Tobaccos G. L. Pease - Westminster (Heirloom Collection)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2008-08-30		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

I noticed that one of the reviewers here has (unbelievably), given this blend four stars without ever having popped the top of his tin and smoked it. Man, this stuff must be good. LOL!

Seriously, it is. I do not often heed the heavy handed call of Latakia, but from now on this one will answer the door when I knock. Most Latakia blends are long on flavor and low on strength. But, Westminister provides a very nice balance between the two.

If a scrumptious Latakia flavor in a moderate presentation mixed with a nicotine hit rings your bell, this Pease will please.

87 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-06-03		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Greg Pease has established himself as a ?premier micro-blender? of many fine mixtures. His original series are often listed highly in many a smoker's favorite, with entries from the ?Classic Series? and notably the now legendary ?Bohemian Scandal? his talents in blending English/Balkan mixtures are well known.

Various blenders have attempted to re-produce classics such as Balkan Sobranie's 759 mixture with moderate success in my estimation. Greg has broken new ground in an attempt to re-create the long loved and often smoked London Mixture. To the best of my knowledge, he is singular in the attempt.

Dunhill is a much respected purveyor of Pipes and Tobacco products the world over. During the 28 years I have smoked pipes, many a bowl of Dunhill tobaccos have passed through my pipes. Several of Dunhill?s mixtures have been ?standards? of mine over the years; My Mixture 965, London Mixture, Nightcap, with several making the ?once in awhile? slot in my rotation; Dunbar, Standard Mixture.

Dunhill tobacco mixtures have suffered from what we might call ?outsourcing?. Other blenders have suffered similar fates, while others have ?been there, done that? and found satisfactory ?outsourcing blenders? to carry on a fine tradition. Murray's production has been the last of ?Dunhill mixtures? that I have smoked. I still maintain several tins of Nightcap for ?special occasion? pleasures and a couple of tins to open in my retirement years.

To my palate of the Dunhill mixtures that have suffered the greatest casualties; London Mixture and My Mixture 965 are the most gravely wounded.

With these things in mind, I will review GLP Westminster:

One should NOT approach this mixture expecting a ?typical GLP? mixture, it makes no such attempt. If you were looking for something similar to other GLP mixtures, please look elsewhere.

Appearance: A beautiful mixture of light and reddish./brownish Virginias, Latakia and Turkish leaf presented in ribbon cut form of nearly uniform cut. I can detect at least 6, and perhaps 8 different hues of leaf. Having read Greg's public notes about blending this mixture I know he spend hours pouring over various productions of Dunhill London Mixture learning what he could of the composition of this classic. This is very appealing to the eye of one looking for a ?typically English? tobacco mixture.

Tin aroma: Exactly what one would expect upon cracking open a tin of English tobacco, a nice blast of smoky Latakia, followed by the raisin/fig sweetness of Virginias and a musty leathery Turkish undertone. There is a deeply peaty quality which seemed absent from later samples of ?London Mixture? and very welcome here. The mouth-watering scents of an adult pleasure with anticipation of roughly an hour?s escape from ?modern life?.

For purposes of review, I?ve loaded a bowl (using the ?once like a baby, once like a lady, finally like a man? method of packing) into a Armellini rusticated Lovat of roughly Dunhill group 3/4 capacity. This pipe has been exclusively an English/Balkan smoker for several years, and should introduce no prejudice to the smoke. I have pre-smoked 4 non-reviewed bowls of Westminster with this pipe to assure what I'm tasting is actually Westminster. This mixture seems a bit moist to me upon cracking a fresh tin, I generally let a ?smoking portion? air for about 15-30 minutes prior to packing and smoking.

Upon lighting, I greeted with a blast of Latakia/Turkish smokiness with leathery/musty undertones, with the mild sweetness of Virginias just under the surface. Good so far, there seem to be no faults in proportions of the individual components thus far, everything seems where it should be, with a complexity and ?competition? for attention by each tobacco.

Mid Bowl: Approaching mid-bowl, the complexity and intensity as building nicely, the Virginias are a little more pronounced and assertive, while the Latakia and Turkish have settled into a nice middle palate place. The peaty quality noted in the tin aroma is very much there, though a subtle statement. When exhaled nasally the Turkish has a familiar ?drying effect? on the throat and dominates the soft palate areas of the mouth. This mixture (thankfully) has seeming little/none of the Cavendish confusion of My Mixture 965 or other ?later production? Dunhill mixtures, just a very cool and dry smoking one associates with a truly great English mixture of rather full body. The fine balance of leather/smoke/must/nuttiness and raisins builds slowly with each puff. Each component flavor remain distinct, yet blend together into what eventually becomes a truly outstanding finish. London Mixture has always had a roundness and softness absent in many other mixtures of this fullness, and Westminster captures this quality very well indeed.

Home Stretch: As end of the bowl approaches, each component tries to re-assert dominance which seems destined to ultimately fail, not in a ?bad way? however. The flavors are at their peak and cooperating with each other, yet somehow like gelatin the seem to eventually give up their ?individuality? to become a very rewarding ?whole flavor? which I remember fondly about Dunhill London Mixture of ?old? 1970's - 1980's . The volume of smoke from each puff is phenomenal, and the palate is intense and broad indeed. The flavors are in perfect cooperation at this point, a superlative effect. The complexity has faded a bit, joined slowly into one. An absolutely amazing finish, cool and dry with a muted, and melded complexity! One has the impression that IF tobacco could taste as velvet feels this would be the velvet in a truly royal gown.

Supplemental Notes: Now sadly that Dunhill have moved on to ?bigger and better things? like menswear (insert maniacal laughter here) Greg has taken up where they left off (years ago) and re-produced as closely as humanly possible a true Classic mixture. Absolutely an astonishing effort Greg! = FIVE (count them) HUGE stars

68 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	oldsage (3)	2014-05-20		Medium	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

Brief introduction: I've been a pipe smoker since 1973.

I did not undertake this particular review until I had smoked an entire tin of Westminster, 17 bowls in 15 different pipes. Personally, I will never review any tobacco that I haven't smoked at least that much; I believe that this is the only way to learn enough about a tobacco to be able to form a relatively informed opinion. (In my opinion.) In general, it takes time to get to know a new tobacco. It takes time to find the right pipe in your collection to bring out the best in a tobacco, and it takes time to learn the optimal smoking cadence for a new tobacco. And to make things even more unpredictable, some pipes and tobaccos perform best under certain climactic conditions.

I bought several tins of Westminster when it was first released. I was anxious to try them. I put them away for "a while" to smooth out the blend, and then proceeded to be distracted. For several years.

First impressions:

Opening the can released a whoosh of air; the tin was over three years old with a slight bulge in the bottom, so that's no surprise. The tin aroma was excellent; clear Latakia notes, a bit of Oriental spice, and subdued Virginia sweetness. In direct sunlight, every bit of tobacco ribbon had a fine, nearly microscopic dusting of glittering sugar crystals; a good sign. The tin's moisture level was close to ideal for the relatively dry evening air. I packed my pipe immediately and prepared for a long walk.

Bowl #1: Stanwell silver-banded, Relief sandblast 3/4 bent billiard, shape #83. I was lucky on the first bowl; the little Stanwell adored this tobacco. The charring light had the typical expected edge, and the Latakia was forward. The smoke soon settled into a round, balanced, classic old-style "full English mixture." Initially, the flavor was dry and nutty, nice fullness, little sweetness but a fine, rounded "Balkan" with everything in good measure. After a few minutes, the sweetness of the Virginias began to build, and that intensifying trend continued unabated through the end of the bowl.

Greg Pease describes this as "full English" but "exquisitely balanced" -- and it is. The Cyprian Latakia is definitely there, but so well proportioned that it adds to the whole rather than overpowering any part. I can tell he uses an approach which activates taste buds all over the mouth. The flavor profile overall is huge, rich, almost liquid in mouth-filling character, with lots of natural Virginia sweetness, and the perfect amount of Orientals for a bit of spice, nuttiness and cool, even burning.

Burning characteristics were impeccably well-mannered; with nary a gurgle, the bowl proceeded without any fuss (or need for a re-light) for nearly an hour, steadily gaining in sweetness and flavor intensity right through to the last few grains of unburned tobacco and some silvery, dust-fine ash.

This was one of those "transcendental" bowls of tobacco that really sings, and I remarked at least a half-dozen times to my walking companion how wonderful this particular smoke was. (The environment counts; it was a perfect cool evening in the high 60s, relative humidity around 40%, walking near a creek with lots of poplars and aspen trees. This absolutely does affect the smoke.)

Westminster is not shy with the Latakia, but Greg balances it so well that it works perfectly. There's a "deep" sun-dried-fruit sweetness and intensity to Latakia that only emerges when it's blended exactly right -- too little and it doesn't quite bloom; too much and it's bitter and harsh. Pease finds this elusive balance, and nails it. In decades past, British pipe smokers would talk about the "Plumb Pudding" taste of a fine Latakia Mixture (much to the confusion of us Yanks who had never tasted such an odd Christmas critter) and Westminster exhibits that characteristic beautifully. Maestro Pease is known for taking his time before settling on the final recipe, and it shows. On a scale of 1 to 10, this is a solid 10.

Remarkable, and what a great start.

17 bowls later, I had experienced an incredibly wide variety of flavors, ranging from woody notes, to deep Latakia, to bright and sweet Virginia, to Oriental spiciness, classic English to dry nutty and toasted flavors.

The Latakia was always evident to at least some degree. But in some pipes, Westminster was very Virginia - forward, sweet and citrus. In other pipes, it was all about the Latakia, smooth, dark and smoky. In others it was very Balkan, lots of exotic spices and woody oak. In a few pipes, that elusive classic English Mixture "plumb pudding" flavor burst forward, with citrus, black tea, figs, raisins, brandy, rum, lots of Virginia sweetness and Oriental spice included, with the bass note of smoky depth holding underneath. In a few pipes, the bowl played a fascinating and elusive complexity which changed from puff to puff, impossible to pin down, and enjoyable with every draw. In one Dunhill, the overall flavor profile was a dry Virginia with pleasantly edgy walnut notes, reminiscent of Rattray's Brown Clunee or Gawith Best Brown Flake. Truly excellent.

Burning characteristics were excellent in almost every pipe. One Stanwell in particular, a big sandblast poker "Nordic" in the 207 shape, was as cool and unflappable as could be. I swear I could puff like I was smoking "1Q" and not overheat the pipe. The bowl lasted for over two hours during a wonderful, cool evening walk, and delivered a smooth, consistently rewarding smoke the entire time.

Even the few mismatched pipes performed well, with a bit of blandness and finicky burning being the only complaints.

Oddly, the worst mismatch was a Comoy's Blue Riband billiard, which should have been great. Some pipes just don't respond well to some tobaccos. The somewhat wide chamber may be the reason.

Generally, my own experience seems to lean toward smoking Westminster in a relatively narrow bowl, and smaller pipes can really shine with this tobacco, even pipes with very thin walls. I must admit however that the large Stanwell 207 did extremely well, so it's just a "trend," not a hard and fast "rule." Westminster is a tobacco blended for experienced pipe smokers with a good deal of finesse to their technique, and it will reward the smoker who can "treat it like a lady." Flavors are complex, deep and dramatically different from pipe to pipe, but in any pipe you can expect to immediately recognize the Latakia in there. In a pipe indifferent to its charms, it's "merely" an excellent traditional Balkan blend in the tradition of the old-line houses. At its best, its genuinely amazing.

I have heard some tobaccos described as "needing" a very high-end pipe to bring out their best; while two Dunhills performed very well with Westminster, two other Dunhills were a bit shy -- not bad, just not as deeply flavorful. (Smoked on a different day, in different weather, they no doubt would have performed differently.) Some of the best performers were mid-line Stanwells. Westminster certainly does not require an expensive, high-end pipe to perform well. Four pipes delivered a stunningly great smoke.

Westminster ranks among the finest English Mixtures I have ever smoked, and that includes experience spanning the last four decades. This does not surprise me in the least: Greg Pease is famous for producing blends at this level across his entire range.

If you keep hearing about the "Good Old Days" of the long-lost house-blended Dunhill mixtures, of Rattray back when they were the "real thing," of Sullivan Powell and company, don't fret. The "Good Old Days" are now, and Gregory Pease is leading the parade. No, Westminster is not identical to the old Dunhill London Mixture, which was the inspiration for this excellent blend. It is different. But the quality, the attention to detail, the masterful touch of balance and sophistication equal anything ever produced. Smoked with some finesse in the right pipe, and on the right day, it is fully capable of producing a "Religious Experience" smoke.

Pipe Used: a plethora

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Dunhill London Mixture.

57 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3047)	2012-09-15		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The dry, smoky, woody, floral, earthy, herbal, lightly buttery, spicy and sour Orientals sing in a support role. The tangy dark fruit, earthy, woody, slightly bready red Virginia is not quite as sweet as some reds can be as it forms the base of the blend. They also sport a slight stewed fruitiness. The very lightly tart and tangy citrusy, grassy bright Virginia is far in the background. The smoky, woody, earthy, sweet Cyprian Latakia is very obvious without drowning out the components as a secondary player. The nic-hit is a step shy of being medium. The strength is a couple of steps past the medium mark, while the taste level is a rung beyond that. No chance of bite or harshness, and has few rough edges. The tobacco may need a light dry time, though I did not do that. Burns cool, clean and slightly slow, and the rich, very consistent flavor lasts to the finish with no dull spots. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, but no dottle. Requires a few relights. The pleasant after taste and stronger room note lightly linger. Not an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

46 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-01-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This blend on opening is 3 days old in the tin. On opening It was quite wet, So I let it air out for 1 hour, stirred up and let sit one more hour. Tha consistancy was Dry, yet pliable with out breaking. Let me briefly interject that this is a remake of London Mix. A London Mix Mr. Pease is familiar with. Unfortunately one that I, coming in the Orlick days of London Mix am not. therefore I don't think it fair to try and compare to my London Mix, and so will rate it on its own. Perhaps I'll add some observations later...

I picked a Pete system 303. Packed using the frank method.

On char light- LATAKIA...big and bold....Determined, once I got lit, I rinsed with warm to hot peppermint tea. Then trudged on.

From Start to cruising speed I am growing encouraged. I despise cyprian latakia dominated blends. I find them of a singular dimension- Mouth drying, and basically disgusting.

Here, there is a sweet, exotic spice that takes main stage. No mouth drying. The mouth does get that latakia coating- but its not unpleasant. I allowed it to go out while I chased my boxer from the trash can. After beating him with a shoe....I relight....

Sweet....a nice smoky sweet. The kind of smoke I fantasize wanting on cold foggy days. When Zen and Pipe smoker maintenance takes over and all there is for the day is the long dark tea time of the soul.....When Bills are left behind and its just you, a friend of Briar, and a sweet smoky libation that can carry you away from the hear and now, and into the halcyon dreams of spiritual peace.

Oh I like this.....For those that care, this is my 91st review. As far as I'm concerned there will never be a latakia or English blend to match this.

I am at mid bowl now, and the taste and flavor has remained solid. no change. a wonderful mixture of latakia, Orientals, and a balanced sweetness of red virginias. It is a magnificent blend- and I do mean blend. There is no transition of flavors, but one continuous flavor which is extraordinary.

Had to tamp and relight. Here's a note. too much heat and a bitterness does come in for a second- not unexpected, I got it too hot. Once it got back to regular puffing...Flavor went right back to the above mentioned.

Past midbowl now. Still no detrimental effects from latakia. =Ok, My Wife just came in and said WHOA!!!! Stinky one!!!! Not normal Friendly".....I guess nicotine has kicked in cause I am laughing hysterically......=

Last 1/3rd of the bowl. Flavor is stil the same. Nothing is fighting for center stage.

Mouth is still fine. no dryness. Cat has decided something I'm smoking is fascinating.....So has wifes dog......Both are practically in my lap.

Burn is perfect. Stays lit. no fuss. Ash is a lovely white.

If I had to draw some comparison to my London Mix? I would say the Orlick London Mix is like watching Casablanca on an old TV, on AMC.

This is like seeing the same Movie on HDTV on DVD. Its fresher (literally), more intense, There's more clarity in taste- Like taking a picture of a sunflower with an old brownie camera, then another of the same flower with a digital. The quality of leaf is lightyears ahead of the Orlick blend.

All in all- I give this my highest recommendation. There IS NO English blend but this in my opinion. Try it. You won't regret it.

28 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Beer (345)	2007-10-30		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

As a huge fan of the old London Mixture by Dunhill (one of the first tobaccos I have ever smoked, and one of my favorites before it became significantly worse around 2002 and then plain awful), I was intrigued to hear that Westminster was meant to be a replica of that great blend.

Does it succeed in the task? Well, probably not. I don't think it is as nutty, thick or "chewy" like the Dunhill blend when it was good. Its flavour is IMHO quite different. But the good news is that Westminster, while different, is probably just as good, and most importantly just as ideal as a "whole day" English mixture, quite full of flavour but not heavy or cloying (which, if I remember correctly from the Dunhill brochure, was the description of London Mixture).

The tobacco in the tin is a bit moister than I'd expect from Pease, and more irregularly cut than the fine ribbons of the Dunhill. The color is also darker, with less bright specks. Another difference from London Mixture is that in the Dunhill blend the smell was more leathery, sweeter and more "putrid" (that almost rotten note that was always a sign of a great English blend in times past!). The higher than usual moisture level also shows in a slightly more difficult than usual lighting, especially if you have overpacked your bowl. I recommend a lighter hand especially when the tin has been opened for only a few days.

The flavour buildup of Westminster is very interesting: it starts slow and quiet, and then grows into a crescendo of fragrance and aromas. By the end of the bowl it has grown very rich and flavorful, and it ends simply delightful, without bad aftertastes and leaving you wanting for more (exactly like London Mixture did).

The Virginia base is rich but not overwhelming (a little bitey, maybe), neither it is particularly sweet like in the Classic Collection blends: as a whole, Westminster stays quite on a "dry" palette. The real showstealers are the Orientals and the Latakia: fragrant, spicy, perfmuy, incense-like. While the Latakia is from Cyprus, it truly is rich, winey, fragrant, woody, leathery: somehow this tobacco is reminiscent (though lighter and more delicate) of Bohemian Scandal. Yes, while Scandal was based on Syrian leaf, Westminster actually manages to evoke some of its aromas in spite of being entirely Cyprus Latakia based!

Do I like it better than the incredibly flavorful, chewy and thick Caravan, Odyssey, Blackpoint, Abingdon? Probably not... but of course the comparison is silly as these are more on the Balkan side and not a medium English like Westminster is meant to be.

What I can say for certain, is that I like it better than the departed Renaissance: yes, I think that Westminster suits much better my idea of a medium strength classic English mixture, it is much more satisfying and rewarding.

I am almost tempted to give a "Highly recommended" rating, and maybe I will revise my score in the future...

UPDATE: I have been smoking Westminster as my one and only English Mixture for the past two months. While in a couple of my pipes it tastes slightly flatter, it is a wonderfully reliable, consistent tobacco. I really find it excellent for continued smoking, I never grow tired of it. The fact that it burns slower than usual is excellent for those long evening smoking sessions. Rating upgraded to "Highly recommended".

26 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2010-09-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

I was gifted Westminster along with several other blends that are well received over the pond. This one has an almost cigarette tobacco shag cut and all of the components combine to make for a dandy and inexpensive smoke. The tobacco is somewhat dry and burns quickly, but the Latakia and Oriental components do have time to sparkle.

A fun smoke well worth one's time (and certainly worth the value it presents to the pocket book).

24 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	oldcodger (74)	2014-06-28		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

G.L. Pease Westminster, from the Heirloom Collection, is often compared to Dunhill London Mixture. It was introduced during that period when Dunhill was not being exported to the United States. Like London Mixture, Westminster is a medium strength Latakia along with Virginia and oriental. The flavor is similar to London Mixture, but not an exact clone.

Where Westminster resembles London Mixture most is the complex way in which the constituent tobaccos fade in and out of dominance. Upon the initial light the latakia predominates. As the smoke progresses the slightly sweet red and bright Virginias take the forefront. Then the herbal oriental seems to predominate. The in and out flavor dominance of the three tobacco types makes for a mixture best suited for smoking when your full attention is upon the pipe.

The cut is a fairly even ribbon. There is no trouble in getting an even light nor in keeping the pipe lit. Westminster does not threaten with tongue bite. The room note is tolerable, not excessively strong, but non smokers will likely label it stinky.

Aside from those pipe smokers who eschew latakia, I give Westminster an unrestrained recommendation.

19 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-01-31		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Since each of the first reviewers has awarded this with 4 stars, and added many of their individual comments, I'll just say that I agree with everything written so far. Greg Pease has hit another major home run with this blend...no surprise, as IMHO, he has few peers - if any - out there today. This is definitely an all-day blend. It might be Pease's most balanced blend to date. The latakia (which I like, as long as it's proportioned and not utterly dominant) is of obvious quality, and the VA sweetness is there, but again, in great balance. Like so many of the GLP blends, this is complex; there are multiple layers of rich flavor that come and go as a bowl progresses. None dominate. This is pure elegance. It's Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium to the third exponent. This is simply an observation, not a complaint - it's like many GLP blends, in that it's pretty moist when first opened. It required a couple of relights in my custom-made Rad Davis bent apple. I'm putting the desired quantity onto a piece of waxed paper for an hour or so now, and that gives it enough time to dry out a bit. All I can say is, that when this gets about two years of age on it, when the flavors marry and the VA sugars mature, watch out! This one is destined for greatness. A full 4-stars, eight out of ten for now, and I have no doubts but that in a couple of years, it'll be at least a 9.

UPDATE: When I first reviewed this, I did something I've never done, evaluating a tobacco after a few bowls. Now a few weeks have passed. I've smoked Westminster in 5-6 different pipes - a few older estate pipes, and a few newer ones; in mornings, in the afternoon, early evenings, and late at night. I've smoked it in Rhodesians, billiards, a large apple, bowls large and smaller. And after this variety, and after the first tin, everything that I loved about it at first stands. Westminster will undoubtedly be spoken of one day as the very best medium English blend there is. To think of what this will mature to causes me to lay in a really ridiculous amount of it.

17 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2013-12-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I can easily divide this smoke into two halves. The first half of the bowl reminded me of a lighter bodied version of Pease's Caravan. Orientals ahead of the Latakia by a nose. Virginias quietly providing a balancing sweetness, but not intrusively. In the second half the Orientals and Latakia melded together and mellowed just enough for the Virginias to finally break through. Not in a big way, but just enough to change a good finish into a great finish. An easy four star blend.

Pipe Used: MM General

Age When Smoked: 2 months

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: GLP's Caravan (first half only).

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2081)	2016-03-20		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

G.L. Pease - Westminster.

I've recently opened a tin of Rattray's Westminster Abbey, because of the name I'd got it into my head that this was an aromatic too; I was over the moon when I popped the lid to be met by musky smelling ribbons. I was even happier when I put a flame to it, I'll get to that shortly.

As I said, the tin contains ribbons. Sometimes ribbons can be almost like broken flakes, yet other times they're so fine they look like a shag cut blend; these ones are definite ribbons, quite coarse and have a good moistness to them. The mixture appears to be a fair split between the different types of tobacco, it looks about even. Now I'll get onto the actual smoking qualities of it:

Once lit the initial thought to come to my mind is one of how the Latakia's presence is very similar to Ashton's Consummate Gentleman; it's easily noticed but, similarly, its flavour's rich as opposed to being just smoky. I don't get much actual taste from the Virginia, only a very slight sweetness with hardly any hay notes, it seems to me that the field of taste is mainly occupied by the Latakia and the Orientals, with the Orientals being the loudest. A feature I enjoy about Westminster is that because the ribbons were quite chunky to begin with, they give quite a cool smoke. I find the nicotine amount agreeable, I'd say it's definitely below medium; not mild, but it's still less than medium.

