G. L. Pease Cairo

Pease Pilgrimage Reviews (a tasting journey through every GLPease blend) Tin date: 01/21/10

Appearance: The typical Pease-esque "ribbon" with the very occasional chunk of dark stuff...the "whisper of Perique"??? I pack it quite firmly or the draw is far too light. For some reason I found myself constantly relighting (in all three pipes), probably because I'm attempting to keep a slow sipping-style smolder going.

Aroma: The strangest tin aroma I've ever experienced. Think contact cement. But in a good way . No, I'm not a glue sniffer, but this blend has an extremely unique aroma that must be coming from the "exotic oriental leaf." Somewhat reminiscent of an unripe mango, it also hints of an extremely overripe apple, one that has started to ferment. I think it might be a topping, but it actually smells really good! The room note is delicious with a toastiness that is quite close to the actual flavors, which is not that common, at least in my experience. I'm sure that interesting aroma will subside after the tin has been open for a couple weeks.

Pipe 1: Self-made Freehand Pipe 2: Meer Billiard Pipe 3: Sav Bulldog

Flavor: I normally think of Greg Pease as specializing in austere vapers and rich English blends. Cairo is unique in his lineup and showcases Greg's mad blending skills.

This is the toughest Pease blend yet for me to describe. The flavors are subtle, layered beneath and woven through the straight-ahead Virginia tobacco tastes. This is definitely a sipping tobacco. There are some similarities to the McClelland line of Grand Orientals, although I can't remember specifically which one as I've had several of them. I am typically not a fan of blends that are in-your-face oriental blends, but this one is an exception. It's unique, no doubt, and I like it a lot.

There is a flavor there that is simply unique and I can't really come up with an accurate descriptor. Maybe that fermenting apple I mentioned. It doesn't really come across to me as citrus like Pease describes it - more like the rich sweet fruits like plums, apples or figs. It has just the right amount of sweetness but I wouldn't call it a "sweet" tobacco.

There is an aftertaste of dried grass, the three-foot-high kind I used to chew on when I was a kid walking through the woods on a warm autumn day. It has a very clean finish, which means it does not leave a strong tobacco odor or taste in my mouth. If you're into oriental mixtures, I can see where this could be an all day smoke for you. Definitely the most interesting blend I have reviewed in the Pllgrimage, and one I'm looking forward to getting to know much better. Excellent!

This is another outstanding example of GL Pease’s blending ability. This time, he takes on and conquers the Virginia bite that always seems to attack my tongue. This is a very good lighter Virginia tobacco, smooth without sacrificing any of the subtle goodness of the species. I highly recommend it to anyone who loved Virginia flavor but has a tender mouth. The smell in the tin is wonderful, but very hard to describe. There is a vinegar smell there, but it is no where near as harsh as with McClelland blends. It is a mild, tangy, "sharp" aroma that merges into the sweet, refreshing components also present. The aroma is strong enough that I wonder if the tobacco has been cased; I could just sit and smell the stuff for several minutes. The colors of the leaf are varied, mostly medium and lighter browns with an occasional dark brown piece mixed in. The cut is medium to longer, and packing a bowl is fairly easy. It lights easily and burns well, needing less than the average number of relights. In the first third of the bowl, the taste is light and sweet, actually pretty close to the aroma in the tin. There is no initial bite, and smoke is not at all harsh. The flavor, aside from the sweetness, is very subtle and interesting. I can taste one note in particular that I can’t place; it’s almost buttery(?) but not rich, if that makes any sense; one reviewer described it as “butterscotch”, which I can accept. All of the flavors are very well mixed and support each other perfectly. In the second third, the flavors are still rather subtle and muted. The sweetness has lessened somewhat, and that “buttery” taste has nearly vanished. The smoke is still bite-free, and there is no moisture that I notice. The taste has matured a bit, becoming darker; this is especially obvious in a deep, narrow pipe bowl. It is very complex and dynamic, but this is only noticeable if slow, careful puffing is used to bring it out properly. In the last third of the bowl, the flavor continues to mature and develop. The flavors never become really obvious; rather, they linger on the edge of recognition, teasing the taste buds. The smoke is fairly smooth and still lacking in bite. While not near as full and dark as a mature Virginia flake, the tobacco nevertheless is not weak or uninteresting. It smokes clean and dry right to the ashes. Overall, this is perhaps the finest lighter Virginia tobacco I’ve tried. The flavors are complex and support each other, and are well worth the effort needed to bring them out properly. I plan to stock this regularly, and I believe that this will age very nicely indeed. Add this to the long list of GLP successes; an excellent blend!

