With over 30 years of experience, Gregory Pease is among the preeminent pipe tobacco blenders of the modern age. His time at Drucquer & Sons in Berkeley, California, in the early 1980s, introduced him to a hands-on, artisanal approach to pipe tobacco, an approach he's continued to hone and perfect throughout his career, resulting in some of the most sophisticated, complex and truly delightful mixtures on the market.

From spicy Virginia/Perique blends to smooth and silky English mixtures, his G.L. Pease portfolio encompasses a host of blends celebrated in every corner of the globe — each capturing a moment in time, a shared experience accessible to all who possess a pipe and a flame. If you've missed his expert mixtures, you've done yourself a disservice, yet with dozens of blends to choose from, you may wonder how to start. For that, we've compiled the top 12 best-selling G.L. Pease blends at Smokingpipes.com. Let's dig in!

12. JackKnife Plug

If you're looking for a study in dark-fired leaf, Pease's JackKnife Plug is revelatory. Deep and earthy, this traditional plug tobacco combines ripe red and golden flue-cured Virginias with an ample portion of dark-fired Kentucky, offering a natural sweetness throughout the bowl that anchors the subtle, natural aromatic qualities of the dark-fired leaf. Though available in a ready rubbed version, the original plug is our favorite for its sheer versatility and aging potential. Whether you prefer a chunky ribbon, a fine shag, or slow-burning flakes, how you prepare it is entirely up to you.

Easily one of Pease's best recipes, this blend of fantastic DFK & Red VA flavors fills my senses to the brim with notes of robust savory tobaccos. - 4.5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Dark Fired Kentucky, Virginia
• Family: Burley
• Cut: Plug
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11. Stonehenge Flake

Stonehenge Flake is unique on this list: it's a collaboration between Greg and John Gawith of Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. Originally released in 2001 as a limited-edition run of approximately 1500 tins, Stonehenge Flake is now part of Pease's regular production, and we're all thankful for that. Featuring bright flue-cured and sun-cured leaf from select regions around the globe, it's layered with piquant Louisiana Perique and a touch of Burley for added body. Before tinning, the entire mixture is steamed, hot-pressed, and matured to heighten the blend's nuance and complexity, then sliced into delicate flakes. There's a slight top note of rich cocoa to enhance the natural flavors of the varietals and components rather than mask their flavor. It's an exquisite Va/Per — one that combines the best qualities of both blending houses.

If you want to dip your toes into Lakeland blends, and enjoy a quality Virginia, this one is for you. - Shelby B, 5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Burley, Perique, & Virginia
• Family: Virginia
• Cut: Flake
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10. Haddo's Delight

While many of Pease's blends feature Perique, few showcase the condimental leaf quite like Haddo's Delight. Rich, piquant, and redolent with notes of stone fruits, this stout blend places its generous measure of long-cut Perique right up front, while select Virginia varietals, unflavored black Cavendish, and a little air-cured white Burley balance the fermented leaf's body and strength. Though not a traditional aromatic, it is cased with subtle notes of booze, cocoa, and dried fruits serving to underline those qualities in the Perique rather than mask or overpower them. It's also one of Pease's most potent blends, best saved for an after-dinner smoke on a full stomach.

I love this stuff. Very complex, and always enjoyable. I find a tall/thin chamber works best for me. Wonderful. - Stephen K., 5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Black Cavendish, Burley, Perique, Virginia
• Family: Virginia
• Cut: Ribbon
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9. Union Square

If you're looking for natural, pure tobacco flavor, crack a tin of Pease's Union Square. This blended, sliced cake is composed entirely of high-grade, flue-cured leaf, ranging from sweet, citrusy brights to deep, earthy reds, without the added sugars or top flavorings common in many Virginia blends. Its complexity and flavor are derived entirely from its choice components, making Union Square a great choice for those searching for the purest tobacco flavor possible. Though not an aromatic by any means, the room note is enticingly pleasant, evocative of freshly baked bread, with a delightful finish.

