Blend Club 2023 | May - Seattle Pipe Club - Plum Pudding Bourbon Barrel Aged 

I've only been smoking pipes for a year, and discovered this blend thanks to your videos. There's nothing else like it, and I have a pipe that I only use for this blend. RIP Joe Lankford. This is a true masterpiece.

Again, you are the most detailed reviewer on youtube. Like a master class. And again, thanks for all the tips, comments, and education.

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 I’ve been waiting for this one! I learned 95% of what I know about pipe smoking from you sir. I came across a video where you reviewed this tobacco and I immediately bought a tin. As soon as I smoked it immediately stocked my cellar with this blend. Absolutely delicious! Thanks for introducing me to this blend!

You make the best pipe smoking videos.

Thank you very much for taking the time to record and upload! I've had my eye on the regular Plum Pudding for a while now (it takes me a couple of months to get through a tin) so fortunately, I haven't bought it yet. I'll have to get this one in my cellar soon.

🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃 This has been my go-to smoke for years now. The rich perique and Latakia balanced well with the sweet cavendish and virginias accented by bourbon. Rich leather earthy notes and packed well provides for a relaxing long smoke. Room note lets the other pipers know you’ve finally graduated from the grocery store brands,

😋😋😋😋😋 Love this blend! Smokey, musty sweet, woodsy - reminds me of walking through a redwood forest. A little stewed fruit, BBQ... Produces prodigious amounts of smoke. The bourbon barrel aging gives it a darker, deeper flavor than the regular Plum Pudding. Seems to sublimate the flavors (in a good way). I'm always excited to see a new Muttonchop video!!

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🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 has become my favorite after dinner smoke. Love plum pudding but this version just has something a little extra.

I learn so much about smoking a pipe from your videos regardless of your subject. I’ve commented before, but never received a reply, which is fine. Just want to thank you for putting out so many great videos for new pipe smokers.

😊😊😊😊 The moister from this and almost all SPC tobaccos is just about perfect. The tin note for me is very heavy with the bourbon, it almost masks everything else. The Latakia does come through though. I find you have to be careful rubbing it out or it gets too fine, almost powdery. It takes a light great. The original plum pudding is one of my favorite flavors of all time. The bourbon ads a savory sweetness if that makes sense. The smoke is very creamy and has a wonderful mouthful. Everything just blends together perfectly. The room note is a little strong and my wife makes me change my shirt after smoking it lol. My advice for someone who hasn’t tried this yet is to just take your time and sip it nice and slowly. Great blend!

4 thumbs up!, I am newish to the pipe. I was surprised on this one, it lit easy, and burned consistent. I was shocked to find a very light smoke even though it has such a strong smokey smell. I did enjoy it.

🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 This has become a favorite for sure, on my 3rd tin. I really suggest get it in a jar asap to preserve the bourbon aromatics and flavors. It will dissipate faster in the tin. Agree that all the players meld very well. New smokers will no doubt get frustrated with flake tobacco. Give it time and patience. Fantastic smoke. Joe Lankford was a Genious.

🧔🏼🧔🏼🧔🏼🧔🏼 I do not disagree with the high rating but since I have bin a pipe smoker for only three years, my palate is not enough experienced yet for the complexity of this blend. I use to cut the cake into slices with a razor blade before i rubb it and pack. The blend is very hard to come by for a European but with some shipping and tax expensis a tin traveld all the way here. Thaks Muttnchop for your kind and longlasting contribution to YTPC! Your Swedish friend Martin

Excited to try this blend and discover the nuances that come with the odd ‘flame-out’ that seem to occur with the crumble cake. That is a great looking pipe…is it a Savinelli 677 KS ?

One year pipe smoker here. A relay nice blend. Not to sweet, not to bold. A good mid day -end of day smoke or with a cocktail. 3.5/5 for me Sir.

I ike the original Plum Pudding from SPC, five stars for that one. It is perfect as is, with plenty of complexity, very well balanced. The addition of alcohol flavor not necessary for me but still a very nice smoke. 👍👍👍👍 for me on this Bourbon Barrel version!

🔥💨💨💨Wonderful English mixture,big fan of that strong bourbon aroma when ya pop the tin and the barrel stave inside. A very nice smoke for anytime of day...

🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓 I totally love this one! Wonderful, taste, and aroma. It’s one I will always have on hand.

🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 A very enjoyable enhancement to an already stellar blend. Everything is much more enlivened in the taste and the lovely bourbon note is a kicker. I found this more malty, tangier and creamy compared to my beloved Plum Pudding, Smoother meld and transitions of flavors streams. And the Latakia is phenomenal on this rendition. Very very nice suggestion, as I was a little pensive about trying a change to a blend I already absolutely loved.

i was kind of on the fence of buying this one, but im glad i did buy it! 😁😁😁😁

! ! ! ! ! - This is likely Joe's chef-d'œuvre. May he RIP. I just want to say how much I DEEPLY appreciate you. Not just your fine videos, but your sterling character. How you live meaningfully through trials and challenges has enriched my life, and I thank you for sharing your journey with us.

