G. L. Pease The Virginia Cream

If there’s ever an aromatic that smokers of more natural mixtures might enjoy this could very well be the one. First of all, this isn’t a limp-wristed vanilla blend and the topping is never the focus. It’s only a mere sidebar to the overall flavor experience, an aromatic accent or high-note if you will.

From the description, this one seemed like it would be right in my wheelhouse. The Virginia Cream is sweet and spicy with a handful of appreciable nuances. The bulk of the Virginia's are bright, adding a delicate grassiness that melds harmoniously with topping. An earthier red Virginia flavor is also present, working with the rest of the components to lend a solid backbone and a few complexities. Altogether the sweet & spicy effect, mixed with the subtle touch of vanilla & bourbon produces a flavor that I find to be somewhat reminiscent of horchata.

By mid-bowl the taste intensifies, delivering a more rustic variation on the theme. Mid-bowl also delivers a bit of strength. Overall there are no huge flavor-shifts to be found in a bowl of this, only good Virginia flavor with a moderate amount of spice and a pleasant & very well executed top note.

The Virginia Cream is an easy-going & relaxing smoke. It’s smooth, sweet and enjoyable. Altogether, I prefer smoking this in a pipe with a wide & shallow bowl. I have a couple pot shaped pipes that I have dedicated to non-Latakia mixtures. These do a nice job focusing the flavors of more complex blends by helping to keep the ember burning on the cooler side. Of course, smoking this with a slower cadence helps improve the flavor as well.

The Virginia Cream (Heirloom Collection) from G. L. Pease offers a light aromatic that may well pass muster with smokers who normally puff on other types of tobacco.

Open the tin and you find a tan ribbon cut tobacco with a few small dark chunks, apparently the black cavendish, which I suppose carries the aromatic flavoring. I often find tinned tobaccos overly moist upon first opening, but this one I can light up at once. The sniff test reveals that this is an aromatic, but not an overly strong one.

Once lit, the Virginia Cream gives a pleasant room note, not unlike that of cookies baking. When the bowl is finished you find a light grey ash with just a bit of moisture, but no goop.

The mild bourbon vanilla flavoring is noticeable, but does not overwhelm the Virginia base, and carries a soft overtone that seems similar to caramel. Those Virginias (red and gold) strike me as being more grassy than citrus like. The tobacco flavor is definitely Virginia, although not particularly sweet Virginia, darkened just a bit from the minor Kentucky (smoked burley) component. The Virginia Cream has a smidgen of perique which I do not really taste, although when exhaling through the snoot I get a slight perique nose tingle.

Smokers who usually puff on aromatics will likely find this a pleasure, even though this is an aromatic very definitely on the light side. Tobacco tastes are very subjective, and whether or not aromatic lovers will be inclined to move this into the regular location depends on that individual palate. But the vast majority of aromatic lovers will likely find this a pleasant smoke.

Those whose preference runs toward Virginias will also find The Virginia Cream an enjoyable experience. The bourbon/vanilla melds nicely with the Virginia flavor, and most definitely does not obscure it. The two tastes complement rather than clash.

Those who normally smoke blends with a distinct Latakia or oriental nature will find The Virginia Cream a quite different experience, but I suspect many among them will rate it as OK for a change of pace.

Burley lovers will not find the Kentucky in this mixture prominent enough to meet their yens. But again I suspect many of them will judge this as an an acceptable change of pace.

I smoked this both with pipes dedicated to Virginas and aromatics. If your pipe collection is large enough to where you you do not often smoke a bowl in the same pipe, you will not encounter ghosting problems.

In terms of personal enjoyment I would give The Virginia Cream all four stars. But in terms of recommendation for the general pipe smoking world, I will restrict it to three stars.

What a great blend this is! I'm a new to pipe smoking (non smoker up until now) and I've been exploring various tobacco blends to see what might suit me. I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised by this one. The tin note on this one is fantastic. I'm a great fan of a good bourbon but I would not say the bourbon topping takes center stage. The aroma is sweet with a touch of sour or piquancy in the nose. It evokes a good sour mash. There are notes of dried orange peel or candied orange and vanilla and the smokey notes of bourbon. Some have complained of tongue bite on this one and so, as a new pipe smoker who is still learning to slow down and not try to keep my pipe lit by over-drawing, I worried this would be a problem for me. To the contrary, I found I got virtually no tongue bite at all. It took to the match quite well with only one relight after my char. It has a nice creamy white smoke with good vanilla notes, and a bit of spicy perique in the retrohale and sweet and ever so slightly sour notes. Many have called the flavor of this blend sweet.....which it surely is.....but I found, and particularly enjoyed, those slightly sour and spicy flavors coming through. If one were to stay with the bourbon theme I would have to say the spice reminded me of a really nice glass of Rye our a sour mash bourbon like Mitchner's. This may be the first blend I've tried where I actually enjoyed the development of the entire bowl. It evolved a little for me as I worked my way though...the first quarter of the bowl gave me nice Rye flavors early on....mid bowl I started catching ever-so-slight flashes of my grandfather's cigar....and then near the end an unexpected sweetness came through at the bottom of the bowl. I've tried other aromatics in my efforts to figure out what sort of blends I might like and in general I've found I may not be an "aromatics guy". I find many of them are at their best when left in the tin. Most become fairly off putting as the bowl progresses and become downright unpalatable at the bottom of the bowl (IMO). Virginia Cream is the first aromatic (is it really an aromatic??) that progressed wonderfully and finished clean with the original flavors coming through right to the finish...again....sweet with hints of spice and sourness that, for me, was just right. I ws surprised to find it smoked down to a clean and surprisingly dry white ash leaving a very clean bowl. There's no accounting for taste and one man's ambrosia is another man's poison but I'm an instant fan of this one. I'll be adding a few more tins for the long haul to my growing collection.

