G. L. Pease Bohemian Scandal

The smoky, woody, wine-like Syrian latakia is a team player as it takes a light lead over the other components. The Orientals are woody, a little earthy, buttery sweet with some dry and sour floral notes, and a couple mild spices in a support role. The base of the blend are the bright and red Virginias, which provide some citrus, tangy dark fruit, earth, and a few blades of grass. I noticed the red a tad more than the bright. The nic-hit is a step less than mild to medium. No chance of bite or harshness even if pushed. Well balanced, you’ll observe most of the aspects of the tobaccos in virtually every puff. Burns at a moderate pace, cool and clean with a smooth, very consistent flavor from start to finish. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a nice after taste. Not quite an all day smoke, but it is a repeatable one if you’re ever lucky enough to score a tin or two.

-JimInks

Colors run the range of light brown to black and more of that incredible cheese aroma in the tin, mixed with latakia. Mouth watering aroma. More "Balkan-y" than Raven's Wing, which I see as more of an "English". Both smelled wonderful.

I've been reading more reviews here lately on TR, and 100% agreement is hard to come by - we are, after all, blessed or cursed with different taste buds. But Steel Cowboy nailed my feelings about this blend almost perfectly. Smooth tobacco indeed, and very complex. But I found the same sour note he tasted and it reduced the enjoyment I got. Still a very nice tobacco, but I can't call it great. Raven's Wing did not have this sour component, and I enjoyed it much more. I'm not as sure as he is about what is causing it, but I can't disagree with his findings. That underlying sourness might very well be what kicks this blend over the top for some folks, but it worked an opposite magic on me. Like Steel Cowboy, I can only recommend this to those who haven't tried it if they can find it for less than $100 (I paid $76). Those who know they love it, of course, would gladly pay more. Good blend, but it doesn't stand up to Raven's Wing for me.

Hey, that speed reading course I recently took worked. It only took me three days to read the above review. And I pretty much agree with the parts that talked about this blend.

One correction is in order. All Syrian Latakia on the face of this earth did not get burned up in a fire. As many of you know, there was a tragic fire that did destroy a great deal of stored and aging Latakia owned by a plantation house that exported to Mr. Pease and others.

BS is a treat worth lighting up. (IMO, of course.)

I got very lucky a few weeks ago and while shopping in a large tobacconist on Long Island ( I should say cigar shop with some old pipe tobacco's and a nice selection of pipes that no one seems to have been interested in for years) and stumbled on a dusty tin of Bohemian Scandal. It was yellowed with cigar smoke and sticky and grimy to the touch but I was very excited. I found a few other old difficult to find blends as well, 3 different years of Christmas Cheer, Wilderness, and some of the Oriental series tobacco's from McClelland. The guy told me he was cleaning out the basement in January and he would send me a list of what he finds. I also bought a few pipes at a very good price as well. One of the only days I recall enjoying shopping so much in my life. One of the best parts of this hobby other than the obvious smoking component is the hunt. Finding that old pipe you are looking for, occasionally finding it at an antique shop or garage sale where someone thinks you are doing them a favor taking that old Sasieni off their hands for $40 or in this case buying an old tin of pipe weed that hasn't done anything but collect dust and grime. It was quite a rush to see these blends and this one in particular. I am a fan of Syrian Latakia and have only tried one of G.L. Peases blends prior with Syrian leaf.

On to the review. I have smoked about 1/3 of the tin and I have been trying to ensure I have tried the right pipe, the right moisture level and packing method before I reviewed, with such a small amount you can only do so much. The tin note was sour, some from the Orientals and much I think from the Syrian Latakia. I have smoked pounds of HH Vintage Syrian and pounds in combination of some McClellan and Brebbia blends so I am familiar with this rare leaf. That wine and vinegar like scent is present, but in this blend so much so that it was off putting. Maybe age has done something to amplify the aroma. who knows. The tobacco was dry, not crispy, actually just how I like to smoke it as I like my leaf on the dry side. The leaves are dark from a black to light and dark brown. Despite being dry I found a few minutes of dry/air time allowed the vinegary smell to dissipate, making for a more enjoyable smoke. When smoked straight out of the tin the vinegar smell translated into the taste too much for me and persisted throughout the smoke. With some air time the acrid vinegar taste turned into a red wine like flavor that I have not experienced in any other smoke. I would say it was a port/sherry like flavor that was blended with smoky sweetness. The orientals were woody and had a sour note that was pleasant (again when aired out). I also picked up some spice like from pumpkin pie: nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. The Virginias had a citrus sweetness and added to the mouth feel. The mouth feel was also unique in this blend, what I usually attribute to Canvendish was present in this blend, despite there being none in the mix. A round lush feeling in the smoke. Very pleasant. As the bowl passes the halfway point the malt flavor that I love so much in Balkan blends becomes present. This with the port flavors and spice from the Orientals made the second half of the bowl far superior to the first half, consistently. I expected something different, I don't know what but at first I was disappointed, but once I figured out the air time prior to smoking this blend is quite delicious and very unique. Sadly it is gone and perhaps the world will rid itself of the poison that destroyed that nation. Then maybe we will get the gift of the famed tobacco fields of Syria. Until then I will smoke this along with my other cellared blends, occasionally and reverently.

