G. L. Pease Blackpoint

I believe the latest line of tobaccos by this blender were created for those wanting lighter fare. Blackpoint will fill the bill.

This weed is lightly flavorful. The Virginia carries the load, but Latakia is noticed by the smoker as is Perique. The latter embedded deeply in the background until the final 3rd of the bowl.

I have come to the reluctant conclusion that I need more strength and add a strong Burley (about 20% to the blend to keep this puffer pacified.

G. L. Pease Blackpoint (part of the Classic Collection) provides an entry in a crowded field of medium to strong latakia mixtures, many of which are outstanding. The Pease brand itself offers a coterie of these. Blackpoint more than holds its own.

Open the tin and you find stringy ribbon of middle hue with a latakia aroma that will entrance many. I personally find the blend a bit too moist upon first cracking the tin. Lighting presents no problem with a bit of drying. The burning aroma has the leathery/campfire smell of latakia, although it is not quite as strong as some blends that arouse the ire of non smokers.

The red and lemon Virginia base presents the typical Virginia sweetness along with a touch of citrus. The perique is present only in a condimental measure, although I do find it more noticeable toward the bottom of the bowl. A goodly measure of oriental offers the tangy mustiness provided by such tobacco. Blackpoint is a latakia forward blend, although the latakia does not dominate every puff. Part of the Pease magic comes from measuring out the various tobaccos in such a way that the flavor is layered, changing consistently in the course of the smoke. Blackpoint does not offer quite so much latakia as its Classic Collection stablemates Abingdon and Odyssey, but it has more than Charring Cross, and considerably more that Samarra and Picadilly.

Except for the most careless of heavy puffers, Blackpoint presents no tongue bite problems. The pipe load burns down to a fine, dry white ash.

I smoked my last tin of Blackpoint with a variety of pipes that I use for Latakia/oriental blends. No particular pipe stood out. I did try one bowl with my single Medico (one of my usually aromatic only pipes), and somewhat to my surprise the sweetish ghosting merged with the English style blend quite nicely, creating something close to a crossover blend.

Some pipe smokers avoid all mixtures with more than a condimental trace of latakia, and they will not be interested in Blackpoint. Also there are those who have no interest in pipe tobaccos aside from the aromatic blends. But for the rest of the pipe smoking population I give Blackpoint a solid recommendation.

This may be the most perfectly balanced High English blend of all time. That is both its advantage and its drawback.

It's a wonderful complex of flavours that dance majestically around your mouth. It's slightly sweet, slightly tangy, slightly spicy, slightly smoky, slightly bright, slightly dark, slightly tart... it's got it all, with none of the flavours overwhelming the others. It's really quite perfect. This wonderful, velvety melange is the result of high quality leaves working together to form a tantalizing pattern of flavour.

So what's the drawback? That a pattern does not a painting make. I think it comes down to the difference between craft and art. I would be hard pressed to find a greater masterpiece of the craft of blending. However, just because something is magnificently crafted doesn't necessarily mean that it's a work of art. The perfect balance of the elements creates more of a wallpaper than a landscape, tantalizing the tastebuds with a complex flavour tesselation that becomes a pleasing pattern, rather than focusing and directing our attention across a sublime flavour landscape.

Or, said another way, we can wonder admiringly at a prodigy's dexterity even as we tactfully overlook a lack of soulfulness in the performance. A technically flawless execution is not necessarily an artistic one.

It feels ungenerous to give this three instead of four stars, but I think its great technical achievement in creating such a perfect balance obscures the fact that there's not that bit of magic to make it transcendent, which is what, to me, four stars signifies. Perfection, after all, is boring (so I hear).

Not that this blend is boring. It's perfectly delightful and always interesting. And it smokes dry and beautifully, in addition to its other assets. I cannot imagine that any lover of English blends wouldn't like and appreciate Blackpoint. It is a classic. It's just too homeostatic to be great.

Ever wondered what Dunhills London Mixture would taste like with a dose of perique? Nows your chance!

This is a really nice english with a good dose of perique. The perique is plummy and jammy, rather than peppery and spicy, but the flavor carries through the blend. Absent the perique, I think this would be very close to Dunhills London or Standard mixtures, but the perique makes it something in between those and nightcap or blairgowrie. Not quite as rich as nightcap or blairgowrie, but still...

