Don't expect a nicotine kick here: CC is full flavored, but not strong at all.

I have several tins cellared and I'll be buying a lot more, considering that this is my only everyday Balkan.

I have no doubt this is a quality blend, but all I get out of it is a hot, faintly bitter smoke and a big dose of cotton mouth.

One thing that bugs me about these GLP blends is that almost everyone seems to agree that they have to age considerably before being able to really enjoy. If this hangs around long enough to 'get better' I'll update.

I think there is some toasted Cavendish in here. If so, it unites the Turkish and the Latakia rather than adding a third stream of flavour.

This is enjoyable all the way down. It burns evenly to a fine ash. But some rubbing of larger pieces of tobacco is advisable before loading the pipe, to prevent the top surface not lighting evenly, or slow embers from occurring at the end of the bowl.

Ceylon tea. Gin and tonic. A good solid Burgundy.

Update: It has been about one year since that review, and though I still believe Charing Cross to be amongst the "greats" of recent tobacco history, I have begun an affair with another great, that is; Penzance and/or Margate, by Esoterica. I still think highly of Charing Cross, but it is just not as interesting as these two tobaccos.

Update: I grow increasingly bored with Greg's offering as they all seem to include lemon yellow bright ribbon and many of them with stoved red virginias in a loose ribbon form that seems as if it is not as pressed together or integrated with itself as other blenders offerings. This may be in order to achieve more diversity in the bowl, but I feel that a tobacco need not be like a three ring circus in the bowl in order to avoid being monochrome in it's pallet. it seems as if G.L. almost blends by the number, every blend being a variant of the previous one.

I like this blend so much that I've dedicated a pipe to it (a Bertram Canadian - Bertrams may not be pretty, but they sure are great smokers!). I spent a while trying to find the perfect full Balkan, with a good balance between the Orientals and the Latakia. So many blends are just too Latakia heavy, which I find to be much less interesting than a good interplay between Orientals and Latakia. To my taste, this blend has enough of both to be at the same time complex and somewhat powerful.

Like most Pease blends, this one was a bit wet when I bought it, but drying out has made lighting easy enough. It smokes down to a fine grey ash, and I imagine it'd be a great tobacco to break in pipes.

This is highly recommended for anyone who wants more to their Balkan than raw power.

Aroma: Real Balkan aroma, mostly Latakia with Oriental support Packing: Packs easily into medium and large bowls. Probably will pack into a small bowl, but I prefer this type of blend in a larger pipe.

Lighting: Lights readily and without problem. Initial flavor: Mostly Oriental and Latakia flavor, very little (sometimes none) from the Virginias. Big, smoky, spicy and just a touch sharp.

Mid-bowl: Smooths out a bit as the Virginias step up, but they are always in the background. A bigger Balkan feeling than Caravan, but not as Latakia heavy as Odyssey or Abingdon. Nice dry smoke, cool when puffed at slow to normal rate.

Finish: Burns down to a nice clean ash, with little increase in strength

Summary: Definitely an evening smoke for me, way too full for any other time. An excellent choice for the Oriental lover.

I do not smoke all them regularly, but I understand them. There is a theme to each and all Pease blends are marvelously crafted, visually enticing, and will make one salivate upon opening the tin--the older, the better.

As a man of integrity, Greg uses the finest tobaccos available and does not release a blend until the tuning fork of taste rings true for him. As a man of experience and confidence, he does not kid himself and think (or demand) four stars for each of his blends from all reviewers.

Charing Cross is one of the "Classic Collection" tobaccos, each created as an homage to the best of days long gone. Blackpoint and Kensington are my personal favorites in this group. Charing Cross, though displaying the same craftsmanship and quality as all Pease blends, is not.

Not that there is anything wrong with Charing Cross, it is a simple matter of individual taste. And, for reasons I shall continue to explore, Charing Cross just misses the mark for me. I bought my first can of CC concurrent with a can of Blackpoint, which for the third time in my life kindled to flame "love at first sight...or tin aroma." Charing Cross did not, and, sorry to say, it still doesn't.

Charing Cross is a fine tobacco; it is, after all, a GL Pease product and as such is first-rate and impecably constructed. It simply, for me, does not resonate with somethig in my body chemistry. As you will note from other reviews, some find Nirvana in a bowl here. And, indeed the character deveolps as one makes way down the bowl.

Make no mistake, Charing Cross is a full Balkan, though, to my taste not an outstanding one IMHO. For Balkan blends, I would recommend Odyssey or Caravan from Greg's Original Mixtures, or Kensington, from the Classic Collection. Each is smoother and more complex than Charing Cross. For a full-bore Latakia dollop, Abingdon is the best choice among the Classic Collection.

Three out of four stars.

