G. L. Pease Ashbury

I've been working my way through Greg's newest collection and it reminds me of the 3 bears -- Montgomery is now a bit too bland, Lobardy is a bit too weird and strange, and telegraph hill seems just right.

Now comes along Ashbury. Like a lot of Greg's blend I appreciate the complexity. I like the Latakia (I'm a moderate Latikia lover), the room note is okay, it smokes cool. Better than Frog Morton types but I'm not blown away. Would I go out my way to track it down or cellar it -- not sure. Would I appreciate it if it were around -- absolutely.

Tin note of sweet, smoky, and Rasins. Tobacco is a relative dry ribbon of brown and small amounts of tan, and even smaller amount of black. Burns slow with a few extra relights. The strength is mild and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is mild and inconsistent, with notes of buttery, herbal vegetation, musty leather, floral, mild smoke, sour citrus, mild sweet grass, earth, bitter wood, and a mostly smooth retro. Orientals tend to lead with Virginias supporting, Latakias is present, but not too active. Room note is tolerable to strong, and aftertaste is ok.

Standard english style blend. Not outstanding for me but made from GLP first grade tobac so better than most fare. Not a lot of Lat but the Lat that is there is quite tangy/strong.

This is an interesting baccy even though I'm not a huge fan of Latakia. There's only enough Latakia in this to be spicy, a la Perique. In this case the spice is smokey however. The Virginias and the Orientals in this blend have the most to say, and they are really good orators. Especially at the beginning of the bowl, the Orientals take center stage, then the Virginias begin to come on toward the middle of the bowl. The Latakia tends to take over toward the end of the bowl. Given a little more experience with this blend, I think it could become a regular after-dinner smoke.

I tried a test run of some of Pease's offerings, searching for brighter, lighter, complexity. Ashbury is a very good blend, falling in what I consider to be the mild to medium weight class. For the guys, like myself who love the big bold english textures, do not be put off by the mild-medium rating, which I give. Ashbury is very flavorful, with notes of pecans, citrus, and applewood smoke. Awesome smoke for the hotter temperatures of the Georgia summer. I think of light amber to describe the "color" of the flavor nuances. I would buy this in bulk quantities if it had a smidgen of perique added. I add my own upon packing and ashbury hits sublime levels imo. I probably will buy it again, but I find that I like picadilly more. Pease kills me with his blend descriptions, sometimes his marketing just makes me burst out laughing, but here's the deal...he produces quality, consistent tobaccos. That means a great deal to me. If you're looking for a change of pace like I was, give it a try. Ashbury is a honest quality blend.

This is not for me.I think it would be great without the latakia.

I originally reviewed Ashbury on 28 October 2005. This update removes that original review for various reasons. While G. L. Pease is a master blender using quality tobacco, this particular blend is not for me.