G. L. Pease Barbary Coast

In the tin the brandy aroma gave me a sinking feeling. It was pretty moist, but not sticky, so I grabbed a pipe. Gravity, more gravity, light thumbing. Lighting took awhile, but once toasted and tamped it burned very cool and stayed lit. I like a good burley after smoking vapers. Walnuts and dried fruit. Pretty darn consistent top to bottom. No gurgle whatsoever. For me it was a very, very pleasant experience. I thought with a little more nicotine this would be near perfection.

07/27/09 UPDATE: I am revising some of my reviews. I have given out more 4 star ratings than anything else. That practice is probably not helping. So, I am reducing Barbary Coast to 3 stars, not because I like it less than I did before, but because I am limiting 4 stars to fewer than 25% of all my reviews. One day I may use the 4 star rating to designate my top five.

I really love a high quality Burley and boy does this blend have it! But not content to leave it alone, there are the fine flavors of the VA and Perique to really add something special to the blend. The topping of brandy is brilliant and really brings the flavors home. A first class smoke in all respects except one: It just doesn't burn well.

There, I said it. I can't get it to smoke well without 20 matches at least... I tried the drying and all, but it still won't stay lit.

For the flavor and complexity when lit, this is a superior tobacco, but the sheer difficulty of smoking it just takes something away for me. But I think every Burley lover should try it.

Accompaniment: Debussy's String Quartet.

I probably shouldn't be writing this review yet. I bought a tin of this less than a month ago and it was date stamped only about a month before I bought it. I promise to do a an update if my opinion changes over time.

That said, I'm not sure about this one. This is another one that I really wanted to like. A tobacco that would be a good "all-day" smoke that I could buy in bulk and keep some at work. Something flavorful, with good tobacco taste that doesn't drive others away with pungent latakia, etc. Barbary Coast (absolutely wonderful-sounding name) actually fullfils most of those qualifications. But I have experienced some unexpected side-effects.

First, this is the sloooooowest burning tobacco I own. that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it also has required more re-lights than any tobacco I have ever tried or even heard of. Good lord this stuff is tough to keep burning! Second, I seem to get a kind of stomach ache everytime I smoke this. Kind of a hard, lump in the top of my stomach. Maybe it has a very high nicotine content or maybe I am just working so hard at keeping it going, that my stomach just gets tired...

The things I like about BC (besides the name): the cube cut (this is the most unique, quality-feeling, fun to pack cut I have experienced), the taste (great burley content), the slow burn and good draw (when it is burning properly). Now it could be that the problem I am having keeping it lit will go away as the tin dries out a little, I don't know. And my stomach aches might just be coincidences... Time will tell and I will do a followup on this one but, for now, I will not be ordering that 8oz bag just yet.

Update 8/29/05: I just dumped the remainder of my nearly empty tin into one of my small travel pouches, so I can take this with me when I go out. Obviously, this blend has grown significantly on me. I have nearly finished the tin and will be buying it again. I came to realize that the tin I got was just too fresh and it needed to sit a while and dry a little to mellow out for me. My next tin will be shelved for at least 3 months before I dive into it. I suspect this is really much better than I know, simply because I haven't tried it properly aged yet. Again, love the cut and the high quality of the tobacco and the issues I had early on proved to be anomalies or a result of an improperly aged tin. I can now recommend it and that recommendation will likely become stronger after aging a couple of tins.

Every once in a while, I like to smoke straight burley. I do this to "clean the palate" as some might say. When I was referred to this blend, I was very excited to give it spin. Well, it has given me a great ride! Upon opening the tin, you are greeted by a visual as well as an aromatic feast. The burley cubes reveal a high quality of pressing and cut, the virginia is cut medium and the odor is not just of brandy, but of high quality of tobacco. I left the tin open for about 5 mins. before packing my pipe, which was very easy. Upon first light, the brandy sings loudly but settles into a nutty, sweet ride all the way down the bowl. I especially appreciate the way Pease's blends marry well so that the different tobacs enhance each other rather than fight for "prominence" like in some others. My final answer is this: a good medium strength tobac with a good nutty flavor with enough complexity to stand on its own. It is smooth and could be an all day blend. My personal favorites are Latakia and Balkan blends, but this is a good alternative for those days you want something "different". Last note: If there is Perique in this, I could not detect it , which my allergy to it says "Thank You"

Something happens often when I'm just about to finish a tin of tobacco and am sitting down to write a review. Often, blends that I didn't care for turn out better than initially thought. Maybe it's that I got used to them, maybe it's the knowledge that I'm about to run out and am developing a certain feeling towards it, maybe it's just about knowing the blend better.

Barbary Coast is one of those blends. I did not like it initially. But somehow I went through the tin fairly quickly and while I'm still not a huge fan, I now think that this is a very nice blend.

For those who read the ingredients and think that this might be a Virginia-Perique blend with some Burley for the body, this is not the case.

Barbary Coast is primarily a Burley-Perique blend with a touch of Virginia. The two leading tobaccos dominate and provide a strong and sharp notes of nuts, cocoa, and figs, tiny bit of cigar note. The Perique might be just a little too much for me. Not because of the strength, but because of the fig note that it bring with it. The Virginia adds a touch of sweetness, but this is not a sweet blend by any means.

