Tobaccos G. L. Pease - Sextant (Old London Series)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	moniker (220)	2013-11-24		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Popping a young tin of Sextant, the proof-y smell of (un-spiced) rum wafts right up, as expected. Next up is something mentioned by Dr. T (below), that I want to address, namely the Liquid Smoke condiment that some affectionately refer to as "barbeque sauce", which I happen to roundly loathe, almost as much as I loathe propylene glycol. Like Dr. T, I also associate both with McClelland, which partly explains why I mostly avoid that marque. Fortunately, as with GLP's JackKnife Plug, the hated "smoke" scent fades with time. Still, I'd rather do without it altogether. The other tobaccos are pretty much "merged" under the dominant scents, but generally there is a "substance" similar to a medium/full English, tempered and "strengthened" by GLP's deep and mildly pungent signature KY. Moisture is typical for a GLP ribbon, with minimal water(!) as a humectant.

Prep in my dry climate is no more than setting some ribbons in the sun to dry, followed by a careful load with as many of the ribbons as possible oriented vertically. Smoked thoughtfully (best with all GLP blends, IMO), Sextant is Lat forward, and overall it is delightfully fragrant, including the rum. Withal, the Orientals quickly begin to spice things up, at which point I automatically adjust my cadence to taste. The VAs come up about 1/3, accompanied by muted but fragrant incense, and this is when it gets really good. I recommend minimal poking rather than tamping, and if you can smoke it all the way down in one shot, so much the better. The aftertaste is delightful, sort of like Margate Plus, with VA sugar, along with the spice and the strong KY tobacco. Like some other reviewers, I also notice and appreciate the "creamy" mouth feel.

For me, this is a fairly "easy" smoke - for a GLP blend - and it is an easy recommendation for lovers of full English blends who are also ready for the "extras" that Sextant packs. Like other GLP blends, there is a rough-and-ready, tobacco-forward quality that is an acquired taste. As for "strength", I would say Sextant is considerably stronger than medium., like many of GLP's blends that include his KY.

IMO, all GLP blends are best smoked with your brain in gear, and Sextant is no different. Also typical of GLP blends, breathing and cellar time are very good to Sextant.

33 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	zulujerk (146)	2012-08-03		Medium to Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable

This started as an order for Balkan Sobranie. When the notice came that the blend was in stock, I rushed to acquire my share. I usually buy large enough orders to waive the shipping fee, but my two tins wouldn't cut it, so I decided to at least try something new. You really can't go wrong with a Pease blend, and I had recently finished off a tin of Gawith's Navy Flake, so I figured a comparison was in order.

I have to say, that open tin of Balkan Sobranie was very alone for several days while I had my way with Sextant. It took a couple of days to plow through half a tin, and just another to finish it off, I'm sure I set a few personal records. At that halfway mark I was forced to take a day off to recuperate, my tongue nearly destroyed. It was a huge burden, but I made it. The struggle was worth it, as Sextant is my favorite Pease blend since Union Square. It is a sweet, full bodied smoke that can easily satiate one's desire for a nicotine fix.

The note emanating from the tin is pure Rum, rich and intoxicating. I've sampled other Pease blends with alcohol toppings, namely Haddo's, Barbary Coast, and maybe Cairo, if I remember correctly. In my experience the effect burns away at light, or lingers for just a bit, rather than imparting a heavy flavor upon the smoke. Sextant fits that description, it in no way interfered with my smoking. I know there are others with a more sensitive palate, so I will abide by their experiences.

This is the heaviest Pease Latakia mix I can recall, obviously a product of the Kentucky's inclusion. I smoked Sextant at various times before and after a bowl of 965, and I found similar strength profiles. I'm happy to see Greg incorporate Kentucky into the blend as an alternative to Perique, which is also often blended in to build strength. Because I do not have a handy supply of blending Kentucky, it is definitely difficult for me to place the leaf. It would be nice if blending houses made Kentucky available, I'm growing a bit weary of adding Perique to every last blend I smoke. Regardless, I'm thrilled to have my hands on another heavy hitting English like blend, as Nightcap can wear on a person over an extended time frame.

A few weeks ago I finished off a tin of Gawith's Navy Flake. In full flake form, the blend was quite beautiful, as I remember much darker than Sextant. It's a bit lighter, very medium in character, and also quite excellent, but the two are very different smokes. Sextant is notably heavier, and much sweeter, perhaps owing to a higher dose of Rum, but also the choice in Virginias, which play the main part. Sextant seems to push the Latakia and Orientals to the background and yet the mixture feels robust and very well balanced. Gawith blends can arrive water logged, especially those with a topping, and Navy Flake was absolutely soaked upon flipping the tin. Sextant arrives at a perfect moisture, there's never any fuss from packing to lighting and smoking through to the end. The blend showcases Greg's skill in such immaculate presentation.

I'm curious where Sextant will take us...will there be more adventurous blending experiments in the future? Different toppings, more blends with Kentucky, different sorts of cuts? I'd like to put in a request for a Lakeland like blend--a high quality aromatic with traditional British toppings. Russ has been playing this hand, I want to see where it goes.

Having departed from my ship, I'm left with an open tin of the new Balkan Sobranie. It feels so light...and boring. Time to order another ticket to sea.

25 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3046)	2015-03-29		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable

The Cyprian Latakia is smoky, woody, earthy, musty sweet as it takes a little lead. The herbal, floral, vegetative, spicy Orientals are smoky and woody as well, though dry with a slight sourness in a support role. The Virginias are the major base components and offer some tart and tangy citrus, tangy ripe dark fruit, some sugar, wood, earth, bread and toast with a touch of grass. They end up nearly being a supporting player, too. There is a mild nuttiness, floralness, herbs, earth, wood and some spice from the dark fired Kentucky that plays well with other ingredients as a condiment. The rum is somewhat sweet, always obvious, and moderately sublimates the tobaccos, less so in the last third of the smoke. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is just past the center of mild to medium. Won't bite or get harsh, though it has a few small rough edges. May need a light dry time. A broken flake that burns cool, clean and slow with a mostly consistent, mildly sweet, spicy and more savory flavor that translates to the pleasantly lingering after taste and stronger room note. Leaves virtually no moisture at the finish. Requires some relights. Not quite an all day smoke. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

22 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	quantumboy (130)	2012-04-06		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This tobacco is definitely not my style. The initial aroma and flavor reminds me of Haddo's which is not a favorite by any means. Yet this is a delicious blend! Earthy, rich, primitive in some ways, it seems to hearken back to a day when real men traveled by sea and land and needed something in their pipe to keep them alert to the dangers.

The Kentucky was the first thing I noticed. In that regard, there are some similarities here to the recent Jackknife and Triple Play blends from the house of Pease. The rum is noticeable in the aroma and the initial light, but thankfully it fades to the background and whatever it adds to the flavor thereafter is good.

It gets richer as it burns, and some complexity starts to peak through the earthiness. Vary the temperature and you'll find some toastiness, some Virginias sweetness, and some smokiness, although the Latakia is lurking far in the background according to my taster.

This is quite different from the rich English blends coming from Pease of late, which, while delicious, seem to be variations on a theme. Sextant is a departure from the formula and I think he nailed it. It ought to age wonderfully, which is why I took the risk and bought several tins out of the gate.

19 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-01-11		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

Chestnut brown broken flake with a hefty tin nose of rum and the underlying latakia and orientals. A small bit of mustiness as well.

This would be a good time to distinguish between a professional tobacco reviewer who knows his stuff (not me) and some guy who smokes a lot of tobaccos and jots down his personal thoughts on how well he likes the blends (me). I struggled mightily with this blend. The idea seemed right up my alley and I've enjoyed other alcohol flavored blends but nothing comes to mind that included latakia. Therein lies the problem for me, I think. I simply did not care for the taste of mixed latakia/orientals with rum. Going back in my mind, I think I drank rum while smoking a latakia blend once upon a time and now I can't recall drinking anything but single malt scotch with those blends.

At any rate, this was a well-behaved blend and seemed to accomplish what GLP set out to accomplish. But I tried drying out the mixture (it came fairly dry in the tin) and everything I could think to do and what occurs to me is that I simply don't like the flavor. The rum was very dominant, even when dried. A little less might have worked better for me. But the idea is an excellent one, and my "somewhat recommended" rating is simply because of my own taste buds. I highly recommend this to those who are curious about the melding of rum and latakia. As for me, I may try this one again sometime but for now I'll have to satisfy my booze-flavored tobacco penchant with Haddo's and my latakia/orientals with Samarra, Blackpoint, Odyssey and several other GLP blends, making sure to keep them separate from one another. :)

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-05-22		Medium to Strong	Medium	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Sextant is a delightful hedonistic easy smoking tobacco.

