I was kindly gifted a Condor plug by Mister Lowercase, receiving one of these plugs is a singular rare treat. For a very brief moment in time Condor Plug was available from Inderwicks Tobacconists on Carnaby Street London in the mid 1980s and was kept in one of those huge glass sweet jars on a shelf. Anyway I digress as my latin teacher often used to say when we had successfully side tracked him in class and wiped out 80% of a lesson!
Condor plug comes in a dark green wrapper with 'Smoking Kills' in both English and Gaelic. Once removed from the package you are faced with oblong block of dark tobacco with the very distinctive Condor smell. At this point it is wise to have something to put your plug in after opening and I would suggest a small Mason jar with a pre-damped humidity stone. In terms of humidity you don't want the stone too wet or you will turn your plug into a sponge and too dry will result in you using a modeling hack saw to cut slices off the plug.
Once you have organized the above you are ready to proceed to the next step. You want a very sharp pen knife. I have two that never leave the house as we all remember my thread about almost losing my Mothers knife, not that she smoked Condor plug! I find a very sharp iron bladed knife is perfect for this type of job. Everyone has their own ideas about cutting plug, in my case I slice from the corner to produce reasonably easy pieces to rub out before filing the pipe. In terms of slicing I like the tobacco to be a little finer than regular Condor Green as it will burn much more evenly leaving very little residue. In terms of the number of slices I used a smaller meerschaum pipe so I was able to fill the pipe with four slices from the plug. You will notice if you ever smoke Condor plug it leaves a lovely dark black residue on the blade as you slice the plug up and for that reason it is better to rub the tobacco out and then leave to stand for about 15 minutes before filling your pipe.
Depending on how well you have achieved the above will predicate as how easy your lighting experience will be with this tobacco. I find dabbing a little white ash from my ash tray, on the top of the tobacco makes lighting a whole lot easier. You will have to char the surface, tamp down gently and on the second relight you should be off to the races. Smoking the first half of the bowl I noticed that although this was same old Condor there was definitely something different about the flavors and I was somewhat reminiscent of smoking War Horse or even Warrior Plug. The smoke had no bite to it and I was overwhelmed by the various Condor essences which seemed to magnified to a greater level than encountered with say Condor Long Cut but burned cooler than Condor Green and we will not even speak of that other Condor Light mixture which is the bastard child of the Condor range. The second half of the bowl came in with quite a bang and caught me quite by surprise. I felt a very definite nicotine hit that was decidedly pleasant and enjoyable and was in the nature of feeling as if you had partaken of an excellent dinner with three wine courses and a brandy with your coffee.
In terms of room note I found that to be a little difficult since my home smells of Condor but from what I could tell it smelt like the regular Condor I smoke. The tobacco reduces down to a fine white ash with a very small dottle at the bottom of the pipe and that my friends is all have to say about this tobacco to paraphrase Forest Gump!
Condor plug comes in a dark green wrapper with 'Smoking Kills' in both English and Gaelic. Once removed from the package you are faced with oblong block of dark tobacco with the very distinctive Condor smell. At this point it is wise to have something to put your plug in after opening and I would suggest a small Mason jar with a pre-damped humidity stone. In terms of humidity you don't want the stone too wet or you will turn your plug into a sponge and too dry will result in you using a modeling hack saw to cut slices off the plug.
Once you have organized the above you are ready to proceed to the next step. You want a very sharp pen knife. I have two that never leave the house as we all remember my thread about almost losing my Mothers knife, not that she smoked Condor plug! I find a very sharp iron bladed knife is perfect for this type of job. Everyone has their own ideas about cutting plug, in my case I slice from the corner to produce reasonably easy pieces to rub out before filing the pipe. In terms of slicing I like the tobacco to be a little finer than regular Condor Green as it will burn much more evenly leaving very little residue. In terms of the number of slices I used a smaller meerschaum pipe so I was able to fill the pipe with four slices from the plug. You will notice if you ever smoke Condor plug it leaves a lovely dark black residue on the blade as you slice the plug up and for that reason it is better to rub the tobacco out and then leave to stand for about 15 minutes before filling your pipe.
Depending on how well you have achieved the above will predicate as how easy your lighting experience will be with this tobacco. I find dabbing a little white ash from my ash tray, on the top of the tobacco makes lighting a whole lot easier. You will have to char the surface, tamp down gently and on the second relight you should be off to the races. Smoking the first half of the bowl I noticed that although this was same old Condor there was definitely something different about the flavors and I was somewhat reminiscent of smoking War Horse or even Warrior Plug. The smoke had no bite to it and I was overwhelmed by the various Condor essences which seemed to magnified to a greater level than encountered with say Condor Long Cut but burned cooler than Condor Green and we will not even speak of that other Condor Light mixture which is the bastard child of the Condor range. The second half of the bowl came in with quite a bang and caught me quite by surprise. I felt a very definite nicotine hit that was decidedly pleasant and enjoyable and was in the nature of feeling as if you had partaken of an excellent dinner with three wine courses and a brandy with your coffee.
In terms of room note I found that to be a little difficult since my home smells of Condor but from what I could tell it smelt like the regular Condor I smoke. The tobacco reduces down to a fine white ash with a very small dottle at the bottom of the pipe and that my friends is all have to say about this tobacco to paraphrase Forest Gump!
