Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding Special Reserve

I loved it at first. I'm not sure why but mid way through my first tin I could only get this string sulphur taste from it. Nothing else just sulphur. Tasted like I lit a bowl of match heads. I had the regular Plum Pudding before this and I didnt notice anything odd like this. I stopped using my first tin and the other sealed one will go in the cellar. Maybe a decade will make it work but I doubt it. Plug tobacco is neat and all, but it's just not worth it in my opinion. Too much hassell. I tried all ways to prepare it, dried it, everything. It never smoked easy and was always hot. It doesnt rub out well and if you rub too much it ends up as powder. Too little and its like little rock chunks. Doesn't pack well. After this one I got the new Peterson Dunhills and I'll never go back to anything but ribbon. Nightcap is new English of choice for me. Its simply superb.

Summary: Cavendish dominates the flavor of this Balkan English which ends up being too busy to deliver much of a distinct profile.

For those familiar with Peterson "My Mixture 965," the approach behind "Plum Pudding" will be familiar: you mix Cavendish into an English blend and intensify the sweetness with slightly fermented, vinegar-flavored Virginias, and what ends up is a blend that mostly tastes sweet but has a chaotic patina of flavor onto which people project mythical visions of its greatness. We shared some of this at the local pipe shack, and it reminded me of most of the entry-level English blends, with relatively uncured leaf in a mixture that presents a flavor with lots of random moments of each varietal coming to the fore, letting people believe that they are experiencing something profound. It lights easily enough, burns down consistently, but has excessive jags of vinegar and other acidity and an inconsistent flavor profile in which the elements shout at each other rather than sing together. The vaunted Orientals drown in an onslaught of leathery Latakia, grunting Burley, and an agave-like infusion of Virginias with Black Cavendish bulking up their sugar content. I always think of the Tulip Mania when I see a trend drive people into tasting something that is not there simply because of the sheer amount of hype from industry and influencers. This blend convinces people to buy $2 per ounce bulk tobaccos at $8 per ounce, which delights an industry which has given up on its future and simply wants to squeeze as much money as possible now from the "internet pipe smoker" audience. For the price, you can purchase large amounts of far better English and Balkan mixtures.

This is a subtle, sophisticated blend for pipe smokers with a refined palate. Unfortunately, that is not me.

The good news first: this is a remarkably smooth and mild blend (could easily be smoked before a meal) that smokes astonishingly cool. I don't think it warmed up my briar much more than room temperature after smoking it for 45 minutes. It also burns long--a half bowl will burn as long, if not longer, than a full bowl of most tobacco.

The bad news: I had a difficult time detecting much flavor at all from this. I got the delicate orientals, but that was about it. Every so often I would get the faintest touch of Virginia or Latakia, but it was very ethereal. I couldn't detect any cavendish, and certainly no perique spiciness. It was a overall a pretty dull experience.

I've smoked several bowls now, each time hoping to find what so many are raving about. I haven't found it. I have no doubt that the true tobacco connoisseur will be able to detect and enjoy what my boorish palate cannot. As for me, I'd take a "beat me over the head" lat-bomb to this blend any day.

Edit: After trying this off and on for a few more months, I'm dropping it down from 2 stars to 1. I've tried it at every time of day, in every weather, in every pipe I own, and every time I am extremely disappointed. I may be just a palate-less sheep, but I get almost no flavor or enjoyment from this. Both "Seattle Evening," with its oriental sourness, and "Hood Canal," with its heavier Latakia, are far superior Seattle Pipe Club blends.

I completely agree with Valdus - he wrote my exact thoughts about this tobacco and I wondered what was wrong with me when I first tried it out. I had smoked the regular Plum Pudding and rated it highly so you can imagine my disappointment with the Special Reserve. Its difficult to prepare because it doesnt rub well or cut well being very densely packed. It didn't burn well, bites like anything and after reading the mostly glowing reviews at Pipes and Cigars it left me wondering how my opinions could be so contrary. I write this with regret because its a truthful evaluation and I hoped I wasn't alone.