G. L. Pease Robusto

This is not a duplicate of the sadly lamented Sobrania #10 Virginia, but may be a welcome replacement for it.

Appearance: Random cuts typical of GLP blends, mostly red, with some darker leaf, and a few greenish bits.

Aroma: Good rich Virginia base, with a hint of maduro cigar. A faint trace of Oriental, or is it my imagination?

Packing: As always, the cut lends itself to easy packing in any sized pipe that I?ve tried, from group 3 to 5. Unlike Raven?s Wing and Odyssey, Rubusto seems to need a slightly firmer pack, but YMMV.

Lighting: Takes flame quickly, but not too quickly. Starts burning evenly right away, just a slight tamp at the start and it?s ready to enjoy.

Initial flavor: The initial flavor varies, depending upon the pipe?s history. In a Latakia pipe, the Latakia is emphasized, and in a Va. pipe, the Va. sweetness is highlighted. The cigar leaf is noticeable right away, but never overbearing.

Mid-bowl: Cool, rich, and wonderful. Seems to stay lit well at a slow puffing pace. Nicely layered flavors of red virginia and maduro cigar on top, with latakia and oriental in the background as accents.

Finish: Burns to the bottom in a well behaved way, but too damned soon. No noticeable increase in harshness. Leaves a clean almost white ash, and a dry stem.

Summary: Another winner from Greg. I don?t know how to categorize this one, but that?s not the important issue. If you enjoy cigar leaf blends, this is one not to miss.

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For my first review (and many thanks to all the reviewers who have taken the trouble and time to construct this wonderful resource that has been a help and a joy to me) I have picked a blend that I consider to be seriously undervalued.

Blending cigar leaf into a well balanced pipe tobacco is very tricky but Greg Pease has produced a great smoke here in what was an early showing of his probably unique ability as a blender. Other producers have created great and varied ranges of tobaccos but over longer periods of time and much more favourable circumstances. I think in reviewing tobacco from a range one tends to have an overview of the range and that is my mine upfront. Having said that my view of the Greg Pease range is not uncritical and inevitably in so characterful a group I seriously dislike a couple I have tried but also found them instructive about tobacco and interesting. Robusto was by no means love at first puff as it took over half a tin for the flavour to fully settle and round out in my pipe - while otherwise a low maintenance tobacco it does not fall into an obvious type so benefits from a dedicated pipe. Once settled in it has a wonderful complex flavour with contrasting cocoa-cedar- mild leather balanced by raspberry-citrus-nectarine but dry (as against sweet), rather like a really good red wine. Having said this the flavours are subtle and do not distract from but enhance activities like reading - again rather like a really good wine not distracting from a great meal but enhancing it. The smoke is creamy and caresses the tongue without any bite; and even after 35 years of pipe smoking I have to confess to a bite prone tongue.

The distinct cocoa element at least reminds of Sobranie Reserve Blend Virginia Ready Rubbed of over 20 years ago but considerably better (more complex plus does not share the rather off putting room note). It therefore displaces that tobacco from my all time top five - the others are also sadly long out of production.

I give this tobacco the strongest recommendation to virtually any pipe smoker as the blend is well integrated with none of the components (including latakia) to the fore (obviously if you tend to smoke below medium strength start with a part filled smaller pipe).

One warning though if you return after a few hours to a half smoked pipe it can be a bit ashy but not necessarily unpleasant and even quite interesting.

In summary one of the all time great smokes a joy in good times and a solace in bad moments - above it does not just fill a slot in the rota but is fun to smoke.

Aroma: Robusto resembles a nice Oriental-forward English like Squadron Leader or PS Balkan Supreme with an obvious Latakia presence. The cigar leaf is not noticeable at all in my tin (for some reason, mine was quite dry when opened), and was much more present in Key Largo.

Appearance: A higher percentage of olive-colored leaf than Key Largo, which I assume is the oriental. Key Largo is darker and does not show much evidence of this greenish leaf but then it's a flake, which means it was pressed, which means the various types of tobacco may have melded a bit more than with Robusto.

I took one pinch of tobacco and in a totally unscientific experiment, separated the various tobaccos from one another. No, I'm not obsessive-compulsive, in fact I'm a strong Myers- Briggs Perceiver, but my curiosity got the best of me. It looks to be very roughly equal parts Oriental, Virginia and cigar leaf, with a little Latakia to smooth it out.

