G. L. Pease Ashbury

I am surely in a minority here,so its worth mentioning perhaps how amazed I am that very few mention the spiciness of this blend; in the first 1/3rd of the bowl it well covers over anything else you might derive from this smoke, and it provokes that unpleasant scratchy throat feel. The second half of the smoke might be more balanced , some say flatter, but that is a blessing in this case. I was looking for an all day mild Balkan smoke. The tin I received was almost two years old, so nicely moderately aged as well.The tobacco ribbon looks exquisite and it probably is made of best ingredients, as this blender's commitment surely always is. However to me it is a case of over-compensating a light dish with too much spice, the Chef went overboard in this case IMO. To a lesser degree this verdict is true of the Kensington as well, even if the latter is more satisfying strengthwise. If Pease offers that mild all day Balkan smoke I do not knwo what it is. As it is I would prefer the heavier classic Abington, or more english Westminster over this one any day. For complexity, even though it has some perique I believe, the Samara will do a better job for me too. I would be obliged if any of the professional connoisseurs in this site will have mentioned if not analyzed what I perceive to be the over spiciness problem with this new line of tobaccos which has nothing to do with the mostly moderate strength