11-26-23 Ordered this and will smoke it with my son this Saturday watching the Bulldogs and Bama game.

😊 The wonderful thing about RU-vid is it reaches around the globe. Im a newbie pipe smoker in New Zealand. Muttonchops was one of the first sites i found. Researching is library of videos set me up for an enjoyable pastime in pipe smoking. Still learning, still enjoying. Keep you the reviews and ill keep following. Cheers

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 This is actually one of my favorite pipe tobaccos. I always rub the cake out completely and jar it up and put the barrel block in with it. I love the strong Latakia and bourbon flavor. One I smoke very often.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 One of my favorites as well! Your review of the flavors is right on.

Tack!

Thank you for yet another excellent review!

🗝🗝🗝 PPBBA is one of those tobacs I try to save for special occasions. Usually once every blue moon. I find the flavor to be wonderful when properly lit and enjoyed, however it does require some drying time in my experience. Should be at least 1 tin to try and 1 in the cellar for sure. Flavor as all tobacs in my pipe smoking journey get better when sitting in a mason jar for a year or so. My 2 pennies.

Great to see you again Chris. All the best to you and your family.

***** fantastic and complex. Get some

Looks great! 5/5 is a fine endorsement. Have to pick up a tin myself. Thanks for sharing.

thanks for another great and fun review! it seems that Seattle Pipe Club has a lot of tasty blends

Glad to see another five rating!

One of my favorites ❤❤❤❤❤.....smokey, spicy and just plain delicious....

I have Plumb Pudding Reserve flake. I’ve been having a dickens of a time lighting it and keeping it lit. I don’t feel so bad now hehe.

Thank you. I have been enjoying the video 👍

🍸🍸🍸 for me, it was just ok, maybe because it is a unique blend that I couldn’t really 😮appreciate the complexity. I didn’t particularly like the smell after opening the tin but it smoked fine. Maybe over time the blend will be an acquired taste and enjoyed.

Happy day… if you could. Please make videos every day… you are the best

❤❤❤ There’s something in it I really like but I found it a little strong. I mixed 50/50 with March’s GL pease Montgomery and hit a sweet spot. I liked the Montgomery a lot but found it just a little too light. This mix hit the spot. Have I committed a sacrilege? I am a 64 year old novice pipe smoker. This is my first Blend Club year and I’m absolutely enjoying it.

Thanks for the review Chris. Happy piping!!

🔥🔥🔥🔥 I have been smoking a pipe for almost twenty years and this was my first English blend when I first got it about 10 months ago. I really like it. Just the right amount of sweetness to to keep someone who is accustomed to aromatics interested. The retrohale on this is very nice. Lots of almost raisin bread notes. I do find that it imparts a dryness in my mouth, so I keep a nice cup of coffee handy which compliments it well.

Just discovered this blend. I have smoked a number of English blends from GL Peace such as Abington , also Boswells Northwoods. This one I guess you could characterize as an aromatic English. I have since dedicated a Nording pipe specifically for this blend. I will give it 5 - 5 rating. The taste hits the sweet tooth, I love this. going to purchase a few more tins, as this just might be my go to English.

Excellent review 👏 Thanks for taking the time to share your experience on the blend 😀 👍 Greetings from south africa 🇿🇦

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😊😊😊😊 In my humble opinion the bourbon taste is bit dominant and sort of hides the taste of other components. I could hardly taste the latakia in this blend. I like the original SPC Plum Pudding better. Thanks for your review Mutton Chop and happy smoking.

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 I've had this set aside for two years and it is sweet, smokey, and full of flavor. Pairs well for me with Coors Light. Very interesting blend. Great review - thanks.

⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️ Amazing blend. More often than not im reaching for one of the Plum Pudding variations. The PP Special Reserve is the best but good luck finding that one.

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I find that this and the other 2 plum puddings smoke and taste best when I don’t fully rub them out. I actually just slightly break them up and always smoke out of a Peterson 606 which for Some reason seems to always handle balkans the best. To the point that I’m thinking of buying a few more. Perfect clench as well. Love that pipe

🥓🥓🥓 Tin note is strong and has a fermented/miso kind of effect. The chunk of barrel wood in there is really cool. Crumble cake took some practice to work with - don't rush and use a light touch. High quality blend with smooth, unified flavors, a pleasing incense quality, with the suggestion of bourbon throughout. I agree, no one component hogs the spotlight, but each plays it's part well. Made me think of open fire grilling in the woods - earthy, smokey, tangy, a little tannic, all unified by a nice malty smoothness. For me, this has a charred taste that's a bit heavy to be in the regular rotation, but just the ticket for a special occasion. Thanks for including this one.

