G. L. Pease Sixpence

Very much a first impression here, but it's undeniable this is a well crafted blend. i cannot imagine how many tries it took to balance the virginias, dark fired and perique so expertly. Admittedly, I'm not a fan of dark fired as a regular smoke, so I was happy it's not overpowering in this blend. The tin note was very much fermenting plums to me, and there was a grape sugar note in the background, perhaps from the "spirit" added? The topping was not detectable in the smoke to me, or at least I didn't recognize it. There's little enough perique that it barely burns the nose, and little enough dark fired that it's not burning my throat, but those two still give the primary taste, a very rich, slightly spicy one. The virginias are subdued, and definitely in the background. Greatly enjoyed smoking this in a tall straight chimney, it melds into a very rich, hard to describe flavor towards the end of the bowl that's just lovely. Hope this first impression helps anyone.

Small brown broken flakes that I rubbed out partially before loading. Smell of some sort of booze in the tin atop a bed of dark base tobaccos, and a pretty good snootful of perique. Lovely tin note.

Tough review to write. The issues I had with this are much less about the recipe than about the tobaccos used. For some reason, I have lost my taste for C&D virginias and burleys over the last year, or they have changed much more than subtly. Their virginias now taste like their burleys and their burleys taste like Kentuckys mixed with ropes. I have a lot of the older stuff in my cellar and I'm tasting the differences between then and now, and I'm liking them less. That's not a problem with the blend itself, however. When this one was "in the zone", it was a great tasting sweet boozy flavor melding with the perique, which gave off dark fruit notes rather than peppery, spicy ones. These flavor overcame the rather harsh burley tones of the red virginia. Yes, it was the virginia that threw this one off for me. The Kentucky was a nice addition and added the proper amount of earth and nuttiness, but the virginias smoked harsh and overly robust, which just as often threw the balance off for me. I'd love to try this with either someone else's red VA's or C&D's lemon. There's just too much tobacco darkness here for me, and it wasn't often enough offset by the sweet and sour topping mixed with the sweet perique. I liked it fine, but it just didn't bowl me over as I thought it would.

Visually similar to Fillmore. Broken flake. Dark in color. But wheras Fillmore is deep, rich, dark, and spicy on the nose, the tin note here is sweeter, more plummy, with a touch of what seems like sherry or other sweet, fortified wine. 

The charring and true lighs reveal a hearty Virginia/Kentucky with a hint of that alcohol sweetness in the background.  Perique here is a condiment touch to what is really a spectacular Virginia / Kentucky blend.  And, my oh my, are the Virginia's smooth here. There is no heat, no bite, even when puffed.  Lots of clean, white smoke. When approached as a Virginia blend, rather than a strict VaPer, this is a masterpiece of blending that will leave even the most sensitive tongue unscathed and satisfy a broad range of pipe smokers.  Those looking for Virginia's sweet, citrusy side should be forewarned: there is none of that here.  

By mid bowl the spirit component has mellowed to more of a Gewürztraminer flavor, smoothing out the burley. In a cob, the Perique element is extremely mild, detected only through the snork, and even then only barely.  I found that in a briar, the Perique was slightly more pronounced, though still a background note and not meant to be the star of the show. There's a piney, slightly earthy flavor here: the sweetness of the virginias muted and melded with the more smokey influence of the Kentucky. The burn is steady and smooth, and the bowl finishes down to a tight , gray ash with no muck or mess. A very dry smoke.

To my palette, this is Fillmore-light, with a touch of strong, northern, white wine - and that's not a criticism. This is a perfectly balanced and harmonious blend in its own right, and even the Fillmore smoker misses nothing here - it stands on its own with a smoothness that betrays the rich tobacco flavors within. Like most Pease broken flakes, this one has "ages well" written all over it. I will be very interested to see what some time does to this blend once it has been jarred and had some time to think about itself. 

This is an easy-smoking version of some other Pease blends that could easily be an all-day smoke for lovers of Fillmore and Cumberland, and an excellent, smooth introduction to GLP VaPer & VaBur blends. That said, the flavor is here for a thoroughly satisfying evening smoke. 

