G.L. Pease cornerstone recommendations

[Anonymous]

Smoked some 1yr old Union Square with my buddy MUDDLER yesterday, a superb indeed and a must for every self respecting pipe smoker........... says he with a bowl of PA!!! :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

Maltese Falcon ... too sweet ... is only a little shy of an aromatic IMO.

Blasphemy!

Forgive my sins . But I did not say I did not like it.

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: 3 cheers!

 

[Justpipes]

Cumberland and Cairo.

 

[scottbtdmb]

Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet, but Abingdon is a wonderful, robust Balkan that GLP offers. To me at least, it has all the qualities of Westminster, but is a little more full bodied and leathery. Other GLP English/Balkan blends that I would recommend are Charing Cross, Blackpoint, Chelsea Morning, and Robusto. It is also important to note that GLP blends are meant to age, so make sure to buy a lot of what you like to cellar. Good luck!

-Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Good point you made there SCOTT....
Plenty of cellar time make these blends sing (and all the others as a matter of fact). Had a run in with some of JP's Cumberland 2005, Muddler's Laurel heights from 2007 and recently some Union Square. They just became so sophisticated and smooth that they demand much of my attention!

 

[fmw]

Thanks a lot for the replies!

I'm sold on Union Square. Not just because of the almost unanimous recommendations, but the "kick in the butt" part sounds good too (as a recent convert from cigarettes I can handle it and I like a heavier smoke). Same goes for Westminster. I was determined to try this one already, but the warm recommendations are confirming that inclination. Thanks for the heads up on Haddo's. I'm not fond of heavy toppings, so I'll save this one for later and try Fillmore instead.

I also appreciate the warning about Maltese Falcon. I don't do sweet very well. Yesterday, I got my first tin of Reiner Long Golden Flake. It took a lot of effort to get used to the sweetness and casing of this tobacco, however good it may be. Only after drying it a little and a few bowls did I get used to the topping, so I could enjoy the deeper subtleties of the tobacco. If it is truly good, I can enjoy a tobacco as sweet as that, but it will never be a regular smoke.

I'll go with Chelsea Morning instead. What about Key Largo versus Robusto? I like the latter for the name, because it is the sort of cigar I enjoy most. Speaking of robustos, I just finished a bowl of Dunhill Royal Yacht and am about to light a Partagas Serie D no. 5 limited edition from 2008 as a saturday night treat. Embarcadero seems nice. As I'm waiting for my next shipment of Dunhill MM 965 I'm "stuck" with Early Morning Pipe and Royal Yacht, but I do enjoy a good VA/Oriental. Cumberland seems nice too.

As to Balkans, how do they compare? Abingdon seems nice, because of the description as full and dark. But is it very sweet? Charing Cross seems like a good fit for me, because G.L. Pease describes it as less sweet than Kensington and Blackpoint. I'll put Caravan on reserve for now, since Abingdon and Charing Cross seem so interesting in the Balkan category already. I'll leave Montgomery and Telegraph Hill for now, in favor of Cumberland and Union Square. Cairo seems a bit sweet too, but something I'm planning to try later anyway. Same goes for Samarra. What about Odyssey? The description on the G.L. Pease site is a bit confusing, so I'm off to TR to learn more about this one.

I am most definitely planning to cellar this stuff. Right now my modest "cellar" just has three Dunhill tins that I'm not touching for the foreseeable future, but I'm very eager to grow it. Thankfully, a new order I placed yesterday at a German shop should triple my tiny cellar and replenish my cherished Dunhill MM 965. The only problem is money, because when ordering ten or more different blends at once I can't really afford getting them in higher quantities. I'm looking forward to learning what my favorites are, though, so I can stock up on them after trying the different options.

Thanks about the pointer regarding the sampler package on pipesandcigars.com. Initially, I was thinking of ordering from smokingpipes.com (because I want to test them before possibly buying a pipe there) or synjeco.ch. I asked the folks at SmokingPipes.com about a similar sampler package already, but they don't have any. I'm afraid that customs will refuse a package from the US and that might be circumvented by ordering in Europe. Both shops have things I want to order on the side (Schürch and C & D blends at Synjeco and Escudo, C&D and Blackwoods/Three Oaks Syrian from McClelland at the American sites). The only problem with ordering from Europe would be that tins are double the price, at about $20 a piece. I suppose its time to contact the Dutch customs office to figure out what to do.

