G. L. Pease Quiet Nights

Good quality leaf as always. It's just too young to smoke at this point. Will probably age very well. Right now the tin note is very pungent with the latakia very pronounced. The room note is also very heavy. The flakes were beautiful but very moist. Had a bit of bite on this one. Cellar it and revisit in a decade. Smoke this and then try Dunhill 965. You know exactly what I mean.

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.

Tried a different packing method tonight with this one; rubbed out pretty well and gravity fed. I have a hard time putting it into words but I seemed to be tasting a sweetness I hadn’t been identified in my previous few bowls as full flakes.

First time i light it i remember of Pirate Kake, one of my favorite blend. But after several puff i found this blend lacking of bitter and sourness where a balkan blend should have. For me this is not suitable my pallet.

A very appealing name. But, instead, it should be called "elevator silence".

Silence is funny. The true friend is the one with whom you stand confortable in silence. A rich, deep silence of mutual comprehension. Instead, in a elevator, there´s a unconfortable and anxious silence.

That´s how I feel with this. Althoug the beautiful flakes, of high quality, it has not been a good friend in quiet nights. Too much nicotine for not too much flavor. Not a bad smoke, of course, but I won´t buy again and was expecting more.

I don’t have anything additional to say about this blend that others haven’t already said regarding its quality and component tobaccos. What I can add is that if you do not love floral, herbal, incense-like orientals this won’t be your favorite as it isn’t mine. I also disagree that it is particularly savory, at least what I think of as savory. It isn’t bad at all, but doesn’t touch My Mixture 965 as an ideal all day blend with Latakia.

Quiet Nights is an overrated blend IMO. The ingredients imply complexity, but I find it lacking nuance.

The orientals are all up front, with the latakia a close second. The perique seems more like a condiment, and barely registers to my taste. Bottom 3rd of the bowl is where it loses some body, and becomes a bit bland. The result is just another 'okay blend' from Pease and Messrs. Cornel & Diehl.

It's by no means a bad blend, but there are better options.

I jarred this blend 3 years ago - it was young and raw when I bought it, a problem I find with a lot of C&D blends. There was a strong seal on the jar, so some fermentation had to have taken place. The Virginia tobacco had a good acetic acid smell to it, maybe 1/2 the McClelland smell, which makes a VA smoker anticipate what's to come.

I'm not in love with the flake itself, it disintegrates into a rough cut that needed a lot more packing attention than I am used to with good flakes. Maybe more time in the press? Maybe it's meant to be fully rubbed out, although why sell it as a flake if that's the case? After 5 or 6 bowls I figured out how tight to pack it to avoid uneven burn, but I'd still prefer that the flake either held together or was tumbled out.

The initial flavor is excellent, as good a balance as you're going to find. Midway through, the sun-cured leaf drops out of contention, and I only get a hint of it if I exhale through my nose. The Virginias take over from here on. Latakia stays constant throughout. Perique pops in and out, but it's used like a condiment and shouldn't stand out. The nicotine content is solidly medium-strong -- reserved for Pease, and kind of a nice change of pace.

The very bottom of every bowl went sour and acrid, which for a Virginia smoker is kind of like Lucy pulling away the football at the last minute every time. I'm trained to anticipate the last of the smoke, where everything is stoved and at peak strength, but in the case of Quiet Nights I smoke down to the last 10% or so and then dump it to avoid the off flavor.

Two stars, I'm dinging it for construction, initial rawness, and for the off flavors at the end. I prefer blends that don't require extensive aging at home, so I won't be adding any of this to the rotation.

Fresh opened tin has strong aroma of sweet plum and a minor note of golden raisin.

Smoke on the palate was a little sweet for my taste. a little moisture in the pipe. not bad, but not something I will return to often.