G. L. Pease Embarcadero

I just finished off a tin of this that I consider myself fortunate to land. I bought a tin of this about a year and a half ago after seeing how some of my friends overseas were singing its praises. I was anxious to try it, but since it was bought at a time after I ceased opening new containers to reduce the 200 plus open containers I had at the time, It would have to wait.

Someone in one of my forums decided he was quitting pipes and put all his tobacco up for sale. Included was a tin of Embarcadero that was already opened, but he hadn't smoked much of it, because he didn't care for it. I jumped on it and most everything else he was selling.

So with excitement I was able to try this without opening my tin. My thoughts on it were kind of "meh." It seems that in my time of smoking, I have started to actually identify Oriental grades I like and those I don't care for as much. Izmir or Smyrna, depending on what you prefer to call the same leaf, is one of the oriental grades, I am not too crazy about. I find it is a little sour/bitter for my tastes.

In the blends where I have liked its use, they are typically paired with a very sweet Virginia. The Virginia in Embarcadero does not have this type of sweetness. It is pretty bright and comes off as more earthy than sweet IMO. I don't think the pairing works well to my tastes in this blend. The good thing about the circumstances being what they are, is I can now let the unopened tin I have age out. I have a feeling this one could greatly improve with some age as it always seems to benefit Virginias by adding sweetness and that is the main thing this blend is lacking.

Two stars for now and I will revisit in 9 years.

I was imagining well before I ordered this blend that I would fall in love with it. It sounded so simple and delicious on paper. There was a pungent fruity vinegar aroma that poked my nostrils upon cracking the tin.

As an aside, this was the most vinegary smelling blend ( that wears it well anyway) I have smoked since McClelland. I don’t know if the strong vinegar scent is unique to this blend or a response to mold issues; whether this has been done for years or if it is a new technique.

After the tin breathes for a few days, the acetic note gives way to raisins, chocolate, and the scent of dried hay. This is a loose flake mixture of red Virginia and Izmir, I’m guessing at a 70/30 ratio. The Izmir is drab but varied in coloration. Colors ranged from yellow tan, olive green, to gold. The first several bowls really fried my tongue, and after 10 to 15 bowls of progressively slower smoking, this tobacco and I finally agreed. Even when I smoked this so painfully slow that innumerable relights were needed, the smoke retained a sort of astringency on the palate. If I slipped up and puffed unwittingly hard, this can and did bite.

The smoke gives faint notes of briny green olive early on in the bowl. Coffee bean richness gives way to toasted tobacco. I didn’t find quite the range or depth of nuance that Mr Pease indicated on the label, and not for lack of trying. Despite the visual suggestion of a decent amount oriental leaf, I didn’t note nearly the amount of spiciness and aromaticity (not in a cased or topped sense…think fragrant) that I would have expected. I do think the Izmir may have contributed an unusual but pleasant mild nuttiness to the smoke. There was certainly more of a learning curve with this tobacco than anything else I have ever smoked. That being said, it’s worth the effort.

I realy think Mr. Pease should tone down on the number of blends he makes . Surely this one was made just to have another blend down his long list I guess .This is run of the mill period .The tobacco is of good quality and it's not a bad blend , but why bother ... maybe so someone can come up with a flowery discription like the one listed for this blend .I'm getting a little burnt on all the hoorah about these " artisian " blenders when in fact they havent done anything better than whats been done except the flowery discriptions are more flowery. Anyway , it's a boring blend and if your wanting to get excited about a blend .. look elsewhere . Nothing exciting here

