Cornell & Diehl Chenet's Cake

A cake easy to slice and chop up.

A little moist from the get go but no lasting issue.

Mix up well so you don't get too much perique in a bowl. It's high enough in per anyway (maybe not as bold as OJK by C&D), and the finish is still strong. The Virginia balances the mix nicely, but not a sweet variety as in Kajun Kake. The per's pepper qualities come through now and again. Mushroomy.

Easy smoking and cool. For those who love perique ( a must here) but not quite an overdose (e.g., Exclusive).

Update, 06-30-23: Got into a jar that's been stashed since my initial review. It won't last long! It's funkier than ever, so rich and earthy. Gotta name it a favorite!

Original review: The reviewed tin of Chenet’s Cake is from better times, Halloween, 2019. Though it’s meant to age for a decade or more, I’m glad I jumped the gun! First thought on popping the tin and sniffing the contents was: beloved, faithful hound has returned, wet, from an adventure on the bayou, bringing along a damp burlap sack of festering dark fruit, figs, dates, and savory baking spices, along with some dank chocolate. As it happens, I like the funky aspect here, just as I do in the case of the best Turkish tobacco. IMO, all the fermentation during curing and in the tin has worked a treat. The tobaccos in the tin range from light/medium red-brown to dark brown. Ribbons have rotted during their relatively short time pressed into what is now a foam-ish kake that breaks up and loads easily into a pipe. It works best for me to carefully break off a chunk and gently roll it just enough to loosely stuff my pipe. It lights easily and smokes easily, too, although it requires fairly constant, very light tamping and some gentle stirring at the end. If it’s really rubbed out the bits get rather small, to the point where they can get in the draft hole. I’ve tried several pipes before settling on my usual-for-VA/Pers small-ish pots, as these provide the strongest and tastiest smoke. Lit, the fun begins. Typical of aged perique, there’s more in the way of scents than tastes to begin with. Larger pipes seem to keep it this way. Flavors soon develop from the preferred pipes, lining up very well with the tin note(s), while the aromas are like that too, but more “aromatic”. There’s plenty of deep, earthy, bready, yeasty, dark-fruity, semi-piquant, sweet and savory red VA, which features mild vinegar, and there’s a nice dollop of the prominent, sour, long-aged Perique. A little Burley provides both the barn smell and the fragrant meadow flowers, I suppose, along with some bitterness. Generally speaking, CC is rather deep for a VA/Per. Strength the way I smoke it is halfway between medium and strong, with the nicotine trailing a little. Tastes are toward full from medium. Room note is funky, like the tin note, but a good deal more intense. Although I quite like it I’ve gotten negative feedback about my clothes and hair after smoking CC outdoors. Aftertaste is a nicely drawn out, sweeter best of the smoke.

Chenet’s Cake strikes a fine balance between complex and busy, floral and rank. It’s easier to smoke and more “forgiving” than, say, Bayou Morning Flake. I like it a lot, and I’m guessing more age will only make it better, just as its “Cellar Series” designation indicates. Probably best suited to experienced VA/Per smokers. 4 stars.

The tin said to age for ten to fifteen years. I bought 2 and opened one. I found this to be a masterpiece of flavor and smoking enjoyment. The perique was playful and not overwhelming. The Virginias were sweet and refined. I found the flavor to be a delightful mixture of nuts, dates, and figs with other flavor packed surprises. This is a fine smoke that I will certainly enjoy further.

I planned to age this as suggested, but couldn't resist opening the tin when it arrived; it smelled like a pig sty. Not in a completely bad way, but that's how pungent this stuff is when fresh. After letting it mellow for several months, it was still piquant like a barnyard but with less of that pig-sty potency, and more dark chocolate, dark fruit.

The plug cut easily and burned well with moderate tending. The first third of the bowl was pepper, pepper, pepper. It opened up through the bowl, reminding me of rum raisin, and there are some occasional perfumy notes that were interesting (not sure where those came from in a VaPer). But the background was very peppery all the way through.

I can't overstate the pungency of this stuff. The smoke actually stings the eyes and goes well beyond "tickling" the throat and nasal passages; more like being stabbed with a thousand tiny needles...in a good way. (Seriously!) Solid but not overpowering nicotine level.

Wife didn't care for the room note; too cigaretty, she said. I had a front row seat and thought it smelled great.

If a blend is named after the so said inventor of the Perique tobacco, Monsieur Pierre Chenet, called “Perique”, which is the nickname of Pierre (Peter) in Spanish, it ought to be a good one. And indeed it is!

The presentation of this blend in its tin is a Crumble Cake, a softly pressed Ribbon Cut and Shag into a square. I love Crumble Cakes as they keep flavour and moisture in perfect condition. On opening the tin, the moisture was a little too high and I had to air it for a couple of hours. It is effortless to break apart with your fingers and to load your pipe.

