G. L. Pease Stratford

The tin aroma of this short-cut, medium ribbon is of a slightly hay-like, virginia sweetness backed up with a slight note of unmistakable perique.

Composed primarily of golden virginias, the gentle touch of red virginias add a slight richness. The perique is evident, though very conservatively applied.

Delicately citric and nutty, this is subtly intriguing and is one of GLP's finest blends. Aging is highly recommended as is a narrow to medium gauge chamber.

This is one of my favorite vapers. It is very peppery and I love the top note of the bright Virginia tobacco. If you like to exhale through the nose, this may be stronger than you think. I particularly like this blend in a Savinelli 2000 and a tall and narrow Nording freehand.

I have sample two tins, one four months old and one nine months old. Oddly enough, I liked the younger tin a little better. On the other hand, I smoked most of the older tin in Chennai, India. It is next to impossible to get your tobacco to dry out in this climate.

This is one of Pease's better values:the tins are stuffed very full.

I was in Iwan Ries looking for new things to try, and saw an old tall-style GLPease tin of this. The date said 7/15/03, almost four years at the time, so I bought it blindly. I had never heard much about this particular blend, even though most of my tobacco has Pease's name on it.

I cracked it on my 20th birthday and shared with my pipe friends. The first few bowls smoked too hot, but I kept changing pipes and found a good packing technique.

My three favorite pipes to smoke this with are: s Peterson System 303; a Stanwell Bishop freehand; and a small Wilkes apple turned from Algerian briar sometime in the 50s. The common theme here is a small bowl - even the Stanwell is probably only a small group 4, and the other two are group 3.

Then, proceed to mash as much tobacco as you can into the bowl, about like it is in the tin. If packed with a light hand, this stuff burns in about ten minutes, cinging the tounge the whole time. But packed tightly, the tobacco seems to burn much more slowly, letting out the flavors within.

And while this contains a hint of perique, the main attraction here is a Virginia taste that can only be described as midwestern. It tastes to me like being on a prairie in September.

This is a beautiful summertime tobacco. I can't see it working well in the winter, and it isn't an all day smoke. But for sitting in the grass on a summer afternoon, nothing beats Stratford.

I guess it just goes to show what Greg would tell you himself, everybody responds differently to a given blend. Stratford smells and tastes like hot smoke to me. It's bland and lacks character.

I love Virginia-Perique blends, but this one just doesn't do it for me.

However, I'm glad that some of the earlier reviewers do enjoy it and vive la difference!

Sykes Wilford says it best. If I were to have a blend made for me this would be it! A natural flavored smoke with a delicate sweetness. Just outstanding! The flavor of genuine Louisiana Perique comes through on a delicate note. It doesn't get much better than this one. Highly Recommended!

Stratford is even lighter in the can than Piccadilly. Mostly very light brown, with a fair amount of yellow, and the occasional medium brown fleck.

The note in the tin is really mild, almost neutral. But you can detect a bit of the grassy Va aroma if you pay attention.

Lighting Stratford is easy, and it is low-maintenance from there. Nice steady burn rate, a bit faster than I really expected. There was never a hint of biting.

The Perique in this mixture is mild, to say the least. It could almost be a straight Virginia.

What really surprised me was the flavor. From the faintness of the tin note, I didn?t expect much. The flavor wasn?t full, but it was very pleasant. Stratford is a pretty straightforward tobacco. It doesn?t possess the complexity that Greg Pease is so well known for, but the overall quality is what you would expect.

The last third of the bowl does seem to have a bit more of a smoky quality and a hint of bitter-sweetness to the taste if you let it go out and re-light. If you just smoke straight to the bottom without a re-light (something that is very easy to do with Stratford), the sweet-grassy flavor will make a gradual increase without any real deviation.

Considering that this is a fast-burning, light Va mixture, I expected it to be poised to bite every second of the way. Much to my delight, it was nothing of the sort. Never a gurgle, burned down to a powdery ash.

If I smoked straight Va?s with any regularity, I think the hint of Perique here would be a welcome (subtle) change. I smoke heavy English blends, but I think I might just keep Stratford in mind for those hot, humid summer days when I want something light and refreshing. For that reason I feel that I can only give this one a 3-star rating. The Va/Perique fans will no doubt give it a solid 4-star rating.

I like this blend very much. I was very supprised when I first opened the tin and saw the bright yellow virginias, I mean they are yellow! It did not seem to me to have as much perique as barbary coast, however I really enjoyed this blend. It has a wonderfull flavor and texture. If you are one of those people who have a hard time with virginias because of a sensitive tounge, this is a great gentle blend to try.

I've tried this and I just can't get it to work for me. The blend is mainly light virginia and very little red virginia with a tiny portion of perique.

This stuff is just too light and flavorless for me. I found the flavor too thin with a cigarette note to it. But I gravitate towards dark stoved virginias and strong burley blends. I feel that GL Peases best blends are Barbary Coast, Haddos Delight and Renaissance.

One positive for this and all Greg's blends they're packed to the brim giving the customer a healthy portion.

Stratford is a seeming mostly yellow VA's blend with a very nice smell from the bag- kinda caramelly & woodsy, chances are if you got into Cairo or even Haddo's you'll probably like it. Not especially biting, it smokes fairly smooth with Perique's trademark peppery power surge present thru-out. Taste is soft, subtle & complex( As in most GLP blends) & sidestream smoke should appease the Gods ( & you ). AS usual with ribbon cuts, I prefer a thinner internal bowl diameter as I find that slows it down.