Tobaccos G. L. Pease - JackKnife Plug (New World Collection)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SecretAgentMan (27)	2013-12-18		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Looks like dense tobacco brownie or a geological core sample -- clay brown, umber, tan layers tightly packed into a cube. They measure this stuff with precision; in addition to my cube, there was a small additional slice. Very rich smell of ketchup and cloves. It feels slightly dry, but there's moisture here that will stay awhile -- 30 minutes' drying for the rubbed-out flakes was not long enough.

Cutting and packing this is interesting, too. I hadn't read the description above so I just cut small chunks off the cube with a knife and rubbed them into fragments. The resulting irregular shapes and remaining moistness caused a plug in my draw, but that was cured by a couple of pokes with a pipe tool. I did manage to throw a burning chunk of the stuff out of my pipe and onto my leg. Ouch. Next time I'll try the Pease method given above!

The taste is incredible. The umami never ends -- currants, mace, molasses, beef jus, the gruyere-covered croutons on your french onion soup, cloves and honey, tangy whiffs of smoke from a far-off diesel. It's everything I'm looking for. I puff pretty quickly and only flirted with bite once. This has a broad no-bite envelope.

And it is strong. Water-sippin' strong. I went through two liters of ice water. Stronger than Irish Flake, just about equal to Samuel Gawith Brown No. 4 or Gawith Hoggarth's Kendal Kentucky. But it's amazingly smooth; the strength doesn't lurch upwards, it just builds slowly until, halfway through the bowl, you realize that you've become a boiled frog. It's wonderful stuff, and I hope G.L. Pease makes many more like it.

Pipe Used: MM Washington

Age When Smoked: 1 week from purchase

66 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2011-09-14		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

I was gifted some Jack Knife Plug recently and liked it so much I went ahead and popped the lid on one of my own tins even though I know this blend has the potential to be an Atomic Bomb in the flavor department once it gets some age to it.

Jack Knife Plug arrives very moist. I tried it fresh out of the tin. I tried it moderately dried out and I tried it crispy dry. All three moisture levels presented three different impressions as the smoke washed over my taste buds.

First, it is a "loose" plug that breaks up easily when sliced. You can ribbon cut it, shag cut it, cube cut it, broad cut it or apply chunks to your bowl. I always ribbon cut my flakes for an even burn and less relights.

The flavors varied only slightly as I worked my way down the bowl. When fresh out of the tin the flavor seemed muted. I enjoyed it much more moderately dried. At the crisply level the burn was quicker and the nicotine hit made me quiver in delight. This blend bears an old time deep & rich tobacco taste (delicious) that belted me and the flavor swayed only slightly to the sweet side as I puffed.

As for my thoughts about aging Jack Knife Plug. Do it. I did detect that unmistakable "fresh" Virginia taste as I smoked this blend. The listed components as well as the flavor presentation leads me to believe this one will mellow and provide a depth only the ocean can match once it's had 3-5 years added to it. I only hope I live long enough to try a 10-15 year old tin of Jack Knife Plug. I can't think of a better way to go to Heaven!

56 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3047)	2015-04-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

The dark fired Kentucky is the star. Perhaps it's a little less spicy than some grades of DFK, but it has enough to satisfy the desire for it. It's very earthy, woody, mildly nutty, floral, herbal, vegetative, dry with a light sour barbecue essence. The red Virginia is earthy, woody, ripe tangy dark fruit sweet, and lightly bready in a support role. The bright flue cured Virginia offers a mild tart citrus, with milder grass and floral notes in the background. Experienced smokers will notice that the processing melds the tobaccos so that you always notice the individual components, which undergo a little fermentation. Not as complex as it seems because the Kentucky does at times overshadow the other tobaccos, but it burns smoother than many blends with this high a percentage of Kentucky. As it is sold in plug form, it seems to be just a little sweeter and tangier because of fermentation than the ready rubbed version, but it’s not a night and day difference. Has a medium nic-hit. The strength is in the center of medium to strong, while the taste is a step past that center. No chance of bite, and has a few rough edges. Takes time to cut and prepare it to whatever your preference is, and needs a little dry time. It burns very clean, cool, and slowly, requiring a number of relights. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, but no real dottle, though you will have to stir up the bottom a bit to burn it all up, unless you really dry it out. Has a mostly consistent flavor. The pleasant after taste lingers a little. Has a strong room note. Not an all day smoke.

-JimInks

50 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Peter Piper (41)	2013-11-30		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

OK, let's start with the presentation. Stop trying to make a plug, my American friends, all the good old steam-powered equipment is clearly on the other side of the Atlantic!

Truly though, I intend those opening remarks as the gentlest of jibes, because I can see what the blender has tried to achieve here in melding the flavours together.

And what could be more basic, a simple blend of Virginias and Kentucky? Well, somehow Mr Pease has selected his tobaccos so well and fused them together so skilfully that the sum is far greater than the parts. The fruity smell is instantly appealing. The preparation, though, is a bit of a pain in the proverbial, cutting across the grain is not easy given the propensity of the so-called plug to fall apart horizontally.

Leaving those slight woes aside, once you have a few slices in hand it rubs out easily enough. Quite moist, it benefits from a little airing and drying at this stage.

Pack it up and off you go. Absolutely delightful. An instant tangy hit, at once sweet and sour, a hint of citrus in there perhaps? Easy burning. Quite potent too, so go easy, difficult as that is because you just want to absorb that beautiful combination of flavours quite greedily, at least I did. Consistent and beautifully balanced from start to finish, when I discovered that the bowl was done I just wanted more.

Highly recommended.

33 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-07-16		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I've been smoking a pipe about five or six months, and this is my first tobacco review. I was gifted a pipe in January. The givers thought it suited my style and after a little while I began to agree. I began as a complete novice but feel I'm beginning to be able to clearly discern the qualities that, for me at least, make a tobacco worthwhile.

The first proper pipe tobacco I smoked was Parson's Pleasure (unremarkable, dull even, never again). Then St.Bruno; some of the Peterson's (Irish Whiskey and University Flake to Irish Flake), then the Dunhill's (Standard Mixture for a morning smoke, London for an afternoon, Night Cap for...exactly that). I'm discovering a taste for full-bodied smokes. I'm finding these mixtures good staples, but I like rituals, cutting, storing, drying.

A few weeks ago I tried - and got to like - Peterson's Perfect Plug. I enjoyed the preparation, and wondered what else of its type was out there. I've been reading about G.L. Pease with interest (I glad there is still such a thing as an Artisan Tobacco blender). I'd thought Pease blends were unavailable here in England, but I noticed that Gauntley's of Nottingham stocked it (I think I got the last two tins, or nearly). Incidentally, Gauntley's gave great service, the bloke had a great phone manner, and the tobacco arrived 2 days later very well packaged.

On my second bowl of JackKnife, I felt I had to write something down about it.

First Impressions: Cutting against the grain as advised, this is easier to cut that the Peterson in terms of pressure or cutting action, but harder to do neatly. It's a much softer plug. If I'm reading the right things then this must be more like what they call a 'crumble cake'. I wanted it to behave in the same way as 3Ps, but it wouldn't. Fair to say it breaks up in a rather more unruly fashion, much harder to get clean flakes. The whole exercise was perfectly fun, but what I have now is a Kilner jar full of broken flake and loose leaf. Anyway, onto the pack: Into a Peterson Standard 317 (still a beginner with a beginner's pipe) was no trouble. It's easy draw, full, but not heavy, earthy textures, it feels like I wanted my first ever bowlful to feel, slightly woozy from the hit, although I've read that this isn't terribly strong. In short, a great first impression. I drifted off a little bit into an easy cadence, thinking about nothing in particular. I'd recommend this to anyone.

Two-days in:

My favourite tin-note so far. After a couple of days I feel like I'm getting to know this tobacco. I've tried working with flakes, cubing it, rubbing it out, and tamping down loose leaf and it all works fine. I'd just repeat the standard advice - not too tight, leave plenty of room for for it to expand. What I'm noticing is that having broken it up in several different ways, I'm getting a variety of unpredictable - but all very fulsome - smokes, the mouthfeel is often cigar-ish, at least to me, but nowhere near as hard-going as the Gawith Twist I've tried (brown bogie, if I recollect).

Two weeks in:

I am half-way through my second plug and am seriously slowing down, to prolong the satisfaction that this blend gives. A reasonably thick flake (cut slowly and surely) yields 2-3 loosely-pressed bowls in the 317. The cigar-ish note persists. It's a tobacco that, once packed and lit, smokes cool, dry & clean smoke. If it's not 'very' strong, then it's 'strong enough'. When I'm on the mood and I have some time on my hands, is the first thing I want.

Apparently, though, Gauntley's have run out (of the plug, they still have ready rubbed), so it might be some time before I get to cut up my own.

Probably the best-quality tobacco I've smoked. Heartily recommended. If you can get it, do.

28 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-02-19		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

Well, this one is certainly interesting! I, too, had a bit of a moisture content issue but I found that when I dried it out too much, it lost some of its character. I also found that it worked best not as a ribbon, a shag or cube cut as stated in the description, but when I simply peeled off the tobacco from the "brownie". The cut was sort of a chop or "dead leaf" cut. It looked awful but it worked.

Also, the flavor was interesting. I got the deep dark flavors with the hint of bright sweetness but this sweet character only opened up on a host of occasions and would only stay for a short while. It was the most enjoyable palate cleanser and it kept this blend from becoming a tasty but monotone one. I bought it for its stoutness and I was not disappointed but those fleeting bursts of sweetness were perfect... too long and they turn this into a lemon/chocolate candy. I have to think Mr Pease did this on purpose! :)

3.5 stars for this rounded down, more due to the fact that I haven't yet figured out how to keep it lit as I'd like than to any inherent flaw in the tobacco. I'm getting more of this one.

21 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	moniker (220)	2013-10-19		Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable

I have left my original review of JKP up in order to "encourage" anyone who might have a similar first or first few experience(s) with this blend. Since my initial review, JKP has become a go-to favorite for me, as expressed in my present/updated thoughts, summarized in my (interminable) updates, below. Sorry (on the one hand) to go on and on, but (on the other hand) I really love the original iteration of this very special blend, and I want to be sure I put this across here at TR.

Initial review: Despite my best efforts to date, I have yet to enjoy the first 25% of a bowl of JackKnife Plug. The remaining 75% is another story, however; I quite like that. We'll see if serious aging (me and/or the JKP...) takes care of the weird profile. Meanwhile, here's my review:

JackKnife Plug in a young tin was moist (not wet), also dark, and tough as shoe leather. Tin note was Liquid Smoke over fermenting raisins, over dark fired KY, over the mélange of VAs used in the blend. Fortunately, the (hated-by-me) Liquid Smoke smell quickly faded to what could reasonably pass for the "smoky" part of the KY. (Note that, oddly, subsequent tins have not featured the Liquid Smoke...)

Because the constituent tobaccos are both leathery and rather loosely layered, I've razor cut thin flakes from the plug "against the grain" then rubbed them out to dry to taste. I've tried it at different moisture levels and found I prefer to smoke it very dry. So far, it's been fairly harsh, ranging from flat to bitter off the match and through the first 1/4 of a bowl. At this point in the early going, I was always thinking, why not toss this out and smoke something else? HOWEVER, from 25% on, something magical happens. Perhaps it's as simple as the brighter VAs coming up to save the bowl; I don't know for sure. Whatever it is that happens, JKP ultimately - finally - bails out then floats my boat with its deep, tightly knit TOBACCO BLEND, the zesty VAs easily holding their own with the earthy, piquant KY. No one flavor dominates in this intense mélange as it simply saturates my senses in a way that is unique to JKP. I do not get fruit, or spices, or anything like that, just pure tobacco, and plenty of it, better and better, to the bottom of the bowl.

As others have mentioned, JKP is STRONG in the "strength" department, and also in the aroma and taste departments, deeper and more intense than Triple Play. I would not smoke it indoors except, perhaps, at my tobacconist's. The aftertaste is also strong and persistent, all tobacco, slightly sweet, and I think it's very delicious.

JackKnife Plug reminds me of certain vintage performance cars and motorcycles in that it's only enjoyed with a mindset that accepts its "flaws" as part of the overall experience. Ingratiating, it is not. While I can understand why someone would shy from JKP's boldness, I have to give it 4 stars, based on its singular attributes, as I smoke it. Despite the weirdness (or maybe because of it...), it is a staple in my rotation.

Update 12-18-13: Either my using sample has suddenly matured after a few months spent "breathing" in a jar, or my current technique of smoking rougher "ribbons" and chunks has worked a treat. Now the flat and rough smoke I originally experienced for the first 25% of a bowl has been replaced from the first puff by full-spectrum, varietal forward themes augmented by wood resins and toothsome spices that interleave delicately throughout the smoke, with no loss of overall intensity, and this continues through to the end. No, it doesn't burn as well when the tobacco is smoked "lumpy"; but who cares. The new harmonics play out very well indeed over a sort of "fatty"/buttery, tannic quality that I just love. Still strong, and still very much about tobacco, per se, JKP is now a formal "favorite" of mine, as well.

Update 04-36-14: Why don't I just leave this alone and enjoy my stash? For one thing, I seem to be going through my stash rather quickly! Indeed, the ticket for me has been to carefully cut the layered "plug" (across the grain) into flakes and the flakes (also across the grain) into strips, then I roughly rub it all out and re-blend it before drying it. PITA, for sure, but it's so effing strong and good this way that it's well worth the effort to me, Also, FYI, time is your best friend where JKP is concerned, no doubt about it. "Ripened" JKP is stunning from a pot, letting the flavors develop "themselves" instead of chasing them. But I remind readers again that this is strong stuff; enjoy, but proceed with caution until you know you are OK with the nicotine.

Pipe Used: various briars; a pot is nice

Age When Smoked: 6 mos. to as old as it gets

Purchased From: Liberty Tobacco

Similar Blends: Compare/contrast to Solani 660 Silver Flake; also, aged Peterson's Perfect Plug.

17 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2011-03-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

I was gifted some Jack Knife Plug recently and liked it so much I went ahead and popped the lid on one of my own tins even though I know this blend has the potential to be an Atomic Bomb in the flavor department once it gets some age to it.

Jack Knife Plug arrives very moist. I tried it fresh out of the tin. I tried it moderately dried out and I tried it crispy dry. All three moisture levels presented three different impressions as the smoke washed over my taste buds.

First, it is a "loose" plug that breaks up easily when sliced. You can ribbon cut it, shag cut it, cube cut it, broad cut it or apply chunks to your bowl. I always ribbon cut my flakes for an even burn and less relights.

The flavors varied only slightly as I worked my way down the bowl. When fresh out of the tin the flavor seemed muted. I enjoyed it much more moderately dried. At the crisply level the burn was quicker and the nicotine hit made me quiver in delight. This blend bears an old time deep & rich tobacco taste (delicious) that belted me and the flavor swayed only slightly to the sweet side as I puffed.

As for my thoughts about aging Jack Knife Plug. Do it. I did detect that unmistakable "fresh" Virginia taste as I smoked this blend. The listed components as well as the flavor presentation leads me to believe this one will mellow and provide a depth only the ocean can match once it's had 3-5 years added to it. I only hope I live long enough to try a 10-15 year old tin of Jack Knife Plug. I can't think of a better way to go to Heaven!

15 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DeathMetal.org (231)	2016-03-04		Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Strong

Summary: a dense plug that favors the dark-fired flavors, "JackKnife Plug" also retains the sweetness of Virginia.

This Burley-inclined plug won me over after a long battle. Not quite as solidly pressed as the European plugs, it nonetheless follows the formula of matured Virginias mixed with dark-fired Burleys, creating a strong and nuanced smoke. Unlike the European plugs, "JackKnife Plug" favors the dark-fired taste, but the Virginia is always present as a wine-like sweetness rising effervescent from within. A bowl lasts a long time and provides enough Vitamin N for late-night contemplative smokes.

Similar Blends: Peterson - Peterson's Perfect Plug.

14 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RedGreenDevon (4)	2015-05-09		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

The tin description is very accurate, so I won't reproduce it here.

I would usually smoke a range of English/Balkan blends, enjoying everything from light to Nightcap. This is my first experience of a Plug tobacco, although I have smoked Cakes and lots of Flake.

I'm also not over familar with Kentuky DF, although have smoked quite a lot of St Bruno ver the years and KY is one of the tobaccos you will experience in that blend. Neeedless to say JKP is on a different plain of wonderfulness to St B.

The plug is a lot of fun to prepare and offers some interesting variations in taste and smoking experience. As has been noted by previous reviewers, this particular instance does fall apart a little and takes a bit of care and effort in order to cut along across the grain or layers. But I don't think this causes too much of a problem.

Whether cut & rubbed into very fine shag or cube cut this is a winner.

It is a very well behaved blend, no hints or bitterness or harshness at all, with the only stange exception to this being on charring or 1st true light. After that, even on re-lights or having been left for a short while, it is consistently rich yet mellow in its subtly spicey earthiness.

Before trying this I was expecting something a little more overwhelming and challenging. I am glad to say my experience was very different. I have been smoking lots of this throug out the day. It is a very moreish and never becomes either boringly routine nor is it too much after just one small bowl.

I like to smoke this in big bowls. It remains deliciously satisfying to the end. Outdoors in a cube cut it burns cool and slow; perfect for slowly savouring whilst walking on Dartmoor. Sat at home a fine shag cut burns well.

The rich and slightly spicy Kentuck leaf reminds me a little of the wonderful cigar wrapper leaf in GLP's Key Largo (the subject of my first review).

JKP has joined KL in my pantheon of all time favourites. If you have yet to venture into the world of KDF blends, want to try a plug for the first time, or like me want something a bit different to your usual Latakia/Oriental diet - Try this. It is another MasterPease.

Pipe Used: B-C Bulldog, Savinelli Goliath, Stanwell 19

Age When Smoked: 2 and a half months

Purchased From: 4noggins.com

Similar Blends: Not really similar to much I have experience of, but St Bruno for the KY, Key Largo for the rich cigar like notes but without the Latakia.

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Wibblefishofdoom (139)	2013-12-02		Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

After being a tad disappointed with JK RR, I had originally thought better than to try this, especially at UK prices. However, a half decent paycheck for a change and a bout of curiosity, I took the plunge.

