My tin needed some hydration upon opening as it was too dry. The date sticker was missing so I don't know how old it was.

Would I buy this again? Likely not as there are a million other English blends to try, and this one doesn't stick out in any particular way, it's just a solid blend.

Most all of the previous reviews were very positive , but hidden within these reviews were indications that all was not "glowing":

DK , 11/25/12 " Quite frankly, a year of additional aging does quite a lot to this blend"

Darth Vader-10/24/12 " Its got good body but this is not an imposing tobacco"

derlict311-8/30/12 " on the heavy side of mild. I didn't find it "big" at all"

SirLoirn 4/19/11 " from stringy to coarse ribbon, including small pieces of flake."

John Offerdahl 1/8/11 " The spiciness of the flavor increases in the second half of the bowl,when both the Orientals and perique assert themselves more."

I don't mean to take reviewer comments out of context , but the above statements I agree with, and find this blend as a middle of the road ,mild Balkan , without bold flavor. I won't buy again, not that it is real bad it's just not for me.

There seems to be a high amount of latakia here but it in no way overwhelms. The orientals really steal the show and they fold themselves into the latakia and red VA base rather than layer. Hard to explain but the tobaccos seem to be all of a piece rather than layered, as if there was some new strain of tobacco that was latakia/oriental/red va, all in one. I don't have any idea how this was accomplished but it's rather unique. As if that wasn't enough, there is a hint of perique exuberance and a lightly applied lemon VA for some light at the end of the maze. Complex indeed, but not wearing on the smoker due to this linearity and "one-ness". In the music world, this would be called a symphony.

I smoke a lot of tobaccos and write a lot of "reviews" but I still consider myself an amateur, and I have no greater insight into tobacco blends than any other amateur. Yet, this one strikes me as a stroke of genius. If I wanted to show someone the highest elevation of the blenders art (using nothing beyond my own opinion, of course), I would use GLP's Abingdon, Chelsea Morning and this one. However, taste being the final arbiter for my personal consumption, I'll smoke less of the first two than I will of this one. This is a genius blend that also suits my palate nicely, if not quite as completely as some other GLP blends. So it goes.

Update 2/1/13: I just finished a ten year old tin of Samarra. Age has been kind to it, but I think with less age it is still a masterpiece. I crave a bowl of this often, even with dozens of options in the drawer. This is my go-to, light/medium, Balkan- esque tobacco. Bright and sunny on a cold winter day...Highly recommended.

Taste & Aroma: Definite pungent and smoky Latakia. What contribution Perique makes to this is difficult to sort out.

Nicotine: Moderate

Room Note: Tolerable to strong

Overall: Latakia is the predominate experience. The Virginia and everything else have all married together into one, after almost 4 years of age.

At first light, and every time it gets hot, the Latakia comes to the front. After cooling to a more appropriate smoking ember, the Virginia and Oriental start to interact in very surprising and compelling ways. They weave in and out, each taking its appropriate place--sometimes the lead, other times the harmony, still others the perfect balance of counterpoint--like players in an orchestra. The Latakia remains softly in the background. At times the smoke is sweet and clean and at other times musty and mysterious; I haven't yet been able to ascertain whether this signals a change in the smoke or merely in my attention.

There is a quality to the interplay in Samarra that I feel is best described as musical. Perhaps only those who have smoked this blend will understand that I intend no pontification when I say that smoking a bowl of Samarra is something like listening to a symphony.

Update: Having gotten around to smoking some of the new Dunhill blends, I must say that Pease's blends, including Samarra, are far superior in every way, better quality and better tasting all around. Samarra is still a sweet change-of-pace blend for me, but it is far better than the new Dunhill blends in my opinion, so four stars on this one too.

Appearance: This blend appears quite dark in the tin, a testament to the Latakia and Perique. The Virginias and Orientals appear as golden and olive-colored leaf but in much smaller quantities (at least visually) than I would expect from the description. The very occasional bright yellow fragments of lemon are scattered throughout.

Aroma: The olfactory fiends among us will really appreciate Samarra as it has an absolutely delicious tin aroma upon opening. My wife says she smells berries but could not quite identify which berries. It's got a little barbeque smokiness, a bit of sourness from the Perique and Orientals, and an herbal quality that is very nice. Not flowery herbs but the "warmer" herbs like fennel and chives. I guess those would be spices not herbs. Well, you get the point.

Pipe 1: Peterson dublin Pipe 2: Nording Signature freehand Pipe 3: Meer bent billiard (In case you're wondering why most of my English blends are tasted in these same pipes, it's because these are my star English smokers.)

Flavor: Let's get it out of the way right up front: this is an excellent blend. Certainly not a Latakia bomb, so if you're looking for an English/Balkan but don't like huge Lat, this is for you. But it's not really an Oriental "bomb" either, a quality that intrigues me. The blending skill in Samarra is readily evident, as all the ingredients truly display the very definition of symbiosis: "any interdependent or mutually beneficial relationship between two persons, groups, etc" (courtesy of Random House).

