G. L. Pease Cumberland
(3.05)
Robust and possessing a subdued sweetness, Cumberland is a delightfully orchestrated suite of American tobaccos, featuring a rare and exquisite mahogany Kentucky, aged in bales for twenty years. Red and matured Virginias establish a theme; the Kentucky and a pianissimo of perique create the variations. Pure, natural tobacco flavors are harmonized by delicate arpeggios and underscored by deep, resonant tones. The coda is lovely and lingering - a perfect finish to a rich performance. Best savored slowly.
Notes: From GL Pease: July, 2012 UPDATE: Just now, I responded to an email from a chap wanting to know when the aged Kentucky would likely run out. I'm a little embarrassed to say we actually ran out of it some time ago. I didn't even know until some months after the fact, and then, I completely forgot about updating the site and the labels, and there you have it. I've since smoked the new KY alongside some of the aged stuff I have in the library, and am hard pressed to tell much difference, straight, and when blended, they're almost totally indistinguishable to my palate, so we can all stop worrying about when Cumberland will go out of production. As long as we can get dark-fired KY leaf of this quality, we can keep producing it.
The new stuff has been in use for long enough that I can safely say that if anyone was going to notice, myself included, it would have happened, so there it is. I'll change the labels for the next print run, and scrape the egg off my face.
Cumberland was introduced in April, 2002
Details
| Brand | G. L. Pease |
| Series | Original Mixtures |
| Blended By | Gregory Pease |
| Manufactured By | Cornell & Diehl |
| Blend Type | Virginia/Perique |
| Contents | Kentucky, Perique, Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Coarse Cut |
| Packaging | 2 ounce tin, 8 ounce tin |
| Country | United States |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Medium to Strong
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
3.05 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 17 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 13, 2009 | Medium to Strong | None Detected | Medium to Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Cumberland by GLPease will intrigue you with an arpeggio of Virginias, graced by an appoggiatura of spicy Perique riding, with each puff, on pedal tones of a rare and exquisite mahogany Burley aged in bales for 20yrs. As Big Daddy Pollitt would say, "Bull!"
The Va's, which should be singing in chords, not arpeggios, are too assertive and sharp, if not downright bitey. As for the Perique, like any seasoning, if you can taste it clearly enough to identify it, you've probably used too much. Nothing subtle here! To me this tastes rather stale, at times acrid, and musty in a bad sort of way. Its apparent popularity is a triumph of marketing hype and the power of suggestion. It's a case of "the emperor has no clothes."
Here's what I imagine happened. A wholesaler whose operating capital has been tied up in rejected leaf for 20 yrs., and on which he has paid annual inventory taxes, offers it to Pease at a huge discount. "What would I do with it?" asks Pease. The wholesaler suggests giving it a fancy name like "Mahogany" and mixing it with sharp Va's and a palate-numbing dose of Perique. Put it in a fancy tin; call it an "artisanal" blend; charge an arm and a leg; and watch 'em lap it up!
Reviewer 'Briarabbit' nailed it earlier: if the Burley had been at all good to begin with, it would have been scooped-up long ago. So why now, just at 20yrs? Think about it. Being low in sugar, Burley doesn't benefit much from any kind of aging. I doubt that a wholesaler, whose job is to move inventory, would intentionally hold back quality Burley, hoping for improvement, duh, for 20 years! To me it's all a lot of marketing hooey.
There are plenty of good American style tobacco blends out there, and this isn't one of them. 20-year-old doo-doo is still doo-doo.
Cumberland gets 1 star for rough edges, poor balance, and unpleasant taste.
Mr. Pease gets 4 stars for chutzpah.
The Va's, which should be singing in chords, not arpeggios, are too assertive and sharp, if not downright bitey. As for the Perique, like any seasoning, if you can taste it clearly enough to identify it, you've probably used too much. Nothing subtle here! To me this tastes rather stale, at times acrid, and musty in a bad sort of way. Its apparent popularity is a triumph of marketing hype and the power of suggestion. It's a case of "the emperor has no clothes."
Here's what I imagine happened. A wholesaler whose operating capital has been tied up in rejected leaf for 20 yrs., and on which he has paid annual inventory taxes, offers it to Pease at a huge discount. "What would I do with it?" asks Pease. The wholesaler suggests giving it a fancy name like "Mahogany" and mixing it with sharp Va's and a palate-numbing dose of Perique. Put it in a fancy tin; call it an "artisanal" blend; charge an arm and a leg; and watch 'em lap it up!
Reviewer 'Briarabbit' nailed it earlier: if the Burley had been at all good to begin with, it would have been scooped-up long ago. So why now, just at 20yrs? Think about it. Being low in sugar, Burley doesn't benefit much from any kind of aging. I doubt that a wholesaler, whose job is to move inventory, would intentionally hold back quality Burley, hoping for improvement, duh, for 20 years! To me it's all a lot of marketing hooey.
