I am not really big on reviewing pipe tobacco. My last review covered the unfortunate demise of the Condor Plug now manufactured in Uranus Poland and known as the 'Uranus Plug' or 'But Plug' since it no longer tastes like the Irish version. I now turn my attention to Kentucky Twist. This was kindly sent to me by my dear friend Weezel. It can be a little difficult to track down but the effort is well worth while. The product comes in a translucent cellophane wrapper with the name prominently stamped on the front and the fact that it is chewing tobacco. In reality it is a 'twist' of tobacco and whilst it claims to be a chewing tobacco it is also very smokable. I found opening the packet that the 'twist' was a little dry so I placed it overnight in a tobacco jar with a couple of humidifying disks. On a side note here, Kentucky Twist in an unsweetened tobacco and would be classified as natural or raw tobacco. After a night in the humidifying jar the 'twist' became quite pliable and less brittle, also it tasted damned good to chew due to the absence to flavoring or sugar in the tobacco. Using a sharp plug knife I sliced about 2 1/2" of the 'twist' and cut it into small circles and then rubbed it out slightly. I used a small size meerschaum 'cutty' that I smoke black ropes from G&H. This was based on the reasoning that if this stuff tastes like a Reindeer fart it really will not impart long term flavors to the pipe since everything I like to smoke seems to remind most people of something unpleasant. I packed the pipe with the cut 'twist' and after a few attempts at getting it going using a No:2 Disposable French BIC it finally took off. In terms of flavor it was very pleasant with a good amount of white smoke. Once burning the tobacco turned into a grayish black ash and delivered a very satisfying nicotine punch. I was also surprised by the slow burning quality of the tobacco as a bowl full rendered at least an hour of pleasurable uninturrupted enjoyment. We now now come to the draw backs. In terms of room note it was definitely pungent and even after an hour or so the office still smelt how I would imagine the gun deck of the CSS Virginia smelled after a major engagement. All in all a very interesting experience but I think I'll stick to chewing the stuff.
