Peterson 3P's Peterson Perfect Plug

There are two Peterson's blends that Peterson considers necessary to distinguish as "experienced smoker's blends": Irish Flake ("recommended for the experienced pipe smoker", they said) and Peterson's Perfect Plug ("sure to appeal to the experienced pipe smoker", they said).

Well, I understand easily why Irish Flake needs such a disclaimer: after all, it's quite a high-octane stuff and is capable to send the faint-hearted into a nicotine-induced psychedelic trip. The reasons for a similar disclaimer are less obvious to me in the case of Perfect Plug, which is not as much strong as Irish Flake.

If Peterson really wanted to create something perfect I must admit they reached not too far from successfully accomplishing the mission. The blend which combines a perfect balance of good Virginias and Burley with subtle natural flavour of dried fruits and a healthy dose of nicotine is indeed a triple win. I believe it will appeal to inexperienced smokers as well. The only important skill they might need to master to fully enjoy the PPP is Preparing the Plug Properly. Fortunately, cube-cutting and gravity-filling (which I found the best way to go) are incredibly easy to learn. I need no relights when I prepare PPP this way.

Nearly Perfect. Highly Recommended.

Actually, all three Peterson's pressed tobacco blends (Peterson's Perfect Plug, Irish Flake and University Flake) are true masterpieces. It's pity they don't produce more varieties.

I have 5 tins of this that have been sitting in my cellar for over 5.5 years, they remain sealed. My review here is based on a sample if this that I was sent of this tobacco (approx one third of a plug). My friend who sent me this had allowed the plug to dry a bit, which may explain why I experienced none of the difficulties reported by other here about keeping this stuff lit. My friend also advised that he feels this may be a good replacement for the recently discontinued Mick McQuaid Plug (of which I have a quantity stashed, along with Warrior Plug which was also recently discontinued), I'm not sure I agree entirely with his assertion on this matter, even though this was a pleasant smoke.

The flake itself is a mixture of browns & blacks, the plug is very attractive in appearance, but I like the look of plugs generally.

The note I got from this plug on the nose is a sweet, slightly fruity alcohol-type scent. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it was very pleasant. The tobacco is robust enough to be present on the nose also.

Sliced on my tobacco cutter, I managed to shave off several flakes, and I smoked this both as a folded & as a broken flake with some rubbed out.

As I mentioned, my sample was somewhat drier than I imagine it would be straight out the tin, but the flakes were still pliable, and the tobacco took & maintained a light easily for me.

The taste is of the good quality tobacco, synergising well with the fruity topping. The main taste I get from here is like a Brandy/Sweet liqueur taste, which is very pleasant indeed. The tobacco progresses in intensity towards the end of the bowl, but the casing doesn't all burn off, meaning the mingling remains good until the smoke is finished. I would imagine this would go well with a good Brandy.

It burned to a clean ash with no dottle every time.

The nicotine strength was medium & I found the room note to be pleasant.

As this was a sample, when I crack one of my fresh tins, I'll update/amend as needed.

All in all, a good solid tobacco. I like it, and am glad to have my aged tins available to enjoy in the future.

Is it is good as MMP as my friend suggested? I don't think so, MMP is a magical tobacco. This - whilst very good - lacks a little something, but I don't know what it is. Maybe it lacks the velvety smoothness, but due to the similarities between them, I will be able to use it, to some degree, to ensure my MMP & Warrior Plug supplies last longer by substituting this for it on a day-to-day basis, and saving the MMP & WP for special occasions.

I will definitely keep this around for future use.

This dark brown block of tobacco, freckled with tan spots is pretty hard, and it takes a really sharp knife or a plug cutter to prepare it. Containing some Brazilian leaf among the African Virginias and Burley it has a slight cigar-like smell underneath an unobtrusive fruity scent, reminding me of plums or fruitcake.

