Cornell & Diehl Small Batch Sun Bear Tupelo Pipe Tobacco | 2023 addition | complex & delicious blend

What often differentiates good tobaccos from great tobaccos is nuance. It's the subtle alterations that commend a particular mixture, perhaps through a well-aged component, the minimalist addition of a proprietary top note, or the application of long-term pressure. It doesn't take much to modify a blend in interesting and gratifying ways.
Take Small Batch: Sun Bear, for example — it's a Virginia flake with just enough Orientals to enhance the blend with fruit and elderflower characteristics without dominating the overall experience. A hint of tequila accentuates the subtle elements of the Virginias and Orientals, and a whisper of honey supports the other components with its own natural sweetness.
This is the fifth instalment of the summery mixture; its recipe remains the same from year to year except for the honey employed. That changes each summer, not in the amount used, but in the honey itself.
The first two years of the blend utilized honey harvested by C&D Head Blender Jeremy Reeves from his own hives. What followed the next year was Sun Bear Black Locust, using honey from Victor Seested of Maryland, whose bees harvested from the famous black locust trees of the region during their short bloom. The year 2022 brought us Sun Bear Mountain Flower, employing honey from Morganton, North Carolina, where Cornell & Diehl resided for most of its history.
Sun Bear Tupelo is this year's 2023 submission, commending itself with ethically harvested tupelo honey from the Register Family Farm in northern Florida.

Blend description.
A blend of the finest Bright and Red Virginias balanced by 2019 Basma and 2018 Izmir Orientals, Sun Bear: Tupelo features subtle notes of raw, ethically sourced tupelo honey from the ancient wetlands of northern Florida.
Produced from the nectar of the white Ogeechee tupelo tree during a short two-week bloom, tupelo honey is among the rarest in the world. In this blend, the honey's unique profile combines with a whisper of silver tequila and elderflower to complement the fruity and floral notes of specially selected tobaccos, resulting in a rich pipe blend with a wealth of character and a creamy, rounded finish.
Content: Bright Canadian Virginia (25% sugar content) 2019 Greek Basma Oriental & 2018 Izmir Turkish
Flavouring Tupelo Honey ( Tupelo features single-origin honey ethically sourced from the ancient wetlands of northern Florida. It is produced directly from the nectar of the white Ogeechee tupelo tree during a short two-week bloom, making it one of the rarest types of honey in the world)