess than you are the zesty and brighter flavors. So yeah, it's really good; tangy, malty, bready, and even right away, especially on the retrohale, you feel that elegant Italian Dark-Fired leaf. So even right off the bat, you get a lovely, elegant, mostly floral, a little earthy, and a delicate spice. There is a little bit of that smoky vibe and it's kind of like cured meats, but it is subdued.

A Blend for Virginia Lovers

Blind, I really think that it would be interesting to see one's perception of what the condimental leaf is here. I think Dark-Fired leaf, in general, and particularly the Italian variety, is a little bit of a chameleon. And when I say that, what I mean is, if you're a fan of Virginia/Perique blends, if you're a fan of Virginia/Burley blends, if you're a fan of Virginia/Oriental blends, or Virginia/Burley/Perique, any of that kind of stuff, this is going to scratch a similar itch, but with a unique experience that is, in my opinion, maybe not anywhere else in the current market of pipe tobacco.

As much as I think fans of Tuscan-style cigars and Dark-Fired, in general, are going to love this, really, this is one for the Virginia smokers, and it's going to fit an interesting spot in your rotation that is likely not occupied by anything else. It is unique, but it does have some of the qualities of the other combinations of Virginia, plus a condimental leaf that we all love. Very well-balanced, not overly spicy, with a dry finish.

Flavor Evolution

As the bowl progresses, the spice becomes a little bit more intense, especially on the retrohale. But I go back and forth between a little bit of white pepper and cinnamon cookies. There's a lovely woodiness that I think is common in both Latakia and Dark-Fired varietals. But again, the Italian leaf, for me, tends to hit more of the middle and high end of the flavor spectrum rather than the base notes and the middle notes.

This is more elegant and refined than it is rustic, if that makes sense. It's easy to smoke and it's contemplative. For me, it has the perfect mix of medium, medium-plus strength, and medium/medium-plus flavor. I think this would be a decent change of pace and a decent crossover for fans of English mixtures to dip their toes into the Virginia waters. It has enough intrigue, enough spice, enough going on, and enough fullness of flavor and body — medium-plus — to really keep your English smoker intrigued throughout the bowl.

Remarkable Complexity

I also think that as Virginias go, something about the addition of this Italian Dark-Fired leaf to the blend makes this very forgiving of cadence. I think this is one — and this is my favorite attribute of a good pipe tobacco — that you can really pay attention to and dissect forever and maybe never fully wrap your head around. There really is that much complexity, but it also can fade elegantly into the background and just be a good, reliable smoke.

As the bowl progresses, things get a lot more rich. You get a little more earthiness, a little more nuttiness, maybe even a little bit of dark cocoa and the malty and the bready notes from the Virginias are still there playing their supporting role. The woodiness comes forward, a little bit more spice, and really, and this is one of my favorite things in a Tuscan-style cigar, notes that are approaching a wine-like fruitiness. They're very subtle, and I mostly get them on the retrohale, especially when I really back off on my cadence, but they're there, and it makes this just such an enjoyable blend to contemplate.

Like I said, it is also something that you can totally smoke around the campfire and be extremely satisfied. It's just a really interesting blend. It's hard for me to describe what is so special about this to me, but I think that if I was trying to say, if you're into this tobacco, then you'll like Sansepolcro, I would say Sam Gawith's Sam's Flake, Rattray's Hal O' The Wynd, and Scottish Cake, blends like that; blends with varying levels of Virginia, Burley, and Perique, or even Virginia and Oriental. It has qualities of a lot of really interesting Virginia Blends, kind of all wrapped up together with something even a little bit extra and a little bit new.

Interesting, Satisfying, Unique

Today, I'm smoking the latest edition of Cornell & Diehl Small Batch: Sansepolcro in a Nefertiti design by Chris Asteriou. I picked this because after trying Sansepolcro in a couple of different chamber sizes, I really liked something a little more narrow and a little taller to let those flavors develop, and it makes the smoke super interesting and performs really well in a variety of chamber sizes.

The last thing I'll say is — I'm just going to call it — I think Sansepolcro is maybe the most underrated Small Batch that Jeremy's ever put together. That's saying a lot because he has put together some incredible blends over the years. But I really do think that Sansepolcro is a very unique product amongst Virginias, and I think that Virginia smokers and English/Oriental smokers alike are going to find something to love here. It is a very interesting blend now, and it ages absolutely beautifully. I'm so excited to see it coming back, and I think changing from ready-rubbed to a flake is a great change. I'm excited to see what that does in the long term to the blend. And the grades of Virginia used alongside that beautiful KY-171 Italian Dark-Fired leaf are outstanding.