Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding Special Reserve

Tobacco bliss!!! This is the closest I'v found that emulates McClellends Bombay Extra which is or was my sublimity on Earth. A myriad of flavors. Sweetness, tang of the Perique, the Virginia's and the others are a pallatte of pure enjoyment. The perfect blend of various characters that entice the tongue. The flavors change on every puff. It's a smorgasbord of delight that will please the true connoisseur of pipe smoking . This one is a keeper. This is heaven in the world of tobacco. My heart was broken to learn that McClellend was going out of business. This blend has restored my faith and enjoyment in pipe smoking. I I beg you not to buy any so that I may obtain every last tin that exists.

A Balkan beauty. If you like plum pudding then don't miss this one. To me I get just a hint more of a tangy taste then I do from the regular plum pudding. It's smooth and delicious.

This is what a tobacco should be! Rich and buttery with dried fruit and spice that hits both the palate and the nose. This is an amazing tobacco that has quickly made it to my favorites list.

The smokey Latakia, earthy dark Virginia, sweet Black Cavendish, sour Oriental and spicy Perique warmly shine like one thing. Even though the base is Oriental and Virginia, all the ingredients come simultaneously. Crazily good.

Another tricky thing is how he deals with Latakia, as same as the way McClelland - Anniversary 1977-2017 deal with Latakia.

The plug is more like a crumble cake, easy to pack

So when i got this in the mail the other day i was super excited to try it. I had heard and read such glowing reviews about this tobacco and really wanted to see what all the hype was about. Tin aesthetics- Let me just say the burgundy and bronze color scheme has always been very attractive to me so there doing good so far appealing to my shallow side. Tin Note- Wow. The musty, sweet, and personally intoxicating latakia shines through here and my mouth waters a bit. Packing the pipe- I've never had a tobacco that i've had to cut and then rub out and it was a gratifying experience. Something more personal about it. It rubs out easily into small chunks of varying size with some longer pieces here and there. Since it wasnt ribbon cut i was honestly worried that i was going to pack it wrong somehow. It filled easily and had a good draw on it with nothing getting in my mouth haha.

On to the important part, the smoke.

On the initial attempt of lighting i was having a very hard time getting this to stay lit, mostly my fault for trying to keep the flame on the match from getting too large. Thats what i needed though, more heat. Like more cow bell but less exciting. Once i got it lit to my liking i was greeted by the perique giving that slight tongue tingle and the latakias and orientals playing niceley together. The virginias seem to play the support role in this blend, almost as if any of the other tobaccos had any rough edges the virginas are there to smooth things out giving it a overly ripe dark fruit notes. The cavendish lending a sweetness that just tops it all off for me. Halfway through the bowl i needed another relight. I was impressed with how well this burned despite my lack of drying. Next time i will dry it maybe five minutes more. I think the total dry time i gave it was about three minutes this time. The tobacco seemed to burn very evenly and thoroughly this far. Halfway through the bowl i cant really tell what flavor is coming from where. Its smooth, smoky, just the right amount of spice and a smooth sweetness. The vitamin N is starting to become more apparent, filling me contentment and a little bit of head buzz. Not too much, for me its the perfect amount before i head off to bed. Well this glorious experience is coming to an end. It has smoked down to a white ash with a little gurgle in the begining but i think that has to do with this being the third bowl i've had out of this pipe, so not too shabby. Conclusion- This for me was a very good smoke, to be honest probably the best one i've had in a few months. A quality blend and it bears repeating. I dont know if this could be an all day smoke or not, but definitely more than once a day. i very much look forward to getting to know this blend better.

I think my expectations were too high for this one, I expected something magical. It did not deliver on that, but was a good smoke. I tasted some of the notes that other reviewers listed but none of it was earth shattering. For the $28 at my local cigar shop I would have rather picked up two tins of gaslight. It's not the same as gaslight but to me these two are in the same class of flavor profile and both equally as good. I only somewhat recommend it because your time and money could go farther elsewhere. At the same price as other tobaccos it would be a solid three. You really gotta sell me on it to convince me to buy half as many tins of tobacco with the same wad of cash.

Smoky, sweet, with a touch of spice. The inspiration from the plum pudding dessert is apparent. This is an interesting take on the Balkan genre, and lacks the typical barbecue flavour I find in most Balkans. The tobaccos in the special reserve are very high quality. It's easy to crumble the flakes off the plug, but they need a little time to dry. The blend packs a solid nic hit that is never overwhelming. I should also mention it has a surprisingly pleasant room note that even my girlfriend could appreciate (and she is rarely a fan of any room note). Plum Pudding is a definite homerun, and a must for anyone's cellar.

After having normal plum pudding and being thoroughly impressed - I had to try the special reserve to know how much better it got.

The core flavors are the same as the base version, but the special reserve is far more smooth, smokes cooler, and all around is a better experience

With the cooler smoke, the reserve loses some of that spiciness that the normal has. For me this is a good thing. Given the choice I'd take the reserve over the original every time.

I will cracking the tin on the bourbon barrel aged soon. Most have said it's the best variation. I'll be posting my final thoughts there soon and will determine which plum pudding ultimately makes my cellar.

So much has been written about this that I wanted to add some additional notes about the experience of smoking this.

Firstly it's the Magnum Opus of pipe tobacco. There's so much going on: amazing tin note of stewed fruit and dried apricots mixed with a fortified wine or Port--seductive not pungent. This amazing smell would have you thinking it's an aromatic. I kept thinking how did the blender get this without adding any topping or casing? But the compressed cake may be allowing the various juices and flavours to meld together to produce this aroma.

When I lit it, that stewed fruit smell hung in my nostrils making me smoke it faster on my first bowl. It's that seductive. Don't smoke it too fast or you'll ruin the experience. When I slowed down I was able to keep it cool, enjoy the smell and appreciate the complex flavours.

The Latakia is mild and smoky. The Orientals are mild but offer a spicy cinnamon smell mixed possibly with some type of incense. The perique is there to offer a stewed fruit experience. Perhaps that combination is what gives off the cinnamon/incense smell.

PPSR comes in a plug form described as a "brownie". It's moist. I broke off a chunk and rubbed it out. It's a bit wet so now I rub out a portion and keep that in the tin. I store the rest of the cake in a plastic baggie in a bell jar to keep it moist.

The other note to interested pipe smokers is that to truly appreciate THIS blend you have to have experience smoking a number of other epic blends: Margate, Dunbar, Pembroke, Peterson's Sherlock Holmes, Star of the East, Peterson's Irish Oak.

Once you understand the range of great pipe tobaccos and try this, you'll be able to see the genius that went into creating it. I don't find this to be like any other tobacco I've ever smoked.

It's an advanced pipe smoker blend otherwise it's like drinking 25 Year Old Single Malt scotch for the first time. You'll never truly appreciate the nuances unless you've had a range of other quality whiskies.

I wouldn't make this a daily smoke but I would like this as a treat or once a week to relax.

Despite the range of tobaccos there's no nicotine hit. The two Peterson blends I tried: Sherlock Holmes and Irish Oak have a nic hit that requires you smoke them on a full stomach and take them slow. Not so with PPSR.

The mouth-feel also leaves you with a flavour that echoes the smell: rich, creamy, fruity, spicy, fortified wine or Port Sherry.

Why this blend is so epic is that if you appreciate pipe smoking and like the various flavours from various tobacco types and blends you will appreciate the craftsmanship of this.

If you smoke this too much or make it a daily smoke you'll grow tired of it. Smoke this as a special treat, make time for it, tease out the flavours throughout the bowl and you'll "get" what this blend is all about.