G. L. Pease Meridian

Greeted by a wonderful tin aroma it was all downhill from there. Too bland and insipid for my preference. Nor does it harken to Penzance. The upside was it combusted well. I tried it in a few of my pipes which are the apex of my briar collection hoping for better things, alas not to be.

The cut on this is extremely fragile, three days in my tackle box and 2/3 rds of the tin became the finest of espresso grounds, no longer smokeable. It would be served better if left as a plug or slices. I suppose the tumbling prior to packaging does make it slightly more convenient and folks could pad the contents with cotton wool. Or leave it at home.

Frankly, most of Pease's offerings are not to my liking and there are blenders out there who I'd rather spend my time and money with (in order): Max Engel (Comptons), Hans Schürch, Russ Ouellette, and Carole Burns (Pipeworks & Wilke).

Too bland for me, I was hoping for an interplay between the Latakia and the orientals, for my palette it was flat. This seems like Penzance light, very Latakia forward with a weak oriental side note.

I can't recall smoking through a tin of a new blend as quickly as I have with my first tin of Meridian. The broken flake takes just a touch of drying as the tin moisture was almost perfect and I found it very easy to keep lit.

A somewhat more robust blend than Chelsea Morning (which I also like very much), Meridian qualifies as an all-day smoke for me. It is predominately Oriental in profile with a side note of Latakia. I would describe it as well balanced and not over-the-top in attempted complexity. Like both of the other new offerings in the Old London series, Meridian is a hit for me and will become part of my permanent rotation.

I am sure I will change this review up as I get some more time spent with this tobacco. I was a big fan of Chelsea Morning, but only so-so on Quiet Nights. This tobacco, while similar in many ways to both, belongs in a middle ground between the two.

I want to just dive in to a summary of it and give my impressions for now, then update this once I am firmer in my opinions. The cut is very much the same as Chelsea Morning, its a slightly dense ribbon. It has a robust and rich tobacco smell in the case, very earthy and with no trace of casing agents. Its still a touch moist in case, but nothing a short drying or rubbing won't fix. It packs as well as Chelsea Morning, but if you get careless you can over pack it. It took more time than I like to get lit, but did stay lit nicely and burned well. The taste reminded me of a slightly earthier version of McClelland's 3 Oaks Syrian, or better yet, a stronger more robust Chelsea Morning. I paired it with some Gold Label Jamison, and the two complimented one another well. My wife was a fan of the room note. Overall, this is a very reasonable and solid blend, more my style then Quiet Nights. I detected a pretty strong nicotine hit to the throat, and next to no tongue bite. Might be moved to a 4 star rating after a bit longer with it.

***Update*** I think a solid 3 star rating is fair for this blend. Its kinda bland to me compared to other oriental forward blends. Its just too earthy without enough spice and nuance to earn a 4 star rating from me. If you like earthy blends though, this one delivers that quality. This is a solid blend though, and I will keep it around for morning and afternoon needs. But its not heavy and contemplative enough for nighttime smoking needs. Solid 3 stars,

The cut and appearance are as others have described. Mostly mahogany brown loosely broken flake. Tin aroma is lovely, with an elusive quality I can't put my finger on. Strangely, I don't smell even a hint of Latakia when it's unlit. The only clue that it's in there is the unmistakable aroma on my hands after I've further rubbed the broken flakes out.

Once lit, the darker VA provides a sturdy if somewhat plain backdrop that allows the deliciously tart orientals to shine in the middle range while the smoky notes of the minimal Latakia round off the edges and prevent the sourness from becoming too strident.

In its weight class (Light English / First Smoke of the Day), I wouldn't hesitate to put it in the ring against Early Morning Pipe and Red Rapparee and expect it to put them both on the canvas pretty easily. The overall flavor is broader, deeper and more interesting than either. And without the Cavendish.

If bumped up in class and paired against Skiff mixture I think it would fare better than most but would likely get TKOed in the sixth. I think it would be obvious they both trained at the same gym, and the style of both is more finesse than brute force. But when the blows connect, Skiff just punches that little bit harder.

Still, a talented fighter with a promising future ahead and no doubt.

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Added 7/27/2023

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It's probably a little ridiculous to update a review only four days after you originally posted it, but I read all the other reviews and after another eight or so bowls I wholeheartedly agree with the people who said they were getting notes very similar to Syrian Latakia. I totally pick it up now. It comes out particularly in retrohale and french inhale. Speaking of Syrian, I recently polished off the last of my Bohemian Scandal so it's pretty fresh in my mind at the moment. Now that I'm getting the syrian-esque taste in Meridian, I'm seeing a surprising amount of overlap in the flavors of the two blends. There are probably some who will find this sacrilege, but between them, I think I prefer Meridian. Huh. Go figure.

Tin note of mild smoke, mild tart fruit and dirt. Tobacco broken flakes are dark brown with a little tan. Tobacco is somewhat dry, rubbing out is easy. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and consistent, with notes of dry earth, musty wood, herbal spices, hay, bread, lemon zest, spicy, mild tart dark fruit, mildly smoky, mild creamy-sweet background note, and a peppery retro. Orientals are leading with Virginias supporting. Latakia is lounging in the back. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is good.

Perfectly described on the label. Light to medium all day smoke. Easy on the nic hit, moisture level perfect for packing right out of the tin. A solid 3 stars.

This is what I consider a classic but lighter English. The tin aroma is a light English. The moisture is on the drier side but doable. The flavors play around but nothing overpowers one or the other. The Virginias are semi sweet with a wheat flavor from time to time. The orientals are mostly a light mustiness but give some body to the blend. The Latakia just gives a pinch of smokiness but never dominates.

Overall a very nice and balanced blend. This is something perfect for a morning smoke or an all day smoke after light meals.

I won't say much about Meridian, as Beer has translated my impressions of it very well. The taste is very intense, even surprisingly so, while the nicotine remains at a mild to medium level. Meridian is kind of like Guiness, in that way.