Ghost Wars- Deertongue vs. Lakelands

[beastkhk]

Hi everyone, I have some C & D Crooner coming in on my latest TAD so I can try deer tongue. I do enjoy Lakeland blends and have a couple cobs dedicated to those blends(I actually finally pulled the trigger on a new briar for lakelands as it seemed for as often as I smoked them I should have more than just cobs dedicated to them)
My question is do I need dedicated pipe for the Crooner, or is the ghost which deer tongue leaves behind close enough to Lakeland ghosts that it likely wouldn't matter? I would be concerned that double ghosting would potential go demonic and ruin the pipe for use with either blend. But it would be a cob, so..........

 

[cosmicfolklore]

In my experience, just smoking a few bowls of either of these will not ghost a pipe. You could always smoke it away with a few bowls of a latakia blend. However, if you dedicate a pipe to one of these, the only way to kill the ghost is with drastic measures. Now, keep in mind that the ghost of deer tongue is just to make your pipe taste like an old timey pipe tobacco, maybe a little bit vanilla-y. Not terrible. I kind of like it. But, a ghost of the lakelands is a cross between an oil spill and grandma's rosy pink bathroom soaps. Blech!!

 

[jitterbugdude]

I smoke a lot of Deer Tongue in my meers but I have a dedicated cob for the Lakelands. Never noticed any ghosting from Deer Tongue.

 

[mcitinner1]

I have only experienced a "ghosting" one time, that was very noticeable, and that was from Dan Tobacco's Liberty. It got passed around to several members and no one liked it's flowery perfume. I smelled that shit stuff for the next 3 or 4 bowls in that pipe, and then it was gone. So I kind of think all the worries about "ghosting" gets WAY too much attention.

 

[beastkhk]

Based on my experience I would agree, but Lakelands and deer tongue is newer territory so wanted to run it by the group and see if anyone had already gone through some learning pains.
Side note: TAD arrived during lunch break so I ran home to jar it up right away. I originally was going to put Crooner on the back burner as there were some other arrivals I had more interest in. I caught a whiff of the tin note from Crooner when putting it away and I think I might have to bump it up in the queue. Very unique smell, been day dreaming at work as to what it would translate to taste wise. Best I can describe the tin note would be like a mint apple cinnamon chutney.(I also get a little oatmeal with raisins smell)
I think game plan will be to use a fresh cob to get an unadulterated flavor; if there are subtle enough nuances maybe I will dedicate that pipe to it. If it doesn't seem like anything special I will throw the cob into the regular rotation.

 

[settersbrace]

Beastkhk,
Just based on your olfactory description of Crooner makes me believe you're going to love the stuff. I've smoked it once, not my cup of tea, thank you. I've many times grabbed the bulk jar off the shops shelf and inhaled deeply somehow wanting to try and like it but it's not in the cards. We have customers who've told me it's the most unique smoking experience they know of (I've smoked Condor and Semois) so I totally get unique. I'll be very interested in seeing your review as it's obvious you have much finer tuned palette than my nicotine stained one can translate. Cheers!

 

[beastkhk]

Oh this blend drew me right in at first light. It was all I smoked for 3 days. The cube cut was great, I love just being able to scoop a bowl up and not really worrying about packing.
It is unique, I think most would find it more tolerable than an Ennerdale or other Lakeland blend.
I was most impressed with the burley in this blend; I usually dismiss burley as a flavorless filler but this blend might be my gateway to explore more burley blends. The nuttiness really came through.
Some other high level observations that I found:
The deer tongue came across as more herbal; I could see calling it mint, but not so much the mint you would have as a food/candy flavoring, more if you were to chew on a mint leaf there is an earthy fresh element prior to that refreshing mint zip. It falls more into that fresh earth portion.
There is also an earthy spice flavor. Closest I could relate would be the zip pure cinnamon gives your tongue, but without any cinnamon flavor. This spice is not "sweet" but leans more towards the sweet scale than it would savory or bitter which is why I think cinnamon is better comparison than say pepper.
Burley, again is amazing. The nuttiness combines with that earthy spice and gives the smoke a granola type flavor.
Retrohale is amazing, it burns and lingers in the sinuses, but for some reason you just want to keep doing it.

 

[beastkhk]

Not sure why, but website decided I was done with the previous post and just posted it. I tried adding the remainder in as an edit, but I think since took longer than 10 minutes to type I lost my chance. So, to continue previous post……..
The room note does have an church incense type quality as previous people have mentioned. I wouldn't say a strong incense note, more if you went into a church an hour or two after they previously used it and the scent already faded some.
The smell does linger on you after smoking, I really enjoy it. Jay Dighsx has a Youtube channel that he talked to how there should be a scale to rate how well a smoke sticks to your beard. If there was such a scale this blend would be in the top 10 percentile in my mind.
I will note that I haven't smoked this in a couple days. The last bowl I had kind of got to my stomach. There is a nice dose of nicotine in this blend, but not an obscene amount. I don't know if it was that, or a combo of that with the herbal element of the deer tongue, but it got to me.(Reason I don't think it was just nicotine is I didn't have the balmy hands and other signs I usually get as indicators a rush is coming) As I go through this review though, I will definitely have to have some again tonight. Just want to be careful not to burn out on it.
To get back to the ghosting portion of this thread; I haven't found any issues as of yet. After a few bowls in the same pipe I tried(couple days later to let it rest) a VaBur flake I like and didn't notice any ghosting issues.
I think I like it enough that I will keep a dedicated pipe, but so it gets worked into the weekly rotation, not because of ghosting concerns.

 

[settersbrace]

See, it's reviews Iike this that goad me into trying it again. I'll admit that in my 10-1/2 years of pipe smoking my tastes have changed as it goes for most. I'm a fan of burley, I love the nuttiness and the nic hit, VaBurs were big on the hit parade last summer for me. I suppose one bowl in a fresh cob won't kill me! I'll report back when I muster up the nerve.

 

[beastkhk]

Enjoy.
I am hoping to find a nice cube cut burley that is similar to this without the deer tongue. Just in case I do run into an instance that I burn out on the deer tongue flavor and need a break I can still have that nice burley flavor.
If I find one I will let you know as my guess is that it is the deer tongue part that gives it the uniqueness not everyone is a fan of. (to experiment I might have to try and pick through to just get the burley cubes in a bowl and see how different the flavor is )

 

[wyfbane]

I really liked Crooner. I got the earthy, nutty, herbal unique taste and enjoyed it. It isn't my first choice, but it is definately a nice "I'm in the mood for something different" choice.
Let us know how you like it!

 

[natibo]

I love crooner. It has not ghosted my briars for extensive periods of time. However, I tend to smoke it more in meers.