G. L. Pease JackKnife Plug

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.

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)

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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+*.

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