Cornell & Diehl Crooner

From a curiosity stand point, Crooner is a blend that I absolutely had to try. Afterall, it does afford an opportunity to smoke a blend containing real deer tongue. The finely cubed burley is rich, earthy and mildly nutty, while the deer tongue adds a sweet/herbal quality to the smoke. Crooner has a pretty good kick to it and I'd rate both the nicotine and tobacco flavor strength as a firm medium, with nicotine pushing toward strong.

Altogether, I discovered that I enjoy the flavor of deer tongue but I don't care for Crooner all that much. This blend tastes fantastic for the first 10-15 minutes but after that it tends to burn hot and the good flavor turns bitter. Sure, I could use the old high-maintenance method of light, 5-6 gentle sips, set the pipe down, wait a few minutes and repeat. But if I sit down to smoke a pipe, I want to actually have a "smoke". At my regular cadence, which to begin with is already pretty darn slow, there just isn't a lot I can do to keep this tobacco from overheating. Perhaps this blend would be better suited for much cooler weather.

Frankly I just don't have a lot of time for feathering fussy tobaccos, and for the most part burleys should be easy. The silver lining is that Crooner can be purchased in bulk by the ounce and it's cheaply priced. So for me, giving it at least a 1 ounce try was a no-brainer.

The only blend containing Deer Tongue that I have smoked with any regularity was Russ Ouellette’s (H&H) Old Tartan. I enjoyed it because of its perfect use of Deer Tongue to offer up a mild vanilla-like flavor. The old saying that “anything worth doing is worth overdoing.” In the case of Deer Tongue, it isn’t. My bag of Crooner was fairly ground up and I needed to be careful not to get tobacco caught in the draft hole. The larger pieces were of Deer Tongue, not a good sign. Rather than using it to offer up a nice vanilla undertone, here Crooner uses it front and center. Like Perique, IMHO, it should be mainly used on a condimental basis. The Deer Tongue simply overpowers this blend. When first looking at the reviews of this, I was a bit miffed at the number of reviewers that rated this as “strong.” It isn’t a strong blend at all nicotine-wise, so I assume it is a result of the overpowering flavor. I also assume that the added Deer Tongue is what has caused many to say that there is a strong flavoring. If it’s topped at all, it is done very lightly. I like Deer Tongue, but I didn’t enjoy Crooner because there is simply too much of it. I seldom give one star reviews because I think most tobaccos have at least some redeeming quality and I think this blend will appeal to absolute Deer Tongue aficionados. I guess I’m not one of them.

I am a big fan of gentlemen caller because of the deer tongue, crooner has more of a whiskey taste and nose to me. It burns wetter and packs tight in the pipe. Overall it reminds me of Pennington blend which I like. However it was not what I expected and that left me diapointed. But if you like a burly with a whiskey taste you will like this.

UPDATE: The truth is in consumption. And since my initial sampling of Crooner I haven't re-ordered. It's smokeable enough and the deer tongue provides a decent change of pace from a burleyphiles normal fare but I can't say that Crooner has been or will be any more than a mood tobacco in my current rotation. Please don't misunderstand, it's not bad tobacco but just isn't something that would keep my attention.

Original Review: Got this in a sample pack from C&D. It should be noted right up front that I am a burleyphile. Especially those "pedestrian" blends that harken back to the days when pipe smoking was as much a part of being a man as shaving. All that said, the reviews of this blend were a little hard to gauge. It appeared to be one of those love it or hate it blends. Curious to see what side of the fence I was on I just had to try it. For me at least, it was something totally different. Normally a remark like that is something akin to saying a lady has a really nice personality but not so with Crooner. It was very tasty and an initial "Man, what was that!" quickly became a "Gee, that's some really good stuff." The deer tongue is conspicuous throughout the smoke but never in a mundane, predictable way. It's contributions swing wildly from an herby, earthy kind of flavor (reminding me of cedar) to a very vanilla sort of a taste (without the goop and gum normally associated with a tobacco that tastes like vanilla). All of it's incarnations seemed subtle, tastey and somewhat exotic, unlike anything I had ever smoked before. I was however, always quick to load another bowl. I didn't experience the difficulties keeping this lit that others have reported. It does however demand a fairly robust charring light. Tamp and relight and you're off. The cube cut burley was a very slow, cool burner and true to the classic burley genre, slow and steady (puffing) wins the race. Quicker, aggressive puffing resulted in slightly hotter but never bitey or bitter smoke. It burned clear to the bottom of the bowl with leaving only a clean, dry bed of white ash. Those around me reported a room note something similar to gingerbread. Crooner's niche in my rotation will probably be as the kicked up, something totally different but classic burley nonetheless blend. Burley blends are all about understated simplicity. Occassionally, I crave a bit more complexity without sacrificing everything that's great about an old school burley(smokeability, low maintenance, great taste). Crooner is the cat's pajamas in this role. This is a must try for burley lovers and a blend that could very well convert a non-believer. My lunch time smoke today was a metaphysical experience. I loaded a four digit woodie with Crooner and kicked back for an hour long smoke while reading the newspaper. Beauty says I, very well done and highly recommended.