I'll put the low point in a separate paragraph: tongue bite. If it's sipped slowly it's not a problem, but when it's chugged it can issue a little kick. That's not a big problem though; I'm just less greedy with my puffing!

I really enjoy Westminster, it's flavourful and relaxing.

Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: L'Anatra

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Gauntleys

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kashmir (21)	2010-05-28		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

The Heirloom Collection: GL Pease Westminster

Westminster by the master artisanal tobacco blender GL Pease, is a delightful English Blend in the Heirloom Series, one that serves well as an all day smoke, responding readily to variances in pipe shape, bowl size, as well as to the individual nuances of the smoker. As such, it serves not only as an ideal introduction to the style of blend for the novice, but, due to a number of unique characteristics, also serves as a mainstay for a number of experienced tobacco pipe smokers who prefer English Blends.

What I hope to present here are a number of observations on this unique blend. The intent is to ascertain whether other pipe brethren have had similar experiences, and to promote the blend to the novice, because it serves as a wonderful benchmark to this style of blends. As many of you know, this blend was an attempt to riff on the original Dunhill London Mixture as detailed on the article The Road to Westminster.

As GL Pease states "Though not exactly the same as my beloved old pre-Murrays London Mixture, it carries that spirit with it, and delivers a great deal more than I"d thought possible at the outset". I have never tasted the original blend, first introduced in 1928, nor the Murrays incarnation, but I do know that todays Dunhill London Mixture can't hold a candle to Westminster. My greatest fear would be the discontinuation or alteration of the Westminster blend.

After 20+ yrs. of smoking English Blends, usually quite regularly, ranging from 5 to 20 bowls per day, I can honestly say that I have yet to come across a blend as intriguing as Westminster. There is something about it that really grabs hold of my attention, namely, the complexity, depth and layers of flavor as the bowl proceeds, as well as a number of magical qualities that I have rarely found among other blends. In short, this is true "pipe food" and is based on extremely high quality leaf, in finely tuned proportions, constituting, presumably, a closely guarded secret.

First off, unlike many blends, this blend retains its exquisite flavor upon relighting multiple times, even days later. That is, the volatile components are stable, despite prolonged exposure to air (i.e., oxidation). This means that I can smoke a bowl, and save the rest for later. If anything I find it gamier upon a re- light, even up to a week later. I can't say this for too many other tobaccos, which prove to be disappointing upon re-light even several hours hence, let alone a week later. Presumably, this is due the retention of volatile oils that give the unique flavor to Westminster. Thus, the chemistry of the blend appears highly stable, rendering it quite adaptable to nuances in the choice of pipe, bowl size, as well as, presumably, behavioral differences in the smoker. It is not a fickle blend. And that is why I can recommend this blend to the novice, as it is extremely forgiving.

Secondly, Westminster delivers a lovely "bowl smell", which is a metric that I rarely hear mentioned in tobacco reviews. You always hear talk of the room note (of which I could care less), and of course the all important flavor to the palate, but how many of you out there like to sniff your bowls, especially during the end of a long burn, towards the bottom of the bowl, when things begin to get delicious? For me, this blend produces a bowl smell of butternut squash, or roasted pumpkins. The bowl smell seems remarkably tied to the temperature of the burn. At lower temperatures, as recommended in a slow burn, the cucurbits mentioned above come through strongly, but at higher temperatures, I get nasal quaffs of subtle spice, dried figs and raisins. Presumably these sweet smells originate from the sugar- rich fire cured red Virginias in the blend. Incidentally, this sugar-rich component lends itself remarkably well to the aging of the blend, and I have had smokes from three year old cans that are simply superb. The dense, smoky, out- back campfire pit sweetness derives from the noble Cyprian mountain Latakia. The orientals, which I've heard somewhere is Izmir Leaf, also contribute to this unique bowl smell (note: some forums fail to mention the orientals in this blend). In short, this is a blend to smell, as well as smoke. Even when extinguished, there is a sweet bowl smell that lingers on for quite some time.

Third, it's hard to get bite out of this one, even if you go at it hard. Of course, a slower smoke will reveal more subtleties, like a slow draw on any tobacco, but even when chugged on forcefully, all I get is an amplification of the wonderful taste. Other blends, taste remarkably differently when sipped versus pulled on strongly. Most blends loose their taste when smoked hot and rapidly, leading to tongue bite and palate scorching. Not so with Westminster. This blend seems to provide the same flavors under both manners of consumption, and pulling strongly, on occasion during the smoke, only reinforces what one is after in the blend. In other words, Westminster delivers, no matter the rate of combustion. This is a true measure of chemical stability, and I know of few other blends that do this.

Lastly, Westminster performs well in all of my pipes, from Group 2s thru Group 6s, no matter the bowl shape, from pots to dublins to bulldogs, bents or straights. Even problematical or, shall we say, temperamental pipes, which tend to get relegated to the specific blends that they do well with, or whose ghosts I have not been able to completely extinguish with salt and grain alcohol, do well with this blend. In short, I have never had a bum smoke with this blend.

Finally, one is left with two impressions. The first is that it is evident that a very fine, high quality leaf is being employed, but one that remarkably retains its vigor under a range of different smoking conditions, so as to never disappoint. The chemical stability of the blend is attested to by the retention of smell and taste upon a re-light, long after extinguishing. The second impression, of course, is that the proportion or ratio of Virginia, Latakia and Orientals are matched perfectly - truly symphonic in scope. To be honest, I can not say that I love all of the GL Pease blends, but Westminster is a remarkable blend and one that will go down in history as the bench mark of what can be done with an English Blend. Regarding packaging, I have noticed a recent trend in the industry to maximize small volume tins, to the exclusion of the 16 oz volumes, that I prefer. Westminster however is still available by the pound. Could we hope perhaps to persuade Mr. Pease to provide this in bulk? One can only wish!

13 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	luvinthepipe (29)	2013-10-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

TRASH! I bought this tin as part of a large online order when I was a newbie smoker and really liked my first few bowls when compared to others. I did notice the rough cut and thought this was just the way hand cut product is supposed to be.

I smoked about 3 bowls off the top of the tin when I opened it up in 2009 and loved it. I then put it away in an airtight mason jar to age as I had other tobaccos to open and enjoy from my online order. A few months later and many other tobaccos smoked, I had another bowl and HATED it then put it away to sort out later. Here it is 5 years later in the fall of 2013 and I hate it more. Perhaps I have had the chance to enjoy many more good tobaccos (I was a newbie pipe smoker in 2009). One big problem I have is this tobacco seems like my can was from leftovers, stems and dust. The light colored tobacco is tiny, cubed to dust like. One black stem is about 2 inches long with just a little bit of leaf on it. I have chunk like slices, one of which I opened up and found a ragged 45 x 20 mm whole brown leaf. Any blender who allows his packer to pack up the stuff picked up by a dust broom or thrown into the trash should be ashamed. I counted this off as just a bad tin, sold as premium tobacco. However, I read more reviews and find so many other people commenting about the rough cut. This lack of care in the cut effects the consistency of the smoke, taste and enjoyment. One bowl may be mostly of gold dust and the other of stems and big leaves of a different type of tobacco. This is the only tin I have ever purchased from GL Pease and it will be my last. He should be embarrassed. If I hadn't purchased this tin online, I would have brought it back to the tobacconist who sold it to me rather than wasting a good mason jar. I read the review by PIPESTUD and he reports this being cut like shag tobacco. WHAT?!? He must have smoked specially hand made stuff selected just for the Chicago Pipe show. this stuff the rest of us get is TRASH. Unless GL Pease somehow finds a way to get me to try his tobacco again, I will spend my money on better product blended by true master blenders.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2012-03-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

My review is based on two tins of Westminster, a newer tin and a tin from 2009. While it can be said of most blends, I especially don't fare well with many of the Pease blends until they have had enough time (at least a year) in the tin. Unlike many of Greg's blends, I didn't find a measurable improvement in the aged tin of Westminster. The tin note is smoky, but I can definitely get a good whiff of the Orientals too. I am not sure where the comparison comes in regarding Dunhill's London Mixture and I find almost no similarities to the Murray's or Orlik version of LB. It isn't important anyway. The cut makes for easy packing and the moisture content is nearly perfect for smoking right out of the tin with no dry time. There is a fair amount of complexity with Westminster and the flavors build nicely throughout the bowl. The Orientals are the highlight for me.

The issue I have with Westminster is that it is too “rough around the edges” for me. It lacks creaminess and it would benefit from a little more sweetness from the Virginias. I seldom get bit by pipe tobacco and I didn't get bit by Westminster….but it isn't smooth either. I can see how it would bite if not attended to properly. The aged tin offers a little softening of the Latakia, but again, not huge. All in all, its “OK,” but there are just too many English blends that I enjoy more. If you are a big fan, as many are, of Pease blends I think that Westminster will be to your liking. Two and a half stars.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tantric (321)	2008-02-22		Medium	None Detected	Full	Strong

It's a long time since I tried a new GL Pease. Indeed, I'm one of the mourners of the bygone London Mixture (as much as I enjoy Golden Sliced and Dark Strong Kentucky, I refuse to try an Orlik version of any Dunhill). So here I am, smoking my fifth bowl of Westminster.

Whether this is a recreation of LM, or whether is closer to Standard Mixture, I can't really tell. It's a hell of a good, very good English mixture. It's tasty, balanced and properly dark (profound, some might say). I like it very much. I find it a stronger, fuller version of another GLP classic: Renaissance.

It lacks the mineral, earthy tones of Balkans, but since it doesn't claim to be one, it is indeed a perfect English. Great tobacco, and closer to any former Dunhill than the current Orlik renderings. But the fact is this tobacco--like most of GLP--stands perfectly well on its own terms. Kudos.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrumsAndBeer (217)	2015-03-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Why I have put off trying this blend for so long is beyond me. It's a truly marvelous representation of a mixture done in the classic English style. The tin note is laden with the scent of latakia. So much so, that the sugary aroma of the Virginia is barely detectable underneath the smoky Cyprian leaf. The cut is a variegated mishmash of short and long medium-thick ready-rubbed ribbons, rough-cut leaf and smaller bits & pieces. Almost a precursor to the pressed, cut and tumbled presentation of a few of the earliest blends in the Old London Series.

Charring light gives just a hint of the balance of flavors to come. I find the first portion of each bowl to be a delightfully happy interplay of sweet & smoky with just a touch of spice. Once fully lit, the flavor gradually increases and the bright-leaf sweetness of the first portion of the bowl gives way to a buttery smoke, layered with sweet fragrant piney latakia flavor. Deeper draws reveal a certain mineral like flavor as well as a more overt spiciness. Smaller sips are silky smooth, sweet and rich.

This is a superb blend that's all about equity of flavor. The latakia is always there, but never does it over step its assigned role. Sounds like almost all of the blends in the GLP catalog, right? Not quite. Westminster is a just a bit different. It's brighter and livelier tasting than all the other Oriental forward GLP mixtures that I have smoked so far. Moreover, despite the high level of Oriental leaf, I find the overall flavor of Westminster to be more sweet and Virginia centric.

When shopping for GLP tobaccos one will notice that this is one of a few blends in the catalog available in a 16oz tin. I find this to be quite telling. Obviously Westminster is one of GLP's more popular products and it's easy to see why.

Pipe Used: Briar

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-12-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

UPDATE 11/8/10

This one has either improved or my tastes have changed. I still wouldn't recommend it as a reference English blend but a 3 year old tin does possess some refinement that was missing in the more youthful versions. But it still seems too "murky" for want of a better word. Having recently smoked a fair amount of Meridian, it just seems to me that Mr Pease's intent with this one went unrealized, just as he absolutely nailed it with Meridian. Of course, I have no idea what he was going for in either case, so those comments are meaningful to me alone. Let's just say that whatever dollars I may have earmarked for this one are going directly towards Meridian... along with dollars earmarked for other blends! Westminster is not bad; it's actually very good. It just doesn't distinguish itself the way Meridian does.

UPDATE 6/13/09

I got a sample of this as part of a large trade and I thought, what the hey, maybe it's not as bad as I remember it. The good news is, it's not. Whatever oddball flavor I got before was apparently in that tin, which must have been bad somehow. This one smoked cool and smooth... and unmemorable. The sender noted that it was two years old. I still can't recommend it but this time it didn't have that terrible funky taste from my previous tin. It just seems to have that annoying GLP virtue of the various tobaccos either doing too much or not enough. But that's a personal observation, not an absolute. It wasn't to my tastes but it might be to yours.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 12/25/08

I came into this blend with extremely high expectations - and that may be the problem. I smoked 4 bowls of this, both in briar and meerschaum pipes, and each time I noticed a very odd taste that I couldn't put my finger on. The recipe seems standard and I should have really liked the blend, but the taste was just too objectionable. It seemed like each of the ingredient tobaccos were fighting with each other for the forefront - it just didn't marry well. It's obviously a high quality tobacco and I've added a star based on that. I suppose I could have gotten a bad batch but I don't care to try again. 4 bowls and I threw the rest in the trash.

This blend shows the different chemical balances in people, as so many appear to really like this stuff. I wish I could have enjoyed it! I did enjoy the room note, however. When I left the room and re-entered, it smelled heavenly!

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jt100 (8)	2020-04-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I’m a sucker for G.L Pease blends. Im still a relatively new pipe smoker, but I seem to come back to Westminster. I keep comparing and contrasting English/Balkan blends. Tonight I started with Quiet Nights and then moved to Westminster. Albeit, Quiet Nights is a stellar blend in it’s own right, but Westminster just sings for me. The tangy, nutty, butteriness of of the orientals pop. A perfect mix of latakia, orientals with a tinge of Virginia. I could smoke this all day, every day, but alas I give myself the pleasure of just 1-2 evenings bowls. It smokes perfectly right out of the tin. Pure English pleaure. Update 8/9/20 This is my desert island tobacco. Never fails. It hits on all cylinders for me. I keep coming back to it. It’s just so savory and tangy. My perfect blend.

Pipe Used: Peterson Dublin 221, Savinelli Roma 673

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pinko (52)	2016-07-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The elephant in the room: the cut is awful. It's a ragged mix of leaf, ribbon, broad cut, chunks of Latakia, and finely broken flake. It burns as ragged as it looks - it does burn cool though. You simply can't call this a replacement for London Mixture with a garbage cut like this. Westminster trips at the starting gate and never recovers.

The Virginias are rough, but a couple years in the tin or a Ball jar smooths them out nicely. I'm skeptical of having to do a blender's aging for them. Why not use Virginias that are ready to smoke instead of shipping raw product?

The Orientals are smooth and taste excellent, they're really the star of the blend. The Latakia is understated, it trends a little more toward EMP than London Mixture in my opinion.

Once Westminster is aged, it's pretty tasty, but none of that makes up for the poor condition it's shipped in and the terrible cut.

Age When Smoked: fresh - 2 years

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigNick (59)	2014-03-29		Medium	Medium	Medium	Strong

Needs to dry out for a while before smoking. When dried it smokes perfectly. The one thing that can be said for this tobacco is its consistency. From start to finish it has a consistent smokey foundation. I found that it is not overly complex nor does it change during the smoke. This does not detract from its pleasure, it is an everyday, all day smoke! Mild and relaxing. Highly recommend.

Pipe Used: Falcon straight stem, Peterson system

Age When Smoked: 1 month

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Dunhill Nightcap.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ryan Nolte (8)	2022-06-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Strong

This has been my go to English for about ten years.

First, it is readily available. Second, I have not gotten tired of the flavor, which says a lot. Third, it is a hassle-free smoke which is important for me. Very few relights needed, smokes like a champ all the way down.

It is a well rounded English. I smoke a hot pipe and the tongue bite is low. The flavor shines through the heat. The aftertaste is pleasant in spite of the hot smoking. The nic hit is relatively mild, so it is a great nightcap. I tend to smoke this in the late hours on my balcony. I just love this blend and consistently crave it even after all these years.

The room note is a bit rough, but personally the aroma is heavenly. I intentionally take a lot in through the nose.

No casing. Pipe is always bone dry. Flavor is full. I would recommend this English to new pipe smokers very highly.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cm1648 (108)	2019-12-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

At the time of my review submission, there are 249 reviews and most are giving high praise and lengthy notes on this blend. Not much else can be said. A quintessential, medium English blend that holds in quality to any contender. The Latakia seems to nose out the Orientals in the race to the end of the smoke while the Virginas offer a slight fruitiness. Little relights and a dry smoke. Pick yourself some up.

4/12/2020 update:

More evaluation time has lowered my feelings of this blend (which usually the opposite happens). I certainly dont dislike the blend but it leaves me wanting on sweetness from the Virignas and spiciness from the Orientals. It's a quality medium Latakia blend but doesnt stand out.

Pipe Used: Peterson system, Erik Norking, Lorenzo Spitfire

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Peterson(Dunhill) Standard Mixture.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	nkulk8r (90)	2019-01-01		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Update: April 29, 2019

To quote DK: "This one has either improved or my tastes have changed."

Just finished a fairly large bowl of this (after a dozen previous attempts) and I'm bumping this up a notch to 3-stars.

Westminster:

“The very essence of the traditional English mixture.”

“Exactly what one would expect upon cracking open a tin of English tobacco.”

"Whole day English mixture.”

“Great English blend.”

“Westminster ranks among the finest English Mixtures I have ever smoked”

“There IS NO English blend but this.”

Indeed, when I first set a bowl of Westminster alight, the first thought that careened through my skull was “ENGLISH!” Translation: this blend screamed loudly exactly what I believed / envisioned / imagined what-and-how an English tobacco is supposed to smell and taste. Problem is, Westminster is advertised as a Balkan.

Without getting too far off into the weeds regarding what constitutes a Balkan versus what constitutes an English (and vice versa). Penzance, Vintage Syrian, Plum Pudding (plus Plum Pudding Special Reserve) and John Cotton’s Smyrna are all Balkans, and spice is what I typically associate with Balkan blends, followed by more spice, and accentuated with slightly spicier spice, coupled with a generous helping of smoky spice, with the addition of another fat dollop of sweet spice to top it all off. (Greg Pease himself wrote an April 14, 2011 column in The Briar & Leaf Chronicles on this very difficulty, proclaiming: “The problem is that both of these terms [Balkan/English], despite broad usage, are somewhat ambiguous, at best, and, worse, the commonly held notions of what they mean is just plain backwards”).

Climbing back out of the weeds: I was expecting a spicy Balkan in Westminster, but was instead greeted by (in my humble opinion) what I believe to be a rather pedestrian English.

Age When Smoked: 3 years.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tschenyinkoh (51)	2018-01-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

moisture: a little bit too wet. I have to tell you, you must decrease the moisture of the tin.

cut: beautiful ribbon cut with a healthy dose of broken flake and a little bit of unsmokable leaf stem.

tin note: woody, campfire; a little bit sweet and fruity.

strength: medium

when smoking: extremely smooth and balanced, medium deepness; Concerto between the deepness; Concerto between the smoky aroma from Latakia, the sweet and fruity from Virginia and the buttery creamy taste of the Oriental.

My rating: Oh man. This is my all-time favorite and my only five stars rating until now- if I have to keep only one mixture accompanying with the rest of my life, that will be Westminster. I highly recommend you cellar some, at least six months, to get the perfect smoke.

Enjoy + Require buying + An all-day smoke + My top three → Five Stars Rating

best smoke time: anytime after the noon.

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Age When Smoked: eight months

Purchased From: Westminster 16oz tin from smokingpipes

Similar Blends: The old Dunhill London mixture.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	krg1000 (183)	2017-04-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

What can be said after all the glowing reviews this blend has gotten over the years? I can only say I wholeheartedly agree with the positive reviews posted already. I must say this is as close to a perfect English blend with a medium strength of nicotine that can be had on today's market. I can really find no fault in this fine blend. Mr Pease has really hit the nail on the head with this one. Highly recommended.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	The Sunday Evening Pipe Smoker (54)	2017-02-19		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

If I were to give a quick summary I'd say that G.L. Pease Westmisnter is like Dunhill Nightcap but without such a strong "nic-kick." That couild be good or bad depending on what you're after I suppose, but if you're seeking English flavour without a heavy nicotine hit, Westminster is a great option. If you are after the nic "buzz", you'll likely want to stick with Nightcap.

Flavour wise, this is a typical English. It has a very meat and potatoes quality to it, smokiness imparted by the latakia, but also something of a church incense quality to it that comes through in the flavour. (I specify church incense so as not to confuse what I mean with that cheap, sickeningly and fake sort of sweet stick "incense" that appears in dollar stores and other such places). It's a hard thing to describe but it is pleasant. It is the sort of sweetness that isn't sugary, but sweet in a woodsy sort of way.

All said, an enjoyable blend. It's not overly harsh, but neither is it too light. Clearly a classic.

Tin note is what you'd expect of an English: smokey.

Moisture levels are perfect. You can smoke it right out of the tin without any drying and no trouble keeping it lit.

Similar Blends: Dunhill Nightcap.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	kppeterson (20)	2016-11-26		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Update 05-30-23: I’m downgrading this one star. I just don’t enjoy the chunky cut, all the tobacco dust in the tin or burning properties of this as much anymore. I think it smokes on the hot side no matter how I pack and sometimes comes off bitter. I’m gravitating towards lighter blends these days. Maybe the new tins are different, all my stock is from 2008.

(Original review) The bees knee. The creamiest of creamy orientals and latakia. Like smoking a cup of dark coffee and cream; it gets no better. If I have a tin of this open everything else gets ignored. This is my #1.

Update 2017-05-31: Just opened an 8oz, 9 year old tin from May, 2008. I will admit I haven't smoked this in quite some time because I've had a lot of other open tins of other blends that needed to be finished. My previous review was based on tins I had smoked that were new to a few years old. I have a tin of Ashbury that I transferred from a tin to a ball jar 9yrs ago and it's a shadow of itself; smells awesome but it smokes bland and flavorless.. As I have a few tins of Westminster cellared I was both nervous and excited to see how this held up after 9yrs in the tin

Upon opening the tin it smelled fermented, like raisins and figs, maybe a little bit like silage from my farming days. The Latakia is much further in the background than I recall. There are sugar crystals covering quite a few pieces on the top layer. I transferred the contents to a few small ball jars and the cut was kind of the mess that some people (understandably) complain about; really big pieces, almost a whole leaf here and there, a few stems and a lot of fine granules and some powder.

I had packed a couple bigger chunks covered with the sugar crystals on the top of the bowl and took a bit to get the initial light going. Off the bat I thought "oh no, where is it?" and it took a few good puffs but then less than a minute into it came the wonderful flavor that I remember...Heaven. Once things got going it smoked cool although in my excitement I pushed it a little hard at times. It was maybe a touch sweeter than I remember and there was a definite spiciness that I don't recall. It was still creamy but less so with the more perceived spice and it actually reminded me a little more of the Murry's made London Mixture that it had in the past. Smoked great down the bowl and didn't get the least bit harsh towards the finish. Not sure it had just been too long after breakfast or that I was exhaling it thru my nose more than normal to take in the amazing flavor but this gave me a bit of a wallop from the nicotine and I don't recall this blend ever doing that before.

All in all, it's a little different from fresh but not tremendously so. Not going to lie, I wish the cut was better, I wish it was as easy to pack as Squadron Leader. Despite the cut being a mess the flavor is still amazing and worth the added work of packing (big chunks on the bottom, granules and powder on the top). This is by far the best English blend I've ever smoked and it's still my #!.

