Cornell & Diehl Chenet's Cake

Chenet's Cake is notably smooth for a blend comprised of 35% Perique. Usually I find C&D's heavy Perique blends to have a certain "sharpness" and though I do enjoy that this is a nice alternative. The Perique is distinctively raisiny with a little earthiness and I find its spice mostly on the retrohale. The red Virginias are earthy and subtley sweet. The bright Virginia is grassy with some minor hay flavors. The Perique and Virginias combine to offer a white wine like sweetness. There is a certain meatiness to the blend throughout the bowl that stands out more in meerschaum. It is currently a four star blend for me and I believe it will improve with age to become even smoother and sweeter.

So this blend is not like other va/per blends. Much sweeter. Less hay and fig. Maybe because there is a larger quantity of perique. The perique is made from burly so it has much more nic content than most va/per blends which is always a plus. The can I purchased was bulged. Large air release when opening the can that was only 10 months old. Super citrus and fish food smell. You know what I mean. From what I understand most perique is not made with burly tobacco. So if you read that this blend has burly. It's because the burly was processed into perique. I'll give a 4/4 star because I dried it for about an hour before smoking. It's moisture content was high when opening the can. If yours isn't great. Mine was. It's all preferences anyway. Burns great. Stays lit. Just make sure you cut and then rub out. Cut small sections off do not cut layers. Will report back after several months

It is my belief that every pipe smoker should try the so called "bomb" blends at least once. This allows you to really explore the specific tobacco in depth that is normally reserved as a condiment.

Smoking Chenet's Cake will expose you to flavors you won't experience otherwise. You discover there are layers to Perique you didn't know were there, and they are wonderful. You discover the toastiness of the best burleys, an earthiness that is just a bit different from undergoing the Perique process, and even some sweetness you didn't think was possible.

Some people think of Perique as a simple tobacco, but to me it is just as complex as matured Virginias.

I am going to use this review to state that I currently believe the blends we have available could rival any other time. I have been smoking for a very long time. When I was in my 20s I would smoke old tobaccos. The new blends I have seen come out in the past few years are even better than the ones I remember from back then, save Penzance 🙂 Cornell & Diehl are at the top of their game, SPC is coming out with banger blends. It is a great time to be a pipe smoker.

If you're looking for a perique powerhouse; this is not it. This is an extremely mellow smoke with the flavors of the different varietals harmoniously fused with each other by the Cavendish process used to make the cake. Hence the overall mildness and lack of roughness. It also interesting to note, that in this blend, the perique is not evenly distributed throughout the cake. Rather, it is left in chunks. Due to this, most bowls are red Virginia forward with a flavor profile similar to Haunted Bookshop. Yet, there is the occasional bowl with a large chunk of perique that would give one the illusion of a blend with a much higher perique content. As stated earlier, unfortunately for the hardcore perique enthusiast, these bowls are few and far between. This blend is what it is. That being a will thought out all day mild VaPer.

Although I know that many pipe smokers know the history of this tobacco, I cannot resist making a very brief introduction for clueless “navigators”, as I find it very interesting from the point of view of the history of this hobby that we like so much. Chenet's Cake is a potent blend of 35% perique and named in honor of Pierre Chenet, a Frenchman who is credited with discovering the fermentation process of perique carried out by the Choctaw Indians, who packed the leaves tightly in a hollow log putting a heavy rock on it. In fact, "Perique" was the nickname by which this Frenchman was known in the St. James Parish, Louisiana region, which is still today a world temple in the production of this famous tobacco that delights many of us.

Let's go there. When you open the tin, a Krumble Kake appears that includes red and shiny virginias, as well as Burley and of course the black color of the perique. This is immediately present to the nose, with aromas above all of ferment, vinegar, cheese (in particular, a cake from Casar reminded me, with designation of origin in Cáceres, Spain, where it is known as "Torta del Casar"), with a sweet tone from the other tobaccos that make up this mixture. A delicious aroma according to my tastes. It is soft enough that it can be cut and crumbled directly with your hands, but I prefer to do it with a knife to preserve its appearance when returning to tin. It comes slightly damp and although it can be loaded directly to the pipe, it is convenient to let it dry a little so that it does not produce humidity. Once lit, it burns well, produces generous amounts of smoke and is very tasty. As I feel, 35% perique is not overwhelming as it might seem at first, since it is very well balanced and blends perfectly with the sweetness of virginia and chocolate burley, giving this mixture an exquisite and different flavor what I knew until now. On the retronasal exhalation, pinch the nose pleasantly.

I usually let a few days pass until I smoke it again, but not because of its nicotinic strength, as some say, but because of its strength in aroma and flavor, which can somehow saturate the senses.

This blend is a good, meaty, rich VA/PER. The cake crumbles easily and could use some drying time. There is a lot of Perique which you can taste and smell.

Neither mild nor terribly strong. Like a lot of blends this hits the middle. Solid. Enjoyable. Not extraordinary. We have to remember the market — people and life tends to regress to the mean. And folk are very different in what they taste.

It’s not as good as Windjammer. In the same category as Haddo’s Delight or Escudo. Certainly more Perique centric.

Update: I’ve changed my mind on this blend. It is terrific. Better and more focused than Windjammer. Lots of Perique. Stronger than it first seems.

If you happen to be a Bayou lover who craves a bit of burley now and then, this blend is your unicorn. Not a daily smoke at all, but it reigns among the greatest VaPers sitting on my top shelf : Bayou Morning Flake, Telegraph Hill and Chenet’s Cake are my desert island blends.

The cake was well into the process of crumbling when I opened the tin. I put it in a jar and shook it up, transforming it into a crumbled cake. Nice raisin smell, but I didn't get enough cocoa to give it that Raisinet aroma that I like. Packs and lights well, burns cool with no bite. I found it to be slightly sweet, peppery/spicy, fruity, and a little earthy. It lightly stings the back of my throat and sinuses, which is a characteristic of certain perique blends that I enjoy as long as it's not excessive. Lots of flavor to explore here, and it's surprisingly well-balanced and easy to smoke. I think this is at or near the top of my list of preferred "rustic" (i.e. ones with a more spicy/peppery perique flavor as opposed to predominantly fruity) style of Va/Per.