Welcome to another episode of Tasting Notes. I'm very excited today, as I usually am when I sit in this chair. I am revisiting an old friend and honestly, one of the most impressive and my personal favorite tobaccos that's been released in the last many years, Cornell & Diehl's Small Batch: Steamworks.

I think one of the reasons that Steamworks took the pipe world by storm upon its initial release a couple years ago is that it was one of the most ambitious Virginia projects that I think Jeremy Reeves has ever approached. He has made some Virginia blends in the last decade that have blown me away that have redefined what could come from a small producer like Cornell & Diehl, and also what one could do with high-quality Virginia leaf, thought to be lost to the ages in this modern world. A lot of those blends that were very memorable I really enjoyed, but Steamworks has something special going on. I think it is both a mix of the components and the grades of Virginias chosen and the process itself, which is extremely labor intensive.

The Same Approachable Blend

The 2026 edition of Cornell & Diehl Small Batch Steamworks is the same recipe as the previously released editions, not only the same recipe, but the same grades of Virginia. The interesting thing about Steamworks is the process. This includes both a blend of steamed Virginias and an additional unsteamed Virginia, combined with 2005 heritage Orientals and genuine St. James Parish Perique from 31 Farms. Those grades are 45-21 Red Virginia from 2021, ATB-FO from 2019 dark Red Virginia, and then my favorite, a dark Red Virginia from Georgia, the grade is GA-JRL and that is from 2019. To that, an Orange Virginia from 2021 is added. Those are blended together and steamed. An unsteamed portion of the GA-JRL from 2019 from Georgia is added to the blend.

It's a lot of grades and I think that is the interesting thing about Steamworks. All of those grades of Virginias play a different role. You have varying degrees of flue-curing, varying sugar levels, the terroir, of course, that goes into it, and then the double processing of both the steamed and the unsteamed Virginias; you're basically getting the best of all worlds.

In my opinion, Steamworks is not just an easy to enjoy and a very approachable blend that has enough complexity to keep even the most picky Virginia smokers happy, it is the best of pretty much every Virginia that you've ever tried. It has the maltiness, sweetness, and the soft edges of something that's far more mature than it actually is here in the tin, and that is balanced by the condimental leaf, the Orientals, and the Perique. It is basically the ultimate Virginia smoker's flake.

All-Day Smoke and Even More Maturity

This is something that I could smoke all day, every day, and frankly, the only reason I haven't been able to do that is because of availability, being both a Small Batch and a really highly sought-after Small Batch. I had to be very sparing with my measly 10 tins from each of the first two releases that I was able to acquire.

I'm really pleased to see Steamworks back. I did mention that the blend is unchanged and even the grades and the components are unchanged; That means that the 2026 version of this features the same tobaccos from 2021, 2019, et cetera, with an additional pre-industry aging on them in that time period since the original was released. I think you're gonna get a different experience, not drastically different, but it's really interesting to compare this, for example, to tins from the original release that have been aging in the tin in a totally different environment that entire time.

My experience so far with the 2026 version of Small Batch Steamworks is that it has even more of a mature feel to it than this blend did in the first two iterations. I know that consciously these tobaccos have aged a little bit longer before being blended, steamed, pressed, and cut, but you really do feel that in the smoke too. It's not just the very soft, pillowy, and velvety-like texture of the smoke. There's a ton of body. It's the flavors where I get a lot of richness and depth.

I fell in love with Steamworks initially when it was released a few years ago because it felt like, on paper, a tobacco product that was made for me specifically: A Virginia/Perique with lots of different grades of Virginias, where that is the platform and the main focus of the blend, and the condimental components really play a supporting role.

Complex & Balanced Flakes

There's a ton of complexity here, but it's extremely approachable and comforting. Those are the tobacco products that I come back to over and over again. The ones that feel effortless, easy to enjoy, and versatile. You can enjoy them in a lot of different situations and pairings, and in different pipe sizes.

I think if you smoke Cornell & Diehl Small Batch Steamworks a thousand different times, you can have the same level of enjoyment, comfort, ease, and still have nearly a different experience every time. The more that you pay attention to your cadence, and the more that you're focused on the pipe, the complexity factor is very high. I've said this before of other tobaccos and it's one of the features that really stands out to me in a tobacco, but it elegantly fades into the background if you need it to. You can just smoke this. It doesn't have to be complicated.

When you light this blend, it takes to the flame easily, and that's not true of all steamed tobaccos, in my experience. I find this to be just as close to perfect as it gets. It has beautiful flakes, mostly dark in color. There's a lot of chestnut and a couple of lighter flex. I'm getting notes of graham crackers, fresh bread, and malty beer, like an amber ale or a red ale. There's a good amount of sweetness and a little bit of caramelized sugar. It's pretty faint. And then a little bit of some fruitiness, spice, and earthiness. I think that's coming from the condimental Perique and the heritage Orientals from 2005.

It has a little bit of everything. It's just the right amount. Not too much spice, not too much sweetness, not too much malty character, and not too much grassiness. I think balance is what a lot of blenders strive for, and what a lot of consumers and smokers look for in a blend. There have been a lot of balanced blends on the market over the years, but I can't think of one that's more balanced than Steamworks.

The moisture content right out of the tin is ideal. I wouldn't wanna lose any of the complexity or the nuance of this blend by giving it too much drying time. I do give it a little bit of aeration when I break it up. It also produces a lot of smoke. It's dense, heavy on the palate, and soft. There's no spike in flavor. The spice that is there is very delicate. When I retrohale, it's just on the finish. There's a little bit of pepper, stewed fruit, and malty, grainy, and baked goods kind of notes. If there was a platonic ideal of what a Virginia flake should be, in my opinion, this is it.

Ideal for Virginia & Va/Per Smokers

Today I'm smoking Cornell & Diehl Small Batch Steamworks 2026 in a little Billiard made by Former. It's one of my favorite Virginia pipes and a middle-of-the-road size for me. I do tend to enjoy blends like this with a little bit more depth in the chamber than some of the pipes I normally smoke because I really want to see how it develops throughout the bowl and frankly because I don't really want these bowls to end.

If Steamworks was already on your radar, you don't need to listen to me. You can just go ahead and hunt for it. Good luck and I wish you well. If it's not on your radar, I think if you're fans of any of the Virginias that Jeremy Reeves and Cornell & Diehl have produced over the last 10 years, this one's gonna be at the top of those lists. Other than that, if you're a fan of the discontinued Mac Baren's Pure Virginia, Full Virginia Flake and Best Brown from the Gawith houses, or even some of the medium range Rattray's Virginias like Old Gowrie, this is just perfect.

I think any Virginia or any Virginia/Perique smoker is gonna find this to be a winner, and I think that if you normally smoke Englishes, Aromatics, or even Burley blends, this is gonna be one of the most approachable, easy to enjoy, and also least temperamental Virginias that you've ever seen.