Pipe Used: Ashton's, Charatan, Laughing Moon, Radice

Age When Smoked: Fresh and tins as old as 8yrs

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

Similar Blends: Larry's Blend, White Knight, Jon's Smoking Mixture.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr.Woods (10)	2015-10-13		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is the third time I'm trying to review this blend, but it seems hard for me to add anything interesting about it when other reviewers have already described it so well! One thing I would like to say however, is that this is a truly amazing blend! Complex, refined and well balanced. The latakia and orientals are in perfect harmony, and even though it's a mild smoke (IMO), it has some depth and body to it! It burns cool and clean, and with consistency of taste down to the last puff. You'll be sucking ash before you know it!

I'm not always in the mood for this tobacco, but i always keep a jar at home. This is the first true "English" I've tried, and it makes me curious to try other blends like this one, however, I don't think it will be easy to find a better one or one as good as this amazing mixture.

Westminster really deserves a four star-rating! I originally considered it a three star blend, but as I got to know it better I just had to add the fourth star!

Pipe Used: Henrik Rydberg, Stanwell

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Mellgren's Fine Tobacco

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sasquatch (90)	2012-09-07		Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Strong

I've been unkind to Pease products on forums and maybe here. This one I can't fault. It's spectacular. A perfect blend of ingredients yields up a full flavor, no bite, and really a pleasant taste throughout. Superb medium english, or whatever it's supposed to be.

I like.

You like?

High five!

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-10-02		Extremely Mild	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable

God forbid someone says anything against Pease tobaccos... Whenever someone does not like Pease's tobaccos, some reviewers become defensive or attack the reviewer like the one on top of me... MY TASTES AND IMPRESSIONS ARE MINE AND SHOULD NOT BE CRITISIZED BY ANYONE! I don't critisize people that find Pease's tobaccos to be great, splendid, etc.

Original Review 2 oct 10

Sighs. This was rumored to be a substitute to Dunhill's London Mixture.

LM was rich, spicy, slightly sweet and tasty. And I miss it very much. This is tasteless, bland, impersonnal. Westminster is no replacement of LM. Pretending to be so is nothing less than an insult to Dunhill.

I will NEVER buy any GL Pease tobacco again. I might be dumb but I ain't stupid.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-06-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This tobacco, as the other ones by G L Pease, is insanely overrated. It is flat, harsh and boring. Skip this and the other Pease offerings and by a real English tobacco: MyMixture (yes by Orlik), Penzance, Royalty, Squadron Leader or Presbytarian. G L Pease' single talent is writing the alluring descriptions on his cans. Unfortunately, the tobacco is nowhere near those little poems.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	J. Ward (71)	2022-06-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Westminster is a reliable Balkan blend with a balance and exquisite flavor profile that make it a staple. It's the understated elegance of it that makes it special. The fragrant, slightly buttery, woody Orientals take center stage. The Latakia adds a smoky, musty character, while the Virginias lend a bit sweetness and balance. Yes, it's reminiscent of Dunhill London Mixture, but it is its own blend. Reliable, understated elegance. 4 stars.

Pipe Used: Cobs and briars

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Similar Blends: Dunhill London Mixture.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stah (153)	2022-02-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin with a production date of "September 1, 2021.

Appearance: a high-quality blend, from light and red Virginia, to dark latakia, with flecks of orientals, presented in a ribbon-like, almost evenly sliced form. Pease claims that in creating Westminster, he carefully studied the composition of Dunhill London Mixture, trying to achieve, among other things, an external resemblance. At first glance, the blend may seem a bit dry to the touch, but in fact its moisture content is perfect.

Flavor from the tin: tar, tan leather with its sourness, dry moss in the foreground, with the leather prevailing in my opinion, and the latakia feeling bright but unobtrusive. Wood, earth, sweet hay, dried fruit, paprika are in the background. The woody note is relatively dense and gaining strength in the air, interfering with the main bouquet, but the rest of the notes remain in the background, but noticeable and recognizable. A subtle creamy and creamy note comes in the air to this bouquet after a couple of minutes, completing the composition.

Taste: A balanced bouquet of fresh meadow herbs, chestnuts and dried fruit, with a slight set of spicy spices that are indistinguishable from the components, supported by a noticeable but not too dense note of smokiness from the latakia, adding also a bit of sweet molasses. There is also a slight woody note that intensifies by the middle of the pipe. Virginia also adds to the flavor, the tobacco becomes sweeter, the fruit and herbal note becomes fuller, and the flavor of roasted chestnuts is literally palpable. The latakia, on the other hand, becomes subtle, but still palpable. The tobacco smokes gently, but there is one hitch that a beginner might not like: fresh Virginia, alas, slightly tingles your tongue if you slightly increase the draft. This tobacco should be smoked as slowly and leisurely as possible when fresh. I guess it also doesn't like fuss when it's aged ( jumping ahead - I'm hoping to find an aged can on sale and try it before the fresh one I bought matures). But this blend clearly isn't one of the strong ones - especially when you consider the recommended smoking speed. A full medium pipe gave me a full hour of enjoyment without any hint of nicotine kick. The tobacco burns into an almost white ash, leaving some moisture in the pipe.

In the smoke you can detect, along with the smokiness, smoldering wood and the scent of leather, a subtle musky note. It is loose, but quite persistent.

Bottom line: an absolutely amazing, exceptional blend, even compared to other Gregory Pease blends. It should absolutely be in the collection of every lover of English blends. As for the whole Heirloom Collection, I have mixed feelings about the Maltese Falcon, but Key Largo and Westminster will no doubt find their place on my shelves.

Pipe Used: Peterson 69, POTY 2019

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Online

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Oriental Piper (1)	2020-12-21		Medium	Medium	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Fantastic English / Balkan Blend. Although it is Latakia dominant, the smokiness from the Latakia is not overwhelming; rather it blends beautifully with the Virginias in creating one of the most uniquely sublime smoking experience.

Pipe Used: Wessex Freehand, Savinelli Straight Stem Billiard

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Local B&M

Similar Blends: London Mixture, Night Cap.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BrokenRecord (124)	2019-09-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

An oriental bomb of an English

The Turkish tobacco is at the center of this blend with strong floral and sour notes. The Virginia varietals are mostly made up of red leaf and are earthy and sweet—rather than grassy or crisp. There is quite a bit of Latakia here, but it lurks just behind the Turkish and Virginia varietals. Westminster smokes exquisitely well and near perfectly balances full flavor with smooth repeatable smokability.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	haparnold (6)	2018-10-07		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

A note up front: I've never had the original Dunhill London Mixture, so even though Westminster was designed as an homage to that venerable blend, I won't be discussing any relation it may or may not have to the tobacco currently smoldering in my pipe.

Anybody who's never had an English blend should start with Westminster. To me, it's the archetype of the genre.

The pros:

I. It's extremely balanced, without too much weight given to any one component. I don't think anyone would describe this as a 'Full English' or a 'Mild English'. It's very middle-of-the-road, in a very good way.

II. It's extremely satisfying, with plenty of smoke volume, and a flavor that's perfectly situated between 'bland' and 'challenging'. If you want to shut out the world and tease apart the nuances of flavors, Westminster can satisfy. If you want to just fill a bowl and smoke without mental gymnastics, Westminster can satisfy.

III. It holds your interest. I've taken a tin of Westminster and one pipe on long backpacking trips, and happily smoked the entire two ounces without ever once wishing I had brought other blends along.

IV. It smokes easily. I like to give it a little drying time, but the ribbon cut packs and lights easily, with about an average number of relights, and very little moisture or dottle left behind in the bowl.

V. It's got a little 'something'. I'm not somebody who can smoke a bowl and tell you all about the individual components in a super nuanced way, but I can tell you the Orientals in Westminster add a zesty spiciness which really helps keep the Latakia from hogging the spotlight.

Lastly a couple very minor cons:

I. The room note isn't exactly pleasing to non-smokers. But hey, it's an English blend. Nobody expects it to smell like Vanilla Cavendish. No points removed.

II. There are often a few twig-like pieces in a tin of Westminster, which I think are Latakia, and which are probably stems. They aren't really a problem, but they don't burn well, and they can interfere with getting a good pack. I tend to remove them if I come across one as I'm packing my bowl. I'd prefer they weren't there, but they in no way reduce my enjoyment of this blend. No points removed.

Westminster may be my all-time favorite tobacco. If tobaccopalypse happened and I could only pick one tobacco, I'd be hard pressed to find one I'd prefer to this. I never order tobacco online without throwing a tin or two of this stuff into my cart. A true desert island smoke.

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stu (14)	2016-01-08		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

One of my favorite blends. I smoke a rotation of English/Balkan blends, and this is currently my #2 after Night Cap. It's more mellow than Night Cap, in that it is less peppery and earthy, and a little sweeter. The mixture in the tin smells great, with a distinct Latakia presence. On lighting, the Latakia bursts open, but is quickly balanced by the other leaves, some sweet Virginias and spicy Orientals. The blend is so well balanced, at any time you can single out the different flavors if you focus, but they merge together wonderfully and stay that way for about half the bowl. The tobaccos are of very fine quality in their aromas. The second half tends to get sweeter, developing an egg-nog like character. My guess is the Virginias are prepared in a way that causes this, however it doesn't taint the pipe. The spiciness lingers and the Latakia hangs on all the way through, making for a rich finish. This is a rich blend with good complexity, but mellow enough to enjoy when you're not quite in the mood for a monster blend. I recently got 8 ounce tins for the "cellar"

Pipe Used: Nording, Brogg

Age When Smoked: new, 6 mo.

Purchased From: 4noggins

Similar Blends: Legends.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	r (34)	2015-09-26		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Strong

An underwhelming dryness and generally messy appearance hide a very well balanced and fantastic blend.

A cool, leathery, and very full Latakia flavor sits on a musky base to deliver a good nicotine hit. Copious smoke production leaves unsurprisingly dry bowls at the end. The modern reference for English blends.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	moniker (220)	2014-07-19		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

IMO, Greg Pease has succeeded in (re)creating a textbook "medium English" balance with Westminster, but don't try it expecting something like you might get from the Lakelands, etc. Tin note and taste are of a piece, all right (no March Hares here), with the Lat up front, a nose ahead of the peaty, fragrant, not-so-spicy Orientals, with a solid, soft and broad swath of VAs supporting and flanking, but never stealing the show. Moisture from the young tin I smoked was perfect for smoking straightaway. W handles, packs and lights with ease, then it burns down pretty fast compared to some others of its ilk. Even young, the Lat is soft, and it smells to me of sandalwood. Too bad I am tired of the "sandalwood" thing, which I mention because this did affect my experience with the W. The VAs are sweet but not saccharin, and rich-ish rather than piquant, and they work well to steer the blend, along with the fairly mellow (for GLP...), loamy Oriental leaf. The tobacco seems ready for smoking, but it's hardly "pre-conditioned" in the sense that a "true English English" might be. Room note is nice - for a blend with Orientals in it. Strength just nudges medium. Aftertaste is "best of", all the way.

I suspect that most who want a first quality, "typical English blend" will like Westminster just fine, as long as they are OK with the real tobacco aromas and tastes from the varietals in this blend; W is not "helped" by additives, or at least, not much. It is very well balanced, top to bottom, and it is even fairly refined, all but lacking the sharp, almost prickly "tobacco forward" qualities that mark so many GLP blends, especially when they're young. With age, W will likely soften and become even more refined, and I'll give my stash another go in a few months. Meanwhile, I find Westminster very good, and "on target", but not at the top of its category, nor overall. Withal, 3 stars from me, at least for the nonce.

Pipe Used: various briiars; one is as good as another

Age When Smoked: 3 months, plus

Purchased From: 4 Noggins

Similar Blends: a plethora of all too similar blends, eg: Sillems London Blend; GOG York Full Mixture.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Smokedinacob (10)	2014-06-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Strong

Westminster has a very similar flavor profile to many English mixtures that have the word "Balkan" associated with them. If I were to posit that English mixtures contain four basic flavor elements present in some particular character, strength, and proportion to one another (coffee stout, campfire, cinnamon/spice, and incense), AND that Dunhill's London Mixture has these four in precisely equal proportion, then I would also say that Westminster is balanced heavily to the coffee stout and campfire points of the compass in comparison. It is rich and sweet, with chocolate, coffee, and woodsmoke flavors dominating. There is a bit of spice present as well, more baked goods than incense, though.

I find that the taste of the tobaccos is satisfying, but somewhat muddled overall. I miss some of the sharp edges and detail of my favorite English mixtures (London Mixture and Red Rapparee). And there is a bit too much latakia for my taste. Not that I don't like a lot of latakia, but that I miss what it replaces in the blend. After all, it has to add up to 100%.

And the cut. I'm pretty sure I could make better ribbons with a chef's knife. I guess the wonky blend of shapes and sizes is supposed to be charming, but I have a hard enough time getting a uniform tobacco to burn the way i want. The sense of accomplishment and triumph over adversity I feel when I make it to the bottom of a bowl of Pease tobacco does not bolster my self esteem. It is too much like work. Maybe a broader bowl would help? Maybe a better attitude?

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smoking pipes

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MisterWatson (3)	2014-04-18		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Strong

Upon first opening the tin, the smell immediately reminded me of 3 Oaks--rich, smokey, and peaty. The tobacco was somewhat moist (just right for a tin, if you ask me), the ribbon cut was even, and the color beautiful--a lovely mix of medium-dark, red/brown virginia, and golden leaf. There were a couple stems, but overall it was clear that the tobacco was of the highest quality, and carefully selected.

I first tried this in one of my better pipes, a one star Ferndown straight dublin. I packed using the infant/lady/man method, and lit carefully. Alas, I am a hot smoker and enjoy thick rich smoke, puffing too frequently. Because of this, I did not at first enjoy Westminster. It burned hot, and I got a touch of tongue bite from the red VA. In the same sitting I then loaded a small Peterson straight billiard, with something of the same experience, though I smoked a bit slower. Third I tried my Stanwell Hans Christian Anderson (church warden), and enjoyed it more. However, on these first three smokes I would have given this a two-star rating.

The next day, I let the tobacco dry for 20 minutes on the table before loading up my Peterson straight bulldog, and I found the experience completely different. It was more forgiving, though I have since continued to find the pack and light particularly important to this blend.

On the charring light the latakia was forward, but paired with the spicy orientals it became almost creamy. This was completely pleasant! On the second light, rainbox peppercorns came to the nose with the earthyness of the red virginias pleasantly sitting in the back of the throat. Wonderful.

This is a round, well-balanced blend. It's earthy, peaty, smokey, with a hint of spice and herbs on the nose. After smoking it for a week now, I absolutely love it, and rate it among the best english blends I've had, if not the best. If Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe is a C note, G.L. Pease Westminster is playing a full Cdim chord. If you want a transcendental experience, carefully and ritualistically prepare your bowl with a cup of hot earl grey, with a dash of cream. Incredible.

I give it 3.5 stars, only docking that last 1/2 for the finicky nature of the blend.

Pipe Used: Ferndown dublin

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: The Senate

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-01-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Westminster is a top tier tobacco. I'm not the first person to say that, and you won't be the last person to experience it. Westminster is a buttoned up, first class English firmly planted in the middle of the strength spectrum. It reminds one of a well groomed and quaffed K-9 prancing over the dog-trot at a Dog Show. “Just look at those jowls!” "His front quarters are really something aren't they!” We all have blends we love as much as our comfortable ol' mutts, but that is not Westminster. With Westminster, you hang his pedigree on your wall and demand a stud fee from each sample you gift to a fellow smoker.

Ironically enough, I wanted to use the name of a famous dog show in this review and would you believe what the number one hit is when you google “famous dog show?” WESTMINSTER. Apparantly, the storied district of London is home to more than an Abbey.

Westminster is dry in the tin. A mix of broken flake and ribbon, each piece of tobacco could have snapped like a twig. For me that's not a problem as I care about how it smokes much more. Easy to load (just tumble in) and I found it to burn very well as it crunches beneath your tamper. The VA's are luscious and sweet, the orientals are toasty and high, and the cyprian is top notch smoke and spice.

The tin I'm sampling was made a mere 3 months ago, so this has zero age on it. I liked it from the start, but as I'm at the bottom of the tin, I have experienced some really special smokes where the flavors of the blend's components were so well integrated, that the result was something different altogether – a symphonic representation of , what to me, might be absolutely classic. There is nothing unusual or surprising about this English blend other than it's unapologetically snooty supremacy over every other english I've tried (and I have not tried them all). In the world of English blends, Westminster is the Bentley-driving Guru.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-05-10		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This tobacco, GLP's tribute to Dunhill's London Mixture, is from the first bowl, exquisite. I opened the tin about a month after I bought it, and I don't know how much age it had on it prior to my purchase.

The smoke is one of the most harmonious I have ever enjoyed. Fairly strong yet full of subtle flavours. It epitomises the Balkan style, with Oriental and Latakia taking an equal role up front, with a little Virginia detected in the background to "fill in the gaps" with sweetness and body. A mere Latakia hit it is not. There is much more fragrance, more elegance, more subtlety.

This is an offering of superb quality leaf. It fully satisfied the pallet with a range of flavours, yet nothing is forced or out of balance. There are no bland spots, nothing that gets tiring after a while.

If you are looking for a sweet tobacco, or are not used to smoking stronger English-style mixtures, then this is not for you. And that is ok. We don't start to read with Shakespeare, and we shouldn't start to smoke with Westminster. But for those who miss the premium quality, strength and subtlety of Dunhill's sundry offerings, give this a try.

So a huge well done for Westminster. This could well become the standard by which all Balkan tobaccos are measured.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-11-28		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

Forget about EMP, Nightcap or its so called predesessor London mixture. In my oppinon, either way the old and new recipees of Dunhill have always been a deception in the English garden.

This is absoulately a different smoke, which I know since 2001 from a nice fellow, who worked in CH-Bern at http://www.tabakgourmet.ch, and now rests in peace - It reminded me all of Balcany, they are both in appearance, taste and smoking qualities, absolutely at the same level. The only difference: Balcany is 20 percent cheaper than Westminster and doesn't come in a nice tin.

Wesminster contains like Balcany full of Oriental spice, a heavy quantity of Latakia and smokes perfectly well from the top to the end without relightning. Probaly the only smoke in the world which remains the same, untill the the last leaf of the bowl is smoked off.

The taste is just amazing, earthy and very smokey, a perfectly well harmonized tabacco, which makes you smoke it over and over again. Just your fellow non-smokers might think that the roof is on fire.

Matches perfectly well with a glass of water or a single malt.

Best aromas and smoking qualities in a very large bowl.

I'm just enjoying it in a xl mario grandi pipe and get a nice nicotine load and an incredible aromatic experience.

With this wonderful tabacco, Balcany is not only available in Switzerland - Be surprised you will never really get away from it.....

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	oldmanpipe (62)	2007-01-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Having acquired a tin of this wonderful concoction from out-of-state, I wanted to set down my impressions of it before I am hauled away under some redeemed-for-society permutation of the Mann Act. My brethren in Ohio will know whereof I speak!

Generally, I avoid getting into the minutiae of a blend--favoring, instead, to focus on the overall effect of several bowlsful. No face is symmetrical, no beauty is flawless if examined bit-by-bit. Westminster, though, requires a linear--as opposed to lateral--analysis.

In his latest "Briar and Leaf Chronicles," Greg intimated that he had earlier versions of Dunhill's "London Blend" in mind as he wandered "The Road To Westminster." Twenty...Thirty-years on, it is difficult to recall the London Blend of the Dunhill era. I laid back no tins then, assuming, as most did, that it would always be around in its delighful original form. Foresight is not my forte.

Therefore, I cannot say whether Westminster hits or misses THAT particular mark. It will, however, have veterans and novices alike singing, "Give me that oldtime tobacco...give me that oldtime tobacco..."

This stuff is just plain good. The tin I bought is all of three-weeks-old...but already interesting; owing, I suspect, to a special treatment for the Virginias. Give it 2-3 years in an unopened can--to let the excellent (but too-assertive) Cyprian Latakia tone down, and the Virginias sweeten...and the Orientals work their magic--and 'twill be very Heaven. It hits notes familiar to all of us old guys...Dunhill London Mixture, Sullivan's Original, John Coton Medium. It is, simply-put, what a great, tinned English Mixture used to be.

Being an unreconstructed geek...I took three years of Latin in high school and one year in college..NOTE BENE!!! (note well) the admonishments about this tobacco being too moist when first-opened. It is (Westminster shares that misfortune with Barbary Coast) and one is advised to dump the entire contents of the can onto a clean, flat surface for several hours--spread-out--to dry. Otherwise, the moisture level, combined with the cut, will conspire to give you and your butane a fit!

Westminster is THE MOST UNUSUAL PEASE TOBACCO I HAVE SMOKED. It is a mainstream, albeit exemplary, English. Most of Greg's blends are a bit (or more than a bit) esoteric (sorry, Mike...but you did not invent the word.) Westminster will be recognized and cosseted by anyone who loves a classic English blend.

A worthy successor to all the gone-on, not-to-be-forgotten tobaccos of yore.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Big Tom (20)	2022-03-31		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Wonderful stuff. I bought a tin about a year ago and nursed it, having a bowl every so often. It grew on me. After smoking things like Margate, penzance, some frog mortons, Squadron Leader, Commonwealth, SG Navy and Bothy... Various latakias like Pease's own sextant, QN, gaslight, spark plug... And the wonderful Sutliff bsosm match, not to mention Russ Tastykake and some whisky flavored Balkans like ppbb and mrrb aged.... None of em have anything on this.

Westminster is a fantastic English blend as good as any and better than most. It also doesn't irritate my palate nearly as much as most latakia blends seem to.

I finally ordered a pound as my tin winds down.

Pipe Used: Meer, briars

Age When Smoked: New and few months

Purchased From: B&M, Smoking pipes

Similar Blends: The best Englishes out there..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Farmer_Esq (2)	2020-12-12		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This is an Oriental forward blend with consistent Latakia presence. The Virginias pop up here and there, but I don’t notice them all the time. The Orientals really shine in the retrohale with a pleasant vegetative note. I do notice the nicotine in this one, but even as a lightweight it didn’t knock me off my feet. It burns well, even at the moisture level it was at in the fresh tin. I never dried it out at all before loading and smoking it. It didn’t bite me, even with a moderately fast cadence. The Orientals were even more forward in a meerschaum, and it tasted a bit sweeter in briar pipes.

3/4 stars, a very enjoyable blend. I will purchase and smoke this regularly.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum, cobs, various briars

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (403)	2020-02-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable

With 257 reviews I had no idea how popular this one is. I bought this one dated 022619 at the pipe club and upon opening has a nice light leathery smell. As for the cut, it says ribbon but this tin had some ribbon, small pieces and then even smaller pieces such as you would find at the bottom of any tin or bag. It does not personally bother me but the cut really is a mixed bag. This smokes at first mild and then about half way through the flavor kicks in a little more. The taste to me is with the Latakia in the background and Orientals up front and not sure where the Virginias come in to play. There is a spiciness that the more I smoke the more I want. I guess that can be looked at in one of two ways. Is it because it is that good or is there an element in the blend that is just out of arm’s reach? Nonetheless a good blend. I was gifted a fantastic Caminetto 08.L.20 tan sand blasted hourglass sitter and smokes like a dream. I also smoked this in a Savinelli Author and the smoke was different. Of course, this is nothing new, different pipes with the same blend can taste different. I read a good review on this by G.L. Pease that this blend is homage to the Original Dunhill London Mixture. http://glpease.com/BriarAndLeaf/?p=37. If looking for a Lat Bomb this ain’t it but is a really nice smooth mixture for all day if you like.

Pipe Used: Caminetto Sitter

Age When Smoked: 1 year

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cam91 (23)	2019-09-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. GL Pease blends seem to be heavenly one bowl and rotten the next. Nine times out of ten I found this to be harsh, bitey, and flavorless. Odyssey and Quiet nights were somewhat similar but not nearly as harsh as this. I may be finished entirely with Cornell and Diehl and GL Pease. Too often their blends feel like something I have picked up out of the yard and stuck in a pipe.

