G. L. Pease Barbary Coast

GLP tobaccos always make me work to find their secrets, as they are without a doubt the most complex tobaccos I've found. However, this is the second one in a row that I've found fairly simple to unlock. I'm on a roll! 🙂

Nice cube-cut dark walnut colored blend with a wonderful nose of brandy. At first it smelled like too much brandy, but the taste was subdued, particularly once dried out a touch. Interestingly, I enjoyed the flavor both at tin moisture and dried out for an hour. It's a sweet and savory blend - almost an aromatic, except for the fact that the tobacco taste is very much more prominent that the flavoring. This is a true mixture, as all components add to the whole. The burley nuttiness was at the forefront along with a subtle brandy flavoring, but the VA's and the perique added their color and nuance. This would definitely be a good all day smoke for someone who had a lot of people around. The room aroma was nice and unimposing.

Already almost 150 reviews for this one! My tin was dated 3/09, so perhaps some aging time simmered down the brandy. Really a nice taste treat for the proper occasions. I'll buy more of this. Might make for a nice holiday smoke.

G.L. Pease Barbary Coast offers an interesting niche pipe tobacco. A part of the Original Mixtures series, Barbary Coast has now been on the market for about 15 years.

Crack the tin and you find a varied cut of dark brown and black tobaccos. The tin note suggests a full aromatic (although in smoking it is not), with a walnutty aroma (presumably from the burleys), and a sweetness from the Virginias and a touch of fruitiness from the light brandy flavoring. Perique is also a part of the melange, but it is not very apparent in the tin note.

I find Barbary Coast to be the most moist upon opening of all the Pease mixtures I have tried. Let the tin sit for several days after cracking the seal. Then fill your pipe rather loosely. This tobacco does not smoke well in a tightly packed load. The burley is chunky. This blend offers a cool smoke, but the chunkiness also means that you should expect some relights.

The Virginias seem to be on the sweet side (red?), and when smoked the brandy flavoring is there, but not nearly so strongly as the tin note might suggest. The perique does not dominate, although you can clearly taste it during the smoke. This restrained perique presence (which provides a subtle touch to both taste and room aroma) makes Barbary Coast a mixture that might be likened to Haddo's Delight LIte.

The nicotine kick from Barbary Coast is well above medium, as might be expected from a tobacco for which burley is the base. This mixture is not bite prone unless puffed with extraordinary vigor. The room note is pleasant. The brandy does not make itself strongly present in the room note, and the perique is just barely perceptible. Yet the aroma is different from the typical burely based blend.

I smoke Barbary Coast both with my Virginia and Virginia/perique pipes, as well as with my (generally) cheaper aromatic pipes. Both work well. When not smoked often in a particular pipe I do not find a ghosting problem with the Virginia preferred briars. The aromatic ghosting of the pipes normally used for aromatics does not significantly affect the taste of the Barbary Coast.

Cornell & Diehl's Pennington Gap provides a very similar tobacco to Barbary Coast, the only significant difference being that Pennington Gap uses bourbon as the flavoring rather than brandy. C&D produces the G.L. Pease offerings at their facility, now located in South Carolina rather than North Carolina.

Not a large percentage of pipe smokers will discover Barbary Coast to be a candidate for regular rotation. But I firmly believe that the great majority of pipesters will find it to be a pleasant and intriguing change of pace smoke.

G. L. Pease - Barbary Coast.

Having finished my tin of Alexander Bridge I wanted to have another alcohol flavoured tobacco on the go. So, after reading a few reviews here, this seemed to fit the bill!

The description here's a little wrong. It isn't ribbon cut, the blend's prominently cubes with just a few bigger pieces. The coloration of it's mostly dark brown, with only a few pieces differing. It has a slightly deceiving aroma, it smells stronger flavoured with brandy than it smokes. My tin's moistness was faultless.

