G. L. Pease Barbary Coast

Barbary Coast was the last tin of the "American lot" I was able to grab seven or more years ago.

It's a BurVaPer in cube cut form, easy enough to burn, cool to the palate, with enough Vitamin N oomph to satisfy this old pipe smoker. The liquor topping is agreable and doesn't cover the tobacco favours, which I found substantially woody & earthy, with notes of nuts and small dark chocolate, and some raisin on spirit. Needs slow pace otherwise turns easily bitter.

Due to the above, for me this one is more a dessert smoke than an all day one. A very good blend, one-of-a-kind for this smoker. I would buy more if and when available at acceptable price. BC is not in the small list of CD's & GLP's tobaccos recently imported in Italy at some EUR. 35.00 per tin (!).

Three stars.

Well I keep reaching for this one, I'm loving it. To me very rich in a nice tobacco taste. Not a fast burner and I don't detect any bite whatsoever. Stays flavorful right to the very end. When I smoke this I feel like this is what pipe smoking is all about. Excellent. To me Peretti is the king when it comes to Burleys but this one is right there with them.

This cube cut Burnley is a delight. This flavors are marvelous and the blend is flavorful. The brandy flavoring is perfect, with a number of other flavors added. The red Virginia's support the sweet flavors perfectly. A sublime blend that I highly recommend.

Oh…now this is one of those rare blends that I just can’t get enough of and have a yearning for. This review is for a 8yr old tin and the time gods have done a number on this tobacco. The brandy has become one with the tobaccos and have melded everything into sublime smoking experience for me. Smooth, tasty, tingly, tangy, sweet and creamy. I just love it. I quickly bought more but won’t smoke it for years. I now have 6 tins aging….the wait is killing me!!!!!!

Great blend! Slightly more aromatized than I had expected it to be, yet rather mildly aromatized.

The tin note is of fruity liquor (I don't drink any alcohol, so I can't descrbe it as a specific liquor type), nuts and honey. Slightly peppery and decently spicy undertone to it.

It comes very moist, but drying it out too much makes it a bit harsh, some 20-30 minutes of drying is sweet-spot for my taste. Dark brown, almost black cube cuts with fewer brighter brown parts to it.

Up in smoke it delivers a semi-aromatic flavour! The brandy flavouring, which I perceive as fruity, only a hint of alcohol-ish and slightly spicy is paired with walnuts, sweet nuts and some earth of the Burley. Those two dominate the aroma and are supported by some peppery spice from the Perique, which may also contribute to the fruity notes of figs, plums and raisins. The Virginias is only to flatten the edges and adding some sweetness and I don't perceive it that much.

Delicious blend, for me it takes a spot inbetween aromatic and natural tobacco - semi-aromatic if you will. The flavouring is present, but not subdueing the tobaccos too much, leaving plenty of room for the Burley to shine. Not overly complex, but with some depth to it. 3.5 stars worthy to me.

In my decade of pipe smoking I have tried many a blend, most of which I have enjoyed immensely, regardless of type. I must say, though, that I've never really given burleys a fair shake. My first experience was W.O. Larsen's Kentucky Gold. That blend bites me every single time I try it, no matter what. Then there was Mac Baren's Golden Extra. Not bad at all, but who has time for that when I've got all these Va/Pers!?! Then, of course, I had to try Prince Albert. Not bad, either, but I already smoke cigarettes. Perhaps that's why I never gave burley blends much attention. I was already smoking burley all day, every day. Maybe I needed to try a pipe tobacco with less a component of burley than more. About two years ago I picked up a tin of Barbary Coast. I've had a couple of Pease latakia blends and know he's a serious blender that uses quality tobacco. If nothing else, I could give the tin away as a gift. I've been on a Va/Per kick for the last few years but this winter I've decided to re-explore some old tobaccos and discover new ones. I popped this open and was surprised and excited. I've gone through about a quarter tin thus far and am still forming a solid opinion but have been enjoying each bowl more and more. Nutty yet sweet. The topping adds rather than subtracts, IMO. A nice change of pace for me, this tobacco is. Only time will tell if I keep this around. It seems I always take the middle road with my recommendations but I find it hard to say "you must try this" or "you must not try this." Barbary Coast is interesting enough to get my somewhat recommended rating as of now.

