Cornell & Diehl Bijou

I like this blend alright, but it did not blow me away. I would have preferred a bit more sweetness from the Virginia or even the honey. The Virginia in this blend is not unlike many C&D Reds, more deep and earthy essence than fruity sweet.

There is a bit of citrus that comes through in the blend, but I believe this is coming from the Katerini leaf which adds all the complexity in the blend with a sour tone. To my tastes this is a touch too sour, but I have shared this with many people who rave about the blend.

As to the addition of the honey in the blend, I will take C&D's word for it that it is in there, but I do not really taste it. It has most likely melded in and may be responsible for the smoothness of this blend.

On the good side it comes at the perfect moisture level and burns clean and cool to the bottom with no bite. I have three more tins aging in the cellar and will be interested to see how this blend tastes as the Virginias get sweeter over time (As it is clearly intended to do as a Cellar Series blend). The tin I smoked had about a year and a half of age on it. I will be reporting back as I go through the others.

Update 2/5/2022

I just finished one of those tins mentioned above, so this particular tin had aged 5 yrs 1 month when I opened it. The long nap seems to have really benefitted this tin to my tastes as I found this tin did satisfy me more than the younger tin I reviewed above. The virginia element did increase in sweetness and its interaction with the Katerini really intensified. it was a great smoke. I am keeping it at 3 stars for now, but I can now see where this may become a four star blend with more aging.

The final installment of the small samples I received from an internet buddy. This one was the most interesting, if not the best tasting. The bag aroma was of curry mixed in with the tobacco and that, I assume, was the Katerini making itself known.

In the pipe, the Katerini was the star. A curry-like spice that diminished down the bowl but never went away. Consequently, I preferred the first half of each bowl (3 bowl sample). C&D claims that the Virginia is a 2003 red crop and having smoked a lot of reds from around that era, I'm not sure what C&D does to leech the natural sweetness out of the leaf. The base tobaccos here are unrefined - almost primitive in their dryness and lack of character. Almost no sweetness and a far cry from the best red Virginias available. Even the light topping doesn't sweeten this up. On the other hand, there is a huge charm to this one with that spicy curry incense-like flavor from the Turkish. Compared to the McClellands blend named Katerini, this one is to the far left (spicy) while the McClellands is to the far right (sweet). I'd like to try one more middle of the road. But I enjoyed this one and may pick up a few more tins for aging. It had a unique flavor that might age well or it might benefit from blending this with a more typical red VA. I'm intrigued with this one, even while it didn't hit my tastebuds as well as I'd hoped.

Upon opening the tin one can see a bunch of delicate broken flakes that are dark brown for the most part with streams of black and bits of golden and red. The smell is quite delicious. Hay and fruit mixed with some earth with a touch of honey. One can definitely smell the honey topping, but it's extremely mild and not overdone.

Easy to load and light. Light tamping works well for this blend and I didn't require many if any relights.

This blend reminds me of Orlik GS as the virginias are sweet and hay-like with a bit of citrus....but it's not as sweet as OGS and there is more going on with this blend than that. It reminds me of Blackwoods flake, as the virginia profile seems wide, with dark, medium, and light tones, however this blend leans more to the light/medium side of the spectrum in taste and flavor strength. The orientals add a complimentary dimension to the smoke that works well with the natural sweetness. It provides some spice and a bit of smokiness that is quite pleasant. This blend, at least at its current age, seemed to bite my tongue just a bit. Not so bad as for me to not enjoy it, but enough to notice. I think some age will help cure this issue however. The honey is just barely detectable maybe once every 5-10 puffs and adds a light sweetness to the smoke. Very enjoyable blend. I look forward to seeing how it will do after some years of aging.

**UPDATE** After a few more months of age, this blend is really great!! Awesome natural red va tangy sweetness supported by some wood notes and citrus notes. Wonderful! Still makes my tongue hurt with every bowl. Not sure what it is....otherwise I would give this the full 4 stars.

My first tin ended up being full of mold. C&D replaced the tin at no cost, which was great. I haven't cracked another tin of this yet.

Upon the first light, the Turkish Katerini takes the lead, swiftly followed by the moderately tangy dark fruit sweetness of the 2003 Eastern North Carolina red Virginias. These red Virginias provide earthy and woody hints, a touch of bread and sugar, all with a subtle spice note. The Katerini, with a mild smokiness, imparts a fairly woody, earthy, herbal, floral, and slightly vegetal sweetness, along with a mild sourness and gentle spice. As you continue to smoke, the Katerini gracefully transitions into a supporting role, adding depth to each puff.

There's a subtle hint of bright Virginia leaf in the mix that adds a touch of tart and tangy citrus, akin to tart lemon and grass. The honey topping, delicately applied, introduces a mild, smoothing sweetness that complements the blend without overpowering the tobacco flavors. It may not always be distinctly noticeable and tends to diminish after the halfway point.

