G. L. Pease Barbary Coast

Just before Thanksgiving, '08, on a visit to renowned Pipe artisan Larry Roush, I was given a gift of 2 oz of Barbary Coast. The next day, I drove from Ohio to New Jersey, and put a big dent in that inventory, and then ordered 5 lbs more, of which half is gone. It is my go-to, everday smoke, and after drying it out a bit, and learning the nuances of loading my pipes with it, all is well at my smoking rooms in Nashville, TN.

I'm not one of those to describe tobaccos with food or herb comparisons....it has a sweetness to it that I find pleasant, my companions all rave about the smell, and I have nothing but good things to say about it. Most importantly, having smoked a fair amount of it, I'm as enthusistic about smoking it as I was on day 1.

An added bonus is that it builds a great cake, rather quickly, in my new pipes.

I've read glowing reviews of this tobacco, and a few rather nasty ones....thank the Lord we all have different tastes!!!!

This is a truly pleasurable smoking experience. Starts like a great VaPer. The Virginias are uncommonly rich and sweet. The Perique, tart with ample spice. The Brandy is present in the aftertaste of each retrohale. A very nice touch. As the bowl progresses the Burley ever so slowly starts sneaking in until, at near half bowl, a balance is reached between the three. In spite of the disappearance of the Brandy aftertaste this my favorite part. For what seems too short of a time the balanced flavors provide a wonderful taste experience. Past halfway the Burley dominates, but only slightly. The flavor and sweetness of the Virginias remain, slightly muted. The flavor of the Perique nearly disappears, but the spice remains. The nuttiness of the Burley really shines through here. The flavors hold steady in this manner to the end of the bowl. This is a Burley blend I can hang my hat on. Very well done.

Un-freakin believable tobacco. The perique starts off strong and gives way to a lovely complex smoke. There is a wonderful sweetness and flavor that develops from about the beginning of the 2nd half of the bowl. At any time you can bring the perique back full force by some heavy puffs. Towards the end it reminded me of some whiff of pipe tobacco from a distant time, you know that hauntingly beautiful smell as a child that made you want to smoke a pipe? Here it is. Oh! mistress nicotine how I adore thee!

Whoa!

This, I don't know what to say, this is instantly going to near the top of my list, and in spectacular fashion too.

The cube cut burley is central to this. Its deep, rich, luxurious, nutty, all of the superlatives you know that describe top class burley. Damp and brooding too, tastes very aged and complex, and it just dripping with flavor.

Then on top of that, it reeks of top shelf cognac. Stinking of the stuff, looks like someone poured it over the mixture right before it was sealed.

It dries into a classic smoke. It tastes like you are sampling something from the 1970's before people cared about healthrisks of anything, its that OTT.

The smoke is big, fragrant and complex. The warms of the briar then brings out an earthiness and aroma then just draws you in. The VA's become more apparent as the heat of the bowl draws them out. I didn't get the Perique much, I haven't got a sophisticated palate though.

Careful! I've never heard anyone talk about Vit N with this, but I was almost flattened. Such richness and such high caliber burley packs a wallop. I was caught unawares and felt a cold sweat coming on near the end, and when I stood (after a glorious hour of smoking) I was firmly on Weird Street and needed two doses of sugar, a Coke and a walk in a stiff breeze to bring me back. Even during my wimpery, I was stiff savoring the taste.

I cannot even imagine how good this is aged!

Load up, smoke half and store half, and be merry.

The initial aroma is hard to describe, being very fragrant and pleasant, but not like the typical aromatic. Instead, it seems to be a bouquet of natural aromas combined with the nuttiness of good aged burley. The overall effect is similar to a vintage Port wine. The cut is a mixture of varied size cube cut, some rough cut, and a bit of broken flake (red virginia?). The color is mostly red and orange, with traces of darker tobacco present. The blend seems a bit moister than usual for Pease, but still not as moist as many others I've tried. I had no trouble packing the first pipe, but noticed that it needed a light touch or it might easily get too tight. It lights easily, and burns better than I thought it would. The initial flavor is something like the old burley blends of my youth, only much more refined. There is an underlying nuttiness, with some almost fruity notes and a touch of tingle. The smoke is gentle to the tongue and palate, dense and cool. The flavor develops nicely with no surprises in the middle third of the bowl. So far, I have only tried this in smaller (group 3) Sasieni four dots, as they have been used for burley previously. The room note is quite nice, almost like walnuts, and got positive comments from my LSW. In general, I would recommend this to any smoker who appreciates the subtler taste of burley, or is looking for a change of pace from virginias or orientals, and would certainly recommend it to anyone looking to get away from the "perfumed" aromatics.

Now this is refreshing! This is not something that I would normally smoke, as Im not a man of burley.

To me, this tastes like a high quality praline. Filled with a creamy dark chocolate ganache with some brandy, a lovely nut creme centre and dipped in white chocolate.

The nicotine level is spot on.

Its extremely refreshing to the palate, after a hearty meal with a cup of coffee you want something slightly sweet to go with it. Instead of reaching for that tasty praline described above, you might as well go for barbary coast. Hell, its better!

This right here brings a smile to my face. Im very pleasantly surprised.

This is a delicious burley based smoke. It is certainly different from anything which I have tried thus far. It is flavorfull and satisfying. If you even think you like burley blends, then you will probably be astounded by this stuff. I've tried several GLPease blends so far, and they all have been very high quality tobaccos. This one however strikes me as something special.

I like cigars as well as pipes, and this tobacco's flavor really appeals to me. It's a no-nonsense "real tobacco" blend that probably is closer to what classic Americana tobacco blends of yesterday would have been if taken to an absurd level of quality. Barbary Coast has an interesting grassy sort of flavor that others have commented on which presents itself early on and is quite unique. While not excessively overwhelming, and not too bitey, this is nontheless strong, highly tasty and very smokable tobacco.

This tobacco also is possessed of a fantastic aroma which makes me think of bygone days of yore. To me it has a classic "pipe tobacco smell" which others may or may not like. It doesn't smell like vanilla, or fruit, or whatever, instead it smells like good old tobacco and I like it. It has a room note that could only come from a pipe.

This is definately a burley masterpeice. Give it a try sometime.

[update] After smoking this stuff for a while, I admit I am hooked. I restrict myself to one wonderfull bowl per day. This blend deserves FIVE stars. It is simply fantastic. Almost every other GLP blend that I have tried is a four star smoke, but this one is even better in my opinion. I need to order more of these wonderfull chunks of goodness ASAP;

When I first approached GLPease blends, I immediately started with Latakia mixtures because of my passion for smoky, spicy and not too sweet tobaccos: the first two candidates were Mephisto and Odyssey. I found them great, but perhaps a bit over-hyped. OK, they taste very good, but they lack a bit of punch at times (at least I thought so before I tried Blackpoint and Abingdon). So it comes as a surprise, considering my passion for Latakia, that my favorite GLP blend so far (the third I have tried) is Barbary Coast, which doesn't contain Latakia at all!!!! This blend is such an uncommon one, and so monstruosly good, that I really begin to understand why Greg is called the Dark Lord... Upon opening the tin, the appearance was rather unusual: now I understand what "cube cut Burley" means! The tobacco looks like the little pellets in cartridges for hunting rifles! Very moist, but probably this is due to the light brandy topping (very perceivable in the aroma, more than the rum in Mephisto) and it isn't a problem when you pack and light the bowl: this blend just fires up great. In spite of the moisture, it keeps burning perfectly: it IS possible to finish a bowl without relighting! It can get a bit hot if you overpuff (but it doesn't bite, and it still tastes great), but the result is always a perfect, light gray, extra dry and fine ash. No wetness at all! One of the best burning tobaccos I have ever tried, undoubtedly. Best for last: the taste! While I might prefer it to be a slight bit less sweet, I can't really complain: after all it isn't sweeter than some of my other Virginia blends, and it is a completely fascinating and overpowering experience. My, this Burley is fantastic, absolutely different from the bitter, unpleasant leaf that is found in other blends. It is difficult to tell the contribution of the various tobaccos employed here, as the taste comes as a unique whole: I can say that the Perique is barely perceivable, and that the Virginia provide an excellent sweet backing to the extremely nutty, smoky and earthy Burley. Yes, earthy: it's really like the smell of the wet earth when you take a walk in the woods after the rain. I never grow tired of this taste: it is satisfactory, filling and caressing, and doesn't get bad towards the end of the bowl. The brandy is not very perceivable in itself, but certainly gives its contribution in rounding the edges off the blend. And the room note, while not strictly pleasant to non-smokers, is not nasty at all. This is one of those tobaccos that I keep craving more and more for, no matter how much I smoke them! Definitely recommended for those who prefer something tastier and smokier than plain Virginia/Perique blends!

2011 Update: OK, after many years (and more smoking experience), I have to downgrade this one a tiny bit. It is a great blend, but I tend to find it a bit monochromatic, especially in aged tins (go figure!). Still, one of the best burley blends out there.

I smoke this blend a lot! It's somewhat aromatic but smokes easily like an otc blend. The cut is easy to load, light and smoke. Fullish flavor without overwhelming the tongue. The topping reminds me of the brandy topping on Haddo's delight. It's got enough vitamin N to keep you satisfied. I like this blend for breaking in any new pipes as it smokes so nicely.