Cornell & Diehl Gentleman Caller

Gentleman Caller is a fine blend, although it does require you to manage your expectations somewhat. I smoke primarily English mixtures in the fall and winter months, switching to VaPers in the summer. This can be an excellent mid-cycle palate cleanser and this is perhaps its greatest strength. It is also in comparison a light and even refreshing smoking experience that is very easy on the mouth. It tends to burn quickly, while still remaining cool and with not a lick of tongue bite. The flavor is difficult to pin down, but is actually quite similar to SweeTarts; lemonade, tart cherries, etc., followed by a vaguely sweet finish, comparable to Honjozo sake or perhaps a Christmas spice cake. It’s unusual to say the least. The nicotine seems also to be, at least for me, in that perfect “Violet Hour” ratio where it is clearly evident, yet one can still puff with relative impunity without any ill effect. Unfortunately, there are a few caveats that we need to discuss.

As I mentioned, this is a tart blend overall. However, the first quarter-bowl can border on outright bitterness before finally settling down. Also, its preeminent virtue of being a light, summertime smoke can equally be its greatest weakness, as it often leaves me wanting a fuller, deeper flavor that never really develops; it hits its high note early-on and stays there for the duration. Lastly, the deertongue will easily ghost a briar pipe, your hand, and your beard -do be warned.

Others have described this (and deertongue blends in general) as love-it-or-hate-it, but I tend to disagree. It depends very much on one’s own goals for the particular session. Something as unique as Gentleman Caller cannot be condemned for not being what it is not and should be taken on its own merits; that being a most unusual and stimulating, albeit light smoking experience that is distinctive enough to occupy its own niche in a seasonal rotation.

Bought this tin for two reasons. One I enjoy C&D. Two, I had never had a deer tongue mixture. On opening the tin the herbal, vanilla esque scent is apparent. To me, this smokes a bit more like an english but tastes and smells more aeromatic. No tongue bite or gurgle to speak of. Smokey-sweet with a nutty and vanilla taste. Not too strong on the N factor, easily an all day smoke on both flavor and strength. I had heard that this is a tones down version of crooner so I decided to sample that as well. In my opinion crooner is more of gentleman caller overdone. G.c., to me, has the perfect balance of deer tongue whereas crooner has so much that it makes the smoke bitter.

Normally, I am not a fan of deer tongue, my only experience being with the much dreaded Crooner blend. However, I was blown away by this blend in every category. A perfect all day smoke reminiscent of the stuff my grandfather smoked, whatever that was.

I'll be buying this regularly. Wonderful stuff. Nice work, Matt.

I am a fan of deer tongue.That is what led me onto this stuff. One thing that turned me off was a bitter after taste.

First bowl I didn't like very muc, it seemed the deer tongue was overwhelmed by the periwinkle and then it faded to an herbal cigarette flavor. BUT after the tin had been opened a couple days, it became much more balanced. The perique dominated for five minutes but then it faded a bit and the deer tongue came out to play. It became very balanced and enjoyable, the flavor grows on you. It is an herbal vanilla like flavor with a hint of soft mint in the background. A little into the last third the deer tongue fades and the preique comes forward although it gets a little ashy tasting. I dumped the last little bit. The room note clears quickly.
Will probably buy a couple tins for an occasional change of pace. Packs and lights easy, no tongue bite.

Gentleman Caller is … interesting. It is a mild to medium VaBur but with some Perique and Deer Tongue and unnamed alcohol to balance the Ph.

This tastes like tobacco. It’s not terribly interesting but not awful in any way. There is little here that feels (or tastes or smells) nuanced or complicated Nothing is sweet. The Perique is barely noticeable. The burley is center stage.

I wish I knew what the blender was shooting to achieve.

2.5 stars rounded to 3.

This is a fascinating blend. Gentleman Caller has one of the finest room notes of all time. It has a nostalgic scent that I cannot discern where I've smelled it before, since I have no memory of my grandfathers smoking a pipe. Perhaps the scent of deertongue was stuck to a wallpaper somewhere in my youth.

That being said, I don't think the smoke itself lives up to the room note. This is a blend that falls apart for me as it reaches the end of the bowl. The first puffs are extremely pleasant with the musky vanilla flavour of the deertongue being very pronounced and intermingling with the Virginias. As you continue, the perique and deertongue begin competing for the spotlight, and the perique wins out by the end of the bowl. I personally, didn't feel that the perique is a good complement to the deertongue, and this was more apparent to me during the final puffs. This blend certainly could be balanced a little better.

2.5/4, however based on the room note alone I will grant this a 3. Tempting to keep tins of this around just to have my office smell like deertongue constantly. The room note here is much better than Crooner.

Note: Deertongue will ghost your pipe mercilessly. It can take up to 2 months to smoke that ghost away even after cleaning the pipe thoroughly. Don't put this tobacco into your favourite piece.

I read about this "deer tongue" herb in my journey to explore new flavors of tobacco blends. Apparently it used to be fairly common in a lot of American blends of yesteryear and, according to C&D, a preferred flavor of Bing Crosby. At the time of getting this, Crooner was not available, but the blend contents of Gentleman Caller sounded more interesting anyway.

Off the bat, the tin note of this is quite distinctive: a sharp, herbal, vanilla like scent to it, akin to a potpourri hand soap. It's not at all unpleasant, but not what you would expect from a non-aromatic (in the modern definition, anyway) pipe blend. The blend is also quite dry from what I'm used to - not crispy/crunchy/dusty, just not spongy or springy like what you would expect. As a result, this packs a little bit differently from most blends I've tried. I found it functions best by packing it tighter than you would normally.

It lights easy and I've never had a problem with it going out. The taste isn't complex and about what you would expect from a mild English blend. Whiffs of the deer tongue come through from time to time, and it's by no means over powering. What is overpowering is the smell of the remnants: devote a corncob to this blend because all you're going to smell from now on is deer tongue.

This is a nice and simple blend that's no-nonsense and uncomplicated. It tastes like what you'd expect from an unfettered vabur blend but with a nice little addition to add some flair.