Blender's description:

In the tradition of the mysterious Mississippi riverboat gamblin' men, a flavorful blend of the South's tobaccos—Burleys, Virginias, and Perique—with the exotic taste of Turkish leaf. The odds are with you when you smoke this blend.

My "quick review" for RG as seen on SF:

This is a big-flavor blend. Burley, Virginia, and Perique with a healthy topping of Turkish. I taste very little, if any, sweetness. This one has the same sort of flavors you get in a spicey bowl of hot and sour soup.

Sound unappealing? I thought so too. I ordered some anyway. I grimaced my way through the first bowl, and hiccuped and stuttered through every one since, and I vowed I'd plop the contents of the rest of the tin in a mason jar, encase it in lead, and forget about it, but for some reason I keep finding myself reaching for more of it.

Its the oddest thing. I guess this means I like it, but every time I smoke it I can't figure out why. I guess its the BIG flavor, more-that-satisfying nicotine content, and the originality of it.

I often am not struck utterly enthusiastic with a new blend in the first few bowls and begin liking it more as I proceed through a couple ounces. This one it was like my senses were throwing me into fight or flight mode, but something keeps saying "go back for more." And I do. Never had an experience quite like this with a blend.

Good stuff? I gotta say heck yeah if you like fairly strong tobacco and you aren't afraid of Perique.

One half Latakia with a generous portion of Turkish and sweetened with stoved red Virginia.

Review by Steve Laug:

Just in the midst of a second bowl of C&D Star of the East. It is a strong Latakia blend. The label says it has 50% latakia blended with Turkish Izmir and Stoved Red Virginia. If you are a Latakia lover this is one for you. The latakia is predominant and powerful throughout the bowl. The initial light is smokey and rich. The Virginia gives it a bit of a sweet bottom but is pretty much overpowered by the lat. The Izmir comes through on the edges of the tongue as a kind of "bitter" taste not unlike alum.

It is actually a nice smoke. Very smooth and heady. Mid bowl is much the same as the beginning with a deepening of the Va taste. The end of the bowl is a bit sweeter with the Virginia coming out. Latakia carries the taste to the end of the bowl. The ash is a nice grayish white powder with no dottle left over.

Eric's Video Review:

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A middle strength, full blend containing red and lemon Virginia, Latakia, Turkish and black Cavendish

I had been a long time Dunhill 965 smoker but when Murray's closed their doors and Orlik took over blending it I was left out in the cold. After a long search I found this blend and while it does NOT taste like 965, it does offer me what I needed in a daily English Mixture. Listed as a medium strength as was 965, I find it a very satisfying smoke, almost full bodied in the sense that the Orientals give it strength rather than the usual Latakia bomb that "full-bodied" can mean.

Many so called English Mixtures, including some from C&D use Burley to give it the needed strength but not so Stratfordshire. The Virginias give the needed sweetness and the Orientals give it the needed strength and character. Trusting my taste buds I have to say the Black Cavendish is definitely the unflavored variety, recalling to mind the Rattrays of old.

If your idea of an English Mixture is one that has some punch but where the Latakia takes it's rightful (IMO) place as a condiment then this one could be for you.

A smooth, reasonably light blend of aged Virginias, Latakia, Perique and a little Turkish. An outstanding, middle of the road English blend with a delightful flavor.

This is a great English blend for a warm climate, and a better English blend for pipe smokers like me who prefer Latakia as a condiment rather than the base of a blend. Plantation Evening has a mouth-watering tang from the Virginias and Perique with a detectable amount of natural Virginia sweetness.

The Latakia and Orientals are present in just enough measure to keep things interesting and lock Plantation Evening into the "English Blend" category. If I had to have one complaint, it would be that the Perique comes on just a little strong, but this may be a plus for you.

Just finished a sample package of C&D's Opening Night. They bill it as "a delicious blend of the finest Red and Bright Virginias pressed to perfection and sliced into flakes." My sample was very dry, which is fine by me.

It came as flakes (similar to FVF) and crumbled very easily for me. Packing in the bowl was simple. After an initial charring light it lit with great ease and was no issue to keep it burning. I smoked it on the way home from work in the Brissett apple that I just received. It smoked dry and cool throughout the smoke. It has the characteristic grassy va taste (one I like for sure).

The flavor was consistent from first light to the end of the bowl. Nothing remarkable or wonderful stood out for me with this blend. It was just a simple good Red Va. In comparison say to my favourite Red Flake from McCranies this one is far more mild. I can see that if it is not smoked slowly it would bite. The flavour was no where near as intense and flavourful as the RF.

It was good but not excellent. The tang of the RF that I associate with red virginia was absent for me. To me it tasted like a flake version of other C&D Virginias. It is probably not one I will buy tins of to cellar as I have others I like far better. The final bit of the bowl remained constant and the end was a soft grey ash and no dottle or mess.

Pennington Gap by Cornell and Diehl

From the tip of Virginia, an all-American blend with a southern accent. Nutty Kentucky cube cut burley and rich black cavendish balance the unique aroma and flavor of Louisiana Perique, finished with bourbon for that touch of southern hospitality.

Every time I reach for this blend I recall the superb treatment one receives when dealing with Craig and Patty Tarlor of Cornell & Diehl. This is a pipe tobacco blend I would not normally have picked out on my own - the combination of tobaccos and the whiskey finish wouldn't have appealed to me. One day I was placing an order directly from C&D and asked Craig to simply pick out something unusual and add it to my order. When I took shipment and opened the box, I found the Pennington Gap.

So often we go into a blend with a preconceived notion of what to expect only to be surprised. This was one of those times. As it turns out, I loved the spiciness, the mellow sweetness, and how well this pipe tobacco behaves.

A Burley and Virginia blend with just a touch of Perique.

This has been a very popular blend for Cornell & Diehl with a huge following. Likely, this is one of the most popular hand blended bulk pipe tobacco's on the market.

Please comment on it.

The flame seemed to jump into this tobacco and nearly light itself. The various tobaccos are cut in such a way packing was a matter of gravity filling and a light tap. Initial tastes were rich, smooth, round, seemingly sweet, and almost creamy. This appears to have about as much chance of biting as a Hershey bar. The gentlest pulls produce generous volumes of smoke accompanied by a wonderful balanced flavor.

I talked to Craig Tarlor when I ordered the sampler this came from. I asked for American style English blends - a blend that would be easy to smoke all day, rich and sweet - this tobacco fits the bill perfectly.

About halfway through the bowl, all the components are holding their own and continue to provide balance. In other similar blends from other brands I've noticed that I enjoy the special way Burlies, Latakia, Virginia, and Perique all work together. The Burley brings in a special dynamic not found in blends containing only the other three components.

Towards the bottom of the bowl, the flavor grows more robust, yet still refuses to bite or tire the pallet and ends with a tiny pinch of dottle at a dry heel. The Vitamin N and rich taste has left me satisfied, yet prepared to light up another without reservation.