The drum smelled of BBQ sauce, no real surprise, and the plug inside looked so right. The plug itself is no easier or harder to slice than the few others I've had, my preference being for shaving it off to a consistency similar to Bosun Cut Plug. The flavour initially started out with that BBQ sauce flavour but that disappeared pretty quickly in the first smoke and, as I progressed through the tin, slowly got stronger, it is one of figs, akin to 3P's but milder, with a hint of lemon, very nice. The packing is easy enough too and lighting is no problem. Also, the moisture levels seem to be perfect.

In summary, a very nice if mild smoke but with more flavour than the RR. It reminds me a lot of 3P's but milder and with a hint of lemon and definitely the preferred choice over RR. I can only think that, with age, this gets better.

Age When Smoked: 4 months

Purchased From: Gauntley's of Nottingham

Similar Blends: Peterson 3P's.

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (251)	2011-06-06		Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable

I find this tobacco to be rather simple, straightforward, and old school. It is also pretty strong. Though I would not call it refined, I am halfway through my first tin, and am enjoying it. At first, I was only smoking it in small bowls, but then I realized that it is not as strong as Irish Flake or certain of the Gawith Hoggarth shags and ropes, just has a bit of a kick, that's all. Therefore, I type this review clenching a large Royalton Filterwell pot jam packed with JKP! This plug is actually not too hard to work with. It is easily cut, but can also be torn with the fingers. The most important thing seems to be to let this stuff dry thoroughly, preferably overnight. I get the best results breaking it up as much as I can, and spreading it out in my wooden drying bowl. I might cover it with a book if I leave it overnight, but there is still some "breathing room." When I am ready to smoke, I crumble it up even more, and pack fairly loosely. Best slowly sipped. I do not get any kind of sublime symphony of flavors out of this, just a nice interplay between the Virginia and Kentucky; a duet rather than a symphony, if you will. I also find it noteworthy that, though this is what I call "old school" and has a very straight-up, un-tweaked tobacco taste, there is nothing I would call harsh in this blend, and no off-tastes. I can also say that I have no problems with this blend overheating the pipe, though I have a tendency to overheat sometimes. This Royalton is almost never this cool after an hour! An attractive plug before the breaking up, drying, and smoking process, due to the brown and black layers of largely intact leaf, I greatly enjoy admiring it as it sits in its little jar, but those who have not yet bought some (are there any such smokers in the online pipe community?) can find some lovely pictures online. I will finish my first tin, but try to age the second a while. I've still got Triple Play to try, and there are two tins of that in my collection as well. Since this is a quality plug with what seems to me to be great aging potential, I am tempted to stock a few more tins. Wish this came in a big can!

11 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	FF (1)	2015-07-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

First popped tin aroma: BBQ sauce, Heavy hickory smoke, salty, almost unnoticeably sweet.

Resting plug aroma: Hickory smoke-house.

Cut and rubbed plug aroma: Heavy hickory smoke, caustic, slightly sweet. Cut to 1/8in. ribbon perpendicular to plug layers and rubbed.

Charring light and top of bowl: Heavy hickory smoke, almost unnoticeably sweet virginia.

Middle of bowl: Wonderfully cool and dry burning, keeps ember superbly, sweet virginia slightly more expressed, caustic feeling on throat and tongue from nicotine content.

Bottom of bowl: Feeling pleasant nicotine zing, lightly charred brown bread flavor. Not a potentate tongue biter.

Smoked slowly at proper moistness while sipping Evan Williams Single Barrel over ice.

Pipe used is dedicated to non-aromatic hearty English blends. Lit with matches and very few relights.

Decided to age 1 cake of this for a possible change in flavor complexity.

Pipe Used: Rattray's Butcher Boy 22

Age When Smoked: 7 days after opening

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

10 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jacinto Cupboard (209)	2014-07-11		Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Pleasant

Attractive brown block of laminated leaf. This can be easily 'de-laminated' into constituent layers. The down side to this is it complicates preparation since the tobacco wants to follow the 'grain'.

The tin note is brandy and dried fruits. The fired Kentucky is present on the nose as woodsy, smoky, earthy, deliciousness.

Once lit this baccy produces pillows of creamy smoke, the smell of which is just beautiful. I've been on a DF Kentucky binge lately so I've smelt a lot of this stuff, but something about JKP tugged my memory to a time and place long ago. Now, I never smoked the original Capstan, but my Dad did from time to time, and I can't think of anything else similar to this he might have smoked. Either way, this is honest, old fashioned tobacco. It has a very pleasant sweetness and the acidity to my taste is just perfect.

Well done Mr Pease. I dips me lid to ya.

Edit Sept 2014. Upped the strength rating of this baccy.

Pipe Used: Lepeltier

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Down to the Dottle (3)	2013-05-19		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Opening the tin, I was met with the scent of BBQ sauce. The prune/fig like smell of the Virginia was present but took a back seat to the smokiness.

I cut about a 1/8" slice from the plug (be sure your knife is sharp), rubbed it out and packed my bowl.

On the charring/starting light I tasted a delicious earthy/leathery flavor. It reminded me of a number of cigars I'd smoked. I did find that this tobacco is a little harder to get going. That is probably from the moisture, so I may try drying the tobacco a bit before my next bowl.

Along with the earthy flavor I was met with a spicy sweetness that seesawed, back and forth with leather.

If you're in the mood for a nic buzz this is the tobacco for you. It's fairly strong.

All in all, this is a fantastic tobacco, a journey in every bowl. I don't think this will be an all day smoke for me, due to the strength, but will definitely be in rotation.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	samcoffeeman (33)	2012-11-09		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

My first experience with plug, and first bowl review. I searched all over my house for the jackknife I had hiding somewhere. I did find it and it was nice and sharp. I cut some a little thick and rubbed it. I get the feeling this may be quite different depending on how you cut it. This smoke was one of the fullest I've had. It was powerful, rich, and earthy, with a bit of spice. I definitely think I will prefer this in a smaller bowl pipe, due to the fullness of the smoke. My first experience with Kentucky and a memorable one. Next time I'm going to try thin slices.

Update: This is a superb tobacco. Very full flavor. Rating: very enjoyable. 4 stars all the way.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sinister Topiary (84)	2013-05-17		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

When this was originally announced I was excited to try it. I bought a couple of tins in good faith (trusting the talent of this master blender) the day it came out. I opened one, and cellared the other.

I just now, over two years later, finished that first tin. Why did it take so long? I kept hoping it would come to life for me over time. It didn't.

Obviously comprised of quality leaf (hence the two stars), I wanted to like it. I tried to like it. But it struck me as quite bland, if not bitter and (too) rough around the edges, with a room note that seemed like cigarette smoke. Yet every time I was ready to call it quits, I got a hint of what others see in it -- an interesting complexity for such a straightforward VaK blend -- and would give it another try. But those promising hints of that rich, earthy, creamy, subtle complexity never came through reliably for me, no matter which pipe I tried at various moisture levels.

I consider this blend incipient: there's something alluring hidden away in it, but I couldn't capture it. I'm hoping cellaring that other tin for a few years will make the various leaves cohere into something greater than its elements that will ultimately reveal itself to me. I find that, like great wine, cellaring Mr. Pease's blends are often necessary to bring them to their potential.

I suppose it comes down to a matter of taste. This one didn't do it for me, at least for now, unlike Solani's Silver Flake which seems to me to deliver a flavor profile similar to the one JKP promises. Sorry Greg, I tried. And I'll try again in a few years.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	quantumboy (130)	2011-02-21		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Please forgive me in advance for the long review:

As I was growing up in northern Minnesota, my cousin and I would frequent the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) and the bordering Canadian counterpart Quetico Provincial Park. In all, these comprise hundreds of square miles of true wilderness, a majestic and indescribably beautiful place where the only allowable mode of transportation is canoe and backpack—no roads, no motorboats, nothing. Even airplanes are not allowed to fly over. The area is rich with history, most notably of the French Voyageurs who would paddle their huge birchbark canoes, which held literally tons of merchandise, down the St. Lawrence Seaway to the North Shore of Lake Superior. From there they transferred their goods to smaller canoes and traveled into the interior to trade their goods with the Natives. They wintered at Hudson's Bay and came back out in the spring laden with furs for the hat and coat industry in the Old Country.

These tough little men would portage their wares in canvas “backpacks” with the aid of straps that went over their foreheads, often carrying more than their bodyweight to the next lake where they would re-load and paddle until the next portage. All summer they worked their way deep into the wilderness, and all winter they would spend their earnings on booze and Indian women.

The Voyageurs ate pemmican and slept under their canoes. As they traveled they would paddle their canoes vigorously for one hour then pause a few minutes for a pipe. The distance they traveled was measured in “pipes”, and a typical day lasted eighteen pipes. When we traveled the BWCA my cousin and I would also take “pipes” although back then I didn't smoke, so we would lie back in the canoe for ten minutes and soak in the warm sun, drinking water directly from the lake (no longer recommended), perhaps munching on some wild blueberries we had picked, and loving every minute of it.

The reason for this story is that I cannot help but think the Voyageurs would have enjoyed JackKnife Plug. This is an outdoor tobacco meant to be smoked by strong men (and strong women I suppose!) who love the smell of pine sap in the air and campfire smoke in the evening, and the plaintive cry of loons echoing across a wilderness lake. The plug may well have been the Voyageurs' preferred form of the wonderful weed, as it would travel well, take up little space, and provide the flexibility of flake, ribbon or even chew if they preferred.

I surmise they may well have used clay pipes, but I have yet to try it in my clay. But I've smoked in several pipes and have concluded that JackKnife is yet another Pease masterpiece that will stake its own claim in the annals of great tobaccos. Rich and earthy from the start, and full of nicotine, JLP is sure to please those looking for an all-natural, strong, rich blend crafted from North American native varieties of Nicotiana.

I but several slices about 1 to 2 mm thick. Then I gave them a good rubbing, creating a very nice ribbon. Although it felt moist to my fingers, it packed well and burned beautifully. Perhaps one relight per bowl was necessary, never more than two.

Every pipe I tried provided an enjoyable smoke. But in my GBD pot, which has a bowl about as wide as it is deep, I found that some ashy flavors were emphasized a bit too much, and the overall taste was a bit too strong. In my self-made freehand, with a bowl about 2 inches deep and seven-eights inch deep, I found that the flavors were not strong enough, and exhaling fully through my nose – something I rarely practice – was very doable. My smallish Savinelli straight bulldog provided a sublime experience, just the right combination of flavor, strength, heat and burn. Any one of these might be just what you're looking for, so please try it in several different types of bowls.

As the bowl progresses, the flavors remain relatively consistent, and while the Virginia sweetness occasionally elbows to the forefront, mostly Greg's blending genius remains on display with a rich, delicious and harmonious flavor that simply satisfies and leaves one wanting another bowl. The smoke from the other end often has a perfumed quality, and I'm not sure where that's coming from, but it's very nice. “Earthy” is perhaps a somewhat overused adjective but it's accurate. Earth, a bit of smokiness (but not much), and a meaty, burnt-toast richness are the hallmarks. And a few flavors I just can't pin down which makes this a very intriguing blend.

I am a big fan of pure Virginias and rich English blends, but I occasionally smoke (and enjoy) things like Kendal Kentucky or Dark Plug for a switch. I'm beginning to believe there will be no need for those any longer when I'm reaching for a Latakia-free experience. JackKnife has it all, including the pure genius of being part of the “New World” series which apparently seeks to celebrate those varieties of leaf native to this great soil of ours.

There is good reason this stuff is flying off the shelves. I'm glad I bought five tins out of the gate. I am very anxious to experience this blend over the coming years and watching it develop into something that will probably become truly majestic. Five stars out of four.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	J.R. Patton (106)	2016-06-09		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

Plugs aren't for everyone, and they're certainly not very convenient for everyday use, but if you have the patience and like to play with your tobacco a little, this is one amazing plug. I myself love the preparation ritual and purposely ordered the plug rather than the ready rubbed. The flavor and strength is so enjoyable, though, I'm considering getting a few tins of the pre-prepared version for simple travel convenience. As for the plug, I quickly burned through 2 ounces and just as quickly got my hands on a couple 8 oz tins...a tobacco this tasty fresh must be all the more incredible with some age on it.

It probably goes without saying it must be sliced vertically to get an even mix of the layered leaf. But slicing this plug can be a chore. It's fairly dry to touch, hard, and dense, but also somewhat fragile (i.e. peeling, crumbling, etc.) I use a razor knife, but be warned, it will dull a blade with a couple cuts. After rubbing out the flakes, you're left with uneven pieces ranging from tiny slivers, to shake, to large irregularly shaped ribbons, to chunks of broken flake. It's not very pretty, and far from uniform, but I find it packs and burns quite well regardless. Tin note is smoky in the extreme with an almost overwhelming pungent, peaty character. I'd suggest starting with a small bowl and puff gently...this stuff is moderately high in nicotine and pretty potent on flavor, like a full-flavor cigar. The Kentucky is front and center, and of a spicier, smokier nature than the earthy, tea-like character of many dark-fired like Peterson IF or Mac Baren Bold Kentucky. The virginia is not so noticeable but leaves a nice, mild sweet finish. When I say mild, I mean just barely detectable kind of sweet, just enough to take the edge off the burley. Burns great with no bite, too.

It's definitely a full-flavored blend that packs a punch. This is about as real as it gets for pure, old-time, unadulterated tobacco. Its most enjoyable in a wide bowl to me, to get that full spectrum of flavor. Just mind how much you load up in a single sitting! Most often, schedule permitting, this is a morning kick-me-in-the-arse smoke, as I find the flavors more distinct and that it pairs exceptionally well with coffee. If you like kentucky, and you don't mind the plug preparation, you owe it to yourself to try jackknife.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MacNutz (12)	2013-09-04		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

First of all, this is the first, and so far, only plug I have smoked. I had a one oz sample a few months ago and I'm half way through a recently purchased tin.

I am big on real tobacco flavour and eschew aros like the plague. So, it is not surprising that I quite like this plug. I'm not a sophisticated smoker and don't get some of the flavour nuances reported by others. This reminds me of the strong smelling tobacco my great uncle smoked in his pipe when I was a kid. He was an old farmer who did not trust men who smoked "candy store tobacco". JKP is NOT a candy store tobacco. If you don't like strong real tobacco flavour you won't like this one.

The dark fired Kentucky comes through all the way until the end of the bowl but doesn't completely overwhelm the Virginia.

I don't like the way the plug comes apart in the middle, right away. It gives you less selection in how you want to slice it.

It does require a few relights but I don't mind that too much.

I may revisit this take on things after I've tried some more plugs.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JackSparrow (16)	2012-06-08		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Great stuff! Straight tobacco, no more...no flavouring, no topping, only good baccy...but don't think it has no nuances, it's full of surprises. Let's start from the beginning: opening the tin you can smell an earthy (with a candied fruit background) rich aroma and find a delicious beautiful brown plug, at the right moisture, almost ready to light. It looks and smell quite similar to Triple Play but when lit the scenario is completely different.

I cut the plug in thin slices, rub out the flakes, let them dry out for a 10 mins, load my briar and then….ready to go!!!

It's quite easy to light (few relights needed), burns slowly and quite cool (slow puffing needed); the only bad note is a little tongue bite. Taste is rich end earthy, but with a pleasant background spicy sweetness (it tastes like some PE is present, despite obviously you cannot detect its taste).

Good N load, without exceeding, the perfect amount.

Definitively highly recommended!!!

Update sept 2021, after smoking a 9 years tin: opening the tin you are surrounded first by a very pleasant leathery, earthy aroma, with dark fruit and figs notes. When lit the taste and the aromas are sweeter and rounder (compared to a fresh tin), the earthy and leathery notes are very well balances with the sweet fruity nuances of VA. VA and Kentuky are great co-actors, no one really taking the lead. Great satisfying, round, cool smoke, never harsh, no tongue bite, I still can detect here and there some spicy notes. Great baccy made with first quality components! Abolsutely highly recommended for pure tobacco taste lovers: a must have in your cellar!!!!

Age When Smoked: new and 9 years

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Susanna Hoffs (74)	2011-11-03		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A small square 'wad' of what looks like compressed autumn leaves in a variety of brown's greet the piper as he/she busts open the seal on this neatly packaged tobacco product.

The said wad, is reasonably pliable enough to be able to break pieces off with your fingers. (Unlike Peterson's perfect plug which in comparison to JKP resembles a near impenetrable block of obsidian!!)

For this particular adventure, I 'tore & crumbled' a piece from the 8 month old JKP before me, and filled up a medium cob. Initial impressions were that whilst this is not an aromatic, there were fruity essence's to it that others have also noticed. The stuff was also at just the right moisture levels for ignition......'Houston'

Other than that, it smoked well with all players in the game glowing smoothly without bite and in the medium category of strength and flavour. Room note was actually surprisingly pleasant, though some others may not agree.

I can't get this in the EU and only have two tins left. I have to order this on-line from the States which is laborious, as it has to go via a third party for re-packaging in order to keep customs/import duty at bay for when it gets to me. The whole process takes about 2 weeks from initial order, which does get pretty old but is a necessary evil if I want access to the likes of GLP's, C&D, Esoterica, and cheaper 100gm tins I can't get in the EU.

(Side note - Odd how we in the EU want what the yanks have in abundance, such as GLP, Esoterica, C&D, etc.. and they scream for what we have here in the EU in equal abundance, which is basically anything by Sam Gawith LOL!!)

However back to JKP, I will be ordering more of this as time goes by for sure.

Nice...

3.5 out of 4 (rounding up)

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Blackhorse (96)	2011-03-10		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Well, I'm officially over the hill. Way back in January I added this one to the new tobaccos list and then didn't go back and add a review...maybe because the data on the item was available long before I was able to snag a tin for myself. This won't be a long drawn out thing...but I hafta say right at the start that I don't remember seeing a new tobacco that's hit such an absolute home run right out outta the dugout! Everybody seems to love it...the form, the strength and the subtle flavors...which don't scream, but do say "Kentucky" with a clear voice. I'll admit that I followed the hints and teasers on Greg's blog prior to JKP's release with growing excitement...WOW!...A PLUG! A straight tobacco plug...one using Kentucky as a flavor base! Sure, I knew that I'D like it, but I thought that the majority of the pipe community would balk at the plug format and the moderate Kentucky flavors. WRONG! A resounding HOORAH has gone up from all corners. No one could be more pleased than I am...well, maybe Greg. lol And...since no one ever seems to remember...great job over at Cornell & Diehl on the 'making' end. It's one of those few things that every time I think about, I just break out smiling! Life is good. So this one is the start of a new series, eh? Life is VERY good!

