Welcome to another episode of Tasting Notes. I'm revisiting an old friend today. I'm excited to discuss the return of the first blend that Kyle Gellis of Warped Cigars and Jeremy Reeves of Cornell and Diehl collaborated on together, and that is The Haunting.

The Haunting was originally released in 2018. It was, like I said, the first blend that Kyle and Jeremy worked on together, and it was released as a limited edition about this time of year, affectionately known as spooky season. And then The Haunting was released subsequently. But it has been three years, I think, since the last release. And there is a bit of a twist this time: For The Haunting Limited Edition 2023, it is a version of the blend that has been pressed into a cake.

New Format For This Blend: A Pressed Crumble Cake Cut

So today I am talking about Warped Tobacco's collaboration with Cornell and Diehl, The Haunting Cake. Let's see here. Before I get into what I'm tasting, let's talk about the cut and the tin note. Again, this is a limited release; 3,200 tins were made this time, and it is the original Haunting blend, which is a mixture of fine Virginia grades and Dominican AA Criollo wrapper. I'll talk a little bit about those grades in just a moment. But the biggest difference between this and the original is the pressing.

The Haunting Cake is pressed into a lovely crumble cake. It's a beautiful color. There are a lot of red and chestnut hues here. It's also super easy to work with — just pull off a pinch. I'll talk a little bit about this more when I get the pipe back in my mouth here. But basically, you're taking the loose cut mixture and pressing it, adding the pressure, and letting it sit under this pressure for a period of time. It is going to age differently than the original Haunting mixture, which is aging quite nicely. And it also gives you a little bit more of a mature feeling, a little bit more sweetness, and amplifies some of those flavors that are characteristic of both the fine Virginia Leaf and the AA Dominican Criollo cigar leaf.

Natural Tobacco Aroma And Sweet Tin Note

So I was really excited to try this. I've been able to try it a couple of times since it was being prototyped, and I think that the blend does super well in this format. The flavor is the same; it's a really nice tangy and earthy flavor. There's a little bit of sweetness and a lot of those air-cured, dark cigar leaf notes. Like I said, an earthiness, with maybe some warming spices. There's some sweetness and the tangy quality, maybe some cereal-like notes, and a little bit of a malty character. It's a relatively straightforward natural tobacco aroma and I think that that speaks to what you're going to get when you're actually smoking it in the pipe as well. And like I said, the tin note is lovely. I really love the original and I love how it's smoking now after several years of aging, and the cake version is basically an amped up version of that. I think, particularly fresh out of the tin, it gives me some of the character that the original Haunting mixture has after years of aging, mainly because of the components used. The moisture content right out of the tin is perfect. It does take to the flame well. You could give this a tiny bit of drying time if you prefer, but in my opinion, tin moisture straight out of the tin, pull a piece off, rub it out, fluff it up a little bit to aerate it, and you're going to get the most complexity and the slowest burn, which is what I prefer.

Charring Light And The Blend's Components

Right off the bat, I'm getting pretty much everything that I was getting in the tin note. There's a little bit of sweetness, which does amplify as you progress through the pipe, but mostly it's this earthy base with these sort of malty cereal-like notes from the Virginias, a little bit of a tangy quality and a whole lot of these really lovely and pretty refined air-cured cigar leaf notes from the Dominican Criollo.

So there's a couple of interesting things here. The Virginia Base is a couple of different grades of top-tier Red Virginias, a little bit of Canadian Bright Leaf from 2019, and the Dominican AA Criollo from 2020 to bridge the gap between the sort of Virginia and pipe tobacco flavors and the Dominican Criollo cigar leaf. There is also a Dominican-grown cigar leaf Black Cavendish, just a little bit. According to Jeremy, that's something that helps transition those flavors and helps meld them together, adding a little bit more body and more cigar character in a more subtle, unique way. There's cigar leaf, Dominican-grown cigar leaf Black Cavendish, the AA Dominican Criollo leaf, a couple of different grades of Virginia and pressed into a cake. Now I know I'm not alone out there and I am one of those pipe smokers/cigar smokers that is pretty equal in my consumption and my rotation of both of these formats of premium tobacco.

