Cornell & Diehl Carolina Red Flake with Perique (2021)

The stoved and unstoved 2020 red, orange, and floral lemon Virginias are the lead components. I notice the orange and lemon a little more than I do the red by taste even though the stoving changes the colors of the varietals to some extent. They offer a wealth of very zesty, fermented tart and tangy citrus, floralness, bread, a fair amount of grass and earth, some tangy stewed dark fruit, wood, vegetation, sugar, and mild spice with light acidic, sour lemon, and port wine notes. The Saint James perique provides plenty of earth, wood, sugary stewed plum, figs, pepper, and a touch of raisins. By design, the perique plays an important secondary support role rather than giving full support, which is an observation, and not a complaint. The strength and nicotine levels are medium. The taste is a step past that due to the floralness. There’s no chance of bite or harshness. As there is no topping, there are a few typically expected small rough edges. The flakes are mildly moist and easily broken apart. I saw no need to dry the tobacco. Well balanced and nuanced, it burns cool and clean at a slightly slow pace with a very consistent moderately sweet, peppery, floral, and rugged flavor with a sour undertone. Has a mildly lingering, pleasant after taste. The room note is a tad stronger. Leaves little dampness in the bowl. Requires a few more than an average number of relights. Despite its rich depth, it can be an all day smoke for the veteran, and easily repeatable for the less experienced. Should age exceptionally well.

-JimInks

When I ran out of Carolina Red Flake, I decided that it would be logical to open the same Virginia blend, but with perique. The tobacco was supposed to increase in flavor and aroma due to this component. Naturally, it did.

The tin was packed at the beginning of September 2021 just like the previous one. I never tire of mentally thanking the workers at Cornell & Diehl who put date labels on these tins.

The appearance of the tobacco is the same swollen flake strips that easily diverge into individual fibers as its sibling, Carolina Red Flake. But the color, of course, is different. Whereas there was a monochromatic yellowish-brown shade of fresh leaves, here the color is slightly darker, a shade of pine chaff. There is no dust, no excessive moisture either. The consistency is great, you can stuff it and light it up.

In addition to the basic aromas of wheat bread and fresh hay, there are obvious light raisin and cytrus notes, and on top of that the tobacco has a slightly salty, jerky smell with just a hint of pepper. Thanks to Russ Ouellette and his Golden Triangle collection, I've had the opportunity to sample perique from various regions of St. James, and if Cornell & Diehl added St. James perique here, at least some of it seems to have been picked somewhere in Paulina.

The taste was luxurious for such a fresh tobacco. A very pleasant wheat note was complemented by a slight peppery finish mixed with unsweetened dried apricots and a subtle hint of cocoa. However, very soon another note was added to this bouquet - dried tomatoes. I think my guess about Paulina was right. The tobacco smokes very gently, doesn't bite or burn the tongue. Despite the wide bowl and overall consistency, it smokes quite slowly, leaving less moisture than a simple Carolina Red Flake. Of course, at the expense of the perique, it also has a different strength - it's higher, and you can get a nicotine hit from a large pipe. I felt a slight manifestation of it at the very end of the smoke, which gives me reason to consider the tobacco to be slightly above average strength. The aftertaste of the tobacco is caramel-malt with a slight saltiness on the tongue, quite pleasant.

The smoke from tobacco has a grassy, woody smell with a slight spiciness. I liked it very much, in addition, it is quite light.

The bottom line: This tobacco is very good even when fresh. I can only imagine how good it will taste in five years. Virginia perique blends age, gaining flavor and sweetness, and this one will be no exception. Considering it's a limited edition, you need to stock up on it now. It's worth it.

Cornell & Diehl - Carolina Red Flake with Perique (2021).

Note: tin 08604/15,000.

The blend's fairly well broken, my tin has no pieces of whole flake in there. It has the prevailing, expected VaPer aroma, grassy and figgy. The moisture of this tin is absolutely perfect, spot on. I just stuff some of the blend straight in, extra rubbing isn't needed.

The flavour's exquisite. I haven't smoked anything else since yesterday afternoon, it's so good! Although there's an abundance of Perique, it isn't too cold, sharp or spicy; it's very fruity, instead. This flavour's unquestionable, that word again: exquisite! Now, the Virginias.... also fruity. LOADS of elaborate, rich, lavish Red VA fruit. As well as the opulent fruit there's also some sharp-citrus, freshness; lively and buoyant! It burns extremely well, without any bite.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: nice.

2021 Red Flake with Perique? Easy, highly recommended:

Four stars.

Cornell and Diehl Carolina Red Flake perique- I think this is the best red flake C&D has put out so far ! The earthiness is what I love about it . It is sugary sweet , tangy with dark fruit tones . Bready and just delicious. It seems so natural and I would say cased to a bare minimum. This picks up right where McClelland left off . This will give more of a nicotine punch also . The fruity Perique is a perfect amount. I don’t know how you beat this . 4

There’s a fermented almost beer like aroma off the tin note, and char light. It came a little on the moist side, but only needed about 10 min or so of drying time. It has some wheat, citrus, earth, bread and pepper notes. Required a few more relights than I like, but no big deal. I’ve never had the straight Virginia version, but this one tastes great, and I would recommend it for sure.

Well, first is first: I definitely prefer this in a smaller bowl. My preference is the Stanwell 242 small pot shape. This tends to smooth out and combine the flavors. However, if you enjoy some Perique strength, I found that in larger bowls the Perique comes out more, bringing with it some figs, mushrooms, and spice. However, since my favorite smokes have been in the smaller bowls, this review is written smoking one my 242s.

The tin note shows some subtle notes to dark fruits, wine, and sweet grass

After some playing around with the broken flakes I decided to do what I usually do and just rub it all out. Then it is easier to pack and smoke. Moisture is fairly good out of the tin, but I prefer to bring it to a drier state. This really depends on your preference. Smokes at a medium pace. Absolutely no tongue bite. Could be a happy all-day smoke if it wasn't out of production. The Perique is not overly strong, but rather well combined and balanced with the Virginia sweetness. The Red Virginia isn't harsh either. It is smooth and produce a sweet wine and grass, like in the tin note. I'm not getting much of the bready notes I expected. This is on the sweeter citrusy side, but doesn't go as far as a bright Virginia does. Retrohale brings a bit more peppery spice.

Medium-full body, mild-medium in strength.

When Red Carolina Red Flake came out in 2020 I was very happy with it. Despite its total simplicity, it was a pretty rich and satisfying smoke. This years' version, with the Perique, is wonderful as well. However, comparing it with other Virginia/Perique blends, I don't think that it stands especially high. It is a great blend, but definitely not unique. On top of that, considering that I felt a great difference between smoking it in a small bowl and in my regular medium-sized pipes, where it definitely didn't shine, I'll have to say that it's very good, but not incredible in any way. If you got some of this when it came out - great. If not, that's ok.

I was reluctant to delve into a limited edition or small batch from c & d (never wanting to follow the hype) but in this case i am extremely happy I did.. this 2021 red flake with perique is absolutely phenomenal.. Nice and sweet with a sparkly earthy and spicy quality.. has a great fermented quality.. this already tastes very mature.. usually cornell and diehl needs more time in the tin.. but this is already good.. maybe it is the processing.. or the leaf.. or both.. got a few to age.. this is unique.. not as dark and woodsy as bayou morning flake.. somewhat brighter with light zesty fruit... complex but really easy to smoke

2021 Version. Smoking now:

The tin note is like a jar of fruit preserves that were kept in a hay filled barn. Very tart, sour, fermented, yeast, hay. It’s exactly what you want to smell if you like vaper blends. Broken flakes that are perfect from the tin.

The taste is pretty much the same. Very tart, sour, fermented bread, hay. Very flavorful. This is one the sweetest vaper blend I have smoked in my memory (update: it’s sweet but more so it’s not white pepper spicy). The st James Perish Perique is not as peppery or spicy but rather a deep rich dried fruit flavor. The retrohale is pleasant for a vaper blend and does not sting my nose too bad however you will get some of that spice there. Mild after taste that will leave a little pepper for you to wash down with your favorite beverage.

I love how sweet and flavorful this blend is. For me this is the ideal Virginia Perique blend. Smoked and behaved as well as any other vaper blend. A real treat. I’m glad I stocked up.

**update 7-8-22**

Still one of my favorite blends I’ve smoked. All of the above still applies. Burns slow, amazingly consistent. Maybe my favorite Vaper blend.

*update 9-21-23*

Taste isn’t as tart, it’s still there, but more yeast, and bread. The perique has a black pepper corn herbal flavor and a nice spice. Doesn’t tingle the nose on the retrohale. I enjoy the taste of the perique in this and I usually shy away from it.

Final verdict: I do enjoy this but it’s not my favorite vaper out there. I’ll pop a tin in a few years and see what it did in the tin. It’s a heavy perique flavored blend and I normally don’t like that but the perique here isn’t spicy, it’s more of a peppercorn and fruit flavor which I do enjoy. Not bad at all.

Hats off to Cornell and Diehl for this blend. The addition of perique adds a fine sour pepper to an already great blend. I do find it fairly high in nicotine but I'm a little wimpy in that direction. It hits home in a large bowl when left to dry, so caution required.

Tin note is sweet and spicy with some muskiness . Flake cut very easy to rub out. I let it sit for 5 minutes after rubbing out my tin was dated 2021 relatively new. Its a great smoke no doubt. lots of spice of the front end but very smooth at the start. It picks up some steam as you work your way through the bowl but in a good way more spice and sweetness. needs to be puffed gently at the halfway point, The Nic hit is middle. For me its not an all day smoke but an evening treat.