I enjoy the smoke, but I don't love it. It takes to the flame simply, and burns well: cool, bite free, without much maintenance. The brandy, although lighter than in the tin, is a definite addition; but, it brings more sweetness to the smoke rather than alcoholic severity; that's it, the tin has more of an alcoholic note, whereas the smoke has more sweetness from the brandy. Regarding the tobaccos, I get more of the slightly abrasive, coarse, Burley, than the others. The Virginia and Perique are far from unnoticeable; I note sweet Virginias and fruity Perique, but they lack as much volume.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: nice.

Barbary Coast? To my palate this would quantify better as an aromatic. Although I'm not fangirling over it, I think it's worth more than two stars. Recommended:

Three stars.

I sought this out as a summer blend, thinking it an aromatic, cool mixture for hot days. It was a good move.

The Bourbon dressing makes this an aromatic, but not in the sugarskandiyuk way or goopy Cavendish treatments unexplainably popular (JMO). BC is not aromatic in the Lake District distinction either.

The Bourbon says "come hither," yet no way interferes with the classy tobacco taste that is BC.

This blend overall is full-flavored, without being overwhelming or heavy, as well as being delightfully complex.

The Virginia component reminds me of McClelland matured Virginias, being rich, deep and requiring care in drawing for best flavor and low temperature. The sweetness is subtle, almost bright and never sooty.

The chunks of cubed Burley are as good as this variety gets. I think it imparts a nutty, cigar-like experience. If you have had appallingly raw, grassy or bitter Burley in the past, BC will renew your interest.

Mr. Pease is not afraid of Perique. Not as heavily ladled as in Haddo's Delight, this is still quite noticeable from beginning to end. It seems to link the Virginias and Burley together and provide what makes this complex.

The tobacco cut makes this work as a blend of cubes and single leaf pieces. Pack it nearly as firm as you would a flake, but back off a bit. Pack it loose like ribbons and you'll need to refill your lighter to keep this smoldering.

This works in medium to large bowls, straight and tapered bores. I get the best performance from BC in a largish, tapered rig.

I have shifted away from Haddo's or Cumberland as of late for various other interests. Unadorned Virginia flakes and medium to full English mixtures make my team line up. Barbary Coast fills a niche and will likely be as close to a daily staple as can be said for my smoking wanderlust.

G.L Pease- Barbary Coast

Nutty burley, slight hay from the Virginia’s and some spice from the Perique, this comes in a cube cut burley with some chunky Virginia’s and Perique.

The brandy topping is nice, not overpowering and accompanies this blend perfectly. This blend does need a bit of drying time, otherwise easy to scoop and smoke.

The only complaint is it smokes a bit hot even when sipped gently. I enjoyed this blend, but I have other burley and burley blends I enjoy more.

Solid 3 star blend.

This is perhaps the most 'American ' tasting tobacco in the G L Pease line that I have tasted.. I can't help but thinking of this as a slightly more elegant and refined codger blend.. but it seems to appeal to a wide range of smokers.. Burley certainly is the prominent leaf but the perique is evident throughout mostly as a tingley spice and not so much for its fruity qualities.. The Virginia also gains some steam and contrasts nicely..The brandy is subtle but very noticeable in the aroma while smoking and the retrohale which is delightful.. The flavor never wowed me like so many Pease blends do.. it was just simple, pleasant and well integrated into the experience.. It is pleasant to sip on and produces that thick burley smoke that is just nice for relaxing and not caring so much about analyzing.. I agree with other reviewers who suggest drying it out.. it seems dry right out of the tin but whether it is the cut or the topping it just performs and tastes so much better to my palette with a significant dry time (cornell and diehl leaf seems to be very deceiving in this regard).. I would recommend this to try.. you may not be floored by it but a nice smoke with enough going on to keep your attention..

This is my overall beach blend. It has a lot of nice blueberries, cocoa, and rum notes. For a burley blend, it had a pleasant aroma. Overall I couldn't find a thing wrong with this blend. Absolutely scrumptious.

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.

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.