Love straight Virginia blends, and this one exceeds expectations. Straight flavours from the best quality leaves. Full flavour, excellent packing and superb smoke. Strongly recommend! - Miguel Z, 5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Virginia
• Family: Virginia
• Cut: Flake
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8. Spark Plug

A tribute to the distinctly spicy and smoky English blends that dominated British pipe-smoking preferences in the early 20th century, Spark Plug is a Latakiaphile's dream. It presents a deep, powerful flavor marked by notes of smoke and aged leather, thanks to a significant dose of Cyprian Latakia; peppery Orientals from Greece and Turkey and matured Bright and Red flue-cured leaf add a bit of sweetness and accentuate the complexity on the palate. Pressed into a dense plug, Spark Plug can be sliced thick or thin, based on individual preference.

If you rate this blend anything less than 4 stars you are only admitting your lack of a palate. Perhaps just inexperienced. This is one of the most finely tuned blends on the market. - Joshua R., 4.5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Latakia, Orientals, Virginia
• Family: English
• Cut: Plug
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7. Chelsea Morning

Chelsea Morning showcases Greg's affinity for balanced Latakia mixtures, lending the blend just the right level of smokiness. It all starts with a base of sweet red and bright Virginia leaf, with fragrant Orientals, smoky Cyprian Latakia, and a pinch of Perique added in layers during the blending process. The mixture is briefly pressed, then sliced and tumbled into ribbons; it's easy to load and smokes evenly all the way to the bottom. On the palate, it offers a melange of flavors and aromas, with a creamy, easy-smoking foundation with highlights of bright citrus and subtle fruity notes balancing a bit of spice on the retrohale. As the name implies, it's a great start to your morning, especially with a cup of strong coffee.

This blend is exceptional, rich, creamy, smooth, and cool burning. It is not a Lat monster but has just enough to satisfy, it is rich and complex but not too strong. I could smoke it all day. - rrg991981, 5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Latakia, Orientals, Perique, Virginia
• Family: English
• Cut: Broken Flake
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6. Maltese Falcon

Much like the classic noir film of its inspiration, Pease's Maltese Falcon has a strong cult following of its own. And for good reason: It's a stylish, dark, and alluring all-day English blend that continues to surprise with each bowl. If Odyssey is a study in Latakia's boldness, Maltese Falcon is a testament to the Cyprian leaf's nuance in concert with other varietals. Matured Red Virginias, exotic Orientals, and bright flue-cured leaf add a deep, full-bodied, yet silky quality and intriguing sweetness to the smoke, enhanced by a discreet and mysterious bit of spice. It's extremely balanced and perfect for those looking for an all-day English/Balkan mixture.

I love this blend! I found it smooth, and creamy even! The savoury flavours unfolded nice and coolly. Just the right amount of spiciness! It burned evenly, no tongue bite. A singularly enjoyable smoke from start to finish. - ZazenPiper, 5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Latakia, Orientals, Virginia
• Family: English
• Cut: Ribbon
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5. Gaslight

Easily one of Greg's most unique and evocative creations, Gaslight is the perfect choice for the Latakia connoisseur. Red Virginias provide a sweet, tangy backdrop all the way through the bowl, allowing the spicy Oriental leaf to showcase its peppery, piquant character while the Latakia fills out the body with a rich creaminess and smoky nuance that keeps you coming back for more. Overall, it's deep and rich with an impressive complexity — the perfect complement to a peaty Scotch on a cold winter's night. It's also available in plug-cut form, meaning it has great aging potential and excellent versatility when it comes to preparing your next bowl.