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Wilhelm Joharsányi (33)	2018-02-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Jackknife Plug is a Virginia flake but with added Kentucky’s to add a distinctive spice to it. I quite enjoyed the daily ritual of using my favorite knife to cut fine slices into the plug and rubbing it out thoroughly (it has a moderate moistness level).

This is the kind of tobacco that is “what you see is what you get”: Not very complex, but the Kentucky’s kept it interesting and is an overall enjoyable smoke. It has the taste of hay and grass, with a peppery aftertaste that will surely wake you up in the morning. Goes great with red wine as well.

You get what you pay for with this one. I can picture a group of Union soldiers using their Bowie knives to cut into this plug during Gettysburg, with Old Longstreet’s elite, Confederate Virginian division led by Pickett smoking this very same blend before their legendary last charge. You’ll probably enjoy it more since you don’t have cannon hellfire and a hail of bullets awaiting you on your path to glory. "Virginians! Virginians! For your lands! For your homes! For your sweethearts! For your wives! For Virginia! Forward... march!"

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	pinko (52)	2016-09-14		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Most of the plugs I like are flavored, most of the dark fired Kentucky I like tastes pretty strong, and Jackknife Plug is neither of those things. It comes off like a pretty generic Va/Bur.

It's made of quality leaf as far as I can tell, but it just doesn't bring enough flavor to the mix. HH Old Dark Fired is a far better option for a strong Va/Bur with good flavor.

Jackknife is notable for its nicotine content though, this is punchy tobacco. Find a comfy chair before smoking it.

In the end, though, it's more bland than good plugs or good Va/Burs. This one is best left to the true fans of C&D burley, smokers looking for a good strong English-style plug will be disappointed.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	canvas (337)	2016-04-24		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Maybe it was the shape of the tin, but when I opened it, all I could smell was cayenne pepper flavored peanuts that were musty. Suffice to say I was not eager to smoke it.

After sawing off a flake, which was no easy task... get a super sharp knife since cutting this plug is like slicing a rock. I wadded some up into a ball and packed a bowl. It lit and burned better than expected.

The initial harsh smell was gone and I was left with a fairly flavorless dry smoke. While it wasn't so dry it hurt my throat, it was not an enjoyable experience either. Most blends have some sort of distinction when burned, but JackKnife was just boring. It didn't have the depth of an English or the fun of an aromatic. Perhaps it isn't boring, but rather an acquired taste... it reminded me of a cigar which others seem to like, but I find bitter.

I can understand the appeal of a plug cut with all its pomp and circumstance to prepare (and this was my first time smoking a plug), there just wasn't much payoff.

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2081)	2016-03-30		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

G.L. Pease - Jack Knife Plug.

Normally, I loathe preparing plug tobacco, it's a choice of either lumpy tobacco or a cut finger! I was quite impressed with how easy Jack' is to get ready to be smoked though; it's about halfway between a plug and a krumble kake so it doesn't need 'precision' slicing, I can just cut or tare some off and rub it. Nor is it soaked to the core, it's possibly the driest plug I've had; that's not meant negatively, it has just the right amount of hydration to be fresh yet it's still easy to crumble and light. I enjoy the smell from the plug but to get the most aroma it has to be crumbled.

As I mentioned, it has the perfect water content to enable swift lighting. And then, the smoke that's given off and the burn really do justice to any time spent on prep'. The smoke is the ultimate example of the word 'robust'. I don't get much, if any, citrus notes from the Virginia; there's a slight hay/grass taste maybe, but none of the lighter flavours I usually associate with lighter Virginias. For me, it's the dark fired Kentucky that forms the majority of the smokes taste; this is what drew me to the word 'Robust'. The nicotine quantity is another area where this doesn't mess about: very strong.

This is one of the better plugs I've loaded my pipe with: arrives in good condition, great full flavour, superb burn, and no tongue bite.

Recommended.

Pipe Used: Mastro Geppetto

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Gauntleys

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2013-01-08		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

An excellent smoke. Very smooth. No hint of bite at all. I've found that I prefer to smoke this in a larger bowl pipe with slices cut a little thick. The aroma reminds me of my smoker in the tin, very nice. The more I smoke this the better I like it. The flavor is rich pure tobacco taste with hints of BBQ and beef jerky. It burns nicely and the bowl developes richness as it progresses. I would recommend this for smokers that prefer true tobacco flavor as opposed to aromatics. I sincerly hope this blend remains available for a very long time. I will always keep it in my rotation.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darth Vader (110)	2011-08-05		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Finally got some and it was worth the wait. You do get the occasional wisp of cigar flavor, but this is not a cigar flavored baccy. Love the plug style and with a good char to start, it smokes fine from the tin. Medium to strong on the nicotine but certainly not an overwhelming smoke. Greg has done it again! 4 thumbs up. Update. This stuff is seriously good. What will it be like in 10, 20, 30 years time??

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Doctor Willet (13)	2018-02-04		Very Strong	Very Strong	Extra Full	Strong

This is most definitely among my all-time favorite blends. SecretAgentMan's review is spot-on with my own experiences. The layering is beautiful; stronger, darker, more oily leaves are put on the outside, and the lighter, drier ones are sandwiched in the center. According to Mr. Pease, this is done intentionally. It smells like a barbecue, a tannery, and a cigar manufacturer all set up shop inside the tin—a strange and wonderful aroma that you'll surely go back for another whiff of.

Jackknife is like a lovable, gruff uncle who's not quite the full shilling—a perfect mix of aging elegance and a bit crazy. Upon first light, the first of many flavors you'll experience is that unmistakable taste of cigar. However, as soon as the char light is done and the ember takes hold, the flavor develops into something truly awesome. There are so many great, savory flavors swirling around in this stuff that I couldn't possibly list them without testing my sanity.

Extending the uncle metaphor, the flavor development of Jackknife is like hearing your favorite story from him. Though it's told a bit differently each time, it's still the same story. I suspect the seemingly endless layers are the culprit behind this storytelling of flavors. Each time you slice some of this up, you're getting just a little different mix of leaves, but once fully lit, it's just like the last time you had it. As you can guess, I'm pretty keen on Jackknife Plug! There's a lot of strength in both flavor and nicotine content, so if you're sensitive to nicotine, steer clear.

NOTE: Although I don't like anyone telling me how to prep my tobacco, if you heed Mr. Pease's advice, you'll be rewarded. Cutting it into a shag is the only way to go; anything else just doesn't let this stuff really shine. Also, be sure to cut down through the entire plug right against the grain, lest you miss out on all of the delicious flavors those layers have to offer.

To wrap this review up; Jackknife Plug is a wonderful plug blend that tobacco connoisseurs should try at least once—especially purists with a taste for the strong stuff. If you enjoy GH&Co. blends, or Mac Baren's HH lineup, it's fair to assume you'll enjoy this.

Pipe Used: Nording Bent Dublin and M.M. General

Age When Smoked: One tin was fresh and another 2yrs old.

Purchased From: SmokingPipes

Similar Blends: ???.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrumsAndBeer (217)	2015-12-09		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Certainly one of the deepest flavor profiles from a dark fired burley blend that I have ever tasted. The Kentucky is the focal point, with the Virginia’s adding a touch of fermented sweetness for depth and balance. The flavor is rich, smoky & earthy with a subtle honey & molasses overtone. As expected, there’s also some bitterness to the flavor but it’s very much in balance with the overall taste. Longer draws on the pipe are tangy & piquant with a lasting pleasant bittersweet aftertaste. JackKnife Plug is easy to cut and simple to prepare. I usually cut a few thin flakes off, rub them up a bit and let the tobacco dry for 10-15 minutes before filling up. A very well balanced savory & stout mixture with just a touch of sweet-spiciness. It’s strong, but not quite as strong or as complex as its New World Collection counterpart, Triple Play.

Ages superbly.

Age When Smoked: 3 years

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Smokeybear86 (14)	2014-08-16		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

Tin Note: Cadbury Milk Chocolate fruit and nut is what I smell while putting my nose in this tin.

Initial Light: Took me a couple false lights to get this smoke going but as soon as it started it was a nice creamy thick smoke. I noticed that this plug "rubbed out" likes to expand quite a bit while burning so leave yourself some room in the pipe or else it will fall over top of your bowl and onto your nice red velvet smoking jacket.

Mid-Smoke: I was getting a really peppery taste at the beginning of the mid bowl not so much that I needed to stop but it was definitely there. I decided to play with the adjustable air flow knob in the front of my kirsten to see if I can limit the air flow to reduce the peppery kick, it helped a bit but I got some serious HICCUPS! and had to take a little rest. The bowl was still going on my return 5 min later.The pepper taste also died down to a nutty flavor that was pleasant and easy to smoke.Taste sort of like almond butter.

Bottom of the Bowl: Nearing the bottom bowl the smoke did not taste bad but it didn't have as much complexity as i thought it would. Also the closer to the bottom the hotter the pipe smoked and it began to taste like burnt walnuts.

Room Note: I asked my wife who was sitting outside with me what she thought of the smell of this blend. She told me she couldn't smell anything. Although I did not receive a definitive answer in regards to the smell, I also didn't have to hear any complaints about it. Which gives it a score equivalent to half.

Dottle: Powder like ash remained in the bowl and coated the inside walls nicely with just a little moister, good conditions for building cake if packed properly.

Smoking Duration: This smoke was about 1hour 15min.

Overall: I'll say that I had no trouble getting the bowl lit and smoking nice and even, also I had no confrontation with any nasty bite. However, it was not as complex as I'd hoped and smoked a little hot near the end of the bowl. No doubt there are pros and cons to this blend, but I do believe all the cons i experienced are perfectly tamable and you can get enjoyment from this blend if you tried.

Recommendations:

1) 1 hour Dry time, I felt it was too dry for my preferences as i over dried it. 2) Try and cut into thin flakes and cube cut due to its tendency to expand I feel that would be a good method to try.

Pipe Used: Kirsten Model S

Age When Smoked: 1 year

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2014-04-29		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Very Strong

I've been smoking Jack Knife Plug exclusively for 4 days now. With 10-12 bowls in various pipes, prepared a few different ways, I feel like I've got a good enough handle on it to post a review.

JKP is a tobacco I never expected to like. That I tried it all was purely an accident--it was included by mistake in an online tobacco order. The other day when none of the 8 tins I have open seemed appealing, I decided to give it a try. And I'm sure glad I did! I've enjoyed it immensely since the first bowl.

JKP fills the hole in my rotation for something heavy, dark, and strong. Mostly I smoke straight Virginia, Virginia-Perique, and Virginia-Oriental. I don't detest Latakia, but I don't get a hankering for it nearly as often as I used to. JKP should nicely fill the spot left vacant by Lat, for me, if that makes any sense.

This tobacco is a dense powerhouse of strength and flavor. There's nothing sweet about it, to my taste. It's dark, savory, and a little bitter. It reminds me of the thin brown gravy my mom used to make from pot roast drippings on Sunday afternoons. Or Marmite on buttered toast. That concentrated flavor, where too much is a bad thing but a little is tasty.

This stuff never lets up. The flavor and strength build continuously as the bowl is smoked. For this reason, I prefer it in smaller bowls. Otherwise it gets too strong, crossing over into harshness and too much of a nicotine kick. I've tried it in briars and cobs. Cobs lend it some brightness, which I like very much. A smallish cob like the all-natural MM Missouri Pride is a perfect companion for JKP in my opinion. It also works well in the smaller briars that I normally use for smoking flakes.

A few things about preparation. I've tried cutting it into flakes, cube cut, and rubbed out. I tried to smoke JKP the way I like to smoke Samuel Gawith flakes: folded and stuffed, or in large pieces. This didn't work out for me. Smoking it as a flake requires drying it out, and when JKP is dried out it loses a lot of the good aspects of the flavor and becomes harsh. Smoking it rubbed out negates the need for drying, and helps preserve the flavor. I've also been experimenting with a tobacco grinder, which tears the leaves into smaller pieces, rather than unraveling them as happens when I rub them out in my hands. Kind of a hassle, but I've had a couple of very tasty bowls that way.

I will definitely be keeping a few tins of Jack Knife Plug on hand from now on. It's been a nice surprise and I like it a lot.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Katharsis (39)	2011-05-19		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I really do see why people like this. It is full, it is flavorful, and it's just plain, straight good tobacco. However...

The nicotine in this is huge. The average rating here says "Medium to Strong". I find that really difficult to swallow. I've had tightly packed pipefuls of other blends that this site rates the same, and the nicotine in those is MUCH less than JKP, and I feel fine afterwards with those. After one half-full pipe of JKP after breakfast, I felt ill for about 30 minutes. Put simply, I don't believe the flavor meets up to the nicotine content. Maybe some aging (as other reviewers suggest) could do this some good, but I gave the rest of my open tin to a friend of mine that can handle a little more nicotine than me. The only time I didn't feel slightly ill from a bowlful of this was right after eating a HUGE meal. Again though, in all fairness, it does have good flavor -- just not enough to justify the nicotine content.

UPDATE 4/30/2012: OK, you know what? I'm upping this to 4 stars. This stuff is great. I just have to be sure to eat a lot first. This is also a blend to sit, smoke slowly, and ENJOY.

UPDATE 3/14/2012: I came to this blend having only been smoking about a month. That's probably why I said all I said above. The nicotine doesn't seem so bad in it any more to me, though it's still strong. The tin note in this blend is still the best of VA I've had so far, and the flavor transfers to the smoke quite well. This is a good blend, though I generally prefer other VAs.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kyrob (41)	2011-03-04		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

What can I say? I got caught up in the hype of this blend from the forums I frequented and snagged a tin when it first went up for sale by one of the major e-tailers about a month ago. I am certainly glad that I did even though it took me a month to get to it in my rotation. When I opened the tin I was treated to a lovely compressed plug of tobacco comprised of different hues of brown and tending toward rich dark colors on the top layer of the plug. The tin aroma was like smelling pure tobacco drying in my dad's barn and the plug itself was rather too moist to the touch for my tastes. I sliced the plug into a shag cut with a razor and let it dry out some before packing a pipe with it. An unlit sip brought the taste of drying burley.

After lighting I experienced nutty and earthy flavors that I assume came from the burley and it left an oily feeling on my tongue. After smoking it for a week my overall impression was of rich dark earthy flavors with a hint of walnut tempered with the delicious sweetness of the Virginia. The finish was very short and left my mouth feeling oily; a few times I was also left with a buttery taste. The ash was gray and white and the room note was very pleasant leaving the room smelling like an old tobacco shop's fragrance. This blend had quite the nicotine punch but it was very mellow without any bite. I also smoked this in a different pipe for each bowl, and I could not find one in my rotation that it did not taste great in.

This was not the Holy Grail of tobacco for me, but I found it to be a superb blend. I love the strength and the marrying of the different tobaccos and the flavors they imparted at different times. Anyone who loves burley should definitely give this a shot, and if you crave a strong hit of vitamin "N" then you also should not pass by this blend. I will definitely buy more of this as I want to try cutting it different ways to see how that affects the taste, and I want to cellar some and see how the different tobaccos develop after stewing together for a few years.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Denevei (58)	2011-01-27		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I've smoked about a tin and a quarter of JackKnife Plug as I write this, and hope that I've gotten a good feel for it. Unlike some other Pease favorites, JKP hit me as a wonderful smoke from the beginning, though as I have experimented with it a bit my affinity for it has grown. Upon first opening the tin you are greeted with an earthy aroma which is simply tobacco. Very pleasant to a smoker! My wife says it looks like a brownie in the tin. Certainly the appearance it is different than other plugs I've smoked. You can see individual leaves on the surfaces, and from the side there are flecks of golden-yellow interspersed with an otherwise uniform brown. The plug is quite moist, but if you slice a few flakes off it dries fairly quickly. I opened the second tin and allowed it to dry for about a day, then closed it for another day so that the moisture left would redistribute. I've tried smoking the plug three different ways. First, cutting thin slices off, drying them a bit, and rubbing them out into a fairly fine shag. Prepared this way, JackKnife lights easily, and with a rich flavor driven by the Kentucky burley but with nice overtones of sweetness from the Virginias. I found that packing is quite an important detail; if packed too tightly the tobacco seems to somehow expand and tighten the draw a bit, so that half-way through the bowl the draw becomes hard and moisture begins to accumulate. If packed loosely the draw remains open, and as you get into the bowl the flavor develops into a nice, rich smoke. The burley continues to drive the flavor, but the interplay of the Virginia allows the flavor to vary into some nice high notes of sweetness that are delightful to experience. Cut into thicker slices the plug rubs out into really good ribbons of tobacco. Again, pack loosely to keep the draw from closing. The lighting flavor is a bit deeper to me this way, with less of the Virginia pronouncing itself early in the bowl. Once into the smoke, however, I couldn't really tell much difference in the taste from when I cut the thinner slices. However, I did find it easier to get a satisfactory pack. Either way, the tobacco burned well, giving a satisfying smoke until nothing but a thick, grey ash was left. Finally I cut even thicker slices from the plug and then diced them into slightly elongated cubes. In cubes the blend is hardest to light, and really has a bloom (expansion from the top) when lit. For me, this cut also created the most bite potential upon first lighting. However, once lit and established, the cubes became absolutely amazing. I noticed a bit more sweetness to the smoke from the cubes, and properly dried the cubes burn extremely well. They produce a nice, thick smoke with the Burley still in charge, but the Virginias, for me, became a bit more assertive. And in the cube cut I have completely fallen for JackKnife Plug. As the bowl burns down the richness builds a bit, and the flavor simply sings through my pipes. JKP gives a rich, not overly sweet but sweet enough for me, extremely satisfying smoke from the lighter, sweeter notes early in the bowl to the darker, fuller, deeper flavor at the end. Judging from the early sales of this new tobacco, JackKnife Plug is something special. It is to my taste, I know. Of course, I love burleys and I love Virginias; here Mr. Pease seemingly has found an excellent balance between the two. I feel that JackKnife Plug is going to be an excellent tobacco to age, though the process used to create the plug does a great job of developing what would be a less satisfying smoke if sold as a loose blend. I've always sworn by Cumberland and Odyssey as my favorite Pease blends, but JackKnife Plug has equaled them in every way for me. I highly recommend the blend. In fact, I'd call it an essential addition to the cellar. It deserves five out of four stars!