[Edit} Well, my opinion on this blend has changed, as well as my smoking technique. When packed right and puffed gently, this is a really good smoke. In my opinion this blend does the best job of showcasing that salty, cumin, curry-like flavor english/balkan blends can have at times. This reminds me a bit of Gaslight, actually. I find that smoking this out of a cob enhances the flavor quite a bit. I am bumping this up from 1 to 4 stars.

Pipe Used: Bent briars and cobs.

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Pipes and Cigars

Similar Blends: Gaslight.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Virginia lover (218)	2019-04-13		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

The tin has a smoky and sour smell, a lot of dark strands with some mahogany tobacco as well. The ribbon cut is very irregular, from thick to very thick.

My first smoke was uneventful, monochromatic and nondescript so I waited a few days and tried again. Same result and this time I was annoyed so I packed a pipe and waited for a few days, I was better but not by much.

The Latakia is the main player, the other ingredients try to impart some of their flavors but fail for the most part. There's better Latakia bombs out there and while it tries to emulate Dunhill London Mixture, this Balkan fails to deliver the flavor profile of it. As if everything is in place but nothing binds the tobaccos together.

I said it before, uneventful, nondescript and monochromatic in a bad way. I can't find the drive to finish any of my bowls and the aftertaste is really bad, I don't recommend it at all. I very much prefer Abingdon, Gaslight and Quiet Nights.

Virginia lover

Age When Smoked: 4 years

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rob73 (77)	2016-11-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

G. L. Pease's EM production is wide and, in some terms, complicated, in my opinion: many little, subtle refinements in every blend. As the name suggests, Westminster has an aristocratic character: creamy, spicy, rich, not too strong, it develops steadily with a hint of apricot in the first puffs - milder than in Kensington - but it is elusive and complex, although satisfying. I put it somewhere in the middle between Kensington and Charing Cross. Latakia is only a component, well balanced with Orientals and Virginias. 4,0/5 in my personal rating system.

Purchased From: Dubini, Chiasso (Switzerland)

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2016-01-14		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Lat flavor early, sun-cured flavor late. The Virginias never provide that creamy sweet foundation that I would expect from a good medium English blend.

Pease called London Mixture the classic English, so I can assume he was aiming for something like that when he made this. Except that he seems to think there's hardly any Virginia in London Mixture, which is probably why this attempted match goes from Latakia flavor to Oriental flavor without the unifying presence of good Virginia to tie it all together.

I don't know what people were smoking when they described Westminster as ribbon-cut, but it's got small chunks of broken Virginia flake, smaller chunks of Latakia, some stuff that looks loosely tumbled out, and some ribbon in it ... along with plenty of stems and shop floor sweepings. It's cut as a Mixture or coarse cut, not a ribbon. A kindergartener would make a more uniform ribbon cut.

Get some Butera Latakia No. 1 instead, and smoke a well-blended classic English.

Pipe Used: my only nice pipe

Age When Smoked: maybe a year?

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Appalachian Chef (52)	2015-02-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

My favorite English to date. Complex and varying with a solid punch of nicotine. Each tobacco adds great complexities and the Latakia is used perfectly. Each time I smoke this I get nuances that I didn't get before. It will remain in my English rotation and has made me a true fan of GL Pease. Thick rich smoke with great flavor.

Pipe Used: Brebbia Noce

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: P&C

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gam86 (49)	2014-08-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

I totally agree with Tantric, this mixture it’s fantastic! Like it very much since the beginning. It has a full taste but not to strong and the latakia is superb, very nice combination of virginias and oriental.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Trumpetboy (19)	2013-09-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I'm a big fan of Mr. Pease's English blends as many are. I'm very fond of this blend. To me, this is what I go to when I want something less big compared to Charing Cross or Abington, but still very satisfying. The key word here is balance- - just enough Latakia and Oriental to satisfy, but to me this blend has a very refined taste. It reminds me very much of Dunhill's London Mixture-- the way it used to be years ago. This is more of an afternoon with a good coffee or three kind of pipe-- in a fairly good sized bowl. It reminds me why I love pipe-smoking.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	FireintheBriar (9)	2012-12-20		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Westminster has good balance of taste through the entire bowl. It smokes down very nicely and stays lit. I would attribute this to the uniformity of the cut and the just about perfect dryness right out of the tin. The so called ribbon cut is not as ribbony if you will, as other ribbon cuts, but it is quite consistent. I think the key is that the Latakia is not as hard and chunky as I have seen in other blends. No big nicotine hit, so I really like it, definitely a go to tin. I will be buying a bigger can in the future.

Update 2014-1-29: I smoked through some different tobaccos, Maltese Falcon, Abington, Odyssey, and Navigator, so I only recently ordered more Westminster. It is exactly like I remember it and I still prefer Westminster to the aforementioned tobaccos. Odyssey is the closest relative in my opinion, but Westminster is still my favorite.

Pipe Used: Stanwell Army mount

Similar Blends: Odyssey.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Knightsmoker (218)	2012-11-30		Medium	Medium	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

CONFUSED! First, this is not a ribbon cut. I have some short ribbon but most of it is chucks. Some of which are 1.5 inches long and over 1/2 inch wide. Some look like cub cuts too.

Second. This blend is heavily topped with something. Nothing in the description indicates that this is an aromatic English blend but that is what it is. When I opened the tin I could see a sugary substance all over the tobacco.

Third, although I find toppings generally forgivable this is too much when looking for a straight English blend. It does complement the tobacco but more like cream in a cup of medium bodied coffee.

Taste is not too bad. The Lat. is there, the VA's and oriental's are muted because of the topping however. The base flavor reminds me of a butter milk like creaminess (think of a good traditional lemon butter milk pie with a proper butter crust). I have never tasted a straight tobacco that could provide this type of creaminess and with such over the top flavor and sweetness that I think this is the topping coming through.

I would suggest Pease add a note about whatever this is topped with. I will not finish the tin.

I will also say that this is my first experience with the Pease blends I hope that others are properly described I hate throwing out tobacco and I would hate to have to stop exploring what many consider a great American blenders tobaccos. I will give another blend of his a try before I discontinue altogether but this really does not set well with me.

2 stars because the flavor is good it would be a great way for the aromatic lover to get a first taste of Lat. for me however, the flavor of the topping is just too much to find it enjoyable enough to continue to smoke.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-08-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I agree with Marshall Laws description of Chelsea Morning and would use it here:

It seems nothing like the description, despite the pipe I use. I simply cannot mesh with this blend. Pungent and heavy with the smell of damp hay and dried grass. Lights up bitter and strong, and keeps going in that direction for the short span I can endure it. Sharp, harsh, and hot on the tongue, I found greater pleasure discarding the remnants of the tin, a bitter and disagreeable weed.

This is a poor blend of cheap tobacco. Better look into your blender and supplier, Pease, I suggest you are getting outbid at the tobacco auctions.

Glad I tried a Green Little Peas blend, but I will stick with Gawith, at least they know how to blend quality tobacco, which is why it is hard to get, and has been around for a few hundred years.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tee-dub (48)	2010-05-24		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Good stuff.

I came to pipes from the world of cigars, where cigar buffs write flowery, overly serious reviews of subtle aromas and flavors in snobby tones.

For wine snobs or Scotch buffs who can taste subtle hints of this and that by swishing liquid in the mouth, this might be a tobacco for you.

I read somewhere that this was G.L. Pease's effort at re-creating the old pre- Murray's version of Dunhill London Mixture. I don't know if he succeeded, as I never had the pleasure of trying the tobacco that inspired him. Whatever it is, this is really good tobacco.

I suspect that the quality of the Latakia in this blend is of better quality than some other Englishes I've tried. The figgy, rasiny Virginia taste so prominent in some Englishes are balanced nicely against the smoky Latakia, yielding a full, round richness.

Hearty and deeply satisfying, Westminster is soft, briny, savory, smoky, creamy, round and smooth all at once. Perhaps a shade less sweet than Old Dublin or Squadron Leader, less citrusy than Black Mallory. No flavor dominates, but all meld harmoniously. While this has a nice full body, the flavors are subtle and invite attention. The flavors change and evolve as the bowl warms, so that it imparts a taste of bitter licorice by bowl's end. To my uneducated palate, it was a beautiful smoke.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	luvinthepipe (29)	2010-01-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

This one is supposed to be inspired by the original Dunhill London Mixture. 3 weeks ago I found a solitary tin of Dunhill London Mixture at a reputable tobacco place that moves lots of high end pipe tobacco (I put it into my own stocking as a stuffer for Xmas morning). While this tin of London Mixture seems to be Orlick made (Murrays tin top, Orlick Tin bottom with Made in EU on bottom but made in UK top that is painted). This must be a well aged, all Dunhill tins are now a few years past importing now. I compared Westminster to the London Mixture which I really like. Two bowls and I really like this blend ** REST DELETED, SEE UPDATE

= UPDATE = I smoked about 5 bowls off the top of the tin when I opened it up in 2009 and loved it. I then put it away in an airtight mason jar to age as I had other tobaccos to open and enjoy from my online order. A few months later and many other tobaccos smoked, I had another bowl and HATED it then put it away to sort out later. Here it is 5 years later in the fall of 2013 and I hate it more. Perhaps I have had the chance to enjoy many more good tobaccos (I was a newbie pipe smoker in 2009). One big problem I have is this tobacco seems like my can was from leftovers, stems and dust. The light colored tobacco is tiny, cubed to dust like. One black stem is about 2 inches long with just a little bit of leaf on it. I have chunk like slices, one of which I opened up and found a ragged 45 x 20 mm whole brown leaf. Any blender who allows his packer to pack up the stuff picked up by a dust broom or thrown into the trash should be ashamed. I counted this off as just a bad tin, sold as premium tobacco. However, I read more reviews and find so many other people commenting about the rough cut. This lack of care in the cut effects the consistency of the smoke, taste and enjoyment. One bowl may be mostly of gold dust and the other of stems and big leaves of a different type of tobacco. This is the only tin I have ever purchased from GL Pease and it will be my last. He should be embarrassed. If I hadn't purchased this tin online, I would have brought it back to the tobacconist who sold it to me rather than wasting a good mason jar. I read the review by PIPESTUD and he reports this being cut like shag tobacco. WHAT?!? He must have smoked specially hand made stuff selected just for the Chicago Pipe show. this stuff the rest of us get is TRASH. Unless GL Pease somehow finds a way to get me to try his tobacco again, I will spend my money on better product blended by true master blenders.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DoctorThoss (146)	2008-03-16		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm an unabashed fan of GL Pease concoctions (I'm one of those guys who's actually willing to shell out the big bucks on E-bay for some his stuff), but this one has got some problems that didn't become apparent until I'd gone through a few tins.

Flavor-wise, this stuff is spectacular if you enjoy English mixtures. The taste of latakia is balanced perfectly by rich, deep VAs while the orientals add a nice complexity. The whole is even greater than the sum of its parts, and I can easily understand why so many smokers consider this to be the best example of a medium English available today.

Now, for the negatives ....First off, Westminster seems terribly difficult to keep lit. This didn't seem to be a problem with the first batch I tried, but the second and third tins (both with different production dates) shared this characteristic. Second, this stuff ended up scorching my tongue in a scary way, as in "blood- welling-up-from-a-red-spot-on-my-tongue-before-I-realized-what-was-happening" scary. The only other blends to have done this to me were Cairo, MacBaren's Va. No.1, and Bed and Breakfast. I believe that tongue bite is to some degree a matter of personal chemistry as well as technique, and I imagine that I'm reacting poorly to some of the orientals or VAs used in this blend. Perhaps I just haven't figured out the right technique to use with this one, but I've tried everything I know (and many different pipes) with no success.

I'm giving this two stars because I simply can't smoke it (and others, albeit a minority, have echoed my experience). On the other hand, if you find no problems with combustion and your body chemistry allows you to to smoke this, I imagine it would be a three- or four-star blend. I've still got a few tins left, so I should be able to crack one open every year or two to see how it's coming along. If time smooths out the rough edges, Westminster's going to be one for the ages.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stan (179)	2007-02-16		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

A trip to the past.

Haven't smoked anything this seemingly full yet refined for many a year. Not that heavy really but not a starter blend IMO. Classic English, balanced Latakia, Virginia, and Orientals. Latakia first up, then Virginias in layers, then spicy Orientals, then all together now. Wonderful aroma in the can.

Some aging and further marrying of leaf should enhance the refinement. A bit of drying right out of the tin is helpful.

I can say no more. Words fail me now. I am speechless.

Well.... If they gave an Oscar for blends, this would win for best direction and special effects.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-01-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is a flavorful, all day medium english. The tin aroma is nice and mellow and not overpowered by the Latakia; everything seems well balanced. The tobaccos are mostly dark in a rough ribbon cut with some heavier flakes mixed in. Very fresh, as I note from the date on the tin, it's a little moist also but it lights well and didn't require too many relights along the way. The Latakia is Cyprian and smokey, the VAs are both bright and tasty with the Orientals adding just enough depth and spice. Just like the tin aroma the flavor is well balanced and could be an all day smoke. 8 out of 10 stars.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Quiggifur (99)	2023-02-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

20230417 edit: coming across completely savory, dry as opposed to sweet. I think any sweetness i was tasting the first time around must have been a ghost. It's very good, and fills the non-sweet Latakia blend slot well. Don't think I've had anything else which does it substantially better.

As with about any Latakia blend, Latakia is just about all i taste. This one seems relatively mild. It seems very sweet, but i think that may be the ghost of my previous bowl. Kind of nice in any case. Doesn't seem like anything special, but it'll scratch the Latakia itch for sure.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (563)	2022-11-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Tin note of smoky, tart fermented fruit, and sweety wine. Tobacco cut is a thin ribbon cut. Tobacco is an even mix if brown, tan and black leaf. It's soft and damp but not wet, no drying needed. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and consistent, with notes of dry earth, wood, sweet bread, sour lemon, sweet grass, smoky floral, mildly buttery, mildly creamy, tangy herbal, mildly spicy, mild tart dark fruit background note, and a moderately peppery retro. Virginia is leading with Latakia and Orientals superbly supporting. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is outstanding.

Pipe Used: 2013 J.M. Boswell Poker

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greybeard (66)	2022-09-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Pretty good English blend. Latakia is in the lead with it's smokey & leathery flavor. Orientals add a touch of floral, and spice. Virginia, with a dark fruit, and just a hint of sweetness stay in the background. Needs some dry time, and a few extra lights. No bite. I did find this to be a somewhat finicky blend depending on the pipe I used, pack, or maybe the weather, but usually found it enjoyable.

Should be tried by any piper, especially those who enjoy a heavier latakia English.

Pipe Used: Brebbia Sabbiata, Benton Select, various cobs

Age When Smoked: Tin was little over a year when cracked

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ahmad Othman (51)	2022-08-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

A really nice English blend by J L Pease. It is well behaved, burns nicely and cool. It is not overly complex but has enough nuances to keep it interesting

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nathaniel (39)	2022-03-19		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A fairly fresh tin, 5/6/21. Open the tin to find an attractive ribbon cut, fairly typical of English mixtures. It looks like Nightcap, it looks like My Mixture 965. Smell is fairly mild, predominantly sour/vinegar with a sweetish undertone. Not super complex. Rather moist, so I pull some out to dry while I brew some tea. Taylor of Harrodsgate Scottish Breakfast. Prelight draw refers back to the tin note, but adds an undertone of ripened cheese. I remember getting that same note from Nightcap. Looking forward to this.

The charring light brings a blast of that savory, salty cheese note, which quickly gives way to a fairly typical English profile: smoke, incense, campfires. The cheese doesn’t go away completely, which is good, because the other flavors are so typically English that I think Westminster would get lost in the mix. Both sipping and tugging give me the same flavor profile, but sipping and retrohaling offer more complexity than tugging.

A very user-friendly English. No bite, not overly hot. Very well-behaved. I find this slightly more Oriental-forward, not as much as Squadron Leader, but more than Nightcap. There is a moderate drying effect from the oriental tobaccos, which makes having a drink at hand a good idea. I would suggest something malty and sweet, bourbon or port or tea with sugar. Certainly not peated scotches. This Scottish breakfast tea does quite nicely.

There isn’t much development down the bowl. But there needn’t be. Cram this one in your pipe and go about your business— this is what I call a lawnmower blend. Straightforward, consistent flavor that doesn’t demand too much of your attention, nicotine levels that don’t require you to sit down and smoking mechanics that are pretty much set it and forget it. I didn’t get much of a nicotine hit at all.

My tastes run more these days to virginias and burley, and I missed a bit of nutty sweetness here. A tad more brightleaf wouldn’t be amiss in Westminster. But what do I know? You want English? This is English. Good quality English.

Pipe Used: Stephen and Roswitha poker

Similar Blends: Nightcap, but milder.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LiterarySmoker (143)	2021-06-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I have another GLP Blend for you today. I was interested in trying some more English blends in the English vein and I ran across this and thought it sounded interesting. The tin description sounds sophisticated and up my alley with the combination of red and bright Virginias, complimented with rich Oriental tobaccos and some Cyprian Latakia.

When I look at the tin it had a nostalgic old-timey look to it, with it's typeface and image. When you open the tin, there is a fairly even cut ribbon with a few stems here and there. The tobaccos have a nice range of colour from light browns to black. After opening the tin I smell smokey and woody Latakia, sweet Bright Virginias, some bready, fermented Red Virginias, and little Oriental Tang. The tobacco came at the perfect moisture for smoking right out of the tin. It packs well and takes a light well. You will need an average amount of relights.

On lighting I find that the tin description of rich was right on the money. Luxurious Latakia comes to the forefront. It is creamy, smokey and a little woody. Next I taste the Virginias adding a lot of sweetness, bread and hay to the mix. The Orientals float in and out adding herbs, tang and incense-like qualities. This is very complex but coherent mixture that is very easy to smoke. Over the last few weeks I've found myself packing several bowls of this right after the other.

The taste I give a medium. It has an average mouthfeel of an English blend and it doesn't leave a lingering aftertaste. The strength is a medium. It doesn't leave me begging for more, but it isn't holding me in my chair either. The room note is typical of an English: smokey and creamy. This has turned out to be a win for me. A simple yet rich English which is smokable year round.

Pipe Used: Peterson Aran 106

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: B&M

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bowler Hat Piper (24)	2021-04-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Not one of my favourite Pease blends. When I tried it fresh, it was harsh and rather too bitter for me. I put it away for over a year and in that time it did smooth out, but I still much prefer other Pease offerings in this category.

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: Various

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.Com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bruche (17)	2021-01-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I went from 100% english blends then exclusively on to VA, VAPer, slices, cut flakes. Now I’m back to 50/50 with the English/Scottish blends. During my “Latakia only blends” period, the more robust and Latakia forward the better. Charles Fairmorn Lancers and other English slices were my mainstay, partly because of flavor, and in part because slices lasted longer than flakes and ribbon cuts. This one is a treat. Latakia is prominent here, but somehow less dominating than I’d expect. Maybe due to “mountain Cypriot grown”, or just the way it’s cured; not sure. The cut is between ribbon and hefty cut flakes. Regardless, it’s a treat, with the virginias lending a nice balance. A new favorite and highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Karl Erik Danish freehand

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Purchased From: Tobacco pipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2020-08-23		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

It's the middle of summer 2020 and I found myself wanting to try something different while drinking my coffee on a Sunday afternoon.

Digging through my box of small jars, I came across my jar of Westminster. I had picked this up at a B&M during pipe club in 2018, shared it with the guys there and brought the rest home and jarred it. It didn't wow me then, so it was not something I kept out to smoke up.

Opening the jar again, I found the smoky hint of Latakia being the primary scent. The leaves were dark, The moisture seems perfect without drying and I loaded up a smaller belge shaped Bones to smoke it in. Easy to light and get going.

The flavor in the initial part of the bowl was smoky with sweetness supporting. As the bowl progressed, I noticed the tastes of the orientals which complimented by never made it to the top. I found myself enjoying it enough that I had a second bowl in a Radiator pipe after the first one (not my usual) and found that it smoked maybe even better in the radiator.

No real nic-hit (yes its there) and a mild/medium smoke which was really enjoyable. I've added the jar to the current rotation (mostly VA's, VAPER, Burleys in summer) as a nice treat.

Not something that I'll go out of my way to replenish, but a nice treat while I finish off the jar.

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: Smitty's Cigar

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2020-03-05		Mild	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is a great Balkan type blend offering a nice flavor presence and variation over the ingredients. There is sweetness from the virginia against a smoky Latakia background with some sour edges poking out here and there from the oriental leaf. All combine for a rather well-balanced, creamy, deep smoking experience while maintaining some edginess.

This blend is not my favorite of the genre, but it is solidly between 3 and 4 stars. I am putting it at the lower end at three, because I prefer Odyssey, but not by much.

It performs well although it did seem to require more relights than I am used to. It doesn't bite, but really none of these balkans ever do.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Peterson314 (43)	2019-11-26		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

First Take:

I thought that this blend was very well balanced and the Latakia didn't overpower the Virginias like I thought they might when I opened the tin. It was smokey and woody and seemed to be pretty consistent over the temperature range through the whole smoke. Definitely one I can't wait to get back to.

2022-07-31 Update: I smoked a 30-month-old blend from my cellar, and I would say that this blend is fantastic. It was complex, yet perfectly blended. No one tobacco overpowered the other. It's dry, its smoky, it's woody. It reminds me of a campfire in the best kind of way, though it's not so campfire-forward as Plum Pudding. This blend was very consistent among all temperature ranges except when puffing like a freight train. Slow it down and the well-balanced flavor returns. I smoked this to the bottom of the bowl before I knew it. The aftertaste lingers for longer than some other blends, but it's not overly offensive.

Pipe Used: Peterson Sherlock

Age When Smoked: 1 month

Purchased From: Puff n' Stuff - Atlanta

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Justin_Johnston (14)	2019-07-18		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Great quality English that can not be passed up. I was able to try this blend aged 12 years. I have stocked up on a few tins for my cellar after giving this one a go. I have yet to try it more fresh (some of my tins are dated to withi six months), but will come back to review further if I crack one open. I'm a sucker for Latakia and especially those orientals.

Pipe Used: Bjarne Viking Classic

Age When Smoked: 12 Years

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Phillip Ellis (14)	2019-03-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is an extremely pleasant balkin blend. it has become my daily blend if you like Latakia you will like this. My wife despises the smell however so i guess different strokes for different folks.

Pipe Used: Dunhill Bulldog

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: Baton Rouge

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2019-03-13		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

I agree with the prior reviewer. I found absolutely nothing admirable about this blend. Tin aroma is mostly a smoky Latakia essence. I let the tin air out ocassionally for a year and stored it in a zip-lock, freezer bag. It was a good moisture content when sampled a second time. Upon first light, I received a bitter, rather harsh invasion upon my palate. I persevered however, determined to finish the entire bowl in order to give a definitive, objective review.

Flavor/taste was one dimensional after the initial bitterness & harshness subsided. The smoke becomes more tolerable & milder but carries with it little flavor other than a Latakia dominance. I was disappointed that this stuff really didn't deliver the palate pleaser that I was anticipating... but that's just me. Many seem to like it rather well although many had rated it, like me, an objectional (2) complaining of similar reasons of taste, quality & burn rate. Were they all wrong? No one is ever wrong when it comes to taste preference! I was waiting in anticipation for developing flavor but nothing really noteworthy ever transpired. It certainly wasn't to my liking and didn't agree with my palate. For those who enjoy this stuff, wonderful!

It's obviously not for everyone & especially me. If you are looking for a blend that offers litte more than a Latakia flavored tobacco taste, here you go. This GLP offering prompted me to ponder...should I try another GLP English mixture? With so many other quality English/Balkans available, why take the risk of wasting more $$. Just an average blend IMHO, of course... maybe due to a conflict with my palate chemistry, to the trash can, as it were. I'm just an amateur, homeboy blender myself & have created blends with much better flavor. I'm not criticizing G. L. Pease mixtures... it's just one of a few that I've tried. I doubt seriously if I could improve on his D & S Levant mixture... it's extraordinary with a flavor that will take you back in time & is a delicious Balkan blend.

