Dan Tobacco Salty Dogs

Dan’s Salty Dogs starts with a dense, Old School plug that’s along the lines of Peterson’s Perfect Plug. It’s dark and oily, sable brown with a few lighter striations. Initially, it smells of fragrant plum, prune and apricot fruit leather, with the aged, fermented tobacco brooding like leaf mold under that. The density of the plug makes preparation either a chore or a ritual, depending on one’s perspective and patience. Rolled and stuffed flakes are practically fireproof, also, IMO, the smoke I finally get from this approach is not the best of this blend. Likewise cubes, which seem to form a hot coal for the last part of the smoke. Although it’s “more work”, I prefer to slice the plug with a strong, super-sharp knife into about 1/16” thick flakes that I am careful to cut off a layered “edge” of the plug, so the broad and long face of the flake shows a layered cross section. Then I roll and spindle the tough, sticky flakes to rub them out into fluffier ribbons. After gently stuffing an old #4 Dublin with these ribbons, it still takes a while to get it thoroughly lit, then it burns down slowly, smoking profusely, with regular, gentle tamping and sometimes a little stirring at the bottom. Scents when it’s smoked this way are like a blooming, floral version of the plug scents, adding fragrant, mild baking spices of the sort I associate with long-aged Perique. Tastes track the scents, adding moldering hay, wheat bread, cut meadow grasses, figs, and dates, and it’s pretty consistent, top to bottom, except the intensity rises gradually from mild, through medium, toward strong/full in both strength and tastes over the course of the smoke. No surprise that the VAs and the Perique are tightly knit, given the density of the plug. It sours out of the blocks, and it actually took me a while before I first noticed that it’s also fairly sweet, with turbinado sugar and treacle. Room note is tolerable. Aftertaste is a lengthy, smokier continuation of the smoke.

I like Salty Dogs, though its best is hardly right there for the taking. It’s a quality offering, for sure, but it strikes me as better suited to experienced and/or patient VA/Per lovers. 4 stars, with noted reservations.

A plug that comes wrapped in what feels like 20 layers of plastic. Now that's an unusual presentation.

Once you manage to free it from it's pouch, you'll find yourself holding a small, rather dense brick of quality VaPer. Curiously, i always thought that the unlit tobacco smells very clearly like dark chocolate, but i wouldn't say this translates to the smoke very much.

You can prepare the tobacco in various ways. You could cut it into slices and treat it as a very compact flake cut. Or go one step further and make it into cube cut. If you want to take some time, you could eventually get it rubbed out into a more loose mixture as well, if you want something that'll burn a little quicker. The only thing i wouldn't advise is to bite off a bit and use it as a chew, like the description says. Mainly because unless you're a certain Bond villain, biting into this hard, dense brick of tobacco would likely cost you a couple of teeth.

Jokes aside, in terms of moisture, this blend comes pretty much ready to smoke. You could dry it a little bit, but then, you'd be trading an easier burn for a little less flavour.

How easy it is to light and how many relights it needs is largely dependent on how you prepare it of course, but largely, i've found that this blend is well behaved. It's always taken a light without fuss and needs only a few relights.

As for the flavour, i would call this stuff direct and uncomplicated. It says Virginia-Perique in the description, and that's exactly what you're getting. You've got sweet, tangy virginia, some small notes of black bread and a decent amount of dry pepper from the perique. The rum, i personally can't really detect much of. It doesn't offer much complexity, and it doesn't offer any surprises. What it does offer, however, is quality. Heaps and heaps of quality. It's full-flavoured through the entire bowl, has a decent bit of nicotine to it and on top of that, burns really cool, even if you get carried away with it. Which means it'll never bite, either.

After your smoke, it leaves you with only a little dottle and moisture.

Overall, i'm rather chuffed with this blend. It only does one thing, but it very much does it right.

The aroma in the pouch is a slightly sweet bread.

Classic Virginia flavor, a bit figgy, not spicy, a bit bready. Sweet. At a more standard price point this would be a mainstay, but it's a bit too expensive to be a regular in the rotation. Definitely worth keeping on hand to have now and again or to try.

You can see my video review of this blend here:

https://youtu.be/a9bp10eAJZs

The pouch aroma is very similar to Escudo but delivers a stronger Vitamin N blast. I've been out of the pipe hobby for around 5-6 years & decided to make a comeback because I missed the varied flavors of pipe tobacco blends. I barely detected the Rum aroma but noticed a slight hint of it from a whiff. It is a very moist, dark block... with the consistency similar to a hard, chewing tobacco plug. It is very well sealed within a small plastic bag within another well sealed plastic container inside the pouch. It should last for years as packaged. I sliced about 3/16" from the end of the plug & rubbed it out which seemed to work OK.

Initially, I tasted both varietals in the first puff along with the slight Rum infusion. I noted the Virginia, noticed very little Rum but it probably added the slight sweetness to the blend along with the natural sweetness of VA & a slight, sweet, fruity note from the medium apportioned Perique. It is a fairly potent blend, well processed & closer to the strong threshold with & a slight harshness that dissipated after a few tokes. I rubbed it out, dried it to an almost crispy state & stoked a small bowl. Burns better if properly dried out and smokes down to a dry, gray dottle. After my first sample in a small Danmore I wanted to try something different.

