Peterson 3P's Peterson Perfect Plug

Please what ever you do, do not write this off. Smoked in the right way this is a simply wonderful tobacco that can be enjoyed by all. Yes, even begginers.

I've found that there are some rules to help though.

1, Storage. Once you buy a tin transfer to an airtight jar. For me this is an occasional smoke. Something I can go back to when I fancy a change. It wont make the rotation but its nice to come back to. When that moment comes cut a slice or two and prepare the bowl how you like. Experiment to find out what best suits.

2, Be mindful of the N kick. You may not realise it at first but trust me if you fill a large bowl and your not used to it, after 45 mins your head will be spinning. So a pipe with a small bowl is best to start off with. Either that or half fill the bowl until you can gauge the amount of tobacco to add.

3, Find your rhythm. If you try to puff your way through this it will bite you in the ass as well as the mouth. Best to sip or break up with a drink of tea, coffee or something to do like read.

4, Sit back and enjoy. I like nothing better than smoking while walking the dog but this tobacco is definitely a sitter. It will help to find that rhythm. And if your head does start to spin well your already sitting down.

5, And the most important Respect the tobacco. If you take your time to get to know this tobacco you will truly appreciate it. It may deter some because of the faff needed to prepare. But with everything in life the more you put in, the more you get out. And you'll find that your hard work does pay off.

Nice looking chocolate brownie in the tin with a deep, earthy aroma mixed with some fruitiness, similar to Irish Flake but less intrusive. This can be ripped apart and rubbed out or cut into small pieces. I had my best success with small cubes.

I found the topping started mild and then burned off rather quickly, unlike Irish or University Flakes. What was left was a flavor that was deeeeep! Cellar deep. Center of the earth deep. Very tobacco-y with hints of porterhouse steak. Although I couldn't really perceive the topping at that point, there was a slight fruity flavor, but it was very subdued. But a citrus quality bobbed and weaved on occasion. However, the main course was that deep, rich tobacco. This was a good tasting smoke that misses a 4th star by lacking the complexity that I prefer. Quite frankly, I liked this one but the plug made for a bit more effort than I like when smoking. I prefer the Flake, but by the slimmest of margins. Try this one if you enjoy more darkness than light in your blends.

First encounter with a plug pipe tobacco. The processing in preparation is as enjoyable if not more enjoyable as the smoking thereof. Slices off of the plug require a sharp knife with even pressure to obtain a nice full flake. Over night in the plug can left this flake in perfect humidity for a smooth, cool and relaxing smoke. Report from the "war department" declare the aroma to be nice and tolerable.

Again, the process of getting to the smoke is therapeutic.

Figured I'd check this whole plug-deal out a while ago, and picked a tin of PPP. Peterson rarely disappoints, so it seemed like a good choice to start out with.

Tin note is quite nice. There is some "fruitiness" here that reminds me of grape, but it doesn't strike me as artificial, rather it's more in the line of what dark stoved VA delivers. Overall it smells mostly sugary.

Preparation was a little tougher than I expected, so do take care to sharpen the knife before you start carving. After doing exactly that, I found it to be be manageable without too much difficulty. I cubed up the end piece, as that one proved to be too much of a challenge to slice as thin as I like.

The resulting flakes came out very dense, so fluff them up properly, or use a little less so there's ample room for it to expand, or you'll be disappointed (this is where the difficulties some have reported about keeping it lit comes from, I believe). To me it tasted best when fully rubbed out. It does strike me as "somewhat" of an aromatic when smoked - the fruitiness comes through in the taste, but again, doesn't strike me as if something artificial has been added. The room note is reminiscent of this, also, and not at all bad actually.

To me this is more mild-medium in strength, and has so far remained largely consistent in taste from bowl to bowl, improving quite a bit once it has had some time to breathe. The line from just right to too dry is however a little bit narrow. Other than that I can't find any major faults here. Not even the burley manages to get on my nerves here - it's been used right here and not only adds a rounded out body, but also a very nice earthy and slightly peppery tone. It doesn't say anything on the tin about it, but I'm thinking there's got to be some KY in here (or the Malawi leaf is grown or prepared in a similar way as genuine KY)... but I'll leave that for more finely tuned palates to discern.

All in all this is a very nice blend that is very tasty, cool and long-burning. I probably won't be adding it to the regular rotation, but I might come back to it once in a while.

