Cornell & Diehl Byzantium

Finally a latakia blend within the last year that I've been able to enjoy! And once again another blend without Virginia, burley, or black cavendish at all. Maybe there is something to this.....

The moister level is perfect. The bag aroma is obviously smokey but with a noticeable tang and earthiness from the perique.

It's very consistent from beginning to end but with subtle changes throughout. Smokey, slightly sweet, buttery, with a touch of earth. I dont get any pepperiness. Sometimes the smokiness tones down, sometimes the buttery Turkish amps up but no big changes. Very enjoyable. Burns cool and clean, no bite at all.

For the ones who want more of the turkish and less smokiness, I recommend Sunset Harbor Flake as it has the same components but less latakia and more turkish forward. Byzantium is definitely worth a try.

Picked up an ounce of this blend as it is an English I've been wanting to try. I have smoked a ton of English tobacco and this one is not for the weak at heart. It is a powerhouse of Latakia with a boatload of nicotine. Pouchnote is musky and the cut is predominately ribbon. It burns at a moderate rate and smokes cool with no bite. Flavor is consistent to the bottom of the bowl. Not something for an early day smoke but goes well with some quality libation.

The lat. has that campfire smoke note and is a little sweet. It is way out in front of the rest of the components. The Turkish has that slight sweet and sour note that I love and is just in the background. The perique adds just a little spice and a dark dried fruit note. A nice heavy lat. blend with some complexity. While I have rated the overall strength as med. to strong the nic. is much closer to the med. side and will not over power you. It will bite if you push this so slow and steady is the way to go. I also notice that my briar's had a heavy earthy note to the blend, which I did not care for as it seemed to mute the other flavors but switching over to the meers. toned this earthiness down and brought out the nuances noted above with much more clarity.

Takes a match well, on the dry side from the bulk package I received. I get notes of leather and unsweetened cocoa, with a nice but faint smokiness. I don't detect much Perique other than in the in bag nose. The Latakia is mild and along with the Perique really just augments the Orientals.

This is a very pleasant and dry smoke that pairs well with a strong black tea as this blend brings to mind the same tannic notes.

Overall, a nice smoke. Smoked down to a fine ash, with a couple relights and an occasional tamping. While I don't have much experience with what would be classed as a Balkan, this just doesn't feel like a great example of balance in a blend. It's all a mild smokiness with some spice and I could imagine it as much better were it bolder on some front, more Latakia or more Perique...more something. It comes off as too mild to get the point across, it left me a bit flat by the end of the bowl as the flavors didn't really build upon one another as I had hoped.

I purchased this one for its novelty: a mixture of only condimental tobaccos. No Virginia or burley for a base here. Just smokey, woody Cyprian Latakia, sour and spicy Izmir, and peppery Perique. I expected some degree of harshness or at least palate fatigue none of which I have experienced with Byzantium. I was surprised to find a very smooth and creamy smoke. The Perique sort of acts as a Virginia here. It takes the edge off of the other two tobaccos. None of these tobaccos are particularly pleasant to smoke on their own however all combined it is plenty tasty.

I was away at a wooded area with some friends over the weekend. Took three pipes of varying bowl sizes and my latest tobacco purchases. First I tried this in my smallest bowl. Whoa! This tobacco seemed to be a latakia bomb. However over the next few days, as I switched to successively larger bowls, the tobacco improved greatly. The larger bowls brought out a rich creaminess - WOW! Maybe the tobacco had a chance to dry a wee bit as well.

The tobacco was mostly black in color. It's aroma was not that of a latakia bomb; for which one might get thrown out of the house. I do not have the luxury of indoor smoking. The aroma made me question if this was what Ricardo Montalban was harkening back to when he spoke of "RICH, Corinthian leather". In my leather tobacco pouch it seemed as if the tobacco improved the quality of the leather; if that is possible. A pipe smoking friend made pointed inquiries into the name of what I was smoking. Even though he was offered several bowlfuls; he wanted the name because he planned to order some. This will definitely be near the top of my rotation.

To me, this is what the white dot folks had in mind when they blended 965- Dunhill missed the mark, C&D did not! One of my top three in rotation. It improves with cellaring, and I buy it in multiples of 8 oz cans, cause I'm fearful that C&D may stop blending th' stuff! I remove it from the tin and let it mellow in a glass humidor. Another five-star blend from the magicians at C&D! I concur with Mongo about pipe shape/size- I prefer this in a Peterson 80s, 999, or XL02. It doesn't work as well for me in any tall narrow bowl or any stack.

I mostly liked this one. Very solid on the Orientals and the Latakia is pretty well balanced. Has a very pleasant smoky and earthly flavour. Just a touch of raisin without being peppery. I did not experience any tongue bite at all, and I smoked three bowls on the first sitting. I was pleasantly surprised. It burned well. Did not have to relight. Not excessively moist. I did not really experience a nicotine hit even through a lot of people complain about it.

This is a good outdoor by the fire kind of summer smoke. I really enjoyed it. It's strong but not overbearing. Nothing kitchy or aromatic but a solid Oriental blend.

I have a thing with the Byzantine Empire, and have studied it to some degree, so naturally the name was appealing to me right off the bat. The name suggests grandeur, nuance, complexity, East meets West.

The tin opening smell was quite strong, and not really what I expected: I expected Latakia, I got a mix of smells, some mustiness. I was a tad put off by the smell because it reminded me of a toned down Mississippi Mud, which I really disliked. However I haven't had a Balkan or English Blend for a while, so I soldiered on.

The taste is Oriental forward, undeniably, and some Latakia. As usual I don't get the Perique in the presence of Latakia and Orientals, but I'm sure it's doing something. The lack of Virginia is evident in this blend as there's no real sweetness here, just the sweet and sour play of the Oriental tobaccos. As the bowl progresses the Oriental taste becomes stronger and stronger, with the last third of the bowl being really pleasurable, and showcasing the Oriental leaf.

This is what I'd call a very honest blend, it delivers what's promised, and very well. I'd personally like some sweetness, but that's not the aim or the point of the blend.