G. L. Pease Union Square

The flakes are drier than my benchmark Samuel Gawith, and drier than the Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia tin I finished before this one. In light of that, it's strange to me that Union Square smoked substantially wetter than any other straight Virginia I can think of. It bubbled incessantly, and left several pipes needing a cleaning.

There's also a cigarette smell that reminds me of Briar Fox, and that I associate with young C&D Virginia. The flavor is all high and tangy, lacking depth and body. I won't speculate on the quality or age of the raw leaf, but I don't think the cakes were aged long enough.

There's something about the pressed flake that GLPease uses that works so well for Union Square. I suspect that if Union Square was finely cut, like Montgomery, it wouldn't be quite as good. As a flake, it's incredible for what it is. That said, it is extremely easy to rub out flake. The strength of it is surprisingly strong for a Virginia, too. To me, this is the absolute best tasting Virginia flake/blend out there. I don't know exactly how he blends this but I suspect all forms of Virginia's are used because it has its own unique signature. Sweet, grassy, dark, pure Virginia tobaccos and nothing else. I keep going back to the word "clean" when I smoke it. It tastes clean. And as always, it's better with age.

P.S. For the record, I read zero of the previous reviews on it before I wrote my review. I find it amusing that so many of us are using the adjective "clean" to describe it and must add that if so many people hold it in this high of regard, Union Square must deliver a consistent experience.

This one I apparently bought back in August of 2021 with a date code of 123120. This is a broken flake and has a pleasant smell of hay/grasses, etc. I have been enjoying this in my Altinay Meerschaum Poker and like the fact that I am tasting pure Virginia leaf if you believe the description and from the taste of this wonderful blend I do. Straight forward? Yes, that is what makes smoking this so pleasurable. Starting out I get the bready, sweetness of the Red Virginias and further down the bowl the other Virginia tobaccos seem to seek attention. Does this have a lot of bells and whistles? No, but for a really outstanding Virginia this cannot be beat. I wish I had a few tins of this to age but my cellar is full at the moment.

Presentation: All labels in the Fog City Selection look the same. A gold stripe across the bottom, a white background, with a gray sketching of the streets of San Francisco.

Cut: Comes in small flakes , just right moisture, easy to rub out.

Tin note: Has a rich fruity, bready smell.

Tasting notes: This blend tastes grassy, bready, a bit spicy, tangy, slightly smoky, minutely sweet. Deep earth, a bit tart, and woody on the finish. Simple but delicious.

Mechanics: N/A -- A well behaved blend.

Extra Remarks: This is a great blend. With this being my final review in the Fog City Selection, I feel it's fitting that it happened to be a straight Virginia blend because I think Greg Pease made this whole series to display his deft hand with the Virginia leaf. This blend is a rather straight shooter, not too complex or unique, but that is not the purpose of this blend. The Virginias are quality and Pease brings so much out of just one type of leaf in this blend. A delightful "anytime" kind of smoke and I can say no wrong about it. 4 stars.

This tobacco marks a before and after in my short history as a pipe smoker. I hope veterans excuse me for the obviousness I'm about to write, but now I know that there are straight virginias that can fit into my usual rotation, that a straight virginia doesn't have to be bland, nondescript, flat and monotone. I have tried some va/per that more closely match this description.

With a broken flake cut (although the description says they are flakes), they appear when opening the tin shiny and ripe virginias with the characteristic smell of sweet hay, where I believe I perceive a certain spicy nuance. When the tobacco is turned on, the flavors of toast, cereals, nuts and certain sweet touches are displayed that intensify as the smoke progresses, with some almost honeyed nuance at times. And from what connoisseurs say, this does not have any type of casing, those flavors are natural! It burns well and evenly, without requiring too many re-ignitions. It should be smoked with a slow cadence so that it does not become monotonous, something that should be done with all tobaccos, although that rule is not always (and I the first) taken into account.

Of course, with this tobacco I prefer to pay attention to the smoke, without performing a task at the same time that can distract me from the sensations it produces.

02/27/2023: I've smoked a lot of tobaccos and a lot of virginias since writing this review and I haven't seen any that look like Union Square, which makes it a unique tobacco for me...

