G. L. Pease Triple Play

(3.42)
Ripe red and bright flue cured tobaccos are joined by piquant Acadian perique and a balanced measure of smoky dark fired Kentucky. The leaf is pressed and matured in cakes before being cut into 2oz bars, resulting in a bold blend for Virginia and perique fans.
Notes: The second blend in the New World Series - Triple Play was introduced in May, 2011. From GL Pease: After the wonderful reception of JackKnife Plug, more than a few of you asked for a Virginia/perique plug. Some suggested adding perique to JackKnife, which, of course, I tried, but the balance was wrong. The overall profile was nice, but the amount of dark fired leaf competed with, rather than enhanced the addition of perique. If enough perique was added, the Virginias got lost. After some fiddling with the percentages of the different Virginias, and reducing the amount of dark fired leaf, everything came wonderfully into balance, and the result is Triple Play. Once again, the leaf is pressed and matured in cakes before being cut into 2oz bars. I think the results are fantastic, and this one will appeal to lovers of classic VA/perique blends, with the added fun of having it in plug form.

Details

Brand G. L. Pease
Series New World Collection
Blended By Gregory Pease
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type Virginia/Perique
Contents Kentucky, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Plug
Packaging 2 ounce tin, 8 ounce tin
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium to Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.42 / 4
42

26

8

1

Reviews

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Displaying 11 - 20 of 42 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 22, 2011 Very Strong None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
I liked, but did not love, Jack Knife Plug. I really liked the novelty of the plug and the process of preparing it to smoke, but I thought the blend was a bit overwhelming to be a regular smoke. I LOVE Triple Play. The addition of the Perique seems to make all the difference. It balances out the dark burley and seems to mellow the blend while adding a distinctive pungent flavor and it cools down the Virginias making this a wonderful smoke. This is a man's blend, but one that you can still smoke all day. It still has a pretty powerful nicotine kick, but nowhere near the nigh overwhelming kick to JKP.

The aroma in the tin is sweet and earthy with notes of dried fruit. The flavor is consistent from first light to the end of the bowl. The room note is pleasant although my wife said it reminded her of a cigarette (I lay that at the feet of the Burley content and my wife's hyper-sensitive nose). Nevertheless this has found its way into my top five blends.

I can't wait for more plug blends from G.L. Pease.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 01, 2020 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
So let's start with the basics -- this stuff is a nightmare to pack and load. The cake does not crumble, and if you try to break it up you get massive pieces of leaf that make quality packing challenging. So you cut it up with a knife into ribbons, but still have to slice and dice to get something manageable, working around all the stems that seem to be baked in. Ok, once you do that, you're left with a tremendously wet smoke, even after some drying time, and you're gonna need relights. It's really a pain in the a** presentation.

BUT, darn if it isn't a good flavor. Its got a light sweetness, huge body and depth, and a wonderful balance. The kentucky shines through without overpowering, providing a vinegar sweet "thickness" to the profile. Just a pleasant bit of spiciness, not enough to give me a nose tingle, and a great kick of vitamin N.

If you're willing to invest the time and get this stuff burning, its tremendously rewarding. I'm honored to light up a bowl of this every day.... and that smoke comes right after I curse it during packing and loading, and right before I crave it after I'm done. It gets better with age (my current tin has a year on it), and really shines after some jar time to rest. It's got a great every-day meaty balance -- you can focus on it and enjoy the complexity, or ignore it and read a book. Lovely. And cursed. And lovely.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 18, 2019 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Oh. My. God. Is this THE tobacco I was looking for? I can’t stop myself from writing a review after just 2-3 bowls of this... Starting point: I am a va/per and va/bur/ky lover, so this looks like an easy one to win... Opening and tin note: just another crumble cake, which I am not so enthusiastic about. But what I see here is something I remember seeing at a tobacco farm: BIG leaf pieces, and this is crucial for the smoking process. In fact, breaking the plug and filling the bowl is not neutral here, because the more you pinch and break, the more you realize that you will be smoking some puffs 80% perique, some puffs 80% burley... and this is magic! Everytime you fill a bowl you can predict (or look for) a peculiar taste-shape and predominance for that very singular bowl!

