G. L. Pease Piccadilly

Opening the tin and sniffing this mix of long and short-cut, medium ribbon and broken flake, latakia greeted me upfront along with a sauerkraut aroma produced by virginias with four years of tin time.

In the bowl, bright and orange virginias take the lead while the latakia and perique neither exceed nor shirk their roles as condiments. The entire affair is suitably rich and piquant (earlier reviews noting "BBQ sauce" are spot-on), though so exceptionally juxtaposed that even such subtleties as "hints of cinnamon" are occasionally presented to the attentive palate.

Though flavor-forward and rich, Piccadilly is masterfully balanced, rewarding attentive puffing with an experience both soothing and stimulating. Aging is highly recommended. This seemed best in narrow to medium gauge chambers.

This one is a sleeper. I wasn't too enthused about it at first, but something drew me back to it. Now, 5 or 6 tins and a couple of years later, it has become a summertime standard.

The tin opens to display a medium brown mix of short ribbons with a sprinkling of darker strands. The tin aroma is unremarkable, just good solid tobacco with a whiff of the Perique, while the Latakia just makes its presence known. Moisture has ranged from perfect to just a little dry, and is more consistent than some other Pease/C&D offerings.

On light up - and it does light and burn exceptionally well - the first impression is of a mild sweetness. As the bowl progresses, the Perique builds, while the Latakia stays in the background. Unlike some other 'light' blends, though, there is enough Lat in the blend to satisfy me. At the end of the bowl, all three components balance and somehow add up to more than they should. It finishes with very little ash and a dry bowl.

I have rated this three stars, but it only just misses four because it IS so mild. The very quality that makes it perfect for summer leaves it a little lacking once the weather turns colder. It will certainly remain in my rotation as a seasonal entry and I highly recommend it as such.

The blend is a beutifully ribbon cut mixture of yellow, black and brown tobaccos. Felt the humidity to be perfect upon opening the tin. Burned extremely well. I could not determine the cinnomon as described in the review but the perique and virginan did give it a citrus type tang. It is spicy without being too spicy. The latakia is there but very light and it does make it a nice morning pipe. As many reveiewers indicate, it does have a sempblance of Dunhill's Early Monring Pipe but I like this better. I will do a cross check on this when I open another tin of EMP. A nice blend that doesn't get old.

This a very interesting blend. It is difficult for me to find similarities with other blends and it really stands on its own. The quality of the tobacco, as in Pease tradition, is very high. The two main aspects of Piccadilly are the sweetness of the VAs which is clearly detectable but remains a natural sweetness and the perfect interplay of Perique and Latakia. They are present in such proportions which is hard to separately detect each of the components. The Perique seems more perceivable but anyway its contribution is gentle and not overwhelming. The result is a very satysfing and tasty smoke, which is never hot (despite of the sweetness of the Vas). It also burns well (better than other Pease blends). I think that Piccadilly is better enjoyed when smoked as the first bowl of the day, in order to better capture the nuances of the blend which are somehow subtle but, as mentioned, very tasty. I don't rate it four stars just because my taste is more oriented to balkan or english blends where the role played by latakia and orientals is dominant. Anyway, this blend is a very good change of pace.

Thought I'd give this a try for a early day option. It could be a good start-of-day smoke because it isn't too heavy. But as one reviewer had mentioned somewhere McClelland is noted for its ketchup, Macbaren its honey, and Pease for his perique, and I've found that the case here. All the Pease characteristics of good presentation, good quality tobacco and complexity found in this one. I had a hard time with perique -- what others are found to be mild perique or citrusy I found to be too overpowering overriding for me the virginias and latakia (eventhough my LSW asked if this was a latakia blend -- good nose on her). As usual a matter of taste. The peppery taste was just too strong for me on this one (though I like Telegraph Hill which is a great va-perique blend for me) and the spiceness stayed in my mouth for quite a while. For me its a genuine change of pace smoke or will use as a condiment to another va blend. If you are sensitive to perique as I seem to be, I'd advise staying away from this one.

this is a great gate-way into the world of English, or latakia blaends for new smokers who aren't sure what thay like yet, or for a morning pipefull of well made baccy.

Picadilly is described as milder mixture largely because it has less Latakia than other English mixure and because the virginias aboard are lighter and milder than those found in most other Pease blends.

To enjoy this blend to its fullest potential, take your time! This blend demands attention not because it might bite you, but because if you just puff mindlessly, it will seem bland.

But careful smoking can sometimes reveal a blend that changes with every puff. Once in a while a puff will hit some of the few latakia leaves, and it wil produce a smoky touch to the smooth blend of virginias; another puff will be spicier due to the perique. Another positive note is that this is one of the few Pease blends that is not full of raw impossibly hot smoking Virginias that need to age for half a decade or so.

So if you want a break from Latakia heavy blends or a nice progressive introduction to english blends for the Virginia smoker, this may be for you.

This fills a spot in todays selection which to my knowledge was heretofore only occupied by Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe. It provides a nice contrast.

When smoked slowly, this blend has potential and can be quite pleasant.

A very nice light English. A bit more complexity and body than EMP, Piccadilly is an excellent introduction to the style as well as a nice change-of-pace smoke for those (of us) who are not Latakia junkies. Despite it's relative lack of body, it exhibits no lack of complexity; I'm always discovering another nuance to it's character.

Typical of Greg's work, Piccadilly uses top shelf leaf and is masterfully blended. I'll keep this around for the occasional Latakia cravings between bowls of my dwindling supply of Scandal

As the description says, this is a light, very light, Latakia mixture. If you can grasp that simplicity, this tobacco works well. I wasn't too impressed on the first couple of bowls as I hadn't smoked anything this light for as long as I can remember, but once I got used to it, the flavor was very nuanced and delicate. Sometimes sweet, sometimes earthy, a hint of something here, a whisper there. A nice change of pace for me, and always a mystery.