Shopping list so far:
Union Square
Westminster
Fillmore
Chelsea Morning
Quiet Nights
Embracadero
Cumberland
Key Largo/Robusto
Abingdon/Charing Cross (possibly both)
Barbary Coast

 

[Anonymous]

FMW.... that looks good, pull thee trigger and order! :cheers:

 

[jj1015]

Odyssey and Abingdon are the two best Balkans available today, IMO.

Odyssey is a lat bomb, VERY complex and smoky. It's very cool, very full, very rich, and possessed of a remarkable natural sweetness. My one complaint is that the cut is difficult to burn -- you need to dry it out, pack it loose and still be ready for some relights.

Abingdon, on the other hand, smokes like a dream. It is far less sweet than Odyssey, and a little less complex. The orientals are a lot more forward in this blend and the virginias a little more subdued (taste-wise, anyway). I get an interesting olive/incense flavor about midway through the bowl in this one.

If you like Balkans, I don't think you could go wrong with either blend. If I understand you correctly, however, you're probably wanting to avoid the kind of sweet VA notes that are the backbone of Odyssey and might therefore enjoy Abingdon a bit more.

I consider both of these blends to be far superior than any of GL Pease's other Balkan mixtures, but everyone's tastes are different. These are not timid blends in the least -- while they are both complex, neither is at all subtle. Pease's newest blend, Quiet Nights, is also superb. I'm working my way through my first tin right now, and it's pretty much driven all the other latakia-forward blends to the back of my cellar. It is NOT, however, a Balkan (at least not according to my tastes). It's a well-balanced medium English mixture, and I think of it as being everything I had looked for in Westminster but never found there.

 

[fmw]

Tobacco products (eg cigarettes, cigars and tobacco) may only be imported into the Netherlands if Dutch excise stamps are affixed to them. This is generally not the case where goods are bought over the Internet or from mail order companies. Tobacco products arriving in the Netherlands without an excise stamp are confiscated by Customs. For this reason, do not respond to emails from suppliers who offer to deliver tobacco products in the Netherlands at (excessively) low prices. (from http://www.douane.nl/particulier/internetaankopen/en/internetaankopen-01.html#P31_2156)

This sucks. My understanding is that imported tobacco will be confiscated and destroyed if customs figures out what it is, unless there is a excise/tax stamp present. Obviously, I can understand that they want to avoid people importing cheap cigarettes, but the implications for people looking for specialized products that aren't available locally are ridiculous. As far as I understand I can't get these tax stamps, because you need to be a licensed importer to buy them. I'm going to call the customs office tomorrow and figure out what to do.

I've previously bought tobacco online from Germany (at Peter Heinrich) which went fine, but I think that traffic isn't checked by customs. I just placed another (bigger) order with them, so I better hope so. It isn't my fault that (for example) G.L. Pease tobacco isn't available locally and I won't stand for a government unjustly restricting what tobacco I can buy. Yes, I'm angry. I have libertarian tendencies by nature and things like this are putting a lot of fuel on that fire.

P.S. I suppose US members must be used to these horrid policies when it comes to Cuban cigars. Oh, well. Who is John Galt? I'm pretty determined to get the tobacco I want, so I'll find a way.

 

[Anonymous]

We Have the same crap here but Muddler and I are still getting away with it for now!!!!!

 

[Martin Romijn]

Tobacco products (eg cigarettes, cigars and tobacco) may only be imported into the Netherlands if Dutch excise stamps are affixed to them. This is generally not the case where goods are bought over the Internet or from mail order companies. Tobacco products arriving in the Netherlands without an excise stamp are confiscated by Customs. For this reason, do not respond to emails from suppliers who offer to deliver tobacco products in the Netherlands at (excessively) low prices. (from http://www.douane.nl/particulier/internetaankopen/en/internetaankopen-01.html#P31_2156)

This sucks. My understanding is that imported tobacco will be confiscated and destroyed if customs figures out what it is, unless there is a excise/tax stamp present. Obviously, I can understand that they want to avoid people importing cheap cigarettes, but the implications for people looking for specialized products that aren't available locally are ridiculous. As far as I understand I can't get these tax stamps, because you need to be a licensed importer to buy them. I'm going to call the customs office tomorrow and figure out what to do.

I've previously bought tobacco online from Germany (at Peter Heinrich) which went fine, but I think that traffic isn't checked by customs. I just placed another (bigger) order with them, so I better hope so. It isn't my fault that (for example) G.L. Pease tobacco isn't available locally and I won't stand for a government unjustly restricting what tobacco I can buy. Yes, I'm angry. I have libertarian tendencies by nature and things like this are putting a lot of fuel on that fire.

P.S. I suppose US members must be used to these horrid policies when it comes to Cuban cigars. Oh, well. Who is John Galt? I'm pretty determined to get the tobacco I want, so I'll find a way.

I had quit some tins send to me as "hobby suplies" that arrived save and sound.

 

[fmw]

I had quit some tins send to me as "hobby suplies" that arrived save and sound.

Thanks for your input. I'm much obliged! When was this? And where did you order it? The sites I've checked specifically mention that they will not obfuscate the contents of the package on the labels at the risk of losing their tobacco license. I'm not sure about the implications of posting your supplier on a public forum, so in case it would be problematic to them you might want to send me a private message instead.

I can't really afford to lose a shipment of tobacco, as this would mean I'd have to cut my smoking down by quite a bit. So I've got to be careful.

 

[Martin Romijn]

I had quit some tins send to me as "hobby suplies" that arrived save and sound.

Thanks for your input. I'm much obliged! When was this? And where did you order it? The sites I've checked specifically mention that they will not obfuscate the contents of the package on the labels at the risk of losing their tobacco license. I'm not sure about the implications of posting your supplier on a public forum, so in case it would be problematic to them you might want to send me a private message instead.

I can't really afford to lose a shipment of tobacco, as this would mean I'd have to cut my smoking down by quite a bit. So I've got to be careful.

PM sent ! Btw... Embarcadero is one of my favourites.

 

[fmw]

Thanks for the PM's, Muddler and Martin. The store you both suggested should hopefully get my precious tins through customs unnoticed.

 

[Mikem]

My Pease cornerstone selection would have to be Blackpoint.

 

[fmw]

My order finally arrived. I'm starting with Chelsea Morning and Westminster, but I have another twenty tins lined up for further experiments. I just finished my first bowl of Chelsea Morning and now I'm having Westminster. What a great sensation from the first light. This Westminster is simply orgasmic!

 

[fmw]

Thanks a lot guys!

 

[Buddy Springman]

As my tastes have shifted away from heavy latakia and towards VA's, I'm only buying Greg's Fog City collection: Ashbury, Lombard, Union Square, Laurel Heights, Telegraph Hill, Embarcadero, Fillmore, and Montgomery.

But I've never had a bad bowl from the Dark Lord.

Buddy

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Can you outfox orders placed in Europe? Synjeco carries Pease tins.

 

[fmw]

Yes, I know Mike. The problem is that they are extremely expensive at Synjeco (slightly over $20 USD at the current exchange rate). Switzerland isn't in the EU, but my packages from Germany don't go through such a rigorous customs check as shipments from the US, so this might be the same for Switzerland. As far as I know, they aren't checking the packages from Germany at all, even. For now I have a way to get the tobacco from the US, but if customs catches up with me I'll have to try Switzerland and pay more than double.

Legally, it doesn't make any difference where I get the tobaccos. As long as they aren't legally imported into the Netherlands it remains contraband. Hopefully, G.L. Pease (as well as C&D and McClelland) will find a distributor somewhere in Europe that is able to list them at the same prices I'm currently paying for Dunhill tobaccos (they are in the 10.20 to 12.25 euro range, with my favorite MM 965 at 10.75 euro for 50g and 21 euro for 100g). Anything over 12 euro ($15.30 at the current exchange rate) for 50 gram/2oz is more than I can regularly afford for the normal rotation and 10.75 euro for 2oz ($13.71) would be ideal. Why pay more than in the US at all? Taxes and importing costs, I'm afraid.

Isn't it sad how smoking turns you into a criminal against your will?