Presentation is in soft flakes which are easy to fold in or rubout. It lights easily, burns easily but slowly and is very good tempered - my tongue is a bite magnet but it has not nipped it in one and a half tins (generous 2oz tins not skimpy 50 gram Euro tins).

Sextant settled to its potential over several smokes giving a complex flavour - while not sweet it evoked the lovely dry plums you get in Germany in autumn, the sloes of English hedgerows and some lemon notes contrasting with spicy peppery flavours (possibly peppers, chilli, star anise - I am not well up on spices) mixed with some herby, grassy earthy notes. While it sounds a bit complicated the tastes are very integrated and the effect is very elegant like a fine wine in a great year.

Is the latakia noticeable? No, there are no campfire or creosote notes and, although the effect of latakia is noticeable in coolness, elegance and some toasted notes unless you are clinically allergic to latakia you could enjoy this mixture.

Is it an aromatic? No, the flavours are much more complex than a rum flavoured tobacco. Having said that I have no idea what category it is, if any, but certainly none I have come across - Dunhill had a rum cased English mixture with flake (My Mixture 620) but that was sweet and nothing like as complex - so I suspect only its maker can settle its category.

Warnings? My second tin was more recently manufactured (dated 030912) and needed 4-5 weeks air for the fruit flavours to kick in - it was originally just very spicy savoury even evoking chinese pork. But, like so many fine tobaccos patience was rewarded with a great full smoke.

Will I buy more. Reader, I have and I will unless you clear the shelves first! This is a wonderful, easy smoking, substantial, fun filled but complex mixture that I can not recommend highly or widely enough. Should appeal to those who love traditional flakes, aromatics, semi-aromatics, virginias, VaPrs and all sorts of mixtures (English, Balkan, Baltic) whether as an all day smoke, an evening smoke or a change of pace.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2080)	2015-10-26		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

G.L. Pease-Sextant. A gift from heaven!

I wasn't too sure how the blend would appear in the tin. How 'broken' will the flakes be? Well, not too broken up as most of the pieces are still in flake form, small but still flakes. I find the term broken flake can be misleading: Sometimes a broken flake can be practically an almost ready rubbed mix yet sometimes, like this, you can still easily identify the flakes.

They're all superbly moist: Not damp nor too dry.

The aroma from the tin is divine, slightly woodsy, slightly smoky and a little grass like. In fact, I enjoy just opening the can for a smell it's that nice! Surprisingly I can't identify any rum.

This lights up brilliantly. Although the flakes were still pretty intact from the tin they've already started to crumble a little making it easy to rub and fill with.

The flavour of the smoke.... wow. It's not your standard Lat' bomb. The Latakia gives a mild sort of woodsy note albeit nowhere near as smoky as your usual Lat' blends.

I find the other tobaccos are about equal in taste. A grassiness from the Virginia complimented by a good almost nuttiness from the Kentucky. All the way through a bowl the Oriental offers its more unique piquancy.

After a while I begin to notice a sort of extra sweetness, not a 'false' kind but a natural one, almost like honey. This becomes slightly more noticeable the further down the bowl I get.

Again, as in the unlit aroma, I detect no rum. I think even if it is present it would be masked by the full tobacco tastes.

The nicotine is quite strong in this. Not a proper head spinner but maybe too much for some smokers.

I find this a definite four star blend.

Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Davorin Devovic Morta

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Gauntleys

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2015-02-15		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant

Now this was an interesting mix. I got a really nice smack of Latakia combined with the other leaf and it was terrific. I am a big fan of Burley, and the Kentucky in this one offered a little extra backbone, which I enjoyed. The rum presence was discreet and Mr. Pease used just enough to enhance the overall presentation. Pipestud

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DoctorThoss (146)	2014-09-10		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

There are a lot of superlatives contained in the reviews before this one. Terms like "hedonistic," "adventurous," and "glorious" have been tossed about quite a lot, and I have to admit that I see where they are coming from. Sextant is one of Pease's most unusual blends, a genre-busting experiment like Haddo's Delight and Cairo.

When I open the tin the first thing I detect is the sweet aroma of rum, followed by latakia and a little spice. Upon first light, the flavor is almost all rum….but that only lasts for a few seconds. The alcoholic topping swiftly recedes into a background note, which is where it remains for the rest of the smoke, providing a rounded sweetness. The latakia is obvious but never overwhelming. I can detect the Kentucky, as well. But what steals the show here are the virginias and orientals, which provide a consistently evolving series of spicy notes that make this blend….well, damn near exciting to smoke. It's also quite easy to smoke, with good burning qualities and very little tongue irritation.

Sextant is a very exuberant, lively blend that really doesn't remind me of traditional English mixtures at all. What it does remind me of is a genre of tobaccos that Pease has not only avoided but publicly disavowed, namely that of the "American English" or "crossover." Examples of this class of mixture are Epiphany, Revelation, Morley's Best, Bald Headed Teacher, Barking Dog, etc. There was a time when you buy something akin to this in every drugstore in America, and both Cornell & Diehl and Hearth and Home have churned out a large number of them in recent years. That's a good thing for me, because unlike Pease I rather like the that type of blend.

Still, I can't call this a traditional "American English" because the inclusion of complex orientals distances Sextant from those aforementioned blends which, while quite delicious, are comparatively simplistic and burley-centric. Sextant possesses a richness those other mixtures can't touch (due to the heavy use of Vas rather than burley as the base) that would probably preclude this from being an all-day smoke. It's almost as though Pease has created an "American Balkan" of sorts. Personally, I'd like to think that other blenders may take a cue from Pease and experiment more in this direction. For the time being, though, Sextant is a one-of-a-kind mixture that I plan on cellaring extensively.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Beer (345)	2013-02-18		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I really wanted to like this one: I was expecting something like Mephisto (a blend I sorely miss), with the dark and sweet rum note perfectly marrying the Latakia, orientals and the rich sugary (stoved) Virginias.

And for a while, it looked like it could, with a nice thick broken flake cut to boot! Yes, because the tin aroma was lovely, and the tobacco seemed juicy, dark and "greasy".

Alas, my dreams were not fulfilled. I don't like Kentucky too much, especially in association with Latakia. And Kentucky is very much evident upon lighting the bowl...

Mind you, it's a good tobacco. But Mephisto was creamy and not too heavy, while Sextant goes on the nicotine punch side. Sure, I can slowly savour a group 4 bowl without too many hiccups... but I feel close to my personal limit. If you like/tolerate Kentucky, give it a try: it's a sturdier and earthier variation on Mephisto. Me, I'll pass: my rating reflects my personal taste only, not the quality of the blend which is very high.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2012-05-23		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

My review of Sextant is based on a rapidly consumed tin from the first distribution about two months ago. If you are not a fan of tobacco with a substantial amount of spirits added to it, you may want to move on right now. Sextant greets the nose with a significant rum smell that didn't drown out the smell of the component tobaccos, but it is dominate. It's a bit too moist right out of the tin and I chose to rub out each bowl rather than leave some of the broken flakes whole. Once rubbed out, the moisture content quickly dissipates. I must admit up front that if I am going to smoke a tobacco with spirits added to it, I want the “Full Monty” if you know what I mean, and Sextant delivers IMHO more than a “hint” of rum. Unlike another reviewer, I found Sextant to be wonderfully sweet and for the first half of the bowl, rum is the dominate flavor, but the component tobaccos are in perfect harmony for my taste. It should make an outstanding blend for cellaring. Sextant offers some complex flavor now so over time it will really shine. I am a fast smoker, a bad habit from my cigar days, and yet I find this blend seems to smoke for a very long time, even when fully rubbed out. I find it works best for me in a small to medium bowl, like a group three. My only complaint with Sextant is that it does seem to become a bit “ashy” to me in the bottom third of the bowl. Is it a big issue for me? No, but it should be pointed out. All in all, this is a great directional turn for Greg Pease and I can't wait to see what a couple of years bring for Sextant! It won't be for everyone, but for my taste it is a great twist on a Navy Flake. Highly Recommended!

NOTE: The rum flavor will decrease quickly after the tin is open for several days and become the "hint" as described.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RMBittner (66)	2012-04-26		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

After reading the posted reviews of this new blend so far, I have to throw in my agreement with quantumboy. In short, this is a medium-strength mixture in which burley plays a dominant role, while the latakia and "hint of rum" are in the far-distant background.

