G. L. Pease Bohemian Scandal

ah Bohemian Scandal! What a Masterpiece! I like to look at the tin art and wonder where is that lone smoker going? what is he thinking? I imagine he is smoking a fine briar with an amber stem,a pipe that is very expensive and very gentlemanly. he is a bit of a rogue, but the kind of man you want to know. I look at my last two tins and feel profound sadness. five years of age is working its magic and turning this to pure heaven. incredible for cold windy fall days. I glady pay over 100 dollars for tins of this, correcting the mistake of not stocking up when i had the chance. I love how the Syrian will pop up and say hello, then the nutty orientals. such complexity. I like to pack this in a clencher pipe, something small, old and very English. how i look forward to cooler weather so i can open another tin. I'll be scouring E-bay in the coming months for more tins. I sigh when i think of this blend. what a shame, the loss of all that delicious leaf.

I have to highly recommend this blend. It has been quite a while since I tried some and I opened a tin over the new year looking to check up on how things are coming along. Well things are coming along just fine I must say. The tin aroma is just incredible! Very complex smoke. Every tin that I have opened of this stuff has been stuffed to the gills and this tin was no exception which creates finely ground tobacco that can make it a pain to pack. Takes nothing away from the wonderfull smoke though. i would smoke this stuff every day if I could. I love good Syrian and this blend has good stuff in it. I don't think it's worth the 100+ $$ price tag but I will buy it in the two figure price tag and might decide 100+ was worth it if I totally ran out and needed a fix of this and only this would do. The best balkan of the bunch IMO. MMMMMMM!! Big GLP fan here and getting worse year by year so take it for what it's worth.

It couldn?t be said better, yes, this blend promises a taste, and delivers a feast! The Syrian is wine-like, possessing subtlety and nuances that would be easily lost to a heavy hand at the blending table. Bright and red Virginias are used, and rare oriental tobaccos to compliment the spice of the Latakia; hints of cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon are present, along with a gentle smokiness. A soft, slightly tangy sweetness continues throughout the bowl, with the complex, earthy notes from the oriental tobaccos providing depth. The flavor is bold enough for casual smoking, but sufficiently refined to be engaging during more contemplative moods. Wonderfully balanced, it is excellent in its youth, yet sturdy enough for long aging. Enjoy it now, and be sure to cellar plenty for future adventures! Truly a 4 star!

Yummy. Good rich orientals and syrian latakia. I have many tins of this. The complexity and richness of this blend is amazing. Its aroma is exotic and intoxicating. I pick up notes of frankincense, myrrh, the smokiness of latakia, and a pleasant toastiness. Age works wonders with this blend. Tis most unfortunate that Mr. Pease can no longer get Syrian Latakia.

I got ten ounces of Bohemian Scandal in January 2005. I smoked two ounces immediately, but did not find the blend living up to the expectations that had been generated.

Coming back to it after a gap of two years I find that the colours are largely brown with some darker shades. The tin aroma is muted. In the pipe it reminds me of one of Sullivan Powell mixtures - but a thirty year old memory of taste could very well be at fault. It has a kind of subdued richness of taste which is very appealing for its somewhat faded elegance. I think Bohemian Scandal is to Odyssey as Durbar is to Nightcap. It is good. It is very good.

Wow, exquisite stuff this is. To me, what sets Greg's blends apart from the pack is his mastery of the interplay between different types of tobaccos. Bohemian Scandal is one of the best examples of this fine art that I've come across in a long time. It offers up a new and intriguing experience each time it is smoked. There is just so much going on in this blend. The closest summarization I can offer is a most enjoyable mingling of spiciness and sweetness. Often, a woody, almost cedarlike note is what I notice. Other times, it is the smooth, sweet undertones that catch my attention. The flavor alternates between these and other aspects throughout the duration of the smoke. Very smooth yet very complex, this stuff is just superbly blended. I can't wait to see how Mr. Pease manages to follow up on this masterpiece in subsequent Heirloom Series offerings.

Wow.

First of all, let me say that I don't dig everything that Greg puts out. So these comments don't come from one of GLP's army of, "The Dark Lord can do no wrong..."

However, after putting out some very, very bland tobaccos in his classic collection series, Bohemian Scandal is a grand slam!

I think the other reviewers have done an excellent job of describing this tobacco, but let me add a few other points. I recommend letting the Scandal dry out quite a bit to really enhance the leathery tastes and smells of this blend...delicious. It smokes wonderfully now, but will almost certainly be a great aging tobacco.

I'm old enough to remember the original Balkan Sobranie and some of the other great Balkan blends of that era. Scandal is at least the equal of any of those blends and, indeed is probably better. It's THAT good.

This is the tobacco that will make you remember each time you smoke it why you're a pipe smoker in the first place.

12/28/04

I've just gone through another tin that has aged a bit and it's just delicious. It is a cruel fact of life that it may be months...many months...before we see any Scandal again due to the unfortunate fire. However, much like the untimely death of a musician, writer or artist, this set back will likely only strengthen the lore that already surrounds this blend. Is it worth spending $60 a tin on eBay for? Gee, I guess that's up to you, but as much as I like it, it's not that much better than other Balkans in its genre. The moral of the story is this...if you like something when it comes out, buy enough to put away just in case there is another war, fire, flood, etc. Thanks for this tobacco in any case, Greg!

I was very excited about this blend finally coming in and bought it right away-- I was not disappointed. Although the spice is not overwhelming in this blend (from the orientals, I gather), it seemed to make the whole bowl stronger and more potent. As everyone else has remarked, some aging will be just the ticket (and have bought my second tin for said purpose).

Room note: The only place I can smoke is in a tobacconist's (where I work), where, if one looks up, the ceiling is usually a faint atmospheric blue haze. Thus, no one within close range of pipe & I made any remarks.

Taste: That's really the most exciting thing about this blend-- Taste! If you normally smoke Balkans, you're sure to get the spice, that "wine" finish, and the Syrian Latakia all within a few puffs. If you don't normally smoke Balkans, then you just might start!

Recommendation: While not truly an "everyday" smoke, I'd like to think of this one as a "Friday" smoke-- its the end of the week, and I deserve something nice-- why not smoke?

Finally: One major criticism of GL Pease's tinning-- 2 ounces in a small can is great, but in many of my tins I have found a lot of "broken dottle" ( I don't know how else to describe this), akin to the little bits left over in a box of cereal. I can only guess this occurs b/c there is so much tobacco in so little space, sometimes it gets crushed.

How can I tactfully say this? No offense Mr. Pease, but there are blends in your current high-end tobacco line up that are not 1/3 the smoke that Bohemian Scandal is. Next, after smoking 1 can of this I will go out on a limb and say that this tobacco may be the ellusive "holy grail" of Balkan blends past and present. Yes, that should also include Sobranie, and I never even smoked the stuff, but bowl for bowl there is no way in hell that it was any better than this weed straight out of the tin. Finally, this is NOT going to be one of those over blown - under developed blends that require a dunhill group 3 or whatever group # to achieve the total complexity and savory fullness of the blend...blab blab blab. I mean really ..give me a damn break. This is the real deal no excuses tobacco you've been dreaming of. Bohemian Scandal is RICH, Smokey, CREAMY, Spicy and incredibly delicious .This tobacco gives and gives and the smoker is rewarded time after time. If I'm not mistaken, that is the original pursuit and purpose of our gentle art. The rest is dottle.