G. L. Pease Fillmore

Pease Pilgrimage Reviews (a tasting journey through every GLPease blend) Tin date: 11/06/06

Aroma: The tin was swelling when I popped it, and oooohhhh such a sweet delicious experience! That waft of delight reminded me of a sweet, malty ale from Coopersmith's microbrew in Fort Collins, CO. Or maybe Fat Tire fresh from the tap at Old Belgium Brewery on Linden Street. I've smelled this same something in sweet dessert wines too, perhaps something like a Muscat. Add in the sweet aroma of dried fruit and sugared ginger, with just a hint of hay and grassiness, and you've got Fillmore, one of the best smelling tobaccos I've experienced to date. Literally, my mouth waters just smelling this stuff! Who needs to smoke it? But I will sacrifice my time and energy to smoke some of this just for my brothers and sisters at SF.

Appearance: A beautiful broken flake, thickly sliced and soft, easily broken apart, medium brown with lighter striations.

(Did I mention the tin note is amazing? I open the jar and whiff it like every 30 seconds or so…can't help myself…)

Flavor: This tin has had four years to discover its identity so it ought to know who it is by now. Here's what the Pease website has to say: “A thick-sliced broken flake in the Scottish tradition. Ripe red Virginia tobaccos are combined with a generous measure of fine Louisiana perique, and then pressed to marry the components and deepen the flavors. The cakes are sliced and gently broken before tinning. Fillmore presents an elegant sweetness and delightful piquancy, enhanced by a creamy richness that develops throughout the bowl. Sit back, and enjoy a lovely, leisurely smoke.”

So let's talk about this. “An elegant sweetness…” Yes, that's certainly present in the tin aroma. I imagine that this amazing smell (I did mention that the tin note is amazing, right?) has been enhanced by its four years in the tin. I may have to buy a new tin just to compare (hopefully you experienced Fillmore users can chime in here on the differences). This elegant sweetness is also somewhat present in the room note which is actually rather nice. But it comes across least emphatically in the smoke, since the Perique is up front trying to steal the show. I would not call this a sweet Virginia blend. Which bring us to the…

“Delightful piquancy…” I don't know how much Perique constitutes a “generous measure” but that in-my-nose Perique tang is certainly there. The tang abates a bit as the pipe progresses. I would like to know the percentage of Perique in this blend just so I can get a handle on it. Some blends put just enough in to feel it as a spice, but here you really can taste the pungence and earthiness, which provide an excellent contrast against the Virginia sweetness (which I think is precisely why the sweetness does not come through as strongly in the smoke as in the aroma – it's very effectively counterbalanced by the “delightful piquancy”). The balance is good – any less and it would be just another VA with a little Perique thrown in. Any more and my nose would sting to the point where it just isn't enjoyable.

“Creamy richness…” Problem here is I want to huff and puff and lose myself in the flavors, but with too much heat it gets harsh and ashy like any obedient Virginia leaf, so self-restraint and good VA-smoking technique will keep the tang subdued and release some of that cream. But it's not the creamiest by a long shot, and I'm not sure I would have used that word. That quintessential sweet richness present in any quality VA (like Union Square) is here, but it's not nearly as accessible as in US. I had to be very careful of technique to draw the flavors out and prevent that ashy harshness from manifesting. I think the Perique acts like a grumpy schoolmarm, making sure you obey the rules or pay the consequences.

“Lovely and leisurely smoke…” It can definitely provide that, although it's got some strength behind it. Should you choose to obey the schoolmarm, then you will be rewarded with what is a very typical and pleasing VAPER experience: rich slightly sweet Virginias with tangy and earthy Perique, combining to create that synergy where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It performed for me exactly the same in the briar and in the Meer, meaning it is very consistent, a good quality. Fillmore is a very good VAPER but not one of the best I've had. I would place it at three stars just because it seems a bit too finicky to me, like a high-maintenance girlfriend (or boyfriend, for you lady pipers). I've had that experience before. Bittersweet to say the least.

(Oh and by the way, the tin note is amazing!)

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: A thick cut broken flake. Perfect moisture and rubs out so easily.

Tin note: Rich, sweet fruit.

Tasting notes: Sweet, toasty, slightly tangy on light up with a slightly tart, figgy finish. Mildly fruity (obviously present, just not super strong), still toasty, with a grassy turning earthy finish. A minute amount of spice on some finishes. Deeper into the bowl the toastiness diminished and breadiness and earth stepped forward. Becomes more smoky near the end of the bowl.

Mechanics: N/A—A well behaved blend.

Extra Remarks: Smoke it without thought and it is still a good VaPer, but if you pay attention to the blend you should have a similar experience to me with flavors. I am wowed by this blends complexity. It is around medium, maybe a touch below that in flavor intensty, but that does not mean it is lacking in flavor in the slightest. My favorite VaPer is a more rambunctious blend, Gawith St. James Flake, but I think this is just as good in its own way. Outstanding blend. 4 stars.

I got a 45 g sample from a friend. It was of uncertain vintage and came sealed in a mylar bag. The tobacco came at a good state of hydration - "maybe" just barely on the moist side of ideal. I smoked it as delivered. Pouch note is earth with a little hay. The tobacco came as mostly rubbed out flake and looks like a lighter red Virginia with some darker streaks from perique in the pieces of flake.

I tried smoking this as delivered, and I tried rubbing it out. I found the rubbed out tobacco burned a little better and I did not notice any difference in taste. Pipes used were various pots.

