Butera Pelican

This has the potential to be a fine Latakia/Oriental blend, but there is some kind of additive that gives it a sour chemical, taste and an odd aroma as well. Too bad really since I greatly like its brother the Kingfisher.

I have read many mixed reviews on this tobacco and I don't understand the one and two stars. I would love to know what they are comparing this tobacco with in order to give it such a poor rating. With that said, I fell in love with it from the start. I could enjoy this tobacco any time of the day. It could be my morning smoke paired with a cup of coffee, a bowl for the drive home from work, or to aide me in my reflections before bed time. I love the complex flavors that are locked away in this tin of tobacco and I hope to enjoy it for some time to come. If you are a fan of English blends, you must give this one a try!

This is an English blend for those who enjoy English blends. If you don't care for a quality English then look elsewhere. It is a ribbon cut, the moisture level was not a problem. The tobacco packs easily, and lights without difficulty. I have smoked two tins of Pelican and have not had any negative experiences. The flavor is rich in orientals, Latakia, and Virginias. The flavor was there from beginning to end with only a gray ash to remind me that tobacco had been there in my pipe. Of course there was also the smile on my face in knowing that I can still get a good English blend even if it is made in Denmark. This blend can be ranked right up with Westminster, Squadron Leader, and Penzance.

This is a review I will update for sure, as I write this after only one bowl.

A good friend gifted me a tin of this, for which I am grateful as I might not have tried it otherwise, but this was a welcome addition to the rotation.

It says at the top of the page here that this has coffee flavoring added, but I'm not sure I detected any of that. Perhaps in the second half of the bowl I tasted something reminiscent of coffee, but I never would have guessed it was topped or cased. In fact, I'd swear it wasn't.

If you were to record your tasting notes, you'd write down some flavors that would seem discordant, but aren't. Smoky Latakia fills in the gaps. but doesn't have a leading role. The Virginias and Orientals, proportioned nicely, combine to produce a taste like unsweetened tea, and it smacks of orange, slightly. And in the second half of the bowl there's a richness that, yes, reminded me of black coffee. And somehow these all added up. It's a very nice smoke.

My only gripe, and it's a small one, is that the bowl burned down to an ash faster than I wanted it to.

I am a little surprised that most of the previous reviewers do not mention other classic oriental blends, like Red Rapparee, for example. This Pelican is very much of that ilk, similar to other oriental-heavy "medium English" blends like Squadron Leader. It is smoother and smokier (more latakia I guess). The virginias are sweet and citrus.

A very easy smoke, delightful right to the end of the bowl (it gets a bit acrid right at the bottom).

I will smoke more and post again, but I am really pleased with this tobacco.

UPDATE

As I finish the tin I realize that I will miss this blend. This is good stuff. I will definitely buy this again. Upping my rating to three stars.

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After smoking several harsh, nasty bulk C&D baccies back to back, this soft bite-free smoke is such a pleasure on the tongue. It's a middle English with a very light bitter orange top note (think Earl Grey tea). It comes out of the tin very much like Squadron Leader or Red Rapparee, but there's less Oriental and more Latakia.

It's nothing eye popping, and it's not Westminster. It's nice enough though, and I'd smoke it again, also whether I'd buy it again any time soon is another question entirely.

This is one I smoke infrequently so as to not get burnt out on Latakia. This would be a true four star tobacco if it weren't for a slight excess of flavoring that seems common in English type blends. G.L. Pease Blackpoint tobacco is more user friendly with a similar makeup. Still in all an excellent smoke.

Edit: Years later, and this has become a favorite of mine. It just needs to be smoked in a meershaum or calabash. The only other balkan blend that has this trait for me is (was) Balkan Sobranie, which was my previous favorite blend. Rating upgraded to Highly Recommended.

Original Review: I've been puzzling over this blend for a few weeks now. I'm a diehard BS White fan that is down to his last few ounces, and this was recommended to me by several reliable sources as exactly the sort of tobacco I was looking for. According to Butera this is an attempt to replicate Sullivan's, which I remember as being vaguely Sobranie-ish. All in all, I really wanted to like this blend.

Pelican is certainly a nice enough tobacco, with many elements of a fine balkan blend -- the virginias are mild and play a supporting role providing a touch of orangey sweetness to counteract the drying affect of the orientals. There's the spiciness of the orientals providing a nice middle palate that the smoky latakia is missing. There's even a hint of that saltiness that I love in Sobranie.

The problem is, I'm getting nearly all of this from the aroma -- the mild flavor is tantalizing but offers only hints of greatness. It does seem to vary a bit from pipe-to-pipe; it is nearly completely tasteless in my Ashtons, thin in a Boswell freehand, and reasonable (but still underwhelming) in an Upshall. It is also the most heat-sensitive tobacco I have ever smoked -- smoke it cool and it tastes like diluted spiced orange pekoe tea, smoke it hot and it begins to show its balkan underpinnings.

According to the wife, the room aroma is nice and reminiscent of oranges.

Butera supposedly designed Pelican as a replacement for his beloved Sullivan's. Several hats older and more experienced than myself indicated that he had indeed hit the mark, possibly surpassing it a bit.

I was lucky enough to get a few tins from 2004 and even luckier to score a 2017 tin. I am not sure if it is just the variability of the component tobacco's from year to year or the age but there seems to be a distinct difference from the old to the young. I am currently smoking a 2004 tin and will try to stick to that tin while drawing a few comparisons. Germain makes several blends that fall under the brand names of others (Esoterica, Butera, J.F. Germain, Smokers Haven, etc.) and you can detect the Germain process in all of them, Pelican seems to diverge from this particularly in the older tins. I do not mean this in a bad way at all but there is something about Margate, Balkan Sobranie, 1820 Mixture, Krumble Kake, etc that is distinctly Germain and has the feeling of age and an underlying flavor. Pelican doesn't really have that, but it is an exceptional in its own right. That tin note is signature Balkan: sweet, smoky and spicy. The smoking experience is sublime and if you love Orientals you will love this. The spicy Orientals are the main show: hints of wood, spice (cloves, mace and hints of cinnamon). I think there is some Izmir along with Basma and perhaps others in this blend as it has a seltzer like fizziness to the mouth feel. The bed of high quality Virginia proves earthiness and sweetness: mottled hay and a hint of citrus. The Latakia is not unnoticed and provides creaminess, malty and some leather and campfire flavors. The way these component tobaccos intermingle, compete and harmonize is fantastic! This is a highly complex blend that changes as you progress down the bowl. The flavor becomes deeper at the midway point ( have exclusively smoked this in Group 4 briars) and while I am not sure that this is accurate, I detect dark fired Kentucky on the relights at the mid bowl mark which makes relights very tasty for the first few puffs. The newer tin had flavors more similar to Balkan Sobranie and Margate: that sense of age and slightly more musty and dank (also very good despite how the description may sound), I do not get this in the 2004 tins. Fantastic smoke and yet another world class Balkan from Germain.

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