I bought this one about a week ago. Summertime, so I thought I would try an aromatic. This has a very nice sweet Virginia tin note, nice ribbon cut and fires up easily. Also puts out a lot of nice smoke. I have been smoking this in a Ukrainian Pear Wood Pipe. This is a very light, natural tasting aromatic with the flavor tending to wane somewhat about half-way down the bowl. Room note, at least outside on the porch is barely noticeable. A really good, light tasting blend for those warm pleasant afternoons. Tin Date: 082419

I am not an aromatic smoker and probably never will be. This poses a problem for me as my girlfriend hates the smell of all of the tobaccos I smoke but loves the smell of every aromatic my father smokes. I bought this with the hope of finding a tobacco that smells like an aromatic but doesn't taste like one. I have seen many reviews claiming that this was the tobacco to finally achieve this. Unfortunately, at least for my girlfriend this was not the case. She said it smells like everything else I smoke...with a touch of sweetness. All is not lost however as this is a pretty good blend. It doesn't really taste like an aromatic to me. I would put it in more of a navy blend category. You taste all the natural tobacco but with a slight alcohol topping. Most people say bourbon but it smells more like a scotch to me. No chemical aftertaste. Just tobacco. The kentucky and perique really show up to me. Much spicier than I anticipated. Can smoke hot and will bite if not careful. A little too much going on for an everyday smoke for me but still pretty good.

I found some Tobacco powder left at the bottom of Tin and I am smoking it in Kiseru. when Tin was opened, it had a rich creamy aroma. When I opened the Tin, it had a rich creamy aroma, but since it has been several years since I opened the Tin, the aroma seems to have disappeared a bit or most of it, just like in other aromatic blends. The overall taste of the blend is slightly citrusy, spicy barbecue, and sweet without being too strong. When the Black Cavendish is burned, it becomes a little milder in aroma and taste, but still spicy overall. Fresh Tin adds a creamy aroma to it, but when I remember the taste of the blend when it was fresh, it was still spicy and barbecue-like.

Prep: It was in a bag from a trade. About perfect. If anything, on the dry side

Notes: The Vanilla is quality, unlike other blends. Tastes like Vanilla bean. As someone else mentioned, I do taste nutmeg as well. That might be the bourbon addition. A "bourbon" flavor doesnt appear for me. The flavoring itself isnt overbearing at all but compliments the natural tobacco flavors. The Virginia’s sweetness is at the forefront, more darker fruit than hay notes for me. The perique and Kentucky are always evident but never overbearing. A backdrop of woodiness is evident from the Kentucky but little more than that. Nic strength for me is about low medium. I can have back to back bowls with this. With proper breathing, it stays quite cool.

Definfitely a quality aro blend, which quality is what you should expect from Pease. 7/10

https://youtu.be/r1ojhOiAweI

The tobacco itself is a short medium ribbon that appears to be about 20% black cavendish. The "nose" in the tin is a mild vanilla.

A friend gave me most of a tin that he had tried a couple of years ago and did not like. It is possible that my sample is aged in some way, or the topping has flashed off a little.

I found this a very pleasant smoke. I am not typically much of a fan of either black cavendish or vaniilla toppings, but this one works very well for me. It tastes like Virginia tobacco - slightly earthy and a little grassy There is a hint of fruit in the flavor. it is not especially sweet and is a very smooth smoke. There is a hint of vanilla in all this. The bourbon may be there or the power of suggestion has me finding it when I look. It is not dominant at all.

Anyone who would like a tobacco-flavored semi-aro would be happy with Vanilla Cream. I could easily make this my goto smoke but given tin prices and my cheap nature, it is likely to sit on a wish list and be the occasional present.

This one is easy to recommend. I would think most people would like it.

First, I love how someone put their age in 'Age When Smoked'. That gave me a good laugh, so thanks to you if you read this! 🙂 I'm a huge fan of GLP and I like this one. I bought it after I saw a review by 'Bremen Pipe Smoker' (YouTube). As far as Virginia Cream, I used a meerschaum with a big bowl. It seemed to evolve as I smoked it from tasting the topping in the top half to tasting beautiful Virginia tobacco in the bottom half. To me this has a big nic hit. I typically don't get affected by nicotine due to years of doing chew/snus, but man this one really hits me. Bottom line is I like it and I'll be buying more.