Plug questions

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Skip48

Skip48

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Ok I have never tried any rope or plug tobacco so would love to hear someone tell of the better ones and how to smoke them? Cut and rub or just cut and stuff, just how and which ones are best and easiest to smoke?

One thing really peaking my interest is the new stuff coming out from GLP which I sure want to try soon.

Thanks,

Skip
 
The GH twists and plugs are tasty, but for a lightweight like me they are quite strong--fair warning.

When faced with a plug of tobacco, you can slice into flakes/coins, cut it into cubes or broken flakes, or rub out as much as you like.

(Many of them you can also bite off a hunk and chew.)
 
There really aren't too many plugs that you can get your hands on. There's Peterson's Perfect Plug (3P) which is not too strong and nicely light in flavor...kinda sweet, not too much though. There's Gawith's Dark Plug, only available via Mars and on a very intermittant basis. It's totally strong in N and strong in flavor...I LOVE it...many would find it a bit much. So, there's other ones that you can find by going to the "Advanced Search" thing at tobacco reviews...but try to find 'em available. Also...some are listed as 'plug' but they're really sliced into flakes. Then there will be the new one from GLP (highly anticipated) the flavor and strength of which are unknown.

Keep in mind that almost every flake started out it's life as a plug...and then the factory put it through the slicer. Are the flakes different than it would have been as a plug. Not many ways to tell except with the Gawith stuff, which is availabe both ways in a few cases. Some swear that Dark Plug and Dark Flake are different in flavor and in how they behave...maybe. If they are, it's subtle fer sure.

The thing about a plug and why (to me) it's different than flakes is (pretty obviously)...control. YOU control the thickness of the slice...or the shred, or whatever. Again...take a plug and either slice it thin or thick (which changes the burn rate...and to me this is the thing too...when outside in either calm or windy conditions, you can adapt the tobacco to burn the way you want it to. Some guys cube cut it. Some guys do either of the above and then either rub it out or put it in a small food processor and ZAP it till it's the correct size in bits and pieces. CONTROL. FIDDLING. PLAYING. RITUAL.

And then there's the concept that if you're smoking plug, you're just cooler than all the other nimrods!

Whatever...good luck to you. And a great holiday season.




God bless us every one!
 
Blackhorse":jmsmf8hi said:
Keep in mind that almost every flake started out it's life as a plug...and then the factory put it through the slicer. Are the flakes different than it would have been as a plug. Not many ways to tell except with the Gawith stuff, which is availabe both ways in a few cases. Some swear that Dark Plug and Dark Flake are different in flavor and in how they behave...maybe. If they are, it's subtle fer sure.
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I have a feeling, so far unproven, that cakes age differently from slices. My hypothesis is that the core of the cake will begin anaerobic fermentation early in the process, and that the leaf will hit a greater level of maturity sooner in this form than in ribbon form. I'll be observing this by slicing and rubbing out half a block, and storing it under identical conditions with the other half left whole.

It might turn out to be a small difference. Whatever happens, observing the way JackKnife ages may well end up changing the way I look at the whole process of aging, in general. (There has been a lot written, some of it by me, that I'm finding questionable, incomplete, or even wildly inaccurate. Some of my stated speculations have been adopted as truth—never a good idea. ;))

The thing about a plug and why (to me) it's different than flakes is (pretty obviously)...control. YOU control the thickness of the slice...or the shred, or whatever. Again...take a plug and either slice it thin or thick (which changes the burn rate...and to me this is the thing too...when outside in either calm or windy conditions, you can adapt the tobacco to burn the way you want it to. Some guys cube cut it. Some guys do either of the above and then either rub it out or put it in a small food processor and ZAP it till it's the correct size in bits and pieces. CONTROL. FIDDLING. PLAYING. RITUAL.
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Yes! I've been playing with this only for a few weeks, yet it's already become a source of fascination. Slice it thick, and cut it into cubes, or make medium slices, and loosely rub it out, or slice it thin and turn it into shag. It's remarkable how different the same tobacco can taste when prepared differently. Your words deserve repeating. CONTROL. FIDDLING. PLAYING. RITUAL.

It's part of what pipe smoking is all about!
 
Really interesting and I thank both of you Blackhorse & GLP! I sure appreciate the info and look forward to trying the 3P and especially want several of the unbroken cake of JackKnife.

GLP when you get time I would love to hear each way you try it and what each is like or how they are different.

I can just see my self taking one of the cakes and trying each way I can think of. I love messing with the tobacco anyway so I probably will become a bit obsessive over this one.

Skip
 
Well Skip, you can't do much better than that!


So Greg, if you're still lurking about, as opposed to performing silly walks around the shop...any news on the 'flavoring' aspect of JackKnife?
 
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