Cornell & Diehl Bayou Night

This reminds me of those extra, extra, extra, extra hot BBQ sauces that leave you barely able to taste the sauce and instead leave you begging for a glass of milk to relive the pain of the capsaicin. It is rather amazing that this blend is even smokable, seeing as it has so much perique.

The nicotine levels of this left me floored. The smoke left my throat irritated. The taste was mostly spice and reminded me of a harsh cigarette. This might be salvageable as a blending tobacco but I cannot see myself buying more than the 1-oz. sample I have. I usually like blends with a hefty amount of perique (Peterson Irish Oak comes to mind), but this takes it one notch to far.

If you are a cig smoker looking to switch to pipes bump this up one star - you MIGHT actually enjoy this due to the hefty nic-hit and the cig-like taste.

Back in the early 1970s, I purchased a tin of pure Louisiana Perique for doing some home blending. My impression at that time was that the "pouch" aroma of straight perique was that of slightly mellowed manure. Now, with decades more insight, I would identify the primay aroma of perique as that of well-fermented--though not fully composted--vegetation. There is a strong resemblance to maduro cigar leaf, and cigar leaf in general, in that they both require a fairly intense fermentation to develop their distinctive aromas and taste. That is also an explanation for the stinky next-day room note produced by cigars as well as perique.

A number of other reviewers of Bayou Night have commented on its apparently strong hit of nicotine. It's all in the pH. As with cigar smoke, the high pH (alkalinity) of perique smoke allows dramatically more nicotine absorption through oral and nasal membranes than would a more acidic smoke, such as that from stoved Virginias. At the same time, by neutralizing the acidic bite of the other ingredients in a perique blend, the overall sensation in the mouth is that it is cooler and smoother.

So...here we have a tasty, (naturally) slightly sweet and fruity heavy (50%?) perique blend that is wonderfully cool and smooth to the taste, that will make you quite aware of its nicotine, and that will leave a lingering pungency in the room.

I consider Bayou Night a superb perique blend, but one that carries such an intense nicotine punch that it should be smoked more slowly than its satin taste would indicate, and that should perhaps be limited to a smallish bowl. Its latakia remains way in the background. The Turkish is hard to identify, since its acidic edge has been neutered by the alkaline pH. BUT...the pouch aroma of this blend sends me into throes of giddy joy.

Cornell & Diehl - Bayou Night.

The name had me expecting a similar smoke to C+D Bayou Morning Flake, but this is much more of a heavy weight.

The ribbons are quite slight in build so there's no need to worry about any chunky broken flake parts that need more work. Moisture's perfect, so on with the smoking of it:

The Perique appears to have been used in a prodigious quantity, there's no qualms to me regarding which weed's the loudest. But, this doesn't mean that the others are virtually redundant; they meld together to form a VERY RICH base: there's a ripe sweetness from the red Virginia, strong cedar/smoky notes from the Latakia and some Burley nuttiness. To me, the smoke develops an even richer quality as the bowl burns down; the Perique allows even more of its counterparts to come through.

There's a healthy dose of nicotine to be had from Bayou Night and if I'm honest I don't find the room-note too bad.

The one word that jumps to mind when piping this, I'd guess partly due to the title of Bayou NIGHT, is 'Dark'.

I rate this highly:

Four stars.

This is the first Latakia and Perique blend I've smoked. It has stroke me as absolutely different from everything I've tried before from the stronger blends (Peterson's 3P and Irish Flake). Even though when I first opened my 8oz can I thought I've made a big mistake when buying so much, from the first smoke I found that this might be one of my favorite tobaccos. This is the kind of tobacco that you smoke for your self and not for those around you.

Update: Now it is 11 years in a row that I smoke this nearly once a day, second only to Royal Yacht as a blend I've kept with for my 25 year pipe smoking career. And Royal Yacht only wins out because it's been around longer.

Only one word of advice: keep this moist. Very moist. Just pack it looser if need be.

Update: I've now been smoking this for 10 years and it has become my No. 1. The main reason is the silky smoothness, dark chocolate taste and pleasing delivery of N. Goes great with espresso, in fact it tastes like a good espresso (the kind with chocolate notes).

DO NOT dry this out as you would a normal blend. That is the key to enjoying this. The high amount of Perique is meant to be very moist and stay that way.

This is a skewed English blend with some burley added but with the main plot twist that it's 50 percent "Perique" (not necessarily St James but it doesn't matter), in a kind of role reversal of the Nightcap formula. So, here, the latakia is the mysterious presence in the midst of a Mardi Gras of Perique. I taste the Latakia in the background and it contributes to the overall chocolate taste.

This is strong, piquant, rich and cool. It is unique. The big question I can't answer is "is it an English blend" ?