Flavor: First, the results from the briar pipes: this blend is much more austere than Key Largo. The words “rich” and “smooth” do not come to mind. There is no subtlety here – Robusto is astringent and “dry”, as in wine tasting, meaning unsweet. It's quite spicy and if I allow a little to get into my nose it burns.

Now, this may not sound like a ravishing review out of the gate, but many of us like spicy mixtures. If you're one of them then Robusto will satisfy. If you like Ashton VSGs and certain SG ropes that have been utterly dried out, you'll like this. It's not as smooth as Key Largo, and it is significantly different to me in both taste and behavior in the pipe. It burns very easily and somewhat quickly, probably due to the very dry nature of this particular tin.

Now, stand back – the Meer tasting: absolutely amazing! I have never before experienced such a positive shift from a Meer. Normally it's the other way around for me – most tobaccos taste better to me in a briar, and I use a Meer mostly to get a good handle on the unadulterated flavors. But in my Meer the Robusto absolutely erupts into a smooth, rich, complex, wonderful smoke that I just couldn't get enough of - an incredibly tasty experience that puts Robusto right near the top of all the Pease blends I've had thus far.

Been a cigar smoker for decades as well as a pipe. Used to be more cigars, but I've changed. Pipe smoking is cheaper and there is such a vast variety I've shifted to being only an occasional cigar smoker.

That said, Robusto is the Bomb; an atomic bomb, perhaps even thermonuclear! When I smoke this I make sure I have a comfy seat, a hot mug of java and no place to be or heavy equipment to operate. This is one to be savored over time and not hurried or pushed.

Deep, thick, chewy, dark, rich, brown then black. All those and more. Now I can smoke this in an oversized pipe, but made the mistake of having my first Robusto- fest in one. It almost won that first bout.

I like it strong, hot, smokey, stout, thick, rich and powerful. This never leaves me lacking for any of those. Thank you Mr. Pease, you done damn good with this beast of smoking pleasure.

G. L. Pease - Robusto.

Up until now Key Largo was my favourite blend containing cigar leaf, but this has taken that position!

The tin contains coarse pieces and the moisture couldn't be any better. Even the smell from the unlit blend's full; I opened it this morning and couldn't wait to light a bowl once I'd took a whiff of it! The mixture's pretty even in colour; there's not much fluctuation, it's all dark brown.

I knew the second I lit my first bowl it was one for my favourite's list! I don't enjoy a heavy cigar flavour from my pipe, so this is perfect; any stereotypical cigar nuances are VERY light, the cigar leaf delicately seasons the smoke without domineering it. The cigar leaf isn't as quiet as the Latakia mind; I get a gentle woodiness from it but no smokiness. I find the Virginia leads, with the Oriental's adding a piquancy. The smoke seems quite cool in temperature and doesn't bite me. A bowl burns even and steady right from the start; judging by the size of the pieces I'd anticipated requiring a jet-flame but my trusty Zippo proved to have more than enough power.

The nicotine's medium to strong and the room-note's only a little better than tolerable.

In summary I'd describe this as a very meaty (rhetorical) smoke.....love it!

Highly recommended.

This is not a duplicate of the sadly lamented Sobrania #10 Virginia, but may be a welcome replacement for it.

Appearance: Random cuts typical of GLP blends, mostly red, with some darker leaf, and a few greenish bits.

Aroma: Good rich Virginia base, with a hint of maduro cigar. A faint trace of Oriental, or is it my imagination?

Packing: As always, the cut lends itself to easy packing in any sized pipe that I?ve tried, from group 3 to 5. Unlike Raven?s Wing and Odyssey, Rubusto seems to need a slightly firmer pack, but YMMV.

Lighting: Takes flame quickly, but not too quickly. Starts burning evenly right away, just a slight tamp at the start and it?s ready to enjoy.

Initial flavor: The initial flavor varies, depending upon the pipe?s history. In a Latakia pipe, the Latakia is emphasized, and in a Va. pipe, the Va. sweetness is highlighted. The cigar leaf is noticeable right away, but never overbearing.

