A good reason to revisit

Subject: A good reason to revisit Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:46 am

It's probably been a year and a half since I last smoked any of Greg Pease's Barbary Coast. I went through a tin and though I thought it was good stuff it didn't make me want to run out and buy a bunch to cellar. At that time I wasn't much of a burley fan, hadn't shown it much interest actually and I think it's just a matter of how my palate was developing at the time. Last May I attended TJ's smoker and Vito had this fantastic stash of old burley weeds. Up to that point I had thought burley to be a pretty basic, no frills nothing special everyday/everyman kind of smoke and the few chances I gave it didn't make any great impressions on me. Watching Vito, Greg and the boys discuss and 'Get Into' these old burlies fueled my interest and I went on a bit of a quest to delve into the stuff. Some blends I found pretty rough and unappealing, some had nice flavors but managed to get bitter or harsh too soon, others seemed like mere vessels for whatever topping was applied. Most of these I liked at first but by the time I finished a tin I wasn't interested in buying more. There are a few that stand out as very good - Solani aged burley flake, Cumberland, Stonehaven - these I am cellaring as they are very very good, very rich blends, but I've yet to find something that would suit me as an all day everyday smoke - which was part of the idea of my little odyssey.

During all of that I never revisited Barbary Coast. I just sort of allowed my first impression to stand and hadn't thought to retry it once my burley palate had developed a bit. While enjoying a smoke at the local pipeshop a few days back I felt I wanted to buy a tin of something - I hate to just wander in and hang out and not buy something - so upon perusing the shelves I spy a few tins of Barbary coast with a couple of years of age on them and I bought one. I've been smoking it for a few days now and I gotta tell ya, it's damned fine stuff!! The initial fragrance upon opening is very rich and earthy and spicy and the subtle application of brandy works beautifully with the tobaccos. Once dried and ready to smoke the brandy note is nearly gone (which I was glad for as I shy away from blends topped with whiskey, rum or anything like that). This stuff has a wonderful rich flavor of fine tobacco but it never gets too dark or bitter and I've found that with every single bowl thus far I've smoked it clear to the bottom and was left wanting more.

And it comes in half pound tins! Very Happy

There are a few others I've yet to try - I'm such a procrastinator, I've been meaning to try Peretti's BPC and Uhles Perfection plug for months now and want to before I make any final proclamations - but now that I'm almost through this tin of BC I think I can honestly say that it's the finest of all the burlies I've tried this past year. It pays to revisit blends over time

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Joined : 12 Jan 2008 Posts : 41 Location : UK

I am a fan of Barbary Coast as well.

I also agree with the logic to re try blends, as palates change as do the mixtures with age.

Subject: Re: A good reason to revisit Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:48 pm

I found it a bit hard to like burley that is just flavored. Peretti's seem to be quite likable in this manner. I suspect it's a good burley to begin with. Otherwise, I prefer them as part of a blend. Home From the Hills, Old Joe Krantz, Bridge Mixture, Pirate Kake being the better examples.

Burley is the taters in meat and taters dishes. By itself there isn't a lot of flavor, but toast it, add a condiment to it, a flavor, and it really brings it all together in a satisfying manner.
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Subject: Re: A good reason to revisit Sat Feb 09, 2008 3:26 pm

Wonderful thoughts PD... I enjoy Barbary Coast. I found good results with a "gravity fill" and then a finger tamp. Also, I load the pipe a couple hours before I smoke it. This seems to give it about the right dryness for me. After a few days, the tobacco in the tin is dry enough through opening and closing the tin.

I used to have a straight burley, cubed cut. It smoked clean and I used it mainly as a "break in" tobacco.

I recently ordered C&D Burley Straight # 808 with the descrption:

Italian Stallion Joined : 09 Dec 2007 Posts : 2228

Wessex Burley Sliced
Solani Silver Flake
Stokkebye Cube Cut

Subject: Re: A good reason to revisit Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:19 pm

Subject: Re: A good reason to revisit Sat Feb 09, 2008 5:34 pm

PD, those are some good observations that you posted. I haven't revisited BC in a long time. Now I am going to have to give it another a shot.

I am very fond of a couple of the "OTC" burley blends and with the recent rediscovery and discovery of some of the higher grade burleys you guys, as you call it, are turning me into a tobacco whore..........well, that is a whole other thread!
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Subject: Re: A good reason to revisit Sat Feb 09, 2008 7:52 pm

I started out disliking burleys, but I've come around to appreciating them. The ones I especially enjoy these days include:

Solani Aged Burley Flake
Peterson University Flake
P&W Nut Brown Burley
C&D Pennington Gap
Tobacco Barn "Grandfather"
good ol' Prince Albert

I finally have begun to get the hang of smoking slow and easy enough to coax out the rich, nutty flavors in burley. I didn't like Barbary Coast when I tried it a couple years ago -- sounds like another one to revisit.

Subject: Re: A good reason to revisit Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:02 pm

When I first tried BC I wasn't very impressed at all, and I found the cube cut burley hard to keep lit. I put it aside and forgot about it for about 4 years. When I opened it, the tobacco seemed a tad bit darker and the aroma was rich and amazing. I think I read that Greg Pease stated on pipedia.org that BC will benefit the least from aging...I think it ages quite well! afro

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Joined : 08 Mar 2008 Posts : 44

I really enjoy burley tobaccos, so much so that something like 3/4ths of my smokes are burley blends. Barbary Coast, however, never was able to ring my bell because I had horrific trouble keeping it lit. No matter how much I dried it, how I packed it, how I smoked it, etc., it just wouldn't burn. This was especially problematic because I absolutely loved the flavor -- one of the best tasting blends I'd ever tried! I ended up "curing" this problem by mixing it with about a third of Old Joe Krantz, which actually beefed up the flavor and allowed me to finish the rest of my stash (OJK's ingredients mesh well with BC, I've found). Anyway, I ended up putting an 8-ounce tin of BC into storage and had more or less forgotten about it until I read your post. Now, I'm tempted to see what a couple of years of aging have done to it ....

Joined : 17 Dec 2007 Posts : 134

Hey Vito,

Carlos told me that Peretti's D.D. was one-dimensional, but given your plug above, I'd bet you think it isn't. (Carlos forgive me if I'm misquoting/misinterpeting you.)

Could you write a review (short or long)?
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Joined : 27 Feb 2008 Posts : 212 Location : Littleton, CO

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