Cornell & Diehl Bayou Night

I am told this is one of C&D's original flagship blends. It is very potent with lots of heavy Latakia and Perique. This one leaves the back of the throat tickled and the tongue enjoying the heavy plastering of Latakia. It may be a little unrelenting for many folks but was a quality blend and I can see why its been a big seller since C&D opened up shop.

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.

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.

It's been a while since I sat down for a review of a Cornell and Diehl blend, but this is a blend I've been smoking for a while now and so I thought a review would be in order. I've done the review of C&D's Bayou Morning and Bayou Morning Flake, which I love, and there were good things about both. For one thing, all of these blends have a massive amount of Perique. Bayou Morning Flake has 25% Perique and some have said that Bayou Night has 50%. So it's a bit of a unique experience.

The tin is rather plain, but that's okay as long as the tobacco is good. When I opened up my tin I found a nice consistent ribbon cut that is light and dark brown in colour. When I open the jar I put it into I smell mushroomy, fruity Perique, light Latakia smokiness and Virginia hay. In short it smells like a barnyard. It comes at a smokable dryness. It's very easy to pack and light.

According to Cornell and Diehl this is made in the style of a Scottish Mixture and I would say that it is. Up front I taste sweet and bready Virginias followed closely by Perique. The Perique adds spice and a lot of dark fruit like it does in BMF. The Orientals are hiding in the background and every now and again I get a hint of herbal tang. I am very sensitive to Latakia and I can usually pick it out of any blend. It's very hidden in this blend, but it is there at the back of every puff. I don't inhale when smoking my pipes, but be vigilant not to inhale with this particular blend. The Perique content makes this very spicy and I've spent five minutes coughing every puff of air I've breathed since I was five.

The taste is a medium, even with such strong flavors I don't find it to be too much. The strength is medium-strong. The Perique makes this a nice nightcap tobacco. The room note may not win any friends over to the briar. It's a unique blend that will easily satisfy any Perique lover.

Not many blends have managed to puzzle me as much as this. The first difficulty is finding the right pipe to smoke it in. Smoked in a Latakia-dedicated pipe, you might be led to think it's just an English gone feral. Smoked in a VaPer pipe, it feels like a VaPer with inferior Virginias. However, if smoked in a new briar, clay, or meerschaum, it shows it's truest colors as something neither fish nor fowl, but a delectable creature all it's own. Rather like a wild duck. One of these reviews calls the Latakia "Flinty". I wasn't quite sure what to make of that; in my experience, there is no "Hiding" Latakia. However, after a few smokes, I can agree with that assessment. It gives it an interesting baseline; like a good VaPerOr grounded with freshly cracked stone. The Perique is astonishingly well-behaved, given it's astronomical 50% composition. At concentrations this high, it really does take on a pronounced dark chocolate quality. That said, it surprisingly doesn't run the show. The burley contributes nuttiness, molasses, and body, and the orientals provide a slight lactic creaminess. The Virginias may be the softest voice (there can't be much room left to shoehorn them in), but they do provide some grass and citrus. My one gripe with this is purely semantic; I wouldn't call this a Scottish blend in my wildest fever dreams. A Scottish blend (to me) is something like Black Mallory or Nightcap. This is something else entirely. I like this. Enough to buy again, but not enough to cellar en masse for daily smoking. I have another tin set aside for aging; I'm curious to see what happens. Addendum 12/02/21: Although I normally like to let my reserve tins age for at least a year, boredom and poverty led me to crack my second tin at just over five months of age. One of two things has happened: either there are some serious quality control issues at C&D (which I doubt) or this blend ages exceptionally quickly. The Latakia has receded even further into the background and the Virginias have blossomed to show more sweetness and fruity depth. Given the fermenting qualities of Perique (and its hefty proportion in this blend), I'm leaning towards the latter. The Burleys have stepped up as well, lending more butter-nutty notes. I can see why this is such a huge seller for C&D.

This is in no way similar to Bayou Morning (not that there are any claims to that effect). I've given it a go several times, after aging it in a jar, and using a few different pipes. Seems like the perique overpowers the other tobaccos. Edit: after a couple more years of pipe smoking, it’s much more than a one star smoke.

Very cool smoking; wanted it to last forever... and then I stood up. A bit of a N hit. Wow.

Great blend of flavors. It doesn't change too much throughout. It melds towards the end. Duh. The flavor profile has been very well described by others better than myself.

A prior review mentioned the effects of Perique on the PH and the effects this has on nicotine absorption. Fascinating! This inspired a tweak...

I don't typically alter my tobacco. So, flying by britches-seat, and not going as far as testing the PH (rum appx 4)...

I took the remaining ounce (after I'd ordered an additional lb) of Bayou Night and allowed it to dry out. Crunchy would be an adequate descriptor for its state. I then gave it a spritz of Belizean dark rum. A light misting left it a bit moist. Sealed it up for the night. The next morning it was just about right.

The "tin note" didn't suffer. Even better, in my humble opinion.

It notably altered the nicotine hit; I now don't have to use the smaller-bowled pipes. Nice!

The taste is great. The longer it sat, the better it developed. When I repeat this, I'll leave it alone for a minimum of three days.

Great blend.

Alone or with rum, try it.

A Spicy & Potent English/American Blend

The perique and Latakia provide a spicy and smokey foundation to this blend. The red Virginias adds some tanginess and only a slight sweetness to the smoke. The nuttiness of the burley is easily noticeable. Overall, Bayou Evening is enjoyable but a little unbalanced in its flavor profile.