YMMV, of course, but I am perfectly willing to age and/or rest tobaccos, fiddle with prep, and find the “right pipe” in order to get the best from a given blend. I mention this because this review and rating are for young Sixpence that’s been rested in a jar for two months after opening the tin. Personally, if young Sixpence got no better than my first bowlful I would not keep smoking it. Young tin popped, the Sixpence inside was proof-y, stewed dark fruit over wet silage and cereal grains. Broken flakes are medium to dark reddish brown. I usually at least try smoking straight from the tin (or bag), and in this case I was not surprised when the tastes went from warm air to muddled over the course of my first bowl. Given my experience with Sixpence, I now have no doubt that tin ageing would be the way to go. And my young sample continued to improve through the course of two months rest in a jar. Initially, I got a very nice scent from the secret spirit GLP claim was added, something like a light pear brandy. This abated quickly and finally disappeared with rest, while the other scents bloomed sans pear. Lit, the Perique comes up first, initially tasting of warm air, then ramping fairly quickly to sour plums, raisins and bakery spices that are more than condimental, well met with fairly stout, loamy, fairly sweet, semi-piquant, red VAs that I suppose are both air cured and stoved. The KY, on the other hand, is condimental. It is piquant, nutty, and slightly smoky, like barbeque with sweet, savory sauce, but way down there. IMO, the scents from rested Sixpence are best snorked lightly. It starts out mild and almost floral, a little spicy, with wild grasses and wheat, opening up substantially as I puff. There is lots of smoke, and it burns down fine, right to the bottom. Strength is near medium. Tastes are just over medium. Room note is better than tolerable. Aftertaste is a sweet, sour and piquant trailing off of the best of the smoke.

Again, IMO, the best approach with Sixpence would be to let it age in the tin then rest it to taste. Given this consideration, it will be a 4 star blend in terms of quality. However, with some very fine VA/Per/Ky blends currently available as “competition”, I can only give Sixpence 3 stars at this time. Further, I do not recommend a large pipe for Sixpence but prefer a 4 for overall balance and tastes. I will revisit this review over time, if/as warranted.

just terrific. Im a fan of Pease's Navigator, too, which also has an alcohol component to it. Nobody does this better than Pease. This is a nice medium body Vaper, with that Perique i associate with gawith's St James Flake. So think st james flake with a rum or brandy soaking. Also bears some comparison to haddo's delight. The nic hit is moderate but certainly its strong enough to keep those craving that to be satisified. Also a remarkably cool smoke, and the taste is consistent start to finish. Just another excellent Pease blend.

Now its really a 3 and half star blend. But i cant give it four. Its just not quite as fully complex as some of Pease's stuff. But this might change with a bit of aging. And so much is subjective. I know Navigator is a polorizing blend. I absolutely love it. And I rate Haddo's as a four star blend. And Union Square....for what it is, which is straight Virginia. But all I can say is, I order this regularly, along with several other pease blends. I think Pease is right there with mcClelland and C&D and gawith hoggarth as the elite makers of pipe tobacco.There are one offs with other manufacturers.....Reiner, or Solani or even Macbaren. But ive yet to find a *bad* Greg Pease blend.

Tin note is classic vaper, with a mild alcoholic topping. I don’t detect much Kentucky.

I love this cut. Pease has utilized this cut in several blends (Meridian, Chelsea Morning), and it is somewhere between a ribbon, ready rubbed, and broken flake. It is very easy to grab and stuff without any fuss.

This tin was a little moist for a C&D produced tobacco, but it didn’t require more than 15 minutes of drying.

Smoking was a pleasure. Classic vaper flavors, with a subtle depth and smokiness from the Kentucky. The Perique was present in terms of raisin and fig notes, without too much spice. Burns a little fast, and the alcoholic topping pokes through just enough to let you know it’s there.

Most Pease blends require time to tease out all the nuances and subtle complexities. I just sat back and enjoyed this one. Enjoy it I did.

I expected to love this one, as I enjoy all the component tobaccos, appreciate most Pease blends, and don't mind a bit of liquor as a topping. While it's an objectively good tobacco, I merely enjoyed it.

The hay and mowed grass notes from the VAs really stuck out to me more than anything initially. The topping is more noticeable in the tin than in the pipe. I don't taste much from the perique or DFK. It's has some substance in terms of body, and a decent amount of nicotine. It's a good smoke, but I just felt like I wanted something more. May just be the limitations of my palate.

I am a huge fan of Dark Fired Kentucky and in Sixpence it is applied nicely, it's fruity, earthy, nutty and a little spicy. I rubbed the flake out and let it dry for about 45 minutes before packing it lightly in the pipe. The Perique is sweet, fruity a little peppery and I detect a little sourness, but I'm not sure if that's the Perique or not. The DFK is nice and smoky and a little spicy in this blend. It burns well, with only a few relights for me. The tin note is smoky and spicy with some stewed fruits. I can't detect any flavorings or toppings, I only get pure tobacco goodness from this blend. I think this will age well, so I will be buying more to put back.

The tin has a slight note of some type of spirit, bourbon maybe. Then in the front seat was the dark fired VA and a hint of perique. In the back seat are the red VA's