Cornell & Diehl Red Carpet

Coincidentally I am smoking my first tins of both Sunday Picnic and Red Carpet at the same time. Hence I get to closely contrast these two sibling members of C&D's Simply Elegant series and make some other comparisons as well.

My tin of Red Carpet confused me at first. I expected a flake but found what appeared at first to be a ribbon cut. Closer inspection did reveal a lightly pressed product that had been sliced and had fallen back into ribbon. Only slightly moist, these easily packed and readily took fire. The burn cleanly persisted as long as I kept the top clear of ash. I have smoked this in just about every style pipe I own from little MM cobs to large billiards, squat pots, wide mouthed Custombilts and it performed similarly in all.

At first one is struck with a surprisingly sweet smoke, with the spicy components quickly coming on thereafter. The Kadota fig aroma of the tin renders into a slightly fruity taste (not quite to the degree that McClellands Blakeneys Best Arcadian Ribbon does, but close). The Izmir seems to be a condiment in this blend (it seems more pronounced in Sunday Picnic). The spicy tones of the perique may be boosted by the Izmir as well.

This is delicious stuff. It reminded me also of C&D's excellent bulk English 973-Cordial with the Latakia and black cavendish removed. Both effected lip-licking for me just to taste all the juices (wife commented that I looked like one our dogs savoring a tidbit). I have smoked bowl after bowl of Red Carpet over the last three/four weeks trying to place its sweet taste and finally have decided it evokes a fine port wine. Strength is medium but to the heavy side of medium. Excellent VaPer variant and slightly my favorite over Sunday Picnic (a golden Va blend rather than red VA), but only by a very slight edge. I can handle and enjoy several bowls of Red Carpet a day, leisurely puffed, while I can't say that of Sunday Picnic without qualification.

Comes in broken flakes which need just a little drying. Very easy to rub out though. Tin note is quite intense and very typical of Va/pers with stewed fruit, spice and yeasty pure tobacco aromas.

Red Carpet behaves very well, smokes slowly while producing a fair amount of smoke and it is also very smooth. Strength is past medium but not very strong, nicotine is there to satisfy.

Taste-wise, I find it neither overtly fruity although there is a dark element reminiscent of stewed fruit, nor particularly spicy although there is a mild pepperiness and it does tingle the nose a bit. The Virginias are yeasty and bready and I feel the Perique cancels out much of the juicy sweetness they might possess. So overall it is rather dry, quite full bodied with a satisfying full flavor which lingers.

Concluding this is an excellent Va/per, one of the best surely, depending on taste could easily be one’s favourite.

This is my favorite blend and has remained so since Craig introduced the Simply Elegant line. Something about the mix of red virginias, perique, and barely discernible izmir creates a complex mix of flavors that nothing else does. It is slightly winey in a way that brings out the tangy red VA perfectly. The only other blends that come close to that perfection for me are Embarcadero, Opening Night, and in a very subdued way, McClelland 5100 and McCranie's Red Ribbon. I hope it never gets discontinued.

I'm surprised I waited so long to try this one, and wish I'd tried it sooner. Nice and spicy, and with a healthy amount of kick to it. As good as any blend from C&D I've had, and I will be buying more of this. Gives the spice I didn't know I was missing from my Vapers. Very good!

Ouf! When I saw the description for this tobacco, " The perfect blend of Red VAs and Périque with a touch of Izmir for interest", I went Yea Man, this is what I need to try! Needless to say, the proportion of Périque, plus the Izmir, makes it quite...interesting. This tobacco, in a broken flake form rather than a full flake like, say Erinmore Flake, is something I have never tasted before.

When I opened the tin, I was welcomed by a medium dark broken flake, with some strings of golden tobacco, with a very strong aroma of Périque and a very present earthy and oriental tones; I can't say I was pleased by the aroma at first, and the tobacco's moisture level was very high, too high for me to think about smoking it right there. I had to let it dry, sealed with the plastic top on it, for a couple weeks before I ventured into trying it. By then, the somewhat not very nice smell had cooled down, still dominated by the Périque, but the red Vas had started to shine through and the oriental had a better presence too. By then, the smell was way better than at first. Just the "plain" smell of strong Bakkie.