I could only notice an alcohol top note because I get this chemical feeling that I get once rum/brandy/whiskey is added. But you won't get any brandy flavor.

It reminded me a lot of Cornell & Diehl's Crooner, minus the special flavor of Crooner's deer tongue. It's one of those old-time strong Burley blends. C&D's Epiphany is another example, although that one has Latakia as well. But the overall character is similar.

Moisture is great out of the tin. Easy to pack and smoke with few relights. Flavor remains fairly similar throughout the bowl, but it feels like the strength diminishes a little. An all-day for those who can deal with the strength and like this type of blends. No tongue bite. Medium pace. Smoked well in all sizes of pipes. One serious downside, however, is that according to my wife, the smell was "really stinky".

Talking about the strength, I'd put this as medium-strong (closer to medium), full body.

To summarize, once I got familiarized with Barbary Coast I got to like it. I mostly smoked it out of the house, while walking my dog, where it was useful to fill in the time and didn't require regular attention. I should also say that I like Crooner, so the overall style was ok for me. However, something about Crooner just tastes a lot better for me and I'm not sure that I'll get Barbary Coast again. It's a nice blend, but not impressive enough for me to continue exploring it. 2.5 stars, rounding up to three.

Interesting stuff. My tin is one I picked up back in early 2010, let it sit, and dug it out this morning.

Popped open: nose says tangy, acetic, sweetly boozy, and a hit of wet nuts.

Feel: not overly damp as some have described. No where near as hard and unyielding as PS Cube Cut.

Loading up: I mixed up the tin with my fingers, grabbed a pinch or two, gravity fed a pipe, tamped it down with my finger so it was slightly compressed, and thought it would do.

Lighting: it took a few hits with the mini bic, but wasn't a pain to deal with. A little char, a little tamp, another light, let it go out so it dries a bit, then light once more.

No bite, fairly cool, smokes easy and doesn't require much concentration to enjoy. It took me a few minutes and a bigger pipe to get some flavor going. It could also be that I am used to much bigger flavor profiles. Very high quality tobacco. Mr. Pease may not always come up with MY personal favorites, but the balance, harmony, and integration he worked for is evident in this tin. Burley and Perique are the stars here. Va seems like a condiment. Again, a bigger untapered bowl changed it from a tangy pile of brown stuff, to a pleasant, low nic hit morning smoke. I am sure it will grow on my over the next few weeks. Try it,you might like it. I'd go a full 3 to 3.25 stars if it was a bit more Va heavy.

This is my first experience with a G.L. Pease blend, and I have to say, overall, it's interesting and enjoyable, as I expected.

The tin aroma is highly reminiscent of(Forgive me GLP) Sir Walter Raleigh. Slightly chemical-y, and the pronounced smell is of brandy. It was nicely moist right out of the tin, but I don't think slight drying will hurt anything.

The method I have employed to pack this tobacco is to lightly fill the pipe, and then to poke it down ever so slightly with a finger, then I blow through the stem to make sure that none of the burley is stuck in the draft hole.

After a charring light, this tobacco burns pretty easily and thoroughly, though you have to be careful not to puff too hard, or it will bite a bit. I tasted notes of chocolate, but not like an artificial chocolate flavoring, just a nice natural taste. Burley predominates, though, at least to my palate. Overall, it just tastes like tobacco. Virginia and Perique help things along by adding occasional interest.

Nicotine content is fairly strong. Not overpowering, but enough to get my attention about midway through a medium-sized bowl.

Room note was a little heavy, though not acrid like a cigarette. I prefer to smoke this outdoors.

I find this blend slightly finicky. I didn't have to fight it to make it enjoyable, but it did require a little patience and effort. Definitely not for a first-timer. Recommended if you're looking for a fairly natural tasting blend, with a little additional interest.I will probably buy more of this blend, and will definitely continue to sample G.L. Pease's creations.

The perfect "all-day" smoke if you like aromatic tobac. Upon opening this tin I was greeted by a wonderful aroma of raisons, figs and plums. BC has a light topping of brandy that is very evident upon breaking the seal.

Packing & Lighting: A very loose pack bowl; just tapping the bowl to let it settle lightly is perfect. It takes a light pretty well and having packed it loose stays lit nicely for me. Note: Medium to large bowl works very well with this blend.

Taste & Aroma: Similar to the tin aroma, BC is deep, a dark chocolate, and brandy spirits, taste and smell; though not too sweet.

Nicotine: Strong

I ordered a 8oz tin to enjoy in its youth and some 2oz tins to cellar; will try in a few years.

I am a big fan of GLP blends so it is hard for me to write this review. Let me also preface this by stating that I am not a big burley fan...

That being said, this tobacco looks and smells great. As the previous reviews have so elegantly stated, this tobacco has a strong brandy casing and appears as a brown sugar chunk.

So far, so good, but this blend quickly disappoints in the bowl. Hard to light. Lot's of smoke. Mild, disappointing taste. Dare I say it's just a lot of hot air? I know burley doesn't age well, but I put some in the cellar to age anyway. Let's see of she changes for the better.

I really tried to make myself like this blend, but if you are looking for a good Burley smoke, this is not it. Try C&D's Pegasus instead.