Cornell & Diehl Black Knight

(3.29)
A Latakia lover’s delight! Cyprian and Syrian Latakia in abundance blended with red and bright Virginia, Perique and a small amount of Burley.
Notes: Discontinued Blend.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Series Yahoo! Pipe Smokers Club
Blended By  
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type English
Contents Burley, Latakia, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 2oz Tin, Bulk
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable to Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.29 / 4
4

1

2

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 20, 2009 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
Black Knight (no longer produced), was whipped up several years ago as a special blend for the pipesmokers2 internet group. The Latakia dosage was high with both types controlling the blend. The added Burley and Perique to the Latakia base (I think there is some Virginia leaf, too), made this an interesting combination with strength and flavor.

I admit that I gifted my local pipe club the majority of my tin's contents as the combination of all the various tobaccos just didn't do it for me. A little too overwhelming, IMO.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 13, 2004 Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable to Strong
12-13-04 A disappointment...

Appearance and Tin Aroma: Medium Ribbon with a caucophony of colors from all the different leaves. The cubed burley was pretty broken up in my tin dated 11-08-02. the aroma was dominated by the burley with the other leaves just behind.

Packing and Lighting: A breeze, with 2-3 lights normal.

Initial Flavor: BURLEY!!! Don't get me wrong, I like burley, in fact one of my favorite burley blends is #104 Crooner, but I was not expecting it to be dominant in this blend. The same occured in different pipes.

Mid-Bowl: Yes, this is a complex blend with all the different flavors coming in and out, nice..

Bottom of Bowl: a medium increase of strength, some sweet notes make their prescence known. Burns to ash, with no excess moisture. No perique spiciness, which is ok by me.

Overall: This was a nice American/English blend that has all the right ingredients, but it didn't captivate me enough to buy more. Yes, that wonderful Syrian Latikia was noticable, but too much in the background IMO for this piper. I still prefer Pirate Cake, Black Frigate, or Longevity over this one.

Rating: 3 out of 5 points.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Aug 12, 2004 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Tolerable to Strong
I think the reviews of Rev. Smoke and others very accurate. So I wont cover the exact properties of this blend again. But I will say I found it at first to be very similar to Baalbek, and was initially a bit disappointed in the "Been here, done that" sense.

However with continued smoking: the progression through the bowl revealed a stronger smokiness and sweetness (yum!) - plus a nice does of perique that builds to quite spicy by the end of the bowl. I would classify this as primarly a B/VA/P blend with the darker condiment leaves included for depth and variety. I do agree with reviewers that this may be a way to get some exposure to latakia without the overload.

I think the perique was right on as far as strength and presence in the mix. The burley smooths everything out and adds its own famous touch of earthy bitterness. I may not smoke this all the time, but think it deserves high marks for pulling off the various elements.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 22, 2004 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
The blender Cornell & Diehl is said to have blended the Black Knight pipe blend originally for the Yahoo Pipe Smokers Club. This is certainly an interesting blend that could be generally considered an English blend although it contains a small percentage of tobaccos that are not considered to be of staple use in the true English tobacco blends.

The tin aroma is a balanced combination of smoky, leathery, nutty, and sweet aromas. Black Knight contains both red and bright Virginias, Burley, a dash of Perique, and a decently large dose of both Syrian and Cyprian Latakia tobaccos. The color is evenly distributed between black/blue, brown, and yellow shades.

The cut is of a chopped one that resembles the consistency of confetti. No rubbing is required. Packing is simple and the initial moisture is slightly dry and seems to be just right for immediate smoking.

This blend takes effortlessly to a flame and yields a dove gray ash. Black Knight tobacco burns completely with little or no dottle at all. The room note is pleasant to the English tobacco smoker?s nose yet does not seem to be overpowering to the non-smokers in the near vicinity.

The taste is the true hallmark of this blend. A fantastic interplay between the Syrian and Cyprian Latakias makes for an interesting smoke. The Virginias definitely add a pleasing sweetness and the Burley tends to add an underlying nuttiness to the smoke. The blender states that this pipe tobacco blend contains Perique, but it must be in the slightest amounts for it never once makes itself well known. Black Knight has close to no bite and yields a smooth medium smoke.

Cornell & Diehl have truly composed a great tobacco blend with Black Knight. The addition of the Syrian Latakia seems to add a welcoming woody/sweet dimension to the taste. One could smoke this tobacco all day without fear of a charred tongue or of boredom. Overall, a fantastic smoke.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 03, 2002 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable to Strong
This was to be a Latakia lovers dream blend. Now, I am not saying it isn?t, but it is so well-blended that the Latakia doesn't drown out the other leaf in this blend. Even on opening the pouch, while the Latakia is very noticeable, it simply sets a backdrop to the rest of the tobaccos. As with most C&D blends, the moisture level is perfect (to my tastes), a bit on the dry side. This enables it to pack easily and light with minimum effort. It smokes very cool and smooth. Very nice flavors flow throughout. Smoky and sweet predominate, with nutty highlights making ephemeral appearances. There is the slight piquancy of Perique and there is a hint of the taste of raisins. For those who like Latakia, this will be a treat. For those who want Latakia drip, you?ll like it but be disappointed. For those who are interested in trying something with Latakia in it, this would be a good starting point. There is a nice offsetting interplay of the Cyprian and Syrian Latakias, both benefitting from the presence of the other - sweet and yet so smooth and smoky. The complexity of this blend is best enjoyed while sitting back and relaxing - maybe a fine Merlot would do nicely. If not, a hot chocolate works real nicely.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 30, 2007 Medium None Detected Full Tolerable
This review is based from a single tin which went rather quickly. What I remember is this was aged somewhere from three to four years when I popped the tin which turned the yellow and red VA's in this blend into something truely special. The Syrian I suppose is the same that was going into the Pease Syrian mixtures at that time and the result is just a fantastic smoke. Regarding some of the other reviews-- Black Knight is certainly complex, I do not find the burley or any specific tobacco a main player in this mixture, and my tin did indeed contain a significant amount of 'dust' or tobacco bits which are too small to be smoked. If you still have tins of this stuff lying around you're in for a treat, I think.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 29, 2004 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Unnoticeable
I found this blend to be similar to Dunhill?s Nightcap, but without the heavy nicotine content of Nightcap. A nice, smooth blend that I preferred in the late evening.

One very annoying thing about this blend was the large amount of tobacco ?dust? in the tin. This was disappointing coming from such a highly-regarded blender. It addition to spending the beginning of each bowl spitting out the specks of tobacco that flew up the stem, the ultra-fine particles seemed to contribute to the blend burning hot. Also, at the end of the tin I was left with several grams of unusable sawdust-textured tobacco. The poor physical condition of the tobacco really detracted from my enjoyment of this otherwise excellently-blended mix.
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