Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding

I've smoked probably ten bowls per year over the past eight years, so I don't have a very developed or refined palette. Take this, my first review, with a pinch of the pepper everyone says they taste in perique.

Disclaimer out of the way, I love this stuff.

I got it for Christmas in 2018, along with a free sample of John Bull Royal English (which I loved). The Plum Pudding, however, was mediocre, so I only had half a tin of it before throwing it in a jar and not touching it again until today, a year and a half later.

A note on the packaging, by the way: I've seen videos of this stuff coming as thick flakes, but mine came already crumbled. I was disappointed because one of the main reasons I wanted to try this is because I wanted to try my first cake tobacco and crumble it up myself. I guess this is how the package it now?

Anyway, something must be wrong with the jar I kept it in; the other jars (the exact same kind) for my other tobaccos keep the moisture level consistent, but this one ended up drying out the Plum Pudding when I opened it after a year and half. I mean dry as in it was pretty crispy. Not entirely, but very nearly so. As such, I fully rubbed out the chunks, sprinkled them into a quarter of the bowl, lightly tamped, then the next quarter, medium tamping, and the third quarter, more medium tamping. I left the remaining quarter of the howl empty because I'm a weakling when it comes to nicotine. I had doubts about my packing, but apparently I did it right because I had no trouble keeping it lit, and it burned evenly. Only had to relight two or three times before reaching that troublesome bottom portion that's 50% ash and 50% charred tobacco.

This review here is not going to mention the 28 different flavors people say they pick up when they smoke. If I did get 28 flavors, I couldn't differentiate one from the other. All I know is this stuff tasted gooood. I do know what latakia tastes like, and I do like it, but that was most noticeable in the initial lighting and lasted for maybe a minute. I don't get any perique no matter how many VaPers I try, I still can't detect any pepper or spice, so I'm saying that here as well: no pepper, no spice. I did taste the Virginias, but whether they were citrus-like or hay-like or woodsy or whatever, I have no idea. It was just good. The flavor changed halfway through, but to what, I don't know. The final third was the same flavor I get in all my final thirds: charred tobacco. Not quite ass, but approaching it. Still, I enjoyed it.

As for nicotine, I don't know what's up with this. I recently tried Lane 1-Q for the first time, which I'm told is very mild in nicotine, but of the three or four bowls I've had of it, I have needed to eat a sugar packet or two halfway through. Plum Pudding is supposed to be stronger than 1-Q, yet I didn't start getting dizzy in the head till two-thirds were already smoked. It came somewhat suddenly, but I didn't get nauseous. (I'm sure I would have gotten nauseous by the end, but after two-thirds, I decided to pop open a sugar packet.) I also had eaten a sandwich beforehand, and I drank plenty of water throughout the smoke. So I gotta wrap this up because I have to pee like crazy.

In 2018 I figured I'd never buy this again. (Oh, also, maybe that had to do with the pipe I used then. It had no cake on it. The one I used today was an estate pipe with a cake already established, so maybe that helped? I don't know what cake does besides insulate, to be honest, but I'm learning.) Now, after drying it out and crumbling it up thoroughly, I can say this is a favorite of mine and will be purchased again in the future. But not before I try out the other hundred tobaccos on my wish list.

Gotta pee.

To me, this blend tasted very different in a cob vs a briar. I preferred it in the cob, which is opposite of my usual preference. For some reason the blend was far “smoother” in a cob. The review is for how it smoked in the corn cob pipe:

At first light, the Latakia was the main tobacco I tasted, which mainly came through as a gentle smokiness, like a freshly-doused campfire. Immediately following was a slight salty and tangy note, I assume from the orientals. These notes rose and fell in intensity, but were ever-present, sometimes accompanied by some slight piquancy from the Perique. The greatest supporting player here was the Cavendish, though. Although it never took center stage, and some people mightn’t even notice its presence, it is to me what pulled this busy cast of characters into a smooth and entertaining experience. There’s just enough there to smooth any rough edges and bring it all together.

This is not for the sweet-tooth, and in a lot of ways reminded me of a nice maduro cigar in terms of the base-note, but with more complexity.

Very nice blend.

Edit: I originally thought that it was the type of pipe making the difference in taste, but after letting the tobacco dry a little more, I tried it again in a briar and it was even better. Give this one a little time to dry out a bit and the Latakia will really gain some more dimension. It went from simple smokiness to having that resinous cedar-like quality. It really opened up with a little airing out.

Lovers of English blends owe it to themselves to add this gem to their cellar. With stellar smoke production and playful spice, this Balkan will keep you entertained bowl after bowl.

Unlike its famous cousin Mississippi River, this kake will make you exercise your fingers. It's worth the extra work and the wait.