Mid-bowl: Cool, rich, and wonderful. Seems to stay lit well at a slow puffing pace. Nicely layered flavors of red virginia and maduro cigar on top, with latakia and oriental in the background as accents.

Finish: Burns to the bottom in a well behaved way, but too damned soon. No noticeable increase in harshness. Leaves a clean almost white ash, and a dry stem.

Summary: Another winner from Greg. I don?t know how to categorize this one, but that?s not the important issue. If you enjoy cigar leaf blends, this is one not to miss.

Just finished smoking:

This is only my second cigar leaf pipe tobacco blend so keep that in mind. I am also a cigar smoker.

Tin note is different. It had that sweet earthy spicy cigar smell but also Latakia. It’s something else. Very strong odor. The blend is very light weight and fluffy. The maduro leaf is visually apparent. Perfect moisture from the tin.

This is big on flavor. It has the spicy, leathery, earthy flavor of maduro with the herbal smokey flavor of Latakia. The Virginia and orientals tone this down a bit. It’s half maduro cigar flavor and half English pipe tobacco flavor. This combo is very nice and well done. This won’t bite but will spice up your pallet a bit. The room note is very nice to me, smells like a cigar and herbal Latakia. Nic hit is up there but if you’re a cigar smoker you’ll be fine. Gave this to a friend who’s a maduro cigar smoker as his first pipe tobacco and he loved it. If you’re looking for a cigar based pipe tobacco blend I would highly recommend. If not, you I wouldn’t recommend it.

Robusto takes some getting used to. As a fan of full English/Balkan blends, it's hard to categorize this one. This one is clearly heavier on the Virginias, but is it a Virginia blend? No matter. Robusto is unique, and that suits me fine.

Luckily, I didn't approach this blend with the hopes of smoking a cigar in my favorite pipes. I smoke cigars when I want cigars. That out of the way, I was ready to approach this mixture -- which smells nothing like my usual favorites -- with an open mind.

Popping the tin revealed a sweet, pungent, slightly tangy scent. Welcome to Virginia and massive tongue bite ... so I thought. I couldn't detect the Latakia or the Orientals too easily in the can, but noted the cigar leaf without much effort.

The blend feels soft in the hand and isn't quite as thick or heavy feeling as others I've tried. You can pack a whole lot of this into a bowl. Of all the Pease blends I've tried, this one comes out of the can with moisture dead on beautiful. I loaded it up immediately and set out to smoke.

My normal charring light is not a tender, sensual experience. Rather, I can be aggressive with the process. I advise using a bit of restraint on your charring lights. I went a bit overboard once and ended up with some tongue bite. Not bad, but unwelcome at the same time. I don't blame the blend.

After hurdling over this one learning curve, I found the blend to be very good. It's a solid performer, a hell of a cake builder, and it tends to burn quickly -- but cool. That makes it a good smoke in any size bowl. Its lightness/airy quality allows it to burn evenly all the way down, and I've never found dottle with this one, no matter how it was smoked. It produces an attractive salt-and-pepper ash.

The cigar leaf makes itself known throughout the smoke, but never fully takes over. I would enjoy a higher cigar content in this blend, which is not to say it's not good as-is. I also have trouble picking out the Latakia, but the Orientals come out to play once in a while.

Save for my goof during the char that one time, the entire bowl goes down without a bite. Relights can be harsh, so again, don't overdue it. If getting a good burn the gentle way means using a few more Vestas or flicks of the Old Boy, do it. You can get a few harsh puffs otherwise. Not nice.

Robusto is a marvelous change of pace between my usual favorite styles. Quality ingredients, interesting flavors, fantastic smoking properties, and overall consistency make this one a winner.

Tin note of sour fruit, mild spices, and smoky. Tobacco is an "every shade of brown" Coarse Cut, moist but not dry, no prep or drying needed. Burns moderately slow with few relights. The strength is medium to strong and nic is medium. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and consistent, with notes of very earthy, moderately spicy, smoky wood, bread, floral, sweet grass, cigar, slight tangy lemon, mild creamy sweet background note, and a moderate peppery retro. Virginia is inching out the other leaf for the lead, Latakia and Cigar Leaf are battling for a supporting position. Oriental/Turkish are in the race, but mostly in the background. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is outstanding.