When you think about American tobaccos those sticky, heavily cased Black Cavendish/Virginia blends tend to spring to mind, not premium mixtures of Virginias, Orientals, Latakia or Perique; these styles of tobacco are more commonly associated with this side of the pond.
That isn’t to say that American blenders don’t make this style, they're just not often brought across to Europe, so when I first tried Jack Knife Plug 12 months ago along with a few other treats from the likes of Cornell & Diehl I was in awe at the quality and flavours. Many of these type of tobaccos are produced here but I find them very samey and lack a little something. After I published a few video reviews on YouTube, Greg Pease contacted me about the idea of importing some of his GL Pease tobaccos into the UK.
Eight months after first speaking to Greg we now have a small range of these world-renowned tobaccos here exclusively for the UK at Gauntleys. With over 30 GL Pease tobaccos to choose from we had to pick a small selection for our first batch. After much deliberation and contemplation, I finally decided upon a small range to start with.
The Tobaccos
GL Pease Jack Knife Plug & GL Pease Jack Knife Ready Rubbed
Part of the New World Collection
This is one of the first GL Pease tobaccos I tried and one of the most talked about online. This hearty plug tobacco is made from Premium Virginias (Red & Flue Cured) and Kentucky, pressed and left in plug form. The smoke is sweet with subtle spices in the first half of the bowl, finishing in a bold leathery smoke with plenty of the smoky notes found in the Kentucky.
Along with the Plug, we also brought the Ready Rubbed version for those who want to smoke Jack Knife on the go. Even though these 2 tobaccos have the same humble birth, the looser cut results in the Ready Rubbed taking a slightly different flavour profile after a short maturation period.
We have already sold out of the Plug Variety after just 3 weeks, but more will be arriving in our second batch.
Part of the Fog City Collection
This tobacco really caught my eye, I enjoy a good sweet Virginia, although finding a good one isn’t always easy to come by. Many of the other straight Virginias on the market have a slight top note or source added them, which I find makes them burn hot and covers up the lower quality Virginias. Union Square is made up flue cured Virginia with a dash of Red Virginia, which is pressed into a cake using only distilled water and then sliced into flakes. The tobacco is beautiful, the lack of added sugars make it a cool smoke and the fruity flavours that come from the blend are stunning. It doest take about ¼ of the bowl for the tangy/fruity notes to come through, but when they do its out of this world!
At the July meeting of the Nottingham Pipe Club, Union Square picked up many new fans and was warmly received.
Part of the Fog City Collection
I love a good VaPer (Virginia & Perique) and the sound of this tobacco really got me excited. “A thick-sliced broken flake in the Scottish tradition. Ripe red Virginia tobaccos are combined with a generous measure of fine Louisiana perique, and then pressed to marry the components and deepen the flavours. The cakes are sliced and gently broken before tinning. Fillmore presents an elegant sweetness and delightful piquancy, enhanced by a creamy richness that develops throughout the bowl. Sit back, and enjoy a lovely, leisurely smoke.” From trying this tobacco I found it produces a large volume of smoke and if smoked slowly and gently, will be sweet with some beautiful spicy notes. Fillmore like most VaPers has great again potential and would benefit from a minimum of 1-2 years aging before smoking, if you can wait that long.
GL Pease Chelsea Morning Part of the Old London Series
An amazing blend of; Virginias, Orientals, Latakia and Perique. The tobacco is suggested as an early morning smoke, to give your senses a kick start. This complex tobacco seems to grow develop constantly as you work your way through the bowl. No flavour ever takes a more prominent role, from the creamy notes of the Orientals, to the smoky Latakia, sweet Virginias and sublt spices from the Perique. A wonderful tobacco that can be smoked all day long by those who don’t want a Latakia powerhouse, but great as a breakfast smoke for the more demanding Balkan style smokers.
GL Pease Lagonda Part of the Old London Series
If Chelsea Morning is a breakfast smoke then Lagonda is for after dinner. A much heavier Latakia blend, with a rich and punchy flavour. Built on a base of Virginias which act more as the support for the Latakias and Orientals. The choice and amounts of the Izmir and Cypriot Latakia produces a more dry/savour textured smoke, packed full of smoky and spicy flavours. A real treat for those who love a full on Balkan/Oriental blend.
Since its release last year, Lagonda has had some stunning reviews online (read at tobaccoreviews.com)
GL Pease Blackpoint Part of the Classic Collection
Now one of my all time favourite tobaccos, this full on blend of Virginias, Orientlas, Latakia and Perique. As soon as crack a tin of Blackpoint open, you are greeted with a smoky, subtly sweet and slightly sour aroma, which is enough to make any Balkan fan excited. The tobacco has a lovely oaky start with packed full of thick smoky flavours, but once you get half way in the spice from the Perique really takes hold. This fuller flavoured blend, is great after a heavy meal or with a rich dark ale/stout.
Aging/Cellaring of GL Pease Tobaccos
Each tin of GL Pease is both double-sealed and dated to allow for easy cellaring. Unlike European manufactures who vacuum seal their tins, most American producers leave air inside the sealed tin as it allow aerobic fermentation to happen. This matures the tobaccos much more quickly and generally produces better results. GL Pease tobaccos all age wonderfully and a small market for aged blends exists on smokers forums & online groups.
Give most of the blends and year and they become something rather spectacular. If you are patient enough to allow over 7 years, you will be amazed how well these tobaccos develop. Much like Wine and Cigars, mature (unflavoured) tobaccos have a wonderful extra dimension and refined character.
With about 50% of our first order gone, we will not be waiting long for a second batch and already we have had requests for a number of other blends such as Sextant, Haddos Delight and Odyssey to name a few.