🥃🥃🥃 My tin came drenched in Bourbon so that’s really all I could taste, with a little Latakia coming through at the end. I’m a fan of the standard Plum Pudding so I’ll stick with that.

🤌🤌🤌🤌 I love this one. I am not really a whisky guy by any means, but this blend is crazy good. It is extremely well put together and balanced. I also like the little barrel chunk in there. If I didn't smoke so rarely, I'd definitely buy this one again.

🌲🌲🌲🌲 This is an excellent blend, smokes great, rich flavors and almost perfect right out of the tin. It does usually require a few minutes of drying once you break the cake down. Balkan blends are my absolute favorite blends to smoke and the only reason I'm giving this one a 4 instead of 5, is for me while enjoyable, the bourbon overpowers the tobacco a bit. Bill Bailey's Balkan blend by Dan Tobacco is my #1 when it comes to Balkan blends and I'd highly recommend trying it if you can get a hold of any. If not this blend won't do you wrong and its a lot easier to come by. Happy smokes.

😁😁😁😁I usually don't care for an English blend, but the room note was good and I could taste the Latakia, and a creamy note of the oriental. 🙂🙂🙂 I (wife) was surprised at the taste. Did not expect to like it at all looking at the description. I'm not an English smoker. But, the first draws were sweet, and it is milder, creamier then I expected.

Anything aged in bourbon sounds good in my book. I'll put this one on my list.

🥃🥃🥃🥃 it’s one my favorites. Lots of fig newton notes on the aroma and in flavor. I have 2 tins in a mason jar and one in the shelf. I would enjoy trying to find a pre-sutliff version and compare them.

🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃 I do agree with your assessment that new smokes should hold off smoking this until they have their technique developed. For the same reasons you mentioned. However... New smokers SHOULD definitely buy a couple of tins and put it aside for a year so because it's cellars extremely well. Both this version of plum pudding and the Mississippi River rum barrel-aged have the tendency to give a little bit of tongue bite straight from a freshly packaged tin and if smoked a little to fast. Which can be solved by developing ones technique and by cellaring it for at least a year

I'm looking forward to receiving my first tins in a few days, nice video as always Mr. Muttn.

🧐🧐🧐🧐 An excellent blend, very subtle and well melded. My one knock, and this is just my personal taste, is that I absolutely can't stand the taste of bourbon. I have tried and tried, and I just don't like it. If I liked bourbon, I am sure this would be a five star blend, but I found the bourbon just distracting because I don't like it. I think the regular Plum Pudding is just slightly better.

Thinking about ordering this one

Thanks!

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I always forget to see if it draws good before going outside. Need to make that a habit.

I’ll try it.

Hi Mutt

💣💣💣💣 would be a 5 if it wasn't for user error. I'm still fairly new and learning rub and pack technique for crumble kake. But when I get it right, all is pure enjoyment .

Long time, Muttnchop Piper. I was with you when you started this channel. I recently picked up the hobby again and I was looking for your channel but couldn't remember the channel name. Finally found it! Do you still review board games? I have a lot of catching up to do. :)

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🥃🥃🥃 It’s good but I prefer just regular Plum Pudding. I’ve heard the bourbon or rum barrel aged compared to kale caesar salad, trendy but it doesn’t make the recipe better as I would say is the case here.

I’ve just had a hard time keeping this lit and not felt I’ve been able to enjoy the intent.

🐪🐪🐪🐪 I had allowed my tin to dry out brutally before this smoke. That said, it smoked very nicely and had no bite. I liked it a lot but I wouldnt put it above other favorite blends. I will get a fresh tin and try again. Say, can you tell us what pipe you are using in each video?

Great blend 👍👍but mechanically frustrating. I have 10 tins if anyone wants to trade. Would have been much better as a flake. The relights detract from the flavor. Not recommended for the new pipe smoker. If you must smoke it pack it lightly and don’t tamp too much.

Newish pipe smoker here (almost a year into the hobby) and still trying to find a blend I like. That said I've tried Maltese Falcon and didn't like it at all due to the latakia. For me it tasted like cloves, which is something I don't think I like. I'm wondering if this blend would turn me off as well or maybe I should steer clear of English blends all together due to my dislike of latakia?

Hey Muttonchop- I have heard that the cardboard tins that SPC uses could possibly not hold up for long term aging. Is this true? Are they good for ten plus years, or do I need to jar them?

I think my new pipe (only two smokes in) has a burnout spot :/

😢. I was taught, if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it. This blend is not for me. I enjoy a number of English Blends and styles. Best to all

🦌🦌🦌🦌 I do like this blend alot . I'm not really Into the bourbon taste . I don't drink . To me while being a very good blend , it falls short of all the hype

👌👌👌 The volume in your videos is really really low.

1st?

I am starting to think latakia isn't for me. It might grow on me like peated scotch has. I give it a 🦏🦏🦏.