Cornell & Diehl Bayou Night

I've smoked C&D's perique-forward offerings, and really love C&D's approach to perique. That said, as contrasted with Bayou Morning, Kajun Kake, and Chenet Cake, this one is the one I'm not buying more of.

The definition of a "Scottish" blend appears to be akin to a "Balkan" blend -- an oriental-forward take on an english. Bayou Night touts a heavy dose of perique, which is absolutely true. I love perique, so all good.

This mixture lives up to those concepts -- oriental and perique far forward. The Latakia is barely there, maybe just in a little smokiness. The virginias may be adding the fruit, but I taste a lot of the same fruits in a bowl of pure perique. It's spicy, yes, and sour-tangy from the orientals, and you can definitely taste the mustiness of the perique, which is nice.

All that said, the flavors just don't meld together for me. Personal taste, yes, but I taste oriental and then perique and then oriental and then perique -- no marriage of the notes, to my palate. And if I want oriental, I'll smoke Smyrna or Exotique. If I want perique, I prefer the creaminess of Chenet Cake or the paprika of Bayou Morning or the unsweet chocolate flavors of Kajun Kake.

I have no doubt this is someone's ideal mixture. If you're not hunting a big latakia or big virginia sweetness, but enjoy the tang of orientals and a good dose of perique, this may be perfect for you. It's just not checking any "must have" boxes for me, so I'll finish these tins and move along.

This is the best perique-latakia blend i have ever smoked. The amount of perique is impressive but you need not to worry, it's excellent quality perique with a lot of flavour. Latakia is not overwhelming but present the entire smoke. Red virginias are there, tangy. The only weak point of this mixture is the burley which is harsh. 3 and a half stars

A stout blend. It smells like cheddar cheese in the bag. Tastes playing back and forth between sweet stewed fruits and sour spice. I don't detect any latakia at all just burley, Virginia, perique and orientals. I think this is actually the unpressed bulk version of captain earle's honor blend. Good stuff.

I generally like C&D blends, but this one is just okay for me. Way too strong, high nicotine content, difficult to keep lit, and the Perique seems too much for me! I'm sorry because this was recommended to me by a great friend, and all his other suggestions were great. Not this one.

This one has too much going on to get any nuance. Powerfully strong blend and it all just kind of gets strong and muddy. Then, the nicotine content makes me sick. I smoke when I want to get dizzy.

An interesting blend of tobaccos leads to quite a nice blend from C&D. The combination comes together nicely in the taste and also the room note. You may get a couple compliments out of the passing crowd. It comes at the right moisture level when just opened and stays moist for quite some time afterwards. It will give you a nice load of nicotine to keep things lively. All in all recommended.

Very nice smoking blend. At first glance it resembled cigarette tobacco because its cut is very similar. It's very moist and when pinched will almost stick together. Despite the fact that it's 50% perique it's quite mild. A terrific combination of rich and mild would be a great discription. The first smoke was rather grassy and I thought I bought an blend that would end up not being smoked because it almost tasted like a cigarette, but it wasn't long before everything came together and I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful melding of flavor. Moisture left in pipe is also surprisingly minimal. I would definitely recommend giving it a try. It will be another preferred blend in my rotation.

This is a nice blend on the fuller side. However, the perique over powers the other components. It has a deep dark fruit (figs, plums, etc) note with a little spice (this is normal for me, if a blend has a lot of perique, the dark fruits are forward and the spice is less) and sweetness. I do get some nutty/woody notes in the burley. The VA's are tangy but only come in and out occasionally. The Lat. is smokey as expected and does play a constant role in the background of the perique. The Turkish is also a little spicy perhaps or this could just be from the perique.

I think if this was simply a VA/Per, taking the other components out and replacing them with more Red's and Brown's that this might be a great blend. As it is, the perique dominates to the point that it takes away from all the other elements leaving the whole somewhat less than the sum of its parts. Still a good blend overall and recommended to anyone looking for a very perique forward blend.

I am by no means an expert on blends or different types of tobacco, I try as many as possible and I like what I like. One perique blend may not be to my liking at all and another may become a regular in my rotation. Bayou night is definitely now in my rotation! What an amazing, complex smoke this is, the flavor changes constantly. Starts out rich, moves onto a woody Latakia, and then the spice of the perique comes on strong. Cornell and Diehl truly are masters of the art of blending