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2011-01-14		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I have been spending a lot of time with this plug since its arrival and its been time well spent. This is "old school" tobacco flavor with what seems to me to be a very faint topping. Some larger leaves can be found in this square plug. It arrives very moist and its not as tightly pressed as Petersons so it makes for an easy prep. I have tried it at different degrees of dryness and I find it tastes best bone dry. If you are drying it, note that it will dry quickly after being rubbed out. There are a lot of different flavors going on here. As a long time cigar smoker, I find some cigar-like flavors here although I am not sure there is any cigar leaf in here. There is also an underlying slight sweetness that I find really nice. I expect that this will age really well. Like many plugs, Jackknife is fairly strong, but I don't find it as strong as many other plugs. If you are a fan of a tobacco that brings memories of a time gone by, or just looking for something different, this is worth a try. Recommended.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ChadwickGHurlburt (24)	2019-04-05		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

I won't dally around with this review. JackKnife Plug is very good, you will enjoy it, go get some now if you haven't had it already.

For those of you needing more information, here goes. This plug smells like cured bacon and smoked meat. These descriptions are given in all of the best possible ways you can imagine cured bacon and smoked meat aroma in your tobacco. It is a hint of what is to come next. After slicing up some portions of the dense plug in your tin, you rub them out into a nice pile of tobacco to pack your pipe with. You smell it again so you can enjoy that exquisite aroma of cured meat, Virginia tobaccos, and the finest Dark Fired to ever come out of Kentucky. It is intoxicating to smell this blend. You will find yourself doing it repeatedly because just smelling it is so pleasurable.

Once you get this lit in your pipe of choice, you will be met with the smoothest and most pure smoky tobacco flavors you will ever encounter. It will be smooth, pure, clean, but complex in flavor all at the same time. That smoky meat taste will peak out briefly to tease you and then disappear. Don't lament, it will return later.

As your smoke progresses you will go through phases of transforming flavors. It will taste like your favorite VaPer, then change into something else. It will taste like your favorite Dark Fired mix, then change into something else. You will experience many flavor transitions until suddenly, that cured meat flavor returns like a surprise jack-in-the-box exploding unexpectedly. With it, you are met with the creamiest natural tobacco flavors you ever experienced in a fellowship stronger than what supported Bilbo Baggins to Mount Doom.

JackKnife Plug is probably one of the most perfect tobacco blends created in the 20th century. It's my personal No.1 blend and I keep pounds of it in my cellar.

This is really something special. Seriously, try it for yourself. I won't need to convince you after you've tried it.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tucane (31)	2018-11-01		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

This beast of a plug looks like brown/dark clay and is a house in the nicotine department, which it deserves full credit for. Empty stomach + 3 massive torched inhales = profit!

This was exclusively a morning smoke for me, for the above reason. Okay, not only for that... it does have other more subtle qualities in it's earthyness, spicyness and in it's dark chocolate reminiscent touch. Good background virginias too. Unfortunately subtleties in flavour profile isn't enough for me to give this 4 stars, so 3 it is.

EDIT: After my stash of JKP diminished, I tried other morning smokes... Key Largo was the best i found as sort of a replacement but it didn't fully satisfy my needs for strength and nicotine. So I revisited Jackknife and felt right at home with the straightforward strong hits and consistent umami sidestream it provided throughout the smoke. This deserves the full 4 stars!

Highly recommended! (unless you are a weakling)

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Corvus (36)	2016-03-05		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

As a kid I always wondered what plug tobacco was as it seemed to be a staple of any rural, southern, or 19th century character I read about, so I looked to this to find out. It is presented as a square bar, the outside bound by dark leaf and a mix of brown and golden cuts within. The plug is hard, but the layers are prone to separation. The aroma is pretty muted but with a variety of scents, most strongly the hardwood smoke of the Kentucky, but also spice, a little sweetness, some vinegar sourness, and some hay.

Preparation is not the simplest. The plug is somewhat difficult to get through, especially if you're trying to follow Pease's recommendation of a 1/32" flake! Thicker flakes are easier to produce, which can be smoked whole, rubbed, or cubed. Rubbed out or cubed is preferred for me, expect lots of expansion. In addition, pack lightly. While it feels pretty dry, there is some definite moisture. It lights well, but I found it still needed a few relights even if it doesn't produce a lot of wet dottle.

The taste, aroma, strength, and mouth feel don't work in harmony. First, I find the taste overall pretty bland. The components seem overly meshed, that is the different leaves, which are similar to begin with, don't really shine separately. There is some obvious hardwood smokiness and some deep malt components, very tasty, but they're not consistently developed. Definitely some distinct peppery notes. Some tangy notes are evident on the exhale through the nose. Overall, I rate the taste as mild, although it does pick up some at the bottom without developing bitterness. The dominant flavor note to me is brine. The taste is mild, but strength is higher bordering on strong. There is some prominent harshness though, and to avoid this and develop the best flavor sip slowly and patiently. Puff too hard and it loses its quality.

I feel like I often repeat this, but the leaf is of very high quality even if the blend doesn't quite work for me. As such, I can only award it two stars. While I usually don't look to revisit two star blends, I will try this again. I feel like aging could have a positive influence, yet I've been working on the same plug for over a year and I haven't noticed any real improvement. In any case, something worth trying but with tempered expectations.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mk_bway (1)	2016-02-07		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Jackknife plug is an old school tobacco and one that is sure to please bowl after bowl. It shows up as a brick of tobacco that looks similar to a brownie with a little layer of peanut butter in the middle. After popping the tin, the aroma casually reaches up out of the tin and punches you right in the nostrils, but not in a bad way. My first thought was that it was actually beef jerky labeled as pipe tobacco. A little more nosing brought on some hickory smoke bbq scents. It is a very meaty aroma. After slicing it and rubbing it to a nice shag the aroma was more of a classic tobacco scent, a bit of an earthy sweetness.

Right from the get go, the smoker is treated to a very savory smoking experience. Jackknife primarily comes across as a spicy, tangy smoke. Mixed in is a bunch of subtle flavors. I'd occasionally pick up some saltiness, hints of lime, and a dry bbq rub taste. Even more infrequent was a great sweetness. It’s not particularly complex, but it is very strong flavor.

My wife generally doesn't like the smell of any tobacco but she did say that this one smelled "not bad" which I'm going to take as pretty good. Normally I don't think that I can detect the room note very well as the smoker, but I frequently picked up a very pleasant sweet tobacco aroma while smoking this. It's exactly the type of aroma you'd expect from pipe tobacco.

Overall, I really enjoy smoking JKP. I definitely plan on keeping some on hand and experimenting with it as it ages. I wouldn't say that this is the most complex tobacco out there however, it is consistently interesting. It's also a very full flavored smoke so it probably is not something that you'd smoke all day long, but it is wonderful later in the day. The nicotine hit can be quite potent as well which also enhances the enjoyment I get out of it as an evening smoke. This one definitely gets a 4 stars from me.

Pipe Used: MM Country Gentleman, Stanwell De Luxe 118

Age When Smoked: New out of the tin

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	atskywalker (5)	2015-10-30		Very Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

JKP is my #1 tobacco. It has been since I discovered it. To me, it exemplifies complexity and the true power of unadulterated tobacco tastes. I usually smoke it in thick cube cut format which gives an exceptionally long flavourful smoke. Thin slicing and fully rubbing it tasted deeper and smoked easier - smoking it in thick cube format results in a bit of a struggle to keep it lit but so far it has been worth the effort as well.

Throughout my smoke I find JKP to be consistent from the first match to its final incarnation as fine ash. This consistency is by no means dull as JKP meanders between its complex layers of Floral notes which often gives way to a deep earthy (almost musky) note as if its saying "Now that you have seen the flower and experienced its perfume, come, I'll show you the forest in which it grows!". I often also get notes of cigarette-ish flavours and I recently realized that its a sign of the Virginias given that when I smoke cigarettes I smoke Canadian cigarettes which I found out are almost always 100% Virginia (as opposed to Burly, presumably in the US).

JKP is strong and deserves a lot of respect in that department. Had it not been that strong I would've smoked it all day but unfortunately, when I do that, I end up with constant stomach cramps. It also has a tendency to dry my mouth so keeping things hydrated is essential here.

My last observation is in regards to its moisture level. My own experiments seem to point to it being at its best when very dry which is a far cry from how it usually first appears in the tin (although I've had a few tins that were very dry - which were the reason I got hooked!).

While I find Irish Flake and ODF to be genetically very similar, I think JKP is very uniquely fragrant and tasty. They are all favourites of mine.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Eric Cioe (37)	2014-04-06		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This looks cool. Everyone's already noted the presentation, and all I have to say there is that I like it. I tended to slice it to maybe 1/8", rub it out very well, and hold on for the ride.

This is my first experience with Kentucky dark-fired, and I like it quite a bit. The tin note is incredible, with deep notes of barbecue, though totally different than the barbecue notes that latakia blends can have. It occupies the same part of the frequency spectrum, but in a different timbre, if that makes sense. In the bowl, those notes come through pretty heavily, but there was also an overriding lemon peel type flavor that came through at a much higher register. Some reviewers noted lemon Pledge, and I kind of understand that, but overall it seems at least a little more refined and less chemicalish than that.

One complaint I have is that there seems to be a gap between the flavors here, with strong bass and treble notes, but little in the middle. I figured the red Virginias would fill that in, but it was never as strong in the middle as I wanted it to be, at least in certain pipes. I wonder if aging it would take the lemon notes from a less overpowering level to something that I would prefer more. I'm betting on it to the tune of a couple of tins. In the meantime, I sometimes mixed this 50/50 with Union Square and liked that mix quite a bit. It also had the upside of taming the nicotine hit just enough to take Jackknife into a range resembling something I could smoke more regularly, or on an empty stomach.

All in all, I think Greg hit exactly what he was after with this blend. The quality is evident, as always, and I think in time the edges will smooth enough for this to be a four-star blend for me.

Pipe Used: Lots of them

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2013-10-19		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

It's a good smoke, but it's not for me. Something about the dark fired K that I don't care for.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	O'Confrère (40)	2013-03-02		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Want the real deal? Here it is. Indoors and out, hold on to your hat! Highly recommended!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-04-10		Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

For background, I've been smoking a pipe for 3 decades and cigarettes for most of that time. I prefer some flavoring added, though not necessarily those that leave a pleasant room note or taste. (Erinmore Flake is my go-to tobacco.) However, I also enjoy English blends and some Virginias. After 2 ounces, here are my thoughts.

This is an interesting tobacco, indeed. It is a square plug in a round tin. On opening the tin, it smells like a tangy version of a freshly mown alfalfa field. I can smell some of the BBQ pulled pork that others have mentioned. The plug is much drier than I was expecting and some tobacco naturally falls off the plug in bits and pieces.

In keeping with its name, I use a sharp pocket knife and small cutting board to shave off thin slices so rubbing out is unnecessary. I quite enjoy the ritual of preparation this plug requires. I lightly pack the resulting shag in a smallish bowl and give it at least 2 charring lights before it settles down.

I suggest slow, steady puffing, not only to prevent tongue-bite (not a problem so far), but because this contains quite a lot of vitamin N. Even as a former cigarette smoker used to strong tobaccos, I managed to give myself several cases of hiccups as I became acquainted with this blend. To me, that isn't necessarily bad, but something to bear in mind. It takes quite a lot of concentration on technique to really get full enjoyment from this weed. Relights are not fun. After a relight, this tobacco becomes even darker and slightly harsh. On the other hand, it doesn't require many relights. Finally, I must say that I find this tobacco rather one-dimensional. My pallet is obviously not as discriminating as some of my more enlightened fellow reviewers.

This tobacco has made it into my rotation. However, it is not an all-day smoke for me - best after a meal with a nice brandy. Recommended for its form and honesty, but minus one star for its simplicity, slightly off-putting relights, and need for attention.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Thbg (29)	2012-02-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I put off getting a tin of this for a while and I am glad that I did.

I believe that I must have gotten a tin that had been around for about a year. The plug was much drier than in many descriptions and crystal-ish looking sugar formations had started to develop. Smell at first reminded me of a pouch of Bali-Shag and after a bigger smell of BBQed meat...smokey, sweet, and tangy smelling.

I enjoy cutting thin and watching it transform into shag and also making it into cubes.

My favorite combnation of this so far had been the shag cut in a Missouri Meerschaum Diplomat. For whatever reason, that I still can't explain, it is magical.

Because this is drier it requires very few relights and with slow puffing I found the nicotine level to be enjoyable not overpowering.

The smoke is like a good cigar without the cigar stink and foul aftertaste and with an added subtle warm sweetness.

I have been smoking it everyday and it is becoming my new favorite tobacco. Highly recommend.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Budman (25)	2012-01-15		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I am surprised for how few reviews there are on this blend when at one time you couldn't get it due to it being sold out?

That being said I smoked this awhile when I first got it and left some to age. This blend or Plug as it is is so different in many ways.

You can cut in chunks and get a different smoke or you can rub it out and have a completely different smoking sensation. I prefer to rub out what I need and load up the bowl.

I also prefer a larger bowl with this cut.

Aging has done this blend good and has mellowed some of the rough edges, not that it was to overbearing in the beginning, it's just a tad mellower.

The block in the tin has so many folded leaves and the aroma is awesome.

It lights and smokes well, has a good nic hit, and the Virginia's are a good and sweet leaf.

It burns clean to a light grey ash with no excess dottle.

One thing about Pease is he produces the best in whatever he does. I may not like all of his blends, but he uses the best products he can find and his Tobacco blends and Pipes reflect that.

If you are looking for a good Virgina Plug with a nice wallop, this is it! Highly recommended...

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-05-30		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I was able to obtain some of the early JackKnife Plug. It's taken me quite a while to get to the point where I think I can write an honest and brief review. Over the years my tastes have changed, as most have experienced, from english to VA blends. For some reason I could never get excited about straight VA blends. One type of VA has stood out for me- those that include Red Virginias. [I was a fan of F&T cut blended plug for a long time.]

I think JackKnife plug may be my new go-to Red VA blend! It's fantastic. The amount of flavor obtained from a straight VA blend is amazing. Greg takes a scientific approach to all his work, and his careful hand is seen in this blend yet again.

What are the things winning me over to this blend? I absolutely love the plug form. I never thought I would, as it takes more time to work with, but ultimately the final product is excellent. One of the advantages of the plug (besides marrying the flavor during the pressing) is the how well it keeps moisture. I'm truly amazed. Usually I have to mason jar most blends I smoke due to my infrequent smoking. I've had this tin open (with the temporary plastic top on it) for well over a month- maybe going on 2 months now. I'm about 80% through the plug at this point in time, and it still has a wonderful moisture content. I was starting to wonder when I'd need to jar the remainder, but so far I haven't had to! I'm stunned. This must be why Navy plug was made in this fashion. I'm sure in a leather pouch this plug would stay moist for a good number of months.

Cutting it has been easier than I expected also. The plug isn't overly dense and isn't overly dry. This means with a good sharp knife various forms of cuts for bowl-packing is available each time you go to smoke. Cube cut, flake cut, rubbed-out. This is a true advantage of a DIY cut. Some may not like this, but I'm now completely sold on the plug form and this tobacco in specific.

Back to taste- it's way fuller bodied than I'd expect from a VA. When I first started in on VA's, it was quite difficult to for me to experience the nuances in flavor that are often discussed with VA's. Well, this blend is almost a slap in the face (in a good way) when you first start smoking it! Tons of flavor!! I can taste that nice warm sweetness of the Red that I've grown to love.

Highly recommended blend- a great new style from an excellent blender. This one will have to be on hand in the cellar!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stan (179)	2011-02-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A wonderful plug. However, the consistency of the cake may vary, and when I sliced mine, I didn't get flakes but thin ribbons which I elected to rub out. The blend is smoother if some chunks are used. Maybe I need a scapel to slice it and we can rename it ...ripper plug or freddie plug? Peterson perfection plug is a tighter cake, but this one has more body.

It is rich, full, heady, and has the texture of a cigar (as someone said), but no cigar leaf here. The earthy deep burley flavor is sweetened and lightened a little by the red and bright Virginias. But you must like strong, full, almost raw tobacco flavor to enjoy this. But it is not overpowering nor as strong as some fo C&D's burley flakes (e.g., #3).

At this point I must sound like everyone else who gives this one rave reviews. It deserves rave reviews, as what else would you expect for a blend called JackKnife! You better like it.

Out to stroll the moors with this one.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-02-01		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

JackKnife Plug is like a cowboy in a tuxedo. Yes, he may be wearing a dinner jacket and bow tie, but he's also sporting a stetson and boots. To him, whiskey comes from Kentucky, not Islay. And please forgive him if he doesn't sip it, although he could give a rat's ass about what you think.

I hate metaphors.

Tin aroma is that of figs with a smoky undertone.

The flavor of the smoke is sweet as would be expected from the Virginia tobacco. But it is balanced nicely by the smokiness of the Kentucky tobacco. I also find a little bit of a spicy element. If you've ever eaten a chocolate truffle dusted with chipotle powder, it's the same effect. That being said, you better not have bought said truffle. The only reason you should ever eat a truffle is because your wife made you.

I'm happy with the amount of nicotine in JackKnife Plug. It is strong, but not overwhelming. If you like romantic comedies, you might get the spins or hiccups.

JackKnife Plug is in a niche all by itself. It's old school American pipe tobacco strength and character combined with the class and elegance of the best straight Virginia.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PipeCat (13)	2011-01-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

Here is a tobacco with no flavoring, all natural relying on only the expertise of the blender and the quality of the products. The dark-fired Kentucky leaf makes this so darned good. They are responsible for the floral tastes in the blend.

When I think of a classic VA, I think of tobaccos like FVF. This is so much different than FVF, yet so instantly classic, I can say without hesitation it is the best tobacco I have ever smoked. The flavor so complex and subtle, it can stand up to scrutiny while at the same time can easily be an all day smoke without giving much thought.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this new blend in a new series by G.L. Pease, is that a blender known for his skill as one of the finest English style creators, has now shown his mastery of the most noble of all tobaccos.

If you are a VA fan, I recommend you go out and buy a lot of this right now. I can only imagine how well this blend will age.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-01-13		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

Short of a full review based on a tin's worth, here's my first impressions:

The square plug, which is a curious cut to find in a round tin, arrives moist enough to warrant a little drying time for whatever you cut off. It is not wet though. I'd imagine this is optimal for storage, and as I've posted before, I typically don't dry a bowl's worth of tobacco - rather I'll pack a pipe to smoke the next day. It's cool to see the cross section and layers on the sides, and you can see large tobacco leaves on the top layer.