Smoking it is just perfect, few or no relights, evolutions and surprises from top to end, beautiful ash.

I understand why some may find TP “too tasty” or “too many things in one” or “too sweet and pungent”. I guess it requires your buds educated to VAs (red here, which I love and prefer), AND to burleys (the real PLUS in Triple Play imho) AND to perique.

I mean the Dark Fired KY here is THE game changer, for us va/per lovers always in search of a difference in so many similar market offers. And Pease here MAKES the difference 100% hands down! Think of a Solani 660 with a boost, of a Telegraph Hill with a solid ground floor, of an Old Gowrie pressed and enhanced to the millionth power...

Finally, let me wipe my eyes from tears of happiness and commotion for finding this treasure, and let me go ahead with other brands’ va/per/bur waiting to be opened from my cellar... hopefully I’ll get back and update this review with more comparisons and evaluations. Or rather I’ll be found in the cellar in despair, ranting for that last bowl of Triple Play which I’ll have hidden somewhere not to find myself without this nectar!!
Pipe Used: Ser Jacopo
Age When Smoked: 6 months
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 10, 2019 Very Strong None Detected Very Full Tolerable to Strong
I bought a tin of Triple Play several years ago as an extra tack-on to another order. It was a G.L. Pease blend I had not tried, and I typically enjoy most all of his blends. I didn't get around to smoking any until recently. As expected, I found it to be a most excellent smoke. It reminds me of Jack Knife Plug a great deal. Except, without the smokiness. That is my initial impression. It's Jack Knife Plug without the smokiness. Or at least the same degree of it. Jack Knife Plug is one of my favorites from Pease. It is a wonderful silky delicious celebration of what pure tobacco can be. This has that same pure deliciousness of exceptional pure tobacco flavor as well. It is very good. Pease has a way of giving his blends a character, smoothness, and subtle touch that few others can. This blend is a superb example of his subtle touch. The constituent parts aren't any different from dozens of other similar blends, and yet it stands apart. Triple Play doesn't seem to get much attention, but it should. Purists will find it to be one of the finest examples of pure tobacco flavor out there. I detected no bite, no burn, nothing unappreciative at all in smoking this blend. The experience was purely pleasurable once the charring light was completed.
Pipe Used: Savinelli
PurchasedFrom: Pipes and Cigars online
Age When Smoked: 1-2 years
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 18, 2018 Mild to Medium Mild Mild Pleasant
Triple Play is a nice change of pace from other VaPer or VaBur blends. The uniqueness come from the Dark Fired Kentucky. It really add a different dimension to basic VaBur. And the added Perique is just the right amount of spice. It is Like a nice grilled steak. It hits all three bases, Virginia, Perique, and Burley. Have had this many times over the years and it never misses. I cut a 1/4 inch flake that I cube cut and slightly rubb out.
Pipe Used: GPSS POTY Moretti
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes
Age When Smoked: 18 months
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 29, 2017 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Tolerable to Strong
I got this as a sample from a UK pipe-friend! Before reading about it on here, I diddn't knew this was based/inspired by JackKnife Plug, a plug I like a lot!

My sample came already cut and rubbed out finely, so I can't comment on the plug itself. But the colors are black, dark brown and few red-brown tones. Triple Plays scent is ripe dark, and slightly sour fruits, decent woodsy smokiness and some earthiness. Almost a bit offensive, due to the intense aroma of both the Perique and dark fired leaf, but intriguing for the lover of a hearty smoke.

And hearty is also the aroma when smoked. ripe stoved- and dark fruits by the Perique and Virginias with a slight sweetness dominate the flavor, especially on first puffs, before the dark fired leaf kicks in. The dark fired Kentucky is added in just the right portion, GL Pease naile it here. It adds a rich earthiness, smokiness and wood and takes its share in the flavor-profile to take an equal portion (taste-wise) as the Perique and Virginias. There's also a minor nuttiness, and some grassy notes by times.

