Welcome to another episode of Tasting Notes. Today I am tasting something long anticipated, and it's a good day anytime I get a chance to talk about a new blend from Greg Pease, the Dark Lord: Metropolis, the latest addition to the G.L. Pease Zeitgeist Collection.

Metropolis Components

Metropolis is inspired by the Art Deco movement, and you can see that in the tin artwork. Metropolis is described as a layered blend of Red and Bright Virginia grades, supported by Italian Dark-Fired leaf, long-cut Perique, Turkish Latakia, and a little bit of semi-fire-cured leaf, which is Dark-Fired leaf that is not fully dark-fired and fire-cured. It maintains a little bit of the tobacco's original character and a floral quality, and it's a really interesting component in conjunction with some of these other condimental leaves.

There are three different Red Virginia grades — 45 from 2021, a TBFO from 2019, and an AO-BFO from 2023. To that, a little bit of Canadian Bright leaf CA-AOI-BO-23 is added from 2023 as well. Then you have a little bit of long-cut Perique, genuine St. James Parish Perique from 31 Farms in Louisiana, and a little bit of Turkish-made Latakia. Then, of course, the Italian Dark-Fired leaf and the semi-fire-cured leaf, which is SCF-P from 2021.

As the components in the description would lead you to believe, this is an extremely complex smoke.

Metropolis Tin Note

Let's talk about the tin note. Metropolis has really beautiful broken, thin cut flakes, which is typical for C&D. There's a lot of different colors in here, ranging from super dark chestnut up to some lighter flecks.

Oh, man, this is something I'll repeat when I get to the actual taste and flavor profile of the smoke. This is an interesting blend because yes, there is Turkish Latakia included here. From what I can tell, it is not a huge amount, and both in the tin note and in the smoke itself, I wouldn't really classify this as English. It's hard to classify a tobacco like this, and I think that's an area that Greg is really comfortable playing in; riding the line between historical classifications and really worrying about the overall experience and what he's trying to create rather than it falling into a specific category.

This one really reminds me of some of those other classic blends of Greg's that fall into that same interesting gray area/crossover space. This smokes like a Virginia with condimental components, not necessarily like a Va/Per nor an English.

In the tin note, I feel like I get the baked goods and the bready quality from the Virginia grades. Definitely some of the smokiness and some of the fire-cured notes from both the Turkish Latakia and the Dark-Fired from Italy, and a little something extra that is floral, bright, and zesty. Actually, zesty is a good way to describe the tin note. It's not zesty in the citrus oils, lemon, and orange kind of way, but it has this herbal and floral brightness to it.

There's a lot of depth there, too. Maybe even some cigar-like notes of leather, earth, and a little bit of baking spices. There's a lot going on. It's hard to pinpoint any one thing, and I think that's the point of Metropolis. It's meant to be more than the sum of its parts, and it intentionally falls outside of those typical classifications.

Drying Time & Initial Puffs

I gave it a minimal amount of drying time. I broke up these flakes even more before I packed my pipe, and I gave it a little bit of aeration and drying time, literally just a couple of minutes. The moisture content right out of the tin is great and the flakes are great. If you're smoking outside, you can leave them a little bit chunkier or even just kind of stuff them as they come out of the tin. If you're smoking inside, in a smaller chamber, or if it is your preference to fully break apart the tobacco, you're going to get an intense burst of flavor off the first light. It's going to yield a bowl that burns with a really nice spontaneity and that is easy to control your puffing cadence and really sit back, sip, and experience the full complexity that Metropolis has to offer.

My initial puffs are front and forward heavy on the Virginia grades. I'm getting that sourdough, malty character, a little bit of that zesty quality, a little bit of some grassiness, and some herbal notes.

Right off the bat, I pick up a pretty decent amount of sweetness too. Some of those Red Virginia grades are a little higher in sugar content. The Canadian Bright leaf is very high in sugar content, and that really comes through in the smoke initially. It's almost impossible at first light to pick up Latakia. I do notice some of the Dark-Fired, and I think that the Turkish Latakia and the Dark-Fired Italian leaf are definitely combining to create those nuanced smoky qualities and woody notes. It's not in your face, and like I said, this does not smoke like an English blend.

There's tons of smoke and it's really dense. Like I said, there's a good amount of sweetness and a good amount of spice. The retrohale is insane, frankly. A delicate spice, floral quality, dry cocoa, and clove. I get gingerbread cookies a little bit too. There's just so much going on and it's so balanced in its spiciness and sweetness that I don't really get peppery tingles or cloying sugary sweetness, but there's a little bit of a brown sugar kind of a thing going on. I keep getting gingerbread, maybe oatmeal cookies. It's grainy and malty.

Intriguing Tobacco

This is a really interesting tobacco, and it's unlike anything else I can really pinpoint. Metropolis is a pretty unique, singular experience. I can't really think of anything quite like it in the last several years.

That's just an area that Greg is so comfortable playing in and really challenging our preconceptions and forcing us to look at components in a new way. If you would've told me at first blush that I would smoke this blend that has a decent percentage of Turkish Latakia and Dark-Fired leaf, and that I would tell you that it smoked more like a Virginia, I would've said no way, that's not possible. And yet, here we are.

As the bowl progresses, the intensity does build. So does the complexity. I still get mostly that nice Virginia blend as the base and the foundation of the smoke, but as the bowl intensifies and as you work your way through the bowl, you're gonna notice a lot more of that Italian Dark-Fired leaf, a little bit of that Turkish Latakia, and from what I can tell, some of that semi-fire-cured leaf is really amplifying the floral nature of this. It almost plays the part that a good Oriental would play in a mixture like this. But again, it feels like a Virginia that has lots of stuff going on more than it feels like an English blend to me.

A Singular Experience

Today I'm smoking G.L. Pease Zeitgeist Metropolis in a little Pebble Grain XX Dawn by Ashton. It's a really good pipe for this mixture. It really likes it. It's a good size, about a Group Three, Group Four, previously smoking light Englishes out of it, and it's really enjoying Metropolis.

All of you owe it to yourself to give it a try. It's a unique, singular experience within pipe tobacco that does not happen very often. Of course, if it does happen, it's at the hands of Greg Pease, which makes plenty of sense to me.

I would say that if you like English blends that are more like Greg's Chelsea Morning, or maybe HU's Fayyum, this is worth a try. If you like Virginia blends that are a little bit more like Cornell & Diehl Sansepolcro, this is definitely worth a try. It straddles the line between the two categories beautifully. I think that it is easy to enjoy, burns really well, and would be a very strong all-day smoke for an English smoker.

I also think that your Virginia smokers that are generally averse to Latakia and English mixtures would find something about Metropolis that they really love. With the balance of the semi-fire-cured, Dark-Fired Italian leaf, and the Turkish Latakia with a little bit of Perique in there, it's almost everything you could want in a blend if you like bold flavors and complexity.