Good balance, nice middle of the road natural sweetness, no complaints. Not something I'm craving more of, since there are so many products similar. But I'll happily finish these tins. Recommended.

I always wonder about skewed reviews. I am not fond of latakia; it always seems acrid to me, and dominates everything else in an English blend. I can't taste anything else. It seems unfair, therefore, for me to review an English tobacco, (I don't like it...it has Latakia in it! One star!) and it is hard sometimes to review a blend on its own merit, as part of a genre. For this reason, I suspect that these reviews are skewed upwards, we tend to buy what we think we'd like, and review these blends accordingly. This is an exception. The first time I smoked Blackpoint I didn't like it (It has Latakia in it!) and threw it into a jar. I tried it again after 3 years. It seems to me that age smooths this out nicely. The latakia loses some harshness, it tastes smoky, and a little sweet.The Orientals come forward, they are incense-like, woody. The Perique and the Virginia are in the background, lending some spice and sweetness respectively. It is pretty complex, but these marry together wonderfully. It burns nicely down to ash. I give it three stars. I would have given it 4....but it has Latakia in it!

This blend is flavorful. Ballpoint has enough Virginia to have some restrained sweetne. The oriental add a pleasant tangy taste. The Latakia is pleasant, with the right degree of smoothness. The campfire smell is pleasant, The orienttals are nicely complimentary. Almost like a night at the local chicken barbeque, Blackpoint is a tasty English blend of the first degree.For me this required only one light. There is a nice leather and fig taste when the bowl is warm.

G. L. Pease - Blackpoint (Classic Collection).

As I'm having an 'English day', started with McC' Old Dog, Blackpoint was another I plucked from my stash.

The composition is mainly medium size ribbons with just a few coarser pieces. There's a slightly higher amount of brown pieces compared to black and it has a water content that makes for imminent smoking.

A flavoursome blend this is, a Lat-Bomb this is not. The Latakia has an emphatic flavour, but doesn't cartelize and run the show. I find a pleasantly fragrant note from the Orientals, which doesn't exactly necessitate hard work to taste. I only get a small amount of flavour from the Perique: enough sweet plums to add character, but not a cacophony of spice. Throughout a bowl the Virginias are easy to identify, but after a quarter they become tarter tasting. Blackpoint burns well, creating a medium temperature smoke, without bite.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: tolerable to strong.

Blackpoint? A three star smoke:

Recommended.

Well, this is another fine blend from Mr. Pease. A medium English with complexity. I got this "classic collection" tobacco from Mike of classicpipes. What a display of fine Upshalls he has in a comforting atmosphere.

It is string cut blend and doesn't smell overpowering in the tin. It does have a fairly strong room aroma, with definite dark notes. I used the blend to break in a Taylor Made pipe from Mike. So it really took about a full ounce (10-11 bowl fulls) before I was truely getting the fine, complex flavors from this new blend. I have smoked the whole tin in it now. The tobacco tastes quite good even with the little aging it has.

There are several layers of natural flavor -- lightness from the virginias, a little spice from the orientals, varying dark notes from the balanced latakia-perique combo, and a slight sweet note. Not very strong for an English blend, but very interesting.

No bite, fairly dry, packs easy, and burns steady. Nothing to complain about if you want a change of pace English or to venture into English anew. (Now all may not appreciate the room aroma.) Complex enough to capture my attention (as Renaissance did), and I have another tin in the cellar. I'm sure some additional aging will enhance the properties I described, at least a smidgen. I will try more of this classic series.

A solid recommendation.

Presentation: I love the labels on the Classic Series. All the labels have the same coloring and artstyle, being a drawing of a pipe but they each have a different pipe. That's so cool to me.

Cut: C&D style ribbon, moisture level is just right.

Tin note: Light smoky, sweet note -- not a strong scent.

Tasting notes: Smoky, earthy, leathery. A minimal amount of spice. Sometimes little woody. The earth is very rich with a tinge of sweetness. Sometimes a bit tart. Cedar wood note becomes more apparent as the bowl progresses.

Mechanics: N/A -- A well behaved blend.

Extra Remarks: This blend is a straightforward one which is a plus for some, though I prefer things to be more interesting. It has a lot of flavor and if you love english blends it could certainly be one to try. A good blend for sure, 3 stars.