Cornell & Diehl Pirate Kake

My water smoker smells like this if I do too many pork shoulders in it without scrubbing the poor thing down once or twice.

I love it.

This stuff, (yes stuff is the right word) is just plain brutal. One must either have a fried tongue or be a masochist to enjoy Pirate Kake. The Latakia is of inferior quality and the blend opposes itself to the point of the abusing the poor sucker who smokes it. I like Latakia, but this blend gives Latakia a bad name. I smoked about ten pipe fulls and was ready to sue by the last bowl. Only Blackbeard on the gallows could possibly find solace in this blend. I think it should be renamed Pirate's Death Wish. Of course I recognize that there are some people whose tongues are so scorched and their palettes so brutalized by lat bombs, that they will gladly go down with this ship. Have a great trip to Davy Jones locker!

Although this tobacco has a very high Latakia content it is not overwhelming. The crumble cake is easy to pack, the smell is strong smoky. The flavor is earthy, smoky, leathery. Burley and Oriental tobbaccos harmonize and smoothen the taste. Orientals play a bigger role at the end of the bowl. No bite at all, stays lit very well and slow burning. The room note is as expected, full Latakia. Highly recommended to quite and cold winter nights. Do not be scared of the high Latakia content.

Smoking this tobacco reminds me of eating foods that have been really heavily smoked. At first you are like.. wow this is fantastic. A few bites in you decide that it's just ok.. then a few more bites.. nope, I've had enough. Followed by a couple hours later and you can still taste it in your mouth just as strong as if you just took a bite, and you want that flavor out of your mouth by any means necessary.. but the horror sets in when you discover that no amount of alcohol, oral hygiene products, or other means can help you. You will have to wait until your tongue cells slough off to taste anything else again.

That is the exact progression I went through smoking Pirate Kake. I kind of feel like talking about tin note and presentation is superfluous with this one. I detect no other tobacco flavor but Latakia, which happens to be high quality, but definitely not my thing in this quantity. I will probably keep the tin to use as a blending tobacco, or maybe to use as a prank on unsuspecting pipe smoking friends.

If you don't like Latakia, why are you reviewing a blend that's 70% Latakia then bashing it because it's one dimensional or monochromatic? You must have missed the point.

Pirate Kake is Latakia. The burley component smooths it out a bit, but doesn't add much to the taste that I can tell, but there is a definite spice component from the Orientals. I really enjoy PK. It's a great cool weather smoke and one of my favorites for outdoor puffing (which is where my wife prefers I take it) which is good because the room note isn't going to make you any friends among non-smokers.

This is a lat lover's dream. 4 stars if you like lots of manly Latakia, 1 star if not. Just do us all a favor and don't smoke PK, then bang on it in a review for having too much Latakia; that's the whole point of it.

LATAKIA! LATAKIA! LATAKIA! Is what this blend is all about. If you are a latakia freak, as I am, then I will venture to say you are going to like this blend a lot. It is a bomb in my assessment.

Some would say the latakia is over dominant so much that you can not taste the other tobaccos in this blend. And I would have to agree. It's only from smoking PK many times that I can barely, barely detect other tobaccos here. I actually had to read up on this blend to find out its contents. And even then it took me a while to admit there were other tobaccos present. The only one I am confident in saying I can taste is the burley. And that was only through the nose. The latakia here overwhelms this blend. That's not a negative statement, just an observation. Nevertheless it is a smooth blend. So smooth I would describe it as creamy. The room note to me is exquisite! Smoking a latakia blend we all know has that cherished, non mistakable fragrace in the air. No different here except the smoke is much more rich. Intensified if you will. I recon it is due to the amount of latakia.

All in all I would rate this a 3.75. Still very high. And I would recommend it smoked with a dark beer. Something consistant with New Castle or darker. But nothing less. So, if you're a latakia lover give this blend a shot.

This is a Latakia bomb? so in this case I like. Here in Brazil many confreres saying about this blend and i decided to try. First is a plum and woodsy taste, different than I thought this blend isn't aggressive, your smoke is creamy and fill your mouth. I think all Cornell & Diehl blends are aggressive in your taste, but this the proof that i was wrong. moreover all this blend dont heat the bowl and your smoke are warm during all the time. I will buy this for a second time...

Awesome stuff. The heavy metal of pipe tobacco. This stuff is the true test to someone if they really love latakia or not. Highly recommended to the lat bomb smokers.

Shiver me timbers brethern of the coast this here be one tobacco that land lubers and weak of knees should leave be. This is a hefty stout LATAKIA, probally Syrian the way it is good and SMOKEY. Mix in a little cavendish burley, add a touch of the Turk,and press this in a 70,000 ton vise and you have PIRATE KAKE! WOW, this is hearty. At first light the Latakia wafts by the nose and oh boy,try this if you need a Latakia drip tube. Spicey,hints of sweetness,SMOKEY,complex.Darn good!!!

I have to agree with the wxguy, it does look like a block of Hashish.

Update 9 July 2005;

I revisited me old block of Pirate Kake about a week ago, and found it had dried quite a bit more than I wanted it to. So I figured I'd go down to the liquor locker and pull out the Cruzan dark Rum. I poured about a tablespoonful of the rum into the bag and sealed it back up. The tobacco was allowed to stand for two whole days. I opened the backy and let it dry a tad bit,and then loaded a bowl.

MY GOSH! YA GOTTA TRY THIS. WORDS FAIL ME AS TO HOW WONDERFUL IT IS.