I usually cut a slice of 2-3 mm from the plug, which I then cross cut into cubes of the same edge length. After that filling and lighting your pipe is very easy: just let the cubes trickle into you bowl and tamp gently. After the charring light I level out the ashes and get the tobacco burning evenly with usually a single true light. However, an occasional re-light might be required.

As long as you don't draw too eagerly on your pipe, 3P's will give you a cool and satisfying smoke. Just tamp down the ashes regularly to keep it glowing. The grassy, tangy notes from the Virginias, the spicy Brazilians, and the nutty Burley mix nicely with the fruity casing giving a taste that reminds me of dark chocolate. Smoking too hot will ruin this complexity. The bowl starts with a medium strength, getting bolder towards the end leaving some grey ash.

Due to the Brazilian leaf the room note has a slight cigar-like scent, but also some sweetness from the Virginias. It smells more like an English blend than an aromatic.

Opening the tin I am greeted by a nice smelling brownie like plug, it smells fruity and chocolaty. I like to cut a flake and then use a grinder, it gives a consistent and flavorful smoke. The moisture is perfect for a smoke to the bottom of the bowl, leaving a white ash.

The first portion has a more Virginia like character with flavors of hay, some tanginess and a bit of plum from the casing. The Burley is there, nutty and woody, with some cocoa/chocolate but not as pronounced. As the bowl progresses, the Burley flavor slowly becomes more present, the smoke is now more mellow and the plum casing tends to disappear.

Now a warning, the nicotine will floor you if you don't respect a slow cadence. It starts very slowly, you don't even feel it but by mid bowl the nicotine punching will be there if like I do, you puff fast. Also the taste will feel lighter, overtaken by the strength. While at the beginning I thought that this could be an all day smoke, I changed my mind and will only smoke it as a change of pace with the right conditions in a small pipe.

Virginia lover

If you like bold slow burning tobaccos with a little fruit essence then this is for you.. I found it to be a very satisfying experience.. very consistent pleasant flavor.. a bit simple but big in scope.. preperation isn't all that difficult but you will need a sharp knife.. my best results involved letting the flakes I cut dry for at least a couple hours.. even after dry time numerous relights were needed.. for me this is like the perfect thing to smoke before bed.. it just caps off the evening with its robust yet gently sweet flavor.. the smell of it while smoking is fantastic.. not something I would smoke regularly but I did purchase some to age.. I think every once in awhile this kind of smoke is very pleasing.

I decided to further my knowledge of traditional plug tobaccos and had done a bit of online research into what to order next. I am into plugs and like all that they offer in terms of freshness and flavour over and above their flake counterparts so I selected 3P on the basis that it was largely Virginia with some Burley added to balance things out. GQ tobaccos had it on my doorstep the very next morning (Great service chaps !) I couldn't wait to pop the tin and was met with a smell very reminiscent of JF Germaine's Medium Flake. Very fruity in a citrusy orangey sort of way. OK that wasn't quite what I expected, but on slicing and rubbing out three small flakes the topping dissipated and was replaced with a complex Virginia aroma with lots of fresh cut grass and fermenting hay. Also present were a few dark fruit notes and after leaving it to dry, it had a smell of raisins and baking spices as well. It reached me very moist and needed four hours drying time but was perfect after that and the aroma was to die for. I packed one of my Falcon pipes and lit it with some trepidation, as stoved Plugs can be very strong. I was very pleasantly surprised as although this blend can be a nicotine powerhouse if pushed, It has a very rounded flavour profile with no harsh edges. Perfect Virginia flavour with all the complexity you could wish for and not overly citrus but with a fair amount of dark fruit, some chocolate from the Burley and a lovely layer of baked goods. Things only got better and it smoked cool and refined all the way down to a white ash. The room note was rich and satisfying and all from natural tobaccos. I am mightily impressed with this blend. It has everything I could wish for in a tobacco and has great potential for cellaring. My tin was from Scandinavian Tobacco, so it has less than a year of age on it, but if it is so refined now, things can only get better. Perfect Plug indeed.

Update:

After smoking this exclusively for 4 days, I think it is one of my all time favorites. It responds very well to DGT and it is the coolest smoking Virginia blend that I have ever encountered, bar none. A true 5* blend !

This is the last of these rock hard, lightly flavoured Irish style plugs that's readily available in England, and this influences my opinion of it. With that in mind, let's begin.

This comes in a giant tin, and when you open it, unravel all the paper and cardboard to find the tiny rock of tobacco, you may feel that you are the victim of a practical joke. Fear not, this nugget has a density like plutonium and actually contains plenty of baccy - but the tin is silly and you'd need a rucksack to carry it around. I keep my plugs in a Wunup Baccyflap, or loose in my pocket.

The tobacco has a subtle aroma, quite grassy, new mown hay, with a hint of raisins. The way to prepare it is with a small, wickedly sharp penknife. Don't cut flakes with a chefs knife, you may as well buy flake, and it won't stay lit as well. Hold the plug in your left hand and cut thin shavings off across the grain, like woodshavings. Collect these in your left hand until you have what looks like 3/4 the amount you need. Then rub it just lightly to fluff it up. Don't rub it all the way out till it looks like a handful of pubes, but you want a mix of fully rubbed and broken flakes. Load your pipe, don't stuff it too tight, and put the crumbs on top as kindling. One match will suffice.

The flavour is gentle and comforting, bready and grassy, with a toasty, nutty taste developing as the bowl progresses. The flavour is mostly good honest tobacco, and should appeal to those who don't like their baccy with too much condiments. It burns slowly and may need one relight to consume the last crumbs, and the strength is about satisfying but not strong. The aroma is reasonably nice, says me a filthy smoker...

All in all, a lovely tobacco, and being almost the last of its kind, I'm bound to smoke a lot of it, as I love this tradition of tobacco preparation. Perfect? No, it's not Mick McQuaid, God rest his sweet innocent soul. But it will do lads, it will do.

Been a member here for some years and I greatly enjoy reading y'alls impressions. Time for me to step up my humble contributions.

3P is a great blend that I can imagine in permanent rotation. Lovely tobacco flavor with mild casing. Robust but not big-time like Irish Flake (though I love that as well). Good nic content.

My preparation is somewhat unorthodox but it worked well : peel off several thin layers and cut into tiny flakes/cubes with a pair of scissors, and rub out. Moisture content is somewhat high but burns well without extra drying.

Excellent blend which I forsee becoming an old friend : 3.5 stars

I do love me some plugs. I first tried this years ago when first branching out from my exclusively aromatic diet. I wasn't ready for it's power or flavor profile just yet. But now that I've become a real pipe smoker, I decided to give it another fair shot. And needless to say, I found it much better and richer this go-around.

What you get in the tin is a highly compressed and cellophane wrapped 2 inch square of fairly uniformly dark brown tobacco. And when I say square I mean you could check 90° corners with this thing. Being so compressed, it is difficult to work with...patience my friend. Normally I use rugged tobacco scissors to cut a plug, but they wouldn't suffice here. Had to use a sharp razor knife very carefully. Cut some thin flakes, let the flakes dry an hour or two, then fully rub it out and dry some more as needed. This is the best way I've found to get 3P to burn satisfactorily and with no relights.

Taste is pretty full, with a smokey and very earthy character. The fermentation is evident and reveals a heavy presence of stoved VAs and dark fired burley. There is a topping here but I can't really place a distinct flavor on it, perhaps something almost floral. It hinders the tobacco flavors not a bit. No tongue bite at all, just cool, long-burning tobacco bliss. I can hardly wait to see how this plug evolves with age.

3P is an all-around pleasantly strong old-timey plug, and I'm glad to have given it a second chance. I don't know that it will be a mainstay in my rotation, though, because I lean more towards Irish Flake as my Peterson of choice. But I have cellared a few tins for the future. Give it a try...just be sure to dry it plenty, rub it plenty, pack it lightly (in a smaller pipe), and sip on it gently. I doubt you'll be disappointed.