G. L. Pease Mephisto

Just finished my third tin of this today. Mephisto (great name) is the tobacco I tend to reach for when I want something a bit more extraordinary to tease my olfactory nerves. Dark, sweet Jamaican rum and spicy Latakia do a seductive tango somewhere in the clouds of thick smoke swirling about my head. The more I smoke Mephisto, the more I find to love. The highest of kudos to GLP...

To me this is the perfect english crossover blend. It is wonderful and complex and very delicous. What I realy enjoy about this blend is that it seems to be very well blended with the idea of the rum being a twist or addition to the blend. I actually enjoyed the light backround flavor of the rum in this blend. I normally do not go for aromatics ( if this can even be classified as such ) but I felt that the rum was added in perfect proportion and flavor in this blend. Alot of english crossover blends I have had seem to be the other way around where the aromatic agent stands in the front or spotlight. This is very good and highly recomended for those who want to try an english blend with a litle bit of a twist in it.

Although I am a fan of many of Mr. Pease's blends, Mephisto is my second favourite, after Haddo's Delight. Of course, comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. Mephisto is a full yet smooth blend. The dark latakia give it a fullness like Ravenwing, but the Turkish and light rum casing mellow the blend. I should note that rum is my favourite liquor and it is used in artful moderation in this blend.

Overall, I can heartily recommend Mephisto. I smoke it to relax after a 12 hour shift, but it does not leave you lethargic.

I think it's a great thing when a blender successfully blurs the line between blend styles. Smokers of taditional English blend will usually turn their noses up at anything with added flavoring. In the past I have been one of them. Lately, I have been discovering a number of really good English-style blends that contain added flavoring or Cavendish. The "long stoving" and "steaming and toasting", described on the tin, certainly marries the tobaccos exquisitely. It is a testament to the skill at G.L. Pease that so many elements can be brought together in a blend and the result is a tobacco that smokes so smoothly and easily and yet still imparts a variety of nuances to the smoker's palate. As a side note, I've noticed that this tobacco smokes well out of new pipes which have not yet been broken in. I may have to use this as my standard "breaking-in" tobaccco.

This tin is dated January, 2001. I have kept this tin open for over a year, and I have kept the moisture content at my optimum level. At this point, the mixture is primarily dark in appearance. The tin aroma is that of a good classic English Latakia-Oriental blend. I don't notice the rum component in either the tin aroma or in the taste. It is possible that most of it has evaporated. Regardless, this is a deep, rich, creamy, smooth, sweet, and very fulfilling smoke. There are moments of a cigar like flavor. This should be appreciated by any fan of this type of English blend. Mr. Pease, not too surprising, has created another winner. For me, there is no bite at all. It burns clean and dry leaving a white to very light gray ash. Highly recommended for Latakia fans.

This is another of the GLP blends that I buy in quantity on a regular basis for the cellar . It's a wonderful all around smoke for me . I generally can't stand aromatic tobacco , but sometimes I want something just off center from the standard English latakia blend , and this fits the bill .

This is incredible. Everything about this tobacco is amazing. Right from the get go when you open the tin to the last puff on a bowl. There is nothing this tobacco is lacking (other than 10 more tins in my cellar).

The casing is light and give a wonderful room note (the wife likes it). The fullness of the smoke and the ease of smoking are great. No tonge bite and a wonderful flavour.

One of the best tobaccos I have ever tried!

The Dark Lord has created another wonderful blend, this time a English/aromatic hybrid of sorts. The tobacco has a very rich and distinct tin aroma, the rum is evident but not overwhelming. It is a beautiful mottle of varying shades of dark tobaccos with a small percentage of lighter tobacco which burns very nicely and relatively coolly (though it did begin to bite slightly toward the end... perhaps I smoked too fast).

The rum topping is sublime, it adds just enough to the mixture to raise the eyebrow (ok, raise it frequently) but it doens't detract from the Virginia, oriental and latakia leaf inherent in the foundation blend. In fact, it somehow enhances each of the leafy components. From first light there is a strange tangy sensation accompanying the smoky and sweet flavors fo the tobaccos. It's not tart, per se, but it adds a dimension not often found in english blends. The tanginess dissipates as the bowl progresses, and the strength increases. The individual flavors which are easily detected seem to meld together more towards the end of the bowl -though perhaps that is a result of the slight bite I got about the same time. I have only smoked two pipes of Mephisto and I really owe it to both the tobacco and to myself to live with it a little longer...perhaps this review is premature. Like most of Pease's blends it is more complex than reading the back label would idicate. If you are a fan of english blends but are looking for something a bit different, a bt left of center, then I highly recommend an evening with Mephisto.

Wow! Now THIS is what a semi-aromatic English blend should be! Only the second aromatic/English blend I've ever tried, this one has me eager to go search for more. Of course, that this blend is made by GL Pease, one of the best active blenders today, may have a lot to do with my enthusiasm. Opening the can, I'm struck by the strong aroma of Latakia, mixed with a stronger aroma of the casing used. The casing is supposed to be rum, and knowing that, I guess that's what I smell. I doubt I could have named it on my own, though. Regardless, the sweetish and "smoky" odors combine in an excellent synergy; already, I'm hoping this tastes as good as it smells! The tobacco itself appears to be mostly blackish, with flecks of lighter and medium browns present as well. It lights easily, but seems to take an above average number of relights as the bowl continues. For the first third of the bowl, I am very impressed. The Latakia is dominant, but not at all one-dimensional. The casing is a pleasant background note the merges with the excellent tobacco taste. As the second third of the bowl is reached, the flavor becomes even more complex, a dark and rich blend that is very enjoyable. I'm having no problems at all with bite or moisture. In the last third, the complexity and richness continue, though the casing's influence seems to decrease somewhat. There is a very little moisture is the bottom, nothing to worry about, and the bowl is excellent right down to the bottom. Overall, one of the best tobaccos I've ever tried. The casing merges with and supports the high-quality tobacco taste better then in any other blend I've come across. In fact, I'm not sure I'd even define this as "aromatic", since that term conjures up images of Captain Black to many. This is, quite simply, a very good Latakia blend, satisfying enough for the full English smoker and yet very accessible to the person used to lighter or aromatic blends. Highly recommended!