D & R Tobacco Picayune "The Pride of New Orleans"

I was expecting strong, but what impressed me is flavor! I bought 4oz bulk from Pipes and Cigars and it's the biggest 4oz I've ever seen; perhaps due to the low moisture level. Bag note and flavor remind me of Cornell & Diehl Bayou Night, but this stuff kicks butt! Picayune has an initial flavor of cigarette, but the perique kicks in after a few draws. There's also a very tasty sweet aftertaste which I really enjoy. The shag cut is deceiving when packing the bowl, so go easy and check your draw as you go. Lights easily and behaves very well in the pipe, but it does smoke fast. Flavor is sweet and peppery; good to the bottom of the bowl. Relight is tasty, so if you do get overwhelmed you can set it down and come back later. Strength is Strong+ and I need to take it easy after a third of a medium bowl, but I can enjoy the whole pipe if I pace myself. Great with pale beer or cold water. Nice with coffee, but treat this stuff with respect in the morning! Leaves the pipe clean and dry.

I was talking with Mark Ryan about this blend in which he relayed a story to me about a gentlemen who actually passed out smoking this blend. Whether it was the speed at which he smoked it or the device in which he smoked it in, the story does carry with it a certain amount of warning and truth. Truth be told, this blend is spectacular both in it's strength and complexity.

I first smoked this stuff in a car on my way to work one morning and I was salivating at the mouth 10 minutes into it. I typically smoke strong English and VaPer blends. The overt Samsun orientals notes combined with the strong Perique combined so well I was enthralled at the flavors despite the strength. The "room note" is much more milder due to the air and flue cured Gold Leaf tobaccos, providing a smell akin to a smokey/spicy cigarette.

The second time I smoked Picayune was in the evening after the sun went down. I had some espresso roasted coffee and a good book. The slight movement in the air provided a much more rewarding experience since the nicotine content did not hit me as hard. With these conditions, the Oriental and Perique tobaccos really showcased the exceptional quality of this blend.

Overall Impressions - make sure you have some air flow and a nice beverage to counter the strong nicotine content. If you can get past or through the strength you will encounter a most enjoyable and unique pipe tobacco.

Edit: Now that the blend is discontinued, let me share the recipe:

Bright Virginia - 12.5% Samsun Oriental - 12.5% Perique - 20% Dark Air-Cured Burley - 55%

Strong?... extremely. After a few puffs, I finally found my way to the lounger without aid from anyone... did it by myself. Wow, this is the strongest blend I've ever stoked into a pipe bowl. Has a slight cigar aroma to it & is shag cut. It has a good flavor for such a strong blend. I'll keep a tin of this on hand at all times.

This blend is good to smoke by itself, if you dare, or can be used to add extra strength to wimpy or aromatic blends without changing their flavor all that much. The moisture content is just right for smoking right out of the tin. If you like extremely strong blends & think you're tough, give Picayune a try.

If you roll your own, one king sized cigarette might last you all day long... it's that strong. Was that poetic? You'll only be able to inhale a very small sip, either rolled or stoked & this is undoubtedly one of the strongest blends on Planet Earth. OK... this one merits four stars for flavor and strength.

...Wow! this is a fine ribbon cut tobacco that is robust and definitely full-bodied...Since I enjoy strong Plug/Flake tobaccos, it does not come close to overwhelming me at all...However, I can see that many smokers would find Picayune too far over the top as a regular smoke.

It can burn hot and quick...therefore, I use moisture to control both those aspects...as I do with most Plug/Flake tobaccos. Rather dry in the 14 oz. bag, a few quick sprays was all it required to provide the moisture needed.

To be sure, sipping this mixture is recommended, and bowl size doesn't really make a difference to me...I usually smoke this in a group 4 to 5 size bowl with no issue. It does carry a high nicotine content and I can see where this may be a bit "heady", with the perique.

I give this 4 stars because it is an exceptional mixture, quality tobaccos, and presents itself well. Mark Ryan has done a fine job with this re-creation of the original Picayune tobacco and it will stay in my rotation on a regular basis.

Very much worth a try for those who can appreciate a strong smoke!

...a pipe is to be savored...

Others have commented from a more familiar perspective than I can. I'd suggest checking out JimInks...my go to reviewer. I just thought the whole history here was very interesting. And I wanted to comment that this blend is available as a machine rolled 70mm x 22mm filtered "small cigar" in various cigar shops. Hmmm. A small cigar the size of a camel short. How festive. Stuff is generally considered to be "kick ass" re Vit. N. (YMMV) PS: I don't inhale these.

Review of factory rolled "small cigar": I ordered a carton of the "small cigars" and could not be more pleased. Size is that of a king size filter cigarette. An ideal item for breaks or dog walking, etc. They are slim-ish and a medium brown color...so they look like a custom cigarette. The flavor is excellent. It is a melange that tastes like VA/Burley/Turkish/Perique (gee!...what a surprise). Lighter than the deep flavor in a bowl, but very pleasant. And without inhaling there is a nice little N afterglow. No complaints here. Totally satisfied.

