G. L. Pease Maltese Falcon
(3.25)
Stylish, dark and alluring. Generous quantities of Cyprian latakia are blended with matured red Virginias, exotic Orientals, and just a little bright flue-cured leaf to offer a deep, full-bodied yet silky smoke with an intriguing sweetness, enhanced by a discreet and mysterious spice. Maltese Falcon possesses an exquisite balance - a wonderful all-day English style mixture.
Notes: Originally conceived as a replacement for the old Raven's Wing, Maltese Falcon quickly evolved into something bigger. It's a rich, bold blend, with excellent body, a beguiling sweetness, and solid structure, ideal for those who enjoy a sophisticated, yet comfortable and refined English-style mixture.
Maltese Falcon was introduced in January 2008
Details
| Brand | G. L. Pease |
| Series | Heirloom Collection |
| Blended By | Gregory Pease |
| Manufactured By | Cornell & Diehl |
| Blend Type | English |
| Contents | Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Ribbon |
| Packaging | 2 ounce tin, 8 ounce tin |
| Country | United States |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
3.25 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 11 - 20 of 30 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 2014 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
This is a dark collection of leaves. It makes me think that there might be some stoved VAs in here. The nose of the tin is a smoky sweetness.
In the pipe, this one burns well right out of the tin. There is a nice play between smoke and sweet, almost like certain barbecue sauces. Weaving in and out, but mostly out, is a little bit of incense-like spice. But mostly this is a sweet latakia blend above all else, and if you like that, you can smoke it all day. This is a bit of a departure from the inspiration for this blend, the old Raven's Wing, which was quite a bit fuller and deeper, and maybe with a bit less sweetness.
The quality is evident with this one, just as it is with all GLP blends. But the sweetness is overbearing to me, just as it is with the Frog Morton blends. If you find yourself liking that sweet latakia style, you'll like this. It's just not for me, which isn't a problem, since most of the rest of the Pease latakia blends tend toward the smokier, drier blends.
I will say, however, that I did have one of my favorite pipe weekends with this blend. We were visiting relatives for Thanksgiving in SW Portland, and in the early morning I'd get up and walk the dog through the hilly neighborhood around his house, and being able to look east and see Mt. Hood with some smoky sweetness smoldering away. It was a couple of really nice mornings, even though the tobacco wasn't really for me.
In the pipe, this one burns well right out of the tin. There is a nice play between smoke and sweet, almost like certain barbecue sauces. Weaving in and out, but mostly out, is a little bit of incense-like spice. But mostly this is a sweet latakia blend above all else, and if you like that, you can smoke it all day. This is a bit of a departure from the inspiration for this blend, the old Raven's Wing, which was quite a bit fuller and deeper, and maybe with a bit less sweetness.
The quality is evident with this one, just as it is with all GLP blends. But the sweetness is overbearing to me, just as it is with the Frog Morton blends. If you find yourself liking that sweet latakia style, you'll like this. It's just not for me, which isn't a problem, since most of the rest of the Pease latakia blends tend toward the smokier, drier blends.
I will say, however, that I did have one of my favorite pipe weekends with this blend. We were visiting relatives for Thanksgiving in SW Portland, and in the early morning I'd get up and walk the dog through the hilly neighborhood around his house, and being able to look east and see Mt. Hood with some smoky sweetness smoldering away. It was a couple of really nice mornings, even though the tobacco wasn't really for me.
Pipe Used:
Tsuge kaga bent egg & others
PurchasedFrom:
smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked:
6 months
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 16, 2022 | Mild | Extremely Mild | Mild to Medium | Tolerable to Strong |
I've heard some rave about this tobacco and it's reputation for Latakia done right. I've heard others dismiss this tobacco as unexceptional. I've smoked many offerings by GLP, but never got around to this one even though it is one of their cornerstone plants. Well it is primarily a Latakia blend. But it is not a lat bomb. It smokes very cool and smooth. It has a little bit of that incensey goodness. But if that's what you are after, GLP as much better offerings like charring cross.
The first bowl I smoked of this I didn't love. It did not disagree with me. It just didn't deliver what I was hoping for. I guess it's the orientals that could be stronger in this blend. But don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with Maltese falcon. It's just centered around Latakia. Upon smoking the second and third bowl I started to like it more. I started to appreciate it's sweetness and smoothness. And maybe even the secret ingredient. This is not an English blend. This is a Latakia blend. Don't go looking for a bunch of complexity here. I'm kind of surprised that GLP envisioned this tobacco in the first place.
It is simple and it is good enough, but I can't imagine craving this tobacco. Two stars. Because people who rave about this tobacco, need to broaden their horizons. It's fine, but there's so much more out there.
