Cornell & Diehl Bijou

Bijou greets the nose with a little earthy and a little sour note. The flakes are ready to load with no dry time needed which is saying something for me because I prefer to smoke my tobacco on the dry side. Even though I really like it this way, it does make me wonder how well it will age as tobacco needs a decent moisture level for the best aging results. (around 12%). I think there is enough there, but the speed it will age may be slower. As far as the taste is concerned, it is quite delicious now. The red Virginia offers a wonderful sweetness and a little tang along with the honey-like topping. The Oriental component is in a supporting role, but the portions of each are done really, really well. The bright Virginias are there, but I don’t taste them very well which to me is a tribute to the way this was blended as it all really comes together nicely. My guess is that this was aged for some time prior to tinning as Bijou offers up some aged flavor. In the late stages of the bowl, the strength picks up a bit and the sweetness is more muted. The small amount of spice is more of a player toward the bowls end as well. I do get a little bit of ashy flavor near the bowl’s end too, but this isn’t enough of an issue for me to keep it from being a four star blend.

Sadly.. At least as I understand it.. we are slowly losing most distinct oriental varietals.. We now see a couple.. mostly izmir and Katerini.. maybe occasionally basma.. but the big cigarette companies are really the only thing keeping it going.. and it is mostly all blended together.. So I do get a big kick out of cornell and diehl and in the past the now deceased Mcclelland.. Companies that went beyond to find leaf.. and I particularly like this Bijou blend.. it showcases the noted curry like varietal.. but also a particularly striking red virginia.. and I sense some manipulation.. possibly stoving... really nice aged tasting smoke... mine is only 2 years qged.. but tastes very mature..spicy and full.. tangy yet deep.. and sour but sweet.. quite tasty.. not to mention that lovely honey accent that ties it all together.

Bravo Cornell & Diehl! I have had wild ride with my taste in pipe tobacco and I am sure it will continue. Why pipe smoking isn't like my food journey ( I can eat the same thing and there have been almost zero variance in taste over my lifetime...other than whiskey). I have been a lat bomb guy to a straight VA guy and back again. I do enjoy an occasional aromatic, but that has not changed much, never were my favorite and almost turned me off to the pipe for good. I have been trying to find replacement for McClelland Orientals (yes Orientals as well as VA's). This is is one that meets the grade. L.J. Peretti has done a nice job here as well. I find good Orientals, to my taste, are difficult to define in a review but I will give it a shot. I prefer Oriental's that lead with a flavor that I can best define as British Breakfast tea with milk and sugar. The Virginia's are slightly sweet and bready, the grassier notes mixing with the "spice" of the Turkish/Oriental. The sour, often attributed with Turkish/Orientals, either way in the background or that work with the other tobacco's well enough to not come with a bite. Bijou does this all and then some. There are times that the toasted bread from the VA's take an edge over the creaminess. I am not sure if tea is a spice but this is the type of spice the Katerini brings to the blend. Subtle, complex and just delicious. If you are looking for something with in your face flavor, this probably isn't it. But if you like the nuances and complex, subtle flavors that Orientals/Turkish this is probably in the top 3 Oriental blends still in production (I would also recommend Peretti Oriental #40). This will be even better with age as all VA's and Orientals are.

The first thing I notice is the honey then the Red Virginias,fruity and bready with a wisp of vinegar . Then the Katerini kicks in with peppery spice . I then taste the reds,honey and pepper the rest of the bowl all together. There are some herbal and floral notes as well and tea . I don’t know what to compare it to really. It will be good to have around when in the mood for something different. The bottom of the bowl is best . If you don’t like spicy blends then forget about it . I like it 3 1/2 stars .

I've long anticipated grabbing a tin of Bijou due to the reviews and positive remarks it has received since its conception. And I can say that it has lived up to its hype. The Virginas and Orientals are incredibly balanced with a sweet/sour relationship. The natural citrusy and dark fruity notes stay steady with the spicy, sourness from the Orientals.

The honey topping is evident but by no means substantial. I would even say that this blend would be just find without the honey topping, however, it is a welcome addition. The tin I'm smoking is only a few months old. If the purpose is to cellar this blend for further development, it will be a prize worth possessing when aged. I bought a total of 5 tins. Ill certainly be adding more my cellar and for current use. 8/10

Bijou was not a blend I wanted to try for a while due to the issue Cornell & diehl had with the mold outbreak. 3 years after its introduction, I believe its finally time.

My tin is date from April of this year. The tin aroma is absolutely fantastic. One of the best I've smelled in a while. It has a faint tartness from the virginia but mainly a sweet chocolate aroma almost like brownies. Moisture if perfect straight out of the tin.

If anything I've ever had smoked had multiple personalities, Bijou is it. In a cob the Virginia's are tart, bright, sweet, and have a good amount of body throughout the bowl. The katerini is pretty hard to pick out but I do get hints of a very slight musty flavor. The honey adds sweetness to the blend but it accents the katerini more then the Virginia's imo. It burns cool and clean all the way down the bowl.

