G. L. Pease Caravan

Heavenly! I love 'Balkan/Oriental Traditional English Mixtures... Caravan is top notch - one of the very best! It could be an all-day every day smoke... but I like to savor it...so I alternate via Balkan Sasieni(spicey too with a bit more nicotine but less spicey than Caravan) and 'Robert McConnel's Oriental'(a bit more musty in its spiciness but not as 'sweet and woody'in its spiciness as Caravan... Pipe selection tips the balance of preference ie. I have a Peterson harp...that loves Balkans...and I don't know why... For whatever reason(briar is a bit thick)it always tastes better - more spicy - in that particular pipe. It's not an expensive pipe! By contrast I have a $300 Ser Jacopo that loves S.Gawaith's Chocolate Flake...but it is only 'average' in regard to the Balkans... Is it my imagination? I don't think so...ie. my peterson is relatively thick and the bowl was stained inside...while the Ser Jacopo has a bigger egg-shaped bowl and and resonates more efficiently the nice steamier smoke of chocolate flake... At any rate, Caravan is one of the best... 5 Stars!

A great Balkan, without the harsher notes of the lastest incarnations of Balkan Sobranie's Original Smoking Mixture. Extremely tasty, which is a surprise considering the light colour of the mixture: very few dark brown and black pieces, which would lead me to think of a low Latakia percentage. In fact, Greg describes it as his most oriental dominated blend, in contrast to Odyssey, which is a Balkan with a greater emphasis on Latakia. Caravan may be too strong, tasty and full for all-time consumption, but it is great nonetheless: all my DUnhill pipes smoke like a dream with it, cool, tasty and delightful. All this in spite of the rather fine cut, similar to Renaissance's. Probably my favorite of all the GLPease Latakia blend so far toghether with Blackpoint, with which it shares many similarities anyway (so take a look at my other reviews, if you wish): it is lighter but tastier than Odyssey!

Caravan is a bit on the mild side for a blend of this genre, with a well-rounded flavor.

First bowl I rushed so badly that the final third was un-smokable. It had been a long day, and my head just wasn?t on straight. I had burnt my tongue a bit on some unmentionable aromatic earlier in the day. I packed Caravan too loose. I over-compensated and tamped it too tight. I rushed it, but my semi-singed tongue suffered no further abuse in spite of this. In short, I committed all the newbie sins ? and Caravan let me get away with it. This is such a forgiving blend that it could easily be a ?first smoke? for a newbie. Sure, the complexity would be wasted on them at first, but look at the potential for growth! There are plenty of pipesters out there who have smoked only one blend their entire lives. If someone?s going to do that, why not make it one of the best?

For subsequent bowls, I made sure I was in full control of my faculties.

From charring light to finish, no one leaf dominates the flavor. It is more of being in a constant state of flux. Caravan kept me in a state of relaxed anticipation throughout.

Soft flavor, never-ending nuances. The flavors waft in and out throughout the bowl and make Caravan a delight to smoke. It packs well, it lights well, and it burns well. The bowl is nice and dry when you dump out the powdery-fine ash at the end.

This isn?t an all-day smoke, unless you can sit quietly all day and appreciate its incredible depth and complexity. Having tried all of the currently available Pease blends, I believe Caravan is #2 on my personal ?Favorite GLP Blends? list behind Raven?s Wing.

Tin Aroma: Almost overwhelming in complexity, there are so many components here! Overall, a very balanced aroma though, on the more basso end of the scale. Smells like I'm gonna like it.


Physical Characteristics: A very short ribbon cut, predominately brown, mixed with some black and some lighter ribbons. Trickles into the bowl nicely and packs very easily.

