Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding Bourbon Barrel Aged

I love Bourbon. I've gone on all of the Bourbon tours in Kentucky and it was a very interesting experience. Bourbon can add a lot of flavor both to tobacco and foods. I've made my own Tennessee Sweet Bourbon BBQ sauce for instance. But as with all things aromatic, I have to wonder if I will taste it, or if it will be too much. Seeing as I'm almost finished with my tin I'd say it's checking all the right boxes for me.

The tin is fun and I would pick it up in a store if I didn't know the goodness within. When you first open a tin you will see some nice very dark crumble cakes that are a little thinner than I'm used to. You'll also find a small cube from a Bourbon Barrel. The tin note smells of Bourbon first, creamy Latakia, tangy Orientals, and Virginia sweetness. Crumbling is a little harder than a typical C&D cake, but it loads fine. I don't think this is too wet but a couple minutes of dry time never killed anyone. It tends to need a relight more often than typical and burns slowly.

At first light I taste the Bourbon which hovers in the background, it's sweet and brown sugary. Next I taste the Latakia which is thick and creamy and adds a light woody note. The Orientals are up next giving tang and a slight incense note. The Virginias give off sweetness and breadiness. All of this is tied together with the Bourbon. I think its flavor profile really melds with the components of Plum Pudding.

The taste is a medium-full. The smoke coats your mouth and just pushes to the full side of things. The strength is a medium. This is a good smoke for sitting and relaxing. The room note will garner mixed reviews. This is nice and complex enough to sit down and think on. I give this four stars. I think it's a well done blend and very good for a dessert smoke.

Well. It’s just awesome. I gravitate toward English/Balkans. This is pretty much perfect for me. Savory/smoky with a hint of sweetness. The bourbon just finishes it perfect. No more to say. Smokes cool and dry. Gravity pack and a touch more. A long smoke.

"It's okay -- some aromatics are actually pretty good" . . .

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And SPCPPBBA is one of them! (Yes -- I did indeed take the liberty of ascribing SPCPPBBA to Seattle Pipe Club's Plum Pudding Bourbon Barrel Aged blend).

Not only does this latest iteration of Plum Pudding come with a bourbon flavoring -- and not a whisky (Scotch) flavoring -- but it also contains the Black Cavendish/Cavendish, Oriental/Turkish & Perique that FMC never did -- and it is so much more complex and refined than FMC ever was -- I can't imagine why anyone would think this was SPC's version of FMC. The barrel stave inside the tins of both blends were all that the two ever had in common, aside from both being aromatics, that is. But both FMC and PPBA were/are aromatics that do not taste and/or smoke like an typical aromatics (oily, overly gooped fire starter that burns like napalm in a bowl -- yes, I'm looking at you, Molto Dolce) but rather smokes and tastes like the expertly crafted blend that it is. Wonderful stuff this latest issue of Plum Pudding is indeed, and so hat's off to Joe Lankford for his Plum Pudding hat trick -- a perfect Plum Pudding trifecta! SPC Plum Pudding Bourbon Barrel Aged: If you can find it, buy it! (And -- as always -- if you want to know what this stuff actually tastes like, see JimInks' review).

Seattle Pipe Club
Plum Pudding Bourbon Barrel Aged

Blend notes: “ Plum Pudding BOURBON BARREL AGED ~ How to improve upon perfection? Sipping his favorite bourbon gave Master Blender Joe Lankford an idea. World famous original Plum Pudding packed into charred oak Kentucky bourbon barrels, aged 30 days, pressed into cakes and crumble kake cut. The result? Heavenly marriage of spirits & the best Balkan blend ever made. A chunk of bourbon barrel rests in every tin. Complex, smoky, spicy and still positively addictive. Plum Pudding Bourbon Barrel Aged is Joe’s dream come true. Enjoy the ingredients: Latakia, Turkish Orientals, Virginias, Cavendish and Perique.”

This is some of the most delicious tobacco I have ever tasted. It is very high quality leaf that is literally packed into bourbon barrels and left to absorb the flavorings for a monrh and then pressed into cakes. The component tobaccos are the same as the SPC Plum Pudding. I will say the flavoring is ‘mild’ but make no mistake, there is no topping here — this is not an aromatic blend.

