Dan Tobacco Salty Dogs

Again, this pouch I received as a gift from a dear friend. It slept in my cabined for one year, more or less.

As a matter of fact I substantially subscribe Stefanos’ review (and not necessarily because we share the same name and first letter of the family name, ahahahahah…) The cube form in the cellophane wrapper allows very good aging. Slicing was a bit of a trouble, but that depends on the wrong knife I get. Whichever the cut results, this burns very nice. Never prone to burn hot nor biting. None. The nic hit is a shade above medium, the body is absolutely satisfying. The rest Stefanos has already told very properly. Including the rum flavour which I find in traces, or actually missing. And, regarding the prices (EUR. 9.50 per 50 grams): that would be a real bargain in Italy, and I would buy it on regular basis, better if it comes in ready rubbed form…

This combination of VaPer is the one I feel perfect as an all day smoke. Absolutely recommended.

Beautiful, very compact plug in the pouch. It's quite dark and smells of figs, hay, earth, and a bit of fruity liquor.

Sliced, and rubbed out, easily enough. Gravity packed into the bowl. Lights easily with a charring light and a follow-up. Stays lit well if you tamp it firmly after 2nd light.

Produces lots of dry flavorful smoke and lasts a long time. It reminds of most VaPers I have had but a bit stronger. I catch hints of what I would say is a familiar taste of burley, but can't quite put my finger on that. Tastes of rich tobacco, with hints of hay, and fruit. There is a savory flavor almost like truffles. The perique is quite strong but nicely balanced with a slightly sweet virginia flavor. This stuff can pack a punch and is just a delightful smoke. Again, this is one of those blends that can be enjoyed without too much contemplation...just load a bowl and go!

Ordered some to add to my cellar and rotation.

It's an earthy square, in fact it's more earthy than a lot of Vapers, no fancy scent, and nicotine is just right for me. To deal with such a square, I tore off a piece of it, cut out a crumbled sheet with a cigar cutter, tested it for clay pipes, no double shadows, and finally worked it in my bulldog. And finally the price, this is a little bit more expensive, but it has a longer burn time than other types of tobacco, a really slow tempo tobacco, and it's in my rotation profile because I don't spend a day with just one tobacco.

As stated in previous posts, the tobacco is a small pocket-sized brick of dark brown, moist tobacco that looks like a brownie. My little daughter says it looks like a bar of chocolate.

Pouch smell is wonderful.. smells like cacao, dark fruit, and raisins. Makes me want to stick it in my mouth and eat it.

I took thin slices and rubbed it with my hands. Packing is easy.

On the light I don’t appreciate the rum topping. It tastes strongly grassy and hay-like as a good Va does. The figgy perique comes out by mid-bowl, especially on retro-hale; and the last third of the bowl is sweet.

It smokes cool and won’t bite.

Since I tend to smoke Latakia and burley blends, I find the flavors “mild” in comparison. But not to say this is a “weak” blend. It is rich in a Virginia sense.

Recommended.

A wonderful Navy plug with fine dark Virginia's and a touch of Perique lets the fruity, citrus, deep flavors come throught. It is an excellent plug and a good introduction to beginners on plug cut tobacco. The flavor of this tobacco has made it a regular smoke. Yes it is expensive however, it does last a long time being a plug and easy to travel with in your kit. We all should keep a sharp knife handy to cut the plug then rub out, pack pipe, and enjoy.

This is the stuff. Sweet, dried fruit on the palate with an underlying tanginess. I wouldn\'t know there was rum there unless you told me, but it seems to add a bit of sweetness and edge to the Virginias. The perique is light and gives you just a little tingle on the retrohale but is more fruity than spicy. Compared to other VaPers, I find it softer and fuller, with the flavours more melded together. Smooth, sweet, tangy, mildly spicy. It is everything I love in a tobacco. Preparing it is also fun. It looks like a tasty brownie and sets off my salivary glands. I take a sharp knife and carve off flakes, which I either cube cut or rub out.

I hate plugs, man. For me, pipe smoking is about relaxing, not about cutting, rubbing, drying etc etc. Even if this isn’t the worst plugs, it’s still giving me some headaches. Indeed, it’s easy to cut slices if you have a good knife, but good luck rubbing this one! If I knew, I would’ve bought myself a grinder and used it for this. And it’s important, because this is a very bad burner as well. So my best advice is to dry it!

But anyway. Smells quite nice, it’s sweet with some citrus, dried fruit and plum, but no rum.

Taste is interesting. Sugary sweet, lemony, dried fruit, dry prunes, plum, fig, slightly tangy, slightly spicy. There is a mild topping, which reminds me of that in Mac Baren’s Plumcake, but neither of them taste like rum.

The sweetness tones down by the middle of the bowl, being replaced by hay and grassy notes, but the citrusy and dried fruit taste still remains, and so does the spice. It’s a gentle spice just where you need it.

I would compare it with Dunhill’s De Luxe Navy Rolls, only that this has more spice and is darker, deeper and bolder. The rum topping that I detected is comparable with that in Mac Baren’s Plumcake. But I also get some reminder of Peterson 3P’s and Peterson University Flake. I even thought if this has any burley in it, first of all because of the color of the tobacco, second of all the strength and then the taste. No, I don’t get a nutty and cocoa taste but it’s very similar with Peterson’s 3P’s in some aspects. It also makes my throat feel weird, like a heavy burley blend usually does.

However, there are just few similarities with these blends, they don’t taste the same. Salty Dogs has it’s own trademark.

Again, I must say that this is a tobacco that will give you some trouble. It burns slow and goes off easily, asking for many relights. And since it burns too slow, I tend to puff more and thus get the pipe hot. I did dry it a lot and rubbed it very very well, but it still has a bad burn. Like I said, I like a tobacco that doesn’t give me so much difficulty in smoking it, I want to pack the pipe and smoke it with easy, helping me to relax.

Good amount of strength and vitamin N. Room note is pleasant.

Other than that, it’s ok. Nothing extraordinary.

https://youtu.be/ZTp0RBZlumE

The pouch aroma seems familiar but I've been out of the pipe hobby for around five 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 chewing tobacco plug. It is very well sealed within a small plastic container within another well sealed plastic bag inside the pouch. It should last for years as packaged. I sliced about 3/16" from the end of the plug 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 lightly apportioned Perique. It is a potent blend, well processed & closer to the strong threshold with some initial bite & 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 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 peeled off a flake from the full length of the block which facilitated the removal of a few unwanted stems & became my preferred method of preparation. The thickness of the flake was enough to fill a much deeper, regular sized bowl. I then took the scissors 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 initially, 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. 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. Great stuff!

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