Latest Top Picks from GL Pease

[JadeStarCat]

First thing I reach for is " Bankside." Highly recommended. Long burning, rich, and satisfying for tabac produced in the current devolved age we are in.
#2 " Regents Flake " - An excellent 2nd smoke of the day. Not overpowering, but with some notable complexity.
#3 and sometimes 2nd place, is " Horizons." Lots of subtle complexity and depth to this one.
For this longer cut style of these 3 blends, I have found its not something that rubs out well until its been cros cut to shorter dimension. About 1/2-1/4 inch. Then put a measure back in the tin adn with a little dry time it cellars nicely and rubs well.
" Blackpoint " and " Stratford " are also recommended. They are both a sort of ribbon cut, but not quite the old school way. Both very smokable.


I did not care for " Windjammer " which was quite green, needing some age and cellaring. Nicotine like a ton of bricks out of the tin, though I can appreciate some will like it. Its smoked better with some age, but not my cup of tea.
Last recent try is " Spark Plug." A crumble cake style that will not crumble out of the tin. Very stringy and having some very rough cu, veryt wide and somewhat moist dark leaf. This one needs some prep and cellaring, but first impressions prove it could be a good one. All the best.

 

[dottlejockey]

Regents Flake can be quite good. I found it smokes better in some pipes than others. There are a few blends that seem to be fickle like that for me. Might want to give Windjammer a couple tries in other pipes as well, for this reason, if you haven't already.

 

[burleyboy75]

interesting thoughts, especially pertinent to me are those regarding “horizons.”

i had a dandy of a time smoking that one. I had a hard time rubbing it out. The chunks were still too big I think. I couldnt keep it lit.

I tried fold and stuff-couldnt get it to hold at all.

I then tried cross cutting. First half of the bowl was okay, but i think i cut too small, it clogged my pipe and cut airflow.

For all methods, I tried various amounts of drying time.

Finally, I took a 1/2 inchish thick flake and rolled it as best as I could, like a cold cut, against the grain. I layered this in the bottom of the pipe to protect my airway and give structure. I layered up rubbed out chunks ( as best as I could get) very loosely on top, like only until full (no tamping), then I put some tinder dust leftover on top. Tamped very lightly. Finally, a decent smoke. This stuff kicked my butt.

I repeated with success. oh and I tried to use broader bowled pipes.

Can you elaborate your prep? you cut up, then rub out, then put back in tin?

I think this horizons is a tricky tobacco indeed

 

[Sig]

Regents Flake is my next tin to open. Ive got one from 2018 which is about to burst. Its like a Weeble Wobble and cant be stacked.
I may wear safety glasses when I open it.

 

[Oddball]

I found Regents Flake to be dynamite after some jar time, 1-2 weeks should do it. it's a really really good smoke.
Fresh from the tin I had a hard time enjoying it, but that could have been the humidity/PH/temp/Constellations/solar alignment/entrail readings/etc etc

 

[JackOrion]

Just so happens I just put match to Windjammer seconds before I opened this thread. Packed lightly and drawn easy it delivers as described. I’ve yet to try an aged tin of it though I’m sitting on a pound. I like it quite a bit.

 

[sardonicus87]

I have several I have yet to try, the one I have open now is Embarcadero and I like it pretty well, might even be the first non-English I've tried from Pease.

 

[LotusEater]

Regents Flake is one of my favorites. For me it is a perfect all day smoke. Temple Bar is supposed to be same components in a plug. I’ve had both and prefer Regents.

Spark plug is an excellent English and one of a very few English plugs

 

[jpberg]

Starcat?

 

[FLDRD]

Regents Flake is one of my favorites. For me it is a perfect all day smoke. Temple Bar is supposed to be same components in a plug. I’ve had both and prefer Regents.

Ditto.

 

[Peter Turbo]

Starcat?

jpberg?

 

[jpberg]

jpberg?

