G. L. Pease Union Square

This is the quintessential Virginia flake. The Virginian composition in my humble opinion is near perfect. Even at 6 months, the Aging of the virginias is quite Sublime. It will do nothing but get better as time goes by with a good Charing lied the burn is even and complete. The blend has a fine degree of sugary notes coupled with an outstanding red Virginia flavor coupled with the other well-aged components. This blend is an obvious must smoke for anyone. It will be an absolute Delight to those who love Virginia's. Although I am primarily an English style smoker, I have found this blend to be absolutely delightful. I definitely will be adding more tins to my seller in a very short order. I strongly recommend this blend to everyone who simply wants a completely enjoyable smoke with a marvelous room note, and a flavor that is absolutely delightful from the beginning to the middle, to the end of the bowl. As time goes by I am absolutely convinced this will be one of the legendary blends this gets rated 4 stars although I wish in my heart I could rate it six stars

1/22/22 I finally found my 8oz tin that I put away in 2018 and decided to give it a go.

The age (or maybe smoking for longer now) has brought out the flavors in this one and I'm really enjoying it. The broken flakes are darker now than before and there is a sweetness to the smoke which I don't remember from before. There is good body in the smoke and the nic hit seems to be lower than I remember.

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2018

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I received a sample of Union Square in my TinSociety.com box.

I've been wanting to try it as it has come highly recommended by the manager at my local B&M and I'd purchased an 8oz tin which is aging.

I found it to be ready to smoke from the package. The broken flakes are easy to either pack as is, or to break up even further depending on the pipe. I wonder if the packaging has changed over the years as older reviews describe it more as larger flakes it seems?

It was not the wow that I was hoping for, but it is a solid Virginia and my favorite of the "Fog City" series by far. If you do not smoke it fast, there is no bite and it has a good sweet taste to me from the Virginias in it.

I look forward to opening my tin down the road and seeing the difference that some age can make.

I just got a knock on my front door from the package lady and my memory had lapsed when it came to ordering this tobacco over a month ago. It's been on backorder. I got the large tin and I also have a large tin of embarcaderro that came to me already aged 3 years! Cornell and deihl manufacturers all of pease's tobaccos and a lot of times I get the impression he is better at creating awesome recipes than they are. This one being no exception. It's the purest of Virginia and I really enjoy that. I wanted to cellar it because it was only tinned up 3 months ago, but I couldn't resist having this new addition to my vast collection be my 1st smoke of the day. I won't go into great detail about the taste because it's been done here well, but I will definitely say that if you are a fan of Virginia then you are sure to really like this one. Update: I've been smoking this for a while now and I will say this is probably my favorite all Virginia blend. It is so simply done, but the layers of flavor here are just remarkable. I'm smoking it now at the crack of dawn with my morning coffee and man is it a fine smoke. Got 2 more big tins on the way now!

Edit: this is truly one of the finest Virginia tobaccos out there today. I love this tobacco! Since my beloved mcclleland(there apparently will never be another Virginia that will compare) went away, this is the best replacement I can find.

This is one of the best VAs I have ever smoked.... Period. I was surprised how quickly I finished the tin, once opened, My rotation ceased being a rotation. Union Square became my everyday smoke till I ran out. Never wet or hot, just a perfect VA taste. Anyone wishing to try their first pure VA would do well to try this one from Greg Pease. No need for me to rehash what a high quality VA is here as others have done it well in other reviews. Suffice to say this is what a VA was meant to be. 4 stars.

I've been holding off this review for a while as it has taken me a while to adjust my palate to Mr Pease' tastes. There is little doubt that he has a distinctive House Style- I have so far tried four of his blends and they are all unmistakably Pease. His tobaccos tend to emphasise the upper mids and high notes- you won't find much of that 'slump into your sofa and stare off into the distance' you get from something like Nightcap or Escudo- even with something as satisfying as Cumberland there is a cerebral/controlled aspect to a Pease product akin to a very well prepared IPA (at the proper strength, 3.6% ABV) as opposed to a Titanic stout, which makes you wistful for a roaring fire and a blustery night. I ordered 2 tins of U.S. and used one of them to add complexity and lightness to some McBaren's H.H. Old Dark Fired, which works very well. But on it's own, Union Square is a subtle, clean tobacco which gives most flavour as a broken flake, sipped conscientiously, with the ocassional deep draw. I can't think of any oher Va I have ever tried which so captures the essence of Va- this is a superb product, but be aware, it is subtle. It needs to be unpacked, to be thought about, to be viewed as one would extremely well prepared sashimi. I have learned a lot about Va from U.S. and I feel everyone should have a tin or two in their cellar, to be able to touch base with the purest offering of this quintessential species of tobacco