A Great Blend To Bridge Pipe Tobacco And Cigars

The original collaboration for The Haunting mixture between Kyle and Jeremy was particularly exciting to me because I really wanted something that was envisioned and designed from scratch to be an actual bridge between these two formats. It's more traditional in the pipe tobacco world that cigar leaf is included with mixtures that also contain Orientals and Latakia, and that is a great combo in a really nice mix of components. But what The Haunting did and what The Haunting Cake does is it gives you a better idea of the more unadulterated and purer contrast between what we typically think of as the base of flue-cured pipe tobaccos and air-cured cigar leaf. So if you're a Virginia smoker, this on its own is an all-day smoke for you. If you're a cigar guy, it's the perfect transition into pipe tobacco. And I think with the lack of additional condimental leaves besides the Dominican cigar leaf, you end up with something that gives you a really good idea of how those flavors contrast, and I think it's something with really long legs for aging. Like I said, the original release and the second release of The Haunting mixture are smoking beautifully right now after five to seven years. And I think the cake is also going to age extremely well and it smokes great out of the tin.

Flavors While Progressing Through The Bowl

As the bowl progresses, I'm getting a really creamy texture. It's dense smoke and it throws off a lot of smoke. There's a lot of body here. Those warming spices are coming out, particularly for me I'm tasting cinnamon and clove a little bit. I'm getting more of the malty character and the cereal-like notes from the Red Virginias in particular. There are moments where I get enough sweetness that it's almost like a simple syrup. It's sort of nondescript, I wouldn't say like molasses or, you know, sugar cookies or whatever. But it's there. It ties this together. It really props up the earthy notes and the tangy character from the Red Virginias. It just makes this a really interesting and balanced blend. At the same time, I think this has the finesse of a really fine medium-bodied cigar. You know, Cuban-esque is a word that gets tossed around a lot and there are some notes here that remind me of that too. It's a perfect transition to pipe tobacco, especially if you favor Kyle Gellis's palate, cigar-wise. And like I said, I think this is a really versatile blend that is unique and will appeal to a lot of folks.

As the sweetness intensifies and as the tangy character of the Virginias comes out a little bit more, I'm also noticing woody, cedar-like notes, and a little bit of a leather quality from the cigar leaf. This is one of those rare tobaccos that will fade elegantly into the background if you just want to smoke something that is comforting and approachable. But if you really do pay attention, especially through the retrohale, there's tons of complexity here. Yeah, it's got some crazy stuff going on here. I keep going back and forth between toasted nuts and candied pecans. It's got maybe a hint of that stone fruit quality that I do get in both some cigars and some Virginia pipe tobaccos. It's a remarkable blend.

The Haunting Cake Contains A Rare Combination Of Tobaccos

And again, for me, the most interesting thing about The Haunting, the original version and the caked version, is that it's a rare combination of tobaccos in the pipe tobacco world. Premium Dominican AA Criollo cigar leaf, Dominican-grown cigar leaf Black Cavendish and fine Virginias — you just don't see that in a lot of places, and I think particularly pressed into a cake, this is something that is going to be very unique for most of us. It's worth trying, worth putting into the regular rotation, and worth cellaring away for a rainy day.

Today I'm smoking Warped The Haunting Cake in a prototype clay Canadian by my friends at Clarin, coming soon to Smokingpipes. It has been my go-to tasting pipe for a good little while now and I'm excited to be able to offer them to our customers pretty soon. Warped The Haunting Cake 2023 limited edition, finest AA Dominican Criollo Leaf, cigar leaf Black Cavendish processed and also grown in the Dominican Republic, and a selection of high-grade Virginias. It is a unique blend in a unique format that hearkens back to the original collaboration between Kyle Gellis and Jeremy Reeves. Give it a try. Thanks so much guys.