Dude

 

[Brendan]

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

I also found Windjammer to be quite potent and a moist at first opening (difficult to light). I tried again about a week later and still moist and strong. Then a month passes and I sprinkle some on top of Newminster Navy Flake and it performs fantastic and the potency level went way down. I am curious to see what it will be in a year in the cellar.

 

[Indygrap]

First thing I reach for is " Bankside." Highly recommended. Long burning, rich, and satisfying for tabac produced in the current devolved age we are in.
#2 " Regents Flake " - An excellent 2nd smoke of the day. Not overpowering, but with some notable complexity.
#3 and sometimes 2nd place, is " Horizons." Lots of subtle complexity and depth to this one.
For this longer cut style of these 3 blends, I have found its not something that rubs out well until its been cros cut to shorter dimension. About 1/2-1/4 inch. Then put a measure back in the tin adn with a little dry time it cellars nicely and rubs well.
" Blackpoint " and " Stratford " are also recommended. They are both a sort of ribbon cut, but not quite the old school way. Both very smokable.


I did not care for " Windjammer " which was quite green, needing some age and cellaring. Nicotine like a ton of bricks out of the tin, though I can appreciate some will like it. Its smoked better with some age, but not my cup of tea.
Last recent try is " Spark Plug." A crumble cake style that will not crumble out of the tin. Very stringy and having some very rough cu, veryt wide and somewhat moist dark leaf. This one needs some prep and cellaring, but first impressions prove it could be a good one. All the best.

I have yet to try any of these blends, except Spark Plug. I have tins of both Bankside & Horizons & been meaning to try Windjammer.
The one I have tried, Spark Plug, is amazing. However, it’s not a crumble cake, it’s a plug so that might be the issue with prep.

 

[JadeStarCat]

I have yet to try any of these blends, except Spark Plug. I have tins of both Bankside & Horizons & been meaning to try Windjammer.
The one I have tried, Spark Plug, is amazing. However, it’s not a crumble cake, it’s a plug so that might be the issue with prep.

" Spark Plug " update. This one is not easy to prepare as it needs to be essentially cut up and then rubbed out and dried a bit in orer to be smoked, but its pretty much worth the effort thus far. I can recommend trying it to any who like the written description of the product on th tim. 2 bowls in I am liking it as one that can go into the rotation. Take care Lads.

 

[JadeStarCat]

interesting thoughts, especially pertinent to me are those regarding “horizons.”

i had a dandy of a time smoking that one. I had a hard time rubbing it out. The chunks were still too big I think. I couldnt keep it lit.

I tried fold and stuff-couldnt get it to hold at all.

I then tried cross cutting. First half of the bowl was okay, but i think i cut too small, it clogged my pipe and cut airflow.

For all methods, I tried various amounts of drying time.

Finally, I took a 1/2 inchish thick flake and rolled it as best as I could, like a cold cut, against the grain. I layered this in the bottom of the pipe to protect my airway and give structure. I layered up rubbed out chunks ( as best as I could get) very loosely on top, like only until full (no tamping), then I put some tinder dust leftover on top. Tamped very lightly. Finally, a decent smoke. This stuff kicked my butt.

I repeated with success. oh and I tried to use broader bowled pipes.

Can you elaborate your prep? you cut up, then rub out, then put back in tin?

I think this horizons is a tricky tobacco indeed

Excellent. For cross cutting this type of tabac, I use a good meat cleaver, then cellar some in the tin say 1/2 to 2/3 full and it will proceed to lightly dry over a few days, Throw some on a tin plate and rub it out lightly before loading. This method seems to work quite well with this type of cut. I have found I do not really need to dry the bankside, regents, or horizons, Just process a bit of them this way and they are fairly smokable pretty quick. When the tim gets down to 1 or 2 bowls worth, I 'll pull some out of the mason jar, cross cut and cellar again. Over all this cut is not a problem and is used for all my top most picks.

 

[JadeStarCat]

Starcat?

Starcat it is, though there may be more than one of us. And, I do love the felines BTW.

 

[telescopes]

Never mind.

 

[sablebrush52]

I really like Stratford after a few years in the tin.