NOTE: 2018 Addendum: I have read about a few of G. L. Pease's quality, "Champagne" blends that have received rave reviews but unfortunately, command a premium and remain out of reach for the average piper... Bohemian Scandal for instance. Maybe his most famous but how is the average piper ever going to know this positively... like so many other world famous blends that are "Gone With The Wind".

How would many of these Latakia ratings turn out if people who don't favor Latakia were to voice their opinion? I think pipers that are "hung up" enough on Latakia blends to pay $50.00 + for a tin of the Germain's BS or $200.00 for a small tin of "wimpy" Penzance should move on & leave their palate cravings behind. I could purchase two pounds of Levant mixture for less than that & I think it's much better even from a fresh tin. However, if they've got the $$, more power to them.

There is so much more out there to be enjoyed & the future seems to be looking brighter. There are blends available today that still taste like "real" tobacco. Drucquer & Sons Levant Mixture is only about thirty-six dollars per 200g tin & outweighs the overpriced "collectibles" by a tremendous margin. I'm through ranting... I urge people to come to their senses but in the end, there will always be people who have more money than sense... Do I care if they pay hundreds to obtain a tiny tin of air to satisfy their whims? Not in the least & don't believe inflated prices help the economy... Like J. D. Wentworth says... "It's your money," but not for long! Next!

Pipe Used: Stanwell Dublin

Age When Smoked: Fresh Tin

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

Similar Blends: So many others that try to duplicate quality Balkans & English blends...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gerry P (39)	2019-01-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I was in a local shop today, trying to decide whether to buy Westminster or their last tin of London Mixture. I bought the Westminster, and I'm glad I did. At the time, I was unaware that Westminster was Pease's attempt to recreate Murray's era London Mixture, but after smoking a bowl I could definitely see the similarity. (EDIT: I mean the similarity between Westminster and the newest version of London Mixture. I haven't tried the Murray's version.)

I won't bother to try to describe the various traits of this one since people with better palates/noses than myself have done that already. I will mention that the cut and moisture level were perfect, and it smoked nice and cool to the bottom with no bite and no relights. Westminster also looks like LM, although I think the former's tin aroma is a bit more latakia forward. I would have believed you if you told me this was a Dunhill product.

This was a 4-star blend for me, and I'm happy that I found my replacement for London Mixture.

On a side note, if I had to pick a winner in a Balkan showdown between this and Balkan Sobranie, which I think is a fairly good blend, Westminster would be my choice.

Pipe Used: MM Marcus cob

Age When Smoked: 19 months, according to the sticker on the can

Purchased From: Habana Port, Metairie LA

Similar Blends: Dunhill London Mixture.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PuffPuffLive (32)	2018-11-22		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Latikia leads the way in tin note and smoke taste. The well rounded sweetness from the Virginia’s are a close second. The woody orientials complete the blend.

I’ve been smoking a pipe for over a decade, and this is the English blend that always delivers when I want something in that genre.

This is a true masterpiece. If it was no longer available, it would be compared to the original Sobranie. If it was hard to get, it would be compared to Esoterica’s offerings.

Fortunately, this tobacco is available, and all “English fans” should be stocking up. This is the perfectly balanced blend for me. It’s sweet, creamy, smoky, fairly strong, and qualifies as an all day smoke.

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Any traditional English, only better..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LannarkGent (145)	2018-04-12		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This is a pleasant oriental forward English blend , as it's name might suggest. The main note seems to be the orientals slightly kissed by the bright Virginias, with a rich and earthy bass note provided by the cyprian latakia. The cyprian seems to be more mature than most, with the tangy top note barely present at all. This is a solid choice for the English style tobacco maven. An absolute delight to smoke and very highly recommended by me.

Pipe Used: Beulay #33

Age When Smoked: new

Purchased From: Indian River Tobacco Traders

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JasonH (4)	2017-12-04		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

This site along with your reviews have really made this pipe smoking adventure so much more enjoyable. I have been a pipe smoker off and on for 10 years but it wasn’t until this last year that I really learned to smoke a pipe and with this site and your reviews, have made this a wonderful and pleasurable journey. Discovering all these tobaccos has been a revelation.

GL Pease Westminster is an exceptional well-balanced English blend. That said, in my experience, it’s going to lie to you at first. First lighting a bowl of Westminster, I get absolutely pummeled with Latakia for the first few puffs. Stick with it though, it settles back quickly. As the smoke progresses the Orientals come forward and remain a strong component throughout the bowl. Very nice spice and wood notes that are offset and controlled by the Virginias. I get occasional sweet spots in the bowl which I assume is the Virginias coming out to say hello. Still, the Orientals are the dominating flavor throughout but they never seem to overpower the smoke.

I said it’s a well-balanced blend and I stick by that assessment. Generally, the various English blends have one component that is “louder” than the others. To use another GL Pease blend, Maltese Falcon as a reference, the Virginias are the more vocal component in that blend. It maintains a sweet note all the way through with portions that are extremely sweet. There is some movement in Westminster but overall its more even. You can “find” each component easily through the bowl. And the sections that are more pronounced are not as “pointed”, they are more subtle.

I have rated this blend 3 stars. While I find this to be a top shelf blend, truly fine tobaccos and expert blending. There is something about this smoke that leaves my mouth very dry and chalky feeling. I suspect that it’s the prevalence of the Orientals and my particular mouth chemistry. This reality makes this an occasional smoke. I really enjoy it, but it’s not a smoke I would enjoy smoking all day. Still, I will keep a tin of this around in the rotation and I have a couple stashed for long term aging. I suspect that with time, this might be a truly magical blend. We shall see.

Pipe Used: Briar Canadians

Age When Smoked: 11month tin aged

Purchased From: tobaccopipes.com

Similar Blends: GL Pease - Maltese Falcon - McClelland Legends.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2017-10-27		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Update: 12/18 This is a great blend, way more complex than I originally thought. As I have now become more familiar with Red VA, truth be told I am a Red VA lover nowadays. This is a classic Balkan and a first class one at that. The malty flavor and the earthiness brought from the Red VA may be one of a kind. The interplay of red and bright VA offers 3 fold the return in complexity and flavor. Try this blend and I'd say buy a bunch for aging, when Virginia's play this large a role it is a candidate for greatness down the road

Westminster is a traditional English Blend akin to MM 965. Westminster hits you with a full frontal assault of smoky Cyprian Latakia. The tin note suggested that this would perhaps be a lat bomb. I didn't get much else from the tin, not from whiff one, nor any subsequent snout fills, to the bottom of the tin. That isn't a bad thing. After the charring light this blend burned well, was a bit on the dry side out of the tin but that is a good thing. Dry tobacco always makes me worry that it will dry out in the jar, but this one didn't make it. This blend is Latakia forward but the orientals play a significant role, I get a wonderful "fizzy" spice when I exhale through the nostrils and that spicy flavor on the tongue. The Latakia is sweet and smoky from first puff to the bottom of the bowl. I sense the Virginias more than taste them. They provide a mellow sweetness that blends with the other flavors rounding out the smoke. If you are a latakia lover you will love the room note, if not it will get you hit with a broom and banished to the garage. Mr. Pease is once again has delivered a great blend for the tobacco community.

Pipe Used: Bulldog, nose warmer and poker briar. A few cobs

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: B&M

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JEM (24)	2017-01-02		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Let me start off by saying I'm not a huge fan of English blends, but I always keep one or two in my rotation for comparison to other blends. Having said that, this is a very good all day English tobacco that I'm considering leaving in my rotation. After my char light and tamp, it stays lit and provides plenty of smoke. It has a very nice balance of different tobaccos with a smokey Latakia the main flavor. Regarding the room note, I've had people tell me it's nice, but they preferred my Virginia blends more. There is nothing to dislike about this blend and I recommend it to anyone.

Pipe Used: Savenelli

Age When Smoked: 5 years

Purchased From: Online

Similar Blends: Penzance.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Little Steven (76)	2016-09-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Unnoticeable

I really didn't get this Westminster. It smelt fine opening the drum. It was fine on lighting. But the smoke was, I don't know, something missing. As if the leaves were too young when harvested. That's just a description. I'm not a blender nor an alchemist so I couldn't say what was missing.

I tried it in different pipes with different results. Indeed, in my Dunhill army it was like I was smoking dust. From the Palace of Westminster. Hence the name, perhaps.

But I suppose Pease knows what he's doing and I'm not his target market.

Pipe Used: Various.

Age When Smoked: One year.

Purchased From: Gauntley's of Nottingham.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Weber 62 (9)	2016-04-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is one of, if not my favorite blend that's available now. I believe I've read that Greg Pease studied the old London Mixture for this one. While I've smoked the Murray and Orlik versions of LM, I find this one reminds me more of the late 60's-70's Balkan Sobranie (white tin), which is a very good thing. I just got a pound of Westminster and am loving it, plus a fair amount will get to age some more.

Pipe Used: Weber Blackthorne

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	drdave (17)	2016-04-01		Medium	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

UPDATE - I've opened a 1 pound tin of Westminster that was manufactured in 2016. The appearance of the tobacco is now one color - jet black. The taste is quite different; the Latakia, although still present, is subdued with none of the pine like flavor when fresh and there is no hint of a brisket flavor. The taste is sweeter with pronounced notes of black coffee and nuts (maybe walnuts). The taste is much more integrated and consistent when burning down the bowl, although it does gain quite a bit of strength at the end. Exquisite ! This blend is a freakin' masterpiece. I am currently smoking my way through 8 ounces that was tinned about 9 months ago. With some age the Latakia has mellowed out and the Red Virginia has sweetened a bit. The top of the bowl is very Latakia forward but after just a few sips the other Orientals and Virginia make their presence wonderfully evident. At times the taste and mouth feel is like a mildly sweet carbonated soda, just like the soda experience of the old Balkan Sobranie tobacco. Magic. The finish becomes very "gamey" - tasting like smoked brisket. Upon offering a friend a bowlful of Westminster, he responded, "Whoa, this tastes like an old red wine that's been in some musty cellar for decades, and it's really, really gamey! Aren't you afraid this will ghost your pipes?" Me: "Hey, I hadn't thought that! But I sure do hope it does put the ghost in the woods!"

Purchased From: Smokingpipes

Similar Blends: nothin else like it.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	crazy owl (74)	2016-01-25		Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Just another insane marketing product from Mr Pease.Nothing new under the Sun.You can find a lot of similar blends with higher quality leaf.As I said in other review is very easy recommending for cellaring when you sell raw stuff.Obviously after 10 years this will become much better.One must not to be a genius to know that.

Pipe Used: big bowls

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes

Similar Blends: many others but lower quality.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kunsan (76)	2015-03-27		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

Westminster gets lots of positive reviews, and is one of the best selling tobaccos made by GL Pease. I like some of the other GLP blends such as Chelsea Morning, Piccadilly and Meridian, so naturally I had to give this one a try.

Initially I was disappointed. Has the expected balkan style smokey smell in the tin, but the tobacco is cut in very large ribbons of uneven style. This makes the tobacco difficult to pack and difficult to light, except for those who have very large diameter pipes. I read a review elsewhere by someone who shoved his Westminster into a kitchen blender to make it more smokeable. I thought he was exaggerating at the time, but now I can see exactly his frustration.

So, taking his cue, I tipped my tin of Westminster onto a kitchen chopping board and sliced it into smaller 'ribbons' about half the size of the originals. Once reduced in size the tobacco became easier to pack and light and I then started to have an interesting and enjoyable smoke. I began to see why others find this one attractive, and the more I smoked it the more I liked it.

In short, straight from the tin many smokers will find this tobacco difficult to pack, light and smoke. It will probably work nicely in a very large pipe, but others might find the cut difficult. It is worth persevering, and even trying to cut it smaller as I did, because in the end it's a nice smoke. Is it worth all the time and trouble? That's for others to decide. I do like it and I'll order another tin, then perhaps another until I find the best technique. Shame it's not more easy to smoke straight from the tin.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	twaksak (54)	2014-07-18		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

GL Pease says Odussy is the Latakia BOMB, but I found this one to be the Latakia bomb for me. In the tin, straight rich Latakia, maybe even a mouldy manger (in a good sense) smell. Same on first light. Throughout the bowl, I didn't pick up much other flavours than Latakia.

Edited Jan 2016. I have to change this to a 4. lately I've been enjoying Westminster much more than a 3-star rating! Tin aroma is nice Latakia as I like it with furhter notes of fruit-cake flavours. Also nice leathery/old aroma. The same were in the taste; all flavours well-balanced.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CTS (138)	2014-01-05		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Very well-balanced blend. Latakia and Orientals complement eachother extremely well. Virginia sweetness rounds out the flavor, especially notable on the exhale. Nice spice and Latakia notes on the retrohale. The complete, smooth package, without anything that overwhelms. Burns clean without maintenance. 4 stars to the end of the bowl.

Pipe Used: Cristiano

Age When Smoked: Tin dated 31-JAN-2013

Purchased From: Corona Smoke Shop, Jackson, MI

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mdnyc71 (22)	2013-09-26		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Not bad, but there are English blends I find much more enjoyable. As an example, I find Old Dublin to be a much more interesting and enjoyable smoke. I tend to think of Westminster as 'flat' (although I'm not sure any Latakia based mixture could be flat).

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mjcruiser (5)	2013-07-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

English blends are not for everyone, most likely why I see a wide spread in the reviews. I'm a noob pipe smoker so my exposure to different products is small. When I first started I tried some smoke shop house blend English tobacco and I was not impressed - seemed to leave a cigarette taste in my mouth that I really did not like. So I went on a quest to try some different English blends when I fell upon Westminster.

This is my go-to smoke. It is fairly consistent from top to bottom of the bowl. I usually smoke it in my Peterson Shamrock 221 and it smokes to ashes with at the most one relight. The oriental tobacco flavor is dreamy and I taste it for hours afterwards (best I can describe it is kind of a menthol like taste - that is not quite right, but that is the only thing I can think of). It is not going to knock you on your arse with nicotine, but that is what I want for a go-to smoke. Being a noob I tend to smoke tobacco a little too fast and hot (I'm learning though) and while it can make the flavor of Westminster a bit harsh when I do - I've never gotten bitten by it. I love this tobacco and will always have some on hand.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tabaco (112)	2012-12-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Gifted from a well intentioned friend, thank you.

This presents itself as harsh and surprisingly bland, not very complex at all, minimal balance. Considerable bite (pH out of whack) and did not burn very well, too many relights which ruined it completely.

I'll be passing this along to another pipe friend who hopefully will get better milage and enjoyment from this than I did.

Overall not pleased with Pease, just another blend tease . . . next.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-11-08		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Tolerable

This was my first sampling of the G.L. Pease line and I had high hopes for this blend based on the reviews here. The Tin aroma was smokey and pleasant and it packed well and burned reasonably well, but unfortunately I did not fully appreciate the comments made on the need of aging.

My sample indeed seemed to be tinned last Tuesday....it was very "green" and "rough around the edges" with little taste. I will been sending this to the back of my "cellar" in a mason jar labeled "Do Not Open until 2014!" and I hope to have better things to say about this blend at that time.

Even if this improves with age as some suggest, there are many better selections available that don't require lengthy aging and are ready to smoke now!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Katharsis (39)	2012-10-25		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Out of the Pease blends that I've tried so far, this seems the most balanced latakia mixture. Everything is noticeable in this blend. There is also a slight fruit hint at times, which is odd for a Pease latakia mix, at least in my experience. I would give this four stars, but then I'm always tempted to give Pease's blends four stars. I'll give it three because A) I've had better from him, and B) this one I actually found to be a little too moist out of the tin, which is unusual in my Pease experiences. But overall, this is still great, and I would probably buy again...if I didn't have so many other tins to smoke that I haven't tried yet.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Wellpipe (66)	2012-06-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Westminster has a nice, smokey aroma in the jar but I find it 'rough around the edges' in the pipe as another reviewer has said. It lacks the finesse and nuance that I find in some other blends of these same three tobaccos such as Three Oaks Syrian. Westminster leaves me with a hot, ashy impression. I thought it might smooth out with some age, but after 18+ months in the cellar it has not changed. Only somewhat recommended.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	under the arbor (13)	2011-11-11		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I confess I was drawn in by Mr. P.'s writing and like the jellyfish that I am ordered a tin. The view from the Thames on the label didn't hurt either as I'm an even bigger "jelly" when it comes to good packaging! But as with past loves, sometimes the more you know the less you like. The first impression was good,I refer to the "tin-nose", closer to my beloved Dunhill London than some other wanna be's. But the room note was off and the bite, oh the bite! I'll admit a cooled down second light improves matters, but on the other hand I needn't wait for that with my DLM.

PS: Have done some reading on Dunhill by a Mr. Loring (the late Mr. Loring I believe) and as he seems to know more about the company than all of Alfred's heirs combined, I think GLP's whole Murray's / quality schtick is just that, schtick........"buy my Westminster it's closer to DLM than Orlik's. Maybe it is, but I like the present DLM, I also like my tongue not feeling like it just finished an eighty grit Tootsie-Pop.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cakeanddottle (105)	2011-09-19		Medium	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable

I don't get the lackluster reviews for this blend. This one is big, full, delicious, and actually has some nicotine for a Lat blend. Frequently shows the big sour notes I crave that I associate with Balkans, which must be the Latakia used here because this is no Balkan.

Tell you what, all you guys that don't think so much of this one, I'll trade you some of my Penzance or FVF for your Westminster. I think to date that this is my desert island Lat blend.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr. Scott (82)	2011-06-06		Medium	None Detected	Full	Strong

My tin is eleven months old. The Latakia dominates the first half of the bowl, then the Orientals begin to flower. But Mr. Pease is too heavy-handed with the smoky Cyprus stuff. And it burns very hot.

Some Virginia lovers would call this a Latakia bomb. Compared to other English blends, it is bland and somewhat flat, really of interest only to Latakiaphiles. May not really deserve a second star, but I must acknowledge that it is OK for its style...

Update, 4 May 2012: given additional time to age, and smoked a little more dry, the Latakia is not quite as overwhelming, and the Orientals are more prominent. Goes well with a Scotch Ale. A solid two stars; I can see how some would acquire a taste for it...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2011-04-07		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Updated Final : 12/14/11 : I've gone back and forth on this tobacco, different pipes , different times of day, different tin aging and the final results are as follows; BLAH ! This tobacco is middle of the road, medium light in all categories; "N", flavor , latakia , Oriental, Virginia, packing, spice. It's not terrible, but why bother. 2 stars And I agree with reviewer above, "DARTH VADER",11/19/11, there is a bitterness and a slight vanilla background ( deertongue ?), I will not buy again.

Original reviews:

A nice tobacco, but not a great tobacco. The Orientals play a significant roll along with the latakia. The Virginia adds some sweetness but IMO it adds to much spicy heat. I think there may even be a touch of clove and vanilla. I'm trying to find some reason I would need to add this to my rotation and I can't. I'll finish the tin and won't buy more not because it's bad , it's just not great.

Updated 10/19/11- Wow, What 7 months of cellaring will due.Spicy heat is calmed, orientals play , Smokie . I really should give GLP Blends at least 6 months before evaluating. I have to bump this up to 2 1/2 stars . This reminds me of a heavier Balkin Sasieni ( I like Meridian, Blackpoint and Odyssey better), the flavors are somewhat muted from a cob. Again, good but not great.11/3/11, just finishing the tin, the final smoke was best seems like the dryer this got and the more it breathed the better it got.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-01-28		Medium	Very Mild	Very Mild	Strong

I agree with the prior reviewer. I found absolutely nothing admirable about this blend. Tin aroma is of mostly a smoky Latakia presence. I let the tin air out ocassionally for a year and stored it in a zip-lock, freezer bag. It was a good moisture content when sampled a second time. Upon first light, I received a bitter, rather harsh invasion upon my palate. I persevered however, determined to finish the entire bowl in order to give a definitive, objective review.

Flavor/taste was one dimensional after the initial bitterness & harshness subsided. The smoke becomes more tolerable & milder but carries with it little flavor other than Latakia dominance. I was disapointed that this stuff really didn't deliver the palate pleaser that I was anticipating... but that's just me. Many seem to like it rather well although many had rated it an objectional (1) complaining of variable reasons of taste, quality & burn rate. Were they all wrong? I was waiting in anticipation for developing flavor but nothing really noteworthy ever transpired. It certainly wasn't to my liking and didn't agree with my palate. For those who enjoy this stuff, wonderful!

It is definitely not for everyone & especially me. If you are looking for a blend that offers litte more than a Latakia flavored tobacco taste, here you go. This GLP offering prompted me to ponder...should I try another GLP Eng/Balkan mixture? With so many other quality English/Balkans available, why take the risk of wasting more $$. Just an average blend IMHO, of course... maybe due to a conflict with my palate chemistry, as it were.

NOTE: 2018 Addendum: I have read about a few of G. L. Pease's quality, "Champagne" blends that have received rave reviews but unfortunately, command a premium and remain out of reach for the average piper... Bohemian Scandal for instance. Maybe his most famous but how is the average piper ever going to know this positively... like so many other world famous blends that are "Gone With The Wind". How would many of these Latakia ratings turn out if people who don't favor Latakia were to voice their opinion? I think pipers that are "hung up" enough on Latakia blends to pay $50.00 + for a tin of the newer BS or $200.00 for a can of "wimpy" Penzance should move on & leave their palate cravings behind. There is so much more out there to be enjoyed & the future seems to be looking brighter. There are blends available today that still tastes like "real" tobacco. I'm through ranting... next!

Pipe Used: Stanwell Dublin

Age When Smoked: Fresh Tin

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

Similar Blends: So many others that try to duplicate quality Balkans & English blends... fuhgetaboutit!.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	KahveDelisi (73)	2010-12-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

finished about 2/3 of the tin. Tried everything I could think of, wet, dry, bone dry, different pipes, different packing, nothing worked, all I got was full metallic taste and ultra poor burning qualities. I'm seriously thinking if mr pease himself do wonder why westminster got so many positive reviews when he has much better (and complex & original may I add) offerings in his stash such as blackpoint.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fife&Drum (34)	2010-10-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

This is my first outing with GL Pease. I like it so far. My perfect English has always been Penzance. This runs a close second...for right now. It's dark in the tin. Nice ribbon cut. Not too thin. Black and brown strands within an even mix. The tin aroma is classically English/Balkan w/ Orientals and Virginia. Smokey. A bit o' sweet VA scent riding on top. Smells much like Margate. Hmm. After lighting up I think "Margate". But wait, there's more! This is spicier. Much spicier. More like Penzance...but wait...it's even spicier than Penzance! Dark, brooding, spicy, rich. Even a slight hint of fragrant black coffee. More balanced than Penzance in regards to the Latakia. I like this. It gets darker and spicier further down the bowl. More complex. It tended to have a bit more strength than I anticipated. A solid medium, maybe a bit stronger than medium. A very good blend.

