Cornell & Diehl -- Gentlemen Callers

Brand: Cornell & Diehl
Blend: Gentlemen Callers
Style: Aromatic
Pipe Used: Savinelli Natural #313
Price: Free Sample

Appearance: 7
Taste: 7
Room Note: 8
Value: NA
Overall: 7

Since embarking on this great pipe adventure a few years ago I've been intrigued by those few blends that still utilize the herb deer tongue as it seems to hearken back to days of old. Also known as wild vanilla, deer tongue was often used to add a slight vanilla essence to tobacco and while it's been replaced by artificial flavorings in most contemporary blends there are still a few options available for those who want to give this old school taste a try.

Cornell & Diehl's Gentlemen Callers in one such blend and I was thrilled to receive a sample with some estate pipes I bought a few weeks ago. The tobacco is a cross-cut mixture of light brown tobaccos with a few darker strands thrown in as well as obvious bits of pale green deer tongue. The aroma is light and sweet and reminded me of potpourri.

After loading up my Savinelli Natural I gave the tobacco a quick light and away I went. The tobacco burned evenly and quickly and before I knew it the bowl contained nothing but a bit of dark gray ash. This stuff defines smokeability as all I ever had to do to keep it burning was give it a light tamp every so often.

Gentleman Callers is advertised as a blend containing Burley, Virginia, Perique, and, of course, deer tongue. And to me it sure tasted like a lightly fragranced VA/Per. The deer tongue was immediately noticeable as it added an herbal, almost medicinal, vanilla flavor that was quite enjoyable and seemed to mesh perfectly with the Perique.

The darker tobacco added a bit of smokiness that I usually attribute to Latakia so either there is in fact a bit of that glorious weed present or some of the Virginias are very heavily stoved so as to give off a similar taste. And while a hint of whiskey is evident in the aroma of the tobacco I didn't ever taste any such topping while smoking.

All in all the blend was slightly sweet with a nice tangy and spicy aftertaste but I found it to be a tad overwhelming in too high a dose so I'll likely stick to smaller pipes while smoking this as an occasional treat.

The room note was quite nice and had the same potpourri smell as the dry tobacco. And since the tobacco has such a unique and persistent aroma it's a safe bet that it'll ghost a pipe in no time so one might want to stick with cobs or briars already dedicated to aromatics while smoking this blend.

In the end I found Cornell & Diehl's Gentlemen Callers to be a very unique pipe tobacco that's loaded with flavor and aroma and smokes like a charm. I have to say that my first experience with deer tongue has been an eye-opener and I can't wait to hunt down more blends featuring this herb. It's a bit too fragrant to become a regular smoke for me but I sure do appreciate the effort that went into crafting such a classic, old-style American blend.