G. L. Pease Gaslight

At last I can try this GLPease blend! Greg is my favourite blender, and I seriously think that Caravan, Odyssey, Blackpoint, Abingdon, Maltese Falcon, Lagonda and especially Westminster are absolute masterpieces and at the absolute top as far as Latakia mixtures are concerned.

This one differs... if only for the presentation. Two square blocks, compact but still easy to slice or crumble. Yes, I tried it both sliced against the grain (as suggested) or crumbled.

This is a really powerful tobacco, don't approach it if you don't like Latakia or can't tolerate strength. It probably is the strongest Latakia blend after Nightcap in my experience (though much more tolerable than the clumsy and heavy handed Nightcap of recent years).

Packing is easy, just don't press it too much. It takes fire like a beauty, and smokes regularly from start to finish. Flavour-wise it is very constant and low-maintenance, thanks to its regular combustion and cool smoking qualities.

Big on Latakia, but soooo much different from other GLPease blends. This one tastes much more like some Cornell & Diehl's crumble cakes, and it reminds me a bit of Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend too (but luckily with more elegance). Why is that so? Because of a yeasty/nutty/earthy/cigar-like quality. No Burley or Kentucky are listed among the ingredients... and yet, I would swear there is at least a hint of them... or maybe it's just the processing?

Anyway, it is a very sturdy smoking experience from start to finish. Sturdy in mouthfeel, sturdy in nicotine. Do I like it? Sure I do... but I also feel it's a bit too much for my taste. My benchmarks are Caravan and Westminster, where the Oriental fragrance and subtlety are not drowned by the intensity. Here all "goes to 11", and at times it may be a but too intense. Maybe it will become gentler with time, but on rather fresh tin the Latakia and the earthy notes are overpowering, covering the Orientals and the Virginia sweetness. Still very fun and enjoyable (at least until the nicotine hits, so this might be recommended on a small bowl only), but not the best Greg has ever done. Don't misunderstand me: it's one of his greatest achievements, and he managed to do something different from all of his other blends, a really unique tobacco. But to love it you really have to crave for strong experiences. Me, I still prefer something a little less intense, although I will certainly keep some Gaslight around for occasional enjoyment: it's a great blend, but simply I can't see myself smoking 4 tins of this per months as I do with Greg's other Latakia offerings... just 1 per month will do!

2020 Update: I have opened a 6 years old tin, and it smells heavenly, with that unmistakeable sweet/fermented fruit/almost rotten note that is so typical of finely aged Latakia mixtures with a solid Virginia base. Smoking-wise, all these years have reduced the brutal attack and brought much more finesse. It still tends to be a bit overpowering (and nicotine heavy), and very bold: thick, creamy smoke, heavy Latakia, now it's a fist in a velvet glove. I still prefer Caravan, Odyssey, Abingdon and Westminster, but the age did a lot of good to this blend.

This GLP offering is nicely presented and I found it to be very easy to prepare. The blocks are moist and require some dry time once sliced, but I do enjoy working with pressed tobacco cakes.

At charring light the smoke is delicate and creamy and the tone is full of warmth. There are some wonderfully complex and exotic flavors right from the start, all of which are centered around a semi-sweet round bottom note hinting at a deep roasted espresso-like flavor. The latakia is tempered to the point of being obscured and there's very little of the pine pitch flavor so prominent in most latakia heavy blends. Gaslight is also the very epitome of smooth.

By mid-bowl the flavors build up nicely and an almost overwhelming bright leathery flavor develops. The spiciness that I expect from most GLP mixtures also makes an appearance, and it's probably the most compelling aspect of the blend. The spiciness is somewhat unique and affects my whole palate and not just my tongue. By this point the tobacco flavor is what I would categorize as strong yet enjoyable but with an assertive burnt/bitter quality to it. The flavors are still well balanced and the smoke remains silky smooth.

Past mid-bowl, things fall apart a bit. With a hearty burley-like flavor, bitterness begins to reign leaving my mouth feeling quite dry. Perhaps this is the product of some really intense Turkish leaf? Either way, the end bowl flavor is not exactly what I would categorize as desirable and I am hoping this will mellow with age.

Both tobacco flavor and nicotine strength are a firm medium with nicotine pushing medium-strong. I do like this blend, I think it's good. I have socked a few tins away and look forward to seeing how it tastes in the future.