In my peterson 11s, Bijou.is totally different. It's almost one dimensional all the way down but it pops with a tartness from time to time from the Va. The brownie tin note essentially is the flavor profile. A dark sweetness with a good amount of body and if I puff it very lightly I get a flavor of honey toast. Burns cool and clean all the way down the bowl.

Bijou is excellent. I never though a va/oriental blend could honestly be this good.

If I had compare this to anything, in a cob it would be Mcclelland Matured Virginia #25 and in my peterson it would be the sutliff version of SPC Mississippi River.

Highly recommend it. Would definitely buy more

Like C&D say, the star of their Bijou blend is the 2003 vintage red VA, and flue cured VA and Turkish Katerini are condimental. That is, the lemon VA is condimental like a dash of salt, and the Katerini is “condimental” like the pepper on a pepper steak! Enough honey has been added to lend some sweetness to a mix that otherwise might have been too bluff, sour, dry, and/or piquant. Anyway, I can’t argue with the results. Despite Bijou is from C&D’s “Cellar Series’, and it’s meant to mature in its sealed tin for another 10 – 15 years, I was quite pleased with my 4 ½ month old Bijou, enjoying every bowlful and only peripherally wondering how it could taste when fully aged. But, yes, I will be getting more to cellar!

Popping the tin, the scent is like honey on fresh, moist brown bread. The mostly broken, short flakes range from light-medium red brown through medium brown, with some gold flecks. I had no issues with loading, lighting or smoking Bijou down, apart from fine, dark ash at the end, and it burns long and slow. Being young, the Katerini is still rather peppery, but it also heralds the deeper, more exotic bakery spices that will evolve over time, even resting in a sealed jar. Smoked young, Bijou is yet fairly well melded, the net effect being a fairly wide range of flavors and scents, pegged in the upper registers by the flure cured VA and on the bottom by the mellow-but-assertive, well-aged, air cured, red VA, all of it “overlain”, as it were, by the rich, almost iridescent Katerini. The red VA is a mouthful, for sure, and I really love this tobacco. It is less earthy or sweet than air cured brown, also more piquant. I gather the lot will mellow and round out over time, but I’m fine ‘til that happens. The lot is so very fragrant, with “woody” scents like distant burning fruit woods and native grasses and cereal grains. It is “savory” first, and else second. There is some dark fruit leather, way down the list. On the one hand, Bijou is “simple”, even one dimensional. On the main, strong, right hand, it is “sophisticated”, along the lines of Germain’s Brown Flake. IMO, it’s best contemplated. Strength is up there for VA, stronger than medium. Factoring in the spices and the piquancy, tastes are also over medium. Room note is pleasant, to me, anyway. Aftertaste is the best of the smoke, if one avoids fine ash in the end.

IMO, Bijou is great now, and it will quite likely get better with age. I’m surprised it’s not more popular, but I do like piquant tobacco. The quality is there, for sure. 4 stars.

It's a solid everyday smoke, it's light, sweet and dry. Directly from the tin it smokes well, is a good moisture content. Flakes break down is easy and I found stuffing/folding/etc to be a bit on the finicky side.

I get a lot of honey on the charring light and maybe the first quarter to third of a bowl, at which point the virginias and orientals really step forward and make for a nice pleasant smoke with the faintest hints of honey every so often through out the bowl.

This is a blend that has handled well for me in meerschaum pipes as well as briar pipes, it doesn't get wet, doesn't bite and is pleasantly not as bright as a lot of other virigina based blends.

This is from a tin which was dated June 2017 and has been jarred since at least 2019 if not 2018.

Another jar which I found buried in my open jar box which I decided to get out and try in late summer 2020. I have several tins of this aging towards their recommended date of 10 years but I had to give one a try to have an idea of what it might be like in 2028 or so.

The broken flakes are in the C&D style where they will crumble with slight pressure as you are loading the bowl. The moisture level is still great. They are very dark flakes with specks of lighter tobacco in them. The jar note is a sweet/sour.

Upon lighting I get a combination of sour (which I'm guessing is the oriental) a little pepper and some sweetness. I enjoy CD's other VA's featuring the honey topping (think Interlude or Sun Bear..) and I recognize that note. The orientals are a nice addition as the sour to me builds and decreases as I go through the bowls. This blend does really well in my pot shaped pipes and shines in a Sav 320/Morgan Fat Author as do most of the ones with a prep like this.

The nic level to me is mild enough I could smoke multiple bowls while being still noticable. The room note is strong according my wife (the designated judge of this here).

I'm interested to see how the age will change this. I'm hoping the sweetness of the VA's continues to increase as this is a good blend which I'm looking forward to enjoying over the new decade.