I bought this tobacco partly because it seemed a duty to experience the taste of pure tobacco but mainly because it was one of the first batch of Greg Pease's collection available from a UK supplier. Sorry to digress but I never thought I would type those words so Hooray!!! and thanks to the hard work and initiative of Greg and Gauntleys of Nottingham I can say goodbye to wrestling with UK custoums duties - last week I got a refund from an order in March!!! I must add however that my US supplier (Smoking Pipes) are a pleasure to deal with but those custoums duties are both an insult and an Injury.

Sorry the tobacco in question. I had low expectations of pure tobacco having tried McBarens unflavoured tobacco (Nothing but Tobacco or some name like that) years ago and it was flat and dull. Interesting but taste, remember and dump the tin. Union Square is the opposite. Open the drum (drums not cans in Nottingham) and get a lovely smell of sweet hay. Charring light hot but then a cool near bite free smoke particularly notable for a pure virginia but perhaps the additives in most flakes are partly to blame. Then a rich deep smoke evoking layers of flavour including hot raspberry jam on the hot sponge my dear old mother used to make, with, more in the background, strawberries, figs, nectarines. Then a counterpoint of dryer but still sweetish hay. Great smoke now but I think with huge ageing potential - my tin date was 051612 - as the flavours deepen and become more focused. No mean praise from a smoker of English mixtures. Stars? Four even without the ageing potential but with it a very easy four.

Will I buy more of this deep fruity tobacco (which is very easily available in the UK at last) to taste now and lay down for the future? Of course.

Edit (March 2016): Almost four years on from my initial review, either this tobacco or my palate has changed, because what I wrote back then definitely doesn't resonate with my recent experiences.

Having given another tin a try with my latest order, it's been one excellent smoke after another. There is enough sweetness to satisfy, but for me what comes forward the most are the bready/pastry notes from what must be the red VAs, more so than any other VA I have ever smoked, with the possible exception of SG's Best Brown Flake. These flavours intensify after mid-bowl, and there are no harsh notes towards the end as there are with countless lesser VAs. All in all, brilliant stuff. I'll be ordering more tins and hoping for the same quality.

Rating raised from 2 to a solid 4.

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Serviceable, well-intentioned, but there's nothing outstanding or spectacular going on here. Pleasant sweet, brown-sugar notes crop up for a few puffs in the second half - otherwise not a great deal happening. It tastes very 'young' (my tin is dated May 2012) and it doesn't seem like the blend has been subjected to much aging prior to packaging, so a sealed tin would no doubt improve after a few years in a drawer, perhaps substantially.

This is a high quality leaf that burns well as can be expected of a Pease blend.

Sadly, there's nothing truly spectacular about this blend. It definitely smokes better after the first third of the bowl as it begins to taste how it smells in the tin. There are definitely fig/raisin notes as well as a natural virginia sweetness, but the beginning of the smoke tastes too much like a cigarette. It would probably make an excellent base for mixing, but by itself, it remains underwhelming.

It's certainly a high quality leaf that any virginia lover, or someone looking to try out a pure virginia, should give a try, but I don't see myself buying another tin with so many other offers out there.

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After storing this blend for about six more months (total one year of age), the nuances of this tobacco really came through. The taste became more full and constantly progressed from spicy to sweet and earthy throughout the bowl. Still a cool smoke without a bite issue. I highly recommend this blend--greatly improved with age and airing out.

First class VA. Ditto the previous reviewer. Beats FVF by a country mile. If you like Va then you will love this. Ageing will make this truly magnificent.