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Kyle Weiss - Nov 9, 2020
- 8 min read
I probably relate food to tobacco (and vice versa) more than most do. It’s a disconnect for some people, but for me, I’m a hedonist for my own palate. I learned cooking very young as a necessity and flavor has become an obsession ever since. Any time, any income level, or instance can be made better with just a little observation and knowledge. A sense of adventure and a knack for learning certainly helps along the way.
Reviewing most things by GL Pease is an easy task for me. He and I have similar appreciations for our senses, we simply passed through and arrived in some different (and for him, much more advanced) areas. His approach to tobacco is that of myself for food. It’s far more than pleasing the crowd, it’s about discovery and independence. It’s not about doing it right, it’s about doing it with humility. It’s about history, process and procedure. It’s a balance between what was and what is. It is a skill, and an art, tobacco and food. We often forget we’re the ones doing simply at this particular moment, yet people have been preparing and eating food, and smoking tobacco for much longer than what we see around us. Things change. To ignore that or think us as automatically the cutting edge of innovation or procedure is not correct. So when a new product from someone with any meaningful similarity arrives, my process is streamlined.
GL Pease held back nothing by the cheeky and simple naming of “Spark Plug.” Yes, it has a British and automotive theme on the label. When you open the tin however be prepared: it’s a healthy (and quite photogenic) plug of tobacco. The leaves are impressive, nearly whole, and visually striking. The color is a patchwork of contrast, layers and strata of Virginia, orientals and Cyprian Latakia compressed into a somewhat chaotic block. Aromas and smells that greet the nose are intoxicatingly English, both in the pedigree and style. I don’t think I’ve yet opened a tin of domestic (or at least American-blended) tobacco that stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the UK products in scent alone, which is uniquely buttery, smokey and clean.
I haven’t had to contend with a plug of tobacco in a little while, and I had to dig for a favorite chef knife reserved for such a things. It isn’t a fancy knife; a slightly pitted carbon steel blade that I rescued from a trash pile, but it cleaned up nicely and holds an edge. The length is just perfect for rocking down the heel of the blade onto a plug of tobacco. As I got to know this tobacco, I did what I normally do with plugs: whatever I want. Sometimes I cut, sometimes I break into it savagely, sometimes I peel off the layers. It’s your tobacco, do with it as you see fit. In fact, plug tobacco is my favorite presentation and preparation for the end user. I believe a personal interaction with our pleasures is essential. The more work there is removing the annoying things like stems and sticks, the more focused I am on the event about to happen. I’m not here to teach anyone how to deal with their plug of tobacco, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Here’s a hint: there’s no wrong way to do it if you’re enjoying yourself. Your only mistake would be not giving it a go.
Loading Spark Plug into a bowl is both a pain and a breeze. Do you know whose fault that is? Mine. I had to learn again how to cut tobacco by hand. I had to learn to slow down and rub out the flakes and slices just right. I also loved every moment of it. Once Spark Plug is lit, however (this, too, will vary in approach) the strikingly English nature of this tobacco comes to life. I’m not saying this with praise and nonsense to kiss Greg’s ass, either. If his product sucked, I’d tell him so—and he’d appreciate it. This tobacco on the first puff gives that essential waxiness and gentle spice among the classic “campfire in the woods” attitude that so far only blenders in the UK have managed to try. I’d say my favorite of these (and a good comparison) is Samuel Gawith, because “Squadron Leader” was my awakening into what a good, proper English bowl of tobacco is supposed to be. Immediately all players are front and center: Latakia politely pungent, Virginia demure and flirting with sweet, Oriental leaves (Izmir, maybe?) adding some tongue-tingling life to the flavors.
