Cornell & Diehl Kajun Kake

Meerkat has summarized my thoughts on this one, including the great tin art of the C & D offerings. Really, a very good VA/PER and the Krumble Kake is so easy to break down and prepare to one's liking. The Red VAs really are bold, rich and tangy; this type of VA is not sweet at all, so this is not a sweet blend, it is spicey and rich, and very well balanced. The perique will dominate during the last third. Good taste, good nic hit, beautiful burning leaving a dry bowl.

The initial 1/3 is sweet virginias, very sweet, the rest of the pipe is perique and doesn't let go until the end. Quite strong for an empty stomach.

Can't seem to make up my mind on this one. Not great and not bad, just ok. I love mostly all C&D blends and this one fits into my rotation. It has excellent strength. Nicotine hit is ok, not overpowering. I would probably buy more if it came in bulk, but it does not. It smokes well all the way to the bottom. A good over all smoke. Certainly nothing special though. I tend to have un realistic expectations from C&D blends, so maybe I just expect to much from this one.

This was my first experience with a cake tobacco, and my first VaPer. I have to say that I was very impressed with it. Crumbled easily, packed perfectly, and smoked like a champ. The Va cavendish comes through with that subtle sweetness, and the perique sits in the background letting you know it's there from time to time. Amazing blend, and one that I'll keep stock of.

This tobacco is very mild.I think I could smoke 10 bowls per day,and never harm a hair on my tongue.It has just a slight natural sweetness,not overwhelming and I really had to focus to notice it.If youre looking for aromatic sweetness,you wont find it here.The flavor reminds me of what broomstraw smells like,but is not offensive.Once lit,it stays lit if packed loose. This is a great all day tobacco that has very mild tobacco taste.

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.