G. L. Pease Cairo

Pease tobaccos take a bit of care to smoke, but when that care is taken the smoker is rewarded with some of the most pleasurable smokes available. The tobaccos are interestingly nuanced. They do not smoke as well in some pipes as in others, and so require, in my opinion, some amount of smoking skill to really appreciate. I personally prefer a light hand when packing these tobaccos. Further, I prefer to sip them like a fine whiskey rather than puff hard on them. The Dark Lord crafts his blends of the finest base tobaccos available, and he uses no water or humectants in them. Cairo is a blend of red, orange, and bright Virginias, Orientals, and just a hint of perique. The tin aroma is quite pleasant, with the sweet Virginias coming through and the nose being tickled by the musty sweetness of the Orientals. The appearance of somewhat rough ribbons, golden and golden brown in color. The tobacco packs nicely into the bowl. On the charring light the Orientals seemingly blasted through my pipes. However, once the bowl was lit the Virginias took more control, with the Orientals providing exciting highlights of spice. There is a nice, perfumed taste to the blend, coming through as an allure, sort of like a beautiful woman's hint of a delicate, fine fragrance (not a PC descriptor, but the best I can come up with). Though the perique is there, it doesn't seem to show early in the smoke. By mid-bowl, the oriental tang was a bit more pronounced, and remained extremely pleasant. The Virginias remain smooth, providing the sweet overtone that makes me a Virginia smoker. By this point I noticed the perique more. As I got to the end of the bowl the Orientals remain pronounced but not overpowering. The sweet Virginia highlights and nuances continue to drive the smoke, while the perique finally lets its presence be known, providing a nice, sharp accent to the other tobaccos. I suppose Cairo could be considered a Balkan blend of sorts. However, Virginia lovers may shy away from a blend with that categorization and that would be unfortunate. I am, first and foremost, a Virginia lover, but believe that Cairo should be an essential part of the tobacco rotation of any smoker who is a fan of the blends from G. L. Pease.

I recently bought a two-ounce tin of every Pease tobacco I could get my hands on and decided to go through them in the order they appear on his Web site. This is the second one. The first was Barbary Coast and I was pleasantly surprised by it since I have never gotten along with Burley blends. I even put up a review of it.

I have been a friend of English and Oriental blends. My favorite of all time was Balkan Sobranie. I figured Cairo would be one I would like, but it goes beyond my expectations. I thought I would really miss the latakia and perique. But I don't and this is really good stuff. I still suspect I have some delicious surprises waiting for me when I get to his oriental blends, but I'm enjoying this one for what it is while I work on this tin.

Everytime I open the tin, the aroma reaches out and touches me. From the aroma, I suspect there is some very mild flavoring in it but I can't put my finger on it and I can't taste it at all. When I first light the pipe, the sweetness of the Virginias is pronounced. As the smoke proceeds, the savoriness of the Orientals becomes more and more noticeable. This is a great blend that I know I will return to even when I have found a replacement for my Balkan Sobranie.

This is another tin that I resurrected out of a storage bin of tinned tobaccos I sampled and then put up when I went into a non-smoking dormancy. Since I've recently taken up the pipe again, I pulled out the tin and carefully spread the tobacco on a sheet of waxed paper, misted it with distilled water and put it back into a tightly-sealed jar. This tin was about 4 years old when I put it away (opened).

Since returning to pipe smoking, I've found that my taste for oriental mixtures has waned and my taste for Balkan and English blends has dominated. However, I found this to be a nice change of pace.

For those who have shied away from Virgina blends because of experiences with the "hot ketchup" flavor some find objectionable in other popular Virginia blends, this is a pleasant surprise. The orientals tame the Virginias and the Perique comes as a nice balance to foil the bite of a straight Virginia.

The room note was an equally interesting surprise. I left the room and re-entered several minutes later to find that there was a lingering aroma of caramel and toasted pecans. Odd, but certainly pleasant.

As this was an older tin, subjected to rather rough treatment, I'd have to sample a newer tin of it to determine if the qualities of the tobacco were negatively impacted. Nonetheless, I'd keep a tin of this on hand when I don't know what else to smoke.