I love many of the Pease blends, and I wanted to love this one all the way to four stars. But I don't enjoy the harsh edge that comes with a blend that's medium-to-full in the nicotine department. Sextant is in that category. It won't make you dizzy -- thankfully, there's no perique, and the burley is well balanced with the Virginias -- but there's still enough nicotine to be decidedly noticeable in the smoke.

I was also surprised -- despite what another reviewer has perceived -- that the rum is so much in the background as to be virtually undetectable on its own. Talking of rum and naming it Sextant made me naturally expect a navy flake. But I don't think it really fits that mold; there just isn't enough rum for it to be anything more than a hint, adding a slightly richer flavor than it might otherwise have. (I would have to say the same of the latakia, as well.) That's not a bad thing. It just wasn't what the label description led me to expect.

Sextant is very well-made, and the tobaccos are top-notch. The broken-flake cut is effortless to rub out fully -- something that can't often be said of more traditional navy flakes. It burns beautifully, usually requiring only a match or two for the entire bowl. It is a truly enjoyable and relaxing smoke -- recommended to anyone looking for a change of pace from latakia-focused English blends or straight Virginias; highly recommended if you especially enjoy a more nicotine-centric blend.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Danno (106)	2015-02-12		Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium	Strong

I recently added a tin of Sextant to a tobacco order. My notes here follow after having 7 bowls of it over a 2-week period.

The tin note is arresting: slightly sour, with wafts of alcohol, virginia, and smoke. Arresting. The contents were in broken flake form, run through with brown and black leaf. Moisture level seemed on from the start, but I let the open tin breathe for about 24 hours before tasting.

I found the flavours at first light to be odd: astringent and raw at the back of the throat, with very little latakia coming through. After a few minutes, things settle down, and then what I am tasting is a very ordinary english blend, rough around the edges, served up with an alcoholic digestive. This continues on to an unremarkable finish (although relights are memorable). The smell of burnt rum lingers in a pipe long after it has been extinguished.

I'm not seeing (or tasting) artistry here. The blend behaves as if it is green; it is rough and underprepared. Perhaps the use of the dark-fired Kentucky plays a hand, but this stuff also has a marked throat-drying effect on me, and not a pleasant one. Lots of bass notes but little treble, minus the clarinet-like trill of the rum.

I can't recommend this in its current form - simply too immature. It smells remarkably good, and it looks like a quality product, but one-dimensional flavour and lack of integration make it too troublesome to enjoy.

Maybe cellaring will work wonders. The rest of my tin went into a jar.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Relapse (18)	2014-11-04		Strong	Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

When I opened my first tin of this blend, dated only a couple of months old, the aroma was so strong of dark rum that I though I had opened a black cavendish that was cased with stale beer by mistake. Only after a few minutes I recognized the rummy aroma, but then not one af a fine beverage. The flakes were also too moist and hard to rub properly.

I was far from impressed by the first bowl but half way though it I recognized this was a complex blend meant to be aged. I let the tin air for a few days and the heavy rum whiff subsided, something that was not by the way present beyond a few draws on the pipe. I finished the first tin without shame nor glory but cellared the rest.

After one year the next tin was brilliant. The rum was still present but like a good one that is casked for several years, much more mellow and gentle. The Virgina base came on sour-sweet, the Latakia mild and the fair Orientals delicate. The small touch of Cavendish always as a far reminder. This blend jumped from so-so to a definite keeper and now is a staple of my rotation.

I've hoarded on a new batch so I won't need to open a fresh tin again. My present tin (second to last) is now a tad under three years old and the blend keeps improving the way a good single malt or well aged rum turn after the 12th year in the cask.

On a generous bowl it smokes slow and fresh, complex and familiar at the same time. It never fails to invoke a sea voyage or a diving excursion. Highly recommended to lovers of Latakia blends looking for something new and unique.

Caveats: Age it for at least 18 months, let the tin air for a few days, rub well and pack lightly. This one begs to be assigned a pair of pipes. Really shines in a well designed meer or a cob of fair size.

Pipe Used: Meers, Briars and Cobs.

Age When Smoked: 1 to 3 years

Purchased From: Cup O Joes

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Simenon (20)	2012-05-07		Overwhelming	Medium to Strong	Very Full	Strong

Well this is an odd bird. First I immediately wondered why this blend was part of the "Old London Series" since according to Gregory Pease's site, blends for the series rely only

"on the natural flavours and aromas of pure tobaccos, without any added casings, sauces or top dressing"

What?

Well this is clearly not the case as Rum flavour is added to Sextant, as stated in the tin! This is odd. Well, Greg has now changed the definition of the "old london series" on his site, so the problem has been discretely "fixed". Sort of. The era of the internet permits that kind of subtle rewriting which goes pretty much unnoticed and certainly was not explained or announced. Perhaps this review will solely document this "change". Perhaps the series should be called the "Postmodern London series" -- it would be a more accurate name for it, but who would get that?

Speaking of history (or the lack thereof), this blend is supposed to be somewhat related to Mephisto -- at least with respect to the addition of rum. But that's about it. I found nothing else linking the two blends, alas.

Sextant is really atypical. Smoking shows this is a cross between an English and a navy flake. Notable elements are: (1) The presence of Burley. And boy, its there! One gets a powerful nicotine kick from this and the tell tale strong, rough and dry flavour pattern of Burley. It feels like that Kentucky burley that one sometimes find in Pease and C&D blends. It is inordinately strong nicotine wise. (2) The presence of Rum. Rum or any other flavouring usually signifies the blend is not an English one, until now I suppose. Here it is subtle, more so I think than Mephisto.

So it is an original blend. Imagine a navy blend with latakia in it! If it were a song it would be one of those poppy rap song that add bits of classic songs (that would be the Latakia, the english side of the blend) to their own (that would be the burely, the rum), I think it is called sampling. Some like it, I find it odd, unsettling. Taste wise, it is uneven though Greg blends the various elements as well as can be.

If you like blends that are odd, out of the ordinary, give it a try. I you are a traditionalist, you might want to give this a pass. I'll give the tins I had purchased to more adventurous friends.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fubber (14)	2015-06-10		Medium to Strong	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I appreciate that all reviews are subjective and I shall make this brief agreeing with much of the analytical reviews that precede this one. As has been said by others below, I really want to like this blend more than I do as it has potential - but that is the problem. Don't get me wrong -this is a nice smoke. But that is all. The problem to my mind is that it is almost too well balanced. I wanted more rum - more latakia - more spice. If I did not have anything else to smoke then I would gladly smoke this. But as long as Gaslight, Westminster, Odyssey and many other of Pease's blends are to hand I would always reach for those first. The skill of the blend in marrying the flavours together is a curse rather than a blessing.

Pipe Used: Mario Grandi

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Gauntleys

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Geronimo Von Klaus (76)	2014-09-09		Very Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Whoa. This is strong strong stuff.

5 times I have been put on weird street by pipe tobacco, and 2 of those occasions were due to this guy. The Vit N hit I get off this turns my wheel, I now need to be armed with a sweet tea and a stomach load of hearty carbs to guard against the sweats.

Anyway, this is sublime. Its kinda rough, the edges are not smooth at all and its something of a concoction. Heavy hands blended the components and brought it together, big douse of Kentucky, heavy splash of rum (the best rum note of any blends - real, heady and delightful inyourface scent), decent hit of Latakia.

It all comes together very nicely into a dose of oily, dark, murky goodness for a winter's night. I imagine this hearkens back to days when tobacco was the reserve of sailors going to and fro exotic new lands, and back in England when they mashed it all together, the finished product was something like this.

Gives your palate a noticeable film of something that tastes glorious, beautiful aroma, needs a little drying, easily rubbed out, took a few relights, but well worth all the effort.

A real find.

Can only imagine what an old tin of this will do!!

Pipe Used: XXL Billiard Briar

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	autorotate (1)	2014-01-05		Mild to Medium	Mild	Full	Pleasant

Love this! Especially drawn to the divine mix of smokey latakia and the nutty Kentucky. The modest rum topping lends itself perfectly, adding to the sweet aroma found on the nasal exhale. As others have mentioned earlier, not an aromatic. At mid-bowl, this has my eyes rolling back in their sockets... already excited for the next bowl. Smoked in a GBD Bermuda bulldog bent. Folded and stuffed. Burns perfectly to a white ash. For comparison's sake, my faves, in no particular order: Sextant, C&D Black Frigate, Penzance, Peterson's 3 P's, MacB Old Dark Fired, SG Navy Flake.