I usually prefer to fully rub out the flake, leaving some small flakes in to slow down the combustion, but this bakkie smokes slow, it needs some relights; but at the time of my review, it is because the tobacco moisture is still kind of high. However, it still smokes dry.

As I was saying, the lighting up takes a few retrys and right from the start, the Périque is dominant, letting the Vas and Izmir emerge every once in a while. The taste and strength are full but, despite the dominance of the Périque, it is still an enjoyable smoke. The room note is, by no means, strong like Irish Flake or Haddo's Delight. By mid-bowl, my tongue was slightly numb but the Périque settled down somehow to let the Vas emerge more, combined with a background of Izmir.

I suspect the Bakkie needs to dry a bit more, and most certainly some aging to allow the three bakkies to merge together more properly. I believe this flake has a lot of potential but needs some time of aging. So I will certainly update my review in a couple months. I'm pretty sure the Vas and Izmir will be more dominant by then. Strength wise, it is comparable to Irish Flake so, if you don't have hair under your chin yet, you better pass on this one. It is a very nice tobacco, but certainly not a daily smoke for me.

The nicotine kick is absolutely guaranteed. Also, it took me approximately 2 hrs to get through a medium size bowl.

Overall, a different bakkie, strong and tasty, beautiful leaves but that needs some time for the bakkies to mix together and mellow down.

For now, I recommend it for those who like a good dose of Périque. If you don't like it, this Bakkie is not for you!

Update - 24 JUL 07

I needed to update earlier than I figured, because because the Bakkie has settled down a lot in the last week.

The tin aroma is now of pure tobacco, not unpleasant as it was at first to my nose; but the smell of good tobacco, mostly composed of the Oriental and Red Va, while the Périque has cooled down even more, but remains present.

As for the smoking, the change is very interesting, the red VA and Izmir are now in the "avant-scène", creating a nice mixture of sweet/earthy/spicy flavors, backed up by the tasty Périque which wraps it up beautifully without trying to take over. I have to change the strength to medium to strong, instead of strong and the taste to medium to full, instead of full, for they both diminished as the tobacco dried up a bit more and the leaves had more time to merge in.

Red Carpet is a wonderful smoke because the addition of Izmir changes the traditional relationship between VAs and Périques, bringing it a new, zesty dimension. This brocken flake is worth the try, Lads.

Highly recommended, I am sure that with a couple years of aging, this bakkie will become a classic.

Love at first light ! Nice fruity pungent smell from the tin . Stuffed this right into a GBD pot out of the tin . Love these red slightly sweet and fruity like a light red wine Virginias . I get a little catsup and vinegar and the Perique is just perfect spice and slight fig and date . A little more vinegar at the bottom of the bowl but not too sour . As good as it gets for me ! Very natural tasting .

This tastes like opening night with a big punch of perique. One of the best c&d va/pers in my opinion.. the g l pease va/pers are subtle and graceful.. c&d is a little more rough and ready.. but absolutely what the doctor ordered.. the perique really pops in this although it is probably not an ultra high percentage.. it melds with some kind of natural red Virginia tart spice.. an overall tart experience. Sweetens and calms as the bowl progresses... mellow dry raisin quality but still plenty of spice.. seems like a perfect cellar blend. Interesting how this somehow reminds me of regents flake minus the oriental leaf.. with all the blends c and d produces there has to be a lot of overlap.. but it is nice to get slight variations..

Considering that this is definitely a non aromatic blend, your nostrils will probably activate your taste center, as the tin aroma shines with vinegar, spice and earthy hints. As a va/per, the perique is mostly dominant on that one, in a way that makes it really pleasant. Was the nicotine content higher than that, I would have given it a 3 star. Still I cannot do so otherwise, simply because this blend smokes better and better as combustion progresses, but smoking fast might leave a sour effect on your roof. To me, not an all day smoke, but I would definitely purchase it again. Hint; Try your churchwarden.

Sublime flake of Red Vas , medium Perique content and light notes from the Izmir. The smoke is cool and dry with good nicotine !! Another winner from C&D