The King Street Emporium

Haunted Bookshop

Burley

Haunted Bookshop takes its name from the 1919 novel by Christopher Morley, a story about a second hand bookshop in Brooklyn that doubles as a refuge for people who love books more than the world outside them. The blend was created by the late Bob Runowski, one of Cornell and Diehl's most beloved blenders, and carries his sensibility throughout. It is a Burley forward ribbon cut with red Virginia added for sweetness and a touch of Perique for depth and pepper. Burley is an air cured leaf that brings a natural nuttiness and earthy weight that flue cured Virginias cannot replicate, and it is the dominant voice in this blend. The Perique is present but restrained, doing more to enhance the Burley's character than assert itself independently. It is a straightforward, unfussy smoke that has developed a loyal following among Burley enthusiasts and those who find most Virginia blends too sweet for daily use. For a blend named after a novel about quiet pleasures and comfortable rooms, it delivers exactly what the name suggests.