Next bowlful: It has been suggested to smoke this in a smaller bowl... I guess because of its strength. I wanted to find out why. This time, I used a sharp knife to peel off a flake from the full length of the block which facilitated the removal of a few unwanted stems and found this to be the best method of preparation. The thickness of the flake was enough to fill a much deeper, regular sized bowl. I then took the Fiskars to it because it is difficult to rub out in its tough, moist state & doesn't break up easily. I then dried it out to the proper moisture content over the stove burner in a small, stainless steel measuring cup, stirring occasionally. At the charring light from the deep bowl, there was no bite or harshness & it presented a smoother smoke plus, I was interested in the melding process as the smoke progressed. I wasn't able to accomplish this in my smaller pipe.

OK... I've just passed the halfway point & there really isn't much of a melding process happening. It smokes about the same throughout but increases in strength as the smoke progresses. It is a fairly cool, slow burning blend which requires picking, tamping & relights. Now, I understand why a smaller bowl is recommended. I'm thinking a tapered bowl might even be the better alternative. By the end of a large bowl, a newbie's head would surely be spinning & I was becoming extremely "relaxed" myself... just rocking back on the celestial plains of life, as it were & ready for a strong cup of coffee. I think I'll try this in my smaller cobs from here on out which will extend the life of my plug since a little goes a long way.

I thought this was a fine tasting & satisfying plug of tobacco & would probably even make a good chaw. I purchased 1/2 dozen pouches & it has mated with the top five in my rotation. I truly enjoyed it, needless to say. Try some if you get the opportunity & you won't be disappointed. If you like Escudo or other similar blends, you'll be amazed with Salty Dogs. Great stuff!

This is for roughcut seamen with ungroomed beards who enjoy strongish unflavoured tobacco. As far from fancy as it gets.

Being a heavy seabanger with fullbeard I had great expectations, that unfortunately were not fulfilled. I get very little out of this one.

Not sweet at all to my mind. Nor sour nor anything but a decent nic dose. Some notes of plum during the first third, mid bowl was plain tobacco, and some plum again in the end. Dull and linear VA I'd say, maybe a hint of that perique is somewhere there with good will.. Yet creamy, not harsh at all, smoke. All other qualities but the taste are good.

Burns effortlessly and slow, I cut thin slices from short end of the block with a knife and gave it a little rub. I always smoke outdoors so would't know abaut a roomnote, but nothing much to complement there either.

Not bad, but not my cup of tea. Recommended for pluggers and oldtimers I guess.

I had high expectations for this one. I love vapers and with a light rum flavoring i though that this would be heaven...unfortunately i was wrong. I cant get any satisfaction out of this blend. The taste and flavor are nonexistent and it needs a few relights because of the moisture. The only good thing about this tobacco is that it has a pleasant aroma and it burns cool and slow. But, I would not buy it again.

---

Update/recommendation: Here is what I did and I suggest that you do this too. I cut the tobacco, rub it and put it in a tin ( instead of mason jar), so it has a chance to dry thoroughly. This is one blend that benefits greatly from aging and drying. The smokeability is just greater this way. One star first, two to three after.

---

I found that it was rather 'wet' but this is something ive found common with plugs. After half an hour dry time I found this still slightly steamy, but this is my only negative. A strong, sweet start from the bowl.The steamed and pressed virginas marry perfectly with the perique with its spice evident straight away, especially when snorking. As the bowl progressed, the immediate sweetness subdues and its power becomes known. Recommended for fans of dark,steamed virginas. Unlike other dark plugs, the salty dog doesn't get bitter or too intense the further we smoke, something to do with the rum topping and perique. Lots of flavour, much nicotine. Full on without being intense. I found it similar to Revor without its diesel soaked blackberry flavours. Well recommended for Va/Per fans or plug enthusiasts.

Package note is sweet, dried fruit & vinegary. Needs effort to prepare. I generally cut slices less than 1/8 inch think and it rubs out fairly easy. Tobacco is slightly sticky but not wet, no drying needed. Burns slow rubbed out, even slower when cubed, requires relights. The strength is medium to strong, nic is medium at most. Taste is full, and mostly consistent throughout. Taste of sweet grass, ripe fruit, a little sugar, and slightly spicy. I couldn't discern the rum flavoring. Room note is not offensive and after taste is good. 4 stars

I will start with a caveat to my review, and that is that I hate plugs. Thus the only plugs I have in my cellar are plugs such as this one, where there is no sliced or RR version, leaving no option but the plug. For this, I automatically deduct a star.

With that said, I was further underwhelmed by this blend. It is a dark plug with the dark virginias likely stoved. The result is a deep earthy virginia with a touch of both perique and rum. the latter two ingredients were lightly applied with Perique being slightly more apparent than the topping.

For me, this could have used some bright VA, but this is probably more a personal thing. Still Salty Dogs is a pretty good smoke and I remember quite a few tasty moments while smoking through my first pouch of this. I have another pouch that I will taste at a later date to get a handle on how this ages.

So it is good, not great IMO; it only comes in plug; and it is very expensive. It is a tough one to rate as I would put it at three stars, but I would eschew an offer to smoke this if the alternative was escudo, which is available at a fraction of the cost of SD. It is for this reason (I'm cheap. lol) that this only gets two stars for me. I mean, If you are going to charge me this much money, would it kill you to slice it into flakes?