Pipe Used: GBD Bermuda Bulldog Bent

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Local B&M

Similar Blends: Black Frigate.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-04-16		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Full	Tolerable to Strong

I was one of the privileged few to sample this in early March at our pipe club dinner, where Greg Pease is a member. He brought an unmarked tin of this (approximately 3 weeks before release) for all to try, and by the time he left it was empty. Everyone loved it.

The rum flavor is very muted in this blend, lending a touch of soft sweetness, and complements the Latakia and Kentucky leaf quite nicely. A number of us felt there was Perique present in the mix, which Greg assured us was not. It is likely the Kentucky leaf (at least this is my guess) that gives this a bit of spiciness. This blend produces a very thick and luxurious smoke that does not bite no matter how madly I puff it. It has a generous nicotine kick, and I recommend sitting down for this one. I have cellared a few tins of this, and it is likely to become my after dinner smoke for the time being.

Although I like a lot of different tobaccos, GL Pease blends have become my overall favorites due to their consistent fantastic smoking qualities. Greg's experience as a master blender is very evident in everything he markets. This one is sure to please any lover of English blends.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stan (179)	2012-04-15		Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Aye mates, this is a keeper. Tested it in a new, larger Ardor (10 bowls) and in an older, smaller GBD (11 bowls). I think better in a smaller bowl.

A rich, rounded, partially broken flake which becomes fully rubbed by the time you have dug in the tin by half way.

The base is virginia and the other tobaccos are not too noticeable to me due to the rum topping, though you occasionally get a dark note of the latakia or kentucky.

When freshly opened, I felt I noticed more latakia at the outset of a bowl, but it was quickly engulfed in the rum which flavor becomes more prominant as you go on.

My test for this blend was in the keeping character of the rum, which quickly fades in some other blends (Aliester's rum topping was similarly strong at the start but after a few days it faded almost completely -- though that older tin was 15 years old when I smoked it). The first few days Sextant's rum is the dominant flavor, but after smoking the entire tin in 10-11 days, the rum mellows out some (not much) after a few days yet stays with the entire bowl to the end. If you will take more than a week or so to smoke a tin, you'll need to better protect the contents to maintain a solid rum profile. I did nothing special to preserve it but put the top folders back in and lid back on.

Although the base tobaccos make this blend rich overall, it is the rum profile that makes it taste delicious. The base alone would not do it for me (I smoked the remaining scraps after 11 days and it was -- exposed in a pretty much empty can -- rather plain by then). If you don't like rum or liquer flavors in tobacco, this blend is not for you. I didn't know I liked them so much until after a few bowls of this.

I was impressed as this is a full tasting blend (not as heavy as an English) with a tasty rum flavor (Master Please admits it's rum, but if there is something else to help it along, I do not know). The flavor is why I like it and I am not normally an aromatic smoker. A fairly consistent flavor. Not hot or bitey or wet to me, but a full sensory experience. 1 or 2 bowls a day was plenty for me.

This has more flavor, character, and body to me than either MB's or SG's Navy Flake. Of course, this is a deluxe navy flake with a virginia flake and light english mixture pressed and combined.

Highly recommended to the bold virginia smokers. Make it so.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stah (151)	2022-06-14		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The 8 ounce tin I bought to try had a release date of "January 4, 2015". The tobacco had been on the shelf for over seven years, quite enough time to age. The appearance of the tobacco is a broken flake the color of pine chaff with flecks of darker latakia and lighter orientals and Virginia. The moisture content is perfect despite its age, and the broken flake has only gotten softer over the years, and is easily stuffed into the pipe.

The overall flavor is quite complex. Suede, almond nut, floral note, sweet baked apple, pine tar note, light smokiness, a bit of smokiness, and a spicy spice set in the background that is hard to parse into its components. The rum gives the bouquet, aged for years, a caramel touch. The flavor is rather pleasant, although, in my opinion, the nutty note is a bit out of place.

Taste... This is where the difficulties began. Initially, the blend behaved like a very good English blend: light grassy-fruity sweetness of Virginia overlaid with quite creamy support and smokiness of latakia, plus spicy oriental. But Kentucky quickly stepped in, adding density to the latakia, and the overall flavor acquired a fair earthy-nutty tone. By the end of the first third of the pipe, it was clear that the Kentucky in the blend was definitely not for the smell - it is quite a wholesome player, and the blend looked more like an American blend with latakia and oriental than an English blend with Kentucky, which for me was a bit too much. I was not able to finish a large pipe because I felt the excess of this component. But, after trying three or four of the pipes I had, I found one in which smoking it made the Kentucky taste less significant - although, of course, it didn't go anywhere. It was a small Rhodesian pipe, the Peterson 999. In this pipe the tobacco was the most balanced in taste, although along with the Kentucky, density of the latakia decreased somewhat. Nevertheless, the blend was quite mild and didn't bite, although a slight roughness remained until about the middle of the pipe. The tobacco smoked very dry and cool, burning out into an almost white dusty ash. From my own experience, subtracting the subjective influence of Kentucky, I believe the blend has a medium strength.

The smoke from the blend is not too dense, but it is long enough to be felt in the room, smelling of smoldering wood with a hint of almond and sandalwood.

What's the bottom line? I can count on the fingers of one hand the Burley and Kentucky blends that I really liked. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Sextant is not one of them, but it's not the Kentucky. The reason is that, for all the complexity of flavor and taste of the blend, I have not found something that would "hook" me. The blend is quite decent, but Sextant - a typical "jack of all trades, master of none", all good, but nothing came out. A good American with latakia, but that's all.

Pipe Used: Peterson 106, 150, 999

Age When Smoked: 2015

Purchased From: Online

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Deckard Cain (39)	2018-01-09		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

IV smoked a lot of this stuff. I enjoy it a lot. I do not understand anyone saying the rum flavor was strong. I've bought many cans of this, years apart. But IV never detected the rum. Not once. The Latakia is the most pronounced element along with the oriental. Its the first thing you encounter, but can easily be scared away by not puffing gently. The idea behind this tobacco is interesting, but ultimately this plays like a strong English. I like it a lot. Its is the rarely encountered, complex English with good strength. It seems old, in a good way

Pipe Used: Cobs, petersons

Age When Smoked: New and 3 year aged.

Purchased From: P n C

Similar Blends: Quiet nights, odessy.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2017-12-24		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Sextant is simply brilliant. The addition of Dark-Fired Kentucky brings some depth and complexity to the smokiness of the Latakia. The Virginias are subtle and so are the Orientals, as the Latakia and DFK are very full. Not very complex, Sextant is still very satisfying and could make you crave for it. The rum topping just works wonders by giving this stout blend a sweetness that balances out the components.

Age When Smoked: 3 years 2 months

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	dedalto (25)	2015-04-02		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Strong

This is an outstanding tobacco. It harkens back to some of the old tobacco of the pre WII era. Rum has always worked well with tobacco and this is a doozy. The dark rum blends perfectly with the tobaccos especially the Kentucky. I am not sure this would age well because the rum might well dissipate and in this blend the rum is the secret ingredient. You want it full and favorable. Without it this tobacco is just nice. With it it is intriguing and exciting. Some tradionalists may not get this tobacco but they will be missing out on some kick ass blends.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TorontoSmoker (19)	2015-03-31		Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium	Strong

I do not like this blend. It just did not sit well with me, and I found it somewhat nauseating. I wasn't sure why - was it because of the rum topping? Or because the tobaccos in this just don't blend well together? Maybe all of the above.

I wouldn't classify this as an English blend by any stretch. The flavours in this blend just don't come together very well IMO. It's not as sweet and moist as Sutliff's rum flavoured Barbados Plantation, but just as unpleasant for different reasons. Anyways, the rest of my tin is up for offer to any fellow pipe smokers in the GTA region that would like to give it a whiff.

Pipe Used: briar, meer

Age When Smoked: new to 6 months

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

Similar Blends: .

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Cumarinophil (108)	2015-03-04		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

G.L. Pease Sextant is a ready rubbed Navy style blend, presented in mid brown to almost black shades of leaf. I find the smoky-sweet tin note very compelling and once lit the taste does not disappoint. This is easily a three to four star when fresh.

Aging a previously opened tin for another couple of months (up to a bit over a year in my case), makes the smoke extraordinary gentle and mellow. It loses some of the edge and some of the casing compared to a fresh tin and has the Orientals come through to take over the lead. Despite the softness, the tobacco remains satisfying. The nicotine reveals itself about half way down the bowl for me.

