Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Mick McQuaid Plug

As this is my first review, I thought I would make it about this excellent product! I have been smoking a pipe for 42 years now and I have to say that everything about this rock hard lump of tobacco is only describable in superlatives. From the delicious scent when you first cut open the packet to the rubbed out strands there rises a sweet flavour reminiscent of damsons...for those of you who know the plum variety. It smokes gently and full of taste; its not too hot or strong and never bites me at all even if puffed hard. I keep the plug in a empty S & G Full Virginia Flake tin with a couple of pipefuls of rubbed out flake all ready for use. I chose the FVF tin because there's a family similarity and the MM Plug remains unadulterated...or seems to. I recommend, wholeheartedly, that you try this. To my mind its far better than the other MM blends. Lastly, I'd like to pay tribute to this amazing site! I have learnt more about tobacco brands and blends here than in 40 years of smoking. Long may your tins be full and your pipes smoking:-)

The plug is shiny and very well compacted. It takes quite a bit of effort to cut and doesnt rub particularly easily. However, from this point onwards things get a lot better.

Has a wonderful puddingy smell in the pouch and is just about the right moisture straight away. Smokes very cool and didnt need many relights. Went right down to perfect fine ash.

The strength was dead on moderate, perfect for afternoons where you dont want to dose off for the evening! Lots of wonderful tobacco flavour with a slight but not overpowering fruity raisiny tinge to it. A little christmas puddingy but not overpoweringly so.

Highly recommended.

Smell like gingerbread. Beautifull taste, highly recommended !!!

I recieved an ample sample of this beauty from a friend, a generous one at that. He had already cut and rubbed it out so I can't comment on the experience. However this has got to be the fullest, tastiest tobacco I've ever smoke and I've been smoking a pipe for the better part of 38 years!

This tobacco doesn't know how to bite. Yeah,I've wasted a few glorious sips by puffing like a steam engine just to see. Not happenin' with McQuaid Plug. From first light to the bottom of the bowl it is full of flavor. Rich, satisfying smoking experience and a great nicotine hit if you are apt to look for one. Early in the morning, late at night, after a meal, literally anytime, this tobacco is right on point. I would suggest a medium to large bowl with this on. A little bowl wouldn't do justice to oneself. You'd finish and be looking for another pipe right away for another bowl.

Tobacco folks here in the United States REALLY need to learn how to put something like this together. They wouldn't keep it in stock. It'd be flying out of the warehouses.

I give this the max stars anyone has to offer! I don't think any blender could top this for full rich flavor and ambience without becoming overwhelming.

My first review. A friend in Europe was able to procure a pouch of this for me.

Mick McQuaid Plug is easily the densest block of pressed tobacco I?ve ever seen. It comes in a typical pouch but the actual brick is a square of perhaps 2" x 1.5" x .75". It's so small that it makes the pouch seem somewhat empty even though it weighs 50 grams. The aroma is a rich mash of stewed fruits ? figs, plums, and prunes - with a hint of some sort of liqueur; amaretto or brandy perhaps. It is delightful and potent without being overwhelming.

With my pocket knife I shaved a 1/8? to 1/4? sliver off the shorter side, pulled it apart along the grain into strips, and then ground it by hand in my small tobacco grinder. This stuff is so dense I had a hard time twisting the grinder and the result was fairly chunky ? sort of a cubed/broken flake texture. It also seemed a bit moist so I let it sit for 30 minutes or so. That wasn?t much time drying time and the tobacco was so solid that I wondered if it would burn well at all so I decided to use the gravity fill method with my Peterson Shamrock which has a tall, narrow bowl. After sprinkling the McQuaid?s in, tapping the bowl to settle it, and topping it with just a bit of pressure, I was ready to go. I should mention that the small slice I rubbed out yielded about 3 bowls worth. Don't let the small size of the brick fool you - this stuff is DENSE!

The charring light went pretty well and I think I was right in my choice of pipe. It took me a few tries to get the bowl really going but once I did it burned well. Due to its density I made a concerted effort to smoke very slowly (which I often don?t do) and that seemed to be the right way to go.

The taste at the true light is primarily Virginia, rich and sweet, with no bite and virtually no trace of the casing. I?m guessing this is a stoved blend as there is a certain mellowness and depth to the smoke that reminds me quite a bit of Anniversary Kake from pipesandcigars.com but without the Perique.

As the bowl got going through the first and second thirds, the flavor held steady with rich, stoved Virginia and gentle echoes of the original stewed fruit from the pouch aroma. Although it seemed to smolder quite slowly, a few puffs would bring up a cloud of wonderful thick smoke ? good for smoke rings wink.gif I would say the nicotine content is above average but not staggeringly so. I had to relight a few times after the halfway point but that probably had as much to do with my absentmindedness as the tobacco?s burning qualities. The tease of casing flavors faded towards the end and became more of a straightforward Virginia. I guess I didn?t smoke as slowly as I thought as I did have a bit of gurgle (pretty common for me) and some dottle in the bottom of the bowl.

After 3 bowls, here's my overall impression: - Preparation is difficult but I think that is part of the fun. - Lighting is much easier after some drying time. The tobacco for my 2nd bowl sat out for 90 minutes before I packed it and it was much easier to keep lit. - The flavor didn?t develop much but I wouldn?t call it one-dimensional. There was complexity but little subtlety if that makes any sense. For example I often find Oriental blends (particularly those without Latakia) to be both complex and subtle. This was more of a straightforward flavor that had several elements but was quite up front about them from start to finish. - Mick McQuaid Plug is a great tobacco and a terrific change of pace from the VAPERs I?ve been smoking a lot of lately. I would certainly buy it again.

- Tim

nothing much to add. dense little devil, this plug. rather massive almond flavouring in the pouch note, much less in the taste. rich, fullfilling, mostly virginia, taste, with depth in spades and even some high notes, probably aided by the flavouring which apparently also contains some fruit ingredient. splendid stuff.

I've only had a tester bowl of this, this morning but I really wanted to jot down my impressions while they're fresh. This is absolutely brilliant stuff. It?s the only time I ever thought to use the word "seductive" to describe a tobacco. There is a full, sweet, rich, tobacco flavour and a good nicotine kick. The Casing isn't intrusive, or at least not to me, as you might fear from the initial whif of the pack and is very nice in its own right anyway. Lovely, lovely stuff. P.S. As far as I'm aware, this is still getting produced. They've changed the pack recently and my tobacconist didnt say anything when I ordered it.