G. L. Pease Westminster

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.