G. L. Pease Key Largo

My first cigar leaf-based pipe tobacco, and my 1st from GL Pease. A very well behaved rubbed flake that comes at the right moisture. At first, the tin note is very cigar-ish, but with time it subdues. At first light, it is a bold, creamy, slightly spicy, but mostly robust smoke, with a noticeable presence from the cigar leaf. As you progress further down the bowl, it gains subtlety and complexity, the sweetness from the virginias adds a very interesting dimension, so does the latakia. What i like most about this blend is that it may at first seem quite brash and bitter, a heavy hitter, but then it reveals many other layers of taste, which make it complex, complete and very, very satisfying. Its a welcome surprise, since I've come to expect most baccys to start with clear, high notes and then fade into muted undertones, this one seems to do the opposite. If puffed hard, the cocoa/bitter notes come to the fore, if sipped, you are rewarded with delicate fruits and spice. In windy conditions, or if puffed too hard, it will become acrid and tasteless, but will never bite. The room note, though maybe less offensive than most cigars, still probably won't please non-smokers. Considering the quality of this blend, i'm now eager to try other offerings from Pease, espcially in the english/balkan genre for which he is most reputed.

Key Largo is a great blend to smoke during the end of summer when the weather gets colder and you are transitioning from lighter summer blends into latakia blends in the winter. Pease's tin description is spot on in the sense that it is earthy and creamy with hints of cocoa and deep-roasted coffee. No debate there. The cigar flavor pokes it's head out randomly throughout the smoke. It does slightly burn the back of my throat, reminiscent of my experiences with Robusto and C & D's Habana Daydream. The latter, much more so, which I assume is the perique and cavendish. (And I love perique.) Though I enjoy both Robusto and Habana Daydream, I find Key Largo much smoother, this tin in particular, probably because of the age of the tin. I usually break it up a little before packing, but I might try stuffing the broken flake in the pipe to see how that goes. I usually prefer it in a medium to large sized bowl (rather than a small bowl) in order to let the flavor develop as it is smoked. Key Largo is very enjoyable with coffee in the morning or a brown ale later in the evening.

A beautiful full bodied smoke. The cigar taste goes away quite quickly and all the elements come together in unison to provide a lovely bold flavour. Will buy more.

If you're gonna sample a cigar blend, this should probably be the one. Or, Purple Cow from C&D. Standard GLP English blend with what I believe is Connecticut shade? Cigar blend done right, but It's not anything over the top of what Greg has already done.

A very nice lat flake showcasing the added cigar leaf. Smokes cool and creamy and is very easy to get along with. Maybe a bit flat, but a nice change of pace smoke.

This is an English blend with cigar leaf added on in broken flake cut, the tin description provided by the blender is accurate, the aroma from the tin is marvelous, while smoking, the taste is bitter, rich and very dark, the cigar flavor is detected mainly in the tin aroma and in the after taste realm.

Try this blend If you enjoy a hint of cigar flavor in the background of your English blend, however, to get a true Maduro cigar taste in your pipe I would recommend you to try S.G 1792 flake.

I may upgrade to four stars, but for now, it's three. I found the start of the bowl to have a wonderful creaminess, with toasty flavors, in some ways similar to BBF but with more flavor and way way more creamy. Mid bowl the latakia started to take over and there was just a lot of flavor, heavy bodied smoke, still creamy, a bit of spice too. Frankly, I never got to the end of the bowl, the nicotine crept up on me, and I had to put it out. I'm a bit sensitive that way, and had smoked a bowl of Maltese Falcon right before, so it could have been either of those... but I also have a suspicion that the cigar leaf is amping up the nicotine. From my end, as someone who has smoked cigars for 15+ years, this blend has some of the attributes of a great cigar, but also many attributes of a great pipe blend. Nice cut too. A real masterwork. I must smoke more, and will.

UPDATE I tried letting it dry more, rubbing it out quite a bit, and smoking it earlier in the day. The result was a better burn with less perceived strength, but also less flavor. Still a three star smoke.

I must admit to being a bit disappointed with Key Largo when I first opened the tin and smoked a couple bowls. It was hard to keep burning, and seemed almost flavorless for most of the bowl.

Now, I absolutely LOVE Robusto (another cigar blend by Pease) so I was expecting something similar to that blend, I suppose. What I learned was, this tobacco benefits greatly from some air time before lighting up. After airing out a portion of the tobacco for about an hour, the level of flavor was markedly increased and the tobacco stayed lit very well. The difference from moist to dry is "key" when smoking Key Largo!

The tobacco burns slowly and won't bite even the most aggressive puffer! The first half of the bowl is creamy and tasty, but not a mind-blowing experience. The second half of the bowl is where the real fun begins. Suddenly the smoke becomes deeply rich and earthy with just a tickle of sweetness. A lot like the midway point of a dark cigar, though NOT exactly like a cigar. My only complaint is that the flavor can be somewhat one-dimensional (like a cigar), which leaves me searching for just a little more complexity. Key Largo has body and some strength which will leave you satisfied.

Hello,

I have been smoking this for a while now and at first I didn't know what to think. I have been looking for a blend that tastes like a cigar. This I have not found yet, but over time this has turned out to be a good tobacco. Well blended, many flavors, and stays lit easily. I highly recommend smoking this slow and in a pipe with a big bowl. That was my initial mistake. Once I shifted up it made all the difference. It doens't taste like a cigar, but the aftertaste does. Room note is ok.

I would say give it a try. I will review it again in a couple of months to see if anything changes.

Enjoy! Z