Cairo is a great, great blend. For me this is the perfect morning blend, I have a bowl every morning. The sweet citrus notes at the start are my OJ. After that the orientals take over and offer an interesting tasty smoke till the perique slides in (not too peppery)at the bottom third of the blowl. Cario finishes off truely singing in a grand finaly of all the ingrediants comming together in awsome smokeness.

I get no bite, it lights easily and stays lit through the entire bowl. Cairo is a blend that can be an all day smoke and one that can be enjoyably complex.

While this blend is great with a fresh tin, it ages exceptionally well. I find that in a fresh tin the citrus notes linger more through the first 2/3rds of the bowl and are less subtle than in an aged tin. I prefer the way they become more mellowed and refined with some age. But either way is good for me. It's hard to put some age on your tins when you like them so much. If you looking for a blend that tasts good, smokes well, offers loads complexity while not having to be babied,(and who isn't?) give Cairo a try.

Cairo is a pleasantly intriguing tobacco. A mixture of several Virginias, a goodly amount of oriental,, and just a touch or perique make up the blend. Cairo is not prone to tongue bite. The herbal orientals are apparent in the tin aroma, not so much in the room note. The perique component is light; perique haters will nevertheless find it enough to cross this off their list. Smoked with full attention, Cairo has a surprising amount of complexity. This is totally lost when smoking while doing something else, such as working in the yard or shop. As with all GLPease tobaccos, this is much better with some age on it, at least several months.

I bought my first tin of the day it was introduced, I just happened to be at the B&M when they were stocking it. It came highly recommended from the proprietor and was my first "Boutique" blend.

This is one of those moments you remember, possibly even a holy grail moment, the smell, the sight of the blonde sprigs with flecks of... green? ...Really? This stuff was fresh! Lighting it the fragrance of the smoke was absolutely mind numbing. I went back to the store the next day and bought every tin they had and it was my daily smoke for a year... loved this stuff. I was one of those people that thought Greg had cut a deal with the devil... it was that good.

Financial hard times befell me and had to give up the luxuries in life for a while and expensive tins of tobacco were one of the first casualties to go.

Fast forward a year and I was back in the store for more Cairo. But this time it was different. It was much darker in color and not as fresh in the aroma department which was also apparent when smoked. Much more stout, almost harsh and nasty on the tongue, what the hell happened?

I don't know if it was my change in taste from smoking cheap tobacco and cigarettes or if it was the natural aging process of the blend itself but I was no longer smitten. I tried multiple times to rekindle that first experience but Cairo had morphed into something I no longer liked. The last of the most recent tin was reduced to a pile of dust after sitting so long untouched and finally ended up at the bottom of the round file this morning.

I appreciate it as something that defined my taste in tobacco in my early days of smoking. It still has desirable qualities and I'm not sayin it's a bad tobacco, just no longer something I lust for as I did when it was new.

If you like Vapers I still recommend you give it a try as most like it just fine with some age on it.

I often find difficult to match my opinions about pipe tobaccos with their descriptions. In this case, I couldn't describe this mixture better than the words on the tin do. All I can add is the presence of a well conceiled Haddo's-like casing which provides lots of character to this sorta-VaPer. Thanks to orientals, Cairo behaves as a sweeter and milder version of Haddo's, suitable for earlier in the day. Outstanding.

UPDATE 32 MONTHS ON After reviewing Cairo in September 2006, I jarred what I had and left it to age. Did nearly three years in a cool, dark closet help? Not much. Its Oriental flavor is ever so slightly more apparent, mostly in the nose; it has also acquired a very slight, not-unpleasant resiny taste. But it's still a dull, harsh blend. It's not that I can't appreciate Oriental blends -- I love those put out by McClelland, like Bombay Ct. and Yenidje Highlander. I just don't think Cairo is very good.

