G. L. Pease JackKnife Plug

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.