My first (maybe only?) review of pipe or tobacco...
For those not interested in long winded, self serving, don't give a f**k diatribes, suffice IT to say, Dan Tobacco Salty Dogs is really goddamn good, and if you smoke flakes or plugs and you don't have a Castello 55.......well.........you'll probably be alright. There are a lot of good pipes out there. But you should have one someday, if all that's good in the world is on your side.
For you poor, bored, sorry, tired eyed bastards that have nothing better to do in the middle of the night (or day by the time you read this?) than read some n00bs "review" of some tobacco in some pipe....well, I love you guys, because most nights I am right there with you. Read on. I hope you get something out of it, if not something of worth, then at least something to keep you reading, and carrying on, into the wee hours, laughing at some n00b.
Dan tobacco's Salty Dogs is really goddamn good, but I didn't think so at first. I cut it thin off the massively dense, mini-chocolate bar-like plug. Shockingly tiny for the $18.50 50g plug I thought I bought. But once it was in my hand, Jesus God, it's dense and dark. How the hell could this be a Virginia/Perique blend? It looks like a goddamn Gawith Rope in square form, but denser! I think with a little mortar I could build a house out of this! I sliced off one thicker chunk. It was a real bitch to rub out. So I sliced off a thinner chunk. It rubbed into basically ribbon cut, much easier. I combined the two and gave them a solid 1.5 hours of drying time while making some Moose sirloin chili. After my wife and I enjoyed a bowl of chili......and a half.....with cheddar, sour cream, and green onions of course...........I went out on the back deck to look over the vast, silty Knik river for my after dinner smoke. Given the rum topping on this blend, I poured myself some 23 year Kirk and Sweeney Rum in a snifter to go along with the smoke, and a deep, dark giant ball jar of Surly Brewing Company's Darkness Imperial Stout. I was not planning on re-entering the house sober. Out on the back deck with the mountains and forest before me, I lit up.
At first, I thought, ah SHIT! This mother won't light. I did one charring light. I did a second as usual. Then I relaxed into the breath method. And....it went out. I did another charring light..........it went out again. Shit, I thought. Too little drying time. I f**ked up. But after the 4th light........she took off! And after that...........BLISS. This tobacco....earthy, rich, subtly spicy, FANTASTIC. The rum topping is nowhere near as strong as i expected to be, after viewing the thick dark plug that I put into a jar a few hours back. However, as the bowl moves on, it gets a little bit more noticeable. What also gets a little more noticeable, is the nicotine. I was disappointed in the nic-hit half way through the bowl, but moving into the second half it beings to creep up on me out of the darkness. I started to taste the rum even more as well. As the Alaskan sun sets at 10:35 PM, I begin to really feel it. Moving through the first half of the bowl, I get an almost chocolate like flavor as this tobacco gets even richer. It is complimented by an odd and surprising creaminess. I thought the perique would be spicier by now, but oddly enough, I'm kind of glad it's not, as this tobacco is..........weird.......but amazingly good. Still so hard to believe this is a va/per, it so rich and creamy, and strongly bold. But there is a subtle spicy, figgy note that I assume must be the perique, but it is far from the starring player. Make no mistake, this tobacco is RICH! Especially in the second half of the bowl. I really changes A LOT half way through........for the better.
I'll pause here to sing the praises of this pipe. I have one castello 26. It's a good pipe. I also have a Castello poker. It's a good pipe. But this 55. Flakes. Plugs. I have not found a better pipe for these cuts. At first this pipe shape, with it's jaunting John Cleese chin, seemed ugly to me, but now, after a while, I find beauty in it. They are expensive. Is it worth the money? That's up to you. For me.......YES. Especially when purchased at Tabaccheria Corti. The best prices on Castello pipes (new ones, anyway) I have found. The smoke is completely effortless to maintain. The briar warms ever so slightly all the way through, without getting hot AT ALL. After this bowl was finally lit, it smoked easily and forgivingly until it became the mythically fine white ash. I had to hold myself back from chugging this blend and abusing the briar during the second half, as the smoke was so effortless and the tobacco began to really come into it's own.
