G. L. Pease - Original Mixtures: Renaissance pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 41 through 43 of 43 reviews of this tobacco
pokrsmokr	04/03/2001	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
This is the kind of blend that makes me wish I had a more refined palate, and that is about as good of a compliment as I can give a tobacco. Greg Pease has created a wonderfully balanced English blend which is very enjoyable to smoke. Unlike most english blends in which one component invariably dominates another at some point during the bowl, this tobacco is fluid from first light to ash. The virginias, orientals and latakias (cyprian and Syrian) perfectly meld together and play off each other from first light without straying from course. I think William Serad said it best in his P&T review of Renaissance: It's a Symphony of flavor", a "Victorian parlor". I couldn't decribe it any better myself. The funny thing is that when I was originally sent a sample, I was burnt out on English blends (momentarily , of course) and was smoking mostly Virginias and American blends such as Aleister and Templar (also blended by the talented Mr. Pease). Like a shmuck I passed over the sample bag for almost 2 months until a friend asked to try it. His response was so positive that I immediatley smoked a bowl. It has never failed me, whether it's a morning smoke, a late night smoke.... my first or my sixth. This is one tasty English with so many nuances and so much happening at EVERY point in the bowl, it's almost overwhelming when attempting to describe (especially with my unrefined palate). It has been claimed as a masterpiece by many... I wouldn't argue, though I might spell it MASTER PEASE!! If you like english blends you will LOVE Renaissance. Go get some NOW.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Sceny	03/27/2001	Medium	Very Mild	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong
After smoking Mephisto, I was eagerly looking forward to trying this GLP blend, especially since many have rated it as even better. After trying several bowls, I understand the praise! This is an excellent, well-blended, and complex full English mixture, well worth the attention it has been getting recently. It is, if not the best, than certainly in the top two two or three English tobaccos I've tried up till now. On opening the can, the aroma is surprisingly mild, MUCH more subdued than Mephisto's strong scent. If you really get your nose into the tobacco, however, there is the clear smell of Latakia, very similar to Dunhill 965 to my mind. The leaf itself is a variety of different colors, primarily black and medium brown with some lighter brown thrown in; it is very aesthetically pleasing and varied. It packs fairly well, being mainly medium in cut, and also lights easily. It burns well, too, requiring roughly the average number of relights during the bowl. I chose a Stanwell 1/8 bent billiard for the first go, one that I often use for English blends. In the first third of the bowl, I get the immediate flavor of strong Latakia. This quickly changes, however, into a mix of flavors, melded together perfectly into a delightful, balanced mix. This balance and variation continues throughout the bowl. In the second third, the taste becomes even more complex, shifting constantly and yet always maintaining that overtone of Latakia nuttiness. I get hints of sweetness, nuttiness, spice, and other flavors I can't identify, varying on my palate from puff to puff; this is a very dynamic tobacco. Towards the end of the bowl, the flavor becomes somewhat darker and richer, while the earlier subtlety is still present. It smokes very dry; I was sucking ashes before I realized that the bowl was finished, and there was NO residue moisture. There was some bite towards the end, but that may have been due more to my puffing than to the tobacco itself. Overall, this is a very complex, superbly blended full English tobacco, one which I would recommend to anyone. While not quite as dark in flavor as 965, I believe I'll reach for this one anytime I don't want to fight the nicotine in Dunhill tobacco. Another excellent blend, Mr. Pease!
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Bear	02/26/2001	Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Strong
Renaissance was the last of the G.L. Pease offerings to hit my tasting pipe. I am a huge fan of well made Latakia blends, so why was this the last one? Well, first, something had to be, and second, and yeah, this is stupid, I had fallen in love with four of the others, and in "like" with one of them. Just as a terrific baseball player's chances of knocking one out of the park on the next at bat seemingly diminishes with each consecutive homer hit, I figured a pop fly was due. I have never found a blender/ producer with such consistency, and really didn't want to find the proverbial feet of clay at this point. Opening the can, I was hit with the familiar "latakia mix" type of smell, pleasant, some depth, pretty much like most of the better English blends. Red, Golden, and matured Virginias caught my eye at first. Two different kinds of Latakia were present, represented by the brown, thin strips of the Syrian delegate, and the darker Cyprian ambassador. Winking at me was a little Balkan leaf, as well. It had a nice, medium cut and packed well. As with all English blends, I grabbed a suitably large pipe for the test drive.. Fire hits tobacco.... Whoa, Dorothy...we're not in Kansas anymore! In most Latakia offerings, I taste the Latakia first supported by other tobaccos. This was different. Latakia, sure, but standing as equal partners were the Virginias and the Balkans creating a flurry of impressions, all layered, multidimensional, and harmonious.. Each piece of the fragrance puzzle fitting perfectly next to the other creating a seamless piece of art which begged to be tasted. Exotic incense created images of places that I have only longed to visit. For the entire bowl, I had to sit on myself to keep from over puffing. Not to keep it lit, I just wanted that smoke constantly on my palate! It stayed cool, dry, and harmonious all the way down to the bottom leaving a downey - fine almost white ash. Subsequent to writing this, my initial review, I have learned that Bill Serad of Pipes & Tobacco reviewed this noble weed a few months ago. Mr. Serad stated, among many things, that Renaissance "..is among the finest classic English blends I have ever tried...Magnificent! Highest Accolades!" Mr. Serad, you are a master of understatement! This tobacco is one of the few that I find to have "Wa", a Japanese term for "harmony". It is the only tobacco that has what I feel to be "Shibumi", an undeniable, understated elegance that makes itself known by just "being". 10 out of 10 Bear Claws
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