Cornell & Diehl Night Train

This is a Burley blend but unlike any Burley I have smoked before. this is as satisfying as most of the full English blends I usually smoke. First impression is Perique and I do mean Perique. The Perique is very strong but does not overpower the blend. the under tone seems like latakia but there is none in this blend. About half way through the bowl it smothes out and the Perique has lessened and the other flavors really begin to show. there is no bite and the blend is not exactly what I would call smooth but it is not harsh either. At the end a bit of sourness like most English blends and the next bowl I smoke will be in a small clay, this baccy has a nicotine hit. I would advise for a new smoker to wait a while before trying this and if you like your nicotine light stay away..

Presentation is crumble cake, with nearly equal amounts of light, medium, and dark brown strands. Firm, but easy to work with. I like breaking off a chunk with my fingers, cramming it into my pipe, and topping with some of the broken strands. Moisture level is perfect out of the tin.

Perique is at the forefront, spicy/peppery/fruity. The Virginias add sweetness and a touch of citrus. I'm getting a good burley backbone, but not a big nutty flavor. On retrohale, burley is a bit more obvious and perique is a bit spicier. Perique spice/pepper seems to build as the bowl progresses.

Good stuff. I like it, but I don't love it. There's a bit too much perique for my tastes.

Night Train turned out to be a little different than I had imagined. I think it was a combination of some of the reviews I had read, maybe a promotional blurb or two, and the name. I was expecting a bold and powerful smoke with an onslaught of nicotine and Perique, but the experience is of a gentler variety. This is no speeding train, but rather a genuine, solid smoke.

While the tin is plain Jane, lacking C&D's often humorous art, the cake is magnificent. This is primarily bright leaf, with a beautiful yellow appearance interspersed with the dark Perique. All constituents are easily identified. It handles beautifully of coarse and can be smoked right away. A little bit of seasoning in an opened tin, resealed, really helps develop the flavor. I had the faintest whiff of strawberry when I first popped the tin. The Perique however dominates the tin aroma, and the other tobaccos are mild and sweet.

When I first smoked this I found it a little flat, with a bit of bite, but certainly not steamy. The bit of drying alleviated these issues. While this is VaBurPer, it's Virginia forward. Really, the combination of the flue cured and Cavendish dominate, with some bright fruit, some sweetness, and the barest traces of steamed sugars. The Perique is largely absent in the flavor, other than a slight pepper that is more noticeable as a feeling than a taste, but pops up on the retrohale. The burley too does not add much to flavor, but rather seems to dull the other parts some, but may contribute to a slightly doughy taste that lasts throughout the bowl. Part of my failure to get much burley may be the other blends I've been smoking lately, chiefly C&D monster burleys like Big N' Burley. The taste does intensify a little toward the end.

At times I get similar tastes to Briar Fox. Like that blend, this is quite smooth. A very nice tobacco, and a welcome interlude relative to some of their bigger products. In just about all respects this is of medium characteristic: body, strength, and taste. I'll visit this again, but later down the line, as the train I'm on is through their vast product catalog. A solid three, but just not enough steam to stand out as a four star blend.

The smell of this stuff reminds me of litter box with just a hint of cat turd...which isn't a good thing. But I know not to judge any tobacco via the smell of it out of the tin. Packing is great with the crumble cake and the moisture content was just right.

How does this taste? Amazing. There is so much going on here it's difficult to put into words. I was really impressed by how much flavor is packed into this. I get a wonderful taste of clove, raisin, cocoa and coffee. This is one of those tobaccos that you have 'buyers regret' when you first open it and smell it and it makes you realize how wrong your initial judgement can be.

This is an excellent, flavorful blend.

Wife note is good too!

This blend grows on you it keeps on getting better the more you smoke it like all the blends I smoke I also smoke this nice and slow and enjoy it.

Night Train seems to have me thinking in musical terms for some reason. This one is for all of you bass-heads out there. Night Train hits all of the low notes with gusto and power. Deep , Dark , Full with amped up power, there is nothing subtle about it. I appreciate and enjoy quality bass but prefer my blends more balanced with the highs and mids still present and clear. In that way I find Night Train to be a bit one-dimensional but it is certainly a high quality dimension. Smooth , cool smoking and with a generous portion of ole Vitamin N, Night Train is definitely a must try and with the low price is certainly a absolute bargain. I find it a touch monotonous and therefore I don't find it appropriate as an all day smoke but as an end of the night smoke with your favorite libation it will not fail to satisfy.

If you like your tobacco 'natural' without any added distraction of flavours, essences or aromas and with a nice nicotine content then Night Train should suit your requirements. I find the pressed cake form of production very agreeable as it tends to keep the flavours of the tobacco longer without drying out as quickly as many flakes do and Night Train I feel is a prime example of this.

A bright mixture of Va, Burley and Cavendish pressed and presented in a very appealing brick/cake form. No distracting aroma of cherry, chocolate, whiskey etc, the pure, raw flavour of the tobacco, most notably the Burley, with the addition of the nose tingeling sensation of the added Perique. For any smoker who is just making the transition from cigarettes to pipe then I would suggest you try Night Train. For seasoned pipe smokers this may be a little bland and unidimensional but decent enough for a change of pace if you're a lat freak like myself.

I'm really not very good at detecting room notes of tobaccos I smoke but the taste and strength of Night Train I would say are up in the high medium to full range. The nicotine content is very noticable without being overly so. All in all a decent change of pace for the lover of the more smoky latakia blends.

Received my bulk as a pressed brick that was rather dry and easy to separate. However, it's hard to leave as chunks for loading, especially into small bowled pipes, and when rubbed out you don't get what I consider a broken flake. Smoked dry and cool with a rich taste and enjoyabel aftertaste. I normally prefer true flakes and perhaps my packing technique resulted in my multiple relights.

Rub it out, don't "chunk" it. This tobacco lights and burns well and the moisture content is right on. The taste, to me, is right on the money as well. I wasn't knocked down by the nicotine. It was noticeable, but not over the top.

All in all, this is a very good smoke that I recommend. The name sounds too much like bum wine though, and that probably drives some potential purchasers away. Nobody likes to picture themselves drinking Night Train from a bottle wrapped in a paper sack...