Even after extensive drying - for weeks- this stuff was impossible to keep lit.

I just gave up after 1/2 a bowl and 5 lighters.

Another 4 star blend from G.L. Pease.

Update 10/24/11- My tin now has about ten months of cellaring and has shown good improvement. 80% of the heat is no longer with this blend and although I couldn't smoke this all day ( as much as I want too)I can enjoy the pipeful. Two things about GLP blends, they all seem to have a very nice smokieness ( Latakia) and they all need to age 9-12 months in order to mellow them out. I believe I like this better than Westminster because it has a higher Latakia content that is out front and is not as muted. As far as an outfront Latakia with Oriental support there are others I like better, such Dan's "Midnight Ride".

Updated 11/16/11- I've now reached the last 1/3 of the tin, another month of age and oxygen and this has turned into a masterpiece. Perfect balance between latakia and Orientals ,no heat, full flavor. This has kicked "Midnight Ride" to the back of the cellar. YOU NEED TO AGE THIS, THE END.

Updated 6/11/12- This is a great tobacco, however, it does have a spice that can be hot if you're doing multi bowls. I compared this to Nightcap and Pirate Kake and I like those better for diffrent reasons. This, still gets 4 stars but only with a tin that has a year of age, otherwise the spice is too much, this blend is HUGE.

As he is creating his blends, he's dabbling and puffing and testing and laughing an evil laugh, saying "If I put a pinch of this in the blend, it'll taste like this midway through 1/8th of the bowl and a bit of that will alter the 58th puff and then a dash of that, and it'll take the blend in a whole new direction! This is going to be zealously and meticulously complex stuff... mwaa-haa-haaa!".

It usually takes me awhile to figure out Greg's blends. I'm usually happy when I do. But he's finally made one that is based not on complexity but on fantastic taste from top to bottom. This is it. He's finally given me a chance to relax! I'm not spending too much time studying the smoke nor am I obsessing about a lack of flavor.

Odyssey is the finest tasting latakia blend I've ever smoked. It replaces Lancers Slices in that regard, and thankfully Greg left out LS's tendency to make my tongue feel grainy. Odyssey is a bold taste that lasts the entire bowl, changing only to create an ebb and flow of that incredible flavor. I find almost no complexity to this blend, a trait that Greg would undoubtedly disagree with and cause him to wonder about my ability to discern tobacco quality. But there is nothing wrong with creating a blend that simply tastes fantastic and doesn't conjure up images of spice racks, plums and figs, etc. I'm actually relieved that he came up with this one! Latakia heavy, to be sure, but possibly the perfect interplay of all the tobaccos, the combination creating a sublime smoking experience for those times that I just want something that is consistent, top to bottom.

My other two favorite GLP blends are Meridian, which is a moderately complex blend (and that is its strength) and Charing Cross, which is about as much of a flavor burst as I can stand AND it's complex to the extreme. This one is for when I don't want my tobacco to dictate my mood but for when my mood dictates my tobacco, and I want a fantastic, mouth-filling smoke that I don't have to ponder.

Greg, I've read that you prefer complex tobaccos. I wish I could say I'm sorry that I don't find this one to be so, but I think complexity would spoil it for me. More of this heading to my cellar! Well done!

Now it isnt flawless. It does have some slight tendencies to wander around and underperform a little. It also took a trip into bitter leather territory but I wasn't displeased with that since it was really an authentic leather taste. Chewed on rawhide as a kid? But it was a really short trip so no harm no foul. It got right back on track and really came together. This was 9 stars out of 10 and I had no reservations making it a highly recommended mixture. This is a huge smoky redmeat meal of a smoke!

After 3 min, I experienced tongue bite. After 8 min, my mouth was sore from pulling to keep the tobacco lit.

After 10 min I gave up, emptied my pipe and threw the tin in the garbage container.

I have smoked darker mixtures - a full tin of McConnell's Latakia Flake, a combination of Latakia and Stoved VAs- and never had any problems with the burning qualities or tongue bite. And it actually tasted something.

This tobacco was horrible.

Tastes are not to discuss but my experiences with Pease have been negative so far. I just don't understand the enthousiasm for them.

Besides PA, I will stick with the Europeans when it comes to tobacco.

Heavy indeed with Latakia and other Orientals of an amalgamated sort, and it has that acrid personality exhibited by some massive Lat 'O blends. Odyssey is sweeter than other tinned Latakia mixtures from Pease and Bill Bailey's Best Balkan, though Odyssey is not sweet as say Margate, Bombay Extra, Balkan Supreme, Balkan Sasieni, 1820 and blends in the same genre. "Sweeter than and not as sweet" comparisons should not imply that Odyssey will substitute for standard English mixtures, as Odyssey is not what I would call a sugar fix.

I did want some migration of flavors though, flitting here and there, developing and receding, but that is not Odyssey (nor Abingdon for that matter). More like an explosion followed by seismic waves, the flavors deepen and concentrate rather than throw a change-up to keep the smoker alert to intrigue. Far more interesting than Maltese Falcon, but less so than Samarra, despite the extra flavor of Odyssey.