I shall now continue with my tests...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-07-20		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I really like this blend it has a very interesting interplay with the mix. I don't know what people are talking about it being bland or very overrated. These folks should stick to aromatics. This blend is for experienced but also new smokers who are not faint at heart. I really enjoy it myself, it has a wonderfully full body and nice spiciness to it that creates a nice aroma. It has an almost buttery finish to it; perhaos from the Orientals. I only had one problem with lighting this blend; the first time I tried it. I find gravity feeding it into the bowl solves the problem and creates a smooth and cool snoke. I highly recommend this blend to seasoned as well as new smokers.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-06-24		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

This is one of the tobaccos that I found to be better rated on this web page so I made the incredible mistake of ordering 3 tins!! yes,you might call it elegant,I call it dull.It is like smoking a cigar,actually. I smoke pipe for it´s sweetness,the smell and taste and this has none of this. There might be some people that like plain tobaccos,then this might be for you. Myself, I was left with an earthy taste in the mouth that still dosen´t go away.Dry is the word that comes to mind,but then,some people like their martinis without any vermouth too.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-06-20		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin aroma: phenomenal. Ease of loading and lighting: perfect. I can't say anything bad about this blend. I prefer it to any of McClelland's Frog Morton blends (although I love "On the Town". This blend has somewhat of an intriguing nougat flavor that makes me smoke fast but I don't mind. This is a great English blend!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-06-14		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I tried Westminster after reading some of the reviews on this site and others. I took the leap and bought an 8oz tin. This blend has lived up to the all the good reviews, and then some. It was expensive as someblends go, but I feel I got more than my money's worth.

I'm not entirely sure why some would rate this blend poorly. I think unless you were an aromatic only smoker you can't be disapointed by Westminster.

The taste is amazing. The room note is wonderful (except perhaps to my wife). A pleasure to smoke, this will be a mainstay in my rotation.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-06-09		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Unnoticeable

After reading reviews of this tobacco, I was so excited to spend the big bucks to try it. The first bowlful was okay, but boy has it gone downhill since then! My problem is that I have to continually 'fight' this tobacco. Hard to light. Hard to keep lit. Hard to puff. Just not an enjoyable experience at all. This stuff cost me $14 for a 2 oz tin. Thing is, I can get an ounce and a half of el cheapo drugstore tobacco like Prince Albert for less than 3 bucks and actually enjoy it much much more.

I have read others talking about various ways to age, dry or otherwise treat this stuff. Look, I am not a tobacco chemist. I do not have a cellar, nor do I want one, nor do I care to take time to somehow treat what I have spent many a hard earned buck on. I want something that I can take straight from the package and smoke and enjoy. This is definitely not it, and it has in essence turned me off of GLP altogether.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-03-18		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I love English blends and this is a good one. On taste alone, I would give 3-4 stars. Unfortunately, after two tins of Westminster, I have a problem with bite. It starts out with a mild bite but gets worse as you move through the bowl. Kind of like a good pepper. Even when I concentrate on smoking extremely slowly, it bites. In all 11 pipes I've tried it in, it bites. Other English blends don't do this to me, but it may just be body chemistry. If you like English blends, try this one. Its just not for me.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Smokey45 (16)	2010-01-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

As has been noted, pretty much everything that can be said about this tobacco has been said here. So, I will simply add that I LOVE THIS TOBACCO! From the moment you open the tin and load your first bowl, it's a pure, rich, creamy, smoky delight from beginning to end.

I will DEFINITELY be buying more of this!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-11-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is my first tobaccco review since I started smoking a pipe.

I started with aromatics and quickly progressed to the remarkable English blends. The wonderful aroma and taste of Latakia, orientals and virginias overtook my senses and I have fallen in love with the blends. The smell and taste of pine reminds me of a campfire in the fall.

I just recieved my tin of Westminster and finished my first bowl - and my second! This blend is fantastic. NO tongue bite whatsoever, burned cool and dry. I love this tobacco and will always have it in my rotation.

Three cheers to Mr. Pease.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Big Nick (74)	2009-11-14		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Westminster is simply fantastic! Excellent tobacco's in wonderful proportion. Beautiful use of Latakia as to not dominate the blend as soooo many do, thus allowing the red Virginias and Orientals to really shine. Smokey, sweet and complex, I love it! There is a line in the tin description that really says it all. "Westminster is a satisfying blend, presenting layers of flavor to delight the senses and develop in the bowl".

Westminster is a perfect symphony of tobacco's !!!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2009-10-27		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

I was lucky enough to try a tin of London Mixture before the supply in the States dried up. Granted, it was the Orlik version, but I enjoyed it immensely, regardless of the blender. I've felt a great loss with the demise of the Dunhills in the US, and any blend that pays homage to the dead line gains my respect. True, most copies are off and maybe it's more of a money thing than I'd like to admit--well, at least for most blenders.

I understand the trouble Mr. Pease went through in making Westminster. I too read his account of combing though 20 year old tins of London Mixture with forceps, isolating the components to identify the leaf and proportions. I appreciate the effort, and if I had more time with the London Mixture of old, then maybe I could advance a better review comparing the two. I admit being puzzled how he was able to distinguish between Turkish and Virginia leaf by eye, as similar as they might appear. But who is to question a man with passion? I'd honestly have given up after a few minutes.

My tin was dated 9/14/09, and I began smoking the contents about a month after the production date. The cut is varied, with long and short ribbons, including pieces of rubbed out Virginia flake. There are a few errant stems of Latakia, which represents a good 50% by my account, maybe a bit less. The tin is filled to the brim, though loosely packed, unlike the classic Dunhill, which is almost pressed together. The tobacco is dry, drier than I've ever seen a Pease blend, and drier than I remember London Mixture, so I wonder how the lack of moisture will affect aging. In the short term, it works well. It's ready to go as you crack the tin, no need for airing out the tobacco.

This is a classic English mixture, with Virginias and Latakia playing the lead roles. I have a difficult time detecting the Turkish, but I don't doubt that it's in there. Westminster is rich and full, suggesting the strength derives from heady Virginias. To me, I put the nicotine at something just over medium. In part due to the dryness of the leaf, Westminster burns rather quickly if packed loosely, while the smoke billows in great magnitude. I enjoy this in a bigger pipe, and have mostly smoked it in a large Meerschaum, packed tight. The crispy tobacco will crackle a bit as tamped.

Westminster embodies tradition, which is interesting as an English tobacco blended by an American. Sure, we'll churn out monstrosities like Fox & Hound, but we know our stuff, when it matters. Westminster is tasty, damn tasty, and that's what counts.

Five of Five.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-08-19		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Update (Jan 2010):

Craving for a good English, I tried Westminster once more. The only thing I changed is the pipe. Now, in a group 3 Dunhill or a similar billiard from Stanwell, I really love it. What remains true, however, is that the taste evolve all through the bowl, and I would prefer more matured tobaccos. I upgrade to 4 stars anyways and will re-order some more soon.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-08-12		Mild	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

"Honest" "Sturdy" "Reliable" "Fair, no nonsense" is what comes to mind as I puff on this. This is like an antechamber to a hall promising great beauty and proportion. This does not bite or dry you out. As fired cured, it should be high in nicotine, but I don't get a buzz at all. It is not particularly sweet, but neither is it bitter, sour, or salty. I think this is what you might call a savory smoke wuthout added flavorings.

Have you ever put vinegar on chips? We'll about 1/2 a bowel down, that is what I get - very lightly. I like this tobacco. It calls my attention, but without being in any way "needy."

I think this is one of those I might keep renewing. Right now the only ones I am relatively sure about restocking are Balkan Supreme or Saseini (sp?) and Butternut Barley.

What a great gift this one is!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Duke (41)	2009-07-01		Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Update: 10/28/09 I opened a tin of London Mixture (Orlik) last week and compared it with Westminster that has been properly jarrred. The harshness I mentioned with Wes' before would be better defined as an ashy note. When I find an appealing tobacco I can smoke it bowl after bowl, and Wes' cannot even hold a candle to LM by Orlik.

Westminster certainly has the credentials by its birth to the House of Pease. I feel great efforts were afforded it at its inception, yet this homage to London Mixture pales, as well as, individually standing by itself. No quality corners were cut in its components or construction. Whereas Odyssey's depth and sweetness I covet, Wes' appears unnecessarily dry and harsh as if some austere measure to casing and topping had been employed in its manufacture. Mind you the Raspberry Cocoa Cavendish overload isn't acceptable either, but by gum those early blenders had an innate sense when culling and curing tobaccos. My best indicator in judging a new tobacco blend is how quickly a tin lasts. Westminster is lying about my house whereas Odyssey instantly disappeared.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-05-12		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

I do not know what all the hubbub is all about this blend. It is a good english blend that is blended with a strong latakia note. I have tried quite a few times to see if there was any chance my taste buds were having a senior moment but no luck. If I have learned anything from pipe smoking after 45 years it is that tastes are subjective.So,go smoke a bowl of your favorite tobac and enjoy!!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-03-24		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

After trying this tobacco several times in a few pipes, I've finally had to write a review. Unfortunately, it won't be with as much enthusiasm as most. Don't get me wrong, this is good for what it is, but for me it lacks complexity and flavor. I have trouble keeping this lit, and it smokes wet, both of which are distract from what flavor there is here. This is an ok tobacco, and I'm cellaring some to see how it responds to age, but otherwise it won't ever be a real favorite. I'm sure I'll keep some around, but for me, this is nothing compared to the complexity I get from Maltese Falcon. Like I said, this is good, but I wonder how it can get a rating of four stars and how some people can view it as the best latakia blend out there. It just doesn't to it for me. I really wanted to love this blend, but it only gets 2 stars from me.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-03-17		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

This blend seems a bit short on flavor. Perhaps some of its subtleties are lost on me, as I prefer a bit more kick, such as can be found in Penzance or EMP. It's fine tobacco though, but there are some drawbacks. It can be difficult to keep lit, perhaps because it's quite moist right out of the tin. Also think it 'provides' slightly more tongue bite than other similar tobaccos. Overall, something that I may want to smoke occasionally, but not a mainstay for me.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe4ever (204)	2009-02-09		Very Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

OK this is a good English blend but I really don?t see what all this hype about it, it is nicely balanced with high nicotine kick, but also there is a lot of other good English blends in the market today.

Seriously, this blend is nothing if compared to the legendary SG Squadron Leader (if there is any comparison?), and for twice the price I don?t see why should I buy this "MADE IN USA" English blend, as long as I can buy the original, the TRUE English-Lakeland made blend Squadron Leader from SG MADE IS U.K. THE MOTHERLAND!

When I buys red wine, I prefer the wine from France, and when I buys English blend I also prefer when it is from England.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-02-07		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Update:

I have found a way to get this blend to smoke properly without constant relights. First - air the tobacco to a VERY dry consistancy but not bone dry. Second - it must be packed rather lightly. Third - I used a small pair of scissors to cut the strands into smaller pieces. Fourth - it seems to favor a larger bowl ( I used a Peterson Rock of Cashel ). I smoked the pipe halfway, and let it go out on purpose to eat my dinner. After dinner I savored the rest of the bowl to almost the very bottom and threw out the little bit of dottle that was left over. Including the charring light, It only required 3 lights! Fantastic. Try it. It just might work for you.

Original Review:

Well this is my first review. I hope you gentlemen will find my opinion to be informative, accurate and fair.

By the way - in no way does this tobacco bite. Sometimes I think certain "reviewers" are way off, and give excessively low marks just for spite.

So here we go.

Pros:

This is indeed an exceptional tobacco worthy of being considered world class. The Cyprian latakia content seems just right, and the virginas chosen compliment nicely. Frankly, this is better than Margate and Penzance. Margate seems to have gone down slightly in quality ( it use to have an interesting salty/sour taste that seems to have disappeared as of late ), and Penzance can sometimes be overwhelming in taste and aroma.

The room note is fantastic if you love that latakia campfire smell - I know I do. But it almost goes without saying that the aroma will not impress your wife or girlfriend, much less strangers unaccustomed to this type of blend. No, not a good choice if you are going out to socialize. Albeit, if you plan on staying around the house, then this would be a very good all day smoke. It is never overpowering, but it does have a fair amount of nicotine. If you are a nicotine addict, this may not cut it for you. But for those of you who just like a small kick - this is perfect.

The taste is just gorgeous. Very one dimensional, but the blend makes up for it in sheer satisfaction and enjoyment. I highly recommend this blend for the seasoned smoker, but would steer a beginner to a somewhat lighter blend.

Cons:

The cut of this blend leaves something to be desired, It is simply too rough cut - an odd cut at that. I have had some small problems keeping it lit, and have concluded that the main reason for this is NOT the moisture content - it is the odd cut. I let a small amount of this to get completely BONE DRY before loading; it certainly helped and did NOT deminish the taste. In fact it was quite good. So then, If Mr. Pease ever actually reads this review, I would highly suggest a slightly finer cut. I think Mr. Pease's reasoning is that he is trying for a a cool smoke ( which it is ) with a larger cut. Unfortunately, it also has the effect of making the blend slightly difficult to smoke without multiple relights.

The can that I smoked was only a month and a half old ( dated 11/17/08 ). Much too young but I could not resist. I noticed that the Virginas are very young, and MUST be aged in order to truly enjoy what Mr. Pease intended. Really, we should not have to do this as most of us just want a good smoke that's ready to go the day we buy it. Why should we have to age it? Perhaps Mr. Pease may be in a bit of a rush to get this excellent blend to market and meet demand.

Conclusion:

The description of this blend noted above states that its a ribbon cut. No, it is definately not ribbon cut, but actually rather rough cut compared to most blends. When a person says ribbon cut, in my mind, I would think of something like Margate - which is a true ribbon cut.

I noticed that the Virginas are very young, and MUST be aged in order to truly enjoy it. Hopefully, Mr. Pease will not fall into the mistake of getting this blend out too early just to satisfy demand. Lastly, the rough cut should also be taken into consideration.

This blend stands the POTENTIAL to be the finest pipe blend in the world... bar none and all commers.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-01-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

It's a decent English blend. However, there are blends as good or better available in bulk that are a lot more cost effective.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-07-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

HOLY COW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can not believe my senses. I had heard this tobacco was good but my God this is GREAT. I had no idea that a blend could be this well balanced and refined with out being either hot or overwhelming in nuances. I have reviewed 130+ tobaccos and have never felt this strongly about a blend. The VA tobacco is wonderful full of flavor without being too sweet, the Oriental is perfect and the Latakia well it is just right. A lot of other reviewers have already given their two cents on this one, so there is really nothing else to say. In summary 11 stars out of 4. This blend will change your pipe smoking life forever.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fly ticky (26)	2008-04-25		Strong	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Very Strong

I did not enjoy this at all a waste off my time and money.I may have had a bad batch.i guess i'll never no .

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-02-25		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

2/25/2008: Smoking this aged is really something special. It did not sweenten as expected, but it is a more concentrated flavor. Really for those who love lots of Latakia. It gains a star and I have rated the "taste" to "medium to full" from "medium".

1/25/2007: "Daddy, what's an English mixture?"

"Son, instead of me trying to explain it, just load Westminster into your Playskool pipe and smoke it."

"Oh, it's good. It's kinda smoky and spicy and a bit sweet, like eating BBQ ribs around a mountain campfire. Daddy, why do people smoke Captain Riff if they can smoke Westminster?"

"Son, some men like ugly women, too."

Now that I've undoubtedly offended the pedestrian tobacco preferences and frugality of someone, perhaps thousands, if you want to know what a medium English mixture tastes like, try Westminster. It really is quintessential.

Even if Karo-mentholated sheet tobacco is your ?desert grail blend?, try Westminster in a clean pipe. Please, though, remain faithful to your wife, even if she's ugly. She probably really isn't ugly, it is just that your sensibilities have become occluded along with your palate from those cloying blends you keep smoking. Change blends and rediscover your wife!

I re-read my review of the Murrays version of Dunhill's London Mixture and it basically holds true for Greg's newest. W is on the fuller side of "medium" taste. Since Dunhill has now become Dane-hill, who knows how LM compares? I am not the least bit interested.

I agree W (not the president, though...) is too wet (dripping?) out of the tin, and the Latakia and Turkish dominate presently (to a tasty effect). But those nice chunks of Virginia flake not only keep this fairly cool if smoked smoldering with a loose pack, the flakes will get a bit sweeter with age. Then the blend will round out. Then folks will forget about Dane-hill and most other medium English blends, save perhaps Squadron Leader. I think folks will also miss Renaissance a bit less, too, RIP.

Three stars with a bullet. Smoke some now and store some for later. You cannot lose.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Latakia (70)	2008-02-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I love this. The blend of orientals are perfect. Bit more complex than Odessy which I like. This can be an everyday smoke as opposed to that full once in awhile full on latakia smoke. The ash is a buetiful fluffy, light grey. Definetly easier to keep lit than Odessy. Very balenced. I think it is the red virgina that makes a difference...I don't know what full red Virgina tastes like but the tobacco that I have sampled that include red virgina with latakia seem to satisfy. Will add to this as I go through the tin but already have another tin awaiting. Will be a regular smoke.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-02-11		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tin: Standard medium English aroma, mostly smokey Latakia, with a perfumy oriental incense. Depending on how my nose is working, or the location, the Latakia or the orientals dominate. VA's aren't noticed and don't stand out. An uneven ribbon cut; nondescript, not really appealing to the eye, heavy on the black, 50%, with browns, 40%, and some bright golden and green, maybe 5-10%.

The moisture level tends toward dry, the tobacco falling quickly apart when mashed between the fingers. Date on bottom of tin: 01 23 07 (23JAN07).

Packing & Lighting: Packed reasonably well but is a bit difficult to get lit, but once it is, it tends to stay that way. The bowl stays cool, with no moisture.

Aroma & Taste: Soft and smooth as velvet; smokey from the Latakia, but not harsh or sharp, with a perfumy spice scent from the oriental. After sampling the lightweight Piccadilly, from the Classic Series, I decided Westminster deserved to be upgraded a little stronger in the Taste category.

Nicotine: mild to medium, closer to mild.

Room Note: Moderate English aroma lasting for a little while.

Overall: As soft and smooth as a mild English could be; not quite the full-bodied flavor I was expecting, but still tasty and a nice aroma; easily an all day smoke. 3.9 stars.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pencils (60)	2007-09-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Had Greg Pease presented this fantastic pipe tobacco to me earlier in my pipe smoking career, I would never have wasted so many years enjoying aromatics. Don't get me wrong, I like a good aromatic as much as the next man who likes aromatics, but this has been a revelation to me. Perhaps it is I who has changed in taste as I have aged, but I have all but stopped smoking aromatics since discovering Pease blends.

Westminster is tasty, contemplative, cool burning, and the end of each bowl is a huge disappointment. I find myself wanting to refill and relight far more often than is probably good for me when smoking this.

If you have shied away from English blends previously, then buy this and prepare to be converted.

Subjective? I guess so. I don't care to be honest, because I have yet to be sorry I applied a flame to a single bowl of this masterful blend. It is to be savoured.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	butter_side_down (12)	2007-08-30		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I got a tin of this in a GL Pease sampler pack. When I first tried it, I thought it was just OK and I didn't understand all the four star ratings. Of course, it was far too wet at the time, and so I left the entire contents out for a while to dry. After the drying, it got a little better, certainly a three star blend, but still nothing really special. Then I put the lid on it, threw it in the back of the cabinet and forgot about it for about a month. One day, I decided to try it again. WOW!!! Unbelievable. Everything that had been described and more. Bought a few more tins before I was even through with that first tin.

When I opened up the second tin, I thought I had learned my lesson and dried the entire contents out before loading up a bowl. To my surprise it was good but nothing special. I thought I'd just lost my taste for it. This happens to me sometimes. My taste is somewhat fickle. So, for a second time, I threw the tin in the back of the cabinet. Again, about a month later, I decided to try it again. And once again, WOW!!!

So the entire point of the review is to say that I'm starting to believe that perhaps this blend needs to be opened a while before it can be truly enjoyed. I don't have any scientific data to back that up, nor any explanation for why it might be. But since it happened to me twice, I thought it might be worth passing along. So if it doesn't seem like anything special to you, try leaving it alone for a while and see what happens.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-04-26		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

I have had the opportunity to smoke a fairly decent amount of this sublime weed over the last few weeks, and in looking back over the bowls of Westminster that I have brought to ash, I can really say that this is a deep and flavorful smoke.

First off, I feel I should state for the record that I am not a fan of Latakia in any way, shape, or form. Usually the smell of Latakia on a tin will push me to look for something different. However, as this was the TOTM I figured I should take a fair try at this tobacco.

Upon opening the tin I was greeted by the normal musty Latakia smell and some deeper spicy notes. All in all the bouquet is much more pleasant then I had expected. While this tobacco was a little too moist straight out of the tin, I found the leaves to have a very soft and ?plump? feel as I packed this blend into my testing pipe.

First char for this blend has been a bit difficult, and while smoking I have experienced some gurgling, but I suspect that could easily be corrected by leaving the tin open for an hour or two. On the upside once lit I have had not had too much issue keeping it lit, and it burns down to a nice ash fairly well.

The flavors that crop up while smoking this are amazing, often I will get a good taste of the Latakia, but it is tempered by sweet and spicy notes that really highlight the amazing quality of the tobacco in this blend. Also, the sweetness really begins to bloom farther down the bowl, and counterbalances the smokiness much better then I would expect.

I have seen many people regard this as a good ?all day smoke? choice, and I have to say that if I was a lover of English blends, I could definitely agree with this sentiment. Even so, I could see smoking a bowl of this every other or every few nights, particularly after a nice and hearty steak meal.

For me this blend is a solid 4 stars, and could definitely find a permanent home in my cellar.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RMBittner (66)	2007-04-09		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Much has already been written about this wonderfully full, rich English, so there's not much more to add.

My tin (from 1/3/07) was unusually moist -- something that was quickly corrected by GLP in subsequent tinnings -- but it didn't take much time at all to get it dry enough to take and hold a light.

Westminster has the wildest cut of any Pease blend I've yet tried, with ribbons of latakia nestled beside great chunks of broken Virginia flake. That makes packing a little challenging. But any effort is worth it, for Westminster carries the complexity and depth of an old, mature blend that is a joy to smoke. This even occasionally strikes a deep, rich note that I'm used to experiencing only in blends featuring perique -- and there is no perique here.

I'm convinced that Westminster is going to be the blend that future generations look back on as an outstanding achievement, just as many now look back on the Craven Mixture or Balkan Sobranie. Stock up, my friends. Stock up.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sasha (228)	2007-04-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Very good, classic English Mixture, very Latakia-oriented. A true balkan, deep, tasty, it would be one of the best tobaccos around if a foul burning didn't ruin an otherwise pleasant experience.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-03-04		Mild	None Detected	Very Full	Very Pleasant

It was a mistake to get this latest GLP concoction. I purchased a tin which arrived in early January '07 and was able to resist opening it until 2 March. Big mistake. If this tobacco is this good with just two month's aging, I cannot imagine what it will be like after it's had two year's. I'm also wondering what I'm going to do with the approximately six pounds of cellared tobacco I own... everything from S. Gawith to J.J. Fox. Since opening this tin of Westminster it is all I want to smoke. I've heard that Greg Pease will be offering Westminster in 1 lb. tins so perhaps what I'll do is buy a few of those and stash them away - in the interim I'll focus on smoking up everything else I've cellared. By the time I finish my cellar, the stashed Westminster should be sublime.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-01-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I opened my tin marked ?01-02-07? thinking, ?This will be a mistake. Everyone talks about blends being too rough when they are first blended, and these tobaccos have only been in the tin for six days! Oh...I can?t wait any longer. I can compare this tin with some that I age for latter.?

Opening the tin revealed a dark and rich English mixture with plenty of red virginias and Latakia. The aroma was the smoky savor of Latakia and fragrance of ripened virginias. It smelled wonderful! The cut was short ribbons, and it seemed to have a broken flake cut sparsely included, which reminded me of GL Pease?s Fillmore. The mildly most ribbons packed perfectly.

I loaded my Peter Heeschen Bent P carefully and set the match to it. The inital light tasted great! It took a charring light and a second for a consistent burn. The first third of the bowl tasted delicious. The sum is greater than the parts! This is not a Latakia dump, but every part is in harmony. There is a balanced smoky sweetness that tickles the tongue. The second third continues in a constant gratification of the same delicious smoke. Perhaps the oriental tobacco becomes more noticeable here. The last third required me to relight. It was heavy virginias bathed in Latakia smokiness. The bowl was finished before I realized it. The finished bowl consisted of nothing but a beautiful white ash, and I was hungry for more!

