Cornell & Diehl Crooner

This one will be easy. My wife hated it! .... Old Albert, a co-worker of mine (he'll smoke anything) couldn't take the tongue either. He tried picking out the green specks but that didn't help. And wound up starting his fireplace with it. As for me, I really tried to adapt but found that my pubic hairs went straight. .......

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I'm dreaming of a Whiiiite Christmasssss ...

This is an interesting blend and worth a try just for the nostalgia of smoking Bings Blend . I've smoked it and may try it again someday , but I'll need to let the memory if it die down a bit . The deer tobgue is an odd flavor and certainly not like anything I had expected . I won't say it's bad , but it sure is different .

Now here is an unusual tobacco: a C&D blend that I dislike. I'm not sure what it is about this blend that totally turns me off - perhaps the burley, of which I'm not a huge fan, or maybe the herb deer tongue that is added. Regardless, I don't plan on smoking much of this in the future, and have already gotten rid of my remaining sample pack. In the pack, this tobacco blend has a distinctive, almost herbal odor, one that I don't normally associate with tobacco. It is cube cut, light brown in color and very dry, like most C&D blends. Packing is easy ue to the cut, and it burn very easily, due no doubt to its dry condition. This is one of the only tobaccos that I was not able to finish a bowl of, so I can only comment on the first two thirds or so. The first (and only) real flavor I get from this blend on lighting is harsh; the closest thing I can think to compare it to is burning grass or leaves, though the blend by no means has their pleasant properties. It burns like tinder, sending out clouds of dry, harsh, tasteless smoke and tending to bite the mouth easily. I can't really tell if I'm tasting the deer tongue or the burley, but whatever it is, I'm not enjoying it. I finally stop partway through the bowl, unable to force myself to continue. I do not like this blend (as if you couldn't tell!), but perhaps this is just my own weird tastes; you may love it, as I've heard some people do. As far as I'm concerned, however, Bing can keep it.

What a pleasant surprise!

This was my first deer tongue tobacco, which is of little shock for a guy who's only been smoking for less than 1 year. I did not want to waste the full cost of a 2 oz. tin, so my friend and I split a tin. In retrospect, we BOTH should have purchased a tin a piece because we quite enjoyed the smoke immensely. Before I could buy the only remaining tin, my buddy quickly gobbled it up.

The fine cube cut had me worried about packing it too tightly, but it packed up nicely. The initial aroma from the tin was off Cinnamon Life cereal topped with vanilla extract. The charring light pillowed up quickly, so DO NOT pack to the very top of the bowl so as to not overfill during the char. A handful of relights, but otherwise smoked quite smoothly. The nic-hit stayed pretty medium throughout, but became a touch stronger near the finish. The smoke had the pleasant aroma of cinnamon, but only a hint of vanilla. The taste was a very burley forward, nutty flavor. No real tongue-bite to speak of.

My tobacco shop already has ordered a few more tins for my friend and I. I will keep this in my rotation as an early morning smoke accompanied by a strong cup of coffee. I recommend giving it a try!

I was given a generous bag of this by a friend in the pipe club. It's very different from the blends I usually smoke, is this a particularly American style of tobacco? I've smoked it all in a corncob: not a style of pipe I usually use but it was sitting around waiting for a purpose and here it is! American tobacco, American pipe, a pot of coffee to wash it down. I feel I should be on a steamboat on the Mississipi!

The cut is very different from anything I've had before. Apparently it's "cube" cut, but there's nothing cubular about it - it's cut into little squares, and doesn't seem to have been pressed. This makes it very easy to fill a pipe, easy to light, but also seems to facilitate burning quite quickly. It has a mild tobacco aroma with an overlay of Coumarin - Deers Tongue is I take it another additive like Tonquin.

The flavour is nutty and dry, and the coumarin tickles the tongue as I smoke it. It goes very nicely with coffee, I can't say there's much development of the flavour as it's smoked but it's low maintenance and good while I'm engaged on other tasks. It's also got a good dose of nicotine, which combined with the coffee is keeping me very alert!

All in all, very nice and feels like a cultural experience for me!

I wanted to try a deer tongue tobacco, so I gave this a go. I wasn't put off by the deer tongue as much as others, but I don't think I'd buy another tin. The deer tongue adds a menthol herbacity--somewhat like the taste of Fernet Branca. Not horrible, but not really what I'm looking for in a tobacco.

Edit,11-6-2023: After trying this a few more times, dropping this down a star. I'm just not a fan of the deer tongue flavor. I love the cube cut, but it is hard for me to smoke a full bowl of this without getting sick of that menthol herbal taste.

I had a sample of this tobacco the other day at a Pipe show. I cannot fully describe the smell of deer tongue, but it kind of smells familiar to me despite the fact I never had it in my life. Having said that, the flavour profile dissipates quick and all you are left with is this beautiful burley blend with nutty and roasty notes so easy to smoke and no tongue bite. This is to say I fully enjoyed this blend and I am willing to buy a tin for myself, but at this point in time I can only give this review 3 stars because my experience is very limited in this sense. If anything changes after I smoke a few more bowls, I will come back and upgrade my review accordingly.

I've read a couple of comments who compared this with Half & Half. For me, there are several similarities and some major important differences. Long story short, Crooner is bolder in strength but milder in flavorings compared with Half & Half, but I do get some of the same notes and as a fan of Half & Half I'm very happy about it. One major difference is that Crooner has more harsh spots that are felt on the throat, while Half & Half is more smooth.

The smokes introduces a bit of a nice sharp earth, wood, and cocoa note, complimented by drops clove, cardamom, and to an even lesser degree some anise. The sweet vanilla-like notes from the Deer Tongue are mild and sit in the background, but they do add a whole dimension. My guess is that there is more dark Burley than white one.

It comes in a classic cube cut, super easy to pack and smoke, no need to relight. While the overall flavor maintains itself throughout the bowl, it does start mild-medium and ends on a strong note, with the nicotine beginning to crawl in somewhere mid-bowl. The earthy, cocoa, and wood flavors turn a bit into a more roast one which gives a hint of Dark Fired Kentucky (although that's not an ingredient here). The moisture level is perfect right out of the pouch. No tongue bite. Can easily be an all-day smoke for someone who loves a slightly sweet burley with some power behind it. Perfect with coffee!

Medium in body, medium-strong in strength. A bit longer smoking rate than most blends. Not very complex and doesn't require contemplation and endless analysis. This blend is in line with the old classic blends, but it is a bit stronger than most of them.

As I finish my 2oz bag, I think I will order a pound to have around, just for when I feel like a somewhat bold burley blend. Deer Tongue isn't used that often anymore - another reason to have at least one of those interesting spicing herbs around.

As I review this for what it is, I have to give it a perfect score.

Disclaimer, I bought this in bulk at my local pipe and tobacco shop under the name “Bing’s Fav” but am almost certain this is the same blend due to the cut of the tobacco, etc. When I first tried this years ago it was very, very fragrant of Deer Tongue. When I decided to try this again after reading a review with Deer Tongue my jar had pretty much dried out. I could still smell and taste the Deer Tongue, also called Dog Tongue or Vanilla Plant but obviously the years were not to kind with this blend. I must have bought this at least 5 years ago or so. One of the few blends I jarred and did not date. I still chose a pipe that I was not worried about ghosting which was an old cob. Not a bad smoke but one that for me I have to be in the mood for and apparently up until recently never revisited. I have enough that I will more than likely never buy a tin but interesting to try some. Apparently, way back in the day this was a very popular ingredient in pipe tobacco.