I hate plums!

This tobacco makes me think I should've moved to Seattle and joined this club's ranks, ages ago. Just to be one of the first to have tasted this remarkable treat.

I am a Latakia freak currently, and have fallen in love with a few strong, well behaved English's.

I ordered a tin of this as it's mention keeps popping up and I feel as though I'd missed something. Man, oh man, did I!

This is a wonderfully twisting ride of a sweet, full, and luxurious smoke. Lush, soothing, comfort filled mouth feel, that has a constant pleasant room note.

I have to agree with some other reviewers, the activity, the feel of rubbing this smoke out, breaking it down, getting it ready, the anticipation, and my outright giddy, munchies-like hunger waiting for it to dry was almost too much. A lot like Christmas Eve, sleeping away the time till it was just right, just ready to smoke, while visions of Plumb Pudding danced in my head. And pay dirt!

It loads a little different then my usual flakes and shags. Definitely manageable, however. It was easily lit and not a single relight was needed for a solid 45 minute roller-coaster pipe ride. Delightful.

There is a hint of topping that is not overpowering nor distracting for me. It is welcomed as it adds a certain extra something to the incredibly well balanced Latakia show. There is the Cavendish sweetness and a Perique spice that lurks towards the back, waiting to hit the jukebox for another free tune like Fonzy.

I tried it simply to satisfy my curiosity, but now I am awaiting a pound for the cellar. I try not to smoke too much of one thing. I really love the idea of a simple, solid rotation, but this stuff has taken over my senses as well as my brain.

I bought this as part of the battle of the blends deal from P&C and I am very glad that I did!Smooth. Mild. This is the tobacco daydreams are for. You light the bowl after picking a few chunks to break apart and you are rewarded with smoky goodness. Not anything harsh in this tin except the empty bottom after a week of smoking it. This is another wife approved blend!

I can't really add nothing that hasn't already been said about this top notch blend. This is without a doubt one of my favorite go to blends. It's a must try for every pipe smoker.

Mmmmm. This intoxicating incense is filled with a spicy deep aroma of cloves + BBQ + Chinese Five Spice + caramelized charcoal bits. If that sounds like a lot of stuff, its because my sniffer isn't refined enough to isolate a single smell in this bouquet. I'm not too sure where the plum or pudding part fits into the Latakia masterpiece, but who cares... this stuff rocks.

When my Bengal Slices were out of stock, I tried a tin of Plum Pudding, as it was suppose to be similar. While Plum Pudding was a bit more bright in note than the more charcoal orientated Bengal Slices, I would say they are fairly interchangeable.

Packing a bowl of crumble cake is an messy task, but worth the effort as these little bits of smoldering peat burn forever. Almost an hour later, my mouth was numb from the clover bite, so successive bowls of this pudding is out of the question. I like to smoke a periodic bowl during the week, as this is not a daily smoker (if it was, I would likely never taste another blend again).

** Note - I marked the flavoring as very mild, since I am assuming all the many flavors are just a natural part of the tobacco blends used, but this felt like a drug-fueled aromatic, so it is hard for this novice to tell what is really going on here.

Plum Pudding takes the smoker beyond what (likely) most folks would consider a pipe tobacco, liken this to smoking cloves in lieu of a cigarette.

Plum Pudding is a tasty Balkan. All of the components work perfectly together. Nothing overwhelms in this blend. Good smoky flavor from the Latakia, nice spice and perfect natural sweetness. It's brother blend, Mississippi River may get all the hype, but Plum Pudding is everything MR strives to be.

It's fun to break this stuff up and try to identify all the different components. There's bits of pressed flake & all sorts of ribbons and chunks, in every color that tobacco has ever come in. Lots of components here, it says something about how much work had to go into making this blend.

The flavor is balanced. Unlike other blenders who need to throw one condiment or the other in your face while the rest of the smoke limps along in the background, Plum Pudding smokes like a careful tightrope act. The Lat is always there, the sun cured is always there and never too harsh or perfumed, the Perique comes and goes, the Virginia increases in flavor over time, everything does what it should.

This is one of those blends that gets creamy about midway through, it is super pleasant. It has a little bitterness on relight, but that only lasts a puff or two so it's a small price to pay. The chunks of pressed tobacco do a good job of moderating the burn rate after the cake is rubbed out ... it's a slow, cool smoke.

Plum Pudding is as good of a Balkan as an American blender has ever made. It was hard to get for a while, and it doesn't come cheap now, but SPC should be proud of this blend. Instead of chasing re-releases of long-gone Balkans with famous names, maybe Plum Pudding should be the stick by which the rest are measured.