G. L. Pease Cumberland

The 2019 semi-fired smoky Kentucky provides earth, wood, floralness, a fair amount of spice, nuts and dry sourness, along with an obvious barbecue sweetness as the lead component. The red and fermented matured Virginias offer a lot of tart and tangy citrus and grass, some tangy dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, mild sugar and floralness, light spice, and touches of vinegar and stewed fruit. They are supporting players. The qualities of the earthy, woody perique include plums, raisins, figs, and a moderate spice hit. It is a step above being a condiment with the spice and plums being the most obvious aspects. The strength and nic-hit are a couple rungs past the medium mark. The taste level is just short of the center of medium to strong. There’s no chance of bite or harshness, but there are a few rough edges. It’s deeply rich, well balanced, nuanced and complex. It burns cool and clean at a reasonable rate with a very consistent, mildly sweet and very savory, piquant flavor that extends to the pleasantly lingering after taste. The room note is a tad stronger. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Not an all day smoke, but it is a filling, repeatable one. This production is lightly more complex and potent with a tad more spice than the original. That's due to the different Kentucky used here, which was not fired as much as the original version's was. That makes it more complex and just a less spicy. Four stars out of four.

-JimInks