Crooner could never be a regular in my rotation, but I do occasionally want a bowl of it. It's a simple tobacco with a very unique taste...it is what it is. Bing Crosby may have smoked this a lot, but for me it's an occasional treat and nothing more.

Deer tongue has a very distinctive aroma and flavor. My vocabulary skills aren't up to the task of describing it, save to say that it's "deer-tongue flavored". Generally I stay with unflavored tobaccos, excepting Mac Baren Navy Flake and Crooner.

Cubes of burley and green deer tongue; Crooner is a visually simple blend. It packs simply enough, although there's not much "packing" involved. Fill up a bow, press it down with a firm hand, and then sprinklesome slightly rubbed out Crooner on top...that's about it.

My orders of crooner have always arrived at a moisture level that's appropriate for smoking. It lights easily and rarely requires a relight. The Burley is top quality. (I have no idea what the quality of the deer tongue is as it's the only deer tongue I've ever seen. However, considering the high quality of the ingredients in every other C&D blend that I've smoked, I believe it's safe to assume that the deer tongue is high quality stuff as well.)

The nuttiness of the burly comes on first, but the deer tongue catches up quickly. The rest of the bowl shows little change for me, as the burley and deer tongue simply burn and give up nothing throughout the bowl.

This blend always smokes to a fine gray ash. The end of the bowl is little changed from the entire experience.

In the end, Crooner is a mixture of Burley and deer tongue. Nothing sophisticated, nothing challenging, no nuance to mention. The fundamental issue for any smoker will be, "Do I like the taste of deer tongue?" If you do, then this blend could easily find a place in your rotation. If not, then there's little point in ever trying a second bowl.

I smoke Crooner occasionally, but others with whom I've talked are split on their reaction to it. Some are like me, keeping it around as a nice change of pace on occasion. Others detest it, having emptied out their first and only bowl.

If you don't know whether or not deer tongue is something you'd like to try, get a sample bowl from a friend or a local shop. You'll know quickly if this is a taste for you. I have to knock my rating to 2 stars, given that many people simply detest this blend.

I have just started to explore different casing ,and additives,. Deer tongue, and tonquin ect. I thought crooner it be a place to start,deer tongue has been use as a herbal medicine so I figured what the hell

Although deer tongue was interesting Crooner in my opinion had way to much, I used LL Dark Red too cut the harshness. It worked like a gem. Now the deer tongue is pleasant and enjoyable.The burley was earthly and ful of flavor. Did not notice any tongue burn ,lights easy, had to tend up more so than other tobacco

Way to harsh without cutting so I am going 2.5 stars.

This was the first deer tongue I had ever smoked, wow was it ever strong,I had to cut with some LL Dark red. It did the trick, use 4oz. To a pound

After the cut I found smokable,enjoyable . Also found if pipe cleaner is left in while packing cuts out cubes from jamming.

Burley's are delicious, Virginia 's hard to distinguish and deer tongue always present.Will not buy crooner again, just a lot of work for a fast burnig Tobacco that's not to say it is a bad blend just way to much deer tongue for my liking.

It has been many years since I have smoked this blend. Originally I thought it to be an aromatic, and as an aromatic smoker at that time, I happily puffed away at it. It's potency soon became apparent. It is not a potent mixture by English standards, but certainly by aromatic standards. I remember it having the scent and flavor of raisins. It was quite enjoyable.

I just don't know about this.

Smells fine in the tin/bag/pouch. However you buy it. The aroma is an invitation to dabble into the unknown. It actually makes you overly curious about what it will taste like in the bowl. There's no way you can stop yourself once you smell this tin note.

1st lite had me wondering if the flame got to close to my knuckles and i had burnt a few hairs. But this stuff is hard to lite let alone keep lit. A bunch of puffs latter confirmed to me that I wasn't burning the hair off my knuckles. Thats the deer tongue. But once I keep smoking the bowl that pretty much went away. But its still a very weird flavor to put it bluntly.

The room note reminded me of growing up. As a child running through the hot and humid meadows of Up state new york. You can literally smell every weed, flower, every blade of tall grass. Take that as good or bad. For me its a fond memory.

Over all I can't handle the flavor. Its just too ..... alien. Its like nothing you've ever smoked. In fact to be completely honest it made my head spin and gave me nausea for 8 hours. The deer tongue is definately the cuplrit there.

I fail to grasp the old fashioned use of this in tobacco. Some say it was used to give toby more of a vanilla flavor. But it sure does exactly the opposite here.

Gee grandpa what were you thinking?

I won't give this one star when a few people do like it. So I'll give it 2 by saying...... I somewhat reccomend this for curiosity sake only. If you can get past one bowl and want another your a tougher SOB than I am. You'd had to pay me to give it more than the 2 stars.