G. L. Pease Ashbury

This tobacco captures the very essence of the pleasure I get from smoking Balkan tobacco without the inevitable rape that Balkans usualy play on my palate.

I tend to smoke many bowls per day and often seek a tobacco that compromises between aroma (for the Mrs), flavor and taste, and easiness on the mouth.

Biotene mouthwash is the only restorative steps that can be taken once a trashed out, salted palate comes to light. I prefer to not be in this position!

The latakia is perfect and the virginias taste beautiful.

I am reminded thus of a scene where a wolf droolingly shakes a captured rabbit and the anticipation of his prey's death-cough. The feast that follows ushers sated desire and illustrious conquest.

My first exposure to this blend came as part of a C&D sample pack. I have continued my interest with tins in my cellar because it's a worthwhile addition to the appreciation of diversity in balkans. This soft expression of tobacco choices is to be enjoyed with a quiet spirit or one may miss some of it's charms. The room note is a reminder of the smell of rain drying on rooftops after a spring shower. I feel as tho I may have smoked this as a young man. It evokes a gentle sense of dejavu, a sense of familiar expectation... For me the experience builds as the smoke continues. This is lighthearted chamber music in the orchestral movements of tobacco blends. Can you tell I like it? The Virginia leaf is almost submissive but not subserviant to the bolder Cyprus as both combine in a smooth, quality smoke with the Oriental providing moderation. Don't rush. Make it last... The presentation of the tobacco is like eye candy to me - a festive bouquet of colors. The finish is like watching the curtain slowly close on a string quartette before the song is over. This is not modest but instead elegantly understated. Meerschaum Man Smoking a Gezer Flying Dragon

Appearance: the 227-gram tin I opened had a production date of "October 16, 2015." Although the cut was described as Coarse Cut, the tobacco is more of a mix of neat ribbon slices, with a rather bright shade of brown predominating. Dark Virginia and orientals are clearly in the majority, there are rare dark flakes of latakia, lemon Virginia over the years has darkened somewhat and acquired the color of straw. The humidity of the tobacco is almost perfect, it is easily stuffed into the pipe. Flavour: Initially quite bright acidic citrus notes, somewhat enhanced by the vinegar from the tin, weathered by airing. After airing for a quarter of an hour, the flavour of spices (zira and turmeric with a tiny amount of ginger and allspice) and leather remains in the base. A slight smokiness is certainly present in the overall scent, but is more likely to help create some volume rather than act as an independent player. Virginia gives you faint floral and hinty notes, the aforementioned citrus aroma and just a little bit of grain.

Taste: light grassy sweetness, a bit of dried fruit, some spice, backed by a slightly smoky meat juice and woody notes. It's hard enough to isolate any one note - the tobacco is quite whole. Oddly enough, I had an association with a piece of beef from a pilaf. Overall, the blend has a fairly smooth taste with a small amount of latakia present, so perhaps I can recommend Ashbury as an introduction to latakia blends. Towards the middle of the pipe the spice and woody notes gradually build up but not dominate, the latakia remains in the background which at times makes the tobacco taste seem a little lacking in density. By the end of the smoke the orientals are out of the foreground again, the tobacco becomes a calm, smooth, almost English mixture with a slight dominance of Virginia in the flavor. One thing confused me, however. In my bents the flavor was a bit harsher than in the straight pipes, with a clear emphasis on spicy notes, as a result of which its overall picture in the middle of smoking scattered and created a slight disharmony. The tobacco requires attention to the temp of smoking, it overheats quite easily, due to which the sweetness of Virginia naturally turns into a bitter note. The strength is somewhat below average, so the nicotine hit is not a threat to a smoker. The tobacco burns into a fine gray ash, leaving a bit of moisture in the pipe. The aftertaste is sweet and woody, not persistent.

The smoke from the tobacco has a slight spicy-sandal flavour, quickly wears off.

What's the result? A very decent blend from The Fog City series, with only three tobaccos I've tried so far, and the previous two (Fillmore and Laurel Heights) have moved into the casual all-day category, which I will happily smoke during the warmer seasons. As for Ashbury, the only thing I could complain about was the pickiness of the pipe. But that's the thing of many tobaccos. By the way, even though Ashbury has a tobacco ratio similar to Kensington, the flavors and tastes of the tobacco are completely different due to the different orientals and Virginias.

