Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Mick McQuaid Plug

This is a great tasting tobacco, very easy to smoke and enjoy, with a beautiful full mouthfeel and a moreish quality. The 'cake' taste is there but it is not some awful fake taste, it is very subtle and natural. I found the blend to have quite a spicy kick to it, presumably from the brandy Unfortunately for me, my palette really struggles with any blend that has been cased with any type of alcohol. It begins to burn my mouth, like when you have had a shot of something. It is really weird but it happened with Scottish mixture too. The warming sensation is not unpleasant, but for me it gets in the way of the overall enjoyment of the smoke.

I'd recommend this to anyone as it is a great tobacco, but personally for me it is a 2 star

This is another of my daily smoke favorites. Smokes so well right out of the pouch. Just break up and go. Lights strong. Smokes hard and leaves me feeling very happy. Perfectly sweet and great with coffee. I enjoy this at afternoon snack.

As others have commented, this plug is not the easiest to work with -- a sharp knife is recommended. Shredded into fair-sized bits, it has been lighting with only a bit of fuss after an hour or so of drying. Once it is well-lit, it tends to stay alite v nicely.

I didn't get any almond, let alone chocolate, as some other have. For me, I would have to say the flavor was sweetish brandy. Pretty slow burning, it didn't bite, although it felt close a few times. Since I know there are many tobaccos out there I would rate a 4, the question arises would I rebuy this particular tobacco, assuming my tastes don't change much more. In this case, the answer is yes, and I have.

It's a very good tobacco but I was expecting better, based on some of the reviews here. As another review stated, it has a mysterious 'Christmas pudding' aroma. I didn't detect any almond flavours at all, but some brandy. I would describe the aroma both in the packet and when burning as slightly sweet, and chocolatey (even though chocolate isn't a Christmas pudding ingredient). It's not that interesting - the flavour is what it is and it doesn't turn bitter. There is some preparation needed before smoking, but it stays lit and it's difficult to mess up filling the pipe. I didn't think this was strong at all. Quite mild. UPDATE: My taste buds adapted after 4 or 5 bowls. I now think it's almost faultless but I wish the flavour was as strong as the nicotine content.

Meh...

This was ok I suppose. However it wasn't as nice as I thought it was going to be based on the reviews.

Hard little dark brown square block of pressed plug that requires a bit of effort to cut. Definitely would advocate rubbing this out to get the best out of it. Forget about trying to smoke this flake style, just didn't work and it really struggled to stay lit.

Difficulties with lighting aside, the smoke was a little similar to Petersons 3P's but not as flavoursome or smooth. Can bite a bit if you aren't careful and I found it to be quite 'liquoricey'. Nicotine content is above average and may be too much for some.

That said maybe I'm just not a plug person.

A really nice almond flavour accompanies this rich tobacco. Slices fairly easily for a plug into oily/waxy flakes which you can rub out if you like. And I would recommend you rub them out as I found this stuff quite hard to light and keep lit.

A good tobacco but more hassle than others of equal or higher quality. A very good price (in the UK, at least) though.

Original founder and blender was that great Irish man P.J. Carroll (and & Co. Ltd); to Patrick James - I say "go raibh maith agat", which in Irish means simply "thank you"; this stuff is just fabulous. Sadly, it was regretful to purchase it in its home town, but in packaging saying "Made in the EU", but Stockaby certainly does it justice.

Full Marks!

This is my first experience of plug, though I've been trying to get hold of some for a while and eventually took to mail ordering some. Plugs instantly win extra points from me as I like the raw nature which is easier to store, more versatile and more fun too. Prepping it is all part of the meditation.

This is solid stuff. It aint 'alf dense, mum. The tobacco's really not bad either. I've tried the Square Cut a couple of times and I can't tell much of a difference between the two. The same tobacco as far as I can tell. As such I have the same problems getting a good light on it. It's so dense and it's consistency is almost waxy, so that if left in chunks or flakes it seems almost flame retardant. It's tempting to puff hard but then all the flavour goes, so I've ended up rubbing it out and letting it sit for a bit and it consequently smokes much better. Sipping is definitely advised.

The flavouring is subtle, alluring yet elusive and fun to search for in the smoke. Not a particularly strong tobacco I find and I've smoked a few bowls a day quite comfortably. I am even tempted to make this my standard tobacco for every day smoking as it's reliable, once I've gotten the hang of it. I seem to remember a couple of comments somewhere about this being a tobacco for the experienced smoker and I can see that. I imagine that smoked carefully this can reward the addict with a lot of flavoursome smoking.

Plus it's really cheap by UK standards.

Possibly my favorite plug tobacco. On opening the pack your nostrils are met with a delectable aroma of almonds and aniseed, and one cannot but be tempted to take a bite!!!!!!

The plug is rather heavily pressed and a good knife is essential for cutting. On cutting (I generally cut medium thickness), I generally leave the flakes to dry out for 10 minutes or so, as it tends to make ones pipe quite wet.

Taste wise, there is defiantly a hint of aniseed and a strong nutty taste, which is really quite pleasant. The room note is very tolerable and if one remembers back to childhood, it seems to give off the "typical" pipe aroma.

Lovely tobacco, something I highly recommend, however be warned, when your smoking a bowl, smoke until the end, the tobacco seems to loose flavor and the taste becomes rather burnt if left to go out for too long