G. L. Pease The Virginia Cream

I was greatly disappointed by this blend. I bought this because it was the newest blend offered by GL Pease at that time and it looked interesting. (about 5 years ago) I didn't look at the tin description or contents, the name alone convinced me. Why? I have no clue. lol I guess this evoked within me an image of Virginia flavor and Vanilla Cream soda and that seemed interesting enough. Reading the tin description after purchase, I believe this was kind of what Pease was going for as well.

I read through many of the reviews while smoking through this tin and found some common themes that I disagree with strongly. One is that this is a good intro to aromatics for non aro smokers. Unless I got an oddball tin or the topping completely evaporated from the in tact sealed tin, I could barely sense any topping at all either in the smell from the tin or the taste while smoking. If someone gave me this to smoke and did not tell me what it was, I would not even guess it an aro, so I fail to see how something that does not taste like an aro can be a good intro to aros.

Another thing that I seen many reviewers comment on is how easy smoking and non biting this happened to be, and that it was a good blend for beginners coming off of aros. Maybe I smoke a little faster than all who have said this, but I found this to be quite bitey and difficult to get into the zone. I would definitely not recommend this blend to a beginner.

Now on to the Virginia flavor that I anticipated, as I think I have said enough in regard to the topping and the vanilla soda I was expecting. The tin description talks of rare condimental leaf being added. It does not take long to figure out that one of these "rare condimental leaves" is Dark Fired Kentucky. I like DFK, but it, with the other condimental leaf, just overpowers the Virginia in this blend IMO. The Virginia does not have a lot of sweetness to begin with, by adding these heavy leaves to it, It just makes this a dirtier earthier tasting blend than I expected.

Onto the good. It is perfectly dry IMO. It does burn nice and once you do get it in the zone, it tastes alright. This blend kind of reminds me of Aromatic Dutch Slices from PS, but not as good IMO. I won't miss this blend, but it is not a one star bad.

I'm not sure what to make of this tobacco. I got it a couple of days ago and I have to say this is the first GL Pease tobacco I've ever smoked. The tin note is fabulous. One of the best scents you'll ever get of any tobacco - like a combination of caramel, cappuccino, vanilla and bourbon all in one.

But I'm not sure how to characterize the tobacco in the pipe. Since I got it, I've concentrated on smoking it alone to the exclusion of other tobaccos, smoking about six-seven bowls in 3-4 different pipes (a L'Anatra Hornsitter; a Designer Berlin Baltic-Amber 03 and two others) the first day alone; and I've smoked 3-4 more bowls since. But I did not detect any flavour that suited my taste. Perhaps, in an attempt to ensure it is not classified as an aromatic, care was taken to 'exhume' all the detectable flavouring in the tin note, such that the Black Cavendish (BC) was muted. Yet the Virginia did not seem to me to rear its head at anytime; nor the Perique. I'm uncertain about the Kentucky either. There is not the slightest hint of sweetness or creaminess. I found it bitterish, a tad bland and unbalanced. However, it burned very well, stayed alight and culminated in a grey fine ash at the end.

Not sure if the flavouring was tempered by the addition of lots of Burley though Burley is not mentioned as a major ingredient of the product, except in the form of the BC. If that's the case, it was overdone and, IMO, 'killed off' what would have been an otherwise great tobacco had some of the flavouring in the tin note been left intact. Being a 'mild' aromatic (whatever that means) would have enhanced its quality. It is also quite strong in the nicotine department, which could have been the result of a tad too much Burley.

In final, this is a top notch tobacco which I highly recommend to others, especially GL Pease blend lovers so they can make their own judgement. Some aging might help, but for me and my taste, my 'award' is two-and-half stars at this time.

Tin note is very similar to C&D Pennington Gap. Same bourbon-y aroma. Tin was packed so full, when the tin was popped the tobacco pushed the cardboard disk right out of the can! Moisture was just perfect. Not too much to make lighting difficult, and not too dry to make this smoke hot and acrid. I love sweet Virginias, and the topping was well paired with this tobacco. The bourbon vanilla is not noticeable as far as flavor until you are halfway through the bowl. It performs as more of a sweetness than anything. Room note is quite enjoyable, very toasty and sweet. The downfall of this blend, it stings the hell out of my nose. I'm not sure if it's because of the maturity of the leaf, or if is the condimental leaf they added. Hopefully if will tone down a bit with some age. I will revisit again in a few months or so and see what age will do. I don't have a problem recommending it, but I'd probably let it sit in the cellar for a few months.