I purchased a tin of Cairo when I began searching for a "bright" blend to provide counterpoint to the darker tobaccos in my daily rotation. I must say I have been pleasantly surprised by this interesting offering from GLP.

The tin smells of citrus, spices, and tobacco. The virginias and orientals dominate the aroma, and the perique is barely noticable. The tobacco is packaged slightly drier than I prefer, but it requires no preparation for smoking.

The smoke is both sweet and tangy, with the perique building as the bowl progresses. As one reviewer put it, this blend will tickle your nose just as a strong ginger ale will. While I'm not sure I willenjoy it as much in the einter as I do during this hot summer days, I will definately continue to smoke it. A solid three star tobacco.

A natural, bright looking mixture Cairo is comprised of sandy blonde and tan broken ribbons and chopped leaf mixed with light and chestnut browns, the whole peppered with a smattering of darker leaf. The tin nose is bright, nutty and just a bit salty with a light and clean aroma of spice and newly stewed fruit.

Coming a bit on the dry side, Cairo requires little in the way of preparation and packs and takes to the match with little complaint. A refreshing Virginia-Oriental flavored with a touch of Perique, in the bowl it offers bright Virginia notes which mingle with flavors reminiscent of citrus and Chinese mustard. Possessing a subdued sweetness, the tang of the Orientals and the sourness of the Perique grows stronger as the bowl progresses. Mild in body, it has a short, dry finish best likened to the delightful snap of a crisp ginger ale which tickles the nose as it refreshes the palate. Not an overly complex affair, it is nevertheless an excellent example of how nicely Virginias and Orientals can be brought together in a way which accentuates the unique qualities of both in pursuit of something which all can enjoy.

A wonderful hot weather blend, Cairo pays due homage to the bustling and vibrant city after which it is named, and will no doubt amuse devotees of Virginia leaf and lovers of Orientals alike. The sample on which this review is based is quite young, having had about a year's rest in the tin prior to opening, and as such the reviewer wonders what time might do the blend, in particular in regards to its brightness? While its exuberance may well not persist with Nile-like regularity over the long haul, I chance to believe that something nice will nonetheless emerge when a few dusty tins squirreled away happen to be chanced upon, Howard Cater like, years down the road.

Of the 4 Blends from GL Pease that I have tried thus far this is one I don't like much. The tin aroma is very nice and at times I get a little good sweetness, but overall the blend is just too mild for my taste.

I won't be buying this one again I'm afraid

Edit: Since I have run out of my other blends for the time being I have returned to this can which sat in the back of my tobacco shelf for the last 6-8 months. I must add a star to this blend, after smoking many bowls the sweetness of this blend has grown on me.

This is still not my favorite blend from GL Pease, but I think it is better than my first review implied.

3 stars

I like this blend. It smells delightful in the tin and I love the taste. However, it doesn't burn very well even when dried out. It also has a tendency to bite. That could be agressive smoking on my part.

This tin had 20 months age and I expected a little more from it. I have not given up on it and have another four tin in the cellar.

I rate it at 2.75 stars at this point.

This is a nice smoke. Upon first lite the introduction was inviting, both the taste, as well the aroma, the generated smoke dissipates quickly and does not overcome the room.

Definitely a high note, to echo other reviewers, citrus is present, but I would offer (for comment) a flection of "tea".

When I opened the tin the aroma seemed to remind me of tea, and the flavor was characteristic of drinking tea, whereby, the slight after-taste dissipated quickly rather than riding on through the evening, night, and next day.

I packed this loosely in the bottom of the bowl, then created a wad in the upper portion, this intensified the flavor and helped to sustain the smoke. Smoking this tabacco in a Tankard style pipe, little bite if any at all. Having been jar'd for only 2 months, it will be interesting to see how the flavor and aroma changes with continued aging.

In Cairo I found what I did not find in Haddos Delight-- a balanced Virginia blend with the added complexity of oriental tobacco. Lots of attractive light leaf in the mix. The presence of Perique is apparent and if it is "... a whisper of Perique", then it is more like a stage whisper. The tin aroma has a compelling sweet-sour quality that I very much like.

There aren't a lot of Virginia-Oriental blends out there that don't have the dominating influence of latakia as part of their makeup (Campanile comes to mind as a non-perique comparison). Cairo is certainly one to try.