Cornell & Diehl Bayou Night (Bulk) review

[MichaelM]

I’ve been smoking this blend for a few weeks and have been thoroughly impressed.  Since I have not seen much mention of it here on BoB I thought a review might be of interest.
According to the C&D website, Bayou Night is  “A Scottish type blend of Latakia, Perique, Virginias, Turkish, and Burleys that boasts a heavier Perique component than normally found in a classic Scottish blend. A full smoke that is surprisingly cool on the palate.”
The jar note is typical of many C&D burley blends.  Sour and pungent with a unique note of balsamic vinegar that I’m guessing comes from the significant amount of perique.
The initial light is sweet and deep, almost caramel.  This quickly gives way to the perique and it settles into a strong Va/Bur/Per like profile.  Cycling smoke near the back of the mouth to engage the nose (is there a term for that?) reveals surprising complexity and depth.  Layers of perique, orientals, and slight hints of latakia dominate.  This all rides on an underlying nutty sweetness from the Burley and Virginias.   Full retrohale creates a perique-wasabi-like effect that I cannot recommend.  Net lore has this blend at 50% perique.  Looking at the tobacco and tasting the various bits (yeah, I do that) makes me think that while it may not be 50% it is in higher quantity than any other component in the blend.  This is a spicy full bodied blend that makes Old Joe Krantz seem like a good choice for a beginner!
The first few smokes of this I had in a MM Country Gentleman, and a wide bowl Savinelli bent pot.  I almost gave up on it because I thought it was such a flat boring blend.   Fortunately I tried a bowl in a beater narrow bowl billiard while I was working in my basement shop, and the stuff just came alive.  I’ve never found a blend to be this sensitive to bowl shape, but Bayou Night really shines for me in my narrow bore pipes.  That might just be my own quirk, but if you try this I recommend trying a few different bowl shapes.
I admit to being an unabashed C&D fanatic, and I think Bayou Night is one of the best Craig Tarler blends I have tried. It won't replace the Runowski blends I’ve come to love, but I’ll be cellaring it by the pound right beside OJK and Haunted Bookshop.
Mike.

 

[Ozark Wizard]

Sounds like fun.....

Narrow bowl is better you say?

Might have to whip one out, most of mine are pretty wide..... C&D bulk is on a 20% off sale on Smokingpipes.com now......

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Nice review Michael. I have been curious about Mr. Tarler's Bayou Night, as I do enjoy Bob Runowski's Bayou Morning and Kajun Kake.

Altogether, I am a recent convert to the brilliance of Mr. Runowski's American blends, especially his non Latakia mixtures, although I do enjoy Epiphany. I frequently smoke Haunted Bookshop & Pegasus. However, OJK is just too much of everything for me (perique, nicotine, flavor strength, etc.) I'll trust in your review to take a pass on this one. On top of that, I have plenty of Haddo's Delight sitting around.

By the way, have you ever smoked Oriental Silk? It's excellent. It's essentially an Oriental mixture with balls. I think you'd really appreciate it. It's a wide bowl kind of blend, & yes it's quite intriguing how bowl dimensions alter the flavor of certain tobaccos. Some blends taste best with a more concentrated ember, others not so much. More complex mixtures almost always benefit from a wide shallow bowl, at least to my taste anyway.

 

[LV9]

I remember smoking this when it first came out and I was just beginning to smoke pipes, i remember liking it but i also remember the nicotine hit and the ghosting of the pipe is a very good blend but is a most that you crave perique.

 

[Brewdude]

Michael, you initially lost me when you listed "Latakia" but it seems like this does not predominate?

In any case your review does sound very appealing, including your references to "Sour and pungent with a unique note of balsamic vinegar that I’m guessing comes from the significant amount of perique."

I'm a huge fan of perique and the sour notes it can produce, and clearly pushes my buttons. I do rather enjoy Bayou Morning btw.

So, does the Latakia play a minor role here?


Cheers,

RR

 

[MichaelM]

Rande, the latakia is very minor. Honestly if I didn't know it was there I probably wouldn't have guessed it was present. If you don't want to take the plunge I'll get you a sample as soon as I restock. Drums, I'm adding Oriental Silk to my to- try list. Thanks for the suggestion.
Mike.