This is a very well done blend, but one I have to be in the mood for. I have a bias to Latakia based blends. I love straight Virginia's and VaPer's. When it comes to VA/Oriental blends I am a bit finicky, the good ones are really good and are fantastic smokes, ones you remember. Others are bland and leave me wishing I packed another blend in my pipe. Even with the ones I really like, if I am not in the mood (and often I don't know what mood I am in..hence my problem) I do not appreciate them. This is a good one, well I guess that is redundant since it is a GLP blend. The tin note is sweet Virginia, malty and old hay loft like. There is a sour note from the Oriental and a slight spice. I detect a topping, smells like chocolate that seems to mask the Orientals, maybe it is just me but I taste it in the smoke too, albeit very subtly. This is a brooding, interesting smoke. I get sour notes from the Izmir and spice right up front that give way to malty, sweet Red Virginia's. Some grassiness to the Virginia's but malty sweetness and spice are there throughout the smoke. I get a light chocolate taste, kind of like coco puffs or some other powdered chocolate note in the aftertaste and a hint in the smoke. Dry time is key, 5-10 minutes. I have had this bite me a few times. Interesting (to me) observation: this smokes exceptionally well in Savenelli pipes with the balsa filter in. I do not know what it is but this tobacco is cooler and drier and the flavor seems more subued and complex when smoked with a balsa filter. I am NOT usually a filter smoker but with tobacco's I find erratic (or my palate being erratic) I try it with the filter in and of all the tobacco's I have done this with this one went from a 2 to a 3 on my scale (maybe even higher). I mention it only for those that feel the need to experiment. Good smoke.

My 2 oz. tin had about six months on it before breaking the seal, and I smoked all but 5 grams over several months. This never really burned well for me an array of chamber width, depths and shapes.

When it did smolder, there were some sweet notes from the Virginia, and no tang associated sometimes with similar Virginia leaf. The Izmir provided a sour wine finish that was not pleasant. The description on the tin and my scorecard tally to a different number.

Embarcadero is neither here nor there in my estimation. It is not a captivating Virginia flake, nor satisfying when I crave the subtleties and intrigue of Oriental tobaccos.

So far, I'm groping in the Fog City Selection. Only Ashbury and Lombard remain, having thus tried Union Square, Fillmore, Telegraph Hill and Montgomery. Lombard is in the cellar still. Might have to seek a sample of Ashbury before committing my lovely hours to smoking a tin.

One (large) Bowl review. Was in the mood for something I'd never tried, so digging thru my bin found a tin of Embarcadero dated 01/24/2011. Cracked that puppy open and loaded up a Radice Bark, with a rather largish bowl.

Tin note was dominated by the lemony Va's. Now, I've got a small problem with Red Virginia's. The bugger just doesn't agree with me. I don't dislike Red Va's, my mouth chemistry just doesn't gee haw with them.

The tobacco was dominated by the bright, citrus tasting Red Va. The Turkish orientals just came off one dimensional, and kind of cigarette like. Not being a cigarette smoker, this wasn't really pleasant for me.

The moisture from this old tin was perfect, and the broken flake was wonderful. Only used 2 matches for an entire bowl.

This tobacco left an unpleasant(to me) aftertaste. If you rock a beard or mustache, the smell will be with you all day.

Another reviewer stated that he thought the blend was pipe sensative, so I will be trying some of my smaller bowls as I finish out this tin(waste not want not).

A great disappointment. In my HMO doesn't match up to reviews. Will not order more but happy to have tried. Nothing more to be said.

Not so sure about this one. Perhaps it's the 'Izmir leaf'? For lack of a better word, it tastes a bit bitter. Almost cigarette like. And it is on the wet side.

Sliced flakes including this one generally annoy me. They create a mess, rolling them out and stuffing the pipe.

Sweet and sour chicken is right. Out of the tin, the aroma is similar to SG's Bracken Flake, minus the chocolate/coffee smell. But when you light it, these two tobaccos, oriental and virginia, create a strange mixture that tastes like sweet and sour sauce at a chinese restaurant. Not my thing. It's blended very well, obviously there was a lot of work put into it, but it's quite disappointing to have the sweet virginias muted by the orientals. I love orientals, but they're better suited center stage, such as in Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe.