G. L. Pease Gaslight

This starts with a flavorful blast of Latakia, then fades into a burley forward smoke ( I realize that Burley is not listed, but it sure tastes that way to me). There is some sweetness that continues throughout the bowl, however, my tongue, just doesn't get along with the burley or the burley like properties. I find this blend boring but not of low quality. I think it reminds me of "Jackknife Plug" with an addition of Latakia. Overall , a somewhat old fashioned smoke.

I realize that my review will be greeted with much negativity, but I hope someone will explain what I'm doing wrong while smoking this blend.

I cut it in 1mm thick square slices and the rubbed those out and gravity-fed my pipe.

Everything about this blend screams Latakia and, of course, has all the flavours of it.

Smoking this in a little devil anse was Latakia non-stop, all the way. Switching over to a virgin savinelli trevi 320 with it's 1" diameter chamber brought in a multitude of sequential flavours: latakia all the way, then some floral notes added in, then some spicy notes added in, then Latakia all the way, and so on... Latakia was always the base. It's not a harsh latakia, but a smooth, creamy-ish one.

The retro-hale consistently has floral and spice notes.

The nicotine level is medium to strong FOR ME (been smoking cigars and pipe tobacco for 7 months now) and it put me to sleep, so it will be a little strong for a newb.

This is not a regular smoke for me as I prefer a meaty latakia blend as opposed to an earthy latakia blend, which is what Gaslight is.

Summary: Gaslight is a unique, smooth, semi-complex, EARTHY English blend that is reminiscent of my cigar smoking days.

I really wanted to love this tobacco. The scent upon opening the tin was fantastic. Quite natural, with no flavoring to get in the way. Upon lighting, the first few minutes were outstanding. So far, so good. But, in the end, this tobacco really came on too strong (even for me, who usually likes a good, strong blend). There is just something in this blend that really bothered my stomach. I've had this happen before with Jackknife Plug. I'm sure it's just me and many, many smokers will find this a great blend.

This is a fine blend, but after smoking through an entire tin I just can't find anything outstanding about it. I dig the presentation and like slicing the brownies. The tin aroma is not as enticing as other Latakia blends I've known, but that is a minor issue. It lights and burns well, a really easy smoke. The flavors of woody latakia and slightly sweet VA are discernable, but somehow don't all fit together to create a crescendo to greatness.

Mr Pease and others produce many wonderful blends in a similar range, and I guess it ultimately comes down to personal taste as to which one 'sings' for the pipeman and those that don't. In the case of Gaslight, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend trying it... but for me it just doesn't hit the right notes to be a keeper. 2.5/4 stars.

Strong stuff. Really smokey. I taste everything it says are in the ingredients on steroids. It has a lot of nicotine compared to other Full English's I've had. I've had McClelland's bulk Full English, all the Frog Morton's, most of the dunhill's and a few C&D blends.

Obviously, it kind of reminds me of the preparation for jackknife plug. I've shaved it for a few bowls, then just decided to cut the whole thing up and mix and store it. I recommend this because when I smoked it as cut flakes from the plug, I got a certain dimensionality to the smoke. Like, ok here's the Latakia, here's the oriental, then here's the Virginia. Not really a mix, but more of a dimension by itself, then the next, then the next, with Latakia being the most dominant part, then oriental spice (almost kentucky strength perique taste), then finally a nice Virginia puff every so often.

Mixing it up makes it more blended and seems to be less obviously one or the other tobacco burning at the time of the puff. Still, I'd say this smoke is like spicy Latakia with a hint of Virginia.

The GL Pease blends I've tried have all been crafted works with obvious strength and character. I never have a problem knowing this is complex exquisite blending, a bit more advanced if you will than others.

That being said, it has such complexity that there's not just that one great thing about the tobacco that makes it taste awesome. Maybe I'm being too simple, but it's kind of like chocolate. A pure awesome piece of milk chocolate is totally awesome. It may taste good with nuts, sprinkles, strawberries, syrup, etc., but you could almost get to the point where the cacophony of all combined elements overwhelms the original taste of chocolate. It's in there somewhere and all this stuff is good, but maybe I just wanted to taste some chocolate? If that makes sense.

Now, maybe if I loved Latakia I might appreciate more a Latakia blend like this that tastes overwhelmingly spiced and nic'd up, but it's not my fave toby. So, this just tastes like the fullest english blend I've tried so far and kind of knocks me down a bit with all that is going on.

It's a contemplative smoke. I need to be sitting down and appreciating this blend, but it's not a sit back and watch a movie, or read the paper type smoke for me. It's just missing that dominant taste of goodness and replaces it with a great masterpiece of a blend that makes me think too much while I'm getting dizzy.......lol. I like it, but its maybe a bit more inclined towards the guys who have been really smoking a lot longer than me. I say this because, I think in most instances I'd probably rather reach for the Frog Morton. I still give it a good rating though because its truly a masterpiece of flavors, just maybe that's not my style so much with Latakia.

Gadlight might just be the most confusing English blend in Pease's lines in my experience. The latakia is dominant, but the taste is mild with some additional cocoa aroma. The flavor sometimes appears blank to me. Could not get the complex and deep aspects of this one. I only try the 0.5OZ sample bag that I should get more to appreciate this blend.

Latakia, and a little Turkish that is overwhelmed by Latakia, and no Virginia flavor to speak of. It smells like a campfire. This is the kind of tobacco you load into one of those giant Boswell pipes and take to the leather club, overwhelmingly manly to the point where you wonder if it’s not trying a bit too hard.

Midbowl the Latakia has calmed down a touch, but there’s nothing to replace it. The blend just goes flat. By the end, my exhausted tastebuds can only report an ashy flavor. This is with more than 2 years on the tin, so I don’t know if it’s just gone past its prime already.

I can see the wasted potential here - a little more balanced portion of Turkish, change out the Virginias for some with flavor and character, and it’d be an instant classic. As is, I can only recommend it as an end-of-day smoke for a fatigued tongue that wouldn’t be able to enjoy a more thoughtful mixture.

I will start by recognizing that this is a blend that I will probably have to "meditate on" for some time before I can truly appreciate it. I am very fond of english blends, and particularly latakia-forward ones.

My initial assessment of this is that it is mostly latakia, with negligible contribution by virginias and orientals. What I was expecting was the inverse: a strong base of virginias, lightly seasoned by orientals, and with a healthy dose of latakia.

I am a fan of Ten Russians, so it came as a surprise that this blend seems so monochrome. I think that perhaps it's a question of balance, or lack thereof. I've tried fresh from the tin, dry, drier, lightly rubbed, well rubbed. I just can't seem to escape the impression that I'm smoking pure latakia while fruitlessly grasping for some kind of counterpoint, searching hopelessly for subtleties to contrast the dark spicy leaf.

I may change my opinion if I can muster the resolve to keep at it. As it stands now I am considering that I may occasionally use this blend to season some sweet matured virginas in order to add spice.

Edited 4/7/2016 - After having smoked the whole tin, I believe I have come to a conclusion about this tobacco's place in my 'rotation.' This is the type of blend whose qualities are best discerned after a long (very long) day of eating and drinking, after your palate is ragged, and you don't quite get the same satisfaction from "normal' blends. Something akin to the cocktail that evolves into straight alcohol by evening's end, "because you can't taste it." I might leave a tin around for such exceptional occasions, maybe.

I actually received a free sample of this tobacco in an order from Smokingpipes.com. I am a newbie smoker and I was leery of English Blends I really dislike their tin notes. I can say this was no different. It has a smokey/perfume/soap smell to me. I cut three 3/32" slices across the grain on the end of the plug, rubbed it out fully and let it dry slightly. My moisture meter said it was at about 11% moisture (I find it a great tool for a newbie pipe smoker). I packed the pipe, made a false light with a light tamp and lit the tobacco. It lit easily and burned well to the bottom of the bowl with a relight at about the 3/4 mark. The flavor is not as smokey/perfume as Lane Ltd. Crown Achievement, it still had the soapy flavor, but it was not as spicy as the Crown Achievement. The corncob lent a bit of sweetness to it as it burned, which was welcomed by me. I can confidently say I still dislike Latakia/English blends (again, a personal preference). I would imagine people that enjoy Latakia/English Blends would enjoy this tobacco, kind of like people that enjoy Lowland Scotch Whiskey-(I do not). It tastes/smokes just like the tin note. If you like the tin note, I'm sure you will enjoy the smoke.