I could gush on endlessly about how much I love Gaslight. There aren't enough adjectives in the English language to properly describe the depth of flavors in this wonderful blend. - Brian D., 5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Latakia, Orientals, Virginia
• Family: English
• Cut: Plug
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4. Odyssey

A study in Cyprian Latakia, Odyssey is undoubtedly one of Pease's biggest blends — in both its bold flavor and overall popularity. From charring light to final draw, the dark, smoky Cyprian leaf dominates, offering abundant complexity and spice, as well as a slight creaminess that allows the fragrant Orientals and sweet stoved Virginias to shine in their supporting roles. While certainly not heavy-handed, Odyssey isn't the most nuanced or subtle of Pease's English mixtures; it's quite Latakia forward while the Orientals and Virginias offer a good bit of balance, allowing the Cyprian leaf to keep surprising you all the way to the dottle.

This blend is, by far, my absolute favorite out of all GL Pease's blends. It trumps every English I've ever smoked. - ALoverOfLats, 5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Latakia, Orientals, Virginia
• Family: English
• Cut: Ribbon
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3. Windjammer

The most recent addition to the G.L. Pease portfolio, Windjammer is Greg's own interpretation of an old-school, navy flake pipe tobacco. It combines naturally sweet Virginias and nutty Burleys with a significant percentage of spicy Perique, married and elevated by a splash of dark rum for a rich, flavorful smoke with notes of cocoa, black walnuts, and dried fruits. Fans of Pease's other Virginia-based blends like Haddo's Delight, Barbary Coast, and Fillmore are sure to find a new favorite here.

Windjammer is delicious. The tin note offers notes of dark fruits and some sweetness from the added rum. The Virginia-Burley-Cavendish "meat" is the star here, and Windjammer leaves a very nice aftertaste that I'm still savoring. - Joseph D., 4-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Black Cavendish, Burley, Perique, Virginia
• Family: Virginia
• Cut: Flake
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2. Westminster

Inspired by Dunhill's no-longer-extant London Mixture, Westminster is a traditional English blend through and through. A mixture of red and bright Virginias, peppery Orientals, and choice Cyprian Latakia, its call to fame is simply its elegant balance. The Latakia, though certainly present in good measure, never towers over the rest of the components; it all works symbiotically, with the smokiness of the Cyprian leaf adding dimension to the sweet, tangy notes of the Virginias and naturally complementing the earthy spice of the Orientals. If you're looking for an all-day, every-day English that will never cause fatigue, Westminster gets #2 in this list for a reason.

This is easily the best English-style tobacco I smoke. It's easy to pack and light, and produces very nice clouds of smoke. Has an emphasis on smoky Latakia with a hint of sweetness in the background. A delightful smoke any time of day, but particularly in the evenings - David F, 5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Latakia, Orientals, Virginia
• Family: English
• Cut: Ribbon
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1. Quiet Nights

An impressively complex mixture of ripe red Virginias, Orientals, Cyprian Latakia, and a pinch of Acadian Perique, Quiet Nights is considered by many to be Greg's Magnum Opus, the one blend that could rightly define Pease's entire blending style, from the proportions of its components to its overall preparation. Pressed and matured in cakes before being sliced into delicate flakes, Quiet Nights showcases the ethos of Pease's lineup perhaps more than any other blend. More Oriental-forward than, say, Chelsea Morning, it's full of mysterious nuance and sophisticated complexity, setting the stage for a rich, deep, and contemplative smoke — one best enjoyed, as you might expect, on a quiet night with a wee dram and a good book.

This is absolutely the best-tasting tobacco I have ever experienced. It has locked my #1 spot. It has the right strength, the right burn, the right tin note, the right room note... I have smoked nothing but this since I bought the first tin. Greg Pease is to be lauded copiously for this mixture. For me, this is what pipe smoking is all about. Perfection. - PipeCat, 5-star review at Smokingpipes

• Components: Latakia, Orientals, Perique, Virginia
• Family: English
• Cut: Flake
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So there you have it: Our top 12 best-selling blends from G.L. Pease. Keep in mind, these blends were ranked based on popularity, not by our own tastes or judgements. So if you don't see your favorite on the list, leave us a comment and share your thoughts. We likely shed a tear at its omission as well.