G. L. Pease Barbary Coast

Update: Well some time has either changed my tongue, the blend has mellowed or my choice of pipes has changed my mind on this blend. Tthe longer I smoke a pipe the more often I find this happening. I smoked some Peterson's Sweet Kilarney last night and unceremoniously dumped half a mason jar of it in the trash. That is how much my tastes have changed, this was one of 3 blends I first purchased with my first pipe. I have smoked about 4-6 oz of BC at this point and the one big change is that I only smoke it in cob's, clay's and most often Meerschaum pipes. The meer is the one that this tobacco likes the best (in my opinion to my taste). The red VA went from hardly noticeable to the star of the show, The topping still is present but seems to have mellowed, even with a small amount of additional age. Earthy, rich flavors that blend with the nutty burley and the sweetness from the brandy really play well together and leave a fantastic after taste. I am bumping this up to 3 stars. Really nice stuff.

Original Review: I have read about this tobacco several times before I smoked it: aromatic? Light aromatic? Cross over? I'd say this is a light aromatic in my book. In the tin it is all aromatic: cherry cordials...chocolate covered cherries is all I get from the blending of the brandy with the tobacco's. Nice smell. The flavoring transfers to the flavor in the smoke, but not in an overpowering way. I have heard how some toppings and casings can sublimate with the tobacco, but I have only truly experienced that a few times (mostly with Peretti tobacco's), I think BC also as the alchemists touch in this respect as well. Toasty and mildly nutty burley is the only tobacco flavor I can tease out in the flavor. The Perique is there in feel and tingle, but not as a definable flavor. Upon exhale, particularly retro-hale that hint of cocoa and cherry cordial come back into play. There is a dry woody hint to the smoke and a hint of white pepper come in around mid bow. The red VA and the topping is what I think gives the cherry like flavor to the blend. I can usually tease out red VA easily in most blends but as a stand alone flavor I could not pick it out, however this tastes unlike any VA/Per/Bur (should probably reverse that order as written). Very nice finish and aftertaste. Room note is pretty darn good for a lightly cased burley blend. Fairly complex for a Burley based blend in my opinion. I'd give this 3 stars but for me this is not easy going enough to be a go to Burley as it is more enjoyable to sit and puzzle out the flavors...hardly what I am thinking of when I reach for a Burely blend. As a masterfully blended product this is probably worthy of more stars but for me this will be an occasional smoke.

Dark brown and black, medium to broad cut. Burley, Virginia and perique, flavoured with brandy. Smell - rich, dried fruit. Taste - well-rounded, slightly sweet, just a hint of the brandy detectable. Excellent.

Presentation: Tin looks the same as all the others in the Pease Original Series. Black and white label with blue accent and pipes photographed in the background.

Cut: Chunky ribbon cut. This blend was a touch on the moist side but still smokeable out of the tin.

Tin note: Chocolate, cream, raisins.

Tasting notes: Slightly sweet fermented fruit, tart earth, with a figgy spice on light up. Slightly grassy, leathery, the slightest touch of cream. The spice is substantial at times. It's got hints of that earthy, woody, nutty taste I taste in burley blends like Old Joe Krantz. Gets more smoky deeper into the bowl. Each leaf gets their time to shine in this blend when smoking through the bowl. It was easier for me to identify each leaf in this blend than some others. Don't take that as me calling this a simple blend however, there is plenty of nuance. This might just be me, but this blend reminds me of a cigar, like a Padron. Not that there are obvious cigar leaf flavors though, it is hard to explain. Also I don't really detect the brandy.

Mechanics: It's easy to smoke this blend fast, trying to figure out all these flavors with each puff, but slow down, this blend does not taste good if you overheat it.

Extra Remarks: Excellent blend. Very very complex, a notch down in flavor intensity from Haddo's Delight, but they are similar. This is a blend that might grow on you, it was kind of "meh" for me when I first smoked it but I now see it's value. 4 stars.

Quite delicious blend that makes me think this is what otc blends were supposed to be. Not a biter at all.

Nutty, cocoa, port wine? Are three things I notice throughout the bowl. Simple enough to be a yard smoke but complex enough if you’d like to sit and think about it. I love the cut of this stuff, super easy to work with.

Recommended

As a heads up at end of bowl if you get to really puffing on it a very pleasant cigar note comes through.

This is one tobacco I got hooked from the very first bowl. It’s strong but not overwhelming (comparable strength to Royal Yacht) and yet it’s really an all-day tobacco (like Royal Yacht), indeed the perfect “all day smoke”. It’s mighty tasty, nutty and the Brandy scenting is fabulous (both in tin note and smoking taste) and the Perique adds a strength and flavor that is excellently integrated! Mr. Pease's description is spot on, I do not have many things to add except to mention that it’s so tobaccoey that the Cognac scenting does not make it an aromatic - not in a thousand miles – this a tobacco’s tobacco!

Nice Burleys but did not like the toppings. It reminds me very much of some of the old timer blends that my pipe smoking mentors preferred but I don't. This one will not go into my rotation, not sure I will even finish the tin.

This blend should be named "The Barbary Challenge" as it is a challenge to light, stay lit; pack; or ruddy near anything else you would expect to do with a pipe tobacco blend. Out of many bowls, only one was even close to the smashing reviews others have given this blend. Most bowls are hot, wet, and tasteless. Don't let this stuff set in the pipe either, relights taste like a stale cigar. This stuff is atrocious. I would give it two; however, since some moron decided to use the GL Pease name just to sell this rubbish, it gets a solid one. Honestly, I have tried better OTC blends than this. Shame on you C&D.

So good, in so many ways. A small bowl is perfect at any time during the day, a bigger bowl is perfect as a night cap. No bite, cool burn and lots of flavour with a mild topping. I will be buying more, this is highly recommended.

Taste: First light gives off a balanced taste of the added brandy and the natural burley nuttyness. I recognize the character from one of my favorites, C&Ds Crooner, to no surprise as they handle the Pease blends. On retrohale I detect more of the topping and lots of spice and pepper that I dare say is due to partly the perique but mainly the cube cut burley. Mid bowl it grows stouter, and an earthy quality is added creating a wonderful body to the smoke. This is also when the topping takes a step back and the virginia takes its place. The finish grows longer and more pronounced, flavours of spice and sweet nutty earth lingers gently on the tongue.

Mechanics: Moisture is smokable straight out of the tin. The cut packs and lights easily and requires no relights. No bite at all, burns cool and dry. Nicotine on the higher end of medium.

I had already been hanging out at my local pipe shop for a decade when Greg's tobacco line burst forth with a big splash. I can remember a dozen or more tins of his blends being open for sampling at the same time and sniffing them and handling them and smoking some of them . It became clear to me that what I wanted was his English blends to smoke and for my stash and those were the ones I salted away. I never had Barbary Coast in my hoard but, when it appeared on ebay as a part of a three tin Pease lot from the 2002 era, I jumped on them. The first thing I noticed was that the tin rattled when shaken - usually a bad sign. So, I ripped it open and discovered that it was not dry but a partially pelletized mixture that acted like a maraca when shaken. The tin aroma was a wonderful mixture of aged Burley with a note of something that I would not have identified as brandy if it was not stated as such on the label. I then lit up and discovered that I enjoyed this blend; that it was good beyond just being OK, which was what I expected. The red Virginia got out in front of the wonderfully aged Burley in the upper bowl but, by the one-third bowl point they started marching together side by side with the Perique backing them up at all times. In the second half of the bowl the Burley took over the lead and ran to the finish. Already happy with this tobacco, I then discovered that it smokes best in larger thick-walled pipes: four stars.