G. L. Pease Ashbury

G. L. Pease - Ashbury.

This was my morning smoke today, a bit by chance, though. Sometimes what I do is a 'lucky dip': I'll reach into the non-aromatic area of my cellar and pick a tin with my eyes shut; it's not everyone's idea of excitement but it does it for me...... sadly!! So what are my thoughts on Ashbury?

Quite a coarse mixture of mostly brown and golden pieces, there's a far lesser amount of black. Yes, it's quite rugged on the eye, but it doesn't include any twiggy pieces. The moisture's good.

I normally expect the name Balkan to be indicative of a lat-bomb, like Sam' G's Balkan Flake, but that's not the case here. The Latakia's easily the lightest of the bunch, it gives a smokiness, but isn't anywhere near as strong as a lot of Balkans. It 'seasons' the smoke, but definitely isn't a leading taste. The Orientals are easily in charge here, by being fragrant and sour, with the Virginia giving a support of sweetness. To be fair the fragrant side of the Orientals begins fade after the initial quarter. It burns at a medium speed giving a cool smoke.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not the best.

Ashbury? Not horrendous, but nothing spectacular. Somewhat recommended:

Two Stars.

Judging by the description and the existing reviews, I thought I?d really like this blend. I smoked it in a large Comoy?s Freehand that has been ?Blueprinted? by Ronnie B. My sample was made up of mostly red to gold ribbons with just a little dark brown to black leaf which all appeared to be of fine quality. The pouch aroma was that of a mild and pleasant Balkan blend. It packed easily and had an appropriate amount of moisture. After the initial charring light and tamp, it burned perfectly and produced good smoke volume, leaving a light grey ash at the end of the bowl without relights. I found my sample to have very little flavor and to be very hot on my tongue. It wasn?t an unpleasant smoke, but just never really developed past a mild, almost cigar-like flavor that was hot and stingy all the way through. I plan on trying it in a few different pipes and will update if there is any reason to. For now, my first experience with GL Pease left me wanting a little more (flavor, that is).

This is an oriental forward Balkan blend. I have found my tin to be a little moist, but not overwhelmingly so. It has required several relights for me. It seems to be unbalanced to my taste buds, with the oriental tobaccos being too forward from the beginning to the end of the bowl. The Virginia's, initially in the background become more prominent as the bowl warms up. The Latakia is just there, bur more prominent near the end of the bowl. For some oriental mavens, this might be a nice introduction to Balkan blends. While there is enough complexity for some, I find this blend to be one of the few instances where I am not enthusiastic about a Pease blend. I rate this 2 stars, although some other palates might deliver a higher score

When this blend was first introduced I bought a tin and smoked it within a week. The tobacco reminded me of Rattray's 7 Reserve. I bought three more tins and aged them a year. Recently, I spent about two weeks trying to smoke this blend again and found it a bit boring after the first 10 minutes or so. Also, like many virginia heavy blends it smoked hot and became unpleasant at times, unless I was very careful. Like the previous reviewer this stung my toungue. After struggling with the tin for two weeks and comparing to some other blends, I gave up on this.

Very nice natural tobacco that reminds me of the real English blends I smoked 20 years ago. Really, it's well made but I'm not interested in trying it again.

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.