Crookshanks
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- Nov 9, 2009
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Hello my friends,
Well, here we are between Fall and Winter, where many of the disposed's cravings turn toward the darker and smokier. And, as though Santa had heard our longings, we have a new treat to sample this season. GLPease Gaslight. I've spent the last few weeks smoking, nearly, nothing else trying to get a good hold on our new friend, and I think I'm really starting to like it.
I've said before that Im a VA extrovert, but a Lat introvert. Meaning I'll try, and like well enough probably, nearly any natural VA blend. But, with my beloved Lat Mixtures, I'm weary of outsiders, and eye them with suspicion until they prove to be like-minded. This is perhaps odd. I'm ok with that.
When Gaslight first arrived, I was very excited, and Gaslight was clearly good, but I wasn't ready to invite it into the "inner-circle". I wasn't aware yet that I had been missing this guy until I sat back and listened, and even experimented. Actually, it comes packaged well for my little test. I don't know why i did it, but I am glad I did.
For my first tin, I took the two little blocks out, put them in a jar, and would slice off what i would smoke, and put the rest back in the jar for next time. My impression was that Gaslight was very much like my favorite coffees, it doesn't taste LIKE coffee, but more...ACTS like coffee. It has a dark rich bitter body, it was sometimes herbal barbs, and a light dried-fruit-like sweetness on the finishes, but...I wanted...more. It was deep and "rustic" like stew. But there was something holding me at a little distance. It had a dank woodsy mouthfeel, but I like that. It had an almost fetid vinegar-like impression, and somehow there was a sweet tone to its overall effect. weird.
So, at tin two, I decided to continue the way I had: leave it in a bar, and slice off flakes, and pull them apart and load an smoke them, leaving the rest of the cake intact, and back in a jar. But, for the other cake in the tin I sliced it all up at once, and rubbed it all the way out to a classic ribbon consistence, and scooped that up into a second jar, and left it there. I finished the first cake off, as before, and had about the same impression. Though, as time went on, I grew some more respect for its strength, and began to smoke it in smaller bowls.
When I got to the second jar with the pre-rubbed Gaslight, I didn't recognize the aroma that came from the jar. It was as if I busted someone trying to trick me with the "we've switched Jon's Kenya with Folgers" trick. It was a new monster. I really had the experience of tasting the difference between swigging a bottle and letting a well aged vintage breathe, and savoring it from the proper stemware for the type.
For...ME...Gaslight as it sits in the tin is in a state of cryogenic stasis. Aging. Fermenting. Growing. Changing. When I pick it right up, cut it, stuff it, and smoke it, its just TOO congested, and sleepy. When I cut it, and let breathe a bit, in a jar, it opens and blooms and well...knocks a few old friends off the Christmas Card list.
Im no scientist (i might be the opposite, actually) but my GUESS is that in its pressed form theres something going on that stops once you cut it up. All that core of the little cakes doesn't get air, and once it does get air, something else happens to it. I might be wrong, but I am telling you i sure do taste a big difference.
Some may not really notice much maybe, and some could prefer the non-rubbed way. Both are good. I seem to prefer it rubbed. That said, I don't think theres much a reason to rub it and then jar it to age. I think I'll let the tins age as bars, then rub them to smoke them.
Gaslight is a fantastic mixture, and I'm excited to grow with it. It's certainly not a HEAVY LAT blend in the way may are these days. Though its a big mixture, which includes Lat. Its a classic-style. To my mind, it stands in the category of Penzance, or Old Balkan Sobranie. Its about the weight of previous Mixes from Pease like Meridian I'd say.
Cheers y'all!!
Well, here we are between Fall and Winter, where many of the disposed's cravings turn toward the darker and smokier. And, as though Santa had heard our longings, we have a new treat to sample this season. GLPease Gaslight. I've spent the last few weeks smoking, nearly, nothing else trying to get a good hold on our new friend, and I think I'm really starting to like it.
I've said before that Im a VA extrovert, but a Lat introvert. Meaning I'll try, and like well enough probably, nearly any natural VA blend. But, with my beloved Lat Mixtures, I'm weary of outsiders, and eye them with suspicion until they prove to be like-minded. This is perhaps odd. I'm ok with that.
When Gaslight first arrived, I was very excited, and Gaslight was clearly good, but I wasn't ready to invite it into the "inner-circle". I wasn't aware yet that I had been missing this guy until I sat back and listened, and even experimented. Actually, it comes packaged well for my little test. I don't know why i did it, but I am glad I did.
For my first tin, I took the two little blocks out, put them in a jar, and would slice off what i would smoke, and put the rest back in the jar for next time. My impression was that Gaslight was very much like my favorite coffees, it doesn't taste LIKE coffee, but more...ACTS like coffee. It has a dark rich bitter body, it was sometimes herbal barbs, and a light dried-fruit-like sweetness on the finishes, but...I wanted...more. It was deep and "rustic" like stew. But there was something holding me at a little distance. It had a dank woodsy mouthfeel, but I like that. It had an almost fetid vinegar-like impression, and somehow there was a sweet tone to its overall effect. weird.
So, at tin two, I decided to continue the way I had: leave it in a bar, and slice off flakes, and pull them apart and load an smoke them, leaving the rest of the cake intact, and back in a jar. But, for the other cake in the tin I sliced it all up at once, and rubbed it all the way out to a classic ribbon consistence, and scooped that up into a second jar, and left it there. I finished the first cake off, as before, and had about the same impression. Though, as time went on, I grew some more respect for its strength, and began to smoke it in smaller bowls.
When I got to the second jar with the pre-rubbed Gaslight, I didn't recognize the aroma that came from the jar. It was as if I busted someone trying to trick me with the "we've switched Jon's Kenya with Folgers" trick. It was a new monster. I really had the experience of tasting the difference between swigging a bottle and letting a well aged vintage breathe, and savoring it from the proper stemware for the type.
For...ME...Gaslight as it sits in the tin is in a state of cryogenic stasis. Aging. Fermenting. Growing. Changing. When I pick it right up, cut it, stuff it, and smoke it, its just TOO congested, and sleepy. When I cut it, and let breathe a bit, in a jar, it opens and blooms and well...knocks a few old friends off the Christmas Card list.
Im no scientist (i might be the opposite, actually) but my GUESS is that in its pressed form theres something going on that stops once you cut it up. All that core of the little cakes doesn't get air, and once it does get air, something else happens to it. I might be wrong, but I am telling you i sure do taste a big difference.
Some may not really notice much maybe, and some could prefer the non-rubbed way. Both are good. I seem to prefer it rubbed. That said, I don't think theres much a reason to rub it and then jar it to age. I think I'll let the tins age as bars, then rub them to smoke them.
Gaslight is a fantastic mixture, and I'm excited to grow with it. It's certainly not a HEAVY LAT blend in the way may are these days. Though its a big mixture, which includes Lat. Its a classic-style. To my mind, it stands in the category of Penzance, or Old Balkan Sobranie. Its about the weight of previous Mixes from Pease like Meridian I'd say.
Cheers y'all!!
)))