Be careful not to accidently draw in some of the super fine, bright ash remaining and enjoy.

Pipe Used: Various with and without filter

Age When Smoked: fresh to over 1yr

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kyohan (13)	2015-01-31		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Last spring my wife and I took a trip to Ashville NC with our son and daughter-in-law to celebrate our daughter-in-law's graduating with her PHD. While we were there we wandered into a pipe shop (sorry, I don't remember the name) and my wife bought me a new Savinelli pipe. I had brought a few cigars with me on the trip, but since it was just two days, and since I didn't know if I would have a time or place to smoke, I hadn't packed any pipes or tobacco.

When we checked into our hotel I noticed that they had a big covered porch with nice comfy chairs and ceiling fans and thought that would be the perfect spot to sit in the evening and enjoy a pipe, but as i mentioned above, I hadn't brought any (my mistake!). So when my wife purchased the new Savinelli I had to get something to put in it so I could have the first smoke in it out on the porch, so I looked around the tins of tobacco that the shop had and the first one that caught my eye was Sextant.

The tin said that it contained Ripe Virginia, Latakia, Orientals, and some Dark-Fired Kentucky with a hint of Dark Rum; this sounded right up my alley, so I bought the tin and cracked it open as soon as we got back to the hotel.

The tin aroma is sweet and slightly smoky and you can taste the sweetness from the Rum when you draw through the unlit pipe, but that kind of goes away on the light. When lit you get the smokiness of the Latakia (and the Dark-Fired?) at first, which transitions into a more Virginia sweetness as the bowl progresses.

This was the perfect tobacco for that evening out on the hotel porch, and I continued to enjoy the rest of the tin when I got back home.

I have never had a bad GLP tobacco, but this one ranks up there with some of my favorites. I love this one and it is highly recommended!

Pipe Used: Savinelli 320

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Pipe shop in Ashville NC

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	hedgehog (8)	2014-11-13		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Short version: a complex blend, balanced and compelling in the first half of the bowl, murkier in the second half.

Presentation: a chunky, crumbly cut flake or cake texture, headily redolent of rum, or rather, of a spirituous distillation of tobacco, molasses, and leather. The rum acts as a solvent for the other aromas, and the nose is concentrated, unified, and heady.

Light: requires at least two good charring lights out of the tin, probably three. After that, Sextant burns steadily, producing copious clouds of white smoke.

First half: Sextant, without any mincing preliminaries, starts off with impressive force and complexity. The rum is present, but as suggested above, serves to blend or fuse the other flavors, the smoke and leather of the Latakia, the jerky-like meatiness of the Kentucky, and the spice of the orientals, all underpinned with the beautifully blent Virginias that do such job of supporting and framing other forceful Pease blends, chiefly Abingdon in my experience. The different components play off one another, shifting in and out of view, while maintaining a complex equilibrium. For the first twenty minutes of each bowl, I am astounded by the sheer chordal complexity, like enormous organ music in a dark church.

Sadly for me, this complexity leads more or less abruptly into a state of fatigue, where the Latakia numbs out to a neutral, lineament-like coolness, like menthol without the mint. The Kentucky, never a subtle leaf, begins to heave itself around erratically, kicking up a lot of dust. Once the equilibrium of the whole consort is lost, a murkiness takes over. Not unpleasant, just unfocused and a little heavy. It may be that for others the combination of Latakia, Rum, and Kentucky works a kind of dark magic, but for me, the collision of strong personalities here devolves into, if not a shouting match, then something less than civil and noisier than I like.

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2013-10-25		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Complex and very flavorful. A nice English with a touch of rum. A most satisfying smoke.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Wibblefishofdoom (139)	2013-09-03		Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I had one or two reservations upon ordering this, the description as a rum laced navy flake reminded me a little too much of SG's Navy Flake, an insufferable tobacco that I ended up disposing of about half way through the tin. I quite rightly questioned my desire to purchase this on that basis and can only put it down to my desire to try some Pease tobaccos and this being one of the few in stock when I placed my order online. My subsequent experiences of smoking it, however, are justification enough.

Upon opening the 2oz drum, I was greeted with a strange smell, it was one akin to silage with a sweet whiff to it, so wrong yet somehow strangely and very palatable. The rich dark browns of the flakes did, though, provides a lot of reassurance, they just seemed so right sitting there in the tub. Rubbing is no problem as the flakes just pull apart so easily, making the packing a doddle. Upon light, the flavour hits and it's so nice, less silage, more rum, just as sweet. The flavours from the tobacco nicely raise their head during the smoke, almost as if peeping out through curtains, especially the latakia, giving a delicate complexity to the experience. Throughout the remainder of the tin the flavour has remained pretty much the same, it will be such a shame when I have finished it. The only other thing worthy of note is the strength, it does pack a punch on the nicotine front.

This, then, is an absolute delight to smoke. I really do have a job pacing myself with this as I am finding it hard not to smoke this all the time. Sadly, this is not in stock at the moment with Gauntleys of Nottingham, the only supplier I can get it from in the UK. It's probably just as well as I seem to have found a tobacco that I would be happy to smoke all the time. I can't help crack a smile, though, that a small, relatively new, independent blender can outperform a well established brand like SG on what must be quite a difficult tobacco to blend. Thank you Mr Pease, keep up the good work.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LoneRider (24)	2012-07-21		Strong	Medium	Medium	Overwhelming

Okay, folks. This is my first review. I've been smoking for 40 years and finally decided to take a crack at reviewing some of the tobaccos I've tried. I'm not as gifted at picking out particulars as many of you are. I plan to give a more general review; how does it small, room note, and is it a pleasant tast or does it make you want to toss it out.

I picked up two small tins of Sextant at the Chicago show this spring. I've smoked many of Greg's blends and overall, I've enjoyed them. Wish I could say the same for Sextant. Upon opening the tin, the aroma is almost nauseating. The taste is relatively mild considering the tobaccos used. I was rather surprised at this. The problem is that there just isn't enough kick to make it memorable. I should add that this was smoked in a large Larryson calabash that had never seen any other tobacco (got that at the show, too). Where this blend really loses out is in the room note. As mentioned, I smoke many strong blends (Odessey, Blue Mountain, Maltese Falcon, Spilman Mixture, etc). My wife is very tolerant. However, this was the first time she told me to put it out or get out (outside that is). After leaving the room and coming back (something I do often to get a good idea of the odor), Had to agree with her. This was noxious to the extreme. I have a bowl or two left in the tin and after I finish that, I will buy no more.

Without a great taste to make up for its other shortcomings, I simply can't recommend this tobacco. Sorry, Greg. Better luck next time.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JohnnyMcPiperson (119)	2012-04-26		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This blend took a few smokes to grow on me. It prefers, at least in my opinion, thick walled pipes with a medium sized bowl, in a smaller bowl it gets a bit to sharp and in a larger bowl in my opinion it's just to much smoke, to rich of a blend to be smoking for that long. With that said, once I figured this out, I loved the blend, I'm still smoking it and will probably buy more, this one has become a fast favorite. I love the burley/va interplay overtop of the hint of leathery latakia with that nice hint of rum to top it all off! I don't care for aromatics, and this blend isn't one, the rum complements the existing tobacco flavors very well in my opinion and does not overwhelm anything. The flakes are easy to rub out and pack, virtually falling apart in your fingers!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	smoking-rob (79)	2012-04-12		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

As it happens, I am smoking a six year old tin of GL Pease's Sextant, courtesy of my recently restored time machine. It has propelled me into the year 2018 and I am smoking a tin I bought in april 2012. When I first smoked it then, I was pleasantly surprised by the smoothness of this broken flake where VA, Orientals, Kentucky and Latakia are blended in perfect harmony. I can taste a faint anise flavouring so presumably this has been used, as well as a rum topflavour. The story now in 2018 is pretty much the same but all the rum has evaporated and the tobacco is darker and mellower now. I think I will return to 2012 again and finish that tin asap :)

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BingCrosby (162)	2019-10-16		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is a pretty gosh darn good smoke.. the latakia is too much for me.. but.. the way the blend is composed gives a robust flavorful experience.. the addition of Kentucky is very unique.. as is the 'navy' character.. my one complaint is it at times just tastes like a robust English.. maybe a bolder black mallory.. but at other times you just get lost in it and enjoy its uniqueness.. smoky.. sweet.. robust.. enough strength to meet any evening.. but very particular.. a solid smoke.. for me not a regular smoke.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Voyaging (80)	2019-03-01		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Strong

This came in broken flake form. I always talk about the rustic appeal of Cornell and Diehl's flakes. No complaints here. The tin note was woody and smoky, and there are some fruity sweet notes as well with a touch of a sour vinegary, meaty smell. The moisture was okay right out of the tin, but drying would help with combustion.

