Cornell & Diehl Bijou

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.

Comes out of the tin as a broken flake. The honey topping won't do much for you as far as flavor goes, but it does wonders for the room note.

Classic Virginia flavors of tang and hay. The Katerini adds a dimension of tea-like herbality.

Easily an all-day smoke that benefits from also being a crowd-pleaser. One of my favorites to take to the bar.

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.

Having a bowl of '17 vintage right now, and I can confirm that Bijou improves quite a bit with age. When I first popped the tin a few years ago it was a good, slightly sweet and creamy smoke with a strange curry note and a few rough edges. Now, this stuff is already sublime after having been aged 5 years. The taste is much sweeter and deeper, and the Orientals are dancing with the Virginias in a way that did not happen 4 years ago. Halfway through the bowl this stuff really sings. If you like VA/or tobacco, I highly recommend buying a few tins and forgetting about them for half a decade. You'll thank me later.

Maybe my favorite C&D offering. When I first opened the tin, the honey note had me second-guessing whether I would like it. I was concerned it might be too sweet. Not at all. Three days after the tin was opened most of the honey had faded to the background and all that was left was a distant sweetness added to a wonderful blend of VA and ORIs. Love it.

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.

Jeremy Reeves has been an infusion of talent and expertise for C&D. I generally approach a new blend with some trepidation, but from the first light, Bijou has been wonderful. Delicious sweet red Virginia makes a fine foundation, but the Oriental leaf, Katerini- with which I was hitherto unfamiliar, comes forward in a distinct but unobtrusive way giving a soft unctious depth that I find delish! The blender indicates a honey topping, which is very delicately done, so that sweetness is appreciated, but doesn't smoke like a "flavored" tobacco. I have smoked a tin with not much age on it. I imagine it will be fantastic when put away for a while.

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.