Cornell & Diehl Gentleman Caller

(3.27)
Grandma always kept a couple bowls of this fragrant blend of Virginias, burleys, and a dash of deer tongue and perique around as potpourri to make her favorite beaus feel right at home when they came calling. A Robillard blend.

Details

Brand Cornell & Diehl
Blended By Robillard
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type American
Contents Burley, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring Alcohol / Liquor, Deer Tongue
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 2 ounce tin
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Very Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.27 / 4
18

19

1

3

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 41 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 07, 2013 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Medium Very Pleasant
I picked up two tins of this blend three years ago and was not all that impressed with the Deer Tongue, though I did like this blend enough to finish the first tin. Skip ahead three years and I had no other Burley blend in my stash, so I finally cracked open the second tin. Well, age did this tobacco justice. Burleys do not improve much with age, yet the Deer Tongue, Virginia and Perique had time to mingle and sweeten. This blend will have to be around for that change of pace from here on out. Smoking this outside my favorite coffee shop always receives positive comments from, at least, the older ladies. The younger hipster girls only give the normal "how dare you" stare. My wife likes the room note and she hates even my plain Virginia tobaccos. I am not an aromatic smoker, yet Deer Tongue is a pleasant, natural flavor that enhances the other tobaccos. The Perique is hidden behind the citrusy vanilla of the Deer Tongue, sweetness of the Virginia and nuttiness of the Burley.......... We all owe Craig Tarler much gratitude for bringing quality burley to an industy that lacked that. He will be missed and long live Cornell& Diehl.
26 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 12, 2014 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Very Pleasant
The "Deer Tongue" mentioned here is a common name for a certain plant in the Aster family (family: Asteraceae), and native to North America (I don't know the species' full scientific name, but the genus is Liatris). It tastes almost like it smells-- like white clover honey with a bit of vanilla and something herbal, almost catnippy. I can't help but imagine that American Indians somewhere must have smoked this, or at least burned it, for pleasure. It shows up in the blend as green flakes, similar in appearance to broken wrapper from a claro candela cigar, but with a rougher texture (physically speaking).

NOTE: While I like this blend, and recommend it, I also recommend that you try it first in any MM corn cob pipe except for your favorite one. I tried it first in a 2 year old Peterson Wicklow. That is the only time I've smoked it from a briar. Two weeks and three bowls later, I'm still reminded of that fact every time that I get to it in my rotation. And yes, I run pipe cleaners through my stem and shank after every smoke. It's not bad, except that it is clearly messing with the taste of anything else I smoke in it. Also, wash your hands very well before handling any other tobacco, as it stays on your hands for a long time, too. This is what made me decide to wait until I got back to my Wicklow before trying it in another briar.
19 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 15, 2014 Mild None Detected Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Burley and Deer Tongue is one of my favorite combinations in pipe tobacco. Being a huge fan of C&D's Crooner I decided to pick up a tin of Gentleman Caller to see if I would enjoy a more subtle use of Deer Tongue compaired to the bold usage of the herb in Crooner. Now I must say, this blend is delightful. Perfect for when I'm craving that unique Deer Tongue flavor but am not in the mood for the bold in your face flavors of Crooner. In Gentleman Caller the burley is the main character. Nutty and smooth as you'd expect from the burley Gods at C&D. As a second roll I pick up the intermingling of the sweet tangy virginia with the sweet earthy deer tongue. The perique sort of hides quietly in the back row giving just the slightest spice to the blend. Gentleman Caller is just an all around fantastic, unique old fashioned pipe tobacco. Also, the room note is to die for. Sort of a musky, floral, vanilla scent. Just wonderful.
13 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 29, 2020 Mild to Medium Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
The earthy, woody, nutty, slightly sweet and sour, sharp burleys are the lead components. The tart and tangy citrusy, earthy, grassy, bready, woody Virginias are secondary players. The spicy, raisiny, plumy, figgy, prune-like perique is barely a condiment in terms of its effect on the blend. The floral, earthy, woody, herbal, lightly minty, vanilla-ish deer tongue is probably about two percent of the mix. It, along with what seems like a dash of whisky, fairly sublimates the tobaccos, but not as much as it does in Crooner. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. The taste is just short of the medium threshold. Won’t bite, but it does have some rough edges, and fast puffing may result in a harsh note or two. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a very consistent, richly tart and tangy sweet, floral, nutty flavor that translates to lightly lingering, pleasant after taste, and slightly stronger room note. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Can be an all day smoke for the veteran, and repeatable for the less experienced. Will ghost a briar.

-JimInks
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 25, 2017 Mild to Medium Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
Cut is an irregular chopped ribbon - mostly tan and light brown. I do not see green flecks, but I don't see colors well, and I can believe they are there. There is a honey/clover in the pouch note. This honey/clover is there in the smoking as well, and there is a slight herbal quality to the flavor. The first bowl was smoked as delivered, and I experimented with breathing through the bowl after loading, and this perked up the flavors for me.

My first bowl of Gentleman Caller was in the office. I stepped out of the office to help someone and when I came back, there was some vanilla in the room note along with the herbal I was tasting. It smokes like a mild burley forward VaBur OTC with just a whiff of perique and the herbal thing. The herbal is unlike anything I have had before. The base tastes a lot like one of those blends grocery stores had an assortment of 40 years ago.

I found this pleasant and interesting. It is good in a different way, and I don't crave it, but it is a good smoke.

An odd observation about room note is that my wife said on first light it gives an initial whiff of an electrical short. I did not observe this smell, and I found the flavors consistent and pleasant.