Notes: Any Balkan style blend will eventually be compared to one of the Balkan Sobranie blends, and this one seems to be gathering comparisons to 759. Personally, I feel that if this was an attempt to recreate Sobranie 759, it has failed. Sobranie 759 was never this good. Where 759 had a mineral taste to it, this blend is pure and sweet. Caravan is obviously some high-quality weed, and I am afraid to smoke it carelessly, lest I miss some new development in the smoke. Layer upon layer of Oriental mystery make this blend not only a very satisfying smoke, but a highly entertaining one, when paid attention to. I would highly recommend this blend to any smoker, regardless of their tobacco preferences. English smokers will find a new member of their rotation, Va smokers will give Englishes a second chance, and Aromatic smokers will discover the wonderful tastes that unadorned tobacco can provide. Caravan will bring about world Pease. This, in my opinion, is the blend that will make the rest of the world sit up and recognise the immense talents of Mr. Gregory Pease.
Thank you Greg!

After a number of disappointing experiences with Pease blends, (due to a personal chemistry problem, not a blend dislike!), I have discovered a blend that not only can I tolerate, but one that makes my taste buds leap for joy.

Visual: An overall greenish tint to the tobacco gave me some concern at pre-light. A dull mixture of tobaccos of every color and an excessive amount of "dust" in the blend.

Texture: A bit dry to the touch, but plenty springy. This is a good sign in my opinion.

Pack/Pipe: Gravity fed with a medium firm tamp three times to keep the burn from getting out of control. Although I tend to prefer small to medium size pipes, this blend seemed to shine when I used taller/higher capacity bowls. I kept returning to a Ferndown Bark chimney, an Israeli Alpha Galaxy full bent and a Dunhill Redbark pot.

Lighting/Burn: One match to char, and often that was all that was needed. This stuff lights like fatwood! Very seldom did I need another match to get to the bottom. Burned quickly, but not as fast as I expected considering the moisture content and the large quantity of tobacco dust in the blend.

1st 3rd: That great Latakia aroma and a no kidding around tongue spanking (the good kind!) are what I get from the first few puffs. Burns through this first third quickly and leaves a pile of white/gray fluffy ash. The kind you just love to have for that first tamp.

2nd 3rd: More of the same. Nice Latakia taste, a bit nutty and good quantities of smoke. This level burns through relatively quickly as well. Sometimes I needed a pipe cleaner here to wick away a bit of moisture. More great ash.

Final 3rd: Occasionally I picked up a mineral taste and a bit of saltiness here. It may have been my smoking tempo to blame. Usually smoked to the bottom leaving just a few charred flakes and plenty of grainy gray ash.

Notes: I like this tobacco for its excellent taste, good burn quality, and the fact that I no longer have to explain my dislike of Pease blends. I have a number of tins of every Pease blend stocked away. I am looking forward to some of the other English blends that I have not yet tried.

Stogie rating of: 8 Pristine Punch

Caravan has become for me the quintessential latakia smoke. The flavor and nose of this blend combine to create a complexity and enjoyable experience that gives me the almost ultimate experience of pipe smoking. I have just ordered several tins of this for cellaring and the tin I am smoking now had been blended 1 1/2 yrs ago. When I first tried this blend for the first time I was not as moved by the experience. Some aging of a few months and several bowls later it became something I can only relate to smoking Rattrays Accountants Mixture back in the 1970's. Although that was a very different latakia blend, but was spiritual. GLP,here is a toast to you and your very welcome addition to your line. I have not tried a GLP blend that I dont like, however I do have a hard time choosing from Renaissance, Samarra and Cairo, now Haddo's Delight and Oddyssey( which I have but not tried yet as it is still aging a bit as it was blended this year). Each of these are blends that can be enjoyed with or without careful attention. 5 stars.

Kudos to Sykes Wilford at smokingpipes.com for turning me on to this one. I LOVE this blend. Like G.L. Pease's "Renaissance", I find that this blend burns perfectly, never biting or getting too hot. It is full tasting, but not overwhelming. I have edited my original review of this tobacco to add the following: If ever there is such a thing as a "Holy Grail", I think I've found it! I never thought I could look forward to each individual draw on a pipe to experience the depth and incredible nuances that are yielded from a tobacco. Due to the very short ribbon cut VAs, Orientals, and Latakia, packing a bowl is idiot-proof, even for me. Moisture content is dead-on. I usually find myself diving headfirst into the big white cloud of smoke to experience the depth and complexity in taste of this great tobacco after it has just left my palate. Olfactory and all sensory pleasures abound with this one. I will be stocking up on this bad-boy like no other. Whether you are into Virginas or English tobaccos this is a major find. I cannot overstate how incredible this tobacco is. You must try Caravan!!

