G. L. Pease JackKnife Plug

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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