This might have received higher marks had I not simultaneously been smoking Samovar and Legends. Both do more with the same and keep me lost in wonder amidst nimbus nicotiana.

When I lit this up in my standard "English/Balkan blend pipe" I noticed the Latakia. If you know Latakia and like it then you will feel right at home here. It tastes great and definitely isn't afraid to show itself here.

A split second later comes the bitter buttery creaminess of the Orientals. They add a very nice heavy tang to the Latakia, and get along famously.

Finally, the sweet and slightly tangy Virginia leaf comes through and gives that nice harmony to the smoke, bonding it all together.

I have smoked my share of cigars, and I don't get what other reviewers have said about there being a cigar thing going on with Odyssey.

G.L. Pease, you are a boon to mankind. Thank you for this blend. Homer himself would have loved this when orating his literary classics.

First, I really like this. But it's hard to know how to describe it. It does not taste like any cigar, but I can see why other reviewers have compared this to a double ligero cigar. It's a full flavored bomb to smoke after a meal, and not in hot weather.

Some reviewers have called this tobacco "too much," and I think I know what they mean. This isn't a nuanced, delicate little blend of wispy flavors. This is, like, the opposite of that.

This is very full-flavored, and there's a lot going on. It's dense, sweet, smoky, savory, and it's all of those things at once. I can see how some might be ovewhelmed or put off by it. I wasn't.

It has a heavy mouthfeel and a thick texture to match its full flavor. I like it, and I might like it a lot, but not everyone will.

Update: MDP nailed this blend precisely is his review above. I have revisited Odyssey extensively in various pipes, and continue to have somewhat of the same experience. Odyssey is dense, dark, smokey, full flavored, and would certainly temporarily entertain anyone looking to smoke a large quantity of tasty cyprian latakia. But if other tobaccos are present in the mixture, however, they are so subtle as to be almost entirely subdued and overpowered by the substantial lat dose, from beginning to end of the bowl. I simply cannot detect a significant enough interplay of any other flavors to create any real interest beyond the big, amusing waves of high quality cyprian lat. Each time I smoke Odyssey, I find myself wishing by mid-bowl that I had packed and lit Charing Cross instead, or McClelland's excellent Wilderness. I am upping my opinion of this blend to two and three quarter stars for the distinct, rich cyprian experience, and the lat certainly doesn't fail, fall short, or disappear before the end of the bowl, but this is the highest credit I can muster for this mixture after a yeoman's go of trying to find any more interest or interplay with the "blend". Room note and aftertaste are equally dominated by too much musty, cloying excess of latakia, slightly akin to licking a charred garbage pail. But if you smoke straight latakia, this may be your blend anyway, and is undeniably of high quality weed.

So what happened here? Well I ordered a big can of Odyssey having

forgotten I even reviewed or smoked it. Old age.

So this time from the first pipe forward I love this blend, so much so I am less looking forward to my usual rotation. No need to blend it with anything else it is just great, smokes down to a fine ash. Love it. Have no idea why my first can did not satisfy.

This tobacco has stood the test of time. I have yet to try a full english without comparing it first to this tobacco. This is not to say it is my favorite english of all time as each has its own merit, but this is certainly a classic and one I will come back to (when I have the money for such occasions) again and again.

I got a fever, and the only prescription -- is more cowbell.

So said Christopher Walken in that famous Satuday Night Live parody of the Blue Oyster Cult recording their ubiquitous hit, "Don't Fear the Reaper" with Will Ferrel on cowbell.

Well, for this review, G.L.Pease is the Blue Oyster Cult, Odyssey is "Don't Fear the Reaper" and Cyprian Latakia is that loveable/ despicable cowbell. There is a lot of it in this blend and you had better love that, or you'll never get anywhere with this self proclaimed "huge" mixture. Because my sample had perhaps a bit too much age for latakia, the tin aroma was of sweet fermentation, bordering on the trademark McClelland nose. The smoke however, was lat-rich indeed. The rest of the blend, the red, and stoved va, and other oriental weeds, do provide a nice counterpart, but I wish there was more of them. As it is, they shyly bob their heads up now and again, offering a glimpse, and then they are slammed down by the latakia cudgel like an overly enthusiastic game of "whac-a-mole" played by your odd uncle after he's had a few.

It's an assertive blend, that offers whisps of many flavors, but predominately one...cowbell. It can bite a little if you aren't careful, but I never had a problem keeping it lit, like so many others.

I would not recommend this blend to someone who has not tried other selections in the great hall of Pease's English. This has been my least favorite. And for someone who really likes a "lat- bomb," I'd sooner suggest Maltese Falcon, as it has its generous share of the stuff, but offers it in a more balanced and majestic way.

Odyssey is enjoyable, don't get me wrong. I have had several very nice smokes from this sample. It truly has its moments that make it unique. But I would like to try it new to see if it's better -- younger. If I had to give it stars, I'd say 3 of 5, but I am not the universal arbiter of tobacco.

It's just like the song; man, that guitar hook is awesome, but on occasion, it may be the cowbell jammin' loudest.