Note on the flavoring: it is said that the rum is the same rum used in Navigator. It adds a nice sweetness to the blend, more in the way of a tropical fruit taste.

Smoking slowly gave me leather notes, sweet pastry, baking spices, incense. The nutmeg note is superb. It's something I occasionally get with Navigator and Cumberland as well. It's a phenomenal note to pick up in a tobacco blend. There were also some cigar-like notes that appeared towards the end of the bowl. This blend is a nice treat for me, and unique among the blends containing Latakia. The dark-fired Kentucky and rum add interesting flavors. Four stars.

Pipe Used: Various briars

Age When Smoked: Fresh from tin

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tucane (31)	2018-10-31		Medium to Strong	Medium	Full	Tolerable

To me, Sextant is a rum forward blend, with enough nicontine to be a morning smoke. The added rum flavouring does a great job in merging the smoky latakia and the nutty somewhat fiery kentucky. This unholy trio grants this blend it's own unique character and flavor profile with a unified aroma. Excellent!

Even though I taste some virginia, I have a hard time detecting the nuances of it due to the other components and the rum... fortunately that's a non-issue for me, as I enjoy rum in all shapes and forms, especially the dark ones.

Highly recommended!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jamdangler (9)	2018-08-29		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Full	Strong

I find myself reviewing tobacco that I am in love with and this is no different. My tin was old and just about to bust when I cracked it. The note from the tin was rich tobacco and rum. My first experience was supprisingly boring - not at all what I was expecting. Subsequent bowls brought out the latakia and it was love from then on out. I have never been one to have a tobacco change flavor throughout the bowl. This one moves from dark rum to latakia puff by puff. Very contemplative and delicious.

Age When Smoked: 5+ years

Purchased From: Edward's Pipe and Tobacco Englewood, CO

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LannarkGent (145)	2018-07-01		Mild	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This blend has a complex flvor, belying it's complex composition of Virginia, Oriental, and just a dash of Latakia. For me, this tends to be much more Virginia forward than many of the other GL Pease blends. I would classify this as an advanced pipe smoker's blend that needs to be slowly smoke to fully appreciate all that it has to offer. I found the tobacco in my tin to be a little moist, but a 5 to 10 minute dry time would easily fix. I would recommend this to anyone that has an experienced Virginia based palate. There is a slight touch of rum that seems to accent a slight nutty flavor.

Pipe Used: Ashton Windsor

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Purchased From: Indian River Tobacco Grand Rapids MI

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	r (34)	2016-12-25		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

There are many crown jewels in the G. L. Pease treasury, and this is certainly one of them. I wish it came with a fun story, such as "I was working on a new English blend, and I dropped some rum flavoring on top -- decided to smoke it and it worked". This is, however, likely the output of a very careful design.

The fire-cured Kentucky and the Virginia form a great, strong basis for this blend. I find a playful peppery flavor that stimulates the palate in a delightful way, likely because of the Orientals used. The Latakia is "classic" Pease: strong and forward. And then there's the casing. I don't know where it lodged firmly -- probably the Kentucky -- but that plus the sugary Virginia is quite the treat.

The broken flake presentation is quite convenient. I decided to fold it and pack it in a poker, which turned out to be magical. Copious smoke production, an even burn, and a very fine white ash attest to the quality of this tobacco.

Fans of Black Frigate will find this blend to be stronger flavored than their everyday choice, with perhaps the most noticeable changes coming from the Latakia and the heavier nicotine content.

Pipe Used: Peterson Mark Twain

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Hemingway, Palo Alto, CA

Similar Blends: Cornell & Diehl - Black Frigate.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sybariten (61)	2016-11-23		Medium	Mild	Full	Strong

I really enjoy this, a fine blend to my taste. Latakia always tells a story, I'd say, be it wispers of autumn campfires or tales of nautic adventure. This is the latter of those two, the rum and latakia combine to set sail for a quiet cove of contemplation and dreams. I would smoke this at sea at any given time, or on the porch at dusk. For those moments, this is spot on.

Taste: The scent of rum is pregnant, the latakia lingering over it with its smokey allure of darkness. Upon lighting the rum recedes, and primarily kentucky and latakia takes the stage. There is a sweetness to the blend, probably in part due to the virginia but also due to the topping; it does not dominate but it is there. Further down the bowl a spicy tingle is added as the kentucky grows more pronounced.

Mechanics: Comes as a broken flake, ready to smoke right out of the tin. No dottle, no bite. Medium nicotine strength.

Pipe Used: Briars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2015-10-29		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Overwhelming

It takes a mad scientist to spend his time smashing together navy flakes, aromatics, and latakia blends like some Model UN that contains only the worst of Scandinavia, England, and the USA.

It was a neat idea though.

Age When Smoked: 6 months

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	point9 (114)	2015-07-03		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I agree with Pipestud's review that this is an unique and interesting blend but not easy to determine whether it would stay in my regular rotation. The tin note is as good as tobacco can get, and the flavor is complicated and keeps changing. Rum note diminishes after 1/3 of the bowl, I don't think it should ghost the pipe. Eager to see how it ages.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2015-04-02		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

From a "Fresh Tin"- I don't think so,,,, I find GL Pease blends very finicky, they either need 6 months of cellar time, are too old school strong ( like this), or are Magnificent . When I find one that is not to my personal liking, I'm reluctant to criticize, because "Followers of Pease" seem to have a religious experience with his blends. Upon opening a a fresh tin, my initial reaction was " this blend is terrible", tasted like I was smoking a "Wolf Brothers, Crooks Rum Soaked Cigar" from 40 years ago ( you haven't smoked one ? you'd never smoke a second !). I just took the tin and threw it on the "pile of misfit tobacco's".

Fast forward about a week: After numerous openings of the tin and sniffing, I determined the rum topping had somewhat dissipated and It was time to gave this one another try,,,,,,,,"not bad", but I'll give it another few weeks to breath. The rum is still too distracting for me.

Third week open- the initial light still produced a strong "muddy" flavor and a considerable rum note. The flavor mellowed some with subsequent relights ( DGT) . However, I never felt like this was a blend that was worth ordering again, smokable , yes, worthy of more than 2 stars ,no.

Open 3 months-This blend turns creamy and interesting after allowing breathing time in order to temper the rum. It is a flavorful and smooth offering while allowing one to appreciate all the components without overpowering them with rum. But I have to give this considerable breathing time.

I'm not going to say it's an everyday blend , but I do crave it once every two weeks. A nice change. 3 stars

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: fresh/3 weeks/ 3 months

Similar Blends: C&D's Black Frigate.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	raybrown55 (46)	2014-12-26		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Very very good. The rhum flavor lasts throughout the entire bowl and merges very well with the aroma of the tobaccos, creating an unique and wonderful taste. Highly recommended

Purchased From: Dubini (Switzerland)

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beercritic (33)	2014-12-13		Strong	Medium	Full	Tolerable to Strong

I'm reeling, just having smoked a bowl, so I need to gather my thoughts. Not quite as delightful as Quiet Nights or Gaslight, but fairly amazing. The Pease that suits my palate ars amazing. The tin note is sublime, not quite making it into the smoke. This will develop into a tobacco, nothing short of amazing. I have a dozen tins I hope to resist until a couple years have passed. I love strong assertive blends. Kudos, Mr. Pease,our Dark Lord.

Pipe Used: Meer

Age When Smoked: 7 month old tin

Purchased From: P&C

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	natibo (169)	2014-11-14		Very Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Very Strong

OK. This is awesome. Has a good strong nic hit, which I like. The rum seems to be forward at first but quickly fades. The Latakia is barely present, adding just a little flavor. Otherwise, a just a good, if not unconventional, Navy Flake. The only downside is that it is the only tobacco my girlfriend says I should smoke outside.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2014-07-14		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Now Sextant is really something else. Even though it might seem a bit odd at first with the addition of DFK and a wee bit of rum, this flake works out wonderfully well. My tin has 9 months of age, the flakes are at the perfect humidity level now and the burning qualities are just right. The tin note is of rum, latakia - not dominant -, the spiciness of OR and some smokiness from the DFK. Easy to light up, it did not need frequent relights. The main flavour when I puff in is the sweetness of the rum; the main flavour upon exhaling out the smoke is smokiness and spiciness. The DFK definitively adds some backbone on the nicotine department and it,s just right for my liking. I barely, if not at all, detect the flavour of the VAs. Really, this was a very good smoking experience. I really enjoy Sextant and look forward to discovering the other offerings in this Old London Series.