Light, bright, with a little extra on the room note. I've preferred Latakia forward blends, but was gifted a small sample of Virginia Cream by a friend who said it could easily be classed as a Virginia not an Aromatic. This was a good smoke and the brightness of VA was there. I tasted hardly any "vanilla and bourbon" but that might be representative of this being first a VA and second a lightly topped aromatic.

I have never enjoyed products made by Cornell & Diehl, so when finding out they are the culprits behind G.L. Pease, my lackluster reaction to Virginia Cream was of no surprise. As an aromatic, this is not. For I expect them to to deliver the advertised flavor (in this case Vanilla). This tin however, opened to what was certainly something sour/rank (not to be insulted, it's what I expect from some Virginia based blends), but nothing in the way of sweet Vanilla sugar.

I was shocked by how brutally dry this mix was, considering the manufacturing date was less than 4 months old. It was shredded quite thin, with a few dark chunks floating on a sea of tan Virginia. The bouncy cut that takes some quantity to pack (and once lit compress to half). The tinder erupts on contact with an unexpected nicotine wave that recedes back when things are rolling. Again no Vanilla to speak of, just a light sweetness that I would expect from a Virginia product.

Ultimately it reminded me of a shag cut (American blend?) that one could roll a cigarette with. The tin shape is also pleasing, but not great for an air seal. If you simply want a less barnyard smelling Virginia, and ignore the Aromatic labeling, I guess it might be a smoke for you.

Time to review another GL Pease blend. The Virginia Cream blend by GL Pease is memorable in that it is one of the few straight Virginia blends that gets cased with a vanilla flavoring. Often times aromatic tobaccos use the casing to hide inferior quality tea tobacco. In the case of the Virginia Cream, this is not the case. The quality of the Virginia tobacco's used is very good. The vanilla and bourbon topping is good, but not overwhelming. On the other hand, there is some bite to this blend. I would prefer this blend to added a little more vanilla and a little less bourbon. Perhaps age might help. While a reasonable variation on a vanilla aromatic, there are better choices available in this genre.

Spouse bought me this off wishlist - love Virginias and anything Vanilla. Note to new converts do yourself a favor and age any Pease product x 2 years minimum - IMHO, as his stuff is very fresh at tinning. I set this up 2 years Tin note is very bourbon...ish, maybe some vanilla to smooth it out, and its not a low end casing, it seems genuine. Takes a bit to keep lit, quality Va and Kentucky in here, and I assume the Black Cavendish - of which is very present-must be the topping's resting place.

The problem I had with this blend, and I complete full tin's prior to reviews, is that the beautiful tin note did not translate to taste in this blend. Or at the very least not consistently throughout each bowl or bowl to bowl. I didn't actually taste any bourbon or vanilla individually, just some sweet amalgamation of something liquor..ish in nature.

Now for the crazy part - I used two meers and two briars for this blend - remember it doesn't ghost. It took me a couple of weeks to realize that each of those pipes had a residual scent not unlike - at least in part - to the lemony scent of Pledge Furniture Polish (LOL). I have no idea how else to explain that, but the better 1/2 verified this so I am not [totally] insane. Not a chemical smell, but a Pledge smell....

Positives: Quality Leaf. Negative: Pease's attempt at lightly topping this blend resulted in a dulling of flavors.

I decided to see what Mr Pease did with an aromatic and I really am not that impressed with this one at all. I expected a bit more than what I have here with the combination of components and flavoring. The blend is a bit on the dry side upon opening and does not improve with time. It lights and burns nicely and is easy to get lit. The best thing about this is the room note should get you some compliments. Recommended if you want to add to your aromatic rotation.

When you pop the tin, it smells like Cream soda, which is exactly as I wanted it to smell like. However once I put a match to it, it tasted odd and sort of chemically. I definitely got the Vanilla cream flavor, that was sitting on some really nice and meaty Virginia, but there is a weird taste on the sides and back of my tongue that gets worse as the bowl progresses. It was the same taste that I get from certain Lakelands that I don't care for, I suppose it's one of the toppings that doesn't agree with me. Also, it packs a stronger nic hit than I was expecting, this may be a boon for some, but it surprised me, every bowl I smoked, the nic snuck up on me. You would have thought that I would be ready after the first bowl, but I tended to get lost in the voluminous amounts of creamy smoke and all of the sudden....bam.