I opted for a broken flake cut that I then rubbed out. JackKnife took to the flame quickly; two matches and I was off to the races. The dark leaves' notes came through immediately, and I was able to pick up the red VA taste soon after. It's a warm and earthy blend with a straightforward tobacco taste. If this came in a two pack with the much brighter but equally unvarnished Union Square, it could be called Night and Day. At times it brought to mind what Bracken Flake would be like without all of the SG flavorings. Room note and the retrohales (great band name) slyly reminded me of my cigar-smoking grandfather's den. There's a little pepper there, but not like the peppery notes you get with perique - more cigar wrapper-esque. Smoking characteristics were stellar.

I don't have a good bead on the nicotine strength yet. It's there, and I feel comfortable saying that it's less than Royal Yacht, but beyond that I don't know yet.

Whether it's from the required knife work or unadulterated tobacco taste, there's something decidedly old-timey about this blend. Older than old: antique. I can easily imagine riverboat pilots and cowboys slicing off wedges of JackKnife Plug.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	boc777 (39)	2021-04-11		Strong	Strong	Full	Tolerable to Strong

As I have gravitated to stronger tobaccos and plugs and ropes, this one has been a bit of an enigma for me, but after a year of aging, and playing around with slicing, drying and rubbing out, it has really started to shine. Upfront, I have never smoked cigarettes or cigars. Only pipes. This one I imagine will satisfy the cigar lovers out there. First, the presentation. Its superb. I love the tight brownie with layer after layer of beautiful leaf. Like Pease recommends, slice it thin and rub out to a fine shag. That is definitely what works best. It does have a bit of moisture to it, so aging and drying are key. Once you figure out how to pack it (light and tamp with care) it lights and smokes cool and clean. It definitely strong. A great after dinner smoke. I love it after a big steak and some strong red wine. Like I said, I have not dabbled in cigars yet, but I imagine this is what a really fine, full strong stogie smokes like. The flavor is full virginia, but it has some complexity to it. Room note is tolerable, I guess to me, but would not be pleasant to non-smokers. Another home run from GLP, this is great stuff. Dense, strong and in my opinion fun to cut and rub out. I love the lead up to a great smoke, and a little bit of preparation and some delayed pleasure scores high in my book. Highly recommended.

Pipe Used: ALL

Age When Smoked: 1 YEAR

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Goose55 (33)	2019-06-30		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

I just sliced up thin, with a very sharp knife, another block -- from an 8 ounce tin of 2013 G.L. Pease Jackknife Plug -- I had in a jelly jar. I rubbed it all out and let it sit on a plate for 15 minutes to help stop the fermentation process.

I find this blend delightful, especially with a good cup of morning coffee. This is by far the best "strong" tobacco I've ever tasted. It reminds me of when, as a small boy, I sometimes rode along on trips to NYC w/ my father. I'd roll down the window to breath in the diesel fumes from the buses. That, to me, is Jackknife Plug, .... and so much more. ;-)

Pipe Used: Large Lindstrom bent Billiard, deticated

Age When Smoked: 6 years

Similar Blends: Nothing like I've ever tasted. No equal that I know of..

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pseudo Nim (129)	2019-06-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

More of a crumble cake than a plug IMHO, I'm more used to the solid blocks of plug tobacco that many seem to have difficulty with.

I bought 2 tins at Christmas, they were both dated 12/18, and tried the first one straight away, big mistake, this plug is so much better with a little age on it, 3-5 years would do it proud, anyway, this has six months on it and I'm glad I waited to review it as the first tin did not impress me at all.

Presentatation, a block of crumbly tobacco that comes apart in the hand, care must be taken to ensure that the Kentucky "outer jacket" is cut and rubbed out in proportion with the burley / Virginia inner body, a nice relatively easy tobacco to prepare with very fine quality leaf, I would expect nothing less from the great man himself, holding Mr Pease in the highest esteem for his knowledge of tobacco.

Takes easily to the match, the Kentucky and burley Virginia rotating around, vying for position, medium in strength with a pleasant aftertaste. A very good but for me at least, not a remarkable plug. I'm very glad I got to try this but I wouldn't get out of bed at 6am just to order it nor would I be trolling the Internet, God forbid, were this by some horror, to be withdrawn, though I can see why many love this.

Once again, IMHO, there are many other finer plugs (which is about all I smoke these days) more easily available to me, on the other side of the pond.

Verdict, 2 1/2 stars plus 1/2 star purely out of respect for Mr Pease from whom I have learned so much about tobacco.

Well worth a try if your a plug smoker, I think in my case, I read all the hype and perhaps expected too much of this, which is a shame really. I can't see myself stocking up on this, nor for that matter ordering it again, unless on a whim. But again, very glad to have had the opportunity to try it.

Pipe Used: Various briars

Age When Smoked: 0-6 months

Purchased From: 4 Noggins

Similar Blends: I can't think of any off hand as most plugs I smoke seem to be straight Virginia's or vapers, so let's say, "it's in a class of its own".

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Knightsmoker (218)	2019-03-31		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

JackKnife Plug starts with the KY in the lead. It is earthy, slightly nutty, has a dry woodsy note but is only slightly spicy compared to other Dark Fired KY's I have smoked. The red VA's are very tangy with notes of earth and dark fruits that follow closely behind the KY and at times take the lead. The bright VA's are grassy with a slight citrus note and maybe a woody note as well and follow behind the other two but are constantly noticeable. Overall a very good blend. It ranks above Mac Baren's Bold KY and Old Dark Fired, as well as Peter Heinrich's Dark Strong Flake and Orlik's Dark Strong KY. However, it does not surpass (IMO) G H & Co.'s Brown Irish X or their Dark Bird's Eye, nor does it come close to SG's Lakeland Dark or Solani's Silver Flake. That said this is still a very good blend that should be tried by anyone who enjoys VA's with KY. It may turn out to be your go to blend. 3. 5 stars rounded down as I enjoy so many others in the category more.

Age When Smoked: 15 months

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Uban (60)	2018-10-23		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

If you think you don't like burley, try this. Smooth as can be, earthy, nutty, no bite at all. Strong as they come. There are other burley flakes out there, but this is the best I've had by far.

Pipe Used: MM, meer

Age When Smoked: 3 yrs

Purchased From: JR

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pryhosm (248)	2017-10-31		Overwhelming	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

Mr. Pease, you cruel heartless man... I like your style. This tobacco put me on my a**. I am not overly sensitive to nicotine but I am no 30 year 2 pack a day cigarette smoker either. This is a nicotine monster. It starts out beautifully, tin note is like walking into a humidor while smoking a pipe. You get the kentucky and the virginia's on the nose. The smoke starts out spicy and sweet, a mouthfull of flavor. It burns well and has a consistent pleasing flavor. About mid bowl I got the initial nic hit on my first bowl but soldiered on, and then the room started to spin and I tapped out. On subsequent bowls I went either smaller bowls or half fills and no matter what I had to put the pipe down prior to finishing a bowl. It is too bad I am a light weight because this is one great tasting tobacco! Can't recommend it to everyone but if you have a high tolerance for vitamin N, you will love this.

Pipe Used: briar

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: B&M

Similar Blends: coppenhagen snuff.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MickPiper (6)	2017-07-29		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

The tin note is like steak sauce, a very savoury , hearty, deep, meaty bbq. The taste is great, smokey, meaty like the smell. Heavy nicotine effect. First tobacco I've tried where the nicotine affected me so much. Had to sit down as I stumbled about trying to get a bottle of water. mind you this was after a full meal. To me this is a very special tobacco and I don't intend to run out.

beware- flavor and nicotine is very strong.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: 4 months

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DenizBeck (323)	2017-06-14		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Appearance, condition and smell:

First thing when opening the (lovely designed) tin I got greeted by a very Ketchupy smell, which has a lot in common with BBQ sauce (smoky, hearthy, vinegar-ish). A slightly sweetish and sour tone is underlying. It also reminds me quite a bit of Mac Barens Old Dark Fired!

The plug itself isn't very dense at all and I'd describe it as "somewhere between a crumble cake and a "real" plug". Yet it is a joy to handle it, but I can't make flake slices out of it at all. It crumbles to ribbon-like with slightly slice-ish chunks, but never a whole slice. So I have no choice but to make a shag, ribbon-, or coarse cut out of it. Maybe a knive more sharp than mine will do the trick, but usually I can cut twists and plugs fine with it.

The condition is flawless, and 30-60 min. of drying time are well enough to get it on the drier side.

Taste and smoking experience.: The BBQ-ish taste is only very decently to be noticed in the smoke. A rich smoky taste is prevailing, that's hearthy, creamy and full. With deep earth, little of wood. Good spice. A tad of sourness is what I perceive too and find pretty pleasant. Just little sweetness rounds the taste.

Not much more - yet flavourful enough, and honest, which makes it a very pelasing smoking experience. The smoke is pretty creamy and earthy in feel, which I find pleasant! Leaves a pleasant, hearthy, tangy aftertaste in the mouth.

Nicotine level is strong, but not as strong as BK, nor Irish Flake. Yet slightly more Vitamin-N than ODF (which I find to be rather medium-strong) I'll rate strong, but it's not overwhelming!

Summary:

A very pleasant blend, that's comparable to Old Dark Fired for my perception. The plug cut is a joy to handle and very appetizing! The whole presenation is excellent, honest and inviting. Not as good as Bold Kentucky for my personal taste, yet on the same level of goodness like BK, Irish Flake and ODF. A blend which I would recommend without hestitating for even a second to anyone who likes a hearthy, earthy and rich smoking experience, that's not overly complex, yet honest and steady.

4/4 stars for a beautiful piece of tobacco-crafting!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	rintrah (14)	2017-05-27		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I've smoked this fresh many times and am now smoking a tin with 6.5 years of age in the sealed can. When fresh, I remember the lovely DFK taking a leading role with the red VA supporting in a major way, with just a hint of sweet fresh golden flavor in the background.

The age has smoothed the blend out and made it just a bit more harmonious than it is fresh. The sweetness from the brights and aged reds is now more of a major player, meanwhile the "punch" of the DFK has diminished a bit.

Overall this is a nice smoke with a rich flavor that when prepared well is easy to maintain in the pipe. Its soft on the palette and finishes nicely with a pleasant aftertaste for the smoker.

I like this tobacco a lot and hope to always have some around. It doesn't knock my socks off, though, so for me its between 3-3.5 stars. Recommended.

Pipe Used: Old British briars and cobs

Age When Smoked: Fresh, and 6.5 years

Purchased From: SmokingPipes

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bluesmoke (75)	2014-12-02		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This was some tough stuff to prepare. I used a razor blade and not one of my knives since this seemed it would work best...it did! After breaking this up some and packing in the bowl I found JKP to be very full bodied, but a little on the harsh side of the force. You know, a light sabre would have cut right through the plug and lit it at the same time...sorry for the nerd thought. :) This reminds me of some of the strong ropes from SG, but not quite as robust. A fine tobacco, just not one for me. TYCFSM

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CTS (138)	2014-02-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Good medium to strong flavor and taste delivery from an easy to prepare plug. Cube cut and packed with moderate tamping gave a lasting burn with only one relight. Good flavors with some spicy tang. Good job. 3+*.

Pipe Used: Italian Basket 35+ years old

Age When Smoked: Tin stamp 091613

Purchased From: P&C

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BigCasino (27)	2013-12-10		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Very Mild	Strong

Tin Aroma is kind of strong, the plug is hard and feels dry altho when rubbed out it seemed fine, the flavor is kind of that of a plain straight tobacco, but it does seem to be high in the "N" department

Pipe Used: Butz-Choiquin D'accord apple

Age When Smoked: 18 months

Purchased From: Alegheny Smoke Works

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2013-09-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I really enjoyed this blend despite all efforts in destroying the plug during an impatient and ignorant cutting of the same. One thing this blend taught me is that plugs are not for me. My first attempts at slicing flakes ended up in a contorted plug that I ended up shredding away and hand tearing apart then rubbing. Needless to say, I will opt for the ready rubbed version next time and may possibly upgrade this to four stars at that time.

What I ended up with was a lot of misshapen and inconsistently sized pieces that did not pack or burn so well. After further shredding away while drying it did burn better, but I am concerned whether the taste I got should have been better. My gut tells me this is a four star blend when properly rubbed. It is very tasty yet packs a nicotine wallop. Strangely, I think I could smoke this all day without a problem which is not common for a nic bomb.

To pull into perspective it is not as strong as Irish Flake, and to my tastes, not as good. As mentioned earlier all of this could change with a sampling of the RR version so I can taste it as it is intended. The one thing I really like about this one is the side stream. It is a chocolatey type of aroma that is nearly intoxicating on its own. This is the reason I have put the Room Note as pleasant.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MDP (39)	2013-07-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

My review of MacBaren Old Dark Fired includes a review of JKP, the latter being slightly more pleasing of two, incredible blends. The Virginia leaf has more prominence in JKP and thus is a touch more interesting than ODF.

My wish is that Mr. Pease would forego both the plug and ready-rubbed versions and simply produce a handsome, wholesome flake version. Yes, the plug is a little more nostalgic and "nichy," but a flake would age better than the ready-rubbed and be vastly easier to prepare than the plug.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-01-07		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Good deep, dark earthy flavor, almost like a good cigar, but it doesn't taste quite like a cigar. Although now I'm wondering what the addition of some cigar leaf would do here? Anyway, sometimes I get kind of a dark bell pepper sort of taste. I like the balance of the rich red virginia sweetness against the kentucky burley spice, it's a good combo.

This tobacco seems like it would be a good companion for camping or fishing. If you lose your pipe, feel free to bite off a chaw from the plug.

Nicotine? Check check. Lightweights need not apply unless you're looking to build tolerance.

All around, this has become one of my favorites. It will always have a place in my cache as long as I can get it. Good job Greg, thanks.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-10-14		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Have a tin I opened 3 months ago and novelty of it was kind of fun in the whole cutting and crumbling ritual. but it "ain't no great shakes" as my folks used to say.Good leaf , good burn adequate smoke not bad Just did'nt grab me at first and put it in a 1/2 pt. mason jar after 4 or 5 bowls. Tried it again last week and while it is an OK smoke it s not there for me. Guess I'll leave it for another 3 months , thats how you build a big cellar right fill up the closet with tobacco that you don't like LOL

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JohnnyMcPiperson (119)	2011-08-03		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

This stuff is great, it's definitely a sipping tobacco for me though, it knocks me on my bum with the nic hit. With that said, I love the flavor and the smell right out of the tin, a very woody sort of paper bag smell, it really reminds me of some of the smells of spring, cutting wood, and that like. So far I have cubed it for packing and that has worked out well, I like it loosely packed even if that requires more relights. It has a fantastic flavor profile in my opinion, but I think it's a bit too much of a heavy hitter for me in the middle of this hot summer we are having, so I considering putting it away in a jar till the winter and stick with aros and light english blends for now. I'm also very curious to see how it will age over time!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dr. Scott (82)	2011-06-08		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

I managed to wait five months before opening the tin. Experience has taught me that G.L. Pease blends are much better with some age.

I smoke it cut into 1/8 inch cubes, gravity fed into a largish poker. No need to dry. Just light it and go, using the tamper very lightly to manage the ash.

This is a real man's tobacco. It is strong on flavor and strong on nicotine. The description on the label is quite accurate.

JackKnife Plug is great on a breezy afternoon, perfect with a R. L. Stevenson novel or an old Doctor Who re-run, and good with red wine. Not sweet enough for my everyday smoke, and a little too strong on the room note for the wife, it will be in long-term rotation: something I will keep in the cellar for when the mood strikes. I'll need to buy more to see how it smokes in a year or in five years. The five tins I have on hand will never last that long.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NEWMAN (305)	2011-06-04		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant

This blend came in a different form than I usually smoke; a single block, pressed rather loosely and with some rather large, moist leaves visible. With my lifestyle, I don't have the time to slice, dice, cut, cube... tobacco for a smoke so I've thus removed a *. I just peeled some layers and folded and packed but in doing so, a non uniform packing and burn resulted. The smoke was enjoyable in multiple size/style pipes with a true tobacco taste that was stong and consistent with just a hint of the VA sweetness. If you have the time for the proper preparation of this blend it's a delight. Someday, I will and will reorder.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-04-15		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Give this one some time. About half a plug was perfect for me to start to understand the subtle flavors in this blend.

I have tried cutting it into flakes and folding, and I have had exceptional luck with a thick slab rubbed into a ribbon. I found the best flavor in my tall, thick-walled, paneled billiard which I thought would provide the least enjoyable smoke for this blend. I am nicely surprised by this.

Dry it out a little bit and it could be a one light tobacco. I will recommend JackKnife to anyone looking for a sweet bold satisfying blend.

I can't wait to try one from my cellar with some years on it.

Enjoy.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-03-01		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I just cracked a tin and smoked a bowl of GL Pease's wonderful blend, so I wanted to write my review on it while the sweet and tangy flavors are still dancing on my tongue, mustache and mind...WOW! I feel like after my first bowl of this...like getting on my horse and riding off into the sunset...when Man and Pipe are ONE!

Did the thick cut slice and rub for ribbon cut and dropped into a Ser Jacopo Rowlette Poker, full of flavor this way for me

Well enough said...off to grab many a tin of this one

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-02-25		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Tolerable

What more is there to say about this blend? It will right what is wrong in your life, and wrong what is right!! It wil restore hair where there is now none, and likewise remove hair where it is now plentiful. The absolute Yin and Yang of the pipe tobaccy world.

Not only is this the Burley Blend that all other Burley Blends should be measured against, but it may be the Pipe Tobaco Blend that all other blends should be measured against. A Grand Slam of a Home Run for Mr. Pease. Ten stars out of four.

An unmistakeably and easily understated blend. The perfect Gentleman, smooth and gentle, yet with the unmistable presence of that special someone that commands the attention of all as they enter the room. Well rounded, but unforgettable. Perfectly mannered, but with no mistake commanding your attention and discretion. Gentle, yet strong as steel. A man's man of a tobacco, and what every woman would want of a man.

If you don't got none, get it! If you got some, by all means, get more!!!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-02-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I resisted the initial scramble to buy a tin of JKP. So I only tried it for the first time about a week ago. Have to say, I'm hooked. I'm a huge fan of the G&H Dark-Fired blends (Dark Flake Unscented, Dark Birdseye, Kendal Dark, etc). I like the strength, and the peppery complexity. But I've always felt like the dark-fired leaf is just so dominant in all of those, that they all become "Dark Fired Malawi flavored with X", rather than truly complex blends.