This smells divine in the tin and came quite wet. After some drying time I tied to get this to take flame, but it sure was stubborn. Finally lit, the wonderful sweet alcohol smell in tin did not transfer to the smoke. What I got was a washed out burley flavor with a peculiar aftertaste, thin wisps of smoke and a rapidly depleting lighter due to all the relights required. This blend seemed so alluring too and yes I was disappointed. If I merely didn't like the flavor this could still be a good one for others to try, but if these objective faults happen with others (very little smoke and hard to keep lit) then I simply cannot recommend this. My apologies Mr. Pease, this is the only failure I have found of all the great blends you have created. Aromatics are tough business to do right. MTHLJCSY

I want to start off saying, i have recently tried many "Burley Based Blends" and thought i had them all figured out and that there was no way i can be

surprised by one. Well, i was wrong, Terribly Wrong.

Tin Note: I don't know if you will all know what these are, but there are these chocolates in the shape of beans that are filled with brandy, Appropriately called "Brandy Beans". Well if you do then you know what this blend smells like.

Initial Light: Took me 3 false lights to get this pipe smoking evenly and consistently. I was expecting to get a earthy grounded flavor from the burley, but instead was grounded by a peppery kick from the perique. This was a shocker but i really liked it being it was a nice peppery taste and not over powering.

Mid-Smoke: The smoke was thick and packed with perique throughout the beginning of the smoke all through the mid bowl. Although it was not a bad smoked the perique so far was all i was detecting and the flavor had not changed much at this point. The burn was maintaining it's slow moving consistency and i was getting really cool, dry smoke from the pipe. Near the end of the Mid-bowl the peppery sensation mellowed down enough to enjoy the change of pace but was still around enough to keep me interested.

Bottom of the Bowl: Hello sweetness! the Virginia decided to join the party after all. Bottom bowl was a completely different smoke the pepper has moved to the background making room for the sweet mellow flavor of the virginia. It was almost like actually drinking a citrus like brandy, where the sweetness coats your mouth while you sinuses absorb a spicy sensation. The most complex part of this smoke, it was great.

Room Note: Sweet smelling aroma was tolerable according to the wife.

Dottle: Fantastic burn leaving behind some of the thickest compact ash i have seen to date. Makes me think of a Dairy Queen Blizzard in that i could literally turn the pipe upside down and nothing will fall out. In fact i think this compact ash played a great roll in keeping the pipe lit while not burning too much to smoke uneven. If there was a rating for dottle this would score high. Here's an example as too how thick the ash was, i would not have realized i had reached the bottom had i not taken the pointy end of my pipe tool and pressed it down into the ash.

Smoking Duration: 1HR

Overall: If i were to describe this blend in three word it would be "Full Coarse Smoke" as in your treated to the Brandy and peppery start while finishing with a sweet Virginia cake dessert. Definitely stands out amongst other burley blends i have tried. I won't smoke it daily but i will always have this in my cellar.

Recommendations:

- Give it time to dry its really moist in the tin and i think even more then 3hrs dry time would only do the smoke good.

- If i have realized something from this blend it is that i do not cube cut my flakes and plugs small enough, wow what a difference this cut made.

- Try and leave the ash compact in the pipe while smoking rather then removing it, its too thick to get into your stem so don't worry about that, but leaving it in, i believe, will help your smoke.

I tried hard to like this but, in the end, failed. I even emailed Gary for some tips on enjoying this blend. He suggested gravity filling the bowl and just ever so lightly settling it with my thumb. It certainly made my next bowls better but there was still this stinging, vinegar taste. Oh well, you can't like every blend.