Mr. Pease has genius-I intend to indulge in many of his blends-Lord willing, but this blend is not for me. Second tin of tobacco i will have chucked this week, which is sad, as I haven't a budding money tree:)

The pleasantness of the room note moght be a subject of much debate. I like strong tobacco notes and I love the smell of cigar smoke, I say that because the room note is that of a very fragrant cigar, and while pleasant to me it may likely draw criticism from those around you.

My favorite thing about this blend is the bitter taste others have mentioned, it's like drinking a strong cup of black coffee. I don't mean to say this blend tastes like coffee, it does not, it's just a poor analogy because I don't have another one.

One thing I noticed is that the blend needs some dry time. I hardly ever leave tobacco to dry before smoking it, I normally find most tinned tobacco to be at the perfect smoking stage. While this blend is not extremely moist, leaving out to dry for about an hour or so helps the flavors come through a little better and aids the lighning process.

I would recommend this blend to those who like strong tobacco, but you might find it too strong if you are used to the lighter balkans or stoved virginias.

Smoke is creamy to almost a salty/beefy (latakia) flavor to it. Key Largo has little in the way of nicotine, which is fine by me, either that or I'm so used to smoking full flavored cigars I'm immune to the nicotine emanating from KL.

I use this as my summer time smoke but I can and will smoke KL around the calendar when I want a beefier tasting blend.

I've tried other cigar leaf blends (Billy Budd, 123 Mixture) and nothing comes close to touching KL, truly a cigar blend.

Try this blend If you enjoy a hint of cigar flavor in the background of your English blend, however, to get a true Maduro cigar taste in your pipe I would recommend you to try S.G 1792 flake.

I have to disagree with some of the reviewers below. The cigar taste was, to me, in the forefront, along with the virginias. Next came the orientals, followed by the latakia. There is no burley mentioned on the tin, but assuming it is present, it melds so well with the cigar leaf that one cannot detect it as a discrete element.

This was a very satisfying blend. Nowhere near too strong, it may have been on the medium side of medium to full. The nicotene content was perfect in my view.

The earthy, sweet and smoky flavor was just bitter enough to be reminiscent of a nice cup of coffee. Sometimes a slight sharpness was present in the beginning of the smoke, but it smothed out by mid-bowl.

I found this to behave better when fully rubbed out, until it dried and mellowed sufficiently, and then I just stuffed it into my pipe. Even the dusty dregs in the bottom smoked wonderfully. Tongue bite was non-existent.

Perhaps my favorite Pease blend yet, and that's saying something. I will definitely revisit this one.

Revisiting the genre, I decided to sample Key Largo largely because it was a flake and thought I might have somehow missed the subtlety in those early years. Popping the tin of Key Largo yields a beautiful line of thick, dark slices, a scent deep with smokey notes, yet strangely sweet. The tobacco has a kind of silky-textured composition--soft, fragile flakes that fall apart as you pull them from the tin.

Since my earlier trial, I've smoked a few bundles of cigars in the mean while, and felt confident that I could place the leaf this time around. And yes, it comes through, loud and harmonious, but in no way competes with the Latakia, instead building on one another to create a different kind of English...perhaps this is the reason blenders have paired the two so frequently.

The addition of cigar leaf in Key Largo is much smoother than my own experimentation, which has always turned out very harsh smokes. Thinking I'd know better, my attempts would always begin by carefully lifting the wrapper from cuttings, and mix it in, sometimes with an English, but often with VaPers or Virginia/Oriental blends in such a way that the cigar leaf would stick out. I could never get the combinations to work, and began to suspect that the Latakia had a way of masking the leaf's harsher qualities, a conviction of which I'm now almost certain (this is why blenders dedicate their entire time to ridding the rest of us of our more ignorant inclinations).

Perhaps owing to the strength of the cigar leaf, Key Largo is rather strong, and smoking a No. 5 bowl will tend to muddle one's senses. Your experience may also play differently depending on one's mood and choices of previous blends smoked. A balanced English immediately before Key Largo may make the blend appear rough, accentuating the cigar leaf. This plays out with other blends as well, as Key Largo can be finicky with some combinations of smokes (try sipping the blend with an espresso--the two compliment one another beautifully).

In short, there is a rare skill in rendering a workable pipe tobacco blend with cigar leaf. It's a matter of finesse and subtlety that are difficult to quantify, as evidenced by the mass of failed attempts. As many have said, pipers shouldn't approach these mixes with the expectation of a cigar replacement, but rather, a reminder or glimpse of their allure. In my estimation, no other blend provides that experience better than Key Largo.

For no particular reason, I resisted Pease blends for a long time. That was dumb! This is a masterpiece that will give you a nice change of pace from your standard English or Balkan blends.

UPDATE I tried letting it dry more, rubbing it out quite a bit, and smoking it earlier in the day. The result was a better burn with less perceived strength, but also less flavor. Still a three star smoke.

Now, I absolutely LOVE Robusto (another cigar blend by Pease) so I was expecting something similar to that blend, I suppose. What I learned was, this tobacco benefits greatly from some air time before lighting up. After airing out a portion of the tobacco for about an hour, the level of flavor was markedly increased and the tobacco stayed lit very well. The difference from moist to dry is "key" when smoking Key Largo!

The tobacco burns slowly and won't bite even the most aggressive puffer! The first half of the bowl is creamy and tasty, but not a mind-blowing experience. The second half of the bowl is where the real fun begins. Suddenly the smoke becomes deeply rich and earthy with just a tickle of sweetness. A lot like the midway point of a dark cigar, though NOT exactly like a cigar. My only complaint is that the flavor can be somewhat one-dimensional (like a cigar), which leaves me searching for just a little more complexity. Key Largo has body and some strength which will leave you satisfied.

I have been smoking this for a while now and at first I didn't know what to think. I have been looking for a blend that tastes like a cigar. This I have not found yet, but over time this has turned out to be a good tobacco. Well blended, many flavors, and stays lit easily. I highly recommend smoking this slow and in a pipe with a big bowl. That was my initial mistake. Once I shifted up it made all the difference. It doens't taste like a cigar, but the aftertaste does. Room note is ok.

I would say give it a try. I will review it again in a couple of months to see if anything changes.

Enjoy! Z

Pros are that this is a medium English tobacco which is generally my favorite type, plus it has cigar leaf which I love in some blends. This one has a creamy flavor and doesn't bite even when puffed hard. Con, and a deal breaker for me, is that there is an underneath bitterness that I just don't like. There are too many good English and/or cigar leaf blends for me to keep this one in stock.

I am aware that others might enjoy a little more of the bitter flavor, a somewhat different smoke and just like tobacco with good leaf, so I won't downgrade it. Try it for yourself.