No, you haven't missed anything; Greg Pease didn't sneak a new blend onto the shelves while y'all weren't looking. You can't buy Nocturne anywhere—not yet, anyway—not even at insane prices in an eBay auction. It's my name for a pre-production version of something Greg hasn't even named yet. I want to make this clear: "Nocturne" is a temporary moniker I've assigned only for the purposes of this review, not to be confused with whatever name ultimately appears on the tin when this blend becomes available. Greg was kind enough to send me a precious few flakes of the stuff, and my musings here are a small token of payback for his generosity in gracing me with a preview of this weedular marvel.
Nocturne is a deep, dark, rich flakeweed—that is, a pressed cake sliced into bacon-strip "flakes". The pouch aroma is of sweet, pungent, earthen darkweed. Latakiaholics rejoice! Those who pine interminably for ever stouter Latweed content in a Peasian weedage will be sated, methinks...for a while, at least. (Never mind the fact that there are so many other GLP Latikonfections available to savor...many of which remain wholly ungrokked by the perennially unsated.) But while there is no question that Nocturne is abundantly endowed with mammoth Latakian mammaries on which to suckle, the pouch aroma heralds still greater mysteries to plumb. The sweet, fruity quintessence of 'Ginnyweed is there in the nose, promising the toasted plum-pudding sweetness of fine Virginias that will be forthcoming from the business end of the pipe once you set fire to it.
I always value the first impression of one of the innocents, and my youngest daughter never disappoints me in that regard. "Smells toasty—like some kind of wood burning in a fireplace...but very fragrant, like incense." HAH! Out of the mouths of babes...I couldn't wait, so I crumbled some flakes to make a mix of partially rubbed-out chunks and smaller crumbs, and applied the match. That's right—the match; one is all it took—in an old Ascorti-Radice Caminetto 136 flat-bottomed ball with a 1/16 bend in the stem, a military mount, and a generous airway that almost smokes itself.
Great gobs of rich, thick smoke could easily issue from this stuff in this pipe, but there is no need for such smokiferous gluttony. Nocturne is beyond hearty, beyond full; it is utterly massive weedage...and yet, so smooth as to defy reason—a sure tip-off that this is a GLP creation. Besides, the whole point of this mix of chunks and crumbs is a slow burn, wherein the chunks simmer like coals, with the smaller crumbs in the interstices to provide afterburner doses of oomph when called upon. In this Group 5 to Group 6 Caminetto, the pack easily provides a good 2+ hours of sipping burnage. And sipping is all Nocturne needs to provide great mouthfuls of flavor.
Unquestionably, Nocturne is one of the most finely balanced blends I've smoked in recent memory. I should explain what I mean by "balanced". It is not so much a matter of the component tobaccos being present in equal measure; I wouldn't venture any guess at all as to the proportions of the individual tobaccos that make up the blend. Rather, it's much more a matter of the components working together to become a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. Such harmony seldom occurs in blends unless they have seen several years of aging, yet in Nocturne that synergy is immediately available. Surely some of that harmonious melding is attributable to the pressure needed to form the cake from which the flakes are sliced, but it would be naive to suggest that such pressure-melding tells the whole story...or even most of the story.
No...it is never that simple with GLP's blends. The one factor that springs to mind as sufficiently explanatory is obvious—sorcery! I have long suspected Greg of owning one of those conical caps festooned with stars and crescent moons—a glow-in-the-dark chapeau through which he channels some ancient, dark secrets unearthed by alchemists and wizards of yore...knowledge held transfixed in an ether accessible only to mutants with special powers.
Unscientific? Wanton mysticism? Perhaps...but I know of no science to which I can anchor any conventional explanation of the sensory delights I consistently find in GLP blends, especially in the grand slams he's been clobbering outa the park with his most recent offerings. Nocturne is no exception.
I'll tell you what I like about this blend. First, its flavors. One of the soapboxes upon which I frequently climb in my weedic rants is the one from which I extol the virtues of Latakia as a wondrous smoke in its own right. The one counterintuitive truth about fine Cyprian Latweed (and Greg uses tobaccos of only the very finest quality) that is utterly opaque to those who have never smoked it straight is that it is a naturally sweet, smooth, gentle smoke—massive in flavor, yes—but not the strong, harsh, nico-buzz-bringing tobacco so many folks seem to believe it is. It has earned that false reputation for the character it imparts in blends that often contain Orientals—unruly Turkweeds that bring the strong, butt-kicking elements often misattributed to the Latakia. In truth, such strong blends usually would be gentler and naturally sweeter with less Turkish and more Latakia.
I told you all that so I can tell you this: One of the most captivating aspects of Nocturne is the degree to which it provides a platform on which its Latweed component can shine as the truly beneficent weedage it really is. I cannot imagine how anyone who claims to be a genuine Latakiaholic would not be utterly smitten by Nocturne.