The 100-gram tin had a date of "April 1, 2014." Alas, my fears of seam depressurization paid off - the tobacco in the tin dried out somehow and I had to moisten it for about a week. Fortunately, as of about 2015, Cornell & Diehl no longer uses such cans in production, switching to smaller 57-gram packages. Tobacco can also be found in 227-gram (or 8-ounce) tins. Getting ahead of myself, I will say that I should have gotten a bigger tin.

Appearance: a blend of tobaccos quite finely cut in all shades of brown. The bright virginia has darkened over the years, becoming the color of pine sawdust, and the dark tobacco has become a shade of milk chocolate. There is quite a lot of fine dark brown leaf in the mix, and the almost black latakia takes up quite a bit of space.

Flavor: the open tin gave off the familiar, though somewhat weathered smell of "ketchup," and so I transferred the contents to a glass jar. After a slight moistening, light but persistent and quite obvious notes of latakia (tar, peat, suede and a bit of smoke) emerged from the jar, heavily diluted with a complex set of spices, the components of which I recognized coriander and allspice. There is also a subtle acidity, a slight aroma of musk, woody notes and a faint earthy tinge, woven quite appropriately into the canvas of oriental and latakia. On the background of this richness of scents, bright Virginia herbs and wildflowers are barely noticeable, while the sweetish note of dark Virginia supports the entire bouquet rather than acting as an independent player. The overall bouquet of the blend is quite dense, it is very difficult to decompose it into its components.

Taste: tart, initially a little pungent, a set of spices, of which a slight spice stands out, combined with notes of latakia (a smoky, woody, slight creamy taste) form the basis. Virginia adds a slight sweetness of dark fruits and a pinch of fresh wheat bread. It is worth noting that the spices are stronger in bents, while in straight pipes the taste of the blend is smoother. The overall slight spiciness in the flavor is quite unlike that "bite" of tobacco when a forgetful smoker overheats the blend - it does not advances if you take a longer puff. While smoking, the spice becomes less noticeable, giving way to calmer components like coriander and cardamom. The woody note also becomes more pronounced toward the middle of the pipe, but the rest of the Latakia notes remain in the background. Towards the end of the pipe, the tobacco becomes a little more fruity sweetness, but still rich in spicy flavor and with a distinct woody note. Sometimes I also felt a slight anise flavor in the blend. The strength of the tobacco is below average, the nicotine hit is not threatening to the owner of even a very large pipe. The tobacco burns very smoothly and coolly, burning into a light gray ash and leaving almost no moisture in the pipe. The aftertaste has an understated sweet and woody note.

The tobacco smoke is light and unstable, but there is a slight peaty note, along with the smell of smoldering wood.

What is the result? First of all, I am forced to agree that the author's exceptional accuracy in description of the blend. Everything written completely corresponded to my feelings during the tasting. This, oddly enough, upset me somewhat: "Why write a review if it has already been written by the author?" On the other hand, I describe my own feelings, and if they coincide with what was expected from reading the abstract, it's a clear success for the author of the blend. In my opinion, Caravan is clearly worth making a stock of it. The small amount of burley doesn't bother me personally.

This review is from a 2002 tin of Caravan I was lucky to recently procure.

As might be expected from a 20 year old tin, it was a little dry but the tin note was still spices. An interesting combination of tobaccos in the tin which are easy to load and light.

The spices lead the way supported by a sweet background and just a hint of smokiness and overall making me think I'm in the desert on a camel with a load of spices on the silk road.

I'm interested now to try a newer tin to compare and I'll enjoy the other 2 tins from 2002 in my cellar now.