Cornell & Diehl Bayou Morning Flake

UPDATE: 07/06/05 I rubbed out BMF more completely. It dried out a little, but the moisture was about perfect the day I opened the tin. The "bitey" reference in my original review was more of a bitter taste and upon closer examination, that briar had started to go sour, a condition I have since remedied. I have tried it in a small 3/4 bent Meershaum. This yielded more tobacco taste than the briar, less than the Missouri Meershaum cob I tried originally.

I like a stronger tasting tobacco, one with more body. BMF does not make the grade for me. I am down-grading my rating accordingly. Too bad. I had such high hopes for this one. I do not intend to buy it again. I am getting tired of high priced tinned tobacco disappointments.

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I have concluded that I do not fit the profile of the test population that Cornell&Diehl must use to test their blends. The first two were Canal Boat and Cumberland something. Both left me unimpressed.

Last week I purchase a 2 oz. tin of Bayou Morning Flake for $11.50 at a local tobacco shop (the only game in town). One cannot fault this blend with regard to quality. It is top notch. No stems or tobacco dust. And I enjoyed the odor of my second-hand smoke: a nice tobacco scent.

The taste was extremely mild to my palate, almost to the point of being tasteless. It responded best in a large Missouri Meershaum that has become my favorite pipe. In a large 1/2 bent briar there was less taste and it began to get "bitey" towards the end of the bowl. I am going to let it dry a little and try it in my small 3/4 bent Meershaum

The red Virginia in Bayou seems to have virtually no sweetness to it. There was little flavor or depth. To use sound as an analogy, it struck me as thin, high pitched and flat.

I have rated it a 2 because I am hoping that a little age, a little drying will improve the impression it has made thus far. If I don't see any improvement I will not be buying more.

This comes as an oddly cut flake. The flakes are thick cut and fall apart almost on their own. It comes with a perfect moisture content and lights and burns well. My problem with this tobacco is that it lacks flavor. I'm not sure I'd guess it even contained virginias. No sweetness nor any of the hay/oats flavors I look for. The perique dominates the flat flavors of the other tobaccos even if it's not added in high percentage. A fan of savory blends [read no sweetness] might enjoy this one more than I do.

Do you like the flavor of the 1980's style Bubble Yum grape gum? If you do, this blend is for you. No kidding, think hard about how that gum smelled and tasted; now stick your honker in the tin and take a huff. There is no mistaking that smell. A VaPer flake cased/topped in grape bubblegum flavor. Personally, I find it off-putting as it's quite strong. It's one of those things where when you figure out what it is, you are messed up for good. There's no going back and un smelling/tasting it again. (Sorry if this reviews ruins some people's thoughts on this blend, now that you know what it's flavored with). It really hacks me off. I hate dishonesty. If they had listed the flavoring (as they should have) I would never have bought this. I purchased this expecting a VaPer on the stronger perique side, what I got was grape bubblegum flavored tobacco flakes. As I said, don't just take my word for it. Take a fresh tin and think grape bubblegum, then take a smell of the baccy. It's undeniable. Gross

NOT REVIEWED YET A Virginia/perique lover's delight! The folks at C&D start with old belt red Virginias, add 25% perique and press the whole thing before slicing it into Bayou Morning Flake.