Pipe Used: Stanwell; Dunhill

Age When Smoked: 9 months

Purchased From: 4noggins

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigCasino (27)	2013-12-10		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Tolerable to Strong

Tin Aroma is very strong and pungent, and so is the flavor when first opened, jar it up and let it sit for a while and what you end up with is a nice scottish style blend

Pipe Used: La Rocca, Fantasia

Purchased From: Alegheny Smoke Works

Similar Blends: Strathspey.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrT999 (318)	2013-11-24		Medium	Medium	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

When I first opened this, I took a second look at the label, as there was a bit of a McClellend nose from the tin. It blew off after about a week. A blend of some complexity, although the most obvious note in the Latakia. The rum is dark and very present. I would have thought there would be few who could be neutral about this -- a very distinctive blend, stronger on the rum and latakia than, say, SG Navy Flake.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2013-05-31		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Strong

This is my first foray into reviewing tobacco blends. Also my pipe smoking experience has, for the most part fully involved aromatics. My few experiences with "English" blends or other unflavored blends has been one of unhappy results to say the least. Until now I thought I just did not possess the fortitude or taste to really enjoy a blend like this. How wrong I was.

Let me get started on my review:

This review is based upon only a few bowls of a three month old tin. The tin note was an unexpected treat, I could definitly detect the rum, as well as an earthiness like peat moss(sorry that's what it reminded me of) The colors were muted mostly dark tans and browns with just a few lighter tans intermingled in the flakes. The flakes felt moist, but broke apart easily. I rubbed out a rough ribbonlike pile and filled my Stanwell bent blast. The unlit inhale again provided a definite rumlike taste, as well as a sweet undertone. Charring light realeased a sweet/spicy sensory overload. Full light settled down the spicyness and put the sweetness on a more even keel. There was no bite whatsoever. This was the most pleasant part for me as other blends have sent me scrambling for something to put out the fire. One third of the way through the bowl, the latakia came to the forefront, but not harsh or bitter. There was such a great balance of flavors I forgot that this had rum in it. At this point, I experienced what I have heard others describe as a "creaminess", a thick mouth feel, not sweet or cloying just a pleasant warm smokiness. I didn't taste the rum until near the end, and then as more of an afterthought. This was one of the first blends that I didn't want to end, I have had some that I couldn't wait to get away from, but I kept trying to relight even after there was obviously only ashes left. I was hooked, I kept thinking of this throughout the day and wanted to rush back to it. However, I wanted to make sure that this wasn't a fluke so I tried again the next day in a Benton Select, and again I was rewarded with an excellent smoke.

The third smoke was not as enjoyable, but I blame that on the Canadian I used that had been ghosted by too many aromatics. For me this blend works best in a small to medium diameter bowl. The only drawback is, as others have mentioned, the room note would not be pleasant for non smokers. I am awaiting my next three tins as soon as they have been restocked. I am now a huge fan and will be trying more of Mr. Pease's blends soon

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darth Vader (110)	2013-04-22		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I'm not sure why but this reminds me of Penzance but with less orientals. Probably because the flavours all come together and give a somewhat iodine taste. Strange that there is rum in this a it doesnt really taste of rum rather only smell of it. As with Penzance, i couldnt smoke it all day, but when i want it, it is sublime. My money is on this being the blend that Greg is remembered for.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-11-05		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

First review. Although I've only got a month under my belt for pipe smoking, I've made it a point to sample about 20 different (suggested) blends so far & this is by far one of my favorites. Full bodied with a nic. kick. I don't taste any rum but I do like the smokiness of the latakia - reminds me of beef jerky- a very hearty, enjoyable flavor.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cgar (37)	2012-09-05		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Was a little hesitant to go with this smoke because normally I prefer the taste of the more natural blends, but because it was a Pease blend I figured I could try a little different smoke built by a master blender. My take is that this is a medium/strength mixture in which I find burley playing a dominant role, while the latakia and whif of rum are in the far-distant background. Smokes slow, cool, and dry but the roomnote will have you run out of the house. Although it did not convert me to these types mixtures Sextant still has nice qualities if you like this type of weed.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DavidP (25)	2012-06-20		Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable

I'm almost done with my first 2oz tin so I'll get my thoughts down. To me the flavor overall is of dark fruit and toffee with a wood smoke layering on top. It's pretty complex but the flavors are very well-blended so it's hard to pick them apart with any great detail. I do get the rum but it's very complimentary and not at all cloying. Strong in the nicotine department.

As it's a cut flake it's takes a few charring lights to get going but smokes well from there on out. Right out of the tin it was at a good moisture level for me.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-04-07		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I had high hopes for this blend as I have tried several of Pease's other similar blends and have had overall very pleasant experiences with them. In general, I am a big fan of English blends with a good portion of orientals and I like heavier Latakia blends as well.

Upon opening the tin I was greeted by a smell which was mostly smokey with a subtle hint of floral sweetness in the background. To my nose there did not seem to be any rum smell out of the tin that I noticed. The cut seemed to be a partially broken flake which can easily be rubbed out as desired, which I found very nice.

At first light this blend is quite smokey, in good way I might add. The flavor is rich with nice earthy tones to it. This continues until about halfway through the bowl until the floral sweetness that I smelled in the tin starts to come out. The flavors are quite complex and keep my pallet interested throughout the smoke. The leaves burn to a nice white ash as do all of the fine tobaccos that I have tried from G.L. Pease.

This blend is very satisfying and since the arrival of my first few tins it has seemed to be the first blend I reach for when I want a full, relaxing smoke. I have already ordered several more tins of this blend and expect it to age very nicely. Highly recommended.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pacific Captain (17)	2021-11-21		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

The name may not be mentioned as much as other big name favorite blends but this is an underrated delight. The nose is great. A touch of Latakia, a burst of Virginia tartness and a nice natural rum flavor for even more sugar. A hint of Kentucky ups the strength and this blend sings. It’s a complex bbq English navy aromatic with nicotine to boot. It’s complex but sweet, strong but smooth. Another hit from gl pease while sailing the seas!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LiterarySmoker (143)	2021-04-18		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

The look of the tin leaves a little to be desired similar to Navigator. When you open the tin you find soft broken flakes that are mostly dark in color. The tin note starts out with sweet rum and creamy Latakia. There is some Virginia hay and Kentucky spice in the background. The flakes are smokeable out of the tin. They pack well and light well. It wants a few relights but burns consistently for the most part.

When I light my pipe I taste the rum first. It is sweet and caramely. The topping son fades to the background and the Latakia steps up to bat. It's very creamy, woody, and filling. The Orientals weave in and out giving pockets of incense and tang. The Virginias give a bready backbone while the Kentucky gives its characteristic spice and earth. The rum sits in the background, but it is more noticeable than other reviews I have done with rum-topped blends. Burns slowly.

The taste is a medium-full. The Latakia is mouth filling and the rum elevates the components. The strength is a medium. It seems like Lady N is here for a good time. This comes across as a fairly unique example of a Navy flake. The room note is I think pleasant but it depends on how much you and your loved ones like the smell of Latakia. A good blend that ends up being an evening smoke for me most of the time.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Hercules Bulldog

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrAcula (62)	2021-02-16		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Presentation: Cream colored label with what I would take a wild guess and say is a sextant, and fancy cursive reading "Sextant". For those who don't know, this is a navigation instrument.

Cut: Comes in a broken flake, rubs out into a chunky ribbon cut. Moisture was fine for me if not a touch on the moist side.

Tin note: Smells of a slightly fruity sweetness and a smooth smokiness.

Tasting notes: Earthy, toasty, and a bit tart on light up. Slight bread on the finish. Somewhat smoky but it's very smooth. I didn't even realize this had a rum topping until I looked the blend up on the site. I wish all alcohol toppings were done like Greg does them! I didn't realize it was there but after seeing that it's in here that makes sense, it definitely adds something to this blend while being discreet. There's a slight slight sweetness with every puff. It's not obvious but it is there and modifies the earthiness. I taste remnants of Abingdon or Kensington in here. This blend is similar to those, but this blend comes off as a much less obvious english blend. Like an english blend in disguise, although as the bowl progresses, the "disguise" diminishes. Also just noticing some spice here and there later into the bowl.

