I love the complexity and richness of the smoking experience that comes with a good English or Balkan tobacco. So after smoking GLP's Odyssey almost exclusively for a while, I decided to give Maltese Falcon a try. Upon opening the tin, I was greeted with a nice, lightly sweet aroma. The coloration was a mixture of darker and lighter tobaccos and the moisture level was essentially perfect. I packed my pipe, struck a match and started puffing. I found that in many ways, this blend is an "Odyssey Light" - meaning that it is a lighter smoke than Odyssey due to there being less Latakia - but the more I have smoked Maltese Falcon, the more I appreciate its complexity. I can taste the sweetness of the Virginias, the smoky punch of the Latakia, the spice of the Orientals, and that added little something in the "flue-cured leaf" (which is apparently an unsweetened Cavendish). And all these flavors mix together perfectly, without anything overpowering the rest of the blend. If I were to have one complaint about Maltese Falcon, it would be that it seems that the cut is not as great as it could be. I have found a couple of full uncut leaves in my most recent tin, and some of the cut leaves need to be cut even more. Still this tobacco is a truly great blend that, as the tin accurately states, is "a wonderful all-day English style mixture.
