G. L. Pease Regents Flake

A real nice oriental blend from gl pease. You get a full dose of Izmir leaf plus some deep Virginias. The tin note is sour, musty and sweet in all the right ways. Plummy dried fruits and rose on the taste. Like Turkish delight. My only complaint is that I just don’t love that much oriental without Latakia, it’s almost too sweet and floral. But give it a try to get the real character of Izmir.

This blend consists of largely broken soft flakes. There is a slightly darker hue to the leaf than embarcadero despite the inclusion of bright leaf. I can only presume it is the Perique that makes this one look darker under bright light. Quite optimistically, I noted a nice healthy coating of sugar crystals.

Upon opening the tin, a wave of sweet tea and lemon hit my nose. After breathing a bit, the aroma transitions into a sweet lemon floral smell, which largely matches the taste early on after light up. When rubbed out, the nose is treated to the aroma of black tea leaf. There is a certain “freshness” in the texture of the smoke and at times it develops more of a mouth watering quality. This can be astringent towards the end of the smoke, and similar to embarcadero it can bite if pushed. I found that this one was more forgiving and less likely to fry my tongue.

Like embarcadero this leaf demanded slow smoking. There are delicious fruity esters, crisp autumn leaves, toast, mustiness, and some sour notes. There was a toasty nutty room note that I particularly enjoyed. This one did well in a smaller pipe.

A beautiful tin. I loved Cairo, Embarcadero, and now this Regents Flake. If in the first the orientals were a companion and in the second a condiment, here they are the protagonists, giving this mixture a remarkable fragrance. This makes it very interesting for me because it allows me the possibility of smoking a different tobacco than the ones I usually smoke. It is tasty and very aromatic, with the typical spicy of Izmir, something that should not be confused with the itch that occurs with the bite on the tongue and that with this tobacco does not have to happen, as long as the smoke is not accelerated as a locomotive. I would highly recommend it to any smoker who likes oriental fragrance. The quality of the orientals that G.L. Pease in their mixes uses is fantastic, and also how you combine them with the other ingredients. Now, waiting to try Temple Bar ...

A nice smell of dry fig at the opening of the tin - At the lighting, a lemongrass taste during the first puffs - 1st third: peppery and sugary taste with some light cigar - 2nd third: sweet and citrusy - like a nice lemon pie - last third: the more complex, once can feel musk and incense - some spot of lemon pie and pistachio - fresh fig - at the very end, a light barn and leather taste- nic hit: oops, bit hard for me when I'm tired or hungry.

I am usually a big fan of Pease's blends but this one just did not do it for me. I found myself searching for a distinguishing taste but I found the Virginias to be very undetectable and the orientals to more forward but bland. Frankly, I didn't detect any perique at all and that condiment isn't mentioned on the tin description. Anyway I found it to be a lot like Gertrude Stein's description of a rather boring city (whose name I will not mention). She said "there is no there there". When it comes to Pease blends I will stick with Montgomery or a well aged tin of Union Square.