G. L. Pease Quiet Nights

Wonderful tin note, deep, rich, smokey. First light, smokey Latakia followed very closely with the Red Virginia’s, orientals and perique. Has a spice that plays strongly throughout and towards the end of bowl can get very pronounced. Red Virginia earthy tang shines through though and kind of mellows the spice. This is a well blended tobacco that offers enough complexity to keep a person coming back. With about 11 months age this blend mellowed some but all the components shine through nicely. Later this winter I’ll crack a 2 year old tin and will see how it has held up. I suspect I know already.

Ok my reviews are to the point. No flowery language about non existent crap that makes you sound like a connisuer. I've been smoking a pipe longer than most.This is good tobacco, similar to my favourite old school nightcap. It's rough cut and I recommend rubbing it a little. It smokes cool and tastes great. If you like English blends this one's a winner.

Another stellar blend from GL Pease. I gravitate toward English/Balkans and this fits the bill perfectly. A complete marriage of complexity and flavor. Smoky latakia, tangy orientals, with a touch of sweetness. The hint of Perique is just enough to tickle the tongue (im usually not a Perique fan). I give it a couple of hours drying time and it smokes perfectly. 1-2 relights at most. 45 minutes-1 hour per bowl. It really is a perfect evening blend. I highly recommend.

My first bowl of QN was absolutely stunning with this delicious tangy Oriental note that sang with the other varietals in the blend and it totally knocked my hair back. Try as I might, I chased those flavors in preceding bowls but couldn't reproduce the experience. I tried briar and cobs but the tang was replaced with a soft sour note. The dark fruity, woody, bready Virginia dances with the Latakia, smokey, earthy and creamy. The plumy perique is spicy and adds complexity. The star of the show is the Orientals, herbal, tangy and sour. The nic hit is medium and I went back and forth on how much I dried it before smoking. A word of caution - If too dry, normal handling in preparation for a smoke would cause the tobacco too crumble into an unsmokable sawdust type consistency.

My goodness this blend. If Chelsea Morning is the perfect marriage with sunrise and coffee, this blend is in perfect marriage with the moonlit sky and an evening beverage. The red virginias bring earthy and dark fruit notes. The oriental/turkish spicy, woody, raisiny notes (along with the Perique) all coalesce perfectly with the smoky Latakia. Surprisingly sweet and thankfully its not a lat bomb. There is a tar note that absolutely suits this blend so well with the night. I'm not sure what component gives it that taste but I love it. Though not an all day smoke, it is easily repeatable. A top favorite of mine as well as others. 8.8/10

https://youtu.be/jMhCGg2Es-s

Smokey sweet tin note. Great English smoke.

I really like Oriental forward blends and this one is in the top tier. I am not really sure of what the percent make up of each leaf in this blend but to my palate, the balance of Oriental and Latakia on the VA base is just right and the quality of the Turkish/Orientals along with the VA, give this the an exotic and luxurious flavor profile. Slightly sweet, spicy and woody. Creaminess from the Latakia support the other players but is critical to this blend, it is what makes it for me. The name is appropriate, a nice blend like and after dinner drink, sweet and rich and a perfect end to the day.

Dry, delicate broken flakes. Intense smell, not totally unlike that of Nightcap to the nose. I found that the experience with this one is best when not rubbing it out, as this tends to lead to a lot of dust instead of the ribbons I was expecting which makes it more difficult to smoke effortlessly.

Starts out discreetly sweet on the char, but soon gives way to a bit of dryness (in the wine sense) on the tongue. A bit of VA grass that melds into a surprisingly mild and creamy latakia against a backdrop of incense-like turkish - a sensation that for me kept evolving and intensifying slowly towards the mid-bowl.

Mid bowl reveals a clearer nuttiness, a bit of fruitiness on the palate, as well as a bit of pepperiness, primarily in the side stream. In other words, the perique accentuates the flavours further.

The finish becomes a bit sharp, from time to time edging the line to bite, but rarely so far as becoming unpleasant. Puffing cadence is however a good idea. The wood notes and incense spice also becomes more prevalent here.

All in all a good, though not spectacular english mixture. Enjoyable, but perhaps a little bit too subtle in some respects for it to become more than an occasional smoke for me personally. However, those on the lookout for a mild and relatively complex E.M. will probably find a lot to like here.

I have just finished my last bowlful of this blend and, unfortunately, will not be seeking any more of it. Having gotten my hopes up reading many favorable opinions, as well as Mr Pease's usual glowing sales-pitch (which, despite several disappointments, seems to get me every time) I was rather disappointed in this blend.

The initial nose in the tin is alluring. Leathery and slightly pungent sweetness in a melange of peat and earthiness. The component parts promise complexity and taste. Alas, they remain but promises.

As always, I tried this leaf in several bowls, keeping an open palate and taking my time with different packs, lighting techniques and paces. The results seemed pretty much consistent across the board. To me, the bowl starts off with an interesting mix of masculine flavors, dominated by smokiness and a distant hint of red virginias. Slightly rubbed, the cut burns quite easily and requires infrequent relights. Unfortunately, things tended to go downhill from there. The initial complexity of the palate is soon replaced by a monochromatic dry saltiness that lingers after each draw and makes relighting a chore, rather than anticipation. While the smoke remains thick and consistent, the flavor diminishes, leaving a somewhat subdued sourness. I believe I rarely - if ever - tolerated Quiet Nights to the bottom of the bowl. There are simply far better, more interesting, and smoother blends out there.

Needless to say, your experience might vary, as many positive reviews seem to suggest. I would probably still encourage anyone new to Mr Pease's blends to give this one a try. If you have already been disappointed in several of his English/ Balkan mixes, however, it might be time to look elsewhere. I believe I will.

I’m reviewing Quiet Nights based on a two-year-old tin, for what it’s worth. The Latakia is gentle and tasty, and easily the best part of the blend. The Turkish tobaccos are well proportioned to the Lat, so far so good. It shows promise initially, although the flakes are sticky-dry with some kind of humectant and are very stubborn about staying lit. This blend would benefit from C&D learning more about how to press flakes.

After a few minutes the Virginia is totally anonymous, sometimes a hint of sweetness comes through but it just doesn’t rate here. The Perique, I think, or maybe one of the Turkish varietals, has a chemical perfume aftertaste that keeps popping up throughout and ruining the flavor of an otherwise skillful blend. It tastes totally artificial and smells like an accident with a home chemistry set.

The off flavors come up enough to completely ruin the smoke. It’s a shame, too, because there was definite potential in some of the components. I can’t imagine that this is what Quiet Nights is supposed to smoke like after 2 years in the tin, but I also can’t imagine trying another batch to see if I just caught a bad tin.