G. L. Pease Samarra
(3.39)
Samarra is a rich and complex mixture, without being heavy. Matured red Virginia provides the basic structure and a delicate sweetness. A generous portion of Cyprian Latakia is added for its smoky richness, and exotic, fragrant Oriental leaf provides fullness to the flavor. Finally, just a hint of lemon Virginia adds bit of brightness to the smoke, and a touch of perique adds its own unique piquancy.
Notes: From GL Pease: Samarra, along with Cairo, Mephisto and Renaissance, was one of the first blends to be offered under the G. L. Pease brand. In a sense, it is a refinement of Sublime Porte, a blend I produced years ago for Drucquer & Sons while working there, so it reflects a much longer history than the other blends in the line.
Despite a significant percentage of Cyprus Latakia, Samarra is not a Latakia powerhouse. It is rich and complex, relying as much upon the delicate sweetness and structure of matured red Virginias, and the exotic, fragrant nature of fine Oriental leaf as it does on the smoky opulence of the Cyprian “King of Flavor.” The blend is finished with a hint of zesty lemon Virginia, adding a hint of brightness to the smoke, and a touch of perique, providing its own unique spice.
Samarra was introduced March, 2000
Details
| Brand | G. L. Pease |
| Series | Original Mixtures |
| Blended By | Gregory Pease |
| Manufactured By | Cornell & Diehl |
| Blend Type | English |
| Contents | Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Ribbon |
| Packaging | 2 ounce tin, 8 ounce tin |
| Country | United States |
| Production | Currently available |
Profile
Strength
Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
3.39 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 21 - 23 of 23 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Apr 03, 2002 | Medium | Very Mild | Medium to Full | Tolerable |
Samarra is a beautiful black-and-brown ribbon that packs and lights well. At first, I taste mainly a muted Latakia but as the bowl progresses, I get more Virginia taste (and a little Virginia bite). Halfway through the bowl, the sharpness wears off and the smoke becomes tangier, but still with the Latakia providing a background depth. As with several Pease blends, I get a bit of bitterness as the smoke approaches the bottom of the bowl. There is also a certain rawness that I don't much care for, but I may have simply gotten a can of young tobacco. On the whole, this is a very good blend, but not one I am crazy about.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 01, 2023 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
20230412 edit: comparing a bunch of Latakia blends side by side, some differences are becoming more apparent. This is coming across sweeter and more fruity than most of the other Latakia blends i like, sort of similar to Iwan Reiss' Dr. Bradley, but with much more smokiness. Probably the best/my favorite sweetish Latakia blend I've tried so far. Don't really get any nicotine from it, unfortunately. This may eventually make it's way to 4 stars in my book.
Yet another latakia blend which I can't really assess properly, tasting virtually nothing except latakia. It's a pleasant latakia, and when I'm craving one, this is as good as a lot of the others to my tastes. I think I do detect more sweetness here than in most of the others, and at one point I thought I got the tiniest hit of fetid perique. Throughout the bowl, I feel like the latakia backs off for very short periods, but it always comes back.
Yet another latakia blend which I can't really assess properly, tasting virtually nothing except latakia. It's a pleasant latakia, and when I'm craving one, this is as good as a lot of the others to my tastes. I think I do detect more sweetness here than in most of the others, and at one point I thought I got the tiniest hit of fetid perique. Throughout the bowl, I feel like the latakia backs off for very short periods, but it always comes back.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 14, 2004 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Medium to Full | Tolerable to Strong |
This would be an ideal introductory English blend for the jaded aromatic smoker. Several months ago, I navigated my pickup truck down to the local cigar/pipe shop cum fishing tackle store with the intention of discovering an ?honest? pipe tobacco among their proprietary, aromatic, palate-cloying tobacco jar blends. They showed me around the store and offered to sell me some assorted items in their tinned aromatic line, but I demurred. ?I want an honest, manly tobacco--no additives or embellishments.? ?But the only other SKUs we have contain awful, smelly, vile and disgustingly old-fashioned Latakia-contaminated tobacco.? ?What the heck,? I thought, ?that doesn?t sound too bad.? I snagged a sample of G.L. Pease?s ?Samarra? and, having paid for my purchase, levered open the tab-topped container . ?Hey,? I proclaimed, ?this stuff smells like good Scotch whiskey.? Aromatic smokers--to a man--they gingerly sniffed with wrinkle-nosed disdain at the proffered can. ?Be sure to only smoke that outdoors in a throw-away pipe. It stinks like burning rope and will ruin your good briars in a hurry.? Having smoked a goodly amount of rope in my misspent youth, with little evident harm to my person or pipes, I began to doubt the well-intentioned advise I was receiving. ?I?ll be sure to observe your every precaution,? I averred as I left their store, whereupon I promptly loaded a generic and geriatric Italian bent apple to the rim and ignited it greedily. Whadda yuh know? This isn?t too bad. In fact, it seems to be pretty good stuff. It tastes smoky and earthy, with some--what is that...cinnamon and cloves?! Holy socks, there?s a carnival of flavor combusticating in my pipe! What irony: I wanted plain ?unembellished? tobacco, but got a rococo pipe-smoking experience instead. I have long since gleefully ruined that Italian bent apple with generous quantities of Latakia-contaminated tobacco. I now wish someone ha
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