G. L. Pease Embarcadero

The tin is a nice mix of plums and dry apricot smells.

The taste is moving from honey and floral fruity during the first third. Then you go for an incense and woody taste. The last third is about cigars and cocoa (not chocolate)

I was a bit struck by the Nic-hit the first time. Pack it and sip it lightly.

When first I smoked this blend I was not really very impressed, but it has improved with age. I first smoked it upon receipt and put it up. As I smoke it now I find it to be sweet with spicy hints in the flavor. It smokes cool to the tongue, but this may be due to the fact that it has dried since I first opened the tin. I remember it to have been somewhat hotter when I first smoked it, maybe I've slowed down so as to better enjoy the experience. I usually smoke aromatics but I find this blend to be a very welcome change. I am thinking now that I will buy more in the future and age it before smoking.

A punch in the stomach. This is the second blend, after TEN RUSIANS that messed up my stomach. A nice blend for sure. I smoked it in the morning with my coffee, without having eaten something first…. PUNCH. I smoked it at noon before lunch……..PUNCH. I smoked it in the afternoon with my coffee………PUNCH. But I smoked it in the evening, after dinner, and it was pure pleasure. Very strong in nicotine, but also in taste. It contains Virginia and Oriental tobacco from Izmir. The red color of the Virginia is very clear once you open the tin. But even the room note is nice. If it was a little friendlier with my stomach, I would classify it in one of the top spots on my preferences.

Tin: Pease dates his tins on the bottom with a stamp labelled mmddyy. Mine is 101608. A cake that has been sliced, then broken into flakes, which are extremely soft and delicate. Mildly moist and soft. Very light scent of sweet clover hay and raisins. Mostly dark brown with a few flecks of dark tan Izmir oriental. Comes in a unique cardboard package, with double-eared flaps, the same shape as the tin.

Packing and Burning: It is the easiest flake to pack because it is so soft and supple; it was just stuffed into the pipe with moderate force. Takes a lot of puffing to keep it lit.

Taste & Aroma: I can understand many of the mentioned nuances, albeit to a subdued extent: sweet and sour, wine-like, cigaresque, nutty cacao. Perhaps mostly cigaresque, overall, contrasting darkly with the expectaions from the tin aroma. Smooth, soft, and biteless.

Nicotine: Strongly contrasting with the dainty tin aroma, far from being subtle, it is a whale; like nicotine had to be added, to give something with such a pleasant tin scent, so much strength.

Overall: I am going to have to pass on this, as far as giving it the highest rating. I am partly in agreeement with the overdone artisanal tobacco aura. The flapped package is a hassle. The nicotine versus tin aroma is like a wine drunk, when what you really expected was a champagne buzz. A strong 3.2 stars.

The tin I'm smoking from as we speak is about a year old and, as I recall, I realy didn't want a second pipe out of it when it was new. However, I now think I might put a few tins on the shelf for next year...or the year after. Tin aroma after a year is still somewhat cardboardie but I assume that's because of that silly little circle of cardboard with two overlapping flaps that make it difficult to get down to the tobacco. I wonder, though, does that packaging technique help to maintain the moisture level? It was perfect a year ago and it still is! Packs right, lites right, burns cool and tastes very smooth. My palate is not educated enough to go into detail on the flavors,(I enjoy every thing from Prince Albert to Plum Cake) but flavor is very.....pleasant. If your playing around with various Virginia's and might enjoy something with character, give it a go.

Update: 10/10/08 while reviewing the reviews I noticed that I was the only smoker that considered this blend to be 'mild'. The only thing I can figure is that I need to recalibrate my notion of strength. We all know that six million Frenchmen can't be wrong.

That is an interesting title. At first, I didn't find this an interesting tobacco. I think that is the fault of the pipe I chose for its maiden voyage. I recently purchased a Peterson 120 and tried Virginia Gentleman out of it. Then I tried Montgomery. Then I tried Pegasus. Still unsure where I was going with this pipe, I contemplated the flavors that were most prominent in it thus far, and what tobaccos created them. Looking at the collection, I recollected the ingredients of this blend at thought it was well suited to the present variation scheme. I must have laid the perfect foundation for this flake to perform on. The red virginias got things off to a tasty start, with a mere suggestion of turkish at the beginning. The turkish and virginia were in harmony for the first third, after which, the turkish momentarily outshined the red Va. Simplistic, but it hints at the science behind the proper measuring of components and trade secrets closely guarded by the pros. I love the way this session is going. I've set it down to cool several times, and it tastes just as good or better with each re-light. The last third is subtle and woodsy. The flakes are invitingly moist and easy to crumble between my thumb and fingers, making the loading process easy on the fly. It burns hot for my style of puffing, so the ol' sip and set method works like a charm. I was just playing with my new 120, killing time while waiting for some deertoungue blends I intended to sample out of it. It looks like "Crooner" will be singing elsewhere. Very promising, indeed.

Update: The McClelland Grand Oriental series is getting more of my attention. Embarcadero is a bit more sour than some like blends. I probably won't stock-up.

Original: Just when I thought I had to smoke blends with burley for cool, serene, all-day smoking, Embarcadero comes along!

Seriously, what is not to like here? The Virginia leaf is well-aged, sweet, succulent and heady. There are none of the grassy/hay notes of Bright VA?s. The Izmir is really an under-flavor adding a touch of spice and complexity, making this a Virginia blend, rather than a blend intended for those seeking a "big" Oriental leaf experience. This should also find acceptance by both "nic wimps" and "nic hounds."

This is cool, clean and easy to smoke with a 5 minute "dry time" before loading. E has a very nice aroma burning. I do not rub this out except for a little layer of "dust" on the top to get things going. I prefer this in a straight-sided chamber over tapered ones, as I find the intensity with a tapered bowl a bit too much for my preferences at bowl's end. One caveat, smoke this in a clean pipe, or a temporary, sour note can come through initially upon lighting (probably due to the Izmir). The room note after the smoke clears leaves something akin to that of a cigarette. I did not taste bitter notes as can be expected with some Oriental varietals.

I plan on trying McConnell's Oriental mixture, CAO's Patriot Flake and McClelland's No. 24 and making comparisons with E, if warranted, in the future. Also, something in the leaf processing reminds me of Telegraph Hill, though Embarcadero is much smoother and more rounded. This is really quite different from Butera's RV Blended Flake or the discontinued Ashton's Pebblecut, both being Virginia blends seasoned with Macedonian and perique.

As a side note, the description on the tin I purchased is different copy than the TR description, but materially the same. FYI

The perfect companion on bird hunting trips in the Fall. In fact, I won't leave the house for that purpose now without a few things - our German Shorthaired Pointer, a great 16 gauge side by side, and a tin of Embarcadero. It tastes like Fall to me, with the deep, mellow undertones.

This blend did not stand out to me at all right away. Give it a tin before you form too much of an opinion about it.

And for what it's worth, this blend to me is the flavor inverse of another one of my seasonal favorites from Pease - my summer stand-by, Stratford. Stratford is hay- like, with all kinds of high notes; Embarcadero is like fallen leaves, with lots of red rather than Stratford's yellow.

Highly recommended for the Fall. Probably very good most other times of the year as well. Take some time to get to know it.

EDIT - I've been smoking through a recent tin of this and it just doesn't quite have the real standout qualities it did before. I've got a couple ounces aging in the cellar that I'll let sit for a while. It's still very good, and occasionally I'll have a great smoke with it, but its consistency isn't what it once was for me.

Very natural taste with sweet Virginia leading at the beginning and spicy orientals rising up little by little. As the description says there’s something that reminds to a brut, maybe a trento doc.