Smoked this is mostly the grassy/hay of a yellow Virginia with just a little of the tart of red Virginia. The perique presents as a slight plum in the flavor with a spiciness on the snork. I did not perceive any latakia in the blend, but everyone seems to think there is some. It is on the very light side of condimental if there is any.

This lit and smoked easily enough. It did not have problems staying lit, and it did not leave me with a damp heel. It was tasty and smoked cool for me. As a point of interest, I found it smoker "slower" than most of the things I smoke. The pressing process may have left it a little denser than your average ribbon or "fish food." It seemed to become more sweet as the bowl progressed.

This is easy to recommend. This is not a "buy 10 tins" blend for me, but I could happy have it as a mainstay of my pipe smoking. It is a solid 3 on the scale.

Most tobaccos IMHO improve with age and for me, this is especially true with Pease/ C&D Virginia blends. I have several that I struggled with that I am revisiting and Fillmore is one of four of them. So for the “What it’s worth” department, this is based on a five and a half year old tin (9/09). The tin scent is a mixture of sweet and sour with some raison and fig. The sliced cake has darkened with age. In the pipe, the perique can’t be missed as it’s there to be fully noticed. The sweetness and tanginess of the red Virginias are there too, although not overly sweet. The sharpness has somewhat subsided with age, a good thing. One of the things that I like about this tobacco is that it is very slow burning. I have smoked it dry, my preference, and very dry, it either way it burns slowly although a touch of moisture more than I normally prefer makes for a better smoke. I tend to be a bit of a puffer and have a pipe in my mouth most of the day, but Fillmore offers too much perique for me (and I like perique) as a regular smoke. I find this to be especially true if I push it and I have to be conscience of this each time that I smoke it. All in all, age has improved this blend considerably. I didn’t like it at all early on, but time has served Fillmore well.

This tobacco had 3+ year of age on it and was opened for that time when this review was done.

The tin aroma is slightly sweet and very tangy with a hint of plums. There is also a note of darkness to it that I can't quite describe. There is a very small amount of Latakia in this blend (2% I think). I didn't smell it at first and I had to keep looking for it. After a few minutes, I picked up on a very faint hint of it.

At the start of the smoke the sweetness jumped right to the front and was accompanied by a light spice. The body of the smoke is a little fuller than most other VA/Per's that I have smoked. This could be due to the small amount of Latakia in the blend, which I do not taste or smell.

This is a good blend and I like it. It smoked slow, cool, dry, and didn't bite. It has a great, complex flavor profile that keeps it interesting. The finish is very pleasant and leaves a nice, clean sweetness. The smoke is full and creamy. It won't win over my favorite Dunbar by any means, but it's a good VA/PER blend none the less.

Beautiful, thick broken flakes.

However, too peppery in taste for my liking and rather on the harsh side. Probably the need for aging.

This is one downside of Peases's blends. Often, they are not sufficiently aged when tinned.

I will have to start out as saying I have never met a finer bunch of gentlemen as I have at the pipe club I attend. One particular individual whom I will call “M” gave me some pipe tobacco tins of blends he did not particularly care for. Most of them were full. I felt guilty receiving such a nice gift as I wish he would have given these blends more of a chance before giving up. I did let him know if he changed his mind, no problem whatsoever returning these to the original owner. With that being said, I will give my two cents worth reviewing this gift. The tin was dated 122920 which gives it around 15 months of age. Still a youngster. This is somewhat a medium-thick broken flake that packs easily into my Meerschaum. The tin note is hard for me to describe but let’s go with musty, spicy. Lights easily and man does this one produces a lot of smoke, more so than other blends I have tried recently. There is a touch of Latakia in this blend but I cannot tell by smoking it. Maybe that is why this one produces a ton of smoke? The Perique stands out quite a bit and the smoke to borrow from another reviewer is like a dry sherry, not very sweet. I have been smoking this for two days and will go for a third. All in all, a good VaPer, even with the Latakia in it. I do not love this one as many do nor do I dislike it as some reviewers. So, I guess a good solid 3 stars. Free tobacco always tastes better, 😊.

There are already plenty of fine reviews here, so I will not repeat any of their insights, but I WILL add something not mentioned much: how much this blend transforms with age.

At about 10 years, this becomes an entirely different animal. A metamorphosis that would make Kafka proud. The best thing I can equate it to is an overripe banana - in the best sense. It gets very dark, very sweet, very floral, very fermented, with still an enigmatic vegetal quality. It's really quite remarkable. I smoke Fillmore fresh regularly - almost an all day smoke for me. However, it becomes almost like a dessert when aged, rich and sweet, but also savory - perhaps like a dessert wine glaze over something tart. Really exceptional.

Sit on it for a few years, if you can, and enjoy.

This is a pleasant enough smoke I suppose. But when I reach for a VaPer, I don’t expect to be greeted with Latakia. And, to my unsophisticated palate, the lat is front and center, right where I DON’T want it.

If you’re perfectly fine with latakia stomping all over your picnic, you’ll probably love this.

I mean it’s an otherwise perfectly serviceable smoke. But I’ve steered clear of latakia ever since moving on from a brief, torrid affair with English blends early in my pipe smoking journey. Since I’ve moved on, I’ve come to consider latakia pretty much unbearable.

So this is a one-star blend for me. But I’m giving it two stars because I’m sure it has its fans.

But I caution those seeking straight up VaPer bliss to look elsewhere... unless you really like the lat.