There are plenty of good American style tobacco blends out there, and this isn't one of them. 20-year-old doo-doo is still doo-doo.
Cumberland gets 1 star for rough edges, poor balance, and unpleasant taste.
Mr. Pease gets 4 stars for chutzpah.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| May 29, 2009 | Strong | None Detected | Medium to Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Tin: Fairly uniform mahogany with the occasional black fleck of perique, transitioning to brown hues after the tin had been opened for a week. Sweet fragrant aroma, yet stale leafy scent, like fragrant boiled peanuts. Short to medium ribbon cut with an infrequent stiff ribbon. Almost dry but supple. Date stamp on bottom of tin, 030306, 03MAR2006.
Lighting: Burned with one match
Taste: Musty crawlspace, stale. Once in a while, multiple bowls, in a pipe uncleaned inbetween, tastes just like a rancid cigarette.
Aroma & Room Note: The smoke aroma is akin to the tin, not leaving much of a signature behind.
Nicotine: Strong and heady
Overall: Not quite my flavor of tobacco. Not even close to the standard nutty burley taste. Try McCranie's Old Master for typically flavored burley or McClelland's Mixture X-10 Burley, or C&D 108: Pegasus.
Lighting: Burned with one match
Taste: Musty crawlspace, stale. Once in a while, multiple bowls, in a pipe uncleaned inbetween, tastes just like a rancid cigarette.
Aroma & Room Note: The smoke aroma is akin to the tin, not leaving much of a signature behind.
Nicotine: Strong and heady
Overall: Not quite my flavor of tobacco. Not even close to the standard nutty burley taste. Try McCranie's Old Master for typically flavored burley or McClelland's Mixture X-10 Burley, or C&D 108: Pegasus.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 30, 2010 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Strong |
Dry, tasteless,musty, tongue niping, overpriced weed. I really felt ripped off. GLP makes some nice blends but please, is this the Emperor's new clothes? The burley in this blend tastes like they were left in an old dusty warehouse.This blend made me sneeze.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Dec 18, 2009 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Strong |
I love GL Pease tobacco, and it pains me to say it, but yuck! I just don't get it. The tobacco was very dry when I opened the tin, so dry it had crumbled up into quite small pieces. The smell was mild and a tad musty, maybe even bitter, definitely a bit different. It lit very easily, and only one relight for the whole bowl. But the taste! Cheap cigars. That's it. I didn't get any nuances or subtleties.
Maybe my tin had suffered some abuse somewhere between it leaving the GL Pease factory to getting to my house, to cause it to be so dry, and maybe it is unfair to review such a dried out tobacco. But you might get a similar can if you order some. Rating 1/10 honestly, the worst tobacco I have ever smoked.
Tin Marked 04-2009
EDIT: Right, lets try to be fair about this. I don't like burleys generally. But if I try to exclude that fact: what can I say? (after slowly rehydrating the tobacco by putting a few pipe fulls in a glass jar, and covering with a damp cloth)
Pros: - Lights well, stays lit well, burns well and really nice a cool
- Has a nice hit of vitamin N. Probably one of the strongest after kendal black xx rope. Stronger the full virginia flake.
- Nice peppery, spicy smoke
- If you smoke it fast, you get a nice nutty flavour
Cons: - Bitter
- Drying smoke (i.e. my mouth feels all dry and grainy)
- Its just not nice
Conclusion: If you like burley, smoke Solani Aged Burley Flake or Wessex Burley Slice instead.
Maybe my tin had suffered some abuse somewhere between it leaving the GL Pease factory to getting to my house, to cause it to be so dry, and maybe it is unfair to review such a dried out tobacco. But you might get a similar can if you order some. Rating 1/10 honestly, the worst tobacco I have ever smoked.
Tin Marked 04-2009
EDIT: Right, lets try to be fair about this. I don't like burleys generally. But if I try to exclude that fact: what can I say? (after slowly rehydrating the tobacco by putting a few pipe fulls in a glass jar, and covering with a damp cloth)
Pros: - Lights well, stays lit well, burns well and really nice a cool
- Has a nice hit of vitamin N. Probably one of the strongest after kendal black xx rope. Stronger the full virginia flake.
- Nice peppery, spicy smoke
- If you smoke it fast, you get a nice nutty flavour
Cons: - Bitter
- Drying smoke (i.e. my mouth feels all dry and grainy)
- Its just not nice
Conclusion: If you like burley, smoke Solani Aged Burley Flake or Wessex Burley Slice instead.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 30, 2008 | Very Strong | None Detected | Full | Tolerable |
Theorically, this MUST be right, according to the description, the blender´s reputation and some of the comments. I agree with someone who says that this requires a thoughtful review, and to finish more than one tin to rate it properly. But the problem is that I couldn´t even finish the first bowl, not to say a whole tin!