Now, that is not to say that Latweed dominates the blend to the detriment of the other tobaccos. I can taste the tangy-sweet fruit and caramel of light and medium Virginias. Indeed, if I choose to focus on those flavors, I can explore them with great interest as they weave in and out of the palette of flavors in the smoke. And there is the unmistakable presence of Turkweed, delightfully present in just enough measure to spice the smoke with an intriguing dose of Oriental mystique without running the Orient Express all over your tongue. It's a trait I happily find in only the very finest examples of Balkan-style blends artfully crafted by truly inspired blendmeistering. But don't be misled; if my mention of "Balkan-style" causes you to put Nocturne in a Balkan box and so stereotype it with other blends of similar description, you will do it and yourself a disservice. Nocturne is so much more than a typical Balkan.
And now we come to what is perhaps the most wondrous part of the Nocturnal experience—the aspect that is at once both familiar and elusive—the Perique. Of all the weedmeisters who use Perique, Greg is probably the standout example of an artisan who understands the less-is-more concept. (Knee-jerk Periqueophobes, slanderers of subtlety, and vilifiers of complexity may now tune out, as it is their wont to do.) I can't promise that Nocturne will deliver enough Perique to satisfy the most craven Periqueaholics, but for those who love that princely spiceweed more for its virtues as a complexifier than a bludgeon, you will marvel at its role in Nocturne. It is the unifying magical element—the creamy component that, for all Nocturne's intensity of flavor, gives it a mouth feel that I can only describe as silky-smooth. Sure...there is no shortage of Perique blends that impart such smoothness at the top of the bowl, yet morph into a raging goulash of sensory overload as you burn your way down past mid-bowl; but Nocturne retains it finesse throughout the burn, from rim to heel, without sacrificing a scintilla of potency.
Have I written enough about this masterpiece? Not by a long shot. After two bowls, I have only begun to scratch the surface. I've written some notes about the trees; I haven't even started to explore the forest—that stand-back-and-grok-the-big-picture perspective you get when you take your focus off the details and just let the smoking experience happen, with the unconscious focus of a smoker who feels no need to analyze or comprehend the mysteries of such a massively complex blend, and is instead content to peacefully contemplate whatever idyllic repose it engenders. Nocturne satisfies both aspects of the piper's passion. Pick one, or both, and revel in its virtues.
Now I'll tell you what I don't like about it: I can't load my cellar with it right now. Ah, well...something to look forward to, then. There is no doubt—Nocturne will be a mainstay in my stable of favorite weedage extraordinaire.
Vito :joker:
Nocturne is a deep, dark, rich flakeweed—that is, a pressed cake sliced into bacon-strip "flakes". The pouch aroma is of sweet, pungent, earthen darkweed. Latakiaholics rejoice! Those who pine interminably for ever stouter Latweed content in a Peasian weedage will be sated, methinks...for a while, at least. (Never mind the fact that there are so many other GLP Latikonfections available to savor...many of which remain wholly ungrokked by the perennially unsated.) But while there is no question that Nocturne is abundantly endowed with mammoth Latakian mammaries on which to suckle, the pouch aroma heralds still greater mysteries to plumb. The sweet, fruity quintessence of 'Ginnyweed is there in the nose, promising the toasted plum-pudding sweetness of fine Virginias that will be forthcoming from the business end of the pipe once you set fire to it.
I always value the first impression of one of the innocents, and my youngest daughter never disappoints me in that regard. "Smells toasty—like some kind of wood burning in a fireplace...but very fragrant, like incense." HAH! Out of the mouths of babes...I couldn't wait, so I crumbled some flakes to make a mix of partially rubbed-out chunks and smaller crumbs, and applied the match. That's right—the match; one is all it took—in an old Ascorti-Radice Caminetto 136 flat-bottomed ball with a 1/16 bend in the stem, a military mount, and a generous airway that almost smokes itself.
Great gobs of rich, thick smoke could easily issue from this stuff in this pipe, but there is no need for such smokiferous gluttony. Nocturne is beyond hearty, beyond full; it is utterly massive weedage...and yet, so smooth as to defy reason—a sure tip-off that this is a GLP creation. Besides, the whole point of this mix of chunks and crumbs is a slow burn, wherein the chunks simmer like coals, with the smaller crumbs in the interstices to provide afterburner doses of oomph when called upon. In this Group 5 to Group 6 Caminetto, the pack easily provides a good 2+ hours of sipping burnage. And sipping is all Nocturne needs to provide great mouthfuls of flavor.