Have heard a lot of this leaf before having finally getting a few tins. I was very much inspired by having had a 15 year old tin of Winter's Tale by Friedman and Pease. Up to this point the very finest tobacco I've ever had. The tin note of Gaslight is to me very intoxicating in a subtle way. The theme of promises to come is what this tobacco is all about. It is indeed like a fine wine. There are a symphony of notes that are soft upon first light and build upon each other as the bowl progresses. I'll vouch for all that other reviewers have said about the flavors and also that there is a nice buttery caramel in there as well. The kicker for me is a certain floral tickle to my taste buds that darts in and out unexpectedly. What wonderful fun. I seem to enjoy this smoke most in my oil cured pipes as they present the flavors more strongly. The last third of the bowl is excellent and puts me in a very nice place. Old Nic is a bit on the strong side for me with this one but only a bit. About 20-30 minutes of drying time makes this a great smoke in my opinion. I can't wait to savor this with some age on it. I would say that as a new blend it's very satisfactory and time will simply make it outstanding. We shall see.

I enjoy this blend but can't smoke it very often. For one thing, it will ruin your palate for virginias for a good while. That's not to it's detriment, you can't deny that a wild thing is beautiful because it fails to mind its manners. Gaslight is a wild thing, a Raven, a denizen of the Night. It is alluring in its excess. And like the very most beautiful of all starkly wild things, it has some amount of austere beauty that marks it above mere unbridled, primordial chaos, as a thing both wild and yet still regal.

Enough of the flowery language though, let's get to its merits. Gaslight is presented as a cut plug. Oily and dense, a very sharp knife will help slicing it. Mostly black, with some red virginia showing if you look along the profile of the resulting flakes. Scent is latakia heavy with some heady Va present and, strangely, some apricot or nondescript stewed fruit, with very subtle floral notes in evidence (bergamot? Rose?). Flakes crumble easily to a nice texture for gravity loading. The initial light is dank, cool latakia, along with a floral essence reminiscent of a Lakeland ghost in a pipe loaded with a full English. The dominant flavor here is good Cyprian latakia. Va is evident, but nearly overwhelmed. I dont detect any oriental component. The beauty of this blend is the interplay between full Cyprian and whatever floral essence is present. They are supported throughout by subtle deep fruit notes from the red Va, though this is distant, only around the edges. I typically don't take much away from a smoke this heavily laden with latakia, but i hesitate to call this a bomb. It is, or should be, by all accounts, but the refinement imparted by the essence just keeps it soft enough to be more accurately called a very rich latakia mixture. Something keeps me coming back from time to time, and i am always satieted after finishing a bowl. Nicotine isn't much, perhaps mild to medium. Gaslight is an uber cool, slow burning blend that can't bite, still extra care is required to keep temperature down, or what is sublime here will quickly turn sooty and muddled. It is excessively sensitive to temperature in my experience. When i do everything right though, this is a deep well of satisfaction.

This one just did not do it for me. At least this is my impression after finishing off the 1/2 oz sample given to me from SP with an order about a year ago. I was happy to receive the sample as I had a tin of this I had bought shortly after it was introduced and I hadn't opened it yet. Thanks to SP for their generosity, I can let that tin continue to age and maybe try it 7 or 8 years from now.

This one started off very smoky to me and then quickly settled down to complete boredom to my tastes. I found it unremarkable in almost every way; however, I can't say that it was bad either. There was nothing offensive or noxious in either taste or aroma. In fact, its most favorable trait, to me, would have to be the side stream aroma, which was very pleasant. I may have spent as much time sniffing the smoking bowl as I did puffing on it.

This blend has all the elements that a standard Latakia (English) blend should have, but very little in the edginess that would make such a blend standout. Usually with a blend such as this that lacks edginess, one is treated to a creamy smoky experience. Well, this really did not have that either. YMMV

Was there sweetness from the Virginia? Yes, just not enough. Was there smokiness from the Latakia? Yes, but not enough. Was there Tanginess from the Orientals? Yes, but not enough. You seeing a pattern here?

This pretty much sums up my thoughts on this one. It is pretty good, just not good enough. I will not be ordering more of this, but will check back in when I do open my tin, which, I hope greatly improves with age.

Edit 5/25/2022

I finally got to smoking that tin in the cellar after 8 years of aging. I am adding a star to this as I found it more enjoyable than my previous experience. Maybe it is just a matter of time or changing tastes over the same. In any case, it still does not knock my socks off, but I did find it more recommendable than I previously did.

In my experience this is a unique tobacco, both in "cut" (actually, one has to cut it!) and in structure. It does have a dark aura in its density and intensity. It definitely is a Latakia mule kick and I would not recommend this to the faint of hart or to those who are just beginning to explore the wonders of English/Oriental/Balkan blends. This one is for the established pipe smoker who also enjoys a strong pull in terms of flavor. It is not exactly complex nor subtle. Rather it provides a straight-to-the-point harshness that engulfs the ambiance and snares the senses. If you are a Latkia lover, this one is for you.

Dark plug or kake with some visible lighter leaf. Tin note is typical terpene from the latakia. Smoked alongside its stablemate Pirate Kake, it differs in that virginias take the place of the burley in PK. The result is a lighter, sweeter tobacco that allows the orientals more expression. Still a very Lat forward blend however.

I am not experienced enough to say where in the spectrum of English blends this sits; it is an intriguing combination of a Lat bomb that manages to deliver a multitude of light and subtle aromas. It does go beautifully with a nice strong cup of tea.

The 2 oz. tin I opened had a package date of "November 19, 2020." I would have been more interested in trying tobacco that had been in the tin for five years, but that opportunity did not present itself. The tin contained two small plugs of tobacco, one ounce each: fairly soft, tarry, oil-colored, with slightly lighter red Virginia leaves visible on the cut. The bar is easily cut with a knife to the desired thickness, but, due to the fine initial cut of the leaves, the mixture crumbles when divided into portions. Nevertheless, to use such a "brick" as a crumble cake, without slicing, is not possible. Therefore, to cut the bar into portions, you need to take a very sharp knife. The finished strips are carefully kneaded in your hands, with the tobacco seeming a little moist.

The flavor of the tobacco is a lot of tar, peat, suede, stale foliage, a bit of milky sourness, some dried fruit, a barely noticeable note of coriander.

I have a couple of "gaslight" shaped pipes in my arsenal, and in one of them I just smoke English blends. So I decided to start my acquaintance with the tobacco by stuffing it into this particular pipe.

The initial taste - lots of smokiness and peat, woody and earthy flavor, light fruity sweetness mixed with the same light acidity. The spiciness of the Orioles is hardly perceptible at first, just the dense flavor of the latakia and the support of Virginia. But gradually the spicy note starts to come through, muting the earthy notes and leaving a kind of complex bouquet, the components of which I could not make out due to the abundance of latakia. This spicy taste increases as you smoke, and by the end of the pipe it plays on an equal par with the latakia, while the Virginia remains in the background and continues to add a fruity sweetness to the overall bouquet. As I found out later, this sweetness is more noticeable if you smoke tobacco in a curved pipe, and is less noticeable if you take a straight pipe.

Due to the large amount of crumbs, the tobacco smokes quite warmly, though smoothly and slowly. The blend obviously demands attention: if you forget about it, it threatens to overheat the pipe, if you get distracted, it tends to go out. It took me several pipes to get accustomed to the right tempo. The strength of the tobacco is a little above average, with large pipes it is possible to have a nicotine hit, with very large - I guess, inevitable. The aftertaste is sweet and woody, with a pronounced smokiness and a slight sharpness. Surprisingly, but it feels all the components of the blend. The tobacco burns into a light gray dusty ash, leaving almost no moisture in the pipe or mouthpiece.

The smoke is very dense with a pronounced peat smell, woody flavor, and a subtle sweetness. In a room, its odor easily lingers for several hours, even in a draft.

What's the bottom line? Pease once again surprises. How to create a mixture that resembles a "latakia bomb" in appearance, but isn't one in nature? The author managed to solve this problem by creating a fairly harmonious English blend, which still, in my opinion, needs to be kept longer than a year or so. It will become a little drier, and the tastes and flavors of the tobaccos, mixed over time, will create a more balanced bouquet.

If you like a bold rich latakia blend i think this is certainly one to try... while not as refined as nightcap, for example, it kinda fills that slot.. something for a cold night.. It is dominated by pungent creamy latakia with the other components adding supporting sweet/sour and even fruity notes.. That being said, this is not nearly as subtle or complex as some of the lighter pease blends.. This makes it very satisfying when you are in the mood for it.. If you aren't in the mood you might find it harsh, acrid and overpowering.. At least I personally find it a mood smoke.. Moisture and packing are also a minor obstacle.. Once you find the sweet spot it is smooth as can be.. too moist and it will punish you.. likewise you may lose something if it is too crispy.. sometimes even when it is at the preferred level I still find myself suffering through the first puffs only to find by mid bowl everything is fine and dandy.. It delivers a little strength and nic as most plugs do.. if I buy this again I would definitely let it age about 5 years to see if that would tone down some of the hasrshness.. Could be a regular fall/winter blend.