Cornell & Diehl Pirate Kake

Beautiful Latikia Kake. The strong Latakia flavor basically wipes out any hint of the other tobaccos. I suppose the nicotine kick comes from the burley. While perhaps one dimensional I love this rich Lat bomb in one of my English billiards. A favorite for special occasions, definitely not an all day smoke for me.

Let me say, up front, I'm a Latakia fan. Or, at least I thought so. I purchased this because I wanted to experience what a Latakia "bomb" is. Now I know, and don't like it. I'll stick with more basic English/Balkan blends that use Latakia as a secondary player; not the only player. This stuff is, well, out of line. Mind you, I don't regret trying it—the tobacco's were good quality, it's just that this blend is not for me.

Cheers!

This is by far the most ham-handed blend I've ever tried. In fact, it isn't fit to be called a blend at all since it is the same as smoking straight latakia, not a blend of different tobaccos. The turkish and burley add nothing. It is impossible to keep lit. After a few minutes, my taste buds become overwhelmed and I can't taste anything.

I suppose there are those who just can't get enough latakia who will like it, just as there are those who put an entire bottle of ketchup on their food.

Finally another Latakia forward mixture without any Virginia. It’s not easy to get over here so I’m glad I got some friends overseas who are willing to help out.

Cold smell is very smoky - woodfire and leather dominant. Look is rather dark and one can see the 75% Latakia in this one. It crumbles apart easily and after some drying it packs very well and is burning even and steady.

Other than many expect, Latakia is a very low in nicotine and tongue friendly tobacco which is very strong in taste, though. Pirate Kake starts very spicy with pine smoke and leather flavors and supports only a minimum of sweetness. Not much ups and downs and very few acidity. Once you puff it very slow it will reveal beautiful oriental spices - peppery cardamom and pine needles - never overpowered and with a nice complexity. The character turning more dark and spicy in the second half so a sweet drink (coffee, tea) goes great with it.

Very well blended leaf of good quality. Maybe not an all day smoke but a great choice if you’re searching for a characterful, spicy but not too strong mixture.

Alright, so after a lot of virginia and VaPer and VaBur in this summer I really missed some good latakia so I decided to open this tin of Cornell & Diehl’s Pirate Kake.

And so I will begin with the tin note. The smell in the tin is not very very strong. Indeed you can smell the latakia but also lots of turkish.

The tobacco is a very nice krumble kake, with a very smoky and somehow musty or vinegar smell. There’s a lot of leathery smell in this one as well. It’s not the most pleasant smell. The tobacco is not super pressed, it’s easy to rub and easy to fill your pipe (unlike Seattle Pipe Club’s Plum Pudding). The moisture is perfect, you can put it directly in the bowl or can leave it to dry as long as you wish. Indeed most of the tobacco is black, just a little bit of gold leaves.

I guess a lot of the smell comes from the turkish as well, it’s like a battle between the latakia and the turkish in the smell, but in taste the latakia wins, of course.

It doesn’t burn great, needs some relights but that’s ok, we’re not in a slow smoking championship after all.

The room note is very ok with me, but I’m pretty sure that it would smell like Hell for someone who doesn’t like cigar smoke or cigarette smoke. The room note is very strong actually.

Tastewise, this is amazing. I love it. I just love it! If this has 75% latakia, I guess I could smoke pure latakia. However, even if this blend is quite straightforward it is helped by the turkish. It’s smoky and leathery and smoky, and has some smoky taste. 🙂

Now, being serious, while it is indeed very smoky, the leathery taste is also there, which is very very interesting. So it’s not the sweet latakia you find in various blends, this one actually is smoky. I love it. (how many times did I say “smoky” so far? damn...)

Full taste. Flavoring? Who the hell could detect any casing or topping in this? No, no, no. This is for those dirty pirates!!! 🙂 Strength is mild to medium because you can’t take a lot of vitamin N from the latakia or the oriental, maybe from the burley but I don’t think it’s a lot of burley in this.

