GL Pease Westminster

[uncballzer]

Hi Pipers. I couldn't pass this up, for some reason, this tobacco wanted to make me post here and see what the other gorillas thought. There's already another thread on this baccy, but it's about a year old (http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthr...ht=westminster).

I traded PadronMe for this tin, ironically, I sent him 5 padrons for it. I found out that this was an english blend when he listed it, and I've found that I like the english's a lot more thus far in my light-weight piping endeavor. So I'm picking up all the English blends I'm able to get a hold on, Squadron Leader thus far being my favorite. I've also found that I like the oriental tobacco as well, so I got a little giddy when I saw this tin had that in it as well.

Thus far, I've had two bowls tonight of this tobacco. One in my Savinelli, and another currently in a cob. Thus far, with the start, Westminster has a really sweet taste, sugary almost it seems. But it also has the medium background of spice, which I'm thinking comes from the oriental partition. It's surprisingly strong as well. It hasn't knocked me out of the chair, but I've gotten a little lightheadedness from it.

The only bad thing thus far, as it was also mentioned in the previous thread, that it is taking a lot of relights, both in the Savinelli and the cob. I just can't seem to keep it lit at all. I tried holding the flame to it a little longer on one of the lights, but that just made a harsh taste come through. Not cool!
Another odd thing, after I opened the tin, it wasn't really a cut I had seen yet. It was more like someone had taken an axe to a ton of leaves, and then vacuumed up the crumbles, so that made it a little harder to pack, and could be contributing to the lighting troubles.

Overall, I don't think it's that bad. I'll wait till I get through the whole tin before I make a final decision as to if I want to pick up another tin or so later on. But it is kinda nice regarding the sweet taste plus spice background, which does appeal to me. So I'll have to wait and see.
Has anyone else tried Westminster and your thoughts on it? Also, have you found a good way to pack that will let it stay lit?

PS, first review of anything online, hope I didn't slaughter it too badly.

[Quick_nick]

Funny thing is I just lit up a bowl of westminster right before seeing this post. I like it alot for an English.It has a smokey type characteristic but is also sweet. I found that if you let it dry out quite a bit where there's really no moisture whatsoever it tastes a little better, it's easier to pack and keep lit. I'm almost always an Aromatic smoker but I think has found it's way into my cellar for the long term.

General smoking experience 8.5-9 out of 10

[mugwump]

I've been trying the various English blends that I have and finally got around to Westminster last night. I actually enjoyed it a bit more than Squadron Leader and Penzance although I'll agree that it was hard to keep lit. I found it to more subtle than the others which I prefer in my pipe tobacco (when I want a full on tobacco taste I usually go with a cigar) and the flavors evolved a bit as the bowl smoked down. Really good stuff and it'll certainly be on my reorder list in the near future.

[Sawyer]

I think it is very good. Probably in my top 5 English blends. Another really good one to try if you like this is the new GLP Maltese Falcon. It also has Latakia, Virginias and Orientals. It stays lit better for me too.

[uncballzer]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

I think it is very good. Probably in my top 5 English blends. Another really good one to try if you like this is the new GLP Maltese Falcon. It also has Latakia, Virginias and Orientals. It stays lit better for me too.

I've not heard of that one yet. It sounds right up my alley though, I've come to like the oriental/latakia blend! Thanks for the recommendation!

[uncballzer]

Originally Posted by Quick_nick

Funny thing is I just lit up a bowl of westminster right before seeing this post. I like it alot for an English.It has a smokey type characteristic but is also sweet. I found that if you let it dry out quite a bit where there's really no moisture whatsoever it tastes a little better, it's easier to pack and keep lit. I'm almost always an Aromatic smoker but I think has found it's way into my cellar for the long term.

General smoking experience 8.5-9 out of 10

I had it sitting out probably ~ 20minutes before the first bowl, and had enough left over for a second bowl about an hour or more later, I think the second was a little easier to keep lit.

Originally Posted by mugwump

I've been trying the various English blends that I have and finally got around to Westminster last night. I actually enjoyed it a bit more than Squadron Leader and Penzance although I'll agree that it was hard to keep lit. I found it to more subtle than the others which I prefer in my pipe tobacco (when I want a full on tobacco taste I usually go with a cigar) and the flavors evolved a bit as the bowl smoked down. Really good stuff and it'll certainly be on my reorder list in the near future.

I did feel like it had more to it than Squadron leader, although I hate saying that cause SL is my goto! It's definitely going to stick around for a little while (I've got so many things to try being new at this and all, that it's taking some time to smoke a whole tin of something).

[Quick_nick]

Wow my tastes have changed. This time last year I was smoking all aro's with an occasional English. Westminster changed me for the good back then, I traded off all of my aro's and won't touch them anymore. I smoke strictly Balkans, English, Virginia's, and Vaper's, Westminster is still one of my absolute favorites and I have a tin getting a bit of age. I am desperatley trying to not open too many tins at once because it's just too many when you have 20 open tins lying around. If I had the money to have a couple hundred backlogged that would be fine but alas I am poor.

One more tip on Westminster is to try it extremely dry, when it's moist it not that great but dry the stuff out alot and it's fantastic.

[rx2010]

I almost ordered a tin of this, then decided to get a second tin of christmas cheer

I'll have to include it in my next order

[Emjaysmash]

Thanks for the review!
I put up a post on English blend suggestions, this being one i had in mind to try. I will definiteley have to find some and try it!

[plexiprs]

Nice review and I agree that the combo of flavors it presents is quite nice. I enjoy it in the regular rotation and always have some on-hand for smoking as well as maturing.

[Dzrtrat]

Alright Richard how do you feel about this blend 11 months later?

[pro2625]

I bought a can of this and must say its in my top 3....Very good baccy

[drastic_quench]

All-time favorite. I can' go back and smoke Squadron Leader after puffing through two tins of Westminster.

[dmkerr]

Originally Posted by drastic_quench

All-time favorite. I can' go back and smoke Squadron Leader after puffing through two tins of Westminster.

This is one of those tobaccos that proves the notion of diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks... or maybe "Folk" in the singular. I may be the only person that does not like Westminster at all. It seems almost sacriligious... like saying "I hate Escudo".

The recipe should have been ideal for my taste but this didn't just miss the mark for me, it never even showed up at the shootin' range. I can't explain it. To those who enjoy it, my hats off to you. And you'll know that we'll never fight over the last in stock tin.

[morefifemusicanyone]

Originally Posted by dmkerr

This is one of those tobaccos that proves the notion of diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks... or maybe "Folk" in the singular. I may be the only person that does not like Westminster at all. It seems almost sacriligious... like saying "I hate Escudo".

The recipe should have been ideal for my taste but this didn't just miss the mark for me, it never even showed up at the shootin' range. I can't explain it. To those who enjoy it, my hats off to you. And you'll know that we'll never fight over the last in stock tin.

How many ways have you tried it? Have you smoked it while standing on your head? In the shower? With tomato juice?

You gotta love Westminster.

In all seriousness, that is interesting that you do not like it even though you thought you would. Was it just unimpressive, or was it totally bad?

I myself love this stuff.