G. L. Pease Barbary Coast

I really tried to like this tobacco, honest. I know many others do like it. But I never was able to raise enough flavor out of the blend to suit my taste. Undeniably, it is well-blended. It smells great in the tin. It burns quite well. It just leaves me flat. I ended up giving away the last half-ounce or so to my brother. I will go back to my Dark Strong Kentucky for now. Or maybe I will pop open this tin of Cumberland and see if that hits the spot.

I have the deepest of respect and admiration for Greg Pease, whose dedication to his craft is nothing short of remarkable. Not being a latakia lover, except in the case of Revelation, I have sidestepped his Englishes and Balkans, but was intrigued enough by the description on the tin of Barbary Coast that I bought myself the 2 oz. tin while on vacation recently in Kansas City.

Call me underwhelmed. This is certainly high-grade Burley, and the perique, brandy, and Virginia complement it well. But where's the oomph? Where's the "wow" factor? This is just a mild, understated, very light aromatic--pleasant but not great, in my opinion. While I'll certainly finish the tin and get some pleasure out of doing so, I won't buy this blend again. It just didn't do it for me.

This is a perfectly tasty blend, and the unique cube-cut burley in the blend is very nice, but overall the blend never really did much for me. I may perhaps one day develop more of a taste for burley, and hope to go back to this one at that time and rediscover some of the finer points of this blend.

I'm just not a Burley Guy, so I held off on smoking this blend for quite a while. Then I heard through the grapevine that it was remarkably bite-free and I thought, aha! just the thing for breaking in pipes. So I bought some. And it is, indeed, in spades, just the thing for breaking in pipes. It is PERFECT for breaking in pipes and for that reason alone I will always have some stashed close by. As I keep smoking this stuff, though, I just kept smoking it. By this I mean I stopped thinking of this blend as pipe break-in fuel and started thinking of it as (dare I say) a really nice Burley blend. This stuff is very mild, yet complex in a way that reminds of both Haddo's Delight and Cairo. Lots of layers of taste in this stuff if you pay attention. And it WON'T bite. It also smells good (my wife always notices when I smoke this and smiles fetchingly). This is a perfect low-maintenence tobacco that I suspect would smoke well in any kind of pipe. Great stuff. If it won me over, anyone should like it.

Update 10-04: As with Cairo, I just don't like the way this stuff ages, and so am downgrading my review.

This is an exceptionally well cured and clean burning blend. The Virginia and Burley mixture is outstanding; delicious with strength and body. Hints of fruity and nutty flavors jump out at your palate as if they were trying to surprise you. This is a well thought out and executed blend. I keep pounds of this around and it still dissappears too fast; it does burn pretty fast.

A most excellent Burley blend with a touch of Brandy. This tobacco is so much better if you let it rest a year before smoking it. If fresh it can bite,and the flavoring hasn't mellowed down quite all the way yet. After a year give it a try,and the delicious burley will take you to fantasy land. This is probally my favorite blend that Pease makes.

OK, I just had to try this seeing as how everyone wrote such great reviews. I received a sample of this and packed a bowl right away in my Peterson Aran. A very strange cut. I had never seen this cut before and it packed much different than other blends. Lighting it was easy and keeping it lit was easy. A very smooth buring tobacco with a nice creamy smoke, although not nearly as much smoke as other blends, which can be a good thing. I puffed away trying to get it to bite and though I think you could if you tried hard enough, I had no problems. My wife said the smell wasnt bad (she is a hard woman to please) and was better than others because the smell wasnt as strong as others. I didnt catch all of the flavors I was looking for. I did notice the nutty, chocolate flavor. It was so nice to catch a different flavor in a tobacco. My favorate thing was that nasty aftertaste you get when finished smoking.......wasnt there. I realize I probably should have waited to try this blend, but I couldnt. I will get a couple of cans and put them away for a few months and try it again. This is definately something I want to smoke again.

UPDATE: After letting a tin sit for a few months and smoking it, I have to say I still stand by my earlier review. It is a nice tobacco, but I wouldn't push my way through a line to get it. It just didn't produce any Ooh's or Aah's. I liked it, but will probably wait to try it again.

I guess being through a few cans of this, and about 12 pipes, I can write an OK review. I'll try to do my best. I am an old fan of the English tobaccos, and only in the past year or so have I been getting into the Virginia/Perique blends. I wasn't sure I would like a tobacco that had even a "delicate kiss of brandy". The first few bowls in a couple of Peterson Bulldogs affirmed that. Upon opening the can I smelled a strong overpowering GRAPE tin aroma. Not BRANDY, GRAPE! "What wino did Mr. Pease roll to get that crap he cased this stuff with?", I thought. Well, I did the pipe run with this stuff, and was amazed how well it smoked in a cute little Stanwell Bent Bulldog Rondo (191). Thanks smokingpipes.com!!! An amazing combo. I use this pipe exclusively for Barbary Coast. It lights well, has an interesting top note, and the stuff actually does have a "delicate kiss of brandy" taste. Can't say which brandy though. Luckily? Certainly not V.S.O.P. Cognac, that's for sure. Anyway, about half bowl I get a delicious and subtle taste of peach. Hope it isn't peach brandy! But, it's wonderful! The Perique comes in toward the bottom, when I can truly enjoy that great condiment, and finishes with a unusually mild combination of all of the three nuances I mentioned. I'll smoke this on occasion. It seems like a great smoke for a Summer's evening when you can sit outside and enjoy a calm sunset. It works equally well on a pleasant mid morning smoke. I may smoke this more often in the future. I do love that little Stanwell, and this Barbary Coast is looking like a winner for me. Time will tell.

Without question, this is the best Burley blend I have smoked. I have tried a variety of Burleys for building cake on new pipes, and usually find them lacking character or depth. They're just sort of "there," but with nothing to commend them. They're the nerdy, under-developed, over-dressed wallflowers of the pipe tobacco world.

Barbary Coast, however, is another story. This is a Burley with all the flavor, character, and fullness you'd expect from a Pease tobacco. This is no wallflower, but rather is well rounded, voluptuous, and wholesome. If Burley's were like girls, this is the one you'd want to take home to Mama.

My only compaint with this tobacco, and the rest of the Pease line, is the cost. Pease makes unimpeachable tobaccos, top of the line, but I find the cost usually exceeds what I'm willing to spend. Otherwise I'd have given this the highest rating.