The first bowl I smoked of this I didn't love. It did not disagree with me. It just didn't deliver what I was hoping for. I guess it's the orientals that could be stronger in this blend. But don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with Maltese falcon. It's just centered around Latakia. Upon smoking the second and third bowl I started to like it more. I started to appreciate it's sweetness and smoothness. And maybe even the secret ingredient. This is not an English blend. This is a Latakia blend. Don't go looking for a bunch of complexity here. I'm kind of surprised that GLP envisioned this tobacco in the first place.
It is simple and it is good enough, but I can't imagine craving this tobacco. Two stars. Because people who rave about this tobacco, need to broaden their horizons. It's fine, but there's so much more out there.
Pipe Used:
Old cob
PurchasedFrom:
Pipes and cigars
Age When Smoked:
New
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 04, 2019 | Medium | Extremely Mild | Medium to Full | Tolerable |
I'm a cheerleader for G.L. Pease most of the time. However, there are occasions when one of his blends doesn't hit the mark for me. This is one of those occasions.
I don't care for that Oriental sour taste that some varieties of Orientals have. Many pipe smokers applaud this taste as a nice contribution to a smoke, but it has never been something to ring my bell. Maltese Falcon has this component and I find it distracting and unpleasant. The spiciness of the topping, while very faint, seems to make this smoke feel very drying. Even with a glass of iced tea by my side, this tobacco feels like it is drying out and burning my mouth. This is in spite of it burning cool in my pipe. Maybe its a body chemistry thing, that could be possible. Another reviewer noted that ginger may be part of the topping. If this is true, it would go a long way to explain why this blend doesn't agree with me.
I much prefer several of Pease's other English blends to this one. However, I can see it's appeal to other pipe smokers. Those who relish that Oriental sourness will find this one to be quite enjoyable. For that reason, I'm rating this as a somewhat recommended blend with two stars.
I don't care for that Oriental sour taste that some varieties of Orientals have. Many pipe smokers applaud this taste as a nice contribution to a smoke, but it has never been something to ring my bell. Maltese Falcon has this component and I find it distracting and unpleasant. The spiciness of the topping, while very faint, seems to make this smoke feel very drying. Even with a glass of iced tea by my side, this tobacco feels like it is drying out and burning my mouth. This is in spite of it burning cool in my pipe. Maybe its a body chemistry thing, that could be possible. Another reviewer noted that ginger may be part of the topping. If this is true, it would go a long way to explain why this blend doesn't agree with me.
I much prefer several of Pease's other English blends to this one. However, I can see it's appeal to other pipe smokers. Those who relish that Oriental sourness will find this one to be quite enjoyable. For that reason, I'm rating this as a somewhat recommended blend with two stars.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Nov 02, 2014 | Mild to Medium | Very Mild | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
A nice looking dark ribbon cut with a Latakia smell, enhanced by an unidentified aroma. The mixture behaves and tastes better after a few days.
To me, this is a peculiar English as the dominating flavor is that "discreet and mysterious" spice. The Latakia comes and goes and the mature red Virginias enhance the aforementioned spice. That said, it's not what I look for to put in my pipe.
This mixture reminds me of San Cristobal de la Habana cigars that have a taste that sets them apart from the other Cuban cigar blends. You either get hooked on them or forget that they ever existed.
Virginia lover
To me, this is a peculiar English as the dominating flavor is that "discreet and mysterious" spice. The Latakia comes and goes and the mature red Virginias enhance the aforementioned spice. That said, it's not what I look for to put in my pipe.
This mixture reminds me of San Cristobal de la Habana cigars that have a taste that sets them apart from the other Cuban cigar blends. You either get hooked on them or forget that they ever existed.
Virginia lover
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| May 01, 2011 | Medium to Strong | Extremely Mild | Medium | Tolerable |
Greg always uses great tobaccos in his blends and this is no exception. This blend smoked perfectly for me, but after finishing the tin, I have to conclude that the flavoring in this blend is not my cup o' tea.
It reminded me a bit of Dear Tongue, but not quite. Can't put my finger on it, but the sweetness gets to me a bit...
Overall, this is a great, slightly flavored, English mixture.
Give it a whirl, you might enjoy it greatly...
It reminded me a bit of Dear Tongue, but not quite. Can't put my finger on it, but the sweetness gets to me a bit...
Overall, this is a great, slightly flavored, English mixture.
Give it a whirl, you might enjoy it greatly...
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 13, 2011 | Medium | Extremely Mild | Medium | Tolerable |
I tried to get to know this blend for a while but have come to the conclusion it's just not for me. There's some flavoring I can't put my finger on that just doesn't taste right to me, sort of a sour-plastic-mustiness that detracts from the blend. In my opninion the Latakia in this one is overpowering and the Vriginia sweetness subdued. Having smoked just about all of Pease's Latakia-oriental blends now, I'm realizing that he doesn't use the same orientals in every blend, and this one has a "mysterious spice" (i.e. some oriental variety) that isn't quite there enough and doesn't suit my tastes when it is there. If you want sweet and spicy with some Latakia that doesn't overwhelm, try Pease's Samarra instead.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Aug 16, 2010 | Medium | None Detected | Medium to Full | Tolerable |
No humidification problems, no burning problems, tobacco quality is good. There is too much Latakia in MF and not enough complexity or balance to make me gravitate toward it. I like the occasional full English blend, Scottish mixture and Balkan (of a sort), but there needs be enough "sweet relief" from the acrid and desiccated flavors from the Orientals and specifically Latakia. Otherwise, I am overwhelmed and bored simultaneously.