I was actually searching for this kind of tobacco for a long time. I’m a latakia lover. I’ve tried a lot of english blends that said they had a lot of latakia or said they have full strength smoke, like Samuel Gawith’s Commonwealth Mixture. Well, no. That is not a “latakia bomb” nor a full strength smoke in my opinion. That is a very good blend but it’s not a lat bomb. This one, on the other hand is a lat bomb, and for me is very tasty.

I don’t know what else can be said about this blend. It’s straightforward, in-your-face, smoky and leathery, latakia and turkish. A cold smoke, very enjoyable, especially (I imagine) in a cold winter’s day when you drink a smoky Islay Scotch.

Now I’m getting back to my bowl.

Happy puffing, pirates!

I could make this a very short review and just mention that it is a fantastic Latakia, Burley, Oriental blend. But, I rather parrot and babble on a bit longer. Opening the tin, I receive a lovely aroma of Latakia and that's about it and it is plenty. The Crumble Kake is a pleasure to deal with, not to moist and just dry enough to run through your fingers as if you are digging up a treasure from some tropical island beach. Lighting up, The sails fill and I am presented the latakia, with the burley and orientals blending in harmony. All hands on deck, The blend is like a latakia mouth wash with yes, a very light minty after taste of sweetness. Once lit, I find it stays that way with light attention to my sipping draw. Surprisingly to me with such a stated high content of Latakia, mild enough to start at day break and end the evening winds. This is a top shelf blend worthy of a try by any latakia lover. yes, I am in lust at the moment, but love might follow. weigh anchor, set sail and sip for a bit. The day is upon us.. Thanks C&D!

I love Latakia. It's one of my favorite ingredients in any blend. In Pirate Lake it dominates and it's good, its smooth, smokey and peaty. It's just too much of it to the point of making it monochromatic. The oriental come up for air but just barely. The nuttiness of the burleys barely come through. It strikes me that this is a good blend to build off of and I'll report back when I do but for now it's just lacks the depth to be interesting.

The best thing about this blend is that I always know what I am going to experience whenver I light it up. It is consistently a good blend. It seems to have a topping but it contributes to the excellent flavor. Slightly sweet, smokey, a bit of complexity from the orientals, very little bite. I would say this is my favorite tobacco because I can always depend on it to be a good consistent smoke. Mild to medium nicotine content.

Pirate Kake boasts a whopping 75% latakia, so if you don't like latakia you'll probably want to pass on this one. Those of you who enjoy latakia-forward blends are in for a real treat though, as the Orientals and burley add just enough balance to keep Pirate Kake from being a one-dimensional lat bomb.

Opening the tin reveals a dark brown block that looks like a brownie. To me, the tin note is mostly smoke and leather, with some wood and maybe a wee bit of fruitiness.

This is my first crumble cake, and I found it to be fun and easy to prepare. Just cut or tear off a piece, then rub it out and fill your bowl as usual. Once it's lit, you'll get exactly what you signed up for, which is a big dose of latakia taste and aroma as well as a little buttery sweetness in the background. It smokes very cool with no bite whatsoever. It might need a relight or two. The flavor stays consistent and doesn't get harsh near the end. It has a pleasant aftertaste.

The room note is very strong. My significant other, who is a real trooper for not complaining about me smoking pipes in the house, left the room as the aroma was a bit much for her. She's OK with Nightcap, so that tells you how strong this one is. I think it smells great myself.

The impressive thing about this blend is that it has such a massive amount of latakia but somehow remains interesting and easy to smoke. I think Craig Tarler must have been some kind of wizard to pull this off. Flavor wise, it's not as strong as one might expect and I'd say the nic level is medium. I could easily do back-to-back bowls of it, but I'm not a new smoker so YMMV.

Addendum, June 16 2019: The extra aging has tamed the latakia a bit, bringing out the buttery sweetness a little more. I'm also getting a little cocoa and berry flavors. Tasting this one as it evolves and reveals more of itself has been very rewarding, especially for a latakiaphile like myself. A real treasure, imho, and a must-try for those who appreciate latakia-heavy blends.