Mid-bowl takes a long time to get to. This is a dense tobacco, and I’m thankful for it. It smolders and sets its own pace. The Virginia leaves go a little quiet at this stage and the oily, meatiness dials down too, but they are not gone. It’s the middle of the show, after the opening act and no anticipation of the intermission. This is the point I love getting naturally lost in my smoking. In fact, sometimes too lost and I have to scramble to get my notes up to speed while I’m paying attention. Relights, if they are needed, are a true joy. Spark Plug has a dusted, baked quality, and with a warmth while smoking that is perfect for the mid-autumn chill that’s more common this time of year. The nice thing about Spark Plug, and all plugs if I’m to be honest, is they change in flavor and attitude from bowl to bowl, and from pipe to pipe. I used the same briar about four times in my rotations with this tobacco, and no other major variables changed—yet the smoke did. Plug tobacco is not as uniform and consistent as other tobaccos, because it is up to you to cut it, load it and pack it. It also is not mixed really, it comes out of the box, gets portioned, and off it goes awaiting your enthusiasm and tamper. Some bowls will get a little more Latakia. Some will have a little less Virginia. In the grand scheme of things, it won’t matter because the conversation is the same. It would be pretty boring if every conversation started, maintained and concluded exactly the same. There’s no risk and little reward. This tobacco in that regard is an interesting conversation. The same, yet still intriguing.
Spark Plug is perfectly consistent in one way: the finish. As the initial opening tin scent is akin to a proper UK-made English, these tobaccos tend to roll the credits in a very specific way. My love for the saturated final puffs at the end of a smoke started with tobaccos like these. Everything comes back for a final bow, sometimes the spotlight even focuses on a few of the main roles. In this case, the Virginia and the Turkish/Oriental take center stage. The Virginia gave up its sweet character early on, and has since become warm and experienced, almost calm. There’s a sourdough quality that’s hard to miss. The orientals also have released the sharper spices, and it’s the scent on the nose when exhaling that is most noticeable. Imagine an herb garden on a warm, spring day. There’s a flowering basil note, then a whiff of thyme. Never once l did it become ashy, muddy or wooden in character.
I am happy Greg came out with Spark Plug. I haven’t had a smoke like this in a long time, and I look forward to spending additional time with it. The learning curve with a plug is self-evident, however in flavor I highly recommend anyone who has read along this far give this Yank’s version of a UK classic a try. Nicotine is moderate, the flavor is variable and always delicious. Whiskey paired incredibly well with Spark Plug. Any whiskey. Spicy rye to sweeter bourbon to scotch (although I would, as a rule, avoid peaty scotches as the smokiness from Latakia can meddle with the flavor). Oh yes, and coffee. Any coffee. In fact, of my gins, teas and various other beverages I was hard pressed to find one that disagreed with Spark Plug.
It’s a fact of our spoiled, convenient life that there’s such a thing out there as “boneless chicken wings.” They’re made with different meat, usually the drier and less flavorful breast meat, and perfectly machined and treated so they cook in nearly the same fashion. They’re overpriced chicken nuggets shaped like wings. Tobacco sometimes undergoes many of its own processing for whatever reason, but it’s much tougher to hide what tobacco is and what the intent is to be. I like minimal processing. I like things to be what they are. The closer to the plant I am, the happier I am. Spark Plug seems to do this in not only effective simplicity, but chooses to work with the tobacco and the process.
It’s not easy, as nothing worthwhile really ever is.
A classic English blend in an old fashioned plug form.
Written by Kyle Weiss
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 641. Our featured interview tonight is with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl and is featured in our recurring series, “Ask the Tobacco Blender”. However, tonight he will be the interviewee as we learn about how he became a pipe smoker and collector, when he got his first pipe and how he progressed from there. At the top of the show, Brian will have a review of the rare German tobacco blend, Tumblin’ Dice.
I remember the first time I heard someone else say it. “How many pipes do I need? Just one more.” It’s glib, sure, a bit of a joke, but it also rings a bell of truth, at least to me. I certainly have “enough” pipes, but pipes are seductive little things. Just when we think we’re all set, we have enough, another will come along that tempts us beyond any sense of reason. I suppose it’s the same way with any sort of collecting. There’s always another white whale we’re in pursuit of. When we finally track that one down, though, another will almost inevitably breach the surface, taking its place as the new object of our desire, enticing us to change course and set sail once again. But, there’s a potential problem with having a lot of pipes. