It's been a while, but here I am, trying something again. This time it's SG's Kendal Plug, courtesy my buddy Puff Daddy, who sent me a generous chunk of the stuff! Thank you!!!

I don't know what it is about plugs that intrigue me. There's something almost pleasantly satisfying about the extra step of having to process your own custom cut of tobacco, whether it's breaking/cutting off a chunk and roughing it up just enough to stuff in a favorite pipe, carefully knifing and chopping a portion to stuff in a favorite pipe, or peeling the layers apart horizontally and using scissors to get perfect ribbons or shag (my preferred method) to stuff in a favorite pipe. The pipe, as we all know (or should) is a time-consuming process. Not easily done in a hasty 15 minute sit, not something to rush through. There's a ritual, and I'm pretty sure we all have ours. These extra steps seem to demystify the process a little, seeing actual leaf structure of our tobacco, customizing personal preference from something seemingly raw...

...okay, enough prose.

This chunk of Kendal Plug smells so, so good. The spiciness is evident, the sweetness is raw and bold, and this is only second to the careful colors of layers that obviously took some time and skill to construct. I do have to say, this is one dense chunk of bacca. Even peeling it apart for cutting was no easy task--as rubbing it out took a bit of time. As did drying the bowlful, as I've come to learn most SG products are pretty moist.

My weird Hilson Shark pipe is a 9mm filter pipe (no filter--don't worry) which has a great bowl for trying stuff just like this. Not too wide, not too deep. It smokes dry and true, and Virginias seem to do best in it. Lighting the stuff (once I got through processing it), was easy, and it stayed lit pretty good with only a few re-lights. Flavor from first light to the 1/2 bowl mark was just as pleasantly spicy as I imagined it to be, lightly peppery with even a hint of allspice/nutmeg on the top note. At that point, the last 1/2 of the bowl was just increasing in fig-like or plum/prune sweetness. A genuine tongue/nose sweetness, too--and not artificial tasting, either. Re-lights are a joy, as is a little DGT, which pops out a toastiness and waxiness I get from a lot of SG products--not sure what their secret is, but boy is it good.

Nicotine was moderate but certainly not overpowering (compared to another plug I like, Jackknife). My only complaint I had was circumstantial--I ran out of it far too quickly in this smaller pipe, and I was saddened when the smoke started to dwindle and re-lights became more frequent. To solve this problem, I went for another 3/4 bowl of the stuff. Which I do VERY seldom--this stuff was THAT GOOD.

If you like stout flakes or aged Virginia, you'll like this tobacco. If you like sweeter but milder (non-aromatic) smokes, you'll like this tobacco. While I wouldn't directly suggest it to someone trying to switch from aromatics, it may appeal to a few of these "transitional" folks, especially ones that are wanting something not quite as sweet but not something bitey and overpowering. It's one of those tobaccos, at least to me, that I could grab faithfully in almost any mood or time of day. It's dynamic, flavorful, bold-but-mild, non-biting and full of good stuff. Blew me away.

Which sucks, because it has one overall drawback: availability. That, however, can be overcome with patience.

I will happily buy this stuff by the phonebook-sized brickful.

(Side question: what is in Kendal? TR.com, as I went to it after my smoke, didn't divulge the list of 'bacca in it.)

Sounds pretty good for a 'baccy ya got to fiddle with!! Here's what is in it according to mysmokingshop.com.uk :

"This plug is made from the Best Brown, blended and pressed Virginias." Sounds like how they describe Balogna But I like Balogna so what the hey (especially the BBQ'd Balogna I get down at a ghetto meat shop over in Dallas )

Thanks, Monbla--good find. It figures: I like Best Brown--a lot. That means I am being consistent, which is also encouraging. Nothing worse than a fickle palette.

Glad I could help, but really, it does sound like it would be a good smoke. But I'll stick with more available tobacco's. Less frustration, more smoking KISS it

Glad you liked it! As I understand it, the tobaccos are those used in Best Brown, but the tobacco is merely pressed, not steamed. Best Brown is steam pressed and sliced, Kendal Plug merely pressed and sold unsliced. I wouldn't guarantee this to be true, but it's what I remember digging up.

Thanks for the review, Kyle. Any idea how aged the sample was? Looks like I wont have to bring a sample to reno, after all.

The sample I sent him must be a good 7 or 8 years old, maybe more.

Recently got a chunk of this in, and have only had a couple bowls so far.

For some crazy reason, I decided to make cubes of it after slicing off several pieces about 1/8" thick with a serrated kitchen knife. Proceed to cube it much like Uhle's blends often come in.

Found it needed to be dried out for some little while. Several hours later and it still took a lot of lights to get up and running. And even then it needed constant attention to keep burning.

Kind of disappointed with the results so far. Flavor very light and non-distinctive. Not bland, but not a lot going on in the complexity dept.

Next I'll plan to cut the slices first and then dry and rub out. And more time for the drying since this could be a culprit as well.

I'm also minded of the fact that this is a fresh plug and may need to spend some time in limbo before it can deliver on the taste. My first impression of a fresh FVF was uneventful for the same reasons.

So I'll revisit in due course. But I do like working with plugs and seeing the results of a properly prepared one. So far there isn't one method that works across the board, so I feel one has to get to know them individually for best results.

Cheers,

RR

I've never had good luck smoking plugs that I tried cuttung into little cubes. I treat this one just like my othe plugs and lop thin slices off across the grain. I used to try and cut the slices perfectly straight, like slices of bread, but a lot of the time I ended up with slices that were super thin on end and like a penny to a dime's width on the other...mini skinny wedgies! I discovered these crush-rolled into a far more smokable product than a regular thichness 'flake' and that's all I do now. My very recently acquired chunk of KP lights easily, burns well and tastes light but with very fine flavors. Brewdude...you might try to put those cubes into a cuisineart thing and open 'em up a little...it's the difference between lighting up a piece of paper...or a presto log!

Send the rest of yours to me and I'll process the lot for you!

Heh, heh, heh.

I've been smoking Bow-Legged Bear and Nightrain. I've discovered that I can pull off chunks of these plugs with my fingers by going with the grain, inserting a finger nail about 3/8's inch from the current surface. Then I pull that chunk apart into smaller chunks and load those. I'm getting reasonable results keeping the pipe lit with small chunks. I load them into the bowl in layers, applying slight pressure at each, and top with fully separated tobacco.

I was also successful in cutting Bow-Legged Bear with a knife into 3/8" layers, breaking it apart and loading as above. Long-term I'll probably use the knife but will go back to using my fingers to work the plug. I like the satisfying ritual of preparing to smoke the pipe, and plugs certainly provide this.

Yeah...I use the Night Train in he same way. I love "plugs" that are made that way...they are sort of like shale...about halfway between a crumble cake and a regular soft Brit plug...if I squeeze one like that hard...laterally...it then kind of fractures like the shale thing and comes apart in chunks that can then be crushed further, and then further, etc. Of course the 'twist off a chunk' method works equally well.

Oulette's VR Blend has the same hard cake press on it...blends that are pressed this way are 'special'.

Yeah, plugs have a fascination for me, too. Once the "brick" has been sliced into about 1" chunks, I then peel off the layers horizontally and cut them with scissors in dime to penny width "sticks," and then rub those out. Jackknife works better cubed than other plugs I've then cut again adding a step to this method, but they're hard to light. Must be the ribbon's ability to keep air space and not compress so easily that makes it better to keep lit.

So, regarding Bow-Legged Bar and Night Train: they're pretty damn strong mixes from what I read--how's the Perique content in them? Y'all know me, the Perique Pansy, a little is okay but if it's a "bomb" I gotta know. Bow-Legged Bear has a particularly good sounding lineup in it.

Enjoyed your insight K-W..thanks!