G. L. Pease Key Largo

This one is a nice surpris. Often complained by me is the lack of strength in english blends. Not here. It is round in all aspects. Flavour wise the virginias meld perfectly with the cigar leaf and sitting first row. At least while the first third of the bowl. There are notes of fruits and blossom which I have not encountered yet. The orients and the latakia are noticeable but in a supporting way. They are very incense like,woody and not smoky. There is no sharpness as often found in heavy latakia blends. To me it is a delicious virginia blend with a very zesty twist. You do not have to be a cigar fan to like it.

Jiminks has, as usual ,described in detail what can be tasted . I don't have his gift, sadly. Here is what I experienced.

On opening a tin note rather like a cross between à mild dunhill early morning pipe and a cigar humidor. Lovely! So Latakia, orientals perhaps, cigar, and a touch of something like marlin flake.

It's a sort of shredded flake. I rubbed it out and packed. It took the flame well. Initially it was harsh. But within a couple of puffs it was glorious. Rather like the best of a good cigar crossed with the best of a mild English blend. I cant put it down!

Try it.

This is exquisite for the smoker. room note is cigar. tin note is virgina, latakia and cigar leaf and coffee. The tin description is true to every letter. This stuff is creamy smooth. It produces what it brags about. It is a fine cigar in a pipe for half the price in a single stick. G. L. Pease has a winner in this one!

Keeping this short... I bought this to try a cigar leaf blend. Quickly I realized it's not my style of tobacco, as I prefer my blends with more flavour (english/semi-aro/etc). Leaf seems to be of high quality though. Smells a bit muddy from the tin.

This does have a good amount of nicotine and a nice creamy mouthfeel with earthy cigarrish kind of notes. Some faint latakia/oriental component there, but not enough for me. Being a natural tobacco blend with the above characters makes it a good morning smoke, mostly for getting in the nicotine in my case.

Recommended for people that like natural flavour with cigar notes or maybe for those crossing over from cigar to pipe, or the other way around.

Recommended.

I like virtually all types of pipe tobacco, but I don't like cigars, so I decided to try Key Largo, a blend with so many positive reviews, with the hope that it could help me to love a little more the cigar leaf. Well, Key Largo is surely made of high quality tobaccos (as always with Mr. Pease) masterfully blended, but I can't stand the cigar flavor which, without overwhelming other flavors, nevertheless shows itself very often. So my rate is two stars, somewhat reccomended, meaning that it is recommended if you love cigars, but if you are like me stay away…

UPDATE DECEMBER 2018 Having left the tobacco in his own tin for about six months, I decided to give it another try. Despite the fact that I hadn't jarred it, the tobacco was in perfect state and this time my impressions have been much more positive: the cigar leaf has melded in the overall taste and I can appreciate the creaminess that some reviewers had spoken about. In fact it seems to me that this blend needs some time after the tin is first openened. So I'm upgrading the rating to three stars

Sweet, earthy and deceptively mild tin note. As the weeks gone by it went from good, but ultimately unremarkable, to absolutely intoxicatingly good. Packing the pipe with it is a breeze, I usually just grab some of the broken flakes, fold and twirl between my fingers a few times and gently press it down into the pipe and I'm off for a few good hours on blissful clouds of smoke.

Char has a little nip, but nothing unmanageable and it quickly turns into a velvety smooth and full flavoured smoke. The latakias are very nicely balanced throughout and intermingles well with the VA's and the dash of orientals that spring forth every so often throughout the smoke.

Relights past mid bowl do sometimes have a slight tendency towards harshness, but nothing too detracting from the experience. Mid bowl is also where Key Largo really starts to shine and reveals a very nice and creamy mouthfeel.

The finish is sweet and mild, but not very long lasting. Something I don't mind. The smoke ends about how it started and I'm usually satisfied. It's however not particularly strong in nicotine and palatable enough to fill up another pipe with it and start all over again, or move on to something else. Room note is far less offensive than I first thought it would be. Quite the opposite, in fact, I like it quite a lot. Non smokers may of course not agree, but maybe they can learn to tolerate it since it at least doesn't have that unpleasant stale cigar butt smell.

Now, I've never been more than a very occasional cigar smoker, so I don't feel like I'm able to put my finger on where exactly the cigar leaf is and exactly what it does to this blend. But no matter, I'm sure it's there for a reason, and that's good enough for me.

I should perhaps also mention that I liked this one best after a bit of humidification, I found it a tad too dry as it was from the get go. Other than that, this is a great blend that I hope I am able to keep at hand for the foreseeable future.

Highly recommended.

I switched from primarily being a cigar smoker back to the pipe back in Summer 2016. When I came across this blend it intrigued me enough to give it a try. One of my go to stogies was the Drew Estate Tabak Especial which was a Kahlua infused cigar. This blend is reminiscent of those. NOTE: It is not the same thing so please don't buy it expecting to get a Tabak in a pipe bowl. But there are hints of coffee, cream and cigar leaf that the similarities are there. The cigar leaf is present and noticeable but doesn't overpower the rest of the flavors. The virginia brings a sweetness that plays well off the Oriental/Turkish blend and the Latakia adds just enough oomph that you know it's there. The smoke is smooth on the tongue with very little bit and there were very few relights. The cocoa, coffee, leather accents make it a great partner with a morning cup of coffee.

I don't know how many of you have had the pleasure of trying the old Balkan Sobranie Virginian number 10 from the 1970's but Key Largo is about as close to that old beauty as I have come across. The old Havana leaf in the Balkan Sobranie seemed to be fuller and deeper and the Latakia not as pronounced but that may be the result of faulty memory on my part or simply because the old Havana was pretty special stuff. Anyway if you want to gain a whiff and taste of the golden age of English mixtures with a bit of cigar leaf from the 1970's this is pretty close. It is also excellent in its own right.

I tried a bowl of this blend at my local tobacco-bar, and was blown away by the dark, sweetish chocolate/coffee nuttyness, accompanied by just the right amount of latakia and a hint of cigar flavor in the background.

An amazing blend! A shame that they where out of it... I will get some and post a better review as soon as they get the next shipment!