I can understand the drum beating and flag waving on this one. I got two 8oz tins from Rich at 4noggins and was glad I did. Good smoke. Burns well and easily with only one relight for me. (But I had to go and tend to my Chicken Kiev I had going on the stove). Very pleasant taste and note. Good body without the nicotine buzz. Just the kind of strength for nicotine snowflake like me. A good all day number. Highly recommended.

This is a superb blending of light and dark Virginias in cake form. My tin has little age on it, but tasted sublime from the first light. It rubbed out with ease and smoked cool and dry from start to finish. The nicotine, although higher than I'm used to, was very tolerable. The taste is elegant and smooth. I can only imagine what a year or two would do. Unlike most Virginias I've tried, there is little if any tang or sharpness. The slight sweetness is all natural and a welcome addition. I think that Greg has created a masterpiece in this blend and I intend to order a few tins for aging.

GLP's Union Square may be more "forgiving" than their Laurel Heights, but it still demands some attention to preparation, loading, packing and smoking before it relaxes and gives up its considerable goods, notwithstanding its "easy" appearance and almost cloying aroma when the tin is popped. In the tin, presentation is beautiful, merely-moist, mottled, soft flakes that I cannot spindle and fold into a pipe before they fall to rough, chunky "ribbons". The note from a young tin is barely damp silage under truly yummy, sweet, blended VA tobaccos, with the brights upfront. With age, add fermented notes of pineapple, apricots and golden caramel, along with distant fresh yeast and a drop or two of rum.

Union Square is one tobacco I prefer to smoke very dry, to the point where it's "crispy". Smoked "wet", and especially if it's rushed, it can get harsh, and/or soot winds up in the air hole, and/or one might detect a faint trace of ammonia in the air. OTOH, smoked very dry, and with some consideration, barely sniffing light puffs, it makes clouds of clean and bracing VA TOBACCO smoke that features most of the tin notes, and the taste follows suit. It does require some attention as it is smoked, or it will go out; but there is no penalty - at all - for re-lighting it.

After a short trial period, US has smoked well for me, and it keeps getting better as it is smoked down. The aftertaste is - surprise - delicious VA tobacco, sweet but not saccharin, never bitter, with no ash. I love it. Nicotine is like Laurel Heights, which is to say, stealthy, building quite slowly toward "strong" over the course of a bowl and thereafter. It only took me a couple of tries to learn to hold off with a second bowl.

While it's hardly a no-brainer, I find US quite relaxing and very satisfying, along the lines of several other Pease blends I enjoy. Highly recommended to those who feel up to the "challenge". And aging just makes it better...

This review is after 15 bowlfuls over several months. Yellow sticker on tin bottom has an October 28, 2009 date. Moisture seemed just right in these supple, small flakes, but further drying proved necessary. There is an aroma of mild fermentation (fig-like, touch of vinegar and baking spices). This was quite easy to fold and load. Rubbing out the flakes turned out to be a better move than smoking whole flakes or cutting “cubes.”

Not a one or two vesta affair lighting and regular relights were necessary (which can raise the possibility of tongue-bite). Flavor initially is mild and hay-like. Five minutes into the bowl and the flavor deepens to subtle sweetness, complexity and familiar Virginia flavors. Union Square reminds me immediately of Rattray's Virginias (this is not always good, in my opinion) and maybe something like SG BBF and Old Gowrie, but heavier than BBF. There is some richness, too. The room note will not win admirers unless they like the aroma of better cigarettes.

USq requires great care to keep the burn temperature low as possible. Otherwise, this flake will bite me as badly as Mac Baren Virginia No. 1, Marlin Flake and Fillmore. Contra-intuitively, this required a full rubbing up of the flakes. I believe this allows more smoke volume, thus flavor, when gently drawing the smoke in and out of the pipe (some call this “sipping”). If I smoked this in a gentle breeze, I'd opt to keep the flakes chunky. Harder puffing for flavor proved painful.

On the nicotine continuum, USq is somewhere between Old Gowrie and Hal O' the Wynd. USq burns cleanly to a mottled ash.

Somewhat recommended now. Perhaps time in a sealed tin will prove beneficial, but I am on the fence if I will invest time and cellar space to the experiment, as it does not replace or add anything missing to my regular rotation.