Nutty, earthy, sweet, lemony, and piquant. Bayou Night contains latakia, but it is not the main component and it can be smoked all day. I am finding all the different tobaccos well integrated and balanced. It is a little bit heavy on nicotine though, but not to the point it will turn your stomach or make you sweat. The perique is absolutely delicious and quite noticeable, but not overwhelming. It contains burley leaf as well, which gives you sort of a roasty background difficult to miss. I guess I like it more than Bayou Morning because it is more complex and somewhat sweater. On a side note, I would say, because of the nicotine content, this is not a night but a good early morning blend to break the day. After smoking all day, I do not usually reach for heavy nicotine blends during the night. I am quite pleased with this tobacco, so 4 stars.

Edit 13 June 2021:

I am a hardcore perique lover, so I tend to forget perique is not for everyone. If you are not into burley blends, or you use perique sparingly as a condiment rather than a blending component, this tobacco will overwhelm you in so many ways I can even being to describe here with a few words, so be advised. That is to say, my previous review has to be taken with a pinch of salt, for I am biased.

Tin (baggie) note is mostly barbecue from the Latakia. There is some raisin and prune from the Perique, but it’s mostly the Latakia that you smell.

Then upon lighting: Wow. That’s a whole lotta Perique!

The Virginias are barely present in the background with some sweetness and tang, echoed by the orientals. The Latakia gets lost most of the time, but is easy to taste on relights. The burley is there, giving the blend a foundation, but of course what hits you like a ton of bricks is the insane amount of Perique. It’s very piquant, with a horseradish/hot mustard quality that will cause even a veteran smoker’s nasal passages to twinge. I kind of like it, but I also love horseradish, hot mustard, etc. It is definitely not an all day smoke. A little bowl of this will go a long way. I like to smoke stronger tobaccos sometimes while I’m working on knives in the shop (Peterson Irish Flake is a regular for me), pipe clenched, but I cannot clench my pipe if it’s loaded with this stuff. I have to give my face an occasional respite from the sharpness of the smoke when I smoke this. It’s funny, there’s so much Perique that the smoke will burn your eyes if the wind is right. Between the piquancy of the Perique and the copious amounts of nicotine, this would be a bit overwhelming for new smokers. I’d say this is for veteran smokers only.

In spite of all this, I quite like the room note. I don’t think it would win any favor with non smokers or get you any dates, but I find it pleasant.

If you are looking for a more traditional Scottish blend (although there is often argument about what a Scottish blend actually is), look elsewhere. You will be disappointed. If you are looking for a Perique bomb, then this is your ticket.

Overall, I like the blend, but in small quantities. Kind of like your obnoxious buddy from college that never grew up.

If you’re inclined to try it, I’d recommend only buying an ounce or two at first, as this is one of those blends that some will like and many will hate.

I just finished a tin of this dated from 2009 and this was my first experience with this blend. I have wanted to try this since trying Mountain Camp, which I understand to be the same blend with the proportions of Latakia and Perique reversed. I really liked Mountain Camp and thought I would prefer BN more due to my love of Perique.

I found this one pretty good, but I think that this may be a little too much Perique, even for me. I actually smoked a pretty big bowl of it a while ago and felt a little woozy. 🙂 Since that time, I only smoked it in small bowls and ended up dedicating my little Savinelli Duca Carlo Apple to it to finish out the bowl.

The blend smoked great out of that pipe. This is a pretty good blend, but not one I will be repurchasing as the perique content is too high and tends to overpower the other ingredients. The Latakia is almost imperceptible to my taster. I do get the sweetness from the stoved red vas and there is a bit of tanginess coming in from the oriental. The burley is less tasted than felt as the blend has its share of body.

I think the perique freaks will love this one and as much as I found the strength to be a little overbearing, I also kind of liked it as it allowed me to fill up on nicotine with a quick little bowl. I would just rather use Mac Baren's Bold Kentucky for this purpose.

This is one of the more surprising blends that I have had. Surprising in that the number of flavors C&D crammed into this blend. The flavors are constantly changing as you smoke it, switching every few puffs. It has a darkly sweet, woody and spice smell out of the sample bag that I have. It was a little confusing to smoke because as soon as I got a handle on the flavor it shifted. Not big shifts usually, keeping the characteristics of the smell all the way through but changing enough to make it interesting. If you really want to appreciate this blend then time and concentration are your friends. Quantity is not. I was so busy with the flavors that I was surprised when I stood up and felt dizzy for a moment after such a little bowl. Doesn't make you nauseous like some strong blends can, but can make the room seem like it's moving. Even though it has the taste characteristics of a truly non-crowd pleasing blend I got good reactions from the people around me. They said that while it is a strong smell that was quite nice. Nicely done C&D!