The taste is of sweet char with sweet and mildly spicy Orientals. The Cavendish (a process not a tobacco variety) absorbs flavors and reinforces the flavoring of the sweet Virginias which give up some light citrus and grass. The Perique provides spicy, raisin, earthy, and grounded figs, but its in the background.

To be honest, when I consider this blend, I am not sure I am entirely neutral as a reviewer. It’s simply that good.

4 out of 4 stars.

I must say, consider this a grain of salts warning as the original plum pudding sits among my favorite blends.

The Latakia has a medium bodied presence. It has all the woodsy notes you’d expect but this is no lat bomb. It sits about perfect with the right amount of complex, barbequed smokiness. The virginias have a light tang, but are mostly bready. In tandem with the more complex orientals and Latakia, they give a dense sourdough bread note that is lovely. The cavendish mellows out the blend and provides respite from the strength of the rest blend. Lastly, I only detect perique upon a retrohale. It provides a consistently held, but not sharp spice such as it does in blends heavier in perique.

With the added bourbon notes, I get a flavor I can only describe as apples and wood spice, most likely from the bourbon barrel aging. It is lovely and well welcomed among the constituent parts of the blend.

As solid a balkan as they come. Buy one, two, or as many tins as you can with confidence this will please at any time of the year. I know I sure will.

I wanted to relive the Frog Morton Cellar experience by finding another tin with a hunk of wood inside, even though I'm skeptical the wood adds 'that much' flavor, but heck, it sure is cool.

The word intoxicating gets used a lot in tobacco reviews, but this time it is warranted. There is almost a heat wafting up when you pop the tin; a nose wrinkling, fragrant, boozy, spicy, heavy scent knocks you back and lingers long after you walk away. No cheap toppings here, it is just that developed!

The kake is always a pleasure to break apart and pack into your bowl, having a primal feel, like finding some ancient peat to heat your cabin with. It feels aged, and the Bourbon elevates the Latakia charcoal taste into a smoother ride. As kake does, the glow in your bowl will linger for a long time, so take your time.

Don't be turned off by the "medium" flavoring, it is almost entirely from the Bourbon, and that is a flavor we can all get behind. My one complaint, is it gets to be a bit much, since I tend to smoke multiple bowls in short succession, the decadence wore me out.

One of the best kakes out there (taking the mantle from Bengal slices). Once you finish the tin, you have this wonderful little cube that sweetens the spot you store it; my girlfriend keeps on in her purse.

I'm trying an experiment. I recently bought a can of bourbon barrel aged plum pudding. I was happy with it. This maybe really good or bad. I welcome your thoughts and comments. I removed the barrel stave from the can and soaked it in black label Jack Daniels for about an hour until it sunk to the bottom of the glass, then patted it dry with a clean dry towel and placed it back in the can. I intend to let it sit at least 30 days and then evaluate. I may have destroyed a good can of tobacco, we'll see.

This has been a long anticipated comparison for me. I love Plum Pudding. I love Plum Pudding Special Reserve more. And now I can decide where Bourbon Barrel Aged falls on that list.

I'll start by saying you can't go wrong with any of the plum pudding variants and everyone seems to have their preferred choice. For me, Bourbon Barrel Aged doesn't quite fit in with with the other 2. I consider it its own separate thing.

This tobacco is fantastic. However, I feel the bourbon overshadows a lot of what I've come to love from these blends. The bourbon is very forward and sweet with the traditional plum pudding flavors trailing behind. Some will love this and be their top pick - it's definitely a preference call for me. I'll be purchasing an abundance of special reserve for my cellar and maybe reaching for the bourbon barrel aged when I want something different.

4.5/5

Preparation & Burn: 7/10 Easy enough to break apart this kake. Best to gravity pack and slightly push down. Burns cool, no bite. Stays lit sometimes. Can puff hard, no issues.

Taste: 20/20 This is a tasty and subtle smoke. Well balanced. SPC are fantastic. The lat is too obvious in the first minute or two, but then it balances well. This is because I rarely smoke lat blends nowadays.

Mildness: 9/10 My idea of a good smoke is a relaxing, low nicotine session. Therefore, the milder the better. Not much nicotine at all!

Total: 36/40