(I should note here, that I'm not 100% certain of the difference between dark-fired Malawi and Kentucky. Maybe someone can explain the difference. . .but to my taste, they bring a similar peppery strength).

Until I tried JKP, I just assumed that dark-fired Malawi/Kentucky was just a completely dominant flavor. Functioning kind of like Cyprian Latakia. You can have more or less of it in a blend, but pretty much everything containing it is going to contain that very distinct, dominant note. But Pease has turned me around on that. JKP is a brilliant blend, with dark-fired flavors intermingling with brighter Virginias, and even a background of deep, almost cocoa-tinged aged leaf flavor (which I associate with aged Burley, but maybe that's not the source here).

All that is a long way of saying that JKP has become a top 5 blend for me. Which, for a guy admittedly addicted to trying every blend on the market, comes as a surprise. I tend to like a lot of new tobaccos, but not really love any. Jackknife Plug just suits me. Strong, complex, earthy, slightly sweet. It's amazing stuff.

And, one last thing, I find JKP morphs according to the pipe it's smoked in more than any blend I've found. In a smaller "Prince" style, it's very dark-fired heavy and sharp. In a chimney form, the mellow Virginias come through more. Such interesting stuff. Can't say enough positive things.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-02-22		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is simply fantastic!

Presentation: Excellent Tin Note: Excellent, pure tobacco accented by the flue cured Preparation Flexibility: Excellent Smoking Characteristics: Very Good (needs to dry a touch) Taste: Excellent, pure sweet notes and hints of smokiness

This blend is a joy, it's very unique, very creative and delivers a pleasant all- tobacco smoking experience... The pure tobacco presentation also lends itself to great aging potential...

The best blend on the market today in my opinion.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc'spipe (242)	2011-01-31		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I managed to purchase two tins of Jack Knife Plug from an online vendor when all others were out of it. I paid $3 more per tin than the going rate at other sites. Both my tins were dated 1-24-11.

Upon opening the tin, there was no detectable casing or top dressing tin note - just a mild tobacco smell. I was actually expecting something stronger. It is a fairly easy plug to work with - if you want to call it a plug as it was more cake-like and unappealing looking. Like hastily stacked, moistened leaves. It breaks apart easily if you are so inclined not to use a knife (just tear it). All said, I'm not a fan of how the plug is packed as once it is cut, it has a tendency to break apart into mini-like like pieces that resemble fairly large fish flakes. I say this as I prefer my flakes to have been tighter pressed. I chose a meer-lined briar for the occasion - one that I reserve for more natural Virginia or Burley tobaccos. It took to the match with moderate ease and required one or two relights along the way. It burned fairly well - most likely due to the fact that it wasn't pressed as a very dense brick. Overall, it was very easy to prepare for smoking.

Before smoking JKP, I thought it would be like Irish Flake, one of my top favorites, but there is no flavoring like with IrF, but its "punch" is stronger - and it can creep up on you with the tendency to smoke it fast for more flavor. The Kentucky leaf made itself known, although it was too harsh for my liking (and I enjoy Kentucky leaf). Not as good as I thought it would be (considering all the hype). As stated - a bit too harsh for my liking and with little natural sweetness. Actually, pretty flavorless. I prefer IF over this one.

UPDATE 12-30-11: What little flavor there is (very little for me) after letting this sit in its opened tin for nearly one year needs to be coaxed with very slow sipping. After all is said and done, still holding at 2 stars. Still have 2 unopened tins. By the way, there was some tobacco bailing wire embedded in the plug of tobacco - good thing it wasn't a brownie!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-01-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

As a fan of plugs and flakes I have been anxiously waiting for Jack Knife Plug (JKP). I finally received a few tins in the mail earlier this week. When I opened a tin I was greeted with a brownie sized square of tobacco. The top is a mosiac of various shades of brown, looking at the sides you can see the golden Virginia's in the center.

JKP is not as dense as other plugs I have tried and it is relatively easy to cut and rub out (as plugs go.) I have smoked it as a shag and as a ribbon. It is good both ways, however the ribbon cut suits my packing and smoking style a bit better.

It can be a full bodied smoke, but you will miss the subtle nuances of the sugars. I pack my pipes so they draw about the same as a filtered cigarette. Sipping JKP is the best way to go, the smoke becomes quite whispy, and the flavors from the sugars appear.

Earthy and sweet is a good description of the flavor. I detected no toppings or artificial flavors.

This Plug was smoked in: 1)A new and unused Missouri Meerschaum Diplomat 2)A Kaywoodie 4 hole stringer Dublin 3)A Falcon with a Dover Bowl 4)A Bjarne Freehand Sitter. The blend shined in all and shined brightest in the cob.

Misc. notes: 1)The ash is gray and white. 2)The wife found the room note pleasant. 3)I rated the strength and taste as related to plugs and Flakes. If you smoke "Light" blends you may consider the rating strong

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Karam (59)	2020-06-15		Strong	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

In my first order from smockingpipes.com I purchased a range of American tobaccos not found in Europe, and aimed at covering a range of blend types. JKP was among that order, the date of the tin suggested it was already 6 months' old, so I decided to give it a year before cracking open.

I'd just come off a major HH Old Dark Fired bender and was eagerly looking forward to it, only to be badly, and sadly disappointed.

First of all, as noted by several other people, this is not what I understand of as a plug. I am thinking solid European, homogeneous plugs, this one's not it. It is more layered tobacco leaves that you have to handle with care or it'll simply scatter like a deck of cards. I think the reason is that GLP and C&D keep their tobaccos as natural as possible with regards to casings and toppings. The pity is that for my tastes this basically doesn't work. I guess I am not refined enough and need tobacco to have been through several processes, and have had a lot of additives to it.

The tin note is faint dark fired Kentucky and Virginia, but very faint. The taste...where is the taste?

This is the biggest disappointment for me, I was looking forward to a different version of MacBaren HH Old Dark Fired but found not a lot at all in Jackknife Plug. There is Virginia here and there, there is a hint of DFK here and there, and it is quite strong in (stronger than C&D's OJK and Haunted Bookshop, the other two blends I tried recently and got no taste out of them. It also dried my throat a bit.

Overall it just left me a dry taste and little else. I think I can be mellowed by mixing with something like MacBaren Vanilla Cream, giving it some body and much needed strength, and gaining sweetness, juiciness and actual taste.

It gets 2 stars for the name of the blender and packaging, and not to mess up its rating too much on the site. For me it is a 1 star because I don't have enough time to lose by smoking something I find to be tasteless.

This concludes the 6 different C&D/GLP tins I had, two of them, Bayou morning Flake and Byzantium I enjoyed immensely, the other four I did not. I'll stick with my region's blenders (Europe).

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: smokingpipe.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Aurorasofautumn (38)	2020-04-17		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

This is certainly a very good tobacco. The truth is, though, that I simply prefer a nice Latakia based or straight Virginia over this any time of the day.

Within the category of blends that contain VA and KY, I just rate GLP Cumberland even higher. I love that JKP comes along as a plug. I love the smoking characteristics of this blend. I really like the taste - but still - there's just something I cannot pinpoint this blend lacks.

Still, a solid 3.5/4 stars.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BingCrosby (162)	2020-03-30		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Extra Full	Tolerable to Strong

Extremely unique and flavorful smoke.. I found it to be, perhaps, the most earthy/savory of blends that I have tried.. it's strength in flavor is not quite matched by strength of nic.. but it does hit pretty hard as you get towards the bottom of the bowl.. the quality of the Kentucky is most unusual.. it has not as much of the barbeque as it does earthy/spicy notes.. the tangy quality of the Virginia melds with the Kentucky notes to create a very interesting combination.. it isn't something you can put into singularity.. it reminds me more of a whole meal of flavors.. For me these are the positives for this blend.. one issue with this blend is that I really have to be in the mood for it.. with all the flavor comes a degree of harshness and rawness of leaf.. maybe aging it would tone that down a little.. also the cut.. it is a delicate plug.. nothing like your 3ps European style plug.. it tears apart easily and you are left with all sorts of leafy awkward chunks.. despite this, it burns pretty well after it is dried out.. can bite a little.. but the smoke is of a rich creamy character.. it is something you gotta try.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HabaneroHardy (403)	2020-03-11		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Unnoticeable

I was able to try some of this the other day, not enough for a proper review but I will consider this a place holder when I can smoke some more at the club next week if it is available. This is a very dense plug and as I did not have a knife, I tore some off the corner as best as I could and crumbled it into my pipe. The tin was dated 061213, a good seven years of age. This is one smooth flavorful smoke with a very nice full taste. Apparently, I am a big fan of dark fired Kentucky as it seems every blend, I try with it I tend to really enjoy. To be continued……..

Pipe Used: Briar

Age When Smoked: 7 years

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	troyniss (38)	2019-11-19		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Presentation: A nice slab of dark Kentucky, red virginias and bright virginias. The dark fired burley and red Virginia surrounds the thinner layer of bright Virginia, sort of like a grilled cheese sandwich. From my experience, the plug is not uniform in shape every time- width, height or thickness, but varies from tin to tin. The weight stays the same though. Not as dense as some plugs (3P's, Dans Salty Dog), but still manages to stay together after numerous slicing sessions.

Palate: A tin note of semi-sweet BBQ sauce, ketchup and a pig roast. The dark fired burleys along with the red Virginia are the main components. It's spicy, salty and reminds me of charred ribs. The burley adds the flavor that one might attribute to the aroma of a meat smoker. Its rich, heavy and leaves a savory taste in your mouth. The red Virginias smooth out and help with the mustering of the dark fired burley. The bright Virginia adds a sweet essence to the blend, but only for a short while. This is a stout blend.

Performance: With plugs, you can cut this anyway you want. Some may want to cut thick slices and rub it out halfway, cube cut it, or in my preference, cut the plug as thin as possible into shag ribbons. I find that when cutting and rubbing it into a fine shag, I get lovely thick smoky clouds and all of the flavor at once, but it tends to burn quick. I haven't tried it any other way as I love the flavor it gave me with this method. A pretty strong nicotine hit. Not an all day smoke but I could see this as a morning blend to perk you up and then as an evening blend.

Conclusion: I was hesitant to buy this blend based on what I heard about dark fired burleys being strong. I gathered my courage and went ahead and purchased a tin with just over 4 years of age on it and was glad I did. It has become one of my favorite blends that I buy in the 8oz tins. If you want a rich blend, this is it. It isn't as strong as MacBaren Bold Kentucky, but it offers a far better range flavors for some of the dark fired burley blends on the market today. Benefits greatly, in my opinion, from some age.

Pipe Used: Morgan Bones Stubby Pot

Age When Smoked: 4+ years and 6 months.

Purchased From: SP, Seoul South Korean B&M Store

Similar Blends: GL Pease Triple Play, MacBaren ODF and Bold Kentucky..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Shaun_Pearson (21)	2019-08-01		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I overall enjoyed this blend. It was nutty and smokey with a liberal amount of nicotine. It has a small amount of sweetness. Though I wouldn't consider this an everyday smoke it certainly is a nice afternoon "winding down" tobacco.

Pipe Used: Many Briar Pipes

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: Twins Smoke Shop (Hooksett, NH)

Similar Blends: Similar to Dreams of Kadath, this is just a simpler version (no exotic tobaccos) with no flavoring..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	hawky454 (107)	2019-03-01		Extremely Mild	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I remember when this bad boy came out, I just had terrible luck with 3P’s (a love of mine now) and I didn’t want anything to do with another plug. I’m ashamed to admit it but I just didn’t properly know how to work a plug in my early years, I was used to crumble cakes and I thought I could work a Plug in the same manner... nope. Anyway, I finally came back to Jackknife Plug as plugs l have become my favorite cut, there is just a depth that you will only find with this cut, granted the British plugs are pressed with much more pressure and produce more flavor as a result but seeing plugs being made in the States is a delight and I would love to see them keep coming out with more. When I first tried this I thought it was strong for the sake of being strong but as I got more familiar with it the more I started picking up on wonderful subtitles. I get a very nice, natural cinnamon flavor that comes from the high grade Kentucky. The VA’s could use a bit more age in my opinion so I have serval tins in the cellar getting their ferment on. This is not a sweet blend and I detect zero topping, the nic is medium to strong, body is full and the roomnote is strong but lovely (if you like the smell of tobacco). This is something that I wish I would have tried a long time ago but I’m glad I finally came around to it. I would love to know how this would taste if it was pressed in the STG factory, wouldn’t that be wonderful? Either way, I call this one Essential in my book.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	L'Italiano (233)	2018-10-07		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Strong

Wow wow wow, this is a natural mixture, a top natural mixture, a superior blend fully natural. Difficult to smoke because it is necessary to cut and rub the plug, but the “effort” will be richly rewarded. Strong, tasty satisfying, harmonious, with no defects, in a word perfect. Leaves of the best quality. Excellent the balanced contrast between Virginia and Kentucky. Flavor pleasantly earthy. Great Pease, we need this kind of blends. Only for experienced pipe smokers, of course. I mean this blend is certainly for everyone, but only after a little bit of experience in pipe smoking. So try it when you feel ready and you will enjoy a wonderful natural smoke. For all these reasons, in my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 10 and four complete stars.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tschenyinkoh (51)	2018-02-11		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Very Pleasant

Deep fermentation combines two sides: One side is woody, very earthy; other side is sweet molasses.

Pretty strong but very creamy, mediium deep with a barely rough edge.

Four stars rating.

Pipe Used: churchwarden

Age When Smoked: six monthes

Purchased From: 2 oz tins from pipesandcigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	getyur@sstomars (26)	2018-01-10		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

this was my first exp w a plug, and im very glad. the plug really looks like no other ive seen, as it has a core of dark fired kentucky. it can be hard and inconvenient to cut a flake off at times but thats ok the good things in life take time.

the flavor is nice and in depth but its not overly complicated. its sweet and earthy, there is a nice play between the virginia and the dark fired. and it burns nice and cool.

all in all i highly recommend this stuff.

Pipe Used: cob,falcon,peterson 312

Age When Smoked: 0-4 years

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cakeanddottle (105)	2017-04-09		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Despite C&D's third rate Va's, GLP has managed to produced a library of blends that are critically praised and well thought of. Despite my jaundiced view of what he has to work with, I still count two or three of his as all time greats, and I respect what he is doing with the rest even if I don't like them enough to smoke regularly.

JKP is a very American take on a tobacco I would consider very English, a plug of Va and Kentucky. Comparing this to Revor Plug or Dark Plug, I think it has a decidedly American body and shows bright notes you wouldn't get with those. The best way I can describe this tobacco is Worcestershire sauce. It is meaty, smoky, sweet, sour, and spicy. It can produce a smoke that is monolithic or layered in nuance. It is espresso to the classic American Burley blend's coffee.

I don't think Bob Runowski got to try this before he passed, but he would have approved and would have wrote the best forum post about its merits. I like strong tobacco in a Prince on nights I don't have as much time to smoke, and on nights where I have more time than usual and squeeze in a second, small bowl.

22Aug2021 update after years of comparison to Dark Flake, 1792 and Irish Flake, I am taking one star off my review of JKP. It's acrid, creosotic and rough compared to the ones I mentioned. I use it to give backbone to weak kneed Burley blends, but I won't smoke it straight anymore. For a guy that markets himself as a gourmand and tobacco blender, he sure uses components in his blends that are hugely monolithic and destroy any hint of nuance. At this point the only blend of his I would praise is Raven's Wing, you can have the rest.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LannarkGent (145)	2016-12-18		Strong	Mild	Very Full	Strong

The dark Kentucky is a delight this blend calms down the potentially over powering nature of some Kentucky tobaccos. The plug cut rubbed out well and burned smoothly.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Ranger (79)	2016-11-05		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Nice to see Pease break into the plug market. This one was perfect. Cut well...never had the plug fall apart. Great Virginia smell and taste. Not too hot with a slow draw and sufficient time for a little drying after cutting and breaking apart. I usually prefer a blend with perique, but this was real good. On to the next Pease plug.

Pipe Used: Rinaldo Pot, Fillenwarth Poker

Age When Smoked: New

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	riobrew (80)	2016-08-30		Strong	Strong	Full	Very Pleasant

Let me start by saying that GL Pease is a God. He is a master of blending.

Now on to Jack Knife Plug. This a strong tobacco. The best way to go at it is as Pease says, cut thin and rub to a shag then gravity feed into the pipe tamp lightly on top and than fire that sucker up. Hold onto your panties because it with blow them away. You really need to sip it slow and you will rewarded with a great experience.

The Virginia is there but the burley rule. Beautiful smoke and the taste is smooth. No bite. The ratio is spot on.

I have been smoking this for years now and I'm never disappointed. I sent a tin to James Fox in Ireland but they never said anything.

When I get the money going to get a 8oz tin to cellar. This one is from 2014.

Pipe Used: Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Huskies4 (7)	2013-07-28		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

Strong. Smokey. Dark. JackKnife Plug goes well with Triple Play in your standard rotation. A strong heavy smoke that is perfect to have outside before bed, could be in your rotation with nightcap. Inside I don't recommend it. Outside this tobacco pairs well with a camp fire, I am enjoying one now actually and the JackKnife Plug smells and tastes just like this oak wood fire.

I prefer Triple Play as it is much lighter but retains all the strength and flavor of this tobacco. G.L. Pease always delivers with quality leaf and this is no different. Highly recommended but only 3 stars due to other offerings from Pease being better.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2013-02-03		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Update 02/21/2013

Merr...There is a strong downside to this plug. I noticed it is not quite a plug in the proper sense of the word, like Peterson 3 P, for example. When I rub out the slices, the leaf that unveils is quite of a coarse cut. And the plug is not one solid block, it started separating in two quickly.

That is not an issue in itself, of course. But if I prepare slices that are rather thick, the smoking experience can become very harsh and strong.

As much as I enjoy the deep, rich taste of the DFK in this plug, this "side effect' is most unpleasant. And it is not an isolated case, it happened to me the last 3 times, to the point where I stopped smoking and emptied the pipe whan it was not even smoked a full one third. I just could not continue smoking harsh and unrefined strong tobacco.

Such a pity. i will not buy again, unfortunately, and PIF still has my clear preference when it comes to DFK tobaccos. ____________________________________

Original Review 02/03/2013

JKP reminded me a lot of PIF because both contain a fair quantity of DFK.

