G. L. Pease Westminster

Westminster was actually the first thing I smoked when I got my pipe. I wouldn't recommend that for beginners by the way. When I opened it I thought "well damn. I should have saved myself some money, clomb the roof of my house, and huffed the chimney." (clomb is a word by the way 😉 ) Smoking it at the time was in my mind, just as pleasant and laborious. So I put it away and proceeded to explore the world of aromatics, which was a hit and miss affair. After a while I packed another bowl of it out of boredom and was suprised to find it not as disagreable to my palate as before - in fact, I found it increasingly agreeable with each smoke. The trend has continued and now I have resolved to purchace some more when this tin runs out. So there you have it, G.L. Pease knows how to please.

This blend burn very badly, but the taste is good. I try it little bite dry, but always, it burn badly, I got problem to really enjoy this blend.

I prefer to call this a balkan blend, instead of an english. Very well balanced, tasty and relatively smooth, it's the closest american smokers can have to my favorite Erinmore Balkan Mixture. Also much more complex and balanced than Abingdon, another GLP balkan blend.

This is obviously a good blend though too strong for me. I'll place into storage and see if my palate changes.

Westminster is another in a long line of fine blends from Greg Pease, one of this country's pre-eminent blenders of fine tobaccos. In the tin, Westminster is a melange of light and dark browns with some black cut ribbons from the Latakia. The tin aroma is pure English, with some sour notes from the Orientals and Latakia.

Westminster lights readily and burns well: the moisture content in the tin seems about right for this smoker. The taste varies between the slightly sweet notes of the VAs, the smokiness of the Latakia, and the creaminess of the Orientals. Ideally, for me at least, there could have been a little more oriental and a little less Latakia component. I used to like a lot of the dark smokey weed in my blends but have mellowed out somewhat.

Greg's blends are not the cheapest on the market but they use only the highest quality tobaccos. I also like the packaging of the new tins much more than the old ones.

Scores for Westminster? Taste- 15 of 20; lighting and burn- 8 of 10; value- 8 of 10. 31 points equals a very high *** rating.

Wow, this blend is nice! I have been smoking a lot of pure Virginias lately, so I decided to pick up a can of Westminster, based on the reviews, as I wanted to add another English blend to my collection.

Upon opening the can, there is a very distinct, strong "smoked wood" scent to this tobacco. Nice mix of medium brown and dark tobaccos. Nicely cut ribbons, with no need to rub out.

Moisture content was perfect with my fresh 2 oz tin, with little pipe moisture and little need to relight. Smoked very well down to the bottom of the pipe. Probably one of the better smoking experiences I have had in awhile, with very little caretaking needed while smoking.

No bite, and yet very distinct, complex flavors last the entire smoke; more mellow and "earthy" in the bottom half of the bowl, but never becoming bland or boring. The Oriental flavors can definitely be tasted and are a little overpowering at first, but after a couple minutes, the other flavors start to balance out; you can then taste the VA and Latakia more. A very nice balance of tobaccos resulting in complex flavors.

If you read the description, that's exactly what you get. Smooth taste and cool burning, when concentrating tasting a meshing of flavors that are satisfying. The drawback is that this is not a unique English, meaning it's similar to too many others to make it unique. The sample was received too dry for my liking, but burned nicely after char and second light. Maybe after several bowls I will put this as a regular, but this is certainly worth a try.

I've been smoking Westminster now for three years, off and on. I agree with many others here that this is the definitive English Blend - at least from an American blender.

This review is based on a year-old tin; I may revisit this review later when I will have some at the three year mark.

Moisture level was dry on this one, there was an audible rustling when running my fingers through. Flakes did not stick together at all. Fearing the worst, I loaded up my favorite Peterson bent apple anyway, and was pleasantly surprised. The smoke was pleasantly cool throughout the bowl, beginning with a nice VA sweetness and deepening through the end. Very predictable and consistent in all my pipes. I may add a humidifier coin, but for now (after about 1/2 the tin) I haven't felt the need. Other tins have been more moist and did smoke slower and a little creamier.

So why not four stars? Westminster may be a victim of its own success. It is so perfectly balanced, so predictable, that it can be almost boring at times. Still, I can hardly think of a better all-day tobacco than this one, and will always have a tin around.

The other reviews touch on the basic points. I'm trying this from an 8oz tin that's been open about 3 weeks and which appears to have been tinned up sometime in March of this year. Aroma from tin is very full. Not entirely moist, but still spongy and springy. Lots of ribbons of orientals and what looks to be some stoved or otherwise aged Virginias, playing around with the requisite Latakia. Didn't use any big method, just rammed it into a nice big Charatan and fired it up on the drive to work. Took about three tries and a couple of tamps to really get going. Room note (or in my case, compact car note) is indeed strong. I can see wives and girlfriends being rather unhappy about this one. Flavor is.... well, it's kind of mild. Yes, it's an English, and yes, I taste the Latakias. But they're on par or slightly behind the orientals. It's like that scene in "Revenge of the Nerds" where Ogre is slurping up the cream pie because they want to know why the Nerds are selling so many, and Ogre goes "It's okay. It's good. It's pie."

Yup, it's pie. It's an English blend. It's got some flavor and it stays pretty consistent. The somewhat sour and fruity Oriental aftertaste is pleasant as well. But it's not OMG-I'M-SMOKING-PRIME-RIB flavor. It's not small-animals-and-children-run-for-the-exits room note. It's just a nice medium blend when new and out of the tin.

This one's going for a 2-month visit in a mason jar at Hotel de Basement so it can learn to play better, and then we'll see if it's met its potential. I can see it maturing nicely, and as a Latakia lover's everyday all-day smoke, it's fine for that. But for an quite-similar fuller medium Latakia blend straight from the tin, I'm sticking with Habana Cigar's Strike Force, courtesy of Larry the Jedi blending master.

Three stars for Greg though. Nice blend, honestly not a thing wrong with it, and the complexities are at the high levels we've come to expect from Pease. I just prefer a little more sock in my coffee, as it were.