Butera Pelican

Predominately dark in color, tiny ribbon in cut with a tin aroma of latakia and orientals. I picked this tin up some years ago and I'm not sure why I never dipped into it before now, but something else always seemed to bump this one back to the rear.

This seems to be a fairly typical English-style blend at first, with the latakia being the main player for the first dozen or so puffs before settling down and allowing the orientals to come forward. The problem for me was that the Virginias were extremely subservient, and this blend had very little VA sweetness and body. While it had a decent flavor, it seemed to have no backbone. Reminded me of Tashkent in that regard, except Tashkent truly does not contain Virginia, while this one is purported to. But it wasn't very noticeable and if I didn't know it was there, I'd be well on the way to believing it wasn't. Interestingly, this one exhibited a light menthol-type note somewhere in the final quarter-bowl. I've found that to occur in other blends and I assume it's some type of oriental tobacco merging with the latakia. Unfortunately, this didn't last long and in short order the blend became ashy tasting as it neared it's finish. As it stands, this one is fine enough but pretty unmemorable and, for me, not nearly deserving of the hue and cry over it's current state of unavailability. I finished the tin but won't buy more.

Woah.....pretty damn good!

Worth all the hype, and crazy price tags? NOPE!!!!

Really wet out of the tin. So dry it for at least 30min. I only did about 10min. And im already having my 3rd relight. Long strings of golden and black tobacco are incredibly easy to pack. And the aroma is amazing straight from the tin, It doesnt punch you in the face. The first half is very smokey with some mellow spice. Can get a burnt flavor if pushed, but nothing crazy. Smokes pretty cool too, which surprised me with the amount of relights.

The last 3rd of the bowl gets a bit more body, and really shines. With just a nice little head buzz. Nothing fancy, nothing out of no where, just a welcomed buzz. This stuff is smokey, with an even amouth of sweetness in the background, and a decent amount of tangy spice. Reminds me of Dunhill 965, just with more sweetness, and a gentle spice. But pretty damn close.

Im really happy i scored a tin of this, but i wouldnt go paying ebay prices. I would however, grab a tin every time i stumble upon this though, i think its damn good.

This blend is a nicely melded, rife with VA, latakia, and Orientals. The Orientals and latakia seem to be most prominent and the VAs sit in the corner smiling at you. My tin was wet and a little drying time was needed, no problem here. This is a rare tobacco, but I know a B&M which gets it in from time to time. I like this mixture with its sour, sweet, smoky flavors weaving in and out of the finely plumed smoke. If you happen to get lucky, want to try a good smoke and be able to broaden your palate with a rarity, go for the Pelican.

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.

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.

Butera Pelican, first off this is a little difficult to find. I was lucky to grab two tins just when the time was right. Anyways this tin required a bit of drying the tobacco has a nice fairly moist texture to it upon opening the tin. The tin note left me with a good almost Oceanside smell and is kind of unique. The lighting of this tobacco was not difficult to keep lit after some drying out. The Orientals really give you a lemon zest taste and the latakia used gives just enough of that smoke I personally desire. This blend gave me a good long smoke and was very enjoyable, but probably would benefit from a good bit of ageing. There has been debate on who is blending this now it was originally blended by JF Germain, but then Mccelland was blending for the US, and then it was bought out by Peter Stockelbeye. Although the tin does state it came from the British Isle which would trace it back to JF Germain. So with that being said I would say Germain is now making this blend again and it really makes sense do to the scarceness of this blend. Overall this is a fantastic smoke and if you get lucky to get your hands on some enjoy.

Very "dry" tasting, with lots of oriental/latakia flavor, and very little virginia sweetness. Quite spicy and nutty, with some pleasant bitterness, lots of incense-like flavor. Dry in the tin, long lasting and extremely cool. A bit monochromatic, but very good. A no-compromises English blend which is refreshing and unique.

2008 Update: This tobacco is getting more and more difficult to find, but it keeps being worth the effort. Kudos to Butera for not accepting compromises: this is a great English blend, in a world in which English blends die and/or get worse every day (see the Dunhills, or Balkan Sobranie, or even Timm London Blend 1000).

I agree with Sasquatch: this is in the same 'family' as Red Raparee, Squadron Leader, and other blends that lean more towards the orientals, which is what (I thought) characterized an English blend. At any rate, it is a very smooth tasting blend containing a goodly portion of Latakia.

The tobacco from the tin that I sampled was at a nearly ideal moisture level, which translated into only one re-light. There was a slight pungency in the room note and a pleasant, spicey 'tingle' in my nostrils during the smoke that I attributed to the latakia and the orientals, respectively. This won't be a wife or girlfriend pleaser but, if you can sit back in a comfortable chair, relax and contemplate life for 30-40 minutes in solitude, you'll find this blend a fine companion.

This is very elegant blend, surprisingly dry upon opening a tin but burns well to white ash. The whole impression is quite unobtrusive giving to this tobacco pleasant room note although taste is medium strength. It is an excellent afternoon blend.