**After further evaluation I can say that the qualities I found less-than-satisfying in Charing Cross are mitigated in part, if not in whole, by pipe selection. My initial review was based upon smoking this weed in Sasieni 4-Dot pipes (the REAL DEAL from the "family-era"). Sasieni's are funny; they augment some blends while detracting from others.

Since the earlier review, I have tried this tobacco in a 1930s-era GBD and a meerschaum. The GBD, for whatever reason, eliminated the bitternes I found objectionable in earlier smokes. Both Sasieni and GBD are undervalued specimens of British pipemaking at its best; nevertheless, they smoke quite differently. GBDs are sweeter, while Sasienis are drier. Go figure!

A meerschaum likewise removes the bitterness, but, alas, much of the good things as well. Meerschaums are funny that way. In "the good old days" (hence, the "oldmanpipe") I could enjoy Rattray's Red Raparee and Dunhill's Nightcap ONLY in a meerschaum or calabash. Greg's blends are best-appreciated in a companionable briar.

The rating does not change, as I believe GL Pease has better to offer in this genre; the appreciation of Charing Cross, however, has been enhanced by exploration.

It ages well and it complements a good Scandanavian Vodka.

Images evoked while smoking include a demon horde successfully conquesting a medium-sized demoncracy in the middle of the week.

Appearance: Rough cut short ribbon of light and brown ribbon with dark brown and black ribbons as well composing 30% of the blend.

Aroma: Sweet raisin, leather, green peppercorn, date, stewed prunes, smoke, and a hint of bergamot. The sour-sweet aroma of perique is clearly present.

Taste: As with most of Mr. Pease's blends, this one is full of flavor. The taste is dominated by the flavor of smoke and sweet stewed fruit, with charcoal and barbeque smoke -- all this imparted by the Latakia and other Oriental leaves in the mix. As far as "Balkan" blends go, this one is on the lighter side, being somewhat tempered by the Virginia leaf to teetering on the edge between heavy English and light Balkan in its complexion. The leaf used is top grade as always and the composition of the blend is rigorously calculated. I believe it will also mellow with age.

The sticking point for me continues to be (as with all GLP blends) that it is a "big" performer one can compare to a "big" California Cabernet scoring in the high 90's on some reviewer's charts, and not like a more subtle Burgundy or Brodeaux red. GLP blends are akin to a prize-winning show dog, ready to point and posture for the judges, but ultimately not a very good housepet. For my money, give me my old dog Chips sitting at my feet as I smoke my pipe any day. Sometimes you just want a plain old good smoke, and this is not it. If you want a performance in your mouth, well, have at it.

Comparisons: In the same range as Dunhill My Mixture No. 965, Dunhill Nightcap, and Peter Stokkebye's Proper English.

Bottom Line: A superb and finely crafted light Balkan blend, though heavy on the palate. If you find Penzance and other uber-Latakia blends a bit much, but don't want more complexity or subtlety, this may be a good blend for you.

This is a traditional "Balkan" blend in every respect of the genre. Greg has done a spectacular job of paying tribute to the classics with this one. It has all the proper leaf ingredientss common to this genre and the "cocoa" notes from the orientals are sublime. I prefer to put this blend in big pipes to get the most wonderful journey I can. It is a full blend and is not sweet flavored, but not as bitter as Caravan or Oddysey. This blend does not let you smoke it if it is too dry, it will bite. But with proper moisture, is sublime. I always have a tin open of this blend and smoke at least a bowl or two a week, along with other Balkans. Lastly, it ages marvellously.

Could it really be *that* good? I've read raves about Charing Cross for well over a year now. I am a big fan of Raven's Wing, Samarra, and most recently Odyssey. Also of Margate and Nightcap when I am feeling a little more traditionally "English".

I've only smoked a few bowls of Charing Cross to date - some from an aged and very dry sample, and fresh from a tin about a year old. The dried sample was good but...

The fresher store is exquisite.

Perhaps the love affair will go sour and I shall return to more comfortable, familiar partners. But for now, I'm enamoured. Atop the musky cigar like turkish there are hints of autumn fireplaces, cocoa, and sharp spices. Warm and deep yet refreshing. This tobacco carries a level of complexity and richness I have not tasted in *almost* any other blend. Margate still being the sole exception. And this leaf is actually a bit earthier, sweeter and piquant than that noble old English weed. While Odyssey may be the "King" of latakia based balkans, there is a balance and complexity in Charing Cross that is incomparable. While full flavored, it has not yet tired my palate (unlike Night Cap and Odyssey, which MUST be the last things I smoke in a day). I can only compare it to Balkan Sasieni (the newest version) with some additional depth and richness.

This *could* become my favorite blend. It is just that good.

I tend to prefer it to Odyssey because of the moderate sweetness and body increase that it develops during the bowl.

Highly recommended, only a notch inferior to Blackpoint.