@thebigragu: Sorry this is a bit late, but I didn't get a chance to smoke last night. Anyways, here's the review:
Upon opening the tin I was hit with a combination of scents I hadn't smelled before. Plumcake is mostly made up of red Virginias, but also has a small amount of Latakia that gives it a unique tin note. Sweet from the rum casing, but with a slight undertone of the smokey/bbq scent of the Latakia.
The tobacco lit wonderfully and I smoked almost half the bowl in a large pipe with out a relight. I smoked this blend in both a large meerschaum and a small bulldog today and I would have to say that I prefer it in the bulldog. I'm not sure if it was because of the briar or that fact that it was a much smaller bowl, but in the bulldog the nuances in flavor were much more present. Like most aromatics, it did not taste how it smelled, but the flavour was not bad. It was a light smoke with a slightly sweet taste from the Rum and a heavy undertone from the Latakia.
While I rarely inhale my tobacco, upon my first smoke of a new blend I like to inhale at least once to see if I can detect any new flavors. With this tobacco: WOW! When I was sipping it tasted pretty good, but on inhaling the flavor of plums and rum came through in the back of my throat and it changed the entire dynamic of the smoke.
The room note was sweet but not sickly sweet like many other aromatics and I found that the Latakia was faint enough to not make it unpleasant for the girlfriend (I always ask her opinion of new smokes hoping that someday I'll find one she isn't repulsed by :| ). She likes this one! More than any of the other tobaccos I smoke at least (they mostly tend to be English blends as I usually avoid aromatics).
Anyways, I hope the review was helpful and as I'm about to send this post I'm breaking out the tin for a third bowl... :
: