Cornell & Diehl Bayou Morning Flake

This is similar to Bayou Morning without the addition of any bright Virginia. There is plenty of fruit and plum coming from the red Virginia with a high sugar content. It offers some earthy notes too. Waves of spice join in from the 25% perique. I get both red and black pepper through the nose. This flake has a pretty potent nicotine hit! A fresh tin will show some harshness and lack of balance halfway through the bowl but finishes strong. I've smoked this in briars and corn cobs but had my best bowl in a meerschaum.

I recently opened a tin from 2004. Bayou Morning Flake with over a decade of age on it will remind you why you smoke a pipe. The Virginia and perique are completely married and any rough notes are gone. The strength has mellowed and the flavor has sweetened with more pronounced fruit notes. One of the best smokes I've ever had!

even though the name suggests a smoked morning I do not recommend because it is strong for the time , there is a good amount of Perique if we compare with the ESCUDO and McClelland St. James Woods (because I tasted them with a deadline two weeks between them ) , it's a mix for those who already have an experience in pipe, because beginners could be an inhibiting factor in the noble art . The Perique is present until more than half of the bowl losing its strength in the final half , even me being a difficult tobacco smoking as this is very intense , but it is not indomitable , like any good tobacco complex requires is patience , if so it will be a truly smoke pleasurable. For this I chose a churchwarden , it helps to note the nuances of flavor . Not recommend to beginners as a first Vaper because, as said is biased to beginners , for both the ESCUDO is the best option but for those already acquainted with the Perique is an option and both

a very tart and acrid blend. i did not find this blend very good due to the high bitterness and acrid taste. it might be a good blend for those of you that likes that special tartness and acrid taste of perique.

Bayou Morning Flake is the quintessential morning smoke for the vaper lover. The red stoved VA offers a wonderful mellow sweetness, with the Perique providing some spiciness and strength. I find that this blend needs some moisture, else the strength will knock you of your chair. This is my go-to morning smoke, never failing to deliver that deep & tasty smoking experience.

First off, if you are a smoker of stoved va.s, or va/per blends, and you do not like this flake, you need to clean your pipe or something. The tin aroma is a little like a McClelland without the ketchup smell, with just a whiff of perique. If I'd had even the slightest of stuffy nose, I would never have caught the perique in the tin aroma. It smells predominately of stoved dark virginia, and it smells delicious.

Now, this flake is not the easiest to rub out. It is a thick broken flake, and my sample tended toward the leathery in consistency; a bit like an extra thick slice of Gawith flake. But lighting it was no problem. Thick clouds of smoke immediately billowed forth, gradually settling down to a nice, comforting stream of that familiar va/per aroma. The flake exhibited no tendency to bite; A+.

I smoked this in a nice sized Oom Paul, so I expected that it would be a troublesome affair keeping it lit. But, the tobacco continued burning with no problem, requiring only one relight toward the bottom of the deep bowl. I liked this flake. The pipe aroma was inoffensive; rather more pleasant the the acrid smell I am accustomed to with other va/per blends.

The flavor of this tobacco was that of a very high quality stoved va. with undercurrents (that's undercurrents, not undertones-like a river of...) of the best perique I have ever experienced. The perique, while by no means subdued, managed to provide a generous peppery texture to the va. without being overbearing. The perique used in this flake tended to make me think more of hues and textures than flavors. And that's a good thing; means it's working on several levels of my senses of smell and taste. The flavor was warm and seductive, like a woman from a far off exotic land. The sidestream smoke tickled my nostrils like a musky perfume.

For any fans of va/per, especially flakes, give this a try. If you are looking for a daily smoke that gets you by without a lot of effort, put it away for special ocassions. This tobacco should only be smoked if you have the time to truly appreciate it.

The aspects of the fairly bold, peppery, earthy, woody, plummy, lightly figgy perique (which is 25% of the blend) elevate it to the lead component. The red Virginia provides some tangy dried dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, sugar, light spice, citrus, and floralness. It is less obvious here than it is in the ribbon version as it’s a few notches below the full support level. The dark Virginia plays a little below that with some tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, light floralness, sugar and spice. The light amount of bright Virginia produces some sour lemon, tart citrus, floralness, and grass notes in the background. The strength is potent enough to reach TR’s strong level. Has a full taste. The nic-hit is almost as vigorous as the overall strength. The spice content may tingle the tongue of a fast puffer, and I recommend a slow smoking cadence. Has a little more roughness than the ribbon cut version. The flakes are mildly moist, and don’t need dry time. Burns cool, clean and a tad slow with a very consistent peppery, fruity, floral flavor that extends to the pleasantly long lingering after taste. The room note is much stronger. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires some relights. This flake version is a little punchy, peppery, stronger with a lightly more fermented flavor than the ribbon cut. Certainly not an all day smoke. Eat something first, and have a drink handy. Three stars.

-JimInks

C&D- Bayou Morning Flake

If you are a C&D fan you know by now that anytime they mention flakes, its just a broken mix of used to be flakes.

This blend had 6 months of age on it. I must say this blend was moist in the tin, and after letting it dry for 15 minutes it was somewhat ready to smoke.

The perique was immediately there and if you enjoy the pepper spiciness in your blends this one will scratch this itch. The virginias were less hay and more fresh cut grass which seems an odd pairing.

I was hoping for more of a bready virginia to mix with the pepper spice.

I will re-visit this one in 2-3 years when the blend are actually ready to smoke as seems to be the case with many of the C&D Blends.

Although I haven't tried all 2,346 blends Cornell and Diehl produces, I would venture to say that this is their best. Sure, they have a lot of good blends, but this one is unlike many blends on the market. It is a Vaper with both flavor and gusto, not to mention a ton of perique. The high amount of perique brings out some wonderful darker notes without detracting from the Virginias. I'll repeat that oft-repeated truth about perique: after some threshold percentage in a blend, perique goes from being spicy and conspicuous to rich and nuanced with a subtle flavor profile all its own. Plums and figs often abound, at least in the tin note, and it lends the Virginias a lovely ripeness. This is what this blend is about, no question, and it works very well.

What you get is synergy here - this blend is more than the sum of its parts - neither Virginias nor perique subordinate the other, but they form an amalgamation that is quite delicious and completely its own thing. It's strong and fully flavored, but balanced - from sweet to sour, from spicy to smooth, there is a yin for every yang, which makes this blend tireless. I've been primed enough by the labeling to not only smoke this in the morning, but smoke this every morning. I cannot imagine starting my day without it - as soon as I open my eyes I think: coffee, Bayou.

Oh, the tin aroma is unique too, not unlike a musty barn: hay, manure, equal parts acrid and sweet. (My wife thinks it smells like horses, but I'm a city-slicker, so I cannot attest.) And yes, FIGS. The real kind.

And yes, the flake is better than the ribbon. Better behaved, better tasting, and ages better. Although it is excellent fresh - preferable to me, actually - like a well structured Bordeaux that stays sturdy and balanced after a decade, you can squirrel this away confidently; it will repay with dividends.

Opening the tin brought out an intense smell of apricots and stewed plum, some little hay and some mustiness. I knew I'd like it as I haven't come across a VaPer I didn't like. Perhaps I was looking forward to the change as I've been VaPer-less for about a month.

The cut is thick broken flake pieces which break apart very easily and are not sticky at all, unlike some European flakes.

Takes light easily, and didn't need a relight until the heel, no moisture in the pipe either so ready to smoke immediately.

The taste is strong, strong pepper in fact, particularly on the retrohale, and semi sweet. The plums and apricots show up every couple of puffs, the mustiness thankfully does not. There's more pepper than spice here, as expected with 25% Perique, but it is great for my tastes. Stays very consistent throughout the bowl, and very pleasurable. This is not DLNRs, this is its young, strong, loud American nephew. A bit rougher around the edges but an overall great guy to hang out with.

For me this is a 4 star product, as although my first love after Latakia were Dunhill DLNRs and Solani 633, I often wished they had some punch. Well this packs the N punch for sure, and doesn't lack in flavour. Some may be put off by its strength but this is my review, so highly recommended.