I thoroughly enjoyed this blend presented to us by Mr. Pease. I will definitely buy more tins.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigSwede (93)	2021-12-07		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Rummaging around my tobacco drawer I found a couple of forgotten tins of London Mixture at the bottom, probably there for years. I cracked one, filled a pipe and lit up. There was a time when I probably wouldn't have appreciated this blend but it was love at first sight. By the end of the second tin I'm getting ready to order more when I find: horrors! it's out of production. After researching I found a few people who thought Westminster might scratch the itch. So, as they say, I got me some.

I've actually smoked a number of latakia mixtures over the years so I was surprised to find the tin aroma wasn't the strong "old leather and wood" I'd come to expect. I get a whiff of VA and latakia is more in the backround. Fresh out of the tin it loads easily, moisture level seems perfect and takes a light with ease. As others have said, yes there's latakia in here but it's not a lat bomb. The orientals mix just about perfectly with the VA and latakia so as to make a full and spicy smoking experience. This is a nicely balanced blend and smokes down to nothing without drama or surprise.

Compared to London Mixture I find that LM had just a tish more orientals and Westmister has a tish more latakia.

Age When Smoked: New

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TotoPipeDreams (44)	2021-10-18		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

One of my go-to English blends. Full flavored, full bodied, but not in the creamy, heavy, cavendish way 965. It’s got sharper flavors to me. Lots of stanky Latakia like an old sock in the best way. Virginia’s really pop out and play nicely. But I’m not even a Virginia tobacco fanatic. They’re just really tastefully blended here. For Latakia lovers and English smokers. One of the tops for me.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MAddMAnn (17)	2020-10-26		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Cracked the tin and on the first smoke didn't find that it had the staying power past the first half. I'm looking forward to future attempts.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kokinhenik (93)	2020-05-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

First impressions: tasty, very interesting, all the normal english stuff, a healthy does of smokey Latakia. Not overpowering though. Not a lat bomb. Virginia are bready and sweet. Mostly in the background compared to the Orientals. The Orientals have a nice woody, herbal, sweet floral note. Very prominent, a real bouquet of floral notes actually. Unusually fragrant in my experience. It vaguely reminded me of lakeland at times but not in a bad way. I quite like it. I find the ingredients fairly balanced and it would be fair to catalog this as a medium english blend. It doesn't reach full bodied for me. Some bowls actually remind me of EMP but with far higher quality of tobacco, more flavor, more complexity and Latakia.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fluff (3)	2019-06-30		Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Strong

I was sitting next to a gentleman at pipe night and he was smoking this blend. The room note is intoxicatingly good, though strong. He graciously offered me a bowl full to try. After enjoying it I immediately bought a tin of it from the shop. Westminster is one of the better English blends out there. It is well balanced for a Latakia forward blend and gets better and better with age. I bought a 2017 tin and it really is a treat. Everything has melded perfectly, the VAs are darker/sweeter, the Latakia has mellowed and become more perfume like in its smokey goodness. This one is worth a try, especially if you can give it 12+ Mo's age.

Pipe Used: Butz Choquin Cadre Noir, Missouri Meerschaum Cobb

Age When Smoked: One brand new and one 2 yrs old

Purchased From: Local shop

Similar Blends: PS Proper English, HH Magnum Opus, Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2019-04-21		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable to Strong

I agree with the prior reviewer. I found absolutely nothing admirable about this blend. Tin aroma is mostly a smoky, Cyprian Latakia essence. I let the tin air out ocassionally for a year and stored it in a zip-lock, freezer bag. It was a good moisture content when sampled a second time. Upon first light, I received a bitter, rather harsh invasion upon my palate. I persevered however, determined to finish the entire bowl in order to give a definitive, objective review. Flavor/taste was one dimensional after the initial bitterness & harshness subsided. The smoke becomes more tolerable & milder but carries with it little flavor other than a Latakia dominance. I was disappointed that this stuff really didn't deliver the palate pleaser that I was anticipating... but that's just me.

Many seem to like it rather well although many had rated it, like me, an objectional (2) complaining of similar reasons of taste, quality & burn rate. Were they all wrong? No one is ever wrong when it comes to taste preference! I was waiting in anticipation for developing flavor but nothing really noteworthy ever transpired. It certainly wasn't to my liking and didn't agree with my palate. This Latakia forward blend didn't allow the other varietals to play much... mostly just bench warmers. For those who enjoy this stuff, wonderful!

It's obviously not for everyone & especially me. If you are looking for a blend that offers litte more than a Cyprian Latakia flavored tobacco taste, here you go. This GLP offering prompted me to ponder...should I try another GLP English mixture? With so many other quality English/Balkans available, why take the risk of wasting more $$. Just an average blend IMHO, of course... maybe due to a conflict with my palate chemistry, to the trash can, as it were. I'm just an amateur, homeboy blender myself & have created blends with much better flavor. I'm not criticizing G. L. Pease mixtures... it's just one of a few that I've tried. I doubt seriously if I could improve on his D & S Levant mixture however... it's extraordinary with a flavor that will take you back in time & is a delicious Balkan blend.

There is so much more out there to be enjoyed at present but the future is looking bleak in the Latakia department. The Syrian variety seems to be gone for good & even "quality" Cyprian is becoming rather hard to acquire. There are blends available today that still taste like "real" tobacco. Drucquer & Sons Levant Mixture is only about thirty-six dollars per 200g tin... almost 1/2 lb. & outweighs many of the overpriced "collectibles" by a tremendous margin. Unbelievable that many rated this a four star blend. That's like saying this is as good as the BSOM... what the hell? D & S Levant Mixture is far superior to this mixture with a similar price tag & has become one of my favorite Balkan blends. English mixtures? Leave it for the Brits. I'm through blabbing via my critique. Next!

Pipe Used: Stanwell Dublin

Age When Smoked: Aged one year

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

Similar Blends: Not much different than an average overloaded English Latakia blend... certainly nothing special. G. L. Pease could do much better..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SiriusAmory (25)	2019-02-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Westminster is an excellent Balkan blend. The Latakia lends just the right amount of brine and earth that I’d expect from this type of blend. The Latakia is balanced out well with hints of baking spice and toast. The tobacco burns evenly and required minimal relights. Despite the medium body, I could easily smoke this any time of day.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	porshcigar (44)	2018-09-24		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This is another outstanding blend by G. L. Pease. I bought and smoked quite a bit in 2007 - 2008. It was a regular for several years and then I drifted away from it for years. I have begun smoking my ten year old tins looking for that deep smokey taste that Westminster delivers. This blend lights well, smokes well, and burns to a fine grey ash to the bottom of the bowl. Great taste and great smoke. Now one of my favorite blends.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MarqueB (2)	2016-05-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Popped a tin dated 2009. I thought the tobacco in cut and color a little bizarre. Smelled very nice though. As stated was an odd cut, but it packs fine. As for the smoke , I didn't know what to think after the first couple of bowls. Never had a sour English before. After a few more and finding the right pipes, it's cohesive , and has a nicely balanced flavor. Lat and orientals peek ahead at times, but overall a solid singular taste sensation. I like this very much, and in pipes that smoke it well, I don't mind smoking more than a few bowls of this a day. Wouldn't be heartbroken if this was all I had. Easy four stars, and recommended, though keep in mind my tin is seven years old.

Age When Smoked: 7 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2015-10-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I think Cornell and Diehl's Cyprian Latakia is as characteristic as McClelland's ketchup smell, but I'm starting to develop an aversion to it here. It works great in Gaslight or Quiet Nights, but if you're going to advertise an all-day English blend as a replacement for some perceived deficiency in Dunhill's London Mixture, blend with an eye toward harmony.

American artisan blenders are doing with Latakia what American microbrewers did with hops - favoring it to the detriment of the blend. It's the sign of an unsophisticated palate.

Stick with London Mixture if you're looking for London Mixture, it's far better than this impostor.

Age When Smoked: 4 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimmerWest (5)	2015-10-28		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Took awhile to figure this one out as it is fairly complex. Four bowls smoked and I am really let down by this one after reading many good things about it. Tongue bite is prominent. Throat affects were light. Actually had a sore tongue after first bowl and thought it was just me or a reaction to always having to light it back up. Frustrating is about it in a word I guess I could say if a one word summary is warranted here. I won't be buying it ever again and I can tell it won't get any better with age, probably worse.

Pipe Used: Savinelli

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fred T (67)	2015-08-09		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

GL Pease is one of the best blenders, especially for English style tobaccos. It's called a Balkan above, but it's a dead on English, just the way I like it, full bodied, but not overpowering, sImilar to Dunhill's My Mixture 965, one of my favorites. The tobacco was a little dry when I opened the tin. I don't know if this is typical or not. This may or may not impact how long it stays fresh, but it smoked well with the first pipe. If you like English style tobaccos, this is worth a try. It gets a 4 from me.

Pipe Used: Dunhill

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

Similar Blends: Dunhill's My Mixture 965, Perfection, Frog Morton Across the Pond..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2014-05-24		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I was not aware that this was considered a Balkan. I guess that Balkan is synonymous with Lat. bomb. I love this blend but not all the time. Mainly in the winter, as it is very campfireish . Very robust and full flavor, so much so that when I first light up I take short puffs and spit them out immediately because they can be a bit harsh. The Orientals are a bit loud so if I smoke it too much or too long it makes my mouth feel weird. Overall a great smoke though.

edit a year and a half later, I've bumped this up a star. When this blend got a little age on it, it got even better. It seemed to mellow for me. Still heavy and definitely not a pick on a hot humid day, but amazing as are all of G.L. Pease's offerings.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Baronet Bruyere EX

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: Pipes & Cigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SmokeKing David (134)	2014-05-06		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

My brother gave me an aged tin that he won in a raffle at the Columbus pipe show a couple of years ago. We opened it in "preparation" for this year's Chicago show.

Wow! This aged blend was fantastic. The Virginias aged quite well and were sweet, but balanced by the rest of the ingredients.

I tried a more recent version, and I really like that, too. But aging this smoke is the way to go.

Govern Yourself Accordingly.

Pipe Used: Becker, Northern Briars

Age When Smoked: 14 yr old tin

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2013-12-13		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Briarpatch wrote:

>>> Preface: I have been smoking Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium for near-on 30 years, believing that it has no equal anywhere on earth. But it is gone now, and so I begin a quest for my Holy Grail: A substitute to replace the standard on which all English tobaccos are based. In an email from Mr. Pease about his possible substitutes he suggested that I start with Westminster. Well, I haven't much good to say about the stuff, though I had eagerly anticipated it. Westminster is long on the strong/harsh aspects and short on the rich/creamy/smoky/complex aspects. <

>>> Description: BLEND 805 Blend 805 was the absolute standard, the hallmark blend - in the same range as Dunhill 965 and Dunhill Standard Mixture, various Rattrays blends, and a multitude of now long gone blends and compounds from legendary English and Scottish houses. <<<<<

description of Blend 805 reminded me on Westminster - was it Friedman&Pease or older ? but i am sure it was not english - it was US made

the Westminster Tobacco:

Named after the Westminster Community Schools in Vermont

The tobacco comes in a peanut jar with 2 oz.

Smell: forest, ham, spices

Taste: Lots of Latakia - then times this times this, quite unbalanced.

To make it positive to say, not the herb to get it to smoke by the way. The Virginia is too underpowered. Nicotine medium strong - Is clearly the Latikia although smokes sweet, but has little nicotine.

Notes: Tabak: 2,5 stars

as to be a London Mixture failed : 1,5 stars

edit:

Just to say, never heard from Blend 805 untill this week. Maybe because the lack of internet LOL

Age When Smoked: new

Similar Blends: Sutliff Tobacco Company - Westminster, Westminster Standard (Schweiz).

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2013-08-28		Very Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Strong

I want to state up front that I am a fan of Greg Pease; that I like his english blends; have discussed english blending with him and how he helped bring the Drucquer and Sons english blends back to their former glory. Greg has been the blender for our NASPC yearly blends since 2000.

Although around since 2007, I didn't try this blend until this summer. I read our reviews and noted that some thought it four star quality, while others didn't feel as strongly. So, I bought a tin and popped it. Most definitely an english blend - what I classify as a "sour english" with a nice solid smokey quality. Yes, the cut was somewhat rough. However, this wasn't a problem as my method is to put some on a sheet of paper and let it sit out overnight. The next day I rub it out to a smaller consistency. From the first bowl forward it was enjoyable - moderately strong and smokey with an underlying solidity that made it an above average smoke. The only problem that I had with this blend was that each bowl became increasingly more and more peppery as I came down to the finish. I am not talking tongue bite here - but a spiceyness that showed itself consistently in every bowl. I thought: "this blend is just too dense for my tastes".

Here's how I solved it. I had previously purchased five or six tins of the Orlik-era Early Morning Pipe (why - I don't know) and they were just sitting around mocking me. So, I popped one and began to mix-down the Westminster with it. The EMP, by the way, was poorly sealed and bone dry and had to be rehydrated - terrible for a tin that, at most, was seven years old or younger. After some experimenting, I found that the magic button-pushing blend was 60 per cent Westminster and 40 per cent EMP. Try it - you'll like it.

My natural inclination is to give Greg's english blends four-star ratings, but any blend that I have to alter this much to make it a good smoke loses a star - 3 stars, but I still reccommend it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CriolloCorojo (18)	2013-08-27		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

update on 1/22/14 since original review on 8/27/13. I have update this one to 3 stars from my original 2. It just really needed some extra aging. I will certainly purchase again but will wait at least a year before opening and then will keep in one of my pipe tin humidors to age a little longer. I have even been able to get used to the chunky cut and what needs to be done to pack it properly. Bravo G.L. Pease, but I would suggest that you include a recommendation to age this one on the packaging. The tobacco is nowhere near as skunky and proper English flavor profile that I love has developed with time. I will leave my original review below for comparison:

I really wanted to like this blend. Alas, I find that it never jumps out at me, and I never think about it unless I see the tin. When I see the tin, I sometimes decide to pack a bowl and hope that I may like it more.

There are a few problems with this tobacco. The first is that the cut is not fun to pack. It is all chunky - and not in a good way like Hyde Park. I love latakia blends and have over a dozen in stock at any given time. My favorites range from My Mixture 965 to Commonwealth (I absolutely love SG's Westmorland Mixture but put it in a category of its own). This one would not make my top ten. The other problem that I seem to notice is that the peatiness that I normally enjoy from English blends (think great Islay Single Malt)seems to be more skunky than Bowmore-like or Laphroaig-like. This becomes more pronounced when drinking something sweet while smoking this blend. Maybe that will quell with age.I will try to age what remains in a sealed jar and see if it gets better over time.

I am currently smoking it in a pipe dedicated to latakia blends (I have more of these than any other pipe) as I write this. One time, I even tried smoking it in a Savinelli Author pipe that I had previously dedicated to Westmorland mixture to see if that would help. It did not.

Is this a bad tobacco? No! I just feel that I get a bigger bang for my buck with other latakia blends like Ashton Artisan's blend, Ashton Consummate Gentleman, Squadron Leader and several others. If you have tried this blend and really like it, then you might want to try some other latakia blends and see if it is just that you like English/latakia blends. I would still say this is better than Frog Morton or Frog Morton Across the Pond. I would really like to find a latakia blend from North America that I think can compete with Europe. If the price was lower, I would purchase a couple of tins and cellar them for a few years to see what happens (one for two years and another for three). But I just can't justify spending the money when blends like Ashton's Artisan's blend and so many others are just amazing right out of the tin. I have made my own latakia blends that have turned out better than this one. Sorry, G.L. Pease, but I must be honest. One thing can be said, and that is that it does burn rather cool and does not bite in the least bit. I may change my review after I have aged it for a while in a dark, cool corner of my basement...where I age all my wine and Belgian ales.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Buster Bluth (56)	2013-02-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

As another reviewer mentioned, some age does this blend wonders. I am smoking one of 3 tins purchased in 2011. The tin I initially popped 2 years ago seemed very harsh mid bowl and jumpy as if the components didn't meld.

Fast fwd 2 years, sampling 2nd tin in an Ardor bulldog used for English blends. It is very integrated. The main word that comes to mind is "creamy". It is hard to discern the components. There is plenty of dark leaf in there, but the leather and salty aspects of Latakia are in the background to my taste buds. The smokiness is mostly sensed on the nasal exhale. There is a slight sweetness on the lips. This mixture has enough body and depth, but does not overwhelm the senses. Great for the early afternoon pipe.

I find the flavor experience above is consistent from top to bottom. I consider this a good thing. Tin desc. calls this an everyday English. I agree. Nicotine impact is low. This one is a keeper and I plan to add more tins to the cellar.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ThePuffingLibrarian (5)	2012-11-30		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Strong

The aroma is a mixture of leather, horse sweat and extinguished fire camp. Sounds like Latakia? Well, too much Latakia in this case. It creates a strange taste of ashes mixed with soap. This being said, this tobacco as a certain balance and it burns well.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	samcoffeeman (33)	2012-10-26		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another good blend from GLP. I wouldn't consider this outstanding, and I don't think it was meant to be. This blend to me is like mashed potatoes, and mashed potatoed when made well are very good, but they are still just mashed potatoes. It delivers what it promises. I found it to be smooth and simple. My tin was very dry, unlike review below me was too wet? Might've been a different smoke if it was more moist. Rating: Enjoyable.

Update: I smoked this out of my "magic" pipe, a 50 year old Larsen Copenhagen with a deep bowl and wide fishtail mouthpiece. I call it "magic" because it seems to bring out the best in every smoke. I really tasted the earthiness and sweetness of this tobacco. It was not nearly as simple as I thought out of my other pipe. This is a slow smoker, fast pulls can exacerbate the earthy tones towards unpleasantness. At one point it really tasted like a campfire, and the exhale reminded of me of that feeling after sipping a nice whiskey or scotch, with a warmth/spicyness. I'm sticking with 3 stars, and my rating: enjoyable.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	colt25314 (42)	2012-08-26		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Full	Strong

Westminster takes me back 30+ years when I frequented Dunhill of NY (they actually sold tobacco in the store in those days). It is a quality blend for anyone whom appreciates English mixtures and a trip down memory lane for us old guys who reminder what it was like to go and purchase our pipe tobacco from Dunhill. The only criticism is the cut of the tobacco. It is the typical Pease C&D crazy cut. I would prefer this in a ribbin form.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	bteddy (23)	2012-08-24		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

This blend reminds me of an old favorite, Early Morning Pipe, but with more of a lat kick. Tasty, woodsy, and not too strong. An excellent morning blend or a late night taste with a good single malt. Classic English.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-05-29		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Unnoticeable

I have only smoked for a relatively short period. Over this time I have smoked Borkum Riff Black Cavendish & Cherry Liqueur, Solini Aged Burley Flake & Silver Flake, Reiner Blend 71 and Peterson's Sherlock Holmes. Westminster is my favourite.

I have always liked the smell of unlit pipe tobacco and this would be my favourite. Before the tobacco is lit it reminds me of peat or some of the pleasant smells of swampland (without any of the off smells). For some reason some other people I have seen sniffing it hates it, including fellow pipe tobacco fans.

The flavour when the pipe is first lit is quite full and reminds me of a gorse burnoff (I was brought up on a farm in New Zealand). For some reason this immediately reminds me of my childhood. As the smoke goes on this flavour disappears, and although thereafter very mild to my mind it is extremely pleasant. To my mind the flavour is quite woody with a mild but very pleasant after-taste.

I can be an impatient smoker and I have found that this blend is one of the least likely to bite my tongue after excessive puffing.

I have put 'unnoticeable' under room note as I have never smoked inside and would not know the room note, good or bad.

Unfortunately in the interests of domestic peace I won't be buying any more pipe tobacco. This is the blend that I will be missing most when it is through.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-03-08		Medium to Strong	Medium	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Greg Pease is a member of my pipe club, and brought at tin of vintage 2007 to our last dinner meeting. The president of our pipe club let me smoke a bowl of this in a huge JT Cooke Canadian he owns and I did not notice the smoke was over until I sucked in ashes. It was smooth and mellow all the way to the bottom, with fantastic smoky Latakia notes all throughout. This tobacco has the longest sweet spot of any I have smoked. I happen to have a 2007 vintage tin myself, and I am going to let it age a few more years before opening it, and stock up on some more to cellar. Fantastic!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	gladi8tor96 (143)	2012-01-03		Medium	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Third time re-writing this review. I had previously stated in an earlier version of this review "Excellent Lat. blend. Loved it!". However, now I would say it's more of Oriental forward with a perfect balance of latakia to support the spicy, fragrant, and savory orientals. The virginia's are there to round the blend out. It is very smokey and musky, dense, pungent, with not even a tiny hint of sweetness. The smoke is dry but soft with tons of complex flavors. Reminds me just a bit of QuietNights, but much less sweetness and more savory. Reminds me of Dunhill 965, but without that typical Dunhill flavor. It's an elegant smoke that leaves a nice room note that is fragrant. The retro-hale provides floral notes with woodsy scents. In my last smoke with this blend, I felt like the spice, incense-like, savory flavors reminded me of Chelsea Morning, but was much more deep and rich and lacked the bright sweetness that C.M. has. Great tobacco for a late evening after a fine meal.

Pipe Used: Bent Billard, Dublin, Egg, Acorn, Corn Cob

Age When Smoked: New from store - 1-2 years

Purchased From: P&C.com, Smoking Pipes.com

Similar Blends: Dunhill - My Mixture 965, G. L. Pease - Quiet Nights (Old London Series), G. L. Pease - Chelsea Morning (Old London Series), Samuel Gawith - Commonwealth Mixture.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darth Vader (110)	2011-11-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I'm a big GLP fan as my other reviews will attest but i'm still working on appreciating this blend.

The Bitter Lat bowls you over from the start and doesnt settle down until half way through when the orientals come out. The balance of this blend is a bit unusual and is taking time to get used to. Oh well, cant love all his blends i guess. Perhaps i'm not old and wicked enough to appreciate this blend. I'm working on it though!!

Update: 3 years later, I get it, 4 stars. Ages magnificantly.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Philo Beddoe (221)	2011-10-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Smelled wonderful in the tin and did not disappoint, a very good english blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nonpareil (20)	2011-10-19		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I have tried a number of Greg Pease's blends and while I have great respect for the quality and complexity of flavor he is able to achieve, I did not find any that I really cared for until now.

This blend features more contribution from the Orientals than any of the others I have had from Mr. Pease and lately, I have been enjoying orientals more. The balance of strength and complex flavors make this a blend I feel I must pay attention to as there is so much going on.

The tin I have is 18 months old and in perfect condition, with just the right moisture level.

The blend has excellent burning characteristics and provides an ever changing panoply of flavors keeping the smoker's attention constantly throughout the bowl.

I believe this blend is destined to become legendary.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-10-14		Strong	Mild	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

Can't say i like this after 6 bowls in 4 pipes after 3 weeks time. Too close to cigar leaf taste for me and the ol woman who can tolerate alot of lat/ oriental fumes can't stand it. Seems like after awhile it tastes like what a dirty ashtry smells like.Maybe i got a bad tin as I do smoke 5 Balkans in my rotation and can't get past that cigar taste in this one. took alot of attention to keep it lit and with all the relights I got tounge burned. Won't be getting anymore .

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	derlict311 (71)	2011-05-30		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Complexity is what I'm after when I reach for Westminster. And that's what I get. I It hasn't hit my "remarkable" button yet. Maybe too young? It has, however, effectively peaked my curiosity towards other Pease blends, for which I have tried none. I know, shame on me.

Update: I have been working my way through my tin and this blend surely warrants an upgrade to three stars. A nice, frilly English blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tom Servo (58)	2011-03-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Like all blends from Pease, quality tobaccos and a thoughtful hand in the blending room. A very English - English blend. Medium sweet Virginias, nice light Orientals and Cyprus Latakia in spades. Flavors show that typical Pease balance.

