Peterson 3P's Peterson Perfect Plug

Alright, so the tin note isn’t much, actually delivers little smell since the plug comes packed in a plastic bag.

So, after your take the plug out from that plastic bag you get.... a brick, man! This might look like a delicious brownie, but it’s so hard that you can compare it with a brick or a stone.

The tobacco is very well pressed, and to my advantage, it was full of sugar crystals. Unfortunately, I don’t have the code for the date of this tin, but it should be few years old if it has so much sugar crystals.

The tobacco itself also has little smell. Little floral notes, which keep reminding me of University Flake. Only after it is cut and rubbed the smell starts to be felt better, adding some nice citrus and floral notes, again, very similar to University Flake.

Can be quite hard to cut it in flakes, unless you have a very good and sharp knife, otherwise I would recommend you simply cut out the corners. Be careful, you might not cut the plug but you might cut your fingers, which will make the blood run into the tobacco and will be like a casing or topping for a new “sensational blend” with blood flavor (I know it’s weird hearing this from a Romanian hahah). Also, be sure to cut it on a cutting board, not on your desk, as you might scratch or cut the desk too.

I’ve smoked it both rubbed and flake. I took notes from time to time, and I will present everything I’ve encountered so far.

First month:

Tried different ways of cutting it, tried it flake and rubbed. Even if the plug feels like it’s dry (and hard as a rock), don’t be fooled. After you cut the flakes, make sure you leave them to dry enough. It’s actually quite moist and if it’s not dry enough you will encounter difficulties at lighting it and keeping it lit.

So, I suggest that you cut flakes as thin as you can and leave them to dry for at least 30 minutes, preferably one hour. After that, you can either smoke them as flakes or rub them.

If it was cut well, dried enough and packed correctly in the pipe, it actually lights up fairly easy. The first smokes deliver a straight taste, mostly earthy and bready notes, with just a little sweetness and some fruity notes barely noticeable. Leaves a nice white ash.

1 month later:

Yeah, the cake itself doesn’t smell like anything. I cut off two slices (two flakes) as thin as possible and let them dry. The flakes also have little to no smell. The problem was, I cut the flakes but forgot about them outside, and they dried over night. They were very dry, I was worried, but I decided to rub them and fill the pipe.

It did light up easy, but again, there was no taste at first. The taste started to appear gradually, very shy, giving hints of sweetness and citrus notes. By the middle of the bowl, if you sip/puff slowly, the fruity notes will come out more along with the sweetness of the virginia (which like I mentioned, was full of sugar crystals). The fruity notes are actually berry notes. However, the earthy and bready taste is more pronounced than the sweetness and fruity taste.

Another note I took, is when I let the flakes sit for 3 hours, since I had to leave home for something important. Got back home, laid in my chair and started watching a movie, when I was struck by an amazing cold, fruity, naturally sweet smoke. The burley was there, but not as straightforward as it was before and this was the only time I experienced these notes with this tobacco.

It is not as heavy in vitamin N as University Flake, yet it does have its good share of nicotine (which for me, is great). However, University Flake is, in my opinion, far better than this blend.

I believe this is a tobacco that is worth aging. Even if burley doesn’t age well, the virginia does, and in this blend, it might help a lot.

Almost 4 months later

Well, I’ve smoked this baby again in the last two days, and tried it as a flake and rubbed. burns very well for a flake, but the flavor isn’t as great great as it should be, so I recommend rubbing it.

Also, i recommend drying it more than less. even if it doesn’t seem to be wet at the touch, it actually is, and 30 minutes won’t do much to this. Leave it for at least an hour. Even if it’s super dry, it won’t bite, it won’t change its flavor (which is almost absent no matter what you do with the tobacco). But if it’s wet, even a little, it will light up damn hard, will ask for several relights and tamping.

Kept on smoking this and came to the conclusion that it’s a good, decent tobacco, but nothing special about it. Good nicotine amount, but tastewise is kind of poor, actually even sour to some extent and the casing/toping can barely be noticed, and at times it’s actually quite flat. Clearly under University Flake.

Boy, this tobacco seems like it doesn’t end! I have the tin for over 4 months and I still have half of the plug. I wish it would be the same with my favorite blends. Unfortunately, I rarely smoked this one as it doesn’t deliver me any real pleasure.

Don’t know what else to say about this. Ah, the room note is pleasant! Forgot to mention that.

After all the good reviews, I had to try this one. While it is a decent smoke, I don't see what all the fuss is about. While I did smoke the entire tin, I doubt I will ever buy this one again.