I tried to, but every time I made the effort to open the drawer and take it, my body started to shiver, sweat cold, my stomach ached strongly and my nerves collapsed. I just couldn´t.
The smell in the can is very appealing, though. I wouldn´t dare to ever again draw a match near it.
I tried to, but every time I made the effort to open the drawer and take it, my body started to shiver, sweat cold, my stomach ached strongly and my nerves collapsed. I just couldn´t.
The smell in the can is very appealing, though. I wouldn´t dare to ever again draw a match near it.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jul 14, 2007 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Strong |
Highly unimpressed with this "trendy" pipe tobacco. It is nothing more than cigarette tobacco. The taste is musty and cob webed. I felt as though someone tined this tobacco as a joke, just to see how many would buy it and call it a masterpiece. Yuk!
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 03, 2004 | Medium to Strong | None Detected | Extremely Mild (Flat) | Strong |
I completely agree with BriarRabbit and Pipestud just read their reviews. I couldn't have said it better. I'll also add that this is the ugliest tobacco I've ever seen. Looks and tastes like they swept up the floor at the end of a hards day blending and made Cumberlend.
Funny thing about this blend' it starts off great and in two seconds it goes bad and gets worse, oh well move on to the next one.
Funny thing about this blend' it starts off great and in two seconds it goes bad and gets worse, oh well move on to the next one.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Nov 28, 2003 | Extremely Strong | None Detected | Overwhelming | Tolerable |
Everyone has different taste buds, and mine are way different than the others listed here. I opened the tin and sneezed my head off. After I picked my head up off the floor and put it back on I sniffed the tobacco and sneezed again. I had to retreat, and refrom my ranks a little while and think about this one. I wondered if I really wanted to smoke this stuff. I had smoked other G.L Pease tobaccos before and thought they were fair to good,but this one had me wondering what the heck was in that tin. The cut is ribbon with larger and smaller pieces mixed in. The color is light blond to light brown,and reddish. I got my strength up and filled the bowl of a BBB Canadian with a small bowl diameter. I smoked the tobacco and was not able to smoke another pipe for two days because of the tounge bite I recieved from this crap!.IMHO, it smelled like hay burning! I happen to really enjoy Burley tobacco,and I'm wondering why any bales of Burley are from twenty years ago. How come that tobacco wasn't sold when it was at the auction? Makes me wonder if it wasn't poor quality tobacco bought dirt cheap,and given a fancy name. I hear a lot of pipe smokers really bowing down to the Pease line,touting how excellent it is.I just don't understand that,and I have been smoking pipes for 20 years. I'll avoid this dry cheap quality hay that I payed way too much for. Its like eating chiterlings when you could have had a pork chop. I'm from Tennessee and I wish Mr. Pease could have named this tobacco something else besides Cumberland. How about naming it "Rag weed".But hey,thats my taste buds. Your tate buds may really enjoy this.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 09, 2021 | Strong | None Detected | Medium to Full | Tolerable |
I had a lot of expectations given the comments on the web and I tried it for several smokes with different pipes, including meershaum. The aroma is nice and reveals clearly the presence of Kentucky.
The moisture level was correct.
The nicotine is well visible although not at top levels.
However the virginia disappears against the Kentucky and Perique. At the end each smoke was harsh, quite bitter and acrid.
I tried with smaller pipes and also with meershaum pipes that tend to smooth the stronger blends, but the result was always the same. Unpleasant.
It is plainly a well done manufacture, but I do not like it.
I tried other blends similar to this one. For example the Lakeland and the Bracken flake from Samuel Gawith and they had a quite pleasant side, although not so straight forward. But this Cumberland could not be resolved.
The moisture level was correct.
The nicotine is well visible although not at top levels.
However the virginia disappears against the Kentucky and Perique. At the end each smoke was harsh, quite bitter and acrid.
I tried with smaller pipes and also with meershaum pipes that tend to smooth the stronger blends, but the result was always the same. Unpleasant.
It is plainly a well done manufacture, but I do not like it.
I tried other blends similar to this one. For example the Lakeland and the Bracken flake from Samuel Gawith and they had a quite pleasant side, although not so straight forward. But this Cumberland could not be resolved.
Pipe Used:
Castello, Dunhill, Meershaum
PurchasedFrom:
Tabaccheria Guzzi, Gorgonzola
Age When Smoked:
new
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Oct 03, 2012 | Medium | Medium | Medium to Full | Tolerable |
I had high hopes for this given the description and even after opening the tin. It smelled great. However, it leaves the nastiest taste on my tongue, like a ashy film on it that stays even after i stop smoking. It must be a PH thing because it does not feel like it is just the tobacco, but almost like a chemical reaction. I have never had any other tobacco do that. Has any one else had this experience?
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