The only problem I have is the bite, sipping the smoke helps but if you let your attention lag for five minutes your tongue may pay the price. Nice blend - I just don't want to have to be so diligent in my pipe puffing.

I'll try another tin later, sometimes my tongue seems to be more susceptible to bite than others. And since I usually don't have harshness issues with Mr. Pease's mixtures, I'll have to double check this one, and Update as needed.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-02-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

Without a doubt one of the best English on the market , but it has to be aged a bit . I've cellared it for one year and it's heavenly but a year ago i would have rate it 3 stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-02-08		Very Mild	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I found with this one, like Odyssey, needed some airing and drying time before it hit its stride (not counting the very first smoke, a not unusual occurrence for me), giving the best smokes a few weeks after opening the tin. It is very light in the nicotine content. It also needs to be packed rather densely for best results. The flavor is initially bitter, though I'm very sensitive to bitterness (a hereditary trait, evidenced by the cream and sugar I take in my coffee). Later, however, it smooths out and is rather earthy, spicy, and pleasant. There is a kind of "dissonance" in the flavor that I absolutely love; it kind of dances on the palate and keeps it on its toes (if a palete can be said to have toes). There is also a real treat here in the sidestream. There it is smoky and sweet, with a definite earthiness and some je ne se quoi. Overall, this reminds me of a rubbed out version of Germain's latakia flake, one of my favorites. With more nicotine this would be a gold-standard for me. As it is, it is quite good. I put it in my favorites in part because I have not been overly impressed with any latakia mixtures lately.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	chgo.piper (37)	2010-11-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

As one who enjoys latakia in lite to moderate doses in some blends this review may not mean much. Latakia is really all I taste in Westminster, however, it's a smooth smoke. I just would like to have a little more sweet virginia to balance this blend out somewhat. I did pick up a half a dozen tins and put them in the cellar (I'll see what a few years does to it). Over-all a rich english blend of high quality.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Merven the Great (18)	2010-10-09		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Wow how interesting? dark and smokey, in fact opening the tin had me grabbing for the fire extinguisher, smelt like yesterdays bushfire (not bad though). The taste, however, was quite different than the tin aroma, tasted soooo velvety on the tongue and develops wonderfully into something different as the bowl burns down. Its dark and gloomy and can relax you enough to put you in a coma on a large bowl. Does not bite, the standard two lights to get going and leave you with not homework on completion. Deserving of the positive reviews and I hope my review places G.L Pease - Westminster back where it belongs: 4 STARS

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-09-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This is a very good all day, middle of the road english blend. There are no extremes to this blend and would suite those who like several bowls of an english blend a day. 4 stars for me!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-09-13		Mild	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

My first review here as a new smoker only by a couple of months. For all the comments about this being a tobacco for experienced palates, I have to say this the first tobacco to give me truly enjoyable smoke. Not so heavy as Peterson's Irish Flake and more delicate to me than Old Dublin. At first I had a hard time staying lit, but once I began sipping the pipe it both stayed lit and gave a full flavor all the way to the end with no ashy taste. "Peppery" was word used elsewhere; I think that's about right for a developing sensation, not a bite. But then I like pepper. I got mine at Iwan Ries in Chicago. Now I'll have to find a way to order some. Any suggestions? Thanks to Greg for a good first smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-08-24		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

English blend at his best. Great smoking for Latakia lovers, elegant, equilibrated, a blender masterpiece for smokers enjoyment.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-08-19		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I normally wouldn't take the time to start an account and post a review, but in this case I feel I owe it to this tobacco. Westminster is exquisite--the perfect English. Perfect flavor, balance, strength, etc. Enough said.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-07-28		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I really do not aggree with comparing one blend against another! I prefer to take each blend on its own merit. This triumph from the Master is a beautiful example of the highest quality condiments. The usual Greg Pease trade-mark of layered flavour comes through and continues to excite down to the end of the bowl. Sorry....Did I mention - Im a GLP blend junkie!!! Tremendous Triumph of a Master Blender!!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-07-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is a very popular blend and now I know why. I found this to be a wonderful English blend full of everything I have come to love about English blends. This was an easy light, mellow smoke, wonderful aroma and flavor, no bite. I will have this blend on-hand at all times.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Billy777 (18)	2010-06-05		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A bit soapy at the beginning but about one third of the way into the bowl I found that this went away. It's a really thought provoking tobacco that asks you to savour it slowly. It's definitely worth trying.

Not sure whether it's worth four stars though, the jury is still out on that.

Update: I have spent the last two weeks smoking nothing but this. What I have noticed is that smoking it in a pipe with a deeper bowl really brings out the interplay between the Latakia, Orientals, and the Virginia. In a pipe with a shallower bowl the taste is one dimensional / muted / flat / dull.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-05-09		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I found the Westminster blend from Mr. Pease to be quite satisfying and it smoked in harmony with a neat glass of Jameson's. Considering this is only the fourth blend I've tried, I think it is foolhardy of me to gush and go on and on in rhetoric and fluff, but this is a very good blend. Full of flavor and taste, it is a good next step from University Flake and a far departure from Captain Black (both the white & blue pouches).

My 2oz tin was neither moist nor dry when I opened it, but I think I should let it sit out a bit longer for my next bowl as I had a bit of difficulty keeping it lit.

I smoked this blend in a brand new author from brebbia, so perhaps after I build up the cake a bit, I'll have a more comprehensive understanding of this beautiful blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-03-28		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Really, this is the only tobacco I need (though there are others I enjoy). Complex, flavorful, salty, creamy, chewy, smooth, and always cool.

I've had people comment on how good this tobacco smells, and I couldn't agree with them more. I keep buying tins of the stuff even though I don't smoke too often. It makes me want to horde.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-03-15		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable

Well, what can I say that has not already been said? This blend gives to pipe smokers what Shafer gives to wine drinkers. This blend is so smooth and tastes great. A great blend for those looking to break away from aromatics, and will not let you go back. Truly tobacco at it's highest.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-02-26		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant

right, splendid Pipe Tobacco indeed. As i have searched for a Replacement for John Cottons No. 2, i think i may after Years of Search found the Replacement. Although it has been a very long time since i last smoked John Cottons, and had to cough up many bad Tobacco Blends along the way, if my Memouries serve myself correctly, this is almost identitical to John Cottons. If anyone knows of one better than Westminster in regards to John Cotton, please mention, i would very much appricate this. Pax tecum... Gustav

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-01-30		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is high quality tobacco. It comes just humid enough and not dry or too wet. It packs easily and lights up fine. It stays lit with no problems. The description written above is spot on. I enjoy this with coffee in the morning sitting on the back porch. It is smooth and very satisfying. The flavors are well combined and the strength is just right. There is a good amount of latakia as it says but is not overpowering. It doesn't stay with you all day either. When my stash runs low I will be purchasing more of this. Enjoy!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-01-21		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Rich, sweet, and complex says it all. It is served up in an extra chunky mixture of dark tobaccos. I like to rub out the tobacco for the top layer of the bowl so it will light easier. I believe that the large chunks of tobacco add to the "dancing of flavors" that happens when this stuff is smoked. Just a theory. This is a very cozy and easy English mixture. Not a Latakia monster. The virginias make enough of an appearance that a virginia fanatic like myself will be pleased with their occasional focus.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cantrell (14)	2010-01-20		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable to Strong

This tobacco is not for me, too subtle, too bitey, and smells downright weird. although I can see why some would love this. Its certainly a tobacco to be treated with respect, insomuch as amaturish packing or the slightest misstep will make it taste awefull.

I have little patience for tobaccos like this, having only been smoking pipes for a few years. perhaps I will "grow into it" but I doubt it.

I'll stick with my sweet delicious smokes that taste nothing like tobacco, if this is an example of what is the "best" tobaccos are like.

Update: awefull stuff

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-01-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

A very well made English blend. Greg did a spectacular job of his tribute to London Mix. Let me be clear, it is not, nor has it ever claimed to be a replacement to Dunhill's LM. I do say that if you puff in series, as I do, on the third puff when the tobacco, is decently hot, you do taste it. The little twinge, and there it is like a tease, that LM taste. It is almost like you have to bribe the bowl to yeild that familiar rendering, but it is there. The blend itself in its own right is a work of art, and yes Mr. Alfred Dunhill would be proud, as I'm sure he is for what you're doing. Keep the faith Greg, and bretheren keep smoking with pride.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-12-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I can't add much that hasn't already been said in previous reviews. A very pleasant and smooth smoking experience. Moisture content a bit dry; enjoy it best in a large bowl.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	FALCON (12)	2009-12-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

one of the best in my rotation before will smoke this sometimes.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-10-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I readily confess that I've been smoking a pipe for less than ten years, and I whole-heartedly agree that that makes me less than an expert when it comes to pipes and pipe tobacco. ...That being said, I see absolutely no reason for rating an unspoiled tin of this at less than 3 stars. I read through almost all of the reviews and I'm puzzled by some of the notes.

This stuff is quite good, I've never had a number of the "classic" tobaccos (3 Nuns, Sobranie 759, etc.), so perhaps I have nothing to compare against, but other than a cellared tin of Westminister, I don't know if I can think of a better english tobacco. This is my favorite late night smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pip (80)	2009-08-17		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

A classic English. Just wish at it had a tad more Latakia. It smokes smooth and cool. A very pleasant tobacco.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-08-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I don't often smoke American blends because they have usually been disappointing. That is why I have come so late to Westminster. I should have tried it sooner. The tin note is very Dunhillish. The flavour while not exact is similar to London Mixture. The cut is courser than DLM. This is not an exact replica of the old Dunhill standby but it has the spirit. A pleasant surprise. I am about to buy a new tobacco jar to dedicate to this most English of American blends.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	82piper (8)	2009-07-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

I'm almost finished with my first can of this. I opened it about 2 weeks ago and it was tinned in January '07. Very good tobacco. Not great, but very good and consistent from puff-to-puff and bowl-to-bowl. To me it's not quite as good as the Balkan Sasieni and Dunhill Durbar I smoked 10 years ago, but it comes close. I can't wait to see if future tins perform as well as this one.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fernalgas (9)	2009-07-11		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I want to like this tobacco a lot...but so far it is good but not great...I've smoked it a couple of times and so far its been pretty consistent through out a Boswell Apple, a Peterson system 314, and a Mastro de Paja Oom Paul. The taste is quite smoky with a side of BBQ sauce. The smell of it in the tin is quite the same. It is easy to smoke...only one lighting to smoke it is needed...cool and tasty...I wish it was the best the tobacco I have ever smoked but it is not so...maybe along my tin I will get to that point but I am not there yet..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipemanuk (76)	2009-06-02		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

A pleasant enough 'English' mixture...absolutely standard fare which is not going to upset anyone as being too smoky or too mild.

Comes in 2 ounce and 8 ounce tins, mine being an 8 ouncer dating from February 2007.

Stripping aside the marketing hype..'gentle caress of bright leaf'...this is a reasonable, pleasant enough smoke. Worth a try but don't be swayed by the silly nonsense written on the label or the adulation of the fans.

Well thank heavens we can 'Addendum' our errors :-)

Original written some time ago and updated July 2009.

I am still working my way through the original 2007 can, but I have come to like it more now...I think it's better than 2 stars and have upped to 3. My main problem with GLP is that the blends are so raw (draws particular attention to Filmore) and I am still not enamoured of the flowery prose...probably cos we tend to understate everything we like here lol. Apart from my remaining supply of Balkan Sobranie and EMP, this is my main Latakia blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PipenGuitar (15)	2009-05-04		Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm 2/3 done with my first Westminster tin and it took up until now to finally enjoy it somewhat. I'm growing fond of it slowly but surely. It seems to go well with coffee.(because otherwise I have no taste in my mouth, other than a faint smokiness) I suppose having smoked flavorful tobacco's such as Frog Morton O.T.P and StoneHaven, my taste expectations were probably to high. Having read that this blend apparently is sold too "young", I'll have to age it in hopes of some improvement. Room note is nice though!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tripjoker (65)	2009-04-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I do like english and balkan blends very much. Are they my everyday smoke?....No. I don't smoke anything everyday. Mind you there are things that I could, but I have the pleasure and privilage of variety.

That said, I must say that if I were to smoke an english all day, this would not be it. At least not a tin under 3 years of age. Which are all that I have had.

The quality is very high. But the emphasis on too much Latakia is disconcerting in the younger tin. I will age a pound of this for at least 5 years before trying again. Hopefully that time will smooth out the Lat and increase the Va to a level to it's equal. It would be perfect then. The orientals are superb, but muscled by the Lat.

After proper drying, this i at most a three star blend for me. Maybe the fourth will appear in about 3 years.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-04-12		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Preface: I have been smoking Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium for near-on 30 years, believing that it has no equal anywhere on earth. But it is gone now, and so I begin a quest for my Holy Grail: A substitute to replace the standard on which all English tobaccos are based.

In an email from Mr. Pease about his possible substitutes he suggested that I start with Westminster. Well, I haven't much good to say about the stuff, though I had eagerly anticipated it. Westminster is long on the strong/harsh aspects and short on the rich/creamy/smoky/complex aspects. When you first light up a bowl of SMM and breath it in through your nose and swirl the smoke in your mouth, it is a true thing of wonder, fine enough to want to eat, and good enough to forego desert in lieu of a pipe every time (well, except Thanksgiving...). Not so with Westminster. This is just a ho-hum smoke, nothing that would develop anticipation for the next bowl. And certainly nothing like the magic of SMM that kept me anticipating for 3 decades...

Moisture content is slightly dry (right out of a fresh tin) and burn rate a tad fast, though neither is egregious.

This is the 4th Pease blend I have tried (Caravan, DaVinci, & Maltese Falcon being the others), none having been to my liking. In my drawer and coming up are Odyssey, Kensington, & Blackpoint. We'll see...

If you like (or would like to try) English blends without rich smokiness (and why you'd enjoy that is beyond me) perhaps you'll find something here.

I, in order to make use of this tin, will mix it 50/50 with Pirate Kake, the one being clean and a bit harsh, the other richly smoky, boring and mild. I think it will result in my being able to finish off both with good flavor!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-04-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

A very good blend just not 4 stars for my taste.

Update after smoking this in my morta pipe I have to bump this up to 4 stars

22 May 2009 Update:

I finished off my tin of Westminster & I'm tightening up on my ratings and only give 4 stars to my top 5 blends that are in my core rotation of tobaccos. Those at this date are Escudo, Penzance, University Flake, Churchill & still deciding what the 5th will be.

I now rate this as a very solid 3.5

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-04-01		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

For Balkan Sobraine, and that world, now vanishing, Westminster is born.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-03-16		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

One of most delicious English blends I have ever smoked. The flavors are more woven together and easy to identify. Another FINE every day smoke from Pease.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-02-19		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Overwhelming

G?day there, this is my first review and I?m a ?re-newbie?. I re-started with some bulk aromatics (stupid boy), then some Dunhill (EU), Peterson (EU) etc. tins. Best for mine was MM 965 but it?s gone, so I needed a replacement. ----Bang----!! Westminster. This was an epiphany. It almost takes my breath away when I lift the lid. It?s smoky, musty, earthy and smoky again with just the faintest background hint of some fermentation, but when I load and light, what a magnificently brutal assault. It?s all happening here and the tobaccos line up to hit me in turn and then gang up. An added joy is that for hours afterwards I get an occasional resinous whiff from my moustache that reminds me of what happened. Then I smile. Packs and lights easily and only needs a relight during tamping, smokes to the bottom in all size bowls and it doesn?t stew. She says it smells like horse s#!t. Some of the more experienced chums won?t approve, but if you add 1 part of this to 3 parts of a mistake purchase, such as 1Q, you can actually smoke the stuff instead of turfing it, but don?t tell anyone. This Westminster is what I thought Dunhill? would be like. Maybe Mr Dunhill could pay Mr Pease a reasonable sum of money to produce his tins. Anyhow I have to go. I can?t smell my moustache.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-02-16		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Top quality everyday English blend. Latakia and Orientals both evident but never overwhelming. Burns beautifully.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-02-03		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

The Dude! His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

T-H-E B-E-S-T Latakia blend available in the market.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-01-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is my first review and I figured I review the first English blend I tried. After suffering from a scorched tongue with the Captain Black blends, I decided to try this one after reading the reviews here. Boy was I not disappointed. When I first opened the can, I was greeted with a strong smell of treated leather and other exotic scents. I didn't know what to expect so this kinda took me by surprise.

When I started smoking this blend I was treated to a great smoke. Still being a new pipe smoker I drew too hard and too often, but I soon learned to slow down and savor the smoke. As I get to the bottom of my can, I can say this is a very good tobacco blend (I have tried others with which to compare it). It has a slight peppery taste to it that slows you down and allows you to savor the bowl all the way to the bottom.

It starts out a bit wet and hard to keep lit, but it ages well and really comes into its own as it has aged a bit. I am getting ready to order more! I certainly recommend Westminster for you English blend fans.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-01-19		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I must say that this is my favorite English blend; Penzance and Squadron Leader follow right behind.

I also must say that the Silver Spigot's review is absurd, and I agree that if one is getting bitten from this blend, that one is doing something really, really wrong and insipidly inept. That one should not waste his and our time with his inane inferences.

Westminster is a great Blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-01-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

If you get a bite from this, you need to learn how to actually smoke a pipe. Great "English Mixture" and a regular paired with Abingdon. Try it, savor it slowly, and enjoy it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-01-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

G.L. Pease Westminster is one of those rare blends that come along that have your jaw dropping and your mouth watering from the first bowl on. This blend is nothing short of being bloody brilliant. With the new year just getting off to a start I now can say, "bring it on!" The red virginias will have your mouth watering and will proceed to be soaked up nicely by the rich Cyprus mountain Latakia. This smoke leaves you in the tranquil and peaceful zone. This stuff is consistently yummy down to the bare bottom of the bowl leaving white ash. For those of you who do not smoke a bowl back to back...that will all change here!

With a market full of just okay blends we thank you Mr. Pease for standing out with Westminster. Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-01-11		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This is an excellent "English". I think the best aspect of it is the long finish, a nice, earthy Latakia taste that goes on and on. . . I tend to prefer a more full bodied blend so I'll be trying Abingdon soon. For me a great morning smoke!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-01-09		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Westminster is a good English style tobacco. Good burning qualities and no bite. I prefer Odyssey over Westminister though as far as GLP blends. Westminster is a good smoke though.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-01-04		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Update:

So I really have learned to love this blend on it's own. The more I get involved online the more and more I tend to sway away from aromatics and more into blends like these. I think that this stuff is a wonderfull smoke and if you ask me in many years this will be touted as the best english of it's time. very good flavor, well balanced and it provides a cool smoke if you don't puff to hard. I like this more and more as I smoke it. I bet this stuff will be great down the road.

Original Review:

Good stuff. Sometimes I mix in some aromatic the blend takes it well. Burns cool and easy. Easy to puff a bit too much but that is alright because it does not bite a whole lot. I'm usually a virginia flake smoker but I do keep a jar of this around.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	quantumboy (130)	2008-11-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

UPDATE 01-29-10: Must have been a skanky tin. I am working my way through all of the Pease blends, and I am happy to say that the tin of Westminster I just opened today is far superior to the one the previous reviews are based on. The big four - Abingdon, Charing Cross, Odyssey and Westminster - are all big English/Balkan blends with a noticeable oriental components, smoky Latakia, and a good balance of tasty Virginias that all have some similarities with one another. In other words, if you like one of them you'll probably like the others too. Well balanced, a bit toastier than the others, and very good. Upgrade to three stars!

UPDATE 5-16-09: I just can't get into this one. It's not nearly as flavorful or smooth as Abingdon and it just doesn't push my buttons. I may have to try another tin to be sure mine didn't get skanked somehow, but other Pease blends are far superior. Downgrading to two stars.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 11-06-08: This one fell a bit short of my expectations, especially after all the rave reviews. It just seems rather one-dimensional to me. Perhaps the Latakia and Orientals overpower the Virginia. Yeah, I think that's it...

Tonight I tried mixing in a little Black Cavendish for some flavor. It added a little more complexity, but didn't really help. I think instead I should have added some sweet Virginia flake because when I very carefully coaxed it, I could pull out a tiny remnant of the Virginia. And I liked that part of it.

I would rather give two and a half stars but it gets three, not for flavor but for cut, pack and burn. Humidity was perfect from the tin and it burned flawlessly and effortlessly with copious smoke. Don't get me wrong, it's a good tobacco, but not great. I prefer Stokkebye's Balkan Supreme.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	p4p4 (59)	2008-11-05		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

Update: I have to downrating it: too much difficoult to kip it lit. Seriously ! And a little tongue bit smoking it all the day. Rought. ------------------------------------- Like every Pease tobacco's, this is a high quality one. But, at the end..... it's unsmokable: raw, crude,inelegant, boorish. And Pease is a sort of illiterate blender. This cook uses quality and tastefull ingredients, but definitly he's inapt to assemble and amalgamate the ingredients. The result is......raw. Sorry Pease, you are discharged. You can smoke a Pease's blend a time a week.....and is very good. You smoke a Pease's blend two time a week.....and is goog. You smoke a Pease's blend a time in a day.....and is unpleasant. you smoke a Pease's blend all the day....and is nauseating. So.....if you are looking for an occasional good tobacco: try it. But if you are looking for a trusty partner....just flee from Pease!!!!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cypressandstar (14)	2008-10-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

No more concerns for decreasing quality of Dunhill mixtures,here Mr.Please come to relief:a true classic EM. She must be dried a bit to make serviceable.I'have had a great time with Westminster and I will purchase more. In my point of view,the strenght on Pease mix's is in their balance and refinement. Yes,there are many other everyday EM out there,but this one is classy,elegant,satisfyng and (to me) dangerously addictive. A perfect everyday English mixture,indeed.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CPT/VSG (72)	2008-10-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Strong

Initially, this one was a rare Pease blend that did not do it for me. Upon further consideration and a second tin, I get it. A fine English blend with complexity. The Latakia does not overwhelm the nuanced mix of Virginias and Orientals. A fine tobacco.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NONSUMDIGNUS (11)	2008-10-17		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

After reading all these rave reviews I was a little disappointed by this tobacco. It's good and well rounded but it seems to be lacking a little kick! A reviewer below had difficulty in desribing the aroma - he referred to it as a 'musty' smell while someone else referred to it as 'goat' however I think the aroma smells more like a freshly opened can of tennis balls! One of those definitely unique aromas.

It's good but this little tin I bought will probably last me a while.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tomobedlam (16)	2008-10-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

This is it. I no longer need to mourn the passing of my beloved MM 935! I've been searching: Penzance is close...but this Pease blend has it all, and then some. I'm ordering a pound as soon as I'm done with this review. Which is now.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-09-25		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

So many informative, positive reviews have been made of this blend that there is nothing for me to add, save this: Bloody brilliant.

I give it 3 stars only because I reserve the 4th for that tobacco I haven't found yet.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-09-24		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Really a very nice English blend that should be in every collection. There is an odd, musty quality I find difficult to define or classify (other than odd and musty), but I don't really mean this in a bad way. Westminster has better burning qualities than some GLP blends, burning to fine ash. I have several cans in the cellar, and I look forward to trying this in the future.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-09-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Nice virginia sweetness combined with a decent wallop of Cyprian latakia and a dark "goatiness" from the orientals. The room note is raunchy, but not exactly bad. Westminster is good, but it lacks a certain idiosyncratic character, like the Dunhill astringency or the Penzance mustiness, that would make it truly memorable. Maybe this will come through down the road in a well-aged tin. At that point, I hope to be able to upgrade my review, but I don't give 4 stars lightly.

1 person found this review helpful.