G.L. Pease Sixpence, A Review

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Jan 8, 2013
1,189
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So I have had this tin for about a month now, and it is nearly gone, I guess it is time to share my thoughts on it.
First off, I am a fan of the Old London series so far, Gaslight was phenomenal and Sixpence is right up there as well in my book. I still have a tin of Quiet Nights waiting to be opened. I always enjoy reading the flavor text on the tins too. Anyhow, to the point...
Opening up the tin you find a beautiful broken cake, with nice swirls of colors. The touch of dark fired adds some nice color to these pieces. The scent is fantastic, bold, strong and tangy. It is a bit moist in the tin, so I generally rub a little out and let it sit for a bit to dry up. I have mainly been smoking it in the new Icarus, but I have tried some in a cob and few other briar as well. The charming light comes through a bit spicy, but it tones down from there.
The flavor here is tough to nail down. The tangy dark fired comes through well, and the perique is kept mild enough to not make you feel like like your smoking peppercorns. The Virginias are smooth and tasty. As I have said before, my palate is not as sophisticated as some, so generally it is as simple as I like it or I don't like it, so pardon my lack of good description here.
Overall, a solid win in my book. My top blends up until now have been Old Dark Fired, Full Virginia Flake and Luxury Navy Flake, so this one kind of hit like a nice blend off all three. Great work as usual Greg!

 
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cobguy

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
3,742
15
Glad to hear that you're digging it Jason!
The topping is a bit much for me on this one but it's not like Greg doesn't already have a secure spot in my cellar

with his other blends. :wink:

 

elbert

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 10, 2015
604
28
I'm glad you liked it! If I remember correctly, you ordered around the time I posted a little review of my own. I'm always hesitant to give recommendations because (as with your case) my palate just isn't "there".
But like you said, Sixpence is a solid win.

 
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Jan 8, 2013
1,189
3
elbert- you are correct, I ordered some right around the time you posted your review, and man am I glad that I did, this one is definitely getting reordered.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
It sounds like something I'll try in my oh-so-gradual march through the online cellars of glory. Have there ever before been as many truly excellent blends so widely available to wide segments of the pipe-smoking public? I doubt it. Put that one on my list ....

 

biggles

Lurker
Sep 25, 2015
22
0
Atlanta
Never a tobacco than six pence have I heard so may highs and lows for reviews when researching this one. Your review I think is spot on - but I have yet to buy any because of the majority reviews are so vast in extremes. Is there any kind of topping on this one? I have read before that many people feel there is some kind of alcohol topping - verging on the side of medicinal.

 

dmcmtk

Lifer
Aug 23, 2013
3,672
1,685
The topping is most noticeable when the tin is first opened. To my personal taste, it seems to be a red wine concoction, but I can in NO WAY confirm that. What I've also noticed, is the topping is much less noticeable after the tin has been open for a few weeks and longer. At that point it is just an excellent Va/Per. There is only one way for you to find out......

 

mrbigglesworth

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 1, 2015
196
1
Winston Salem, NC
I keep hearing such good things about GL Pease and I am thinking of venturing forthwith thereunto. I have been a bit afraid of purchasing, however, because I hear some of the blends are quite heavy. I'll be coming from the Frog Morton ACP side of the isle so I'm not sure which Pease to try first. Thoughts?

 

dmcmtk

Lifer
Aug 23, 2013
3,672
1,685
An excellent Balkan from GLP is Charing Cross, at least I really like it! For Va/Pers, I've smoked Telegraph Hill, but think I will prefer Fillmore when I open one of the tins that I have.

 

atskywalker

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 23, 2015
285
2
Canada
Great review! I love Sixpence. You can find insights about it from the man himself in the crawl thread; we sampled it this month (http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/october-tobacco-crawl-with-greg-l-pease).
I haven't had gaslight yet but its my next Latakia tin pop. You're also in for an amazing Journey with your yet to be opened tin of Quiet Nights. I have been smoking 3 to 4 bowls of it everyday for the past week! Greg talks about its history extensively in the aforementioned thread as well.

 

gogosamgo

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 5, 2015
244
0
Thanks for the review! I've had a tin of sixpence for over 7-8 months now and every time I think of busting it open to give it a try, I get distracted by another tobacco. Maybe I'll give it a try tonight :)

 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,270
4,261
On December 8, 2014 I received a tin of Sixpence in a tobacco order. Today, I opened it and immediately thought, "Vinegar and overripe tomatoes." Despite that, I broke a few flakes into pieces and stuffed into a Savinelli Bulldog. Didn't let it air out for any length of time, just what it took to walk outside with it. Surprisingly, it lit easy and stayed lit. Even more surprisingly is that it definitely tasted better than the tin aroma. In fact, my unsophisticated palate said, "Hey! What's this? It's pretty damn good."
It smoked slow and cool. I could pick out the perique and the virginia with no problem. Think I recognized the dark fired too. To me it had a sort of floral, fruity taste with just a little pepper in the retro.
It was definitely better than some of the reviews I've read, but then again, mine has sat unopened in the tin for a year.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,067
Carmel Valley, CA
Nice review, pappy! Such discipline, too! I have to keep my Pease blends well in the back so I don't smoke them right away.

 

jkrug

Lifer
Jan 23, 2015
2,867
8
Thanks for your review. This blend has grown to be one of my favourites. :puffy:

 

andystewart

Lifer
Jan 21, 2014
3,973
3
Thanks for opening this thread Jason and for your review. I had a disappointment then an epiphany with Sixpence. Having waited through all the pre-release hype and finally got a couple of tins over to England from the US, I found that the first smokes were dominated by the 'special spirit' topping. Great quality tobacco and ingredients but just too much damn topping! I took my time going through the open first tin and the topping diminished a little, but I was still sorely disappointed by the taste and general experience. However, I stuck the second tin away and opened it two weeks ago, after almost a year. What a difference! Even in a sealed tin, the topping presence had dissipated and I was left with a stunning, tasty VaPer blend that I demolished in under a week. Sixpence has gone from also-ran to go-to; I've just bought some 8oz tins and split them into 2oz jars so that the tobacco will have time to cure before being opened. Hopefully, this will give me less of the first experience and much more of the second!
Andy

 

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
13
Thanks for the review Andy, that was insightful. I'm starting to come to the conclusion that releasing immature tobaccos is a sign of a poor blender and/or an irresponsible manufacturer. If it takes a year for a blend to not give offense, it should sit for a year before it's released. McClellands manages to stay afloat while maintaining quality and consistency, so to should C&D in all their lines.

 

perdurabo

Lifer
Jun 3, 2015
3,305
1,575
Nice review. I love Anisette, Pastis and Absinthe. Absinthe is my other hobby I guess, but Sixpence is drawing me in on that alone, the addition of anise flavored alcohol. I love Old Dark Fired and VaPers, so my little tin will be a welcome treat come spring. Thank You for your review. FadingDaylight.

 
I hope that everything is going OK, Jason. You are missed.
Yeh, I think what folks mean is that this is a good VaPer, better then most, but knowing Greg's reputation for experimenting with the effects of aging, we have great expectations for how much this one will improve in a year. I liked my first couple of tins, and went ahead and built up a stockpile in anticipation for what age will do to this one. I'm not saying that I didn't already like it, but that I anticipate what age will do to push this one to an even better plateau. ...if that makes sense.

Some of us just are "into" the whole aging thing.

 
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