G. L. Pease Maltese Falcon

This site along with your reviews have really made this pipe smoking adventure so much more enjoyable. I have been a pipe smoker off and on for 10 years but it wasn’t until this last year that I really learned to smoke a pipe and with this site and your reviews, have made this a wonderful and pleasurable journey. Discovering all these tobaccos has been a revelation.

GL Pease – Maltese Falcon is an upper tier English blend in my experience. I found my tins to be nearly perfect moisture and ready to load and and smoke without any further maintenance needed.

While there is a Latakia fore note to this tobacco it’s not at all over powering. The Oriental/Turkish are also readily identifiable and add a really nice spice note to the creamy smoke that I have found the norm for this blend. What I really like about this blend is its sweetness. I have noticed, and I am not sure if its variation in the tobacco or “mouth chemistry” on a given day but the level of sweetness does seem to vary slightly. I REALLY like this as a filler in my rotation due to this sweetness.

While this could easily be an all-day smoke, that is not generally how I work this one into the rotation. But what I am finding is that I really crave this smoke and its sweetness regularly. What really strikes me is how well the component tobaccos seem to work together. The word “harmony” is fitting in my mind.

I have read that the “mystery spice” in this blend is ginger. I can’t say one way or the other that this is 100% accurate. My suspicions is that there is ginger in this blend. If you have ever eaten raw ginger (its great for an upset stomach) there is an after taste that is sweet/spicy and earthy all at the same time. I have hints of this in the after taste of this tobacco at the back of the tongue, if that makes sense. I find it rather pleasant and unique.

This is one of my go-to tobaccos and it has the distinction of being my recommendation to new smokers for a first English/Balkan. It has all the characteristics of a good English blend but it’s very well balanced and smooth. I can see a die hard English or Balkan fan wanting a more amped up blend and this is certainly not a Latakia bomb and overall I will say it very middle of the range strength and taste. But there is an incredible balance and subtlety to this blend that I just adore.

This is one of a handful of tobaccos that’s I keep in good supply. Were it available in bulk, it would most certainly have a more prominent place in my rotation and cellar.

The flavor here isn't too strong. It's actually kind of weak for an English. It has a subtly sweet, sour and savory flavor. I always feel like I'm not getting enough flavor or smoke from this blend, so I tend to burn myself on it. This is probably operator error though as I'm not used to smoking this type of mixture. I tend to gravitate toward burley that has plumes of billowing smoke in every puff. Definitely not unpleasant. I managed to smoke two bowls in a row, despite this being a bit stronger than what I'm used to. I actually enjoyed the nic-hit here since it seems to be square in the middle for me - not too strong, not too weak. I don't like that the nicotine seems so much stronger than the flavor, almost like it doesn't fit the overall strength in a way. Regardless, I think this is a great introduction to GL Pease and a fantastic smoke. If this is what all Pease blends are like then I can't wait to try some more.

I've REALLY wanted to try Maltese Falcon ever since someone told me a few months ago that the 'secret spice' is ginger. I love ginger and smoking a tobacco containing it and made by Mr Pease had to be to die for. MF has been on the TAD order sheet any number of times, only to be trumped by cost or something more exciting, so I was overjoyed when the box containing this and other goodies arrived at my desk today. I even slipped out in the afternoon to pop the lid and give it a blast in a lat-preferred pipe I've been carrying in anticipation of the arrival.

Hmmmm - not sure, you know?

I like it. I do! The artwork is great and the tin-note is smoky and tangy without being too strong. The tobacco is beautiful, with a contrast of shades from light tobacco to almost black; it packed very easily and smoked all the way down to a fine grey ash after one true light. There was a negligible nicotine hit.

I can taste the restrained latakia - not too much spice - and the smudge of exotic Orientals. ZuluCollector is right; the citrus is definitely blood-orange (which is a great description) rather than lemon. It's not sharp, but rather a light bitter-sweet acid that is enjoyable and would be more so if it only had a fuller, sweeter counterpoint.

