I've been looking for Pelican for many months... and finally found some. The tin looks really cool. And upon opening, there's a nice, albeit mild, typically English aroma. The presentation is that of a nearly solid-pressed block of fine ribbon cut tobaccos wrapped in waxy paper. Judging by color, the blend looks promising - with a fair amount of latakia mixed in with yellow, olive and orange leaf. My tin was fairly moist, but not overly so.

It packed well and lit fairly easily... up until this point, everything was fine.

I have to say, this mild to the point of being bland. The latakia occasionally rears it's smoky head, but the Orientals don't sing and dance. In fact, they barely have a pulse in this mixture. The virginias weren't particularly sweet, or citrus-y, or anything else for that matter. It says in the description above that there is a top dressing on this. Given the humidity of the tobacco, I might believe it. However, I tasted nothing of the sort. In fact, this blend reminded me somehow of cigarettes. The smell left on my clothing, in my beard, on my fingers... nothing like the rich smells of fine pipe weed I'm used to. All in all. This was a dud from match to dottle.

Lastly, I've read the complaints about the Danish production... and it's deficiencies in the flavor department. I'd have to say I agree. Continental blenders seem to somehow miss the mark with English blends (Black Mallory - made by Kohlhase and Kopp in Germany - being another disappointment in this style tobacco). HOWEVER, both of my tins have a label on the bottom saying "Made in Jersey, British Isles." After checking some forums, it would appear that JF Germain has taken back over production. However, maybe the recipe is still Danish? I don't know.

All I know is that Pelican was a massive let down for me. I'll try to get through the tin slowly... let it breathe, maybe try it in several different pipes. But I'm not holding out for a miracle - especially considering the number of amazing, immediately gratifying, and readily available mixtures out there.

Give it a shot if you want a mild, character-less smoke.

Subjective: Nice aroma and initial taste, but there is some sort of chemically aftertaste that just really ruined what could have been a very good smoke.

A good friend gifted me a tin of this, for which I am grateful as I might not have tried it otherwise, but this was a welcome addition to the rotation.

It says at the top of the page here that this has coffee flavoring added, but I'm not sure I detected any of that. Perhaps in the second half of the bowl I tasted something reminiscent of coffee, but I never would have guessed it was topped or cased. In fact, I'd swear it wasn't.

If you were to record your tasting notes, you'd write down some flavors that would seem discordant, but aren't. Smoky Latakia fills in the gaps. but doesn't have a leading role. The Virginias and Orientals, proportioned nicely, combine to produce a taste like unsweetened tea, and it smacks of orange, slightly. And in the second half of the bowl there's a richness that, yes, reminded me of black coffee. And somehow these all added up. It's a very nice smoke.

My only gripe, and it's a small one, is that the bowl burned down to an ash faster than I wanted it to.

The tobacco from the tin that I sampled was at a nearly ideal moisture level, which translated into only one re-light. There was a slight pungency in the room note and a pleasant, spicey 'tingle' in my nostrils during the smoke that I attributed to the latakia and the orientals, respectively. This won't be a wife or girlfriend pleaser but, if you can sit back in a comfortable chair, relax and contemplate life for 30-40 minutes in solitude, you'll find this blend a fine companion.

A very easy smoke, delightful right to the end of the bowl (it gets a bit acrid right at the bottom).

I will smoke more and post again, but I am really pleased with this tobacco.

Upon the initial effortless light, there is a gust of delicious Latakia, but that is probably the most you will notice it from here on out. The Latakia delivers a prologue and then bows out to let the Orientals take the stage, which are good and musty and spicy and nutty. My tin is a couple of years old, so I'm thinking that helped with the sweetness of the Virginias, which, while not as pronounced as the Orientals, do play a nice supporting role. This interplay of sweet and sour may account for the prior comparisons to orange and tea (one reviewer mentioned Earl Grey, and there is a hint of something similar in character to that beverage in this smoke).

I class the room note as "Pleasant to Tolerable" because while smoking Pelican on two separate occasions, two separate friends who happen to lack Y chromosomes and the attendant tolerance for stinky tobacco asked what I was smoking and remarked favorably on the earthy aroma. This is always a plus.

As a final note, I did not like Pelican this much when I first cracked the tin. It was OK. Maybe it just needed some breathing and drying, or maybe it just takes a bunch of smokes in the same pipe to really get it. Either way, it's one of my favorites now.

As I finish the tin I realize that I will miss this blend. This is good stuff. I will definitely buy this again. Upping my rating to three stars.

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After smoking several harsh, nasty bulk C&D baccies back to back, this soft bite-free smoke is such a pleasure on the tongue. It's a middle English with a very light bitter orange top note (think Earl Grey tea). It comes out of the tin very much like Squadron Leader or Red Rapparee, but there's less Oriental and more Latakia.

It's nothing eye popping, and it's not Westminster. It's nice enough though, and I'd smoke it again, also whether I'd buy it again any time soon is another question entirely.

2008 Update: This tobacco is getting more and more difficult to find, but it keeps being worth the effort. Kudos to Butera for not accepting compromises: this is a great English blend, in a world in which English blends die and/or get worse every day (see the Dunhills, or Balkan Sobranie, or even Timm London Blend 1000).

Several have commented about a subtle Orange flavor. Several others have said this was bland and tasteless.

I had neither experience. For me the tin note, flavor, and aroma were all full bodied and very woodsy. What I did not like was an occassional taste and smell that I can only compare to the armpits of the average New York City taxi driver. Not my thing.

Being dry, the Pelican packs and burns quite easily. It does indeed seem to produce more flavor in a large tapered bowl.

Taste: On first light, nothing, but after a minute, a sweet orange taste is experienced from time to time, so subtle and bland as to be barely detectable. The blend invites you to try and detect any taste; it is elusive. Easy, gentle puffing rewards one with a nice soft scent, so light it could easily be inhaled.

Mid-bowl there evolves a soft, vague nutty element.

The Pelican is a little darker and stronger, towards the end.

Aroma: Similar to the taste, a vague bitter essence perhaps from the Turkish. I don't detect much Latakia.

Nicotine: mild

Room Note: Someone mentioned something like a soft spiced orange pekoe tea.

Overall: A nice soft smoke for someone who doesn't need a tobacco with much substance. A light English which leaves my mouth somewhat peppered after several bowls. To gain maximum flavor, the Pelican has to be smoked with very light, contemplative puffs. Having said all that, you'd think I like it, which I do, but, it doesn't seem to feel any niche in the light English/Balkan category. Rated 2.7 out of 4.0, but two and a half stars.

Decided to up the rating, since the Pelican is as good or better than some highly touted offerings. 3 stars.