At first match the Latakia makes its best albeit short-lived appearance. It never fades completely, but it is never the star of the show and after two minutes all the flavors begin to meld. After the first third has turned to smoke, the bowl settles into a delicious experience that becomes...well, yes, "rich and complex." I like toasty as some of you may know, and I prefer the almost-burnt cookies and well-done toast. Samarra is for like-minded folks. I taste spice cake (if you can, imagine carrot cake but without the sweetness. Or maybe raisin bread, toasted of course!).

I'm trying to decide where to give the credit for that and it must be the Orientals and the blending magic for which Mr. Pease is famous. The sweet richness of the Virginias melded with the touch of Perique and the Orientals provide what is for me a really unique smoke. Although Pease says it has a "significant percentage" of Latakia, the flavor really does not corroborate that. I've not had anything else quite like it even though for me it falls squarely in the "Balkan" category. It is never uninteresting, and by varying the puffing cadence and therefore the temperature, one can experience a variety of flavors and intensity levels, all of which are pleasing. But I always return to sipping.

I sip virtually every tobacco I smoke nowadays, sometimes heating it up, then backing off to experience the whole spectrum of flavors. This is certainly a sipping tobacco as the subtleties and complexities can be lost amid big clouds of hot smoke. Hotter temps bring out that Oriental tang that tends to get me in the back of my throat but it's not at all disagreeable. It's more like "Come on baby make it hurt so good." Not that it hurts. It's just a metaphor for all you literary and metaphorical types out there.

Four stars of course. And a bit of regret that I didn't include a bunch of Samarra in my last TAD.

You'll want to sip this one as you would a VA/Per, because a brisker cadence will despoil the experience and lead to ashiness. (Been there; done that.) This is what many would consider a "contemplative" smoke, and it is one of my top choices. I can understand why it is also a favorite of Mr. Pease's. Pairs extremely well with red wine. A must try.

Update 8-3-2010: This is becoming one of my go-to blends when I am in the mood for cyprian latakia, although, to be honest, I find myself cheating, undermining the intents and designs of the blender, by deliberately picking through the tin and enhancing the portion of latakia that finds its way into each bowl...and then I must add some straight latakia back into the tin by the bottom 1/4 of it...Still, in all, a very good blend and very high quality tobacco throughout. Just a caution: Don't push on the cadence or the typical Pease orientals can be a bit harsh on the throat.

(field note 9-27-2010): I opened a nicely aged tin of Samarra today, and as if the tobacco gods had observed my update above, I was greeted by an unexpected prize while sifting around in the contents..two big, dense stow-away chunks of latakia, about 1/8" by 1/4" by 2". Of course, I promptly shredded them and mixed them in. Upon lighting the bastardized result, I was rewarded with a super-samarra, a veritable cyprian lat-bomb of epic proportions! This stuff makes Caravan seem like Frog Morton. After a small feat of engineering to get it burning really well, I railed away at this cyprian sledgehammer for nearly two hours in a large Ser Jacopo. The cowardly virginias and other orientals didn't even peek out from their hiding place until the last 1/4 of the bowl. My imprudence, excessive cadence, and disregard for the intended balance of the original mixture, was also answered with an astonishing, dizzying buzz-bomb from Uncle Nic. This super-samarra is a potent piledriver. It eventually fried down impeccably to a fine white dust. I'm putting this frisky vixen away for special occasions when I want to pummel myself into a sublime stupor of Peasean bliss. A five-star accident of random chance.

UPDATE Smoking this in close proximity to Ashbury, it's notable that the addition of perique brings a richness and a more complex spice to Samarra.

I generally prefer a Latakia laden blend, and I tend to shy away from a Perique-heavy mix (I can't even get through a bowl of Haddo's, let alone enjoy it). Samarra has a smokey, creamy, rich taste, and it has a velvet like texture. There is definitely a lot of complexity here, but the creamy, butteriness is what gets me. I certainly wouldn't object to more Latakia, but the thing I really like is the hint of Perique which I think adds some noticeable depth to the flavor. There's a very interesting intersection of flavors that I generally don't notice in other Perique & Latakia mixtures (Epiphany for example). Perhaps it's the Orientals or VA's?

If you like english (or at least light english) blends, I would suggest you give this one a try - cellared if at all possible.

But I finally found a pipe (a large-bowled brandy) that brought out the potential I knew it had, and it is very nice indeed! Creamy -- even buttery -- smoothness, delectably spicy without dominating the blend, soft and well-rounded latakia tones. A beautifully balanced medium english blend with lots of complexity to maintain interest. It seems to straddle the line between english & balkan perfectly. Would make a good, classy all-day blend. Definitely recommended -- if you find the right pipe to bring it to life.