After starting my day with Peterson Early Morning Pipe in a Missouri Meerschaum Country Gentleman then having some Ennerdale Flake in a Peterson Junior Rusticated Billiard this afternoon, tonight I'm smoking Cornell & Diehl's 2024 Sansepolcro again. This time I'm trying Sansepolcro in a Savinelli 401 churchwarden, and taking some notes to try and formulate my thoughts on the blend.
It's much more mild tasting than I was expecting given the ingredients, and while the flavor is quite mild to my palate it does have a dark, earthy, rich red Virginia flavor with just a tiny hint of grassy bright Virginia and a good amount of clove-like spice from the Dark Fired Kentucky. I like red Virginias quite a bit so this would definitely be my sort of blend were it not for the fact that the retrohale really stings and burns my sinuses. The nicotine content is quite high as well, I'd say about a 4 out of 5 to me. I can smoke it for about half an hour without issue but past that seems like I'd be risking nicotine sickness.
If it wasn't for the stinging retrohale I'd say Sansepolcro would be a keeper, but I do really enjoy retrohaling my tobaccos so having a smooth and painless retrohale is a pretty important factor for me. I can forgive my beloved Haunted Bookshop for it's abrasive retrohale on account of how much I like the flavor, but I don't think the flavor of Sansepolcro is strong or impressive enough to warrant keeping it as part of my rotation when the retrohale pummels my sinuses so harshly. Sansepolcro also left me with a rather sore throat, so keep a beverage handy when smoking this one. Overall I'd say it's a good blend, but not quite great.