As the smoke moves into it's final third, my wife ( who I told I would be smoking for around an hour or so) comes out to check in on me.......how much longer will it be? I don't know.......I'm already an 1.5 hours into this bowl.......where has the time gone? I tell her 15 minutes, damn well knowing it will likely be 30. And 30 it is. Somehow, this tobacco becomes better and better and better the further it burns down. Similar to those rare cigars, that somehow defy the usual harshness and heat of the final few inches, this bowl seems to only get richer, better, and more complex as it burns through the dottle. It is the pipe tobacco equivalent of a nubber.
Towards the end, the imperial stout and rum starts to get to me. Rather than go inside and face the wrath of my wife after nearly two hours of pipe smoking, her taking care of our 3 month old the whole time, I whip it out and piss through the small hole in our back second story porch filigree railing into the black currant bushes. She'll never know. After this I finish the last of the bowl, and nothing is left but ash. I am legitimately upset that this bowl is finished, although I now realize it is for the better, as the alcohol I have been consuming along side it has begun to get to me. The aftertaste of the tobacco sets in, pleasantly. And I walk out of this blissful experience, and back into the real world inside the cabin. Goddamn what a bummer.
It's my turn to feed the baby. So I wash my hands, change my shirt, pick that kid up and feed her. I am content. I am happy. And as soon as this kid is fed, I am ordering more Dan Tobacco Salty Dogs. This is truly exceptional tobacco. For those of you wondering if some plug in a pouch is worth the exorbitant price tag......my answer is...an emphatic and resounding............YES. I'd say the same for the pipe.
Get at least one pouch and try it for yourself, but this is one of the most decadent and unique tobaccos I have experienced as of yet, easily in my top 5.
Well, that's enough rambling. Like most of us I have to drag my ass into work tomorrow and navigate the unending barrage of fat-backed unreasonable clients, snarky ungrateful coworkers, and the beautiful and sordid camaraderie that makes up 8 to 12 hours of my every day life. Good luck to all of you in the same journey, one more day into the future. Selah.
For those not interested in long winded, self serving, don't give a f**k diatribes, suffice IT to say, Dan Tobacco Salty Dogs is really goddamn good, and if you smoke flakes or plugs and you don't have a Castello 55.......well.........you'll probably be alright. There are a lot of good pipes out there. But you should have one someday, if all that's good in the world is on your side.
For you poor, bored, sorry, tired eyed bastards that have nothing better to do in the middle of the night (or day by the time you read this?) than read some n00bs "review" of some tobacco in some pipe....well, I love you guys, because most nights I am right there with you. Read on. I hope you get something out of it, if not something of worth, then at least something to keep you reading, and carrying on, into the wee hours, laughing at some n00b.
Dan tobacco's Salty Dogs is really goddamn good, but I didn't think so at first. I cut it thin off the massively dense, mini-chocolate bar-like plug. Shockingly tiny for the $18.50 50g plug I thought I bought. But once it was in my hand, Jesus God, it's dense and dark. How the hell could this be a Virginia/Perique blend? It looks like a goddamn Gawith Rope in square form, but denser! I think with a little mortar I could build a house out of this! I sliced off one thicker chunk. It was a real bitch to rub out. So I sliced off a thinner chunk. It rubbed into basically ribbon cut, much easier. I combined the two and gave them a solid 1.5 hours of drying time while making some Moose sirloin chili. After my wife and I enjoyed a bowl of chili......and a half.....with cheddar, sour cream, and green onions of course...........I went out on the back deck to look over the vast, silty Knik river for my after dinner smoke. Given the rum topping on this blend, I poured myself some 23 year Kirk and Sweeney Rum in a snifter to go along with the smoke, and a deep, dark giant ball jar of Surly Brewing Company's Darkness Imperial Stout. I was not planning on re-entering the house sober. Out on the back deck with the mountains and forest before me, I lit up.