Unquestionably, Nocturne is one of the most finely balanced blends I've smoked in recent memory. I should explain what I mean by "balanced". It is not so much a matter of the component tobaccos being present in equal measure; I wouldn't venture any guess at all as to the proportions of the individual tobaccos that make up the blend. Rather, it's much more a matter of the components working together to become a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. Such harmony seldom occurs in blends unless they have seen several years of aging, yet in Nocturne that synergy is immediately available. Surely some of that harmonious melding is attributable to the pressure needed to form the cake from which the flakes are sliced, but it would be naive to suggest that such pressure-melding tells the whole story...or even most of the story.
No...it is never that simple with GLP's blends. The one factor that springs to mind as sufficiently explanatory is obvious—sorcery! I have long suspected Greg of owning one of those conical caps festooned with stars and crescent moons—a glow-in-the-dark chapeau through which he channels some ancient, dark secrets unearthed by alchemists and wizards of yore...knowledge held transfixed in an ether accessible only to mutants with special powers.
Unscientific? Wanton mysticism? Perhaps...but I know of no science to which I can anchor any conventional explanation of the sensory delights I consistently find in GLP blends, especially in the grand slams he's been clobbering outa the park with his most recent offerings. Nocturne is no exception.
I'll tell you what I like about this blend. First, its flavors. One of the soapboxes upon which I frequently climb in my weedic rants is the one from which I extol the virtues of Latakia as a wondrous smoke in its own right. The one counterintuitive truth about fine Cyprian Latweed (and Greg uses tobaccos of only the very finest quality) that is utterly opaque to those who have never smoked it straight is that it is a naturally sweet, smooth, gentle smoke—massive in flavor, yes—but not the strong, harsh, nico-buzz-bringing tobacco so many folks seem to believe it is. It has earned that false reputation for the character it imparts in blends that often contain Orientals—unruly Turkweeds that bring the strong, butt-kicking elements often misattributed to the Latakia. In truth, such strong blends usually would be gentler and naturally sweeter with less Turkish and more Latakia.
I told you all that so I can tell you this: One of the most captivating aspects of Nocturne is the degree to which it provides a platform on which its Latweed component can shine as the truly beneficent weedage it really is. I cannot imagine how anyone who claims to be a genuine Latakiaholic would not be utterly smitten by Nocturne.
Now, that is not to say that Latweed dominates the blend to the detriment of the other tobaccos. I can taste the tangy-sweet fruit and caramel of light and medium Virginias. Indeed, if I choose to focus on those flavors, I can explore them with great interest as they weave in and out of the palette of flavors in the smoke. And there is the unmistakable presence of Turkweed, delightfully present in just enough measure to spice the smoke with an intriguing dose of Oriental mystique without running the Orient Express all over your tongue. It's a trait I happily find in only the very finest examples of Balkan-style blends artfully crafted by truly inspired blendmeistering. But don't be misled; if my mention of "Balkan-style" causes you to put Nocturne in a Balkan box and so stereotype it with other blends of similar description, you will do it and yourself a disservice. Nocturne is so much more than a typical Balkan.
And now we come to what is perhaps the most wondrous part of the Nocturnal experience—the aspect that is at once both familiar and elusive—the Perique. Of all the weedmeisters who use Perique, Greg is probably the standout example of an artisan who understands the less-is-more concept. (Knee-jerk Periqueophobes, slanderers of subtlety, and vilifiers of complexity may now tune out, as it is their wont to do.) I can't promise that Nocturne will deliver enough Perique to satisfy the most craven Periqueaholics, but for those who love that princely spiceweed more for its virtues as a complexifier than a bludgeon, you will marvel at its role in Nocturne. It is the unifying magical element—the creamy component that, for all Nocturne's intensity of flavor, gives it a mouth feel that I can only describe as silky-smooth. Sure...there is no shortage of Perique blends that impart such smoothness at the top of the bowl, yet morph into a raging goulash of sensory overload as you burn your way down past mid-bowl; but Nocturne retains it finesse throughout the burn, from rim to heel, without sacrificing a scintilla of potency.
Have I written enough about this masterpiece? Not by a long shot. After two bowls, I have only begun to scratch the surface. I've written some notes about the trees; I haven't even started to explore the forest—that stand-back-and-grok-the-big-picture perspective you get when you take your focus off the details and just let the smoking experience happen, with the unconscious focus of a smoker who feels no need to analyze or comprehend the mysteries of such a massively complex blend, and is instead content to peacefully contemplate whatever idyllic repose it engenders. Nocturne satisfies both aspects of the piper's passion. Pick one, or both, and revel in its virtues.
Now I'll tell you what I don't like about it: I can't load my cellar with it right now. Ah, well...something to look forward to, then. There is no doubt—Nocturne will be a mainstay in my stable of favorite weedage extraordinaire.
Vito :joker: