JACKNIFE PLUG, BY G. L. PEASE - ROWBOATS, ROPE, TAR PAPER, AND A GUN

Following my experiment with Triple Play, which you may recall is a pressed tobacco in brick form by Greg Pease, it was only fair that I should also try his Jacknife Plug. Never mind that I think that a solid block of pressed tobacco that one has to tackle with a steak knife is ‘precious’ in the modern era.
After all, that’s what cutting machines in factories are for, right?

Grudgingly, and with extreme reluctance, I admit that I was wrong.
I cannot imagine this stuff tasting as good if it were presented otherwise.


JACKNIFE PLUG
[New World Collection - G. L. Pease]

Tin description:
JackKnife Plug - dark-fired Kentucky leaf and ripe red Virginia tobaccos, with their deep, earthy flavors, are layered on a central core of golden flue-cured for a hint of bright sweetness, then pressed and matured in cakes, and finally cut into 2oz blocks. Slice it thick and rub it out for a ribbon cut, thin for a shag, or chop it into cubes. The choice is yours.


Either use a heavy cleaver pressed down in the manner of a Cantonese chef, or go at it with your finest Ginsu knife. Reduce it to more manageable shreds with a pair of kitchen shears. Then rub it.
Only after it looks like something you can smoke should you dry it to the right moisture level.

Hacking and rubbing do not take much time, and it should not prove onerous to prepare a two or three day supply in between watching the eleven o'clock news and popping your favourite animé porn disc into the VCR.
Or, in my case "The Life-cycle of the Common Pipistrelle" - (3 disc set).

I don't watch animé porn. But I will assume that you are normal.


This is a wonderful tobacco to smoke when everybody else is asleep.
You don't want them awake, they might disturb you.
Instead of leaving you the heck alone with this splendid stuff.
You and your mild perversions.

There's an undertone of sweetness, and while it is a nicotine-rich product, it does not catch the throat or tingle the glands in your mouth the way some other overweight tobaccos do. Nor does it taste heavy. Instead, it has an earthy saveur that bears slow contemplation.
Slightly suggestive of chocolate and cigars, though that impression is fleeting.
Becomes somewhat spicier as the bowl progresses.
Yields a very soft crumbly ash.

This tobacco will persuade you that telecommuting is a damned fine idea.
Just thinking about being able to smoke this during the working day brings a warm glow.
Either that, or you could retire to a tarred shack out in the Sacramento delta and shoot river rats and seagulls in a contemplative manner.
As if that were meditational, not just for the pot.

I really really like it.
Haven't cut myself yet.
So SEVERAL thumbs up.

TOBACCO INDEX


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TRIPLE PLAY, BY G. L. PEASE - PLUG FROM THE NEW WORLD SERIES

Legends are made of this. Triple Play by Greg Pease is the kind of pipe tobacco that years from now superannuated old fossils will tell their grandchildren about, happily boasting about the time they stayed up all night smoking while repairing the number five steam pump and watching nudie dancers twirling in the silver moonlight. Oh boy yes, and we swilled Bourbon!
Nothing like the nicotine patches you youngsters feel so manly about today, or your multiple prescriptions for ethanol!
Real tobacco. Real pipes.
Real human hootchies.
No plastics here, boy!



NEW WORLD COLLECTION - TRIPLE PLAY

"Ripe red and bright flue-cured tobaccos are joined by piquant Acadian Perique and a balanced measure of smoky dark-fired Kentucky. The leaf is pressed and matured in cakes before being cut into 2oz bars, resulting in a bold blend for Virginia and Perique fans."


I would NOT recommend staying up all night smoking this.
Get a good night's sleep, and enjoy another few bowls tomorrow instead.

'PLUG TOBACCO'

Triple Play is a beautiful and complex product of a very old-fashioned type. The initial aroma upon opening the tin is distinctly plummy, with a hint of dates. After cutting some off the plug and rubbing it out, you should dry it a bit before loading your pipe. It is too moist to smoke as is, which makes it easy to cut.
Top the bowl with some desiccated shreds for an even light-up.

Far mellower and rounder than Peterson's Irish Flake, not as dark or dry-tasting as Samuel Gawith's Bracken Flake, and reminiscent of Escudo, albeit considerably spicier and more full-bodied.
Somewhat in the same vein as St. James Flake by Gawith, but much more intriguing.

Triple Play is a smooth smoke, but deceptively so. The soft velvety sweetness might fool you into thinking that this is a mild tobacco. At least until you notice a tingling in your cheeks, an itchiness in the middle of your back, and a disturbing woozy sensation from the nicotine whompus.
If you were to smoke two bowls of this in succession, for heaven's sake do NOT do so before breakfast. Or while gyrating on a ladder.
Smoke it slowly, and enjoy the flavour of the tobacco.
Combusts well, does not give tongue burn, and reduces down to a soft floury dark grey ash.
It will leave you feeling happy.

Beautiful, old-fashioned, and not for teenage boys.


NOTE: Vaper smokers often preface their review of a blend beyond their normal rotation with some form of apology or predictive denial: "I didn't think I would like this, and I was right/wrong".
As I will give anything a try, that would be rather pointless here.
Though in general I do prefer Latakia blends.

Normally I would not have bought a plug.
The local tobacconist had an open tin, I stuck my nose into it, and on the strength of the wonderful old-timey aged tobacco aroma, I snagged some.
Darn good thing. Need more.
I shall now purchase a bottle of Armagnac.
Which would go very well with this, I think.

TOBACCO INDEX


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NOTE: Readers may contact me directly:
LETTER BOX.
All correspondence will be kept in confidence.
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