But JKP, right off the bat, is creamier, smoother, more refined.

Don't look with complexity of flavours with this plug.

But if you are looking for a rich, tasty, strong and creamy smoke, JKP has what you are seeking.

I think it will just be fantastic once aged a minimum of 2-3 years.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Wellpipe (66)	2012-10-11		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

My review is of the 'Ready Rubbed' variant.

If I had reviewed this based on my first bowl I would have said 'shredded cardboard infused with nicotine' and given one star.

Fortunately I persevered. At the very beginning of the bowl I still find this a bit on the rough side, a slight VA sweetness is there but the Kentucky is peppery and strong and actually makes me sneeze a couple of times on exhale through the nose. Hang in there a few minutes and then the reward comes - moderate VA sweetness countered by Kentucky spice and interplay back and forth between them. This blend is big and solid - think 'meat and potatoes'. Definitely a manly smoke, and the nicotine is powerfully present. This is not quite nuanced enough to make my 'A' list but definitely a quality product and worth a try, especially if you like tobacco that makes hair sprout all over your body. For me this gets three stars (for now). To be continued...

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Badbrude (17)	2012-07-05		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This is a straight-up, non aromatic tobacco. You get exactly what's advertised, a full bodied, sweet and earthly smoke. It has a higher than average N level so smoke slowly.

The plug is easy to cut and came with an optimal moisture level. I love the "hands on" in preping a smoke from the plug. I've got a very sharp knife that cuts through it easily. Sometimes I like razor thin cuts that I rub out and let sit awhile before smoking. Other times I prepare a cube cut.

I won't put this in my regular rotation but for an occassional smoke, preferably after a meal in a small bowl, it's an excellent addition to my collection.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-06-22		Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Great tobacco for colouring meerschaums, burns evenly, barely any bite, lots of nicotine for the budding ex-cigarette smoker and a very nice flavour. Worth a look for sure.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-05-28		Strong	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a good smoke if you can keep it lit without disturbing it. I have at times packed this too tight moved it around and have gotten a bad case of hiccups. Having said that, there have been times when I have packed it just right and had a pleasurable experience with a few relights. As mentioned by some of my pipe smoking compadres " this is not for the faint of heart". The nicotine rush from this tobacco is up there with the best of them and I reserve it after a greasy meal that requires some aid for digestion. It also benefits you to have a nice glass of fine whisky along side of it; preferably with a couple of cubes. I always have some on hand and it does mellow a bit with age but not enough to be a daily smoke. I still, a majority of the times, get a tongue bit and need a day to recover. Again, I believe it is how you pack the beast that matters. Other than that not a bad one to keep in the arsenal.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-04-13		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

G. L. Pease JackKnife Plug is a nice strong blend that Is very nice after a large meal in the morning or at night. To me it has tastes of coffee and pepper much like a cigar. Also it has a strong kick to it so I would suggest having a full stomach before smoking.

Update: I have realized as much as I love the flavor of this tobacco I just cant handle the nicotine content it is simply to strong for me I have had two bowls of Dunhills nightcap in a row before and I still cant take more than half a bowl of JackKnife Plug... I suggest that you only get this blend if you know you can handle really strong tobacco

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	itsKoit (5)	2012-03-22		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

Deep, dark, and rich! Not for the feint at heart. But for those looking for something that is a full, hearty tobacco look no further! The virginas used are deep and complex and the Kentucky leaf added only serves to add more rich complexity. It is a mildly sweet tobacco, though not in a candy sense, but like others have noted like a good pork barbecue. Seems crazy, I know, but give it a try!

As for preparing the plug itself, I tend to slice it thin. To keep it as a recognizable flake make sure your knife is good and sharp, no serrated blades for me, just keep constant direct pressure on the plug, no sawing here! Do this and you'll have some professional looking flakes Mr. Pease would be proud of!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Xeneize (275)	2012-03-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Jackknife Plug is easily the best tobacco among those which combine Kentucky with other leaves. I'm not prone to enjoy mixtures containing Kentucky, as I find it harsh, bitter and with a taste that casts a shadow over its companions. Mr. Pease has managed to find the perfect balance, so Kentucky interplays with the sweetness and subtleties of rich Virginias for a complex smoke.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-02-03		Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

This tobacco is like a big meal. A big meal you ate on a ferris wheel- gives me the spins summin fierce, without inhaling. Definitely not an all day smoke for me, but a really nice treat every once in a while. It's kinda oily and will leave a little gunk in your pipe, but not like a cheap aromatic. Buttery, steak-y, leathery, savory, and every now and then, just a teensy bit of that "Virginia sweetness." Like a movie where every time you watch it, you notice something you didn't before. Just love this stuff. I smoke it sliced thin and rubbed shaggy, usually out of a no name meerschaum lined Tanzanian straight billiard. The smoke it produces is dense and creamy, and won't bite you if it's savored and sipped. Room note is like pure big stinky cigar, which I would love, the ladies maybe not so much. I have witnessed it wrinkle and few female noses. I like it when they do that though, it's always cute

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-12-08		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong

At first I wasn't getting everything I wanted out of this tobacco, but since then I have let it age for a few months. I know find it much more mellow and smooth tasting. I will defiantly buy more and let them age. It goes very well with briar or cob. The only downside is my girlfriend gives it a bad rating on the room note.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-11-22		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium	Unnoticeable

I've found some blends too strong on the stomach when others have described a good dose of nic. I found this one a little uneasy on the stomach so I blended it with about 25% mild black cavendish. The blending turned it into a very enjoyable smoke.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kokinhenik (93)	2011-10-10		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Four stars. Will add more later...need to take a nap now after that nice nic hit.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Käpt`n Cook (17)	2011-09-19		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

G.L.Pease, a legend of Tobacco blending. It`s always a happy day for me to smoke a new blend from him. This year he made two VA/Perique/Kentucky Plugs. The first I tried was the Jack Knife Plug. The Plug is not very hard pressed,so it is no problem to handle. The Plug is middle Brown and looks very appetizing. The tobacco is easy to smoke and burns very well. The taste of Jack Knife Plug is very creamy and powerfull. Sweet,sour,fruity in a perfect balance. Jack Knife is for me a great blend - highly recommend!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-07-28		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

This one just hit the bullseye for me all around the house. I guess I would compare it to a good strong cup of black coffee in the morning. A nice dark earthy flavor with maybe an occasional sweet overtone in back, balanced by the pepper-like spice of the Kentucky. A whopping but not overwhelming dose of vitamin N. The plug format is quite enjoyable although it does take a couple extra moments to prepare... that may be part of the allure for me. I feel like I've been laying it a bit heavy on the four star reviews lately, but I just don't feel right about giving this one anything less. Well done Mr. Pease.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	tomobedlam (16)	2011-07-23		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Love it. This is a lot like their Cumberland blend. I mean almost exactly like to my taste. Which is great because that is at the top of my list of favorites. Cumberland that you can play with!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2011-05-30		Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I don't know why, but I feel like I'm sitting with Robert E Lee around the camp fire with my cob and some "Jackknife plug". A strong, mellow, cigar taste. Just a hint of sweetness and chocolate. Just slow sipping. "Private, bring me a cup of coffee". Nice baccy. To prep, I find it best to first reduce the thickness of the plug by pulling it in half, then with a sharp chef's knife and a cutting board shave off thin slices. I tried 1/8" cubes but they were too hard to keep lit. Don't try to puff on this it will turn "metallic" tasting ( that's how I describe the taste I get from overheated Burley ?). Not an everyday smoke

Updated 8/20/11 I'm smoking my second tin and I may have been wrong saying this was not an everyday smoke. I'm looking to place this in my rotation as it is a nice break from the Vir/ VaPer/latakia blends. . I have to move this to 4 stars

Updated 10/29/11 Update ; Seriously, after working with this blend for a number of months and a few tins, it has some disappointments. This has to be smoked in a heavy brier and only at a smoldering sip. Otherwise, it will bite and get that "metallic" burley taste, I find this more on the burley side than Virginia . This tobacco just requires too much attention for a not so exciting experience, also rub out the plug and allow this tobacco to breath in the tin for about a week before smoking. I am reducing this to 3 stars. I found the same issue with C&D's "Briar Fox". I agree with much of reviewer "Kilmarnock Piper" above

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SmokeKing David (134)	2011-05-27		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Full	Tolerable

Lots of natural tobacco flavor. I agree with Bulldog Jeff that this tobacco is reminiscent of a good cigar; not the aroma of a cigar, but rather the unadulterated nature of this blend. This plug-style concoction reminds me also of Cornell & Diehl's Briar Fox, but with the added depth of dark Kentucky leaf.

Govern Yourself Accordingly

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-05-10		Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable

I've smoked a couple tins of this plug so far and have enjoyed every smoke whether it's rubbed out, or cubed. It seems that cubed works best for me. Very wholesome tobacco here. A wonderfully hearty tobacco flavor. I think old school, fronteirsman when I'm smoking this blend. Kind of like what it must have been like before they started flavoring tobacco for smoking. I even went as far as to cube a whole third of a plug and put it in a pouch and carried it around for days. Yes it did dry out some but then that makes it blossom when the match does its dance over it. This plug is no joke and not for the beginner.smoked s-l-o-w-l-y i find this blend rewarding any time of day even for the first smoke of the day! A full FOUR Stars here for sure.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-04-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

An unexpected luxury. Full of rich earthy tobacco flavor, yet mellow enough to be completely enjoyable. I have tried it a few ways. Cubed into a big billiard is my favorite so far. A slight nutty flavor from the burley, sweetened by the virginias and rounded to its full robustness by the kentucky leaf. Smokes like a cigar, only without the "stinkiness" of a cigar. Each sip is full of rich smooth luxurious unmolested tobacco flavor. I thought I was just going to try this one tin and let it pass, but I actually think I may keep some of this on hand.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-03-24		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Well this is what it's all about. Great taste , good vitamine N shot and burn to ashes without any problem at all .

That said i cut it the thinnest i can as to get so to say a shaggy cut . Thickly cut it was smooth but had to relight too often. When i ribbon cut it or cube cut it it was smoother but lacked taste a bit then i cut it the thinnest i could and got a smooth , tasty and good burning tobacco .

I love Cumberland but this one is in a certain way smoother.

GLP did again a great job !!!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-03-11		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is my first experience with a plug tobacco and I was very impressed. I am not a big Virginia or Burley fan, but this is one of the more flavorfull blends of that nature I have tried. Very smokey and complex with a nice balance of sweetness (without overwhelming). In full disclosure, I am not a hardcore smoker and the nicotine content in this blend is a little overwhelming for me. I can't smoke more than a single bowl at a time.

I've tried smoking this all three ways (shag, ribbon rubbed and cube). They all have their own progression of flavor. Of the three, I prefer the shag. It really emphasised an almost Perique peppery flavor that I really enjoyed.

I hear that GL Pease is going to be doing more blends in a plug. I look forward to that as well as smoking this blend once it has aged a while.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-03-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

After reading the glowing reviews of this weed, I had to try some. Yowser. This is indeed one special fudge brownie.

Earthy, smokey(without latakia), flavorful and cigar-like, with a fairly strong nic hit to boot.

I didn't notice much flavor changing through the bowl, this is a more homogeneous taste, which in this case, is not a bad thing.

JNP tastes more like a fine cigar than any of the cigar leaf pipe blends I've tried.

Destined for greatness. A real masterpiece.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	UncleGar (110)	2011-03-05		Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I am a fan of Kentucky leaf and sorely miss Orlik's Dark Kentucky Flake (though not so much its licorice). I've long awaited the day when Greg would push aside the perique and latakia to focus on this underutilized leaf in a creative way. That he did.

As stated by him and of course echoed by previous reviewers, preparation and pipe enter into the experience of JKP's enjoyment. The decision of a plug was his stroke of genius: ALL tobaccos rely on preparation and choice of pipe; we just tend to forget that and blithely do what we always do. But a brown bar staring back at us forces us to consider just what the hell we're going to do about it and accept a conscious responsibility for our enjoyment. It starts with getting to play with knives. (Great tin art, by the way.)

Me, I like dicing it. I like my smokes a bit on the moist side and this cut helps maintain an even level of flavorful steam. A shag cut would pack too densely or else burn too fast.

As to the bowl, it came as no surprise to me that a corn cob with no prior memories of latakia worked perfectly. Burley blends always seem to like cobs and this was no exception.

It seems odd to describe a taste by using a color (dark), but that's how coffee roast tastes are described, also brown sugar, chocolate, rum, even poultry meat. Kentucky leaf is the molasses cookie of tobaccos and what I like most about JKP. Not all of it is Kentucky, of course, Virginia is present to sweeten it. (Ironically, to acidify it in a chemical sense.)

I also like the fact that I didn't have to wait for this blend to age, unlike many Pease blends. There seems to be a culture assigned to this blend in particular to obtain mass quantities to hoard for aging. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest maybe JKP won't necessarily improve much and perhaps backfire. Esoterica's Stonehaven, a blend I'd compare this to, lost much of its flavor spectrum during six years I cellared it. (Though fundamentally different, Penzance did too.) Time will tell with JKP. Compressed tobacco is a different environment for aging processes than loose or exposed leaf.

I didn't expect this to become a regular with me; I don't have the tolerance for nicotine others have. Because of its ritualistic preparation, JKP is kind of a novelty for when I have the time and place for it. Nevertheless, I will always want a chunk available. Thank you, Greg, for giving us something to ponder and for the leaf choice.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-03-05		Strong	None Detected	Very Full	Strong

This is a very good, strong tobacco. Rich, dark, fig, prune, and smokey smell upon opening the tin. It is harsh at first smoke. It improves considerably with even as much as a month of shelving. The powerful peppery flavor smooths out and is much more enjoyable.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Capt (339)	2011-02-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

If the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man smoked a pipe, this would be his blend. Rough and rugged in the tin, yet gentle on the tongue and full of flavor. It reveals a different flavor profile for each different way it is prepared. I recommend stocking up on this, it seens with any great blend, it always disappears. Congrats to you Greg, you have done well........

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-02-06		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I had my first foray with the plug this Super bowl morning. It has been open for a couple weeks now as I received it as a sample from pipe smoking buddy. I do have about 4 tins stashed away that I wish to age however.

I began by slicing the plug into smaller "Penzance" size slices and folding it into a Mario Grandi bent apple that I have not really dedicated nor smoked all that frequently. Perhaps I was taking a chance that this tobacco would burn hot with only the carbon treatment in the bowl such as is found with newer pipes. I went this route however because I knew the pipe not to have ghosts from previous smokes with other essence that might creep in and cloud my judgement . The tobacco lit well initially and with a nice creamy billowing cloud of smoke. It was however a bit moist on the way down and I did encounter quite a few relights which leads me to think that my idea of aging this is spot on. Pease does tend to have a fairly high amount of moisture in his tobaccos but that is not necessarily a bad thing if prepared correctly. As for the taste, it has an earthy, natural flavor with deeper undertones not unlike I find when smoking brown flakes (Only no lakeland here) it has an occasional brighter sweet taste coming into the mix as well as bit of a peppery spice about mid bowl not unlike what a mild dosing of perique would give but this does not have perique. I imagine that interplay was due to the Kentucky leaf that is within. I also got a bit of nutty burley flavor as well as clove undertones but not too much. It did not move around too much and was relatively steady flavor wise and certainly did not bite or overheat my bowl. I eventually dumped the remainder of the leaf because it was just a bit too moist at the bottom of the bowl to continue. Pretty much just pure tobacco flavor as far as I am concerned. It has sufficient nicotine but no where near what you would find ina 1792 or Irish flake. I would put it more along the lines of FVF in that department.

I look forward to trying this in the future as the natural aging processes do there thing. This should be a good one to store up just as it's brother Union Square is.

I do recommend this to others. It should only improve with age and at that time I will update this review. For now 3.5 due to the moisture content.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Hrhead (6)	2021-10-20		Medium to Strong	Strong	Full	Tolerable

My first smoke with this was amazing and it's one of the most consistent tobaccos I've smoked. I cut it fairly thin, rub it out, pack it average tightness.

At first I find it a bit harsh, but it settles down and sings the last 2/3 of the bowl. Bready flavors and occasional fruit flavors dominating... A complex tobacco that presents different dominant flavors in waves. After it settles down you can get a bit of smokey roundness from the DFK.

I like to chooch along too and this plays well with my cadence. Apart from maybe a bit of harshness after an overly aggressive relight (which is almost never needed), this is just smooth goodness.

It's hard to compare this to other VaBurs. All the flavors smoother and more complex than most. It stand on it's own for me. Delicious down to the last puff.

I do prefer a 9mm charcoal filter most of the time and this is no exception.

Pipe Used: Savinelli Roma Lucite 707

Age When Smoked: 2 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Poodlejuice (51)	2021-07-03		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I'm not the biggest fan of the GLP plugs. They're not steam pressed, so they tend to come apart horizontally, or just all together flake apart. For this reason Ive taken to doing all the chopping right after opening the tin. Not a big deal, just thought it was worth mentioning. Moisture level is a bit high, nothing 30 mins of air time won't fix though. Tin note is like a slightly smokey, ketchup.

This blend reminds me exactly of a nice piece of home baked bread with lox (smoked salmon). It's also a bit cigar-like in body and mouthfeel. There's tons of super-bready red Virginia notes, lots of savory hickory woodsmoke, lovely floral notes, a nice rounded backbone of dry cocoa, earth, ketchup, molasses, worcheschire, black peppercorn, and something of a mineral note on the finish. Has a very dry mouthfeel, yet also provides a bit of brown sugary sweetness at the same time. Doesn't develop much as the bowl burns. Burns well with minimal fuss if cut somewhat small-ish. Nicotine is on the medium/strong side. If you like your smokes savory, you must try this. If your a dark fired fanatic like me, you must try this. The huge red-virginia character makes me think this would age well too.

Pipe Used: Billiards

Age When Smoked: Fresh

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LiterarySmoker (143)	2021-05-02		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I had heard a lot about Jack Knife Plug, its strength and its taste, and it sounded wonderful. I've even been eyeing a tin at my local for a while now but I just wasn't sure. Much like Quiet Nights actually, which I'll pick up this week while I think of it. As I've explored the range and depth of Dark Fired Kentucky and found that I really like it, I decided to finally get a tin. It was worth it.