New notes, February 2014: I'm smoking through the last I have of this stuff. It's still really good. It has darkened quite a bit from the tins I had six years ago. That unbelievable tin note is still there, that unmistakable wine-ish Syrian note. But in the pipe, I'm finding that the flavors are starting to mute a bit, which makes sense if you think about it. This was meant to showcase that particular batch of Syrian latakia, and latakia fades more quickly than other tobaccos. Now that the main player has started to fade, you're left smoking the proscenium. Not that it's bad, but it isn't what it once was.

So I reluctantly am declaring this one as getting past prime.

I won't knock down my previous review, though. There were some grains of truth in there among the youthful exuberance.

Old review, May 2008: This is the best tobacco I've ever smoked. It's that good.

I got a tin on eBay a while ago and just finished it last night. I fell in love with it at first. It burns somewhat quickly, but never hot. I think that Syrian latakia tastes totally different from Cyprian and can't imagine how anyone could confuse them. This is a sweet, velvety/silky/wine-like full blend.

I was lucky enough to come across a few tins of this for a reasonable price ($40) at this year's Chicago show. I bought them as soon as I saw them, especially given the prices this stuff is commanding on eBay these days. I bought my eBay tin last fall for $60, and now it's 50% more than that. It's expensive, but if you want the best, this is it. I'm going to not open those other tins for a while, but if I had a decent supply of this stuff, I'd smoke it every evening.

Not a very coherent review, but I'm talking about the absolute best tobacco I've ever tasted. I've had the ultra-rare Balkan Sobranie Flake, but other than that, not much else competes. I really hope that someday this stuff becomes available again, but I doubt it will. It's a poorer pipe smoking community without it.

I really wanted to love this one because of the Syrian only Latakia. Instead, I felt that it nneds more time to age to be fully enjoyed. Sadly, I only got a few cans before it was discontinued (hopefully only temporarily), so I may never taste it at its full potential.

The flavore was full and rich, with the Orientals providing a mouth-filling spiciness, tempered only slightly by the sweetness of the Virginias. Being a Balkan, the Orientals outweigh the Virginia component. The Latakia was super smokey without the sweetness of the Cyprian variety. The combination was superb, but just a bit "edgy" for my palate. This was mostly because the blend was freshly packaged, with almost no time in the can. I was planning on getting more to cellar, but was too late. (Actually, I spent all my ready cash on a stash of Renaissance. That remains my holy grail of Latakia blends).

Green is the colour of her kind,

Quickness of the eye deceives the mind.

Envy is the bond between the hopeful and the damned.

Although there is a lot going on in this blend, it is far too young to warrant a full review. Even a novice can taste a bottle of 1990 Latour or 1970 Taylor and know that they've just sampled a blockbuster. It is far more difficult to evaluate a Chambertin or a Richebourg, wines whose strength lies in its complexity and subtlety, and may require years to display its nuance. Such is the case with Bohemian Scandal. It's going to be a lot of fun watching this one develop.

Addendum, 12/04: The tobacco gods sure pulled a fast one with Bohemian Scandal. Evaluating the nascent palate of this fledgling blend was hard enough, but now I have to treat it as if it were the last canteen of potable water on a dessert island. (If you don't know why, you're in the wrong website.)Despite having the foresight to aquire several 8oz tins (just love 'em) and a host of the 2-ouncers, I am limiting myself to a single bowl per week for the foreseeable future; hence the reduction of recommendation.

A crime against humanity.

I was gifted some BS after losing auction after auction for a tin on eBay. I had been so excited about finally getting to try this coveted blend.

This is a delicious blend that smokes wonderfully. It's a shame that we probably won't see any of this in the future. I can't highly recommend this blend to anyone because it's unavailable and I don't think it's worth the price (over $100 for 2oz.) on eBay.

As a lover of English/Balkan blends, I had BoScan on my short list. I ran around and paid a lot of green for a tin via a nice ebay seller. After about 10 bowls, I've come to the conclusion I'm not enough of a connoisseur. I'll just throw out a few observations and be done with it. I rated it three stars, so as not to change the average.

Packs and lights nicely. Burns super fast! Not hot, just quickly. Somewhat like an English blend -- is this what they USED to be like? Plenty of peppery notes and, yup, some wine-like flavoring. The oriental component seems to be top notch. There's so much going on in the flavor department, I just can't keep up. This must be for the pipester who sits around with friends and describes things. It's more of a distraction for me.

Maybe I'll get smarter . . . yuh, right.