Presentation: All labels in the Fog City Selection look the same. A gold stripe across the bottom, a white background, with a gray sketching of the streets of San Francisco.

Cut: Comes in a coarse cut, perfect moisture level.

Tin note: Smells smoky and sweet, a true balkan scent.

Tasting notes: Smoky, salty, and the slightest bit sweet on light up, a tart earth on the finish. Once it gets going, draws consist of smoky, earthy, salty, tangy, bready, and somewhat spicy puffs. With most blends, some flavors will come and go, and some will be more upfront than others but this blend it is a full frontal assault of all the flavors simultaneously for about half the bowl (I hope this doesn't sound bad because I don't mean it in a bad way). Also the salt flavor is unique, I don't find that in many blends. It will maintain those flavors throughout the bowl although toward the end, smokiness will become more upfront than the others.

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

Extra Remarks: This is a very flavorful, interesting, and slightly unique blend. A very pleasant smoke when looking for something different, but I prefer other blends like it more. Still very good though, 3 stars.

I am a "new" pipe smoker after rediscovering my pipe smoking habit from my college days. I dabbled in classic smokes and gravitate to strong tobaccos in their category (Latakia, aromatics, etc.).

Ashbury is a wonderful, less powerful, Balkan for me. The sweetness of the red Virginia is present in the tin aroma and at first light, but soon the sour-spicy of the the Orientals makes it presence known between the steady woodsy taste of Latakia. It burns clean and dry with few relights in both my poker and my pot pipes, and has a very enjoyable spiciness balanced by the rich earthy flavors of the Latakia. It is more nuanced than I usually like, but it is a really nice smoke with a subtly complex flavor that is very enjoyable. I like this blend as a contrast to my stronger Balkan: Dan's Bill Bailey...If you are looking for a mild Balkan to start, this could be the blend for you. Three stars for me.

A blend that I classify as Oriental. The Latakia is present but it's in the background, Virginia plays the right role to give body to the excellent - as always - spicy orientals. As for all G. L. Pease blend I tried, it is, let's say, elusive, complex, meditation blend. 4,0/5 in my personal rating system.

Ashbury, part of the Fog City Selection of G.L. Pease tobaccos is a light Balkan blend, best suitable in my opinion, as a morning smoke. Composed of bright and red Virginia, undisclosed Oriental tobaccos, with a touch Cyprian Latakia, it presents a pleasantly balanced blend of sweetness from the Virginia and spiciness from the Orientals.

Pease's blends are always carefully thought out to address specific taste niches and Ashbury hits that "first pipe of the morning with a cup of strong black coffee" niche for me. It is also suitable as an all-day smoke if one is so inclined.

The course ribbon cut requires care in packing to avoid too-tight packing but if approached with a gravity fill and a light touch, it burns fine, down to a gray ash. Not for small bowls, though.

While Ashbury doesn't stand out in a crowded field, it is thoroughly enjoyable and will always have a place in my cellar.

This is the lightest Balkan in GLPease line of splendid tobaccos, giving a strong role to Virginias. The first half of the pipe provides an amazing range of flavors, from the sweetness of Virginias to the spiceness of Orientals, always backed by a moderate smokiness from Latakia. The problem is with the last half or third of the bowl, when taste recedes and becomes somewhat flat. Still a great smoke, but no the best.

After 6 mos. of aging, Ashbury has come around to become yet another fine product of GLP. Upon opening the tin, you are presented with a nice presentation and a very nice aroma! Packs and lights without any trouble. On takeoff, the tobaccos seem to work against each other but, at cruise, they level off, and work together. I believe the Va`s in this blend run the ship and the latakia and orientals set back an observe untill they are called upon. Though this flight doesn`t reach high altitudes for any length of time, it is an enjoyable one! This needs to be smoked at low power settings to experience all the nuances it has to offer. I believe sometime in the hangar (cellar) will make this one a sweet flying machine!!