**** Original Review, 09/2006

The description makes this blend sound delicious, but in fact it is hollow and dull. Words like "nutty" and "robust" certainly do not apply! On opening the tin you're greeted by a strong "ketchup" smell. Love it or hate it, the smell is irrelevant to the smoke. The tobacco is very dry in the tin and can go right into the pipe. On lighting, you get a flavor that is, um, subtle to say the least. It's vaguely reminiscent of Turkish cigarettes, vaguely reminscent of a cigar -- but the mere memory of Turkish cigarette or a cigar is better than the actual taste of Cairo. There's nothing to it -- "there's no 'there' there." The monotony lasts from the charring light right down to the bottom of the bowl; a trip that, fortunately, doesn't take too long given the dryness of the leaf. I smoked one bowl, jarred the rest and will revisit it in 2011, maybe. Age might bring something out; right now, Cairo has nothing going for it.

G.L. Pease is frustrating. When it's good, as in Haddo's or Odyssey, it's very, very good. When it's bad, as in Cairo or Abingdon, it's ... well, not very, very bad, just dullsville.

Presentation: Tin looks the same as all the others in the Pease Original Series. Black and white label with blue accent and pipes photographed in the background.

Cut: Chunky ribbon cut, on the dry side.

Tin note: Smells of sweet red wine.

Tasting notes: Mostly a grassy blend with some earth, cream. Tangy, a touch of pepper. A touch smoky here and there. Sometimes leathery later into the bowl, especially on the retrohale.

Mechanics: Smoke slowly or it could bite. I found myself having to tamp frequently, probably due to the dryness.

Extra Remarks: I have been smoking this blend for six months now and I thought there was an alcohol topping here like there is with Barbary Coast and Haddo's Delight. It feels like it when smoking. This blend is on the mild side with flavor but the complexity is there. And it's an interesting tasting blend. 3 stars.

One of the mixes that I have tried to date that has evolved most favorably in me since I smoked it the first time until the moment I write this review, to the point that it is one of the few mixes that have invited me to repeat and smoke two pipes in a row. To say that the first time I smoked it disappointed me and now I find it wonderful. Between time and time again only four pipes have passed.

Let's go there with the review. When I opened the tin I found a cut of the broken flake type mixed with a thin ribbon, throwing a shag. A type of hybrid cut where thicker tobacco chunks appear mixed with others so thin they look like confetti. This surprised me because I have seen tin from some smokers where what appeared was a Ribbon cut so fine it looked quite like a shag. The cold smell, very rich, is quite similar to that of a typical VaPer, of raisins, figs, ferment, vinegar, perhaps something citrus ... I do not detect orientals at this stage. Tobacco comes with a humidity level that allows the pipe to be loaded immediately, even when pulling on the dry side, and this causes it to burn quite quickly and the smoke tends to be short. When I turn on the tobacco and take the first puffs I am surprised that the aroma is not what I expected. The Orientals (where were they hidden?) Acquire the leading role to the detriment of the perique in a quite pronounced way, making the smoke have a fragrant, fresh, almost floral aroma. What kind of rare tobacco is this that shows up on the tin like a Telegraph Hill and on the pipe becomes Kentucky Bird's good brother? (sorry for the somewhat exaggerated comparison).

This discretion of the perique made, being a VaPers lover as I am, the first time I smoked this tobacco disappointed me in some way. Big mistake on my part because what sense would it have to try so many mixtures if they were not different from each other? As the smoke progresses, the perique will discreetly poke its head at times to hide again, always leaving the prominence to the Orientals but occasionally complementing it perfectly as the smoke progresses, also helped by a certain sweetness from Virginia.

Definitely, like almost all things that enjoy extraordinary quality, they cannot be fully appreciated the first time. That is why my recommendation to those who have been disappointed when trying Cairo for the first time is that they give it a second, third, fourth chance ... whatever is necessary. And hey, if after so much opportunity you still don't like it, let it go, you don't have to be a masochist either and there are thousands of mixes waiting for you somewhere. In my particular case and at the time of writing this review, I find this Cairo blend pleasantly surprising, tasty, fragrant and as far as I know (which isn't much either), unique.

Taking into account that in the last twenty-four hours I have tasted Artisan’s Blend for the first time and managed to appreciate this one from Cairo, I hope you understand me if I tell you that as a recent pipe smoker, today I consider myself a winner…