Edit 3/2917: They are not exaggerating about the ghosting with the deer tongue. I smoked the entire sample in a single cob, and a bowl of Pegasus now is tasting like deer tongue. This not a bad thing, but it really does ghost a pipe!
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 15, 2014 Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Very Pleasant
This is a blend I was looking forward to ever since I discovered Crosby's Crooner. A long time favorite. That blend is pretty high in strength, but this one was pretty mellow. It's one I want to use as a center piece potpourri , and always have on hand.

The main flavor you will get is that C & D deer tongue. Some say it's a vanilla mint, but I'd describe it as a floral, maybe slight vanilla. It's light and very tasteful. The other tobaccos in here just add to the greatness. The nuttyness and sweetness of the burleys are a great supporting tobacco. The Virginia and Perique are more of an additive that just complete this blend. Keeps it complex yet still simple.

Not much else to say, but to get this blend more out there, everyone should at least try. Not for everyone, but definitely worth a try,
Pipe Used: AKB Freehand Meerschaum, Nording Poker
PurchasedFrom: Smoking Pipes
Age When Smoked: New
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 17, 2016 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Very Pleasant
A masterpiece of blending craft. Totally unique, superbly executed, herbally goodness. If you have any curiosity regarding deer tongue, and even if you don't, this is a must try.

I bought this to explore the world of deer tongue blends as a superior component of many venerable tobaccos that have long since vanished, been replaced with synthetic concoctions, or simply quietly removed from the mix. I suspect herbs other than tobacco have long been smoked in rural America, and certainly the Native Americans have a list of such in their herbal traditions. Upon first lighting this up, the words of Meriadoc Brandybuck immediately sprang to mind; "For ages the folk of the Shire smoked various herbs, some fouler, some sweeter." This is of the sweeter variety and is very much appreciated.

This comes in a nice tin with a bespectacled codger decked out in tweed and bow tie on the label. Pop the tin and you'll be greeted with rich and fragrant herbal scent of fresh cut timothy and alfalfa, no generic hay. The cut is lovely with ribbons, coarse pieces, and broken flakes of stoved and orange Virginia, white and dark burley, black perique, and light green deer tongue.

It smokes very well. The aroma and taste, especially early on matches the tin note. While many describe this as similar to vanilla, I don't get that at all but rather timothy, light mint, and even spicy components like old fashioned bay rum colognes. It is pretty pungent on the match but quickly settles down to a full but very nice flavor. The malty Virginias dominate at the top, but start to give way to the nuttier burley in the last half. The perique pokes through in the gentlest way. The deer tongue subsides throughout but kicks in again at the end with a more medicinal quality. Room note is very very nice, and the lingering taste on your lips and in your beard (if so equipped) is a pleasant reminder of the quality smoke.

One of the things I dig about this blend is that the components work in harmony and change throughout the bowl, but are not melded in such a way that they're hidden. It is super aromatic, but achieved without casings or flavorings, and instead utilizes tobacco's natural ally, other dried leaf. Surely a superior smoke to another black cavendish soaked in cheap booze, an aromatic for the connoisseur. I think this is just superb and urge everyone to try it. Surely there will be many that won't care for the taste, but it's worth finding out first hand.
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 24, 2016 Medium Medium to Strong Medium Very Pleasant
Cornell & Diehl - Gentleman Caller.

When I opened this I wasn't amused; I'd meant to open Exhausted Rooster but my dog woke me up early this morning and sleep deprivation had got the better of me; well, the tins look similar at a glance..... a glance with tired eyes!

However, after a few bowls I'm glad I messed up!

The one thing that perplexes me, 'None Detected' has often been ticked for the flavouring, yet I find it Medium to Strong? Ah well, tobacco's subjective!

The toppings give a great flavour, and an awesome room-note; one of the best there is!

The nicotine's about medium; it's strange for me as I like nic' in the morning and an aromatic taste in the evening: a bit of both here!

When I first popped this open I wrote a quick and negative review, but afterwards I sat and finished the pipe off and had the urge to re-fill with more of it afterwards!

That, speaks for itself: highly recommended.

Four stars.
Pipe Used: Comoy's Elegance
PurchasedFrom: Gauntleys
Age When Smoked: New
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 20, 2014 Medium Medium Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Very similar in appearance to Crooner but with more bright tobaccos and a very short ribbon cut. Tin note is near identical to Crooner. Herbal, green tea, oregano, wet hay and a hint of vanilla and alcohol. Ideal moisture content out of the tin, and took a light and burned well.

If the deertongue in this is less than Crooner then it isn't by much. That component is still very dominant. I like this fragrance, which is rounded out by the Perique in the background.

This tobacco is sweeter and more layered than Crooner. I really enjoyed the Virginias in this. Like Crooner it does something odd to my mouth but that is not a deal breaker. Can also burn a little hot if pushed.

This is a nice 'aromatic that isn't' for a change of pace. Has a lot less nicotine than Crooner and could be smoked any time of day.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 22, 2015 Mild Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Don't be quick to judge this one. New can first bowl I was wondering what all the fuss was about. Half way through the tin I knew this would be a blend I would keep on hand. Complex yet mellow but go easy or it will get hot. Deer tongue adds a pleasant taste and great room note. This blend burns clean stays lit and for me becomes sweeter as I get toward the middle of the bowl. A great blend try it.
Pipe Used: tsuge
PurchasedFrom: smoking pipes
Age When Smoked: new
5 people found this review helpful.
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