It seems those who smoked Picayune cigarettes back in The Day remember the experience! This is certainly the case for me, brought freshly back to mind, 54 years after a college tryst, by this D&R match blend for the pipe. According to my own experience and recollection, D&R Picayune retains both the good and the “bad” of the original tobacco blend, the good being the delightfully fragrant, woody, meadow grassy, earthy, herby, spicy, resinous, floral aromas and tastes, sweet, sour and bitter, and the “bad” being an instant and overwhelmingly hot and dusty dry spice blast to the soft palette at the light, hardly the foot one wants to get off on! I still remember that the friend from whom I bummed my first Picayune cigarette watched me closely as I lit up and took my first drag, and she burst into laughter when I began coughing and retching! Worse than her Gauloises, and much stronger than my usual Camels! I went on to buy a couple of packs I never figured out. So, given all this misery, why have I given D&R Picayune 4 stars? Le voila:

My sample of D&R Picayune is from bulk. I will get some tins soon. In the bag are dry, short, narrow ribbons, pretty much a shag, and some small chunks, with colors ranging from tan to reddish brown, to dark brown and smelling almost cigar-ish, with plenty of dry, peppery spice and zesty, earthy herbs well over meadow grass and yeasty wheat bread, along with faintly smoky, extra spicy dry salami. The tobacco handles, loads, lights and smokes down without a hitch, unless you think a fast burn rate is a hitch. Of course, one can always tamp the tobacco harder to slow the burn, but that causes other problems, IMO, and it obfuscates the best of the blend, as well. For me, the “secret” to getting the most from Picayune is to keep the temperature down, beginning with due care at the light. In any case, this is for me a make-or-break point, because if the first blast at the light is too much it’s not likely one will recover from it to enjoy the rest of the smoke. Care taken at the light, and following that with very light snorks, Picayune unfolds like a meadow flower, with the delicious, classic, sour, rank, woody and floral Turkish Samsun wafting through the sweet base of flue and air cured VAs along with the nutty, buttery, earthy, tannic, bitter and slightly smoky Burleys, which seem to include some DFK, with a substantial helping of dry Perique conjuring spicy white raisins and white pepper. Spices, spices, spices aplenty, including exotic roasting, baking, and dessert types, with resin-y incense. It’s both complex and well melded, which only adds to its charm for me. While the scope of the experience is consistent top to bottom, once it opens up and gets going, the scope is wide enough that it’s never boring. Strength is very strong, with the nicotine trailing at just over strong. Tastes are full to very full. Room note is actually not bad, considering all the Turkish and Perique! Aftertaste is a lengthy trailing off of the best of the smoke, only sweeter.

D&R Picayune is an original blend best suited to experienced Perique and Samsun lovers. Only patient, adventurous newbies need apply. C&D’s Dreams of Kadath was my first thought for comparison. Though the two are not really alike in terms of strength, they are “similarly singular”. Picayune is likely to age and/or rest well if stored properly.

I bought 5 tins of this around the first of July out of curiosity. When I was a kid in the deep south there was a non-filtered cigarette in a white pack called Picayune from New Orleans. A kid I knew that smoked these said they would kick your butt. I was more into Day’s Work, Red Man at the time. A lot of people in the south chewed tobacco for some reason. A little nostalgia I suppose in ordering this one. Upon opening the tin, I was greeted with a nice worm dirt smell. This blend is composed of a medium reddish brown and some dark ribbon cut tobacco. The description on the site says course cut but to me this is more like a shag. I fired it up and was greeted with a strong cigarish taste and actually got a little light headed so I definitely knew there was Perique in this baby. I am not trying on purpose but it does seem to smoke a little fast, probably due to the cut and does give me slight indigestion at times. Probably not the best idea to drink coffee with this one either. This is a real power house and a few reviewers have said this is cigarette tobacco for the pipe. I do find it interesting that on the tin it says “This product is intended exclusively for use as pipe tobacco.” Well, tell that to the reviewers who rolled their own and smoked it. Ha! I couldn’t do it; I would probably have a heart attack. In closing this is a smooth smoking powerhouse blend that should be used in moderation. I had three bowls this evening and that was one bowl too many. Glad I bought it.

This is wonderful stuff. I buy it by the pound, and it has taken over my pipe smoking from 5 p.m. to dinner time. When the sun gets low, and it's time for an adult beverage, this is the tobacco that stands up to a wee dram and sings. Smooth flavorful tobacco taste in the mouth with just a hint of perique and oriental spice, plus a long, zingy finish in the nose. This tobacco does work best for me with something to cleanse the palate after almost each puff. I find this tobacco very similar to Cockstrong, but a bit more robust with the added zip of perique. In the bag it does have the aroma of some type of essence added, but no flavoring comes through in the smoke. It is a flavorful tobacco with power.

I sure do love me some Picayune. You'd never know that from seeing how much of it I go through - two 3.5oz tubs have lasted me over a year. Yet I smoke it nearly every day. I'm the kind of guy who likes to splash habanero hot sauce all over various foodstuffs, and Picayune has come to serve the same purpose in my tobacco rotation. It's a perfect little shot of hot sauce that goes with anything, in a pipe or a tube.

On its own, Picayune is a beast. The day the first tub arrived I tried it solo in a paper tube. I got about 1/3rd way into it and had to set it down. I felt like I had just had 3 or 4 whole tubes of something else in just a couple of drags, nicotine-wise. (Now, the only time I ever stuff straight Picayune in a tube is when I'm going out someplace where I expect a lot of bumming. I make 4 or 5 Picayunes and when hit up I say "here, if you can finish this you can have another one". A second one has never been requested.) Every once in a while I'll load up one of my small cobs with straight Picayune when I'm in the mood to get shot with the flavor cannon. If one can handle the onslaught, there are a lot of wonderful flavors lurking in there. But I mainly use it to add spice to other blends. Just a tiny little half pinch goes a long way. It goes especially well with Bob's Chocolate Flake.

In a tube I blend it with D&R Three Sails at anywhere from 10-50% of the blend, depending on how much strength I want.

I just purchased my first 1lb bag and plan to age it in Mason jars. I'm very interested to see what a few years does to this stuff.