Mechanics: A well behaved blend, I have nothing except to say that this is a very cool smoking blend. You don't need to think about cadence when puffing on this one.

Extra Remarks: While I did write a lot in the tasting notes, I do feel that this blend is somewhat of a straight shooter. A nice english blend but with a twist. Decent complexity, not in the variety of flavors it throws at you, but in the nuance of the few that are there, flavorful, easy to handle. Oh, also this might pack a bit of a wallop for the nicotine lightweights. Overall a good blend, 3 stars.

Pipe Used: IMP Straight Billiard Meer

Age When Smoked: 2 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2018-09-09		Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Sextant to me is a great latakia strong flake from GLP.

Tin note: Smokiness, Spiciness, that hint of rum/liquor.

Packing: Crumble up the broken flakes into one of my pots or author shapes. It seems to love a flatter bowl.

Lighting: After the charring light, seems to burn well. Only needs an occasional relight when I dont pay attention while sipping.

Bowl Flavor: To me the latakia and orientals star in this one. Do not get much of the rum. As it burns it moves back and forth from smoky to spicy. Never becomes harsh to my taste at least.

Overall: A great compliment to Navigator in this series. Nice for an evening while drinking a dark rum and coke or maybe a scotch. Does hit me at least with a pretty strong Nic punch

Pipe Used: various

Age When Smoked: fresh to one year

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ulysses4 (3)	2018-03-24		Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I opened the can about 2 months ago and put the baccy in a mason jar. The smell was potent and seemed pretty spicy to my nose. I was put off a bit because it made me think smoking it would also be very spicy.

Same night I rubbed it out a little, loaded up a bowl (I think it was my bent Stanwell freehand) and I really just didn’t like it. It came off as too peppery (my original fear), not much smoke production, and thin tasting. So I didn’t smoke any more for a month and a half.

Now to today: a thorough rubbing out, loaded a full bowl in my Peterson 120 Dublin and oh what a tasty treat! I don’t know if it just needed to be free from it’s canned Bastille for a time, or if it just didn’t like my Stanwell. Either way, it’s now a nice and smooth taste, the flavors are mellow and well blended, and just a small punch of pepper. Really enjoy it and I’m glad I revisited with a different briar.

Pipe Used: Peterson Aran 120 (Dublin)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr.James (39)	2017-07-30		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

An interesting variation of a Navy flake, Sextant is balanced and potent. The red Virginias are sweet and impart citrus notes. The orienals are tangy and buttery, the Cypran Latikia is rich, woodsy and resinous. The dark fired Kentuckys are nutty and toasty rich. Perique adds stewed fruit, black pepper and a sour nuance. The Dark rum casing sweetens the blend and adds several spicy notes, molasses and tannins while intensifying the blend overall. Burns at a medium pace and leaves a little moisture but no dottle. Strength builds mid bowl. Very complex and satisfying but takes some patience.

An all day smoke to few but the experienced naval Capitan.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Theosprey247 (73)	2017-01-17		Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable

This is a English mix with a rum topping served in a broken flake form. My tin contents were dry and the first couple of bowls were unremarkable. I was going to write this blend as a dud, but then it dawned on me to rehydrate it via the sponge method and oh boy was there a difference! I rubbed the broken flake out and sometimes I just poured the flakes into my pipe. By rubbing the flakes out it requires less relights.

3 stars cause I shouldn't have to rehydrate tobacco

Age When Smoked: New

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	onehitter (16)	2014-06-01		Medium to Strong	Medium	Full	Tolerable

Frog Morton's Cellar  eat your heart out! G. L. Pease Sextant is one of the best in my jars, it's just a nice easy smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30167)	2012-04-27		Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I`m not shure if I like the Sextant. Normally I prefer naturally tobaccos or on the other side aromatic tobaccos. I think a tobacco between both genres is very diccult for me. So the first third of the pipe I was a little angry about Greg. I asked me what want he purpose with this tobacco? The added flavor was for me too dominant so I feel the smoke a bit boring and not complex. But than the tobacco turned round. The tobacco, especially the latakia get mor body and the taste brings me essentiell and tarry notes.The combination of the flavor and the latakia tasted me very well. It is an unusal combination but it is a interessting combination. I don`t like it every day but when I smoke it I enjoy this blend. So I think it is not a great tobacco, but it is a nice and very well balanced tobacco for people, who like a latakiablend with a bit sweet flavor. recommended

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (557)	2022-11-29		Medium to Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable

Tin note of sweet and smoky with a little spice. The multiple shades of brown Broken Flakes rub out easily. Tobacco is damp and may need a little drying. Burns slow with few relights. The strength is medium to strong and nic is medium. Flavoring is mild, with notes of sweet rum. Taste is full and consistent, with complex notes of smoky, herbal spices, musty wood, floral, dry earth, mild tangy sour, sweet grass, mild orange bitter, toasted bread, spicy, mild tart dark fruit, a sweet nutty background note, and a peppery retro. Latakia is barely leading the Virginias with Oriental/Turkish supporting. Kentucky is providing support where needed. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Pipe Used: 2013 J.M. Boswell Poker

Age When Smoked: 6 years

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	musicman (131)	2022-08-02		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I was surprised by this one. I was expecting it to be much stronger than it was.

The tin I used for this review had a 2020 tin date, so roughly two years old at smoke give or take. A slight bulge in the top got me excited. On opening the tin, there is a nice cut flake. Mostly dark tobaccos. A very strong latakia smell, with a note of the mentioned rum topping. The rum scent was not as prominent as I expected.

It probably did not need any air time, but my routine is to give everything at least 30 minutes (personal preference) so that is what it got. Rubbed out easily, and loaded easily. Light was easy, and on the light, Mr. Pease became a magician.

When flame hit weed I got a very strong and heady latakia hit. I smiled and thought "buckle up, this one is going to be fun", and then....Abra Cadabra (sp?)...Poof, the rug was pulled out and it almost instantly mellowed for me.

I am not going to lie, I was a little disappointed. I was ready for the in your face strong english experience. Instead I got a steady freddie, medium as you go experience.

Don't get me wrong, it was a good blend. Very balanced, the rum note does not come through as much as I was hoping, but a good blend. I just kept looking for what never came. Every relight as I worked down the bowl I thought "yup, here it comes", but it never did. It was much tamer than anticipated. It is definitely lat forward, but for me, not a strong spicy exotic lat forward.

While I very much liked this blend, I don't think there was enough here for me to think back on it and really want a bowl later. I don't smoke as many latakia blends as I do Va/Vaper/Vabur blends, and so when I dip into a latakia blend, I really want to be hit over the head with it. If you are a person who smokes english blends often, this would probably fit nicely in your rotation. If you are a person who takes out an english occasionally to be wowed by it.....

Age When Smoked: 2020 Tin Date

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tomcat (221)	2022-05-09		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Unnoticeable

GL Pease Sextant - This is an interesting blend . Similiar to HH Vintage Syrian but with more Kentucky added . It can get quite spicy at times . I has a decent amount of sweetness. The Latakia is always in the background. Well rounded .Sometimes the Kentucky almost takes over then the blend . The Turkish-Orientals are tasty . The Virginias have just enough sweetness to balance the stronger tobaccos . The Rum fades after about a third of the way down . I like it . It has aged nicely .Recommended 3

Age When Smoked: 10 yr old tin

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greybeard (66)	2021-11-03		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Upon opening, the tin note is a nice mix of latakia, and sweet rum. After lighting, it starts the same way with smokey, sweet latakia, along with a subtle hint of the rum in the background. The Virginia's are there as well with a touch of fruity sweetness. Slight floral from the Orientals is there but just hinted at in the background. Kentucky adds some strength to this blend.

Overall, I find this to be another fantastic Pease blend. Similar style to C&D Black Frigate, but sweeter, and bolder, and with the rum more in the background. Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: Brebbia Sabbiata, & cobs

Age When Smoked: 7 months old when opened

Purchased From: SmokingPipes.com

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ranger (79)	2020-03-22		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

As noted by all this is a broken flake that burns well enough when dried out a bit. It has that slight rum hit, a mid level nicotine hit, and a generous amount of virginias. I acquired 4 of the Old London Series with this as my most desired based on the description, but, it is my least favorite. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I was hoping for something along the lines of my all time favorite Mephisto, which this definitely is not. Almost 3 stars for me.

Pipe Used: Jacono Lovat, Whiley Dublin, Bonfiglioli Bulldog

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Smoking Pipes

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