Cornell & Diehl Kajun Kake

This certainly is not what I expected when I popped the top of this tin. Talk about the power of suggestion: The two little bricks not only look like brownies to me, they smell like brownies. I think I may have my wife convinced that it smells like brownies. Of course the tobacco tastes nothing like brownies.

I started this out in a Savinelli that is sort of squat and medium wide. The first few bowls reminded me more of a cigar than a pipe. That is not a bad thing; again, it just wasn't what I expected.

I usually cut off a small porton (sideways) with a razor blade and rub it fully. Let her sit about 15 minutes and she is ready for fire.

This tobacco burns reasonably well with maybe four or five re-lights per bowl.

Kajun Kake has started to grow on me, but I don't know that it will become a regular. I do have one more tin in the cellar and it certainly won't go to waste.

I like Virginias and Vapers a lot, and I try as many as I can. Kajun Kake does not conjur up any similarities with any of the blends of this genre that I smoke e.g., Pease, McClelland, Samuel Gawith or Escudo. Perhaps it is the cavendish element. Again, this is not a bad thing, it just waasn't what I expected.

I'll give it three stars as I think it is an above average tobacco. It just wasn't what I expected.

This blend comes in the tin as 2 pressed bricks ~ 2"x1"x1" that crumble easily for packing. The attention to the hand wrapping exemplifies that given to the tobacco preparation and overall quality. Lighting and packing were easy, relights not needed and a cool, dry, rich, even smoke without a hint of bite resulted. Intially, I thought the smoke was a little rough and it was quite a change from my normal, sweet VA flakes and this one has a greater Perique loading and also processed red VAs that I've not tried before in VA/Perique blends. Although I became more accustomed to the taste with additional bowls, I still felt the taste during the smoke and the prevalent aftertaste was too earthy and overpowering. But if you like hi-test Perique, give it a try since I think that in combination with these red VAs, it is a rather unique blend.

This a perique-heavy blend with just enough VAs to keep it interesting. The VA's start out as semi-sweet, kind of like unsweetened chocolate, and get sweeter as the bowl progresses. This has a very peaty, dark flavor that I've come to appreciate. It also has a decent nicotine hit. It lacks the bright notes and subtlety of blends like Escuodo, replacing them with a sense of depth. Not quite a classic and I doubt it will appeal to everyone, but I've come to prefer it over many of the more traditional VA/PERs. Three stars.

Wonderful Crumble Cake of Red virginia cavendish and perique. In the tin, the blend comes as two little bricks of tobacco red and black in color. The bricks are packaged in a very unique way, i just love how they come wrapped like a christmas present in paper. It must take alot of time to wrap each one and fold the edges like an envelope but its exactly the quality we have come to expect from C&D. The blend starts off a little harsh on lighting so i char the top layer and let it rest for 5 minutes or so then light her again. The flavor is a deep chocolate mixed with an earthy soil aroma that just makes my mouth water. The bowl finishes with a grey ash and no dottle. What sets this blend apart from other V/P blends is the use of red cavendish as opposed to a "regular" matured red virginia. To me this alleviates the bite and increases the sweetness to offset the perique.

The neat little brick is mostly dark with small lighter flecks of Virginia. The tin aroma is pleasantly sweet, the Perique adding plum and a distant almost chocolate sweetness. After peeling off a strip, I was taken aback by the very fine cut here, really granular after rubbing, not a favorite of mine because you can turn it into dust if you're not careful. The smoke; after a couple of re-lights it begins to burn at a moderate rate, best if taken slowly. The taste is roundly satisfying with the Perique coming through and the Virginia slightly sweet and toasty. Aside from the granular cut, this is otherwise highly recommended.

One of my desert island blends . Earthy , semi-sweet vaper that burns like a dream with an outstanding peppery note (gets spicier down the bowl) and enough nicotine to satisf

Cornell & Diehl
Kajun Kake

Blend notes: “We start with naturally sweet red Virginias and add just the right touch of everyone's favorite Cajun spice, Louisiana Perique. Then we press it into an old fashioned crumble cake which deepens and marries the flavors into what is quickly becoming one of C&D's most popular blends ever!”

VaPer blends have always been the hardest for me to love. Over time I’ve found a few that work for me — Haddo’s Delight, Councillor 1695, Chenet’s Cake, Escudo, Marlin Flake, Penny Farthing and Viprati.

Now Kajun Kake has entered my world and voila. I love it. It is a medium strength VaPer with plenty of spice on arrival and yet a creamy background swirl of almost sweet Virginias.

I’m a huge fan of pressed tobacco. This comes as a brick and easily rubs out. Smokes clean. Big nic hit.

3.5 stars out of 4.

I’m new to Perique blends. I’ve come up the traditional way from aromatics to really enjoying Latakia and English blends and became curious about trying some VaPers. Perique gave me a new avenue to learn and expand my tobacco journey. This tobacco had one year of age (2022) when I bought it and came as a single, hard plug that broke apart into a granular consistency. The flavor was excellent with the Perique was up front. Not too spicy with some citrus notes. OK now the bad part …. As a newer Perique smoker, I went at this way too aggressively and you got it - The Nic-Hit toward the end of the bowl sent me into the house in a cold sweat 😰 feet up on my bed, fan on my face, I still love this tobacco, but I’ve learned the hard way about Perique - it packs a punch. So, if you are just getting into Perique blends, go easy on this one because it will send you into your house too. Next time I will use a smaller pipe and go much slower and make sure I eat something first. Enjoy!

Thank you very much Gentleman Zombie and StevieB...!!! This blend is very tasty, its flavor is unique, it satisfies you completely. Its strength and flavor leave you completely satisfied.