The first puffs are rather unpleasant. As soon as the blend has reached an optimal, even glow in your pipe, a delicious, complex flavour starts to deploy. This is not a Perique smash-in-your-face mixture by any means. Both, the Virginias and the Perique, offer a manifold, wide palette of aromas that constantly keep me interested. What a great Va/Per mixture! I find the nicotine-level to be high, which I don’t like. No burn or harshness at all. However, it is a rather strong, deep, heavy, flavourful Va/Per for experienced smokers, not for beginners.

Ha! I finally identified the flavor profile on this smoke. It's buttered popcorn with a hit of paprika!

This is a very cool VA/Per. The tin note is atrocious, really awful -- whoever said sweaty socks, below, isn't far off. And, if you don't let it age (or at least break the cake up and let it dry for a week in a mason jar), it's a weird smoke. Fresh from the tin its muddled, an unidentifiable sweetness, with some perique peeking through.

But, if you don't want to cellar it, at least break the cake up and put it in mason jars and let it dry out for a week. Then it starts to come to life. The creaminess clarifies into a big, rich mouthfeel smoke. The perique maintains a fruity spiciness, really more on a paprika or peppercorn vibe than straight black pepper. The herbal/grassy flavors stick around, becoming what I'm now calling the "buttered popcorn" notes.

This is a special VA/Per. Maybe not everyone's taste, but unique and awesome in its way. It'll always have a place in my cellar and my pipes.

For those noting a chocolate flavor -- I got that when I smoked it fresh from the tin as a lingering aftertaste. But there was a LOT going on that way, and it wasn't all easy to identify. With some age in the cellar or some drying, I'm quite sure there's no cocoa flavoring on this. Just some nice virginia buttery sweetness.

Edit: I had a little revelation about this blend while having a bowl, and wondered if there was burley in it. Coming here, I see it lists burley as a component. I can taste that with some age on the tins -- I think that's part of the "popcorn" nuttiness and the mild cocoa notes. It's not strong, I've had pounds of this stuff before I noticed it, but it is present as a background note.

Here it is, folks, my all-time favorite blend. To be fair, my first experience with this was not good, in any way. It was my first VaPer, and only my second step away from drugstore aromatics. At that time, my palate wasn't developed enough to appreciate the untamed Majesty of this masterwork 'baccy. Many of the observations I noted then still hold true; what has changed is my appreciation of them. There is a MASSIVE amount of spice, but also deep, mature sweetness, grand notes of figs and dark chocolate, and no bite (what I thought was bite back then was simply misinterpreted pepper). I know this blend is meant to be aged "between 10-15 years", but I smoke so much of it that I doubt any will make it to that ripe old age. I have one tin dated from January of '16, socketed away with just this intention. Let's see if patience can outweigh my craving for this blend. A block rubs out into a fine shag, and burns to Ash without a qualm. The limited amount if aging I have ever been able to give it deepens the sweetness and dessert notes, and allows it to dry a bit; fresh off the line, it's just a tad damp and almost feral in its intensity. at any age, it has an abundance of its own kind of charm. This is my gold standard for VaPers, and will continue to hold court in my Holy Trinity of favored blends: Chenet's, Ten Russians, and Mad Fiddler. In nomine Patri, et file, et spiritus sancti, amen.

I've decided to review to cellar series blends from C&D upon purchase (or thereabout) and after the recommended amount of aging to see the changes. I intend to update the review after that period of time has elapsed.

Now:

Standard VaPer tin note, sweet and raisiny. There's a mildly earthy quality. A nice chunk of cake, easy to break off and rub out - a welcome change from the slices of cakes I've had a run with. Swells more than typical due to its compact nature, so look out when lighting that you don't let it get carried away.

Starts mostly with that signature Perique spice. Rich and deep. Vague fruit dances in and out, but the flavor is mostly Perique. The spice (and fruitiness) fades slowly over the bowl, but the general profile remains the same. This is excellent if you want a VaPer skewed more heavily toward the Perique. Age on the tin can't come quickly enough as I'm super curious how the balance will be after 10 years.

You can see my video review of this blend unaged here:

https://youtu.be/H1SV2JWYf8E

Aged:

Stay tuned.

Another of Cornell & Diehl's masterpieces. A wonderful Vaper blend and those are vastly becoming my all time favorites. A very tangy, spicy mix of excellent Perique and Virginia. Plenty of good old fashioned tobacco flavor and sweetness from the Virginia's. The Perique is ever present with it's peppery sensations especially when exhaling through my nose. This is my benchmark measure for rating tobaccos. If it gives my nose a good distinctive fiery "rush" I absolutely love it and this one will not disappoint in that regard. A true smoking pleasure. It comes in a beautiful cake form easily broken ready for packing. Burns very efficiently with little moisture. I love this one and I'll be sure to get a lot more.