At first, I thought, ah SHIT! This mother won't light. I did one charring light. I did a second as usual. Then I relaxed into the breath method. And....it went out. I did another charring light..........it went out again. Shit, I thought. Too little drying time. I f**ked up. But after the 4th light........she took off! And after that...........BLISS. This tobacco....earthy, rich, subtly spicy, FANTASTIC. The rum topping is nowhere near as strong as i expected to be, after viewing the thick dark plug that I put into a jar a few hours back. However, as the bowl moves on, it gets a little bit more noticeable. What also gets a little more noticeable, is the nicotine. I was disappointed in the nic-hit half way through the bowl, but moving into the second half it beings to creep up on me out of the darkness. I started to taste the rum even more as well. As the Alaskan sun sets at 10:35 PM, I begin to really feel it. Moving through the first half of the bowl, I get an almost chocolate like flavor as this tobacco gets even richer. It is complimented by an odd and surprising creaminess. I thought the perique would be spicier by now, but oddly enough, I'm kind of glad it's not, as this tobacco is..........weird.......but amazingly good. Still so hard to believe this is a va/per, it so rich and creamy, and strongly bold. But there is a subtle spicy, figgy note that I assume must be the perique, but it is far from the starring player. Make no mistake, this tobacco is RICH! Especially in the second half of the bowl. I really changes A LOT half way through........for the better.
I'll pause here to sing the praises of this pipe. I have one castello 26. It's a good pipe. I also have a Castello poker. It's a good pipe. But this 55. Flakes. Plugs. I have not found a better pipe for these cuts. At first this pipe shape, with it's jaunting John Cleese chin, seemed ugly to me, but now, after a while, I find beauty in it. They are expensive. Is it worth the money? That's up to you. For me.......YES. Especially when purchased at Tabaccheria Corti. The best prices on Castello pipes (new ones, anyway) I have found. The smoke is completely effortless to maintain. The briar warms ever so slightly all the way through, without getting hot AT ALL. After this bowl was finally lit, it smoked easily and forgivingly until it became the mythically fine white ash. I had to hold myself back from chugging this blend and abusing the briar during the second half, as the smoke was so effortless and the tobacco began to really come into it's own.
As the smoke moves into it's final third, my wife ( who I told I would be smoking for around an hour or so) comes out to check in on me.......how much longer will it be? I don't know.......I'm already an 1.5 hours into this bowl.......where has the time gone? I tell her 15 minutes, damn well knowing it will likely be 30. And 30 it is. Somehow, this tobacco becomes better and better and better the further it burns down. Similar to those rare cigars, that somehow defy the usual harshness and heat of the final few inches, this bowl seems to only get richer, better, and more complex as it burns through the dottle. It is the pipe tobacco equivalent of a nubber.
Towards the end, the imperial stout and rum starts to get to me. Rather than go inside and face the wrath of my wife after nearly two hours of pipe smoking, her taking care of our 3 month old the whole time, I whip it out and piss through the small hole in our back second story porch filigree railing into the black currant bushes. She'll never know. After this I finish the last of the bowl, and nothing is left but ash. I am legitimately upset that this bowl is finished, although I now realize it is for the better, as the alcohol I have been consuming along side it has begun to get to me. The aftertaste of the tobacco sets in, pleasantly. And I walk out of this blissful experience, and back into the real world inside the cabin. Goddamn what a bummer.
It's my turn to feed the baby. So I wash my hands, change my shirt, pick that kid up and feed her. I am content. I am happy. And as soon as this kid is fed, I am ordering more Dan Tobacco Salty Dogs. This is truly exceptional tobacco. For those of you wondering if some plug in a pouch is worth the exorbitant price tag......my answer is...an emphatic and resounding............YES. I'd say the same for the pipe.
Get at least one pouch and try it for yourself, but this is one of the most decadent and unique tobaccos I have experienced as of yet, easily in my top 5.
Well, that's enough rambling. Like most of us I have to drag my ass into work tomorrow and navigate the unending barrage of fat-backed unreasonable clients, snarky ungrateful coworkers, and the beautiful and sordid camaraderie that makes up 8 to 12 hours of my every day life. Good luck to all of you in the same journey, one more day into the future. Selah.