In terms of strength, the nicotine hit falls squarely in the mild to medium range, with a slight push towards medium as the session progresses. The overall strength leans a couple of notches past the midpoint, while the taste falls slightly short of medium intensity.

The thin flakes in this blend have a bit of moisture, making them flexible for your preferred packing method. There's usually no need to pre-dry, and it's recommended to smoke them as they are. The blend burns cool and clean, offering a smooth, woody, and floral sweetness at a slow to moderate pace. Expect a few relights, but no dull or harsh moments, and it remains bite-free, even with a bit of puffing. Some moisture remains in the bowl after smoking.

This blend eventually turns to ash, but in a larger pipe bowl, you may need to give the last quarter a gentle stir. Interestingly, the tangy notes from the red Virginia seem to shine more in a smaller pipe, so it's best enjoyed in a small to medium-sized pipe. The aftertaste is pleasantly short-lived, and the room note has a hint of sweet campfire smoke.

In summary, it's an all-day blend with subtle complexity, deserving a rating of four.

Tin note of sour, grass and mild Rasins. The brown, dark brown and black broken flakes are not too moist, rubs out easily. Burns somewhat slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild to medium. Flavoring is so mild I can't detect it. Taste is medium and mostly consistent, with notes of quite earth, quite woody, dry herbal spice, moderately floral, lemon grass, mildly dark fruit, mildly bready, mildly tangy sour, very mildly sweet, and a mildly peppery retro. Virginias is the lead with Turkish supporting. The Honey flavoring is hiding. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is good.

Out of the tin, notes of honey, bread, and floral jump right up.

Lighting up the tobacco, I almost immediately get freshly baked bread from the Virginia, immediately followed by honey and again these floral notes which are very hard to pin down but come from the Turkish leaf. They carry a fresh scent with them, like an ocean breeze. The Turkish leaf adds a very nice twist to what otherwise would've been a honey-bread Virginia blend. Together, they play on the key three flavors but are very easy to distinguish, rather than all of them being mixed together.

The smoke in the room is, again, distinctly of bread/yeast.

I best enjoy this blend when it is fully crumbled and dried to a good level. Then it is very easy to pack and smoke, with only a few relights, if any. Sip slowly to fully enjoy all the flavors. Absolutely no tongue bite. Can be an all-day smoke but the downside is that you will get too used to it and won't appreciate the play between the three main characters.

Around the end of the first third I get some black pepper spice instead of bread/yeast. The honey and floral notes do stay fairly until the end.

Medium in both body, mild-medium strength.

Since I haven't waited the recommended 10-15 years, this review cannot be complete. But I will be sure to update this once I smoke the aged tin that I put aside couple of years ago.

Purchased this tin a year ago, and it was already a year on the shelf at the store, so definitely not it's "peak" time, but I was wanting to give it a try.

I was thrown off a little upon lighting as I was expecting this to be a Va/per. Everything about the name and tin art just seemed to have a perique tone. So, it's not a Va/Per or straight Virginia, but certainly Virginia forward. Sweet, grassy, with some dark fruit as well. The orientals didn't come through for me as much; just seemed hinted at in the background with a little spice. The honey is noticeable, but doesn't overwhelm the Virginia; compliments it rather nicely, and fades as you reach the 2nd half of the bowl.

Pleasant smoke, and one I will keep in a jar for an occasional bowl. It will be interesting to see how this improves over the next 10 years or so, but it's still enjoyable with only a couple years age. Recommended for just about any piper.

Once you open the tin, you get the same sort of steamed Virginia broken flake look you get in SG 1792 Flake. The tin note is amazing. A subtle note of honey with a fruit note from the Virginias. When smoked it comes out basically the same way. The touch of honey is a pleasant touch to the dried fruit of the Virginia tobacco and the citrus from the oriental. Overall this is a great Virginia tobacco I will always keep in my cellar.

Cornell & Diehl – Bijou

This was the first Cornell & Diehl blend that I have seen at a brick and mortar store here in Toronto. The tobacconist recommended it to me as an alternative to the Dunhill blends that I had been smoking since picking up the pipe. I was excited to learn that we do sometimes get these tobaccos up here in Ontario as I thought I would never get a shot at them (this was before I realized I could order from the United States).

When the tin is opened I can definitely smell the honey topping, but I can also smell the Turkish/Oriental tobacco and it smells very nice and earthy. The cut is a broken flake and the flakes are moist and easy to rub out. One thing I will say is that this seems to dry out incredibly fast if you leave it out for more than an hour.

Lighting up and the honey taste is very much discernable, but the smoke itself is mellow, cool and the Turkish really comes through to start. The Virginia is aged and tastes very earthy and delicious.

All in all I would say that the honey does a good job of making this a sweet smoke without ruining the tobacco taste. This was actually the first tin of tobacco that I finished completely, as I have been sampling many blends and putting them straight into mason jars so that I can take my time with them as I test things out to see what I like best. Only caveat to this blend is as mentioned above it can dry out really quick, and smoking it dry is quite harsh and unpleasant in my estimation. Would recommend this blend to others.