Does G.L. Pease's Bohemian Scandal deserve its reputation?

[echie]

Hi all,
A couple of hours ago, one of pipestud's tins of Bohemian Scandal was sold for about US$100. Now, I don't want to get into the merit of the price itself. As I said on another thread, it's your money, your taste, your hobby. Go for it and enjoy!
But I've had this fascination with Bohemian Scandal since I started smoking pipes more seriously. Partly because of the name (both the Sherlock Holmes reference, and the fact that I love Prague), partly because of the tin art, which is gorgeous, and partly of course because of the whole Syrian Latakia imbroglio.
Now, I've never had the opportunity to smoke it, and it seems that in order to, I'll have to pay a steep price. So, in the opinion of those who have: is it that good? Which more easily available tobaccos could I try, to have an idea of what Bohemian Scandal would be like?

 

[mso489]

Rather than relying on someone else's taste and recollection, if I were you, I'd find the constituent tobaccos in Bohemian Scandal then review the current GLP blends available and narrow it to those with the same or very similar tobaccos, and judge from the descriptions which comes closest to the profile for BoScan and take your best shot. Since all blends depend on yearly crops of leaf, which vary in themselves, you might find some variation, but I think that's your best shot. I think the GLP fingerprint would surface in blends done with similar leaf. Like other artists, tobacco blenders have a sort of distinct style and "way." It's hard to go far wrong with GLP if you like the tobaccos he's working with. At least, you would get to try some pleasing blends, at around $11 a tin.

 

[derfargin]

But at the end of the day, the original poster is curious about Bohemian Scandal, anything other than that blend isn't going to do.
I would say, throw down the cash and buy a tin, and if you find it unsmokeable. I'm sure someone here would gladly take it off your hands.

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

I have only smoked one bowl of it but thought that it does indeed deserve its reputation. It is probably the best Balkan I have tried to date.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I tried it and liked it but prefered Raven's Wing over BS, but I realize I am probably in the minority with that view.

 

[stanlaurel]

Have you considered trying and/or stocking up some of the Syrian Latakia blends available from MacBaren or McClellands?

 

[jimbo44]

Nothing else from the current GLP line-up is going to be like it because it depended on the Syrian Latakia that was all lost in the warehouse fire. Whilst current GLP mixtures are excellent, they are all based on Cyprian Latakia. Syrian is less smoky and more "wine" like - as sherry to port. Other lost mixtures were Renaissance and Raven's Wing.
The remaining stocks of that Syrian Latakia remain with McClelland and MacBaren.
A good recommendation would be McC Wilderness or 3 Oaks Syrian.

 

[doctorthoss]

I am familiar with BS and am very much in the minority -- I think it was vastly overrated. I feel that Renissance, for instance, was a better GLP blend using Syrian lat. But do bear in mind that I greatly prefer Cyprian lat to Syrian lat. There are some great blends using Syrian (Wilderness and Three Oaks being two available ones) but I believe that Syrian's reputation is due to its unavailability rather than its inherent qualities. But those are just my two cents worth. Anyhow, back to BS -- it was a didn't Balkan, but I also felt that it lacked some of the depth of other GLP blends and have also noted that it ages poorly. I ended up selling what I had left a couple of years back because I had no more interest in smoking it.

 

[mso489]

The original post says, at the end: Which more easily available tobaccos could I try, to have an idea of what Bohemian Scandal would be like?
Is is probably no match at all for the original BoScan, but I recently have discovered and very much enjoy Mac Baren's HH Latakia Flake. It's likely Cyprian Latakia, but the blend is mild, elegant, and refined, to me.

 

[echie]

mso: your initial suggestion is one of the reasons why I asked for help: to know of something similar I could try. I do like GLP's blends in general, so I'm more than happy to experiment. By the way, thanks for the MacBaren suggestion
derfargin: yup, I think that's what I'll end up doing!
peckinpahhombre: yeah, I'm getting curious about that one as well
stanlaurel: I hadn't, though that's probably a good idea. But it's not only the Syrian Latakia that makes Bohemian Scandal, right? I mean, sure, that's the one ingredient whose unavailability means that the blend won't be produced anymore, but I'm assuming the point is that it blends well with the others.
imbo44: that's a great comparison, thanks! Made me even more curious to try BS (and in fact Raven's Wing and Renaissance). And thanks for the recommendations, I'll go search for them
doctorthoss: fair enough. I do still hope to try BS, and I'll keep an open mind.

 

[settersbrace]

I have roughly an ounce that has been aged but I'm not certain of the year it was tinned. I did a tobacco trade thing and although it is tasty and the Syrian is evident, I don't think I'd add to my must-have list. I'd much rather have a 10 years or older tin of Haddo's, that stuff was built for the cellar!

 

[doctorthoss]

Of the available blends right now, I would say that Three Oaks Syrian is the closest to BS. It's not the same, but the basic components are similar.

 

[echie]

Yeah, Three Oaks is clearly moving to the top of my next "next acquisition" list