G. L. Pease Caravan

These comments are from a VA flake smoker. My tin was dated 04/29/02. This is a nicely prepared mixture of short, wide ribbon cut tobaccos ranging from golden thru brown to dark black. Moisture content is ideal right from the tin and results in easy packing, lighting and an even burn rate. The taste is uniform thru the bowl and dominated by the Turkish and Latakia. These also contribute to the room aroma that is unacceptable to most of my non-smoking friends and family. My initial trials for a quick smoke in small bowled pipes resulted in condensation, a hot smoke and bitter taste ~ 1/2 way into the smoke. Large bowls and a slower pace cured this totally. However, I missed the natural sweetness of my favorite VAs and again confirmed that English blends are just not my preferred all-day smoke. If you enjoy them, give this blend a try.

I'm probably going to have my reviewer's license revoked, but I don't like Caravan. After all the rave reviews about its being THE Balkan blend, I tried it. As a longtime smoker of Balkan Sobranie 759, I just don't see any real similarity between the two. The one element of Caravan that really turned me off was a mineral/saltiness that I've never experienced in any other blend. Maybe I just smoke at the wrong speed for this tobacco, because I never could overcome that saltiness. While it is not described as a balkan blend, I find Butera's Royal Vintage Latakia #1 to be very close to 759 and a much better blend than Caravan.

So take away my reviewer's license, sentence me to a lifetime of Borkum Riff smoked in one of those pipes with the metal fins and interchangeable screw-in bowls while being forced to listen to Menudo, Caravan does not do it for me.

This was the first G.L. Pease blend I ever tried and from the very first puff, I knew it was something special. I have truly fallen in love with this blend. The flavor is not dominated by one of tobaccos which make it up, as all the ingredients perfectly intermingle. The leathery spicyness imparted by the latakia is great in combination with the nice nutty character lended by the orientals. To top it off there is always a light and never dominant sweetness added by the virginias. Let me express my love of the blend this way: If Caravan was a woman, I would be completely wrapped around her finger. That's right, I would be completely whipped. No more partying, poker nights, fishing or hunting trips, and no more spending time with fraternity brothers. Please, if you have not tried this blend then do so. Maybe I'll load up my little Ashton bulldog and smoke a bowl right now.

My cellar is stocked full of this stuff . It's one of my staple tobacccos . A great tobacco for latakia smokers . It's not a heavy hitter latakia blend , but the flavors are just right , and when smoked slow the flavors stand out fully and well balanced .

Tin note of smoky, stewed sour fruit, and mildly spicy. The light brown, brown and black ribbon cut is not too moist. No drying or prep needed. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and consistent, with notes of smoked spices, leather, wood, mildly sweet fruit, mild toasted nuts, mild lemon, mild bitter dry earth and a slightly peppery retro. The Cyprian latakia fighting Orientals for the lead, each supported at times by Burley or Virginia. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is not my favorite.

Don't know if I'll ever get a taste for full English or Balkans, mainly because of great blends like this that shows there are other options to the heavy blends! I really enjoy rich blend of spicy and toasty notes to compliment the Latakia smokiness.... Fun to smoke and tastes great.

Caravan is a very well-balanced, dry-smoking tobacco. The flavor overall is pleasant, moderately complex, and smoky. It is less rich than many Balkan blends, yet a little more assertive than English blends which are light on the Latakia. With some patience and concentration, Caravan is more satisfying than one might suppose at first. It is also a tobacco whose tin aroma gives a nearly-exact impression of what it produces once lit. It is so nicely balanced that I've never felt the urge to experiment with modifying it in any way.

Upon opening my first tin of Caravan, I was FLOORED by the aroma! Surely, this would be the very tobacco I was looking for; the tobacco of my dreams! I was in heaven!

It smelled like a burnt building, the day after the fire. Surely, it was the deep, musty, rich latakia! I couldn't wait to smoke it!

Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there. The tin note was in no way indicative of what this tobacco would taste like.

Methinks the orientals overpower this blend. I like orientals; I like ketchup....but when there's more ketchup than beef on your hamburger bun, it's not so good.

You get a decent volume of smoke from Caravan, but it has little body. It is "light"- more like the consistency of steam, rather than smoke.[Much the same way as aros, which I dislike]

As for taste: It is WAY too peppery and "minty"[for lack of a better word]- reminiscent of a menthol cigarette- without the menthol flavoring...but leaving the same sharp, mouth-washy taste in your mouth. My tongue says "No sign of the virginias, anywhere!".

You can tell that it is made from the very highest quality tobaccos- but the blend just doesn't work. This is the only tobacco I've purchased thus far, which I just can not finish the tin. It's not just "not good"- it's bad. Yet, I keep the half-full tin around, just to sniff it occasionally!

I've come to surmise that when blending tobacco, you must either choose to blend for flavor, or aroma. You can't have both. I'd say Mr. Pease is going for aroma (which, is probably what sells the baccie, 99% of the time)- but I smoke for TASTE!

I had very high hopes for Caravan and all of the GLP blends I have tried....but for some reason, the GLP blends just don't seem to click for me- but of course, as with food or wine, it's largely a matter of personal taste. Me? I find the GLP blends to be ostentatious. Not enough tobacco taste/body...too much on the mixing of too many flavors. I think tobacco blending is similar to cooking, in that to achieve the best results, you need to use the recipe that accomplishes what you want to achieve with fewest ingredients- because once you add too many vying flavors, they compete with each other rather than enhancing each other.

UPDATE: Well, my tin of Caravan is over 6 months old now- Thought I'd give it another try, as many reviewers have stated that many of these GLP tobaccies improve dramatically with age- and sure enough, I could actually enjoy this baccie now! It has actually started to taste like it smells- but, it still has a disagreeable bowl note which ruins the enjoyment of what you exhale; Not much in the way of nicotine- so still, nothing to write home about- there are better tobaccos out there- and for the price you pay for this stuff, it should arrive ready to smoke, as opposed to needing to be aged. But at least i don't have to throw it out now.

The tobacco I smoked for this review was from 1994 so the flavors had time to mingle a bit. This blend is awesome and has quickly become a favorite. The Orientals really shine and add a spicy note to the blend. The yellow and red Virginias make up the body and the Cyprian Latakia does a great job tying it all together. The taste is very clean and sharp and allows you to taste each tobacco separately. There were a few hard bits to work around when loading but other than that this is a winning Balkan. My hats off to Greg for this blend!