Cornell & Diehl Pirate Kake

A Four Star blend, IMHO. Top Notch. I always load my pipe the night before and let it sit overnight. The next day PK lights right up and smokes all the way through. I get a creamy taste unlike any other tobacco I have yet tried. Very smooth with little, if any bite. I confess, any bite, which I have gotten, may come from a propensity, on my part, to "puff" this tobacco due to how much I enjoy it. The "creaminess" can be a little heavey at times so I have found this to be a good tobacco to cut with a lighter english. 60 (PK)/40 (Savinilli English) makes a great all day smoke but PK can certainly stand alone.

Pirate Kake is not just a smoke; it is a true religious experience!

I decided to wait a while to review this one because I kept bouncing back and forth from loving to hating it. I’ve finally settled on this is one great blend! Yes it’s filled with Latakia to the brim, but as mentioned by blenders before, Latakia has this kind of event horizon, where if you use enough of it, it’s less of a lat bomb than blends with less Latakia. Weird but true, and that’s exactly where this blend is. I get more flavor, sweetness and nuance from this blend then I do from other lat bomb balkans. I love this tin note being so leathery woody and sour. I get some sweetness at certain moments. It’s a classic in my mind and I’m not even the biggest Latakia fan. This blend will definitely make you question what you like to smoke and that’s a great thing.

C & D crumble cakes are fantastic. Pirate kake is no exception. Break off a piece of this "dark chocolate" brownie, break it up, and stuff away. This blend is a real treat.

I disagree with a lot of the reviewers that claim that this blend lacks complexity. I think it's loaded with all sorts of nuances. Dispite being mostly latakia it's actually not quite the punch in the mouth you'd think it would be. I get wood smoke, earth, leather, & savory meaty bbq notes from the latakia, which is quite robust, but also well supported by a good bit of floral sweetness & nice incensey notes. I also get some almonds, vanilla, and a bit of anise/licorice. Burns very cool & doesn't require many, if any, relights.

If they are certain that they enjoy latakia in larger quantities, then this would be a fantastic blend for a new pipe smoker. It burns very cool & absolutely refuses to bite. I don't smoke pirate kake very often but a few times a month I do get a CRAVING for it, and it always delivers.

The kake arrived moist. As I break it apart the aromas of latakia fill the room and cover my fingers. The kake breaks apart really easily. I like to rub this one out to be a fine ribbon cut consistency. Pre light draw is sweet latakia and some oriental notes. A few lights required to get it going. The initial flavors are of sweet latakia and incense like orientals. A few more than average relights are required and that is okay with me. I like to pack it a bit more moist than usual as I find that releases more of the flavor. The body of the smoke approaches medium but doesn't seem to ever get there completely. The strength like the body falls short of medium. If you enjoy latakia forward blends that bring hints of incense, I do highly recommend this one.

The tin description says, it contains 75% (!) of Latakia, plus Turkish and Burley. Truly a blend for Latakia aficionados. In the tin you will find a dark square Crumble Cake, very easy to break apart and to load your pipe.

As a Latakia lover I’d say this blend is heavenly. It is a spicy, full-flavour Latakia mixture accompanied by Turkish to add a significant Oriental twist. The Burley just donates body and rounds up the mixture. It is not at all one-dimensional, even if it obviously is a Latakia forward blend, given its 75% proportion. This blend keeps me interested during the whole smoke. In this sense, it is a deep digging mixture, not heavy, quite campfire smoky, not leathery, without horse-stable notes. It deploys a large palette of all distinct aromas you find within the wheelhouses of Latakia and Orientals. Surprisingly it is only medium strong. I can smoke several bowls in a row and enjoy its very full flavour. This mixture is now on my favourites list.

This is a pretty powerful blend that has plenty of flavor as well as Vitamin N. The tin note reminds me of leather and farmland. It lights easily and stays lit. The examples I opened was ready to smoke right out of the tin. The smoke has zero bite and is full of flavor. It is heavy on Latakia which might turn some people off but there are several other strains that come through in the smoke such as the smoothness of the Burley.

Overall a nice smoke. Get some. You won't be sorry.

A velvety, and almost full bodied, smoke with a strong taste of Latakia-woodiness, that’s perfectly balanced by the creamy sweet, buttery burley and cavendish. Leaving a creamy and peppery aftertaste that lingers, this is a modest Latakia bomb, and maybe my favourite Latakia blend yet! It lights and stays lit easily, smokes dry and clean with no bite nor moisture.

Upon opening a small sample given to me by father, I noted the sample was about as hard as concrete. I managed to fumble a piece and I managed to drop it and it shattered like glass. I realized I needed to take this sample and let it sit overnight with a damp towel over a bowl. I smoked some the next day and I noted that it smelled similar to being in smokehouse. First light I tasted heavy notes of campfire, wood, earth and sulfur. It reminded me of smoking a burnt out matchstick or if you were to smoke the smoke off of a meat smoker. About mid bowl it seemed to mellow out and I did get some nice sweet notes. It got more pleasant towards the end of the bowl but the overall 'smokey' taste just seemed to dominate this blend. This is what this blend is supposed to do so I knew going in I would experience this. It is a very different taste from what I normally go for (I tend to like those hideous 'soapy' tobaccos from over the pond) but not something I believe is for me. I do note this is good for something different.