This isn't a "Va/Per spiced with Kentucky" nor a "Va/Ky spiced with Perique", but a TRIPLE PLAY! Even tho I guess Virginias are most, then Perique and at last Kentucky in the mixing ratio, all three ingridients take a similar share in the flavor. This is "Virginias, Kentucky and Perique" whilst most Va/Per/Ky (or as I call it "Trinity of tobacco blending"..) use one of the two (Perique OR Kentucky) for spicing the blend!

Decently spicy, some boldness in there, but not overwhelming in strenght. Medium to strong, but a solid medium in strenght for the Aficionado of a hearty, stronger smoke. Very digestible. What can I say? I LOVE IT! I love a lot of Va/Per/(dark fired)KY blends, but Triple Play is in the Top-3 list. Burns cool and slow and makes for a long smoking session even though my sample was rubbed out to shag-like cut!

Chapeau to GL Pease...this is my second GL Pease blend (JackKnife being the other) and I'm deeply impressed...those are some serious tobacco blending skills! 4/4 stars....I NEED to get more of this....ASAP!!!! 😉

Edit: I wrote an in-depth review with pictures of it in english language on: http://tabak-pfeife.com/index.php/tabak/sonstige-tabake/65-triple-play-gl-pease
Pipe Used: Clay & Briar Pipes
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
CTS
Nov 19, 2014 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
Rich, full flavors from the onset. Strength builds through the bowl. Black pepper and savory flavors are present, with a touch of saltiness to round out the profile. Strength never overshadows the richness of the blend. Very well formulated! Does well in a small bowl, when slightly rubbed out to small to medium sized flakes. 4*.
Pipe Used: Willmer Lightweight
PurchasedFrom: Gifted from BOTL - Thanks again Rick!
Age When Smoked: Unknown.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 03, 2014 Strong None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
My favorite of the Kentucky blends I've tried. Pease could have phoned this one in by just sprinkling some Perique into Jack Knife Plug, but he did it right and absolutely nailed it.

This is one of only a few that can stop me in my tracks when I catch a whiff of it walking past the "cabinet." Leather, figs and earth in the tin, with raisins and a vegetable note I can't place (fern?) in the background. Leave the tin open and you'll smell an ever-changing symphony.

The smoke is rich, leathery, and dark and has a healthy nicotine kick. (Pairs well with a Belgian white or German wheat beer.)

The pre-smoke ritual of cutting and rubbing a plug won't appeal to everyone, but when I'm in the mood to smoke this, I'm ready for full immersion and time to stand still. Only adds to the experience, imo. Keeps your skills sharp too.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 13, 2011 Strong None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
The plug is quite moist so cutting into flakes was difficult. I have settled on shaving thin slices and rubbing out. Its too moist straight out of the tin and I live in the tropics where tobacco doesn't dry out in the air. I pop the tobacco in the toaster oven for a couple of minutes to get it the spongey but springy state. It lights well and stays lit rubbed out. I tried it as cubes but it required too much attention. Flavors are very natural to me. The burly gives it a strong nutty taste, there are hints of sweet virginia and the spiciness comes in and out. It reminds my at times of Dorisco but not as spicy. I also suspect that Dorisco has a hint of Latakia which Triple Play certainly has not. This tobacco works for me sipping very slowly. Its at the upper levels of my nicotine tolerance. (I'm scared to smoke 1792 or Jack Knife Plug.) I'm going to buy a couple of tins to cellar.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 22, 2011 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant
Very nice. As advertized, Jack knife with some perique. I love Jack knife and dont feel the perique adds anything IMHO. Will stick with the original but will enjoy smoking this till its gone.

Update. Well blow me down. Now i like it as much as Jack Knife. Which one to smoke? Decisions, decisions!
4 people found this review helpful.
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