First, like a lot of plugs, this one is mottled to dark in color and very solid and tightly packed. Kind of reminded me of a hockey puck. It had the fermented aroma of many pressed and plug tobaccos, with raison or prune like scent. I could tell it was an aromatic but the flavoring is very subtle and other than a fruit like aroma, I could not tell what it is. This plug is so solid that I experimented between shaving some off with a knife and pealing some single leaf of the top and tearing it into small pieces. Both were easy to pack in the bowl but took several lights to get it lit. This was true even after letting it dry for awhile. The flavor was rich and full, I could taste the sweetness of the VA's and the fullness of the burley, but the strange fruit taste kept coming through. While I did enjoy smoking it, but to enjoy it, it had to be smoked very slow, I would rather it not have had the flavor added to it. I think the Va's and burley would have stood alone and provided a better smoke. I do enjoy aromatics, but this one interfered with the good tobacco taste instead of enhancing it. It burned slowly down with a steely grey ash and required frequent relighting to keep it lit which I found irritating after awhile. I never once was able to smoke it all the way down as the bottom layer of tobacco gained a lot of moisture and would not stay lit. I feel this was the result of the flavoring agent. The room note to me was more like a cigar instead of fragrant pipe tobacco and while not unpleasant, it was not anything I or others enjoyed the scent of.

Some really like this tobacco, I just thought it rather single layered and nothing to get excited about. I would not say it is bad, but there are many more that I would recommend over it so I can only give it two stars.

Tobacco for those with patience (or those needing to learn it). To enjoy this, get ready for a multi-day process of slicing, drying, rubbing out, realizing it's too wet, letting it dry some more, then... finally... smoking. Nothing wows me about the smoke, but the long process will culminate in a satisfying, if not standard, Burley-Virginia smoke. Tin note smells like crabapples. The smoke has a dull fig taste. Not one I will buy again, but its something I think everyone should try.

Preparation & Burn: 6/10 Requires some work but easier to manage than thick flakes like Irish flake.

Taste: 11/20 Decent but not worth the effort.

Mildness: 4/10 My idea of a good smoke is a relaxing, low nicotine session. Therefore, the milder the better. More than I prefer.

Total: 21/40

Recently I’m all on va/burs, so I’m going to give my 2 cents on this blend. Presentation is stunning, a black brick that will take your time to prepare a good bowl. I’ve tried slicing it in both ways, leaf by leaf and cut it in strips, or cutting it vertically and rub it. No big differences in loading and tasting it. Pack it loose, or it will jam your pipe. Lighting is medium easy, if you previously rubbed it properly. The first half is very satisfying, creamy, earthy, dark virginia makes an excellent base for the burleys which lead the dance. Flavours added are well present, and help for a creamy smoke. Unfortunately, there is an unpleasant change of pace at half bowl, and this happened with different pipes in different moments, so it must be organic to this mixture. I just couldn’t stand this, I think that the second half is the truth of a blend, when vapors of toppings and flavours have gone. This is why 3P is a two stars for me, I find these blends tricky and somehow disguised with too much chemistry on top. Still a great toy to play with.

First, there is a cellophane wrapper around this plug, so if you want to age this you need to remove it and then place it in a jar. Wrappers like this have pros and cons but it will slow the aging process. The tobacco is of good quality and old fashioned I get but it is far from complex. The VA's have some grass and citrus notes and the burley has some nutty, earthiness about it. The fruit toppings are citrus and slightly sweet. The nic is really closer to the med. level but the overall body is med. full. However, I find that the topping really mutes the overall flavor profile of the VA's. It is a nice smoke overall but not a favorite for me. The room note I found to be almost too strong. I smoke outside only and after finishing and going back out 20 minutes later it was still very prevalent. It will bite if it is pushed but there is no reason to push this one what you get with the first few puffs is all that is there.

How did Pipestud manage to review 1000 tobaccos?! PPP is my 69th contribution to our database. Honestly, I have a dozen or so that I am content with... I don't really need another in my rotation. But I do like to try new things.

PPP smells great in the tin...like...tobacco... It is very easy to slice and rub out: just use a very sharp blade. It doesn't need much time to dry. Two matches is all I need.

PPP makes a good volume of smoke. The room note is just tolerable for nonsmokers. Pipe smokers probably think it smells great. The casing stays with you, but it is a very light casing. Smooth. No tongue bite. Nutty Burley, like a mild version of Irish Flake. I don't taste much Virginia. After all the buildup in the reviews, the nicotine dose is disappointingly moderate. I don't detect it at all until the last third of the bowl.

The plug itself is a thing of beauty. The blend might be heavenly for Burley lovers. I received mine as a gift. I won't be purchasing any more. I already have 3 great Virginia plugs in the cellar. This does not make the rotation, but is recommended for lovers of Burley.

PS: PPP overpowers the palate, and is suitable as the last pipe of the day, or the only pipe of the day. Its lingering aftertaste does not allow for following with milder blends.

A well-behaved quality smoke, but I found it very much lacking in flavor, though not stength. The plug slices well enough with a freshly sharpened knife, and rubs out to any desired consistency without much trouble, but I found it more like smoking hot air than tobacco. Recommended only to those who like extremely mild smokes.

I noticed a quality change in the leaves of this plug. Using terms of cigars the quality went down from wrapper to filler. It's a shame.