Friedman & Pease Oasis

I loved this F&P blend. Swamped with delicious and spicy Oriental leaf among deeply aged Red and Bright ribbon cut Virginia leaf and enhanced with smoky Latakia which provided a subtle, yet complex blend. Pipestud

Tin Aroma: pleasantly pungent, with a bit of spice to it, of the turkish, not perique variety. The Latakia is in there, I think, but very faint, at least in smell.

Physical Characteristics: mostly light colored virginia pieces, with some brown that is probably turkish and latakia. A pleasant gradient from the very light colored virginias to the dark latakia. A short ribbon cut, which makes packing easy.

Notes: The initial light was so nutty tasting, I wondered whether there might be some burley in this blend! The nutty flavor settles down quickly though, and the latakia meekly peaks it's head above ground to see what is going on. This is a much milder blend than the tin led me to believe, but in no way is it weak, it is more understated than underpowered. This blend is a suprise in many ways; it is rich and creamy where it could have been thick and acrid, it is mild and pleasant where it could have been overly smoky and overpowering, it is cool and dry where it could have been hot hot hot. A wonderful smoke any time of the day, but I prefer the gentleness of this early in the morning, when it can be smoked outside with a cup of hot tea of coffee.

Pouch Aroma: This smells of matured Virginia and Orientals, but very little Latakia. Is this Cyprian Latakia rather than Syrian? This is more exotic-smelling than Silk Road, and I think I'm going to like it more.

Appearance: Mostly yellow and red Virginias with a sprinkling of darker brown Turkish (I'd like to know what kind, exactly) and a few black flakes of Latakia. It appears to be mostly a short chopped cut with a few larger broken flakes; it should burn well.

Packing and Lighting: Packing is a breeze in my 8" long Calabresi Lovat which seems to have an affinity for Orientals. This has a fine, light and rich taste when drawing through the unlit pipe.

Exposition: OK, using two matches to light this would be a waste of a match. It lit immediately and well, sending up great fumes of rich, nutty-tasting smoke at the first touch of flame. This is NICE! The sidestream smoke reminds me of burning pecan wood, and the taste is very light and subtle - perhaps too subtle for me this early in the morning. French inhaling gives me a sense of the sweetish room aroma and the very light aromatic character of the smoke. This is a great morning smoke that won't overpower your tastebuds first thing in the a.m. It tastes good with coffee, too. (try blowing a tiny puff into the cup before you sip....mmmmMMMMmm!)

The Story: After smoking and re-lighting, this is still a very subtle and mild blend. If you're smoking aromatics and have thought about trying something natural but don't want to make the jump to something like Dunhill's 'Nightcap' then this would be a good choice. The strength as the bowl burns seems to be staying pretty consistent, and the flavor is intensifying, becoming richer, and many of the subtler nuances are blending into a unified flavor. It burns easily and if tamped gently and often I'd be willing to bet that anyone can get away with using very few matches. Bear in mind that I should own stock in the Diamond Match Co due to my habit of letting the pipe go out frequently! This smolders slowly, and if puffed lightly and tamped it will come right back to life. This is one of the coolest smokes I've ever had - the smoke feels like a cool breeze on my tongue and the pipe is just barely warm, yet I can blow fabulously dense smoke rings. What are Messrs. Friedman and Pease doing to get such smoke volume in their tobaccos?

Denoument: I've been waiting and waiting for the Latakia to make its presence known, and it hasn't yet. I mean, it's there in the density and mild woodsy aroma and flavor, but I don't notice it they way I did when smoking their 'Silk Road'. As I near the end of the bowl it comes just a /little/ more to the forefront, but I have to really look for it. There is no sour or ashy taste yet, and I have only used my pipecleaner once thus far. It does go out a little easier now if my attention wanders, and with each re-light it's getting just a little mustier. Not npleasant, just deeper and denser tasting.

The last few puffs are still sweet and woody and leave very little dottle and powdery grey ash.

Pros: A fine Oriental blend that provides great subtleties on top of a firm Virginia base. This is a great morning smoke for those who are slow to wake up. Rich, tasty, and requiring very little attention outside of the tamping routine. My favorite quality is the dense smoke with combined with light body - this allows me to blow many smoke rings without burning my tongue or passing out from a heavy nicotine dosage.

I can't stop french-inhaling and blowing this out of my nose - it emphasizes the richness and very subtle spiciness in a way that makes me /very/ happy. Load 'Oasis' in a big pipe and settle down with a book when you have a couple of hours free. You won't be disappointed!

Cons: This is lighter than I like, but beyond this there is nothing negative that I can find in it.

This was one of my favorite F&P blends , second only to Silk Road . A nice and light latakia blended oriental . I miss this one ...