G. L. Pease Robusto

While making my rounds of some cigar enhanced English blends, I popped open a tin of Robusto. Initail greeting was that of a natural product, with a bit of a musty undertone. Tobacco comes slightly moist, as I prefer, and loaded was breeze, as are most Pease blends. The charring light was accomplished and so I settled in for a treat. Tobacco is well balance, Orientals, Virginia, Latakia, with what I detected as a Turkish varient, that seemd to mask the Maduro leaf. While not a bad smoke, it just didn't exite me, compared to Robert Lewis' 123, which has Havana seed leaf, and a different Latakia configuration, perhaps that is the difference? Robusto is a good smoke, but one that I won't cellar. I have tried this in various pipes and conditions.

Well, this one is definitely unique. Upon opening the tin, you are greeted with medium to dark brown short ribbon, with an occassional black here and there. Packing is easy, lighting is easy too. Lighting is a breeze due to the perfect moisture. Initial flavor: yes, you can taste the cigar leaf, but it is well balanced with the other leaf. Very mellow and creamy at mid-bowl (best part for this one IMO). Slight increase in strength and bitterness toward the bottom. No tongue-bite with this blend. The room note will definitelty scare most people away. Overall, this is definitely a gourmet blend that might not satisfy the cigar smoker, but is enough for me as a change of pace from my beloved "balkan" blends. One warning: If you let this go out and sit for a while, relighting gives a terrible bitter flavor that made me dump it out and repack afresh. Rating 4 out of 5 points. Enjoy... P.S. You may want to dedicate a pipe for this one as the cigar leaf flavor will linger in your pipe for a while.

I first tried this about 8 years ago. Wasn’t really impressed. Put it in a jar, and forgot all about it. Cracked open the jar today and wow! It’s really good. Not sure if it’s because of the age on it, but I’ve been missing out. I’ll have to order more, and see what’s up.

Jars from this manufacturer are vacuum sealed in a factory process and usually have a release date stamped on the bottom of the jar. In this case, the can was labeled January 2016. The opened jar smelled evenly of walnut, bitter chocolate, a slight tinge of tar and - amazing, right? 😉 - tobacco leaf. The flavor is very smooth, not irritating.

The tobacco in the jar is ribbon-sliced. The color of the blend is almost uniform, light brown, with isolated dark flakes of latakia. The mix itself is very high quality, the slicing is even.

I stuffed the blend into a specially selected pipe - a new one, so as not to smell any extraneous aromas and flavors - and smoked. The cigar leaf was immediately tinged with an earthy, peaty flavor. A slight darting taste of latakia was added to it, as well as a slight spiciness from the orientals. All in all, it felt like smoking a mild cigar through a mouthpiece. True, somewhere in the background the herbal flavor of Virginia resonated, but only barely perceptible. Don't expect any lightness of flavors from this blend - the tobacco is medium-strength by pipe standards. The nicotine hunger of this blend quenches very easily, and in a large pipe it can hit you on the head. The tobacco smokes quickly enough, but it is cool - a leisurely smoking half a pipe with an average cup took only 20 minutes. The flavor of the tobacco is pretty much the same throughout the entire smoking experience. The tobacco leaves some moisture in the cup, the ash is loose and dark.

The tobacco smoke almost repeats the cigar notes. It is comfortable enough in smell if you are used to cigars, but significantly lighter, and in five to ten minutes disperses without a trace.

This is the first cigar leaf blend I've tried, and it left only the most positive impression. It's much closer to cigars than the same Punch from Lane Limited that I've tried before. The tobacco complements my morning coffee perfectly. Of course, I will try other blends with tobacco leaf, but on occasion I'll get a tin or two of Robusto for my collection.

Medium to darker brown, has the "feel" of a broken flake with some finer stuff. To the nose: I get grassy virginia and old leather. Loads and lights easily from a fresh tin. For me the not-quite-sweet VA drives the bus. With every puff I can taste a bit of cigar which as a condiment goes very well with the oriental/turkish and latakia: the result is a noticeable spicy and smokey experience the melds with the smooth VA. This on the stronger side of medium in flavor. I have a pipe dedicated to this blend now and find that one a day is enough. My other pipes will be Havana Daydream which is a smoother, milder cigar blend.

Easily one of my top five favorite tobaccos. A must try. This is perhaps the closest thing to a cigar you'll get in a pipe tobacco. Well balanced and delicious!

I smoked cigars regularly many moons ago. I ventured from cigars to pipe. Haven’t smoked my pipes for probably 10 years until recently. I thought a cigar blend would be a pleasant reintroduction to my pipes. With that said, I ordered some Robusto. While I did get a hint of cigar early in the bowl, I found the flavor rather thin. I was hoping for more cigar flavor. It seems to me to be a relatively moderate blend that doesn’t stand out in most regards. It doesn’t fill my mouth with much flavor. Seems to burn ok, and doesn’t go rancid on me towards the bottom. I’ll keep searching for a fuller cigar blend.

When it comes to cigar leaf in pipe tobacco, it's common to hear something like, "if I want a cigar, I'll smoke a cigar." So, I brace for disappointment each time I try a tin of cigar-based blend. However, this is the third time I've been pleasantly surprised, so either I've been lucky or I just like cigar leaf in my pipe.

My tin was slightly bulged out from eight years of cellaring (oh yeah). The moisture level is perfect (for me). The tobaccos were surprisingly varied in size; this is clearly a "mixture."

Different bowls brought different impressions of the Latakia, sometimes low sometimes stronger, but the cigar flavor came through consistently clearly. The flavor is bold and deep throughout. This is a savory and complex blend, and it is forgiving to fast puffing. I noted more variation of flavor than usual when changing pipes with this blend, which seems a bit paradoxical given the type of mixture this is.

I noticed the nicotine on bigger bowls, so this wouldn't be a multi-bowl smoke for me.

Overall, a delicious and complex smoke.

I was curious to see what a "cigar blend" was like so I picked it up. Duh. Tastes like a cigar, which is fine if that's what you want. It was like a cigar was rubbed out, dried a bit and loaded. So for impersonating a cigar, Señor Pease, you did that well. That said, it doesn't rile me up enough to say much else. Threw away the rest of the tin due to so many opened tins. Maybe Key Largo will bring more to the table. I'll try that sometime.

One and done.

Check.