Disclaimer: ive only smoked one tin of this stuff. I mostly smoke a good deal more than that before reviewing but i figure it may never get to that point, and id like to offer my opinion on this blend anyway. 3P is a nifty ultra dense plug that is very moist and hard. I dont smoke all that many plugs, but i think this is the firmest ive run across. A sharp knife will do the deed, and the resulting flakes should be well crumbled and given ample drying time if you hope to have a go at smoking it. Once accomplished, this little number can be gravity loaded and coaxed to burn fairly well. The plug smells of deep fruit. This translates to the smoke, and while it isnt very sweet, there is a prominent fruit scent throughout. I think of it as a less potent and deeper variety of what is used in university flake, approaching Erinmore territory in flavor (but not intensity). The va to burley ratio is very nice, and long stoving has melded the two into a lovely whole. Overall it is absolutely respectable and well done, has ample nicotine, and on paper would be my ideal smoke. While ive enjoyed each bowl of it, i never really craved it. I couldnt tell you why, i guess there really is no accounting for taste. I think this is a unique, very well made plug, and can offer a recommendation easily, i just personally follow my longings when it comes to tobacco, and for whatever reason i just dont long for it as i do for my old standbys. Easily a 3 star offering and could be 4 for some.

This is, in my opinion, the best Peterson tobacco. Now, Im partial to plugs I have to say, although it is a bit of effort to prepare. When i smoke all day and am on the run I take a ribbon or broken flake in a pouch (like Germain's Plumcake, or C&D's Opening Night, or GL Pease's Union Sq...etc) but often at home, I take the time to smoke plugs -- which I think carry a special quality of taste. Perfection Plug is very cool...and in that sense I can think of only Solani Aged Burley Flake being as cool as this. The taste is a touch smokey and the burley is high quality and dark and earthy. There is a bit of fermentation and the plug itself is almost black in color. It has that odd raison like smell to it when you unwrap it but the taste is 98% tobacco taste. Whatever else is in there is very very very mild. Overall, if you like plugs or want to try plugs, this is a good one. The Gawith Hogarth bulk flakes are sort of the gold standard for this type of pipe tobacco, but Peterson is now in the running I'd say. The nicotine hit is a tad over medium, but never harsh. It is a very cool long burning and rich smoke.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 12-5-2014

I was sent a two bowl sample of this in the form of a very small rectangular cube. I sliced it in to very small flakes. About a half inch by a half inch and sliced the first few small flakes into cubes as the flakes would not easily rub out. I crammed them into a bowl in a rush out the door to work and had a very hard time lighting it. Once I got it going it went fine, but I found it rather boring as it got to the bottom of the small bowl.

The next bowl I did entirely different. I rubbed out the small flakes the night before and packed my Savinelli Trevi 320ks the night before smoking it so it would adequately dry. What a difference this made. The next day when I lit up it did so easily and I was immediately engrossed in a rich smoke pungent with dark fired Kentucky. Truth be told, I had a hard time finishing the bowl as I was feeling the effects of too much nicotine on an empty stomach.

The second time the bowl never got boring, but was just maybe a bit too strong for me. The person who sent this to me thought it may, perhaps, supplant Irish Flake as one of my favorites, but it did not do that. It did show me that Irish Flake was not the limit to how strong a Peterson blend could get.

And to the very strong blends, it is one of the tastier ones I have had. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes them strong and who can't get enough of Dark Fired Kentucky in their smoking diets. I may get a tin of this or two down the line to give it a fuller test, but for now I will leave it at three stars.

UPDATE 6-10-2019

I just got done smoking a full tin of this and after reading my previous review, I would not change a thing about that review, which is odd since I smoked so little of it before. The reason is that this is not a complex blend. It is very strong and very much a one note blend.

The combination of the Dark Fired Kentucky with whatever the topping is, will be the dominant flavor of the blend. I kept this tin in my truck after cutting the block into flakes and cubes. Once it is adequately dry, it actually lights up pretty easily. If you smoke it wet or fresh from the tin, it can be a little tough to light up. It performs wonderfully under fire.

There are really two reasons for smoking this in a small bowl. First, It is strong and a big bowl is pretty hard to finish. Second, as noted above, it is a one note blend and it can get boring after a while. If you are one who loves very strong blends, I would still leave this at three stars as I find HH Bold Kentucky from Mac Baren to be a more enjoyable "ass-kicker" than 3Ps IMHO.

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.