The tin has some simple art on it: a plug that has been cut with a knife. When you open the tin, there is a nice brownie sized plug that has shades of brown and rich earth. If I put my nose to the tin I smell bready and fruity Red Virginias, some citrus and hay from the Flue Cured, and earthy, woody, nutty, spicy Dark Fired Kentucky.

This being a plug and not a crumble cake, a knife is the tool of choice. I like to use a very sharp butchers knife to cut my plugs because the weight of the blade helps cut through the dense plug. That being said this is a little more loosely packed than Peterson's 3P. After slicing off a thick flake I prefer to cube cut and then gravity feed. It's not too moist but it does take some time to get it lit especially when cube cut. It may need a few relights throughout.

The first thing I taste is Dark Fired Kentucky. It's barbecue spicy, earthy, and nutty. This slightly reminds me of mesquite barbecue, that woody, smokey spice. Next I taste the Red Virginias which are herbal, fruity and sour. Every now and again I hit a burst of Flue Cured and citrus and sweetness comes through. What is interesting is how your smoke changes throughout the bowl.

The taste is a medium-full, it's a great taste but it doesn't overpower you. The strength is a medium-strong. The DFK in this blend knocks it up a notch and I can feel it if I haven't eaten. The room note is probably tolerable at best for those who don't smoke. This is the definition of a nice relaxing smoke, from cutting the flake to finishing the bowl I've enjoyed every second of it. Which is also true of GLP's Gaslight plug. Once I figured out not to rip off a layer and smoke pure Latakia that is.

Really enjoyable and highly recommended to fellow DFK lovers.

Pipe Used: Kaywoodie Birkshire Large Billiard

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: B&M

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Antonius Blok (192)	2020-08-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

A very flavorful and robust blend of Virginia and Kentucky and one of my favorites from G.L. Pease. Forget the usual Dark Fire Kentucky used by other brands. This is something else. I have heard some older pipe smokers say that tobaccos in the past were much better than they are now. I cannot affirm or disprove that opinion because the oldest tobacco I have ever smoked was from the 1990s. What I do dare to say is that today some tobaccos of such high quality are manufactured that they make me feel fully satisfied when I smoke them, as well as very grateful for their existence. This is one of those tobaccos...

Pipe Used: Pipe Rattray's Butcher's Boy N°23

Age When Smoked: 5 and 6 years

Similar Blends: Cornell & Diehl's Sansepolcro bears an interesting resemblance, although in this case it has a cigar leaf added..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PaulyMcBee (3)	2020-02-03		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Strong

Moist, semi-firm plug in pop top can. Rich barnyard aroma from tin. Flavours commensurate with the darkness of the plug. Handle this gently or it will smack you with a cloud of intensity. As a novice pipe smoker, I had to take care and go slow with this one. This tastes like a solid, no nonsense and heady tobacco with no fluff.

Pipe Used: MM cob

Age When Smoked: new from tin

Purchased From: Cup O' Joes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cam91 (23)	2019-11-15		Very Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Holy moly this has a lot of nicotine. And I smoke haunted bookshop and old Joe Krantz all day long. This does not have anywhere near as much flavor as I expected. Old Dark Fired is the only other Kentucky blend I have smoked, and this tastes nothing like it. The Virginias are too young, and at these prices I shouldn't have to age this. But it shows some real potential. I guess I recommend this. It is definitely a smooth smoke. Mostly somewhat grassy notes with a slight nutty spiciness. Two and a half stars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	lsfire (5)	2018-12-06		Extremely Mild	None Detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Very Pleasant

I failed to find any discernable flavor at all. I had a hard time keeping it lit. Good room note. Moisture level was good from the tin.

Pipe Used: Various

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Little Steven (76)	2016-08-24		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Unnoticeable

This nigh on the perfect smoke for me. High quality, deeply satisfying.

What it lacks is a bit of flavour. Probably because it's unadulterated.

If I could combine the metallic saltiness of MacBarens Bold Kentucky with the satisfaction of JackKnife, this would be a good thing!

Update 15/10/16. I was so taken by this one that I bought another drum at great expense - the costliest tobacco I've ever bought. This time Jack Knife is a bland brown also ran.

I'm hugely disappointed. I won't bother again.

Pipe Used: Stanwell billard.

Age When Smoked: Fresh and a year and a half.

Purchased From: Gauntley's of Nottingham.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	beercritic (33)	2014-08-07		Medium to Strong	Strong	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Am I in love with this? No. Will I get a couple tins to cellar? Yes. This blend is too one-dimensional. If I'm wanting a one-dimensional plug that reminds me faintly of cigars, I'm currently grabbing Peterson's Perfect Plug. If I want Kentucky (I live in KY), I'll grab some of my bulk Mac Baren Old Dark Fired. Now I love the Pease Gaslight,but my grail, after several months piping, is Captain Earl's Ten Russians. This, will no doubt,grow on me, but pcurrently, it isn't grabbing me like it should. Kendal Brown twist also provides a nice N kick.

Pipe Used: briar & cob

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Purchased From: pipesandcigars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-12-19		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I may be one of the few people that likes triple play as much/ more than this one. But I may have turned a corner. I've discovered that if I really let this one dry out I enjoy it more. With the triple play blend I'm maybe less sensitive to the moisture content. If you try jack knife and it seems a bit flat let it dry more and try again, perhaps you'll have better results like I did. Good luck.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	doc'spipe (242)	2012-01-15		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Just to let the reviewer before me know that most of the reviews of this tobacco (50 as of this writing) are listed under G L Peases's New World Collection. Enjoy the reviews!

ORIGINAL REVIEW 1-31-11, listed under New World Collection: Jackknife Plug: I managed to purchase two tins of Jack Knife Plug from an online vendor when all others were out of it. I paid $3 more per tin than the going rate at other sites. Both my tins were dated 1-24-11.

Upon opening the tin, there was no detectable casing or top dressing tin note - just a mild tobacco smell. I was actually expecting something stronger. It is a fairly easy plug to work with - if you want to call it a plug as it was more cake-like and unappealing. It breaks apart easily if you are so inclined not to use a knife (just tear it). All said, I'm not a fan of how the plug is packed as once it is cut, it has a tendency to break apart into mini-like like pieces that resemble fairly large fish flakes. I say this as I prefer my flakes to have been tighter pressed under pressure. I chose a meer-lined briar for the occasion - one that I reserve for more natural Virginia or Burley tobaccos. It took to the match with moderate ease and required one or two relights along the way. It burned fairly well - most likely due to the fact that it wasn't pressed as a very dense brick. Overall, it was very easy to prepare for smoking.

Before smoking JKP, I thought it would be like Irish Flake, one of my top favorites, but there is no flavoring like with IrF, but its "punch" is stronger - and it can creep up on you with the tendency to smoke it fast for more flavor. The Kentucky leaf made itself known, although it was too harsh for my liking (and I enjoy Kentucky leaf). Not as good as I thought it would be (considering all the hype). As stated - a bit too harsh for my liking and with little natural sweetness. Actually, pretty flavorless. I prefer IF over this one.

UPDATE 12-30-11: What little flavor there is (very little for me) after letting this sit in its opened tin for nearly one year needs to be coaxed with very slow sipping. After all is said and done, still holding at 2 stars. Still have 2 unopened tins. By the way, there was some tobacco bailing wire embedded in the plug of tobacco - good thing it wasn't a brownie!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-01-02		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

I skipped the plug form of this and bought the "Ready Rubbed" release. I can't compare the two, save for my assumption that this one is easier to prepare, but the flavors and strength are fantastic. Sweetness, but not overwhelming, married with an intense body and deep flavor.

This one seems to be aging quite well, too, as every time I go back to it, it seems to improve.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-10-01		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Better than triple play and like it will let it age for a while.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-09-09		Medium	Mild	Mild	Unnoticeable

I'm sure this won't be a popular opinion and I don't like to be the first reviewer to start off this string with a so-so review but here goes anyway. I have smoked several of G.L. Pease's blends and I am about to break into my second one of Jackknife Plug and I have to admit it is a fair tobacco but only that. Fair.I know that this will come as a sort of slightly blasphemous statement to all the diehard Pease fans but that is how this blend affected me. Good even at times but not great. Does it lack something? I don't know. Maybe. I am not that much of an expert having only smoked Virginia blends and Virginia/Perique blends since 1973 so I may be wrong in my assessment. I didn't notice any flavorings and to me that is a good point and I don't give a rat's patootie about the room note so that's irrelevant to me.The "flavor" is a good medium strength and somewhat enjoyable use of the time smoking but to me there is no "Wow" factor in this blend. Would I buy more of it? Probably not unless it was seriously discounted pricewise. Do I reccomend it to the committed Pease fans? Sure do. I just don't believe I'm one of them.I'll keep on trying Pease blends though in hopes of becoming a true-believer someday and maybe one day? All those singing the fulsome praises for Pease blends must be enjoying something I apparently have missed out on. Who knows? It could happen.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-07-09		Very Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I prefer mine well rubbed out and quite dry. Burns a little faster, but you get more flavor and more nicotine with less effort.

When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-05-10		Mild	Medium	Medium	Pleasant

This blend, while young, shows great promise. Out of the can, it smokes with notes of pepper and key lime. great, long lasting mouth flavor. No bite. I like this blend cube cut. I have no doubt, this precossious blend, will mature into a great smoke. I will stash a few cans to age.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-04-22		Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Good tobbaco,Fair taste and burn qualities but nothing to get all that excited about. Crumbled the whole plug not bothering to go to the trouble of slicing it. i really on' see what all the hoopala is about though.Have tried several of the Pease blends and the same reaction to them all. Probably just me but I've yet to become worshipful Pease fan especially considering the prices.Glad to see ohers love it so much and maybe litle aging will improve this somewhat.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	HokieGeek (23)	2011-03-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Well, based on the tin note, I was ready to buy half a dozen of these plugs. It smells so very good! Now, as a caveat, when I had my first (and only) bowl of this, I had just some Iwan Ries VA flake not 2 hours before. Perhaps that affected my palate, but I found this to not be all that great. I mean, it wasn't bad and I have already bought another tin to let age, but I wouldn't put it up as one of my top smokes. I'll have to revisit this review after a few more bowls of this. For now, maybe I'll just sniff it often! :)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2011-02-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

like any tobacco, what you get out of it depends so much on the pipe and the place and conditons under which you smoke it. for example, i smoke it at home in a controlled evironment in a particular pipe which just seems to highlight any tobacco and it is a 4*. but on the golf course in a different pipe and certainly not the same condtions as my basement, it is completely different. this is the same for any tobacco. if i go to the beach and i have some salt air, they all react differntly. so when i see the comments about this or that it really doesn't mean all that much to me because i don't know where it was smoked, in what it was smoked and any of the other variables. yikes.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Quiggifur (99)	2023-02-22		Strong	None Detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

20230313 edit: i still don't love the fit and finish of the plug, but I'm really enjoying this, not really over analyzing it this time around. Among the stronger tobaccos, this may be one of my favorites, more flavor than a plain DFK (not to mention burley), and certainly way more nicotine than most plain Virginias or VaPers. At least as much as i want, possibly more. --- I'm getting what I like out of the red Virginia here, maybe dark stewed fruit, and just the barest hint of barbecue from the DFK. The plug was incredibly dry and starting to separate, not ideal. Mildly sweet. Very spicy, retrohaling any quantity causes a sharp burning sensation, definitely one to sip slowly. After hydrating the tobacco in the bowl with my breath, and a good tamp, it was somewhat tamed.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JaWiBr (563)	2022-11-22		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

Tin note of barbeque, spices, and Rasins. Tobacco is a simi-dense plug, needs cut with a razor or thin sharp knife. Moisture is slightly high, may need a little drying, rubs out with a little effort. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is medium to strong and nic is medium. No flavoring detected. Taste is full and consistent, with notes of strong wood, floral, dry herbal, spicy, earth, bread, mild roasted nuts, mild ripe fruit, mild sweet grass, mild lemon, and a moderate peppery retro. The Kentucky is leading with Virginias supporting. Room note is strong, and aftertaste is excellent.

Pipe Used: Wally Frank Limited White Bar Sandblast 128

Age When Smoked: 4 years

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kal (4)	2022-07-04		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable to Strong

Pleasantly sweet, spicy, fruitful. My 3rd favorite from G.L. Pease With sparkplug being my favorite. I get no bite, burns fantastic and slow. A great outdoors smoke. 4 stars and highly recommend.

Pipe Used: Savinelli large bowls

Age When Smoked: 1 yr

Purchased From: Tobacco pipes

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Voyaging (80)	2022-02-26		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

The plug is neat and beautiful, a bit loose like the others from GLP and C&D. Still a true plug. It has some of that fermented fruit smell from the Virginias. There's kind of a musty peanut buttery smell too. Slices well into broken flakes.

The flavor is smokey, chocolatey, and nutty, and a touch of fruit and pepper here and there. A lovely buttery, salty, and bready flavor develops, with a mingling wineyness. It's never intense, and is mostly medium, at times gentle. The flavor is pretty consistent throughout the experience.

A note on the strength and nicotine in this blend - to me, it's not strong, which surprised me based on the other reviews. I put it at medium, but that's me smoking relatively slowly in not so big pipes. I put Navigator and Cumberland both higher in strength and nicotine. That being said, respect the blend and you should be fine and you'll probably enjoy it more. The taste is about medium as well. I would highly recommend to anyone that likes Dark-Fired Kentucky.

Pipe Used: Various briars

Age When Smoked: less than one year

Purchased From: 4noggins

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JKOD (30)	2021-05-11		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

This was my first attempt at a plug tobacco. A sharp knife makes for quick work and ability to make flakes any size you want. I do prefer it more thin, but not quite shag.

I went after this one primarily because of the strength. Perhaps for a lightweight it will get your attention, but as a long time cigar smoker this is only so-so on the nic for me.

Flavor wise this one is interesting, perhaps because of the way I cut or load the pipe, but I do get one flavor to the next rather than a more blended taste. So, I’m either smoking Kentucky or a Virginia with each puff it can be different. Speaking in thirds, the middle third is my favorite on this smoke as it’s pretty rich and leans more on the Kentucky, at least on my taste buds. There is a faint spice feeling as well, but every once in a while a sweet Virginia peels through for a visit. It’s quite nice.

I don’t smoke this one often, maybe a couple times a month at best. I have to be in the right mood to smoke this blend. A better evening smoke and maybe more for cooler temps. That said, I’ll likely buy 4-5 tins of this that should last me well into the future and give me an opportunity to have age on some as people seem to rave a bit more about it after a few years. Easily a three star blend, don’t smoke it enough for a four.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	awt (20)	2020-08-13		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Right now my favourite is GLP Westmister but for a change of pace a bowl or two of JK is perfect. In fact I am worried that Westwinster will slowly become the "change of pace"... let's see. How can it be possible that after almost 50 years of EM I am tempted for Virginia Flake and Kentucky? A short note, I live in Italy and we used to rub a Toscano cigar and mix with Virginias or EM. JK is reminding me this just much less rough. Fine cut in small bowls please . Slightly drier then right of the tin. enjoy

Pipe Used: dunhills, barling's, meerschaum small bowls

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: CH

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrT999 (318)	2020-07-28		Strong	None Detected	Full	Tolerable

The best way to describe this VA-Ky blend is earthy. There is a sweet undertone that seems to come from the blend as opposed to any topping. Prepping is a bit of a pain, and if you leave it too chunky it will need a few relights. A strong if easy smoke, but not a multiple-per-day smoke except for the most hardy. Probably more of an autumn blend than a summer one.

Pipe Used: cobs

Age When Smoked: 8.5 years

Purchased From: Mars

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Badmedicine (51)	2020-02-02		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Full	Strong

After delaying for quite a while, I finally gave this a try, after a few modifications. After experiencing Dan's Salty Dogs, I've gotten a bit spoiled by the dense, hard, neat European plugs. They just cut so much better, more like whittling thin shavings from a wood block. American plugs... Not so much. I find they tend to be too soft and ragged to cut precisely. To that end, here's what I did to Jackknife before I ever put a match to it. First, I cut the block into four equal chunks. This makes portioning easier later, but isn't absolutely essential. Place an 84% Boveda pack in the tin with it, and seal it up for two weeks. Yes, it's too wet to be smokeable when it's first opened anyway, but just trust me. It will swell and become saturated. Then, place it between two wood shims (I just happened to have a flat cigar box lid I sawed in half for this purpose) and clamp it in the strongest vice you can find. Crank it as tight as you possibly can, then get your burley neighbor Olaf Svensson to give it a few more turns. You want it to start weeping moisture. Place it in a sealed space with some source of humidity. I have a large humidor to kept it in, but a cooler with a few Boveda packs will work fine. Leave it for at least a month, checking it once a week and tightening the vice as much as you can each time. After the allotted month, you will be left with a chunk roughly 1/3rd its original thickness, and as hard as a piece of melamine. Now, it can successful be wittled and smoked whenever you want. Now, for the actual tasting notes: the primary tin note is woodsmoke, with a hint of hay. If you grew up in the country, you know this smell. When wittled into a fine shag with a very sharp knife (can't beat a Buck knife), it smokes very cool and without bite. The taste is primarily the hay-grass-and-nuts of a fine European Virginia, with a surprisingly subdued backbeat of woodsmoke. I don't get much sweetness or tanginess from this one, more nuttiness and a slight umami note. The flavor is full, the nicotine content is getting there (7/10, 1 being 1-Q and 10 being Brown Irish Twist), and a narrow bowl is ideal. The room note is likely to be interpreted by either non-smokers or new Piper's as a strong cigarette. If you have the patience to prepare this (or to smoke raggedy chunks from the un-pressed block), it is worth the investment. If not, I understand there is a ready-rubbed version. I'd like to keep some on hand for when the mood strikes, but it isn't something I HAVE to have.

Pipe Used: Peterson 999, Charatan bent egg

Age When Smoked: 6 months, then 2 months of my own processing

Purchased From: B&M

Similar Blends: Ready-rubbed version.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tim (2)	2019-12-30		Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

My favorite pipe tobacco. I cut it a little thick and I don't rub it out too fine. That way it burns slow and I think it tastes better. I love the strong, changing, sweet and savory flavors, and I love the nic hit. It's not a working in the garden or shoveling the drive tobacco for me. It's a sit down, relax, and pay attention blend. I've got one tin open, three little bricks sitting in the cellar, and another half dozen on the way. I don't ever want to run out.

Pipe Used: various large cobs

Age When Smoked: new to 1 year

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