Odyssey and Abingdon are better in regards to more balance, but still not balanced enough for me. Samovar, by McClelland, is full in flavor, rich in Latakia and Oriental tobaccos, yet punctuated with the occasional sweetness breaking through that I like.
If I were a lover of ladles of Latakia, I think one could do better even in the GLPease lineup, thus two stars.
Odyssey and Abingdon are better in regards to more balance, but still not balanced enough for me. Samovar, by McClelland, is full in flavor, rich in Latakia and Oriental tobaccos, yet punctuated with the occasional sweetness breaking through that I like.
If I were a lover of ladles of Latakia, I think one could do better even in the GLPease lineup, thus two stars.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| May 08, 2010 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Tolerable |
This tobacco is just not my cup of tea, but I don't think it's the tobacco's fault. I am finding out that blends with much Latakia in them just don't do it for me anymore. That's strange because I used to love them. Balkan Sobranie from the 60s and 70s has to be my all-time favorite, but apparently my taste is changing. If this was the only tobacco I had to smoke I sure wouldn't turn it down because I can accept it on its own terms. But there are too many great Virginia/Perique/Oriental blends out there for me to smoke Latakia blends except on a very occasional basis. If I were a Latakia lover I think I would give this blend a 3 or 4 star rating, but with my taste like it is these days, 2 stars is all I can manage.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 15, 2010 | Mild | Very Mild | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
I opened the only tin of Maltese Falcon in my meager cellar, over this past Christmas. It was very dry when I popped the tin, but I elected to try a bowl, anyway. Tin aroma was solidly in 'standard English mixture' territory; no hint of the Orientals promised. The smoke itself was nondescript: pleasant, but beyond that,had little to recommend it. I decided to rehydrate the contents and have another go in a few days. With the moisture level more to my liking, flavour remained, remarkably, nearly unchanged. After several more bowls, my conclusion is this is an inoffensive English-style blend, but entirely unremarkable. Again, where are the Orientals? I never found them. I suspect Mr. Pease has used liberal amounts of some sort of Cavendish in an attempt to bring this blend together; there is sweetness in the smoke that I find offputting, and 'Cavendish!' was my first impression. On the plus side, MF is very cool on the tongue, and would be suitable for an all-day blend, in the English vein (room note is slightly leathery, but not aggressively so). It isn't, however, a replacement or companion to a blend such as Squadron Leader. I will not purchase more of this offering.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| May 20, 2009 | Medium | Extremely Mild | Medium to Full | Tolerable |
A predominantly dark mixture of black broken ribbon mixed with cuts of mahogany, light brown, and tan. The tin nose is rounded and earthy with a sweet and slightly smoky aroma. Neither overly moist nor dry in the tin, the mixture packs and takes to the match with ease.
Marked by a dark sweetness, in the bowl it offers creamy notes of coffee and caramel underscored by the slight sourness of Orientals and the pine-like smokiness of Cyprian Latakia. Possessing little in the way of high notes, the individual components of the mixture are well balanced, working together in such a way so as to avoid the heavy, cloying character often associated with Latakia-heavy preparations such as this. The smoke is medium to heavy bodied with a smooth, silky richness that lingers on a long finish. Tongue bite is never an issue.
Although the reviewer's first experience with the mixture was, it seems, with one of the tainted "February batches" in which sweetened Cavendish was mistakenly substituted for unsweetened, the tin on which this particular review is based came straight from C&D with the assurance that it was the real deal (dated 4/12/09). An enjoyable change of pace from the everyday English/Balkan style smoking mixture, Maltese Falcon smokes like it looks, tastes like it smells, and delivers what it promises.
Marked by a dark sweetness, in the bowl it offers creamy notes of coffee and caramel underscored by the slight sourness of Orientals and the pine-like smokiness of Cyprian Latakia. Possessing little in the way of high notes, the individual components of the mixture are well balanced, working together in such a way so as to avoid the heavy, cloying character often associated with Latakia-heavy preparations such as this. The smoke is medium to heavy bodied with a smooth, silky richness that lingers on a long finish. Tongue bite is never an issue.
Although the reviewer's first experience with the mixture was, it seems, with one of the tainted "February batches" in which sweetened Cavendish was mistakenly substituted for unsweetened, the tin on which this particular review is based came straight from C&D with the assurance that it was the real deal (dated 4/12/09). An enjoyable change of pace from the everyday English/Balkan style smoking mixture, Maltese Falcon smokes like it looks, tastes like it smells, and delivers what it promises.
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