G. L. Pease Maltese Falcon

a strong smoke , not a all day smoke for sure, there are better English blends will not buy again, this blend is for the hardcore ..

This blend is delicious. However, I cannot help but think that it is a different type of blend. I think the mystery spice changes the blend entirely. That’s is not to say it is bad it is to say it is different. This is an ocasional smoke for me.

Tin note Latakia forward with a bit of sweet Virginia smell as well as a spice smell I was unable to identify. The mysterious spice is (ginger) according to others. I thought it was an Oriental of some sort. Packed my bowl using the frank method. This tobacco stays lit and it was the perfect moisture content. This is a really great blend. The Latakia is forward but the spice is right behind with just a hint of sweet Virginias. G.L. knocked it out of the park with this one. Its rare I would consider any Latakia blend an all day smoke but this one absolutely is. For any English smokers I would highly recommend trying this. I will be cellaring this to see how the flavors evolve over time. I will purchase this again.

To give you a hint from where my below impressions are coming from; I favor aromatic blends (vanilla being my favorite), although I am finding I enjoy English/Scottish blends more frequently, which I could not stand when I first started smoking a pipe. I have been trying more of the English/Aromatic combo blends, which I have found being more and more of that I am reaching for for my everyday smoke

Opening the tin I smelled the Latikia right off the bat, it was nice and smokey/leathery and was the singular scent I smelled.

The flavor I tasted was a great balance of the Latikia with Virginias with the Orientals in the background. This was blended exceptionally well and the Latikia was not overwhelming in taste as I thought it would be from the tin smell and blend description. I would almost go as far to say this was the best balanced English Blend I have smoked so far. This will go into my regular rotation.

The tin was around 8 months old when I received it. Out of the tin the tobacco was semi-moist, no drying time was needed. Was able to light this without issue and reasonable number of relights were needed. I did not have any tongue -bite with this blend.

Cracking a tin from my first tobacco ordering binge when I picked up the hobby— 2013!

The weather here is turning, slowly moving from fall to winter. Quite mild for mid-December, with more rain than cold, and no snow so far. It still feels like early fall, and the wet weather we had today makes me want an English. So I crack this one, determined to smoke through some of my backlog before ordering more.

Appearances are fairly typical for an English: dark brown and blacks with a few tan and tawny strands sprinkled in. Tin note is likewise typically English: smoky and leathery, with a faint undertone of something sweet. Almost saccharine— my brain is calling it cough syrup or paraffin wax.

This will be the maiden smoke of a La Rocca churchwarden, so let’s see how it loads... packs quite nicely, with a hybrid of the baby-lady-gentleman and the Frank methods. Pre-light draw brings flavors of leather and orange peel. Interesting.

The leaf takes the flame with alacrity and the flavors are the same. The orange peel develops a slightly moldering quality, the way an orange peel smells when it gets moldy. I am not sure which leaf is responsible for this effect. The latakia behaves as it usually does in an English, bringing flavors of smoke and campfires. I can definitely taste the red Virginia, and smell it in the sidestream smoke. There is a note of cinnamon, both in the taste and in the spice that tickles my nostrils on the retrohale, and it seems to flit between straight cinnamon taste and cedar sawdust. The latakia weaves in and out as well, offering sea salt and creosote. Very interesting. This is on the sweeter side, for an English, though I don’t detect a topping and I chalk that up to the oriental leaf in here. In that regard, it reminds me of the late, lamented Frog Morton series, particularly Across the Pond. There is more sweetness in this blend than in that one, but it definitely scratches the same itch. Sweeter Englishes.

Smokes coolly and dry, most likely helped by the churchwarden’s length. Quite consistently, too, after presenting its initial array of flavors. Nicotine for me was just a shade past medium, even having had a snack immediately before this smoke.

I like it. That moldy orange peel tone could definitely be off-putting to some, and if it was more overbearing in the mix of flavors, I’d likely give or put this tin away and never touch it again. But darned if it isn’t alright. It’s certainly unique. As a side note, this is the first of G.L. Pease’s creations I’ve sampled, though I have two or three others socked away in the cellar. I’m pleased to see a blender innovate within a style instead of give us another cliche of the genre. I look forward to working my way through this tin, and also to seeing what a younger sample has to offer.

Latakia is in the lead, with a smokey, slightly leathery taste. A bit spicy and floral from the oriental as well. Dark fruit taste comes through later in the bowl from the Virginia but is never dominant. The special spice, which many have said is ginger, is there occasionally but is very mild; just enough to give this blend a touch more complexity from similar English blends.

Did seem to get hot at times, but didn't get any bite from this blend. No trouble keeping it lit with proper dry time.

Overall, a nice, complex English blend. Highly recommended.

The Tin Art on this one is spot on. Always a plus with GLP tins. Makes me think classic.

I'm smoking on my 3rd tin of Maltese which is also a fairly young one only being about 3 months from tinning. The edges on this one seem just a little rougher than the others I have smoked which had about a year of age on them. It's not a blend that I really think would get much from cellaring but I'd like to try a 2008 tin someday.

As a 3 month blend, the latakia is front center with notes of sweet and spicy in the background. It's a perfect after-dinner smoke with the spicy goodness even though the roomnote is not a favorite with the wife. If sipped and smoked slow it really shines with almost an incense vibe.

As it ages it seems to mellow some and the VA's gain a little sweetness. But no matter the age, its a good smoke.

A latakia forward English blend. Packs well, lights well, has a very alluring aroma of sweet incense and cedar. It's latakia forward but not over-powering like say "Star of the East".

It's well-balanced with a very interesting flavour profile: I got walnuts, chestnuts, some sweetness, the leather/cedar from the latakia.

This "secret ingredient" that is talked about is subtle, more in the aroma than the flavour although i did get hints of cinnamon, or clove---maybe there's a light topping but it doesn't overtake the varietals in the blend.

Highly recommended and under-rated in my experience.

THE FALCON: A fantastic medium English with some added complexity

The sweet Virginia varietals are at the forefront of this blend. They seem to be a mixture of mostly C&D reds and some brights. As such, they are primarily sweet and tangy with some earthiness and a little bright-grassyness in the smoke. The Latakia is very nice and smokey and does not overwhelm the blend. Whatever Turkish tobacco was used adds a pleasant dry-tart character to the smoke. The added "spice" adds character to the other subtle flavors in Maltese Falcon. I do get some tongue bite a tad more than normal.