G. L. Pease Triple Play

I smoked a tin of the JackKnife plug a month or two ago and I really enjoyed it. As I was looking through the selections at my local b&m I noticed a few tins of this triple play, and based on hearsay online and the tin description, I thought it would make a good smoke.

When I opened my tin I saw a nice well pressed plug that keeps together fairly well. I good motley of colours between yellows and browns. The tin note smells of bready, fruity Red Virginias, earthy, nutty Dark Fired, and plummy Perique. I like to cube cut and gravity feed my plugs so that's what I did today. It takes a light pretty well and burns slowly. I don't think it needs it, but a few minutes of dry time never hurt anything if you decide to.

Once I get through my charring light I enter a delightful experience. The first thing that hits me is the Dark Fired similar to the JackKnife plug. I get a nice bit of Dark Fired BBQ spice rounded off by its nuttiness and earthiness. It's followed closely by the Red Virginias adding bread, wood, herbs, and hay. The plumminess from the smell of the Perique transfers well to the taste, it adds more dark fruit than spice in this blend. It's fairly complex.

I give the taste a medium-full. It coats your mouth with a delicious complexity without taking over. The strength is a medium-strong I haven't eaten and I feel it, but it's by no means forcing me into my chair. The room note is pretty standard for a VaPer so take that as you may. I think this is a nice, cool, slow burning smoke.

In spite of the fact that, if asked for my preference, would say that I usually prefer VA/Pers over VA/Burs, I've found that lately I am seeking out Burley blends. Chalk it up to a change of palate, or just a need to seek out new experiences. Whatever. I've been a fan of Jack Knife Plug for years...I don't know why I haven't thrown in my $.02 worth of it on this site. I mention this because I think one might describe this as a VA/Per version of JKP. Apparently Señor Pease was aiming for precisely that, and I, as an Average Joe pipe smoker with an informed but average tobacco palate, thinkk he nailed it. There were some loose prices in the tin. Instead of using them first, I cut off a ribbon-width slice, then rubbed it out slightly, leaving it a bit chunky, before packing the bowl. It lit easily and burned well. It's not the smoothest VA/Per. It's more spicy that fruity, and it has a that tingly, spicy bite (as opposed to the burn-y, unpleasant type of bite, which isn't a problem here). The Kentucky balances it out. The VAs tame things a bit, but are in the background (for me anyway). I wouldn't want to smoke this all day, but some nicotine hard heads might. Now, at the risk of being nit-picked because these two blends do not taste identical: if you enjoy Bayou Morning, as I do, but with some reservations, you might find Triple Play to be as good, if not better. I just checked the date on the tin: 2017!

Well it looks like I have finally reach my 100th review! I've been back from my hiatus for a few days since July 2020 and one of the last tins I got was Triple Play. What a good one to do my 100th review on!

This is a beefy plug. I get a heavy stewed tomato tin aroma with some moodiness.

This is the second plug I've ever messed with. The first few times a cut a flake the flavors were different every time, so to give it consistancy, I chopped up the whole damn thing and blended it all together.

This is a excellent blend. Its sweet, slighly smoky, woody, spicy, full bodied, and has a good amount of nicotine. Some cool, and clean with no bite at all. Its pretty wet so it will need some good drying time.

Definitely something worthy of good aging. Really isn't much else to say. It's a damn good smoke!

I really like plug tobaccos ever since my first one, I think it was an SG. Anyway, this one cuts well without breaking the whole plug apart, has a great burn and lasts long. Only a few relights. The taste is strong, full, nic hit not for beginners. For me the dark Kentucky stands out a little too much. Others may like this, depending on your preferences. Solid as always from GL Pease. Now how about a rope next time?

Presentation: The twin brother of JKP, this brownie looks almost identical. In my review of Jack Knife Plug, the plugs are not uniform in size dimensions. This plug is somewhat different in terms of appearance tobacco wise. The layers upon which Jack Knife Plug have, Triple Play seems to forego the uniform "sandwiching" in detectable constituents. From the eye, it seems that all the layers are equally spread out and cannot tell where each one is hiding.

Palate: Like Jack Knife Plug, this blend has a savory aroma or BBQ sauce, ketchup, pig roast, charred ribs. I do detect a more spicy scent due to the perique added and seems a bit more heavy in the smokiness. It's a complex blend and at times where I want to taste the dark fired burley and sweet reds, I'm overwhelmed by the perique, which sometimes overtakes the whole experience. It's spicy taste with a little sweetness that comes up here and there. I hardly detect the bright Virginias added. Not an all day blend, but can be smoked a few times in the day.

Performance: I also cut this blend into a fine shag as it releases all the flavors at once. Burns at a more than moderate pace with this method, but I prefer it this way. Medium to strong nicotine hit, depending on your tolerance.

Conclusion: I really wanted to like Triple Play as much as I liked JKP, but the perique in this blend takes away from the Virginias and already somewhat spicy dark fired burley. It's a good blend, but I think it jumps around what it comes to tasting what you want to taste. I'll enjoy it from time to time, but I probably won't be buying any more tins after I finish the other tin I have in my cellar. It's taken me more than a year to finish even half the plug. I haven't tried it fresh, but I could see this benefiting from age, just like JKP.