OK, I understand that Pegasus is one of my own offspring, but I am partial to it. In the blending, I sought to find a mixture that really reflected rather common American tobaccos which could be enjoyed as a smoke through the day. Years ago, I enjoyed smoking Bond Street, and my hope was to approach the flavor of Bond Street with its pleasant room aroma.
The base of the blend are three burleys: cube cut, white and dark. They are the majority tobaccos. The two virginias and the unsweetened black cavendish provide the flavor. I have grown very fond of ribbon cut virginia with its matured sweetness and clean burn. Black cavendish has drawn criticism because of the travesty which some blenders have inflected upon it with the "bag o' smokes" available in some venues. But, C&D black cavendish is uncased and very smooth, w/o excess sugars.
Smoking Pegasus is best in a larger bowled pipe, to allow the tobaccos to meld. I chose a Ben Wade large Dublin which I got from Bill Unger of NASPC. In the first lightings, the initial bitterness of burleys are expressed, but then their fullness is tasted followed fairly quickly by tasting both virginias and the BC. The smoke never seems to fall into any harshness and levels out into clean and pleasant experience. I believe that both the new and more experienced smoker will find Pegasus acceptable.