And that's my ever-so slight disappointment, at least from the bowls I've had so far. I hear and read about the sweetness and the cream, but I don't get them! I just want a teaspoonful more sweetness, a few pounds more body, an extra yard more breadth and depth to push this from a lovely, mildly different latakia-based blend to one I can float in every time I walk with a pipe of MF stuck in my gob. Maybe I'll get more ginger in my next tin. Maybe I'm missing something. Maltese Falcon is a hugely enjoyable smoke and I will persist with it, but still...

The latest GLPease offering is very Dunhill-ish in style. Not the crappy Dunhill blends of nowadays, but the good ones of old! Personally I don't find it very similar to Raven's Wing... but it sure is an excellent tobacco, very nutty, with a bold Virginia base and a huge leathery smokiness. Not a simple Latakia-feast, and that's why I said that it reminded me of some good Dunhills of old like Standard Mixture or London Mixture, perhaps even more than Westminster (which was MEANT to be a replica of London Mixture).

What else to say to avoid repeating myself? It is a great tobacco, with a perfect cut and moisture, which packs and smokes great, with loads of flavour, easy to enjoy casually or contemplatively. A great medium-full English mixtures with no frills: simply great respect for tradition, and for a truly classic style.

Personally I enjoy Westminster a bit better (it is even more consistent, and more "unique" in my rotation)... but you really can't go wrong with such a tobacco. Its main asset is that it already tastes aged and timeless straight from a fresh tin... and that alone is a huge feat!

This one tastes like it could be an old classic dunhill blend or something like that .. just a lovely smooth sweet smoke.. I like to smoke it at night for some reason.. could be the power of suggestion.. the film 'maltese falcon' makes me think of the dark of night.. The blend has quite a bit of latakia but somehow it never gets overpowering or harsh.. it is toned down somewhat by the sweetness from what I'm assuming is the virgina.. could be some added sweetness too.. that i can't tell... the orientals are there too, but not in full out balkan kind of way.. this blend sits right in the middle in the way the components interact.. the spice that is mentioned seems to come out more as an aftertaste.. somehow people have decided it's ginger.. if it is ginger it is incredibly subtle. This is a very pleasant blend.. it doesn't have quite the depth of some of my favorite pease blends but it could become a favorite as time goes by.. it leaves you with a nice taste.. I think that spice element kicks in a little more towards the end of the bowl.. it is is rare for me to smoke an English that doesn't feel boggy and somewhat off putting at the end of the bowl..

Upon lighting up a bowl of the Falcon, the first thing that hit my senses is the creaminess of the smoke. It is smooth and a little sweet. Next, the Latakia makes itself known—being a notch below a full-English in my book. There is a little sweetness coming from the Virginia leaf but not much depth. The oriental varieties offer a little sour note to the smoke. The secret spice in the topping is noticeable as something used in baking, but it does not overwhelm any of the tobacco components; it dances on the tip of the tongue mostly in the beginning of the smoke.

Maltese Falcon is a good smoke. There is a little tongue bite when smoked fresh (a few weeks from the date of manufacture). Is it a four star blend? Maybe. I give it 3.5 stars.

The tin note is a pungent, smokey sweet mash up of latakia and orientals. This english is a medium english. The initial light gives that punch of sweeter latakia flavors with the orientals contributing to the bouquet, but as you smoke down through the bowl this blend tends to get very sharp like a strong cheddar. The sweetness comes and goes through the bowl, this is one of few english blends that tend to bite for me. Overall enjoyable though not an absolute favorite for me.

I don't know why I expected a Latakia bomb; instead, Maltese Falcon has really some great, sweet Virginias and a very good balance. But it lacks in personality, compared to other G. L. Pease's EMs. It's a little bit less mysterious. Anyway, 4,0/5 in my personal rating system.

This probably has to be one of the most well balanced mixtures from mr pease the Latakia runs smoothly with all the other components instead of being the main attraction, packs easily and lights better, granted my tin had 7 years of aging I think that this is probably well behaved even at young age, solid blending all around and a good introduction to the world of Pease´s blends, would I buy this blend again...absolutely but not enough to hoard