Original Review @ Tobaccoreviews.com
<table border="1"><tr><td>Reviewed By</td><td>Date</td><td>Strength</td><td>Flavoring</td><td>Taste</td><td>Room Note</td><td>Recommendation</td></tr><tr><td>kilted1</td><td>10-30-2004</td><td>Strong</td><td>None Detected</td><td>Extra Full</td><td>Tolerable to Strong</td><td>Highly Recommended</td></tr></table>
I’ve been smoking pipes off and on since 1979, and I’ve tried many an English/Balkan blend in that time. I’ve had occasion to smoke Balkan Sobranie #759 from the generosity of friends. My own conclusion is the GLP Odyssey is simple the best Balkan mixture available today. Oh yes, you can spend hundreds of dollars per tin acquiring Balkan Sobranie #759, and it is a wonderful tobacco, however, it is not “readily available” and is in my opinion no better than Odyssey anyway.
Odyssey has become the “standard” by which I judge all other Balkans, and there are so many great ones from which to choose (many of them GLP).
Appearance: A very appealing mixture of light dark browns and nearly black tobaccos in a rough ribbon cut.
Tin aroma: WOW! This blend has everything in prefect balance and yet very “full” tin aroma. The Orientals are sharp in the nose, the Latakia is rich, deep and smoky and the Virginias are sweet and deep. This tobacco is very satisfying just smelling the tin. I detect leather and smoke, and deep sour cherry/fig/date fruitiness from the stoved Virginias. I don’t detect any Cavendish or other “extender tobaccos” and everything smells exactly as it should.
Odyssey is absolutely perfect moisture for me straight from the tin (or bag, as I purchase it in 8 ounce bags now) requiring only my careful un-divided attention in packing. This is not because it is difficult to pack (it isn’t) rather, that it deserves my full attention. I find that I need to use a lighter hand (even employing the “Frank method”) than I do with other blends while packing. This lighter hand seems to bring out even more of this blend’s astonishing subtleties.
Upon lighting, I’m greeted with everything at once, bold in every detail, yet not assaulted. I don’t have to think much about identifying the individual components, they stand out willingly. The Latakia yielding its smoky leathery presence, the Orientals granting the familiar tingle in the throat and nose, and the deep Virginias carrying the other two along in high and low palate sensations and granting them a sweetness in perfect proportion to the ends of the flavor spectrum. Odyssey lights very easily and I can often finish a bowl with a single light.
Mid Bowl: Somewhere in the middle of the middle, it happens; the complexity of flavors changes and builds. The assertiveness of each component begins to show, and nearly every blessed mouthful of smoke tastes slightly different than the last. At this point I have to pay closer attention to my technique, because it is very easy to begin chugging like a freight train and ruin everything. Generally I opt for a much slower pace and draw in as I’m exhaling the last puff nasally, then rest for sometimes fully 10 long seconds before drawing again. By doing so, I experience this tobacco in two palate regions simultaneously, adding to its complexity. The slip stream smoke is also wonderful to inhale nasally, where the Orientals live.
Home Stretch: These flavors are all HUGE and just how Mr. Pease does all this while keeping things so refined is beyond my understanding. This blend is like a fine aged Merlot, bold, scintillating even, without ever being harsh. When compared with every other Balkan blend I’ve ever tasted, Odyssey beats them all in depth, fullness, richness and complexity without ever overstating any single aspect. The final third develops along the same lines as initially tasted upon lighting, building on every puff so far. Odyssey just continues to build until suddenly, almost without warning it goes out. I often tamp it all down fairly firmly and strike another match; there is no blast of ashy flavor as with many others, just a very strong smoky “bonus smoke” that is not to be missed for anything in this world.
Supplemental Notes: I have yet to be able to age this tobacco beyond 18 months, I can’t resist the temptation to open and smoke it. Odyssey is my favorite Balkan blend without reservation, and my second favorite tobacco blend of all time. It is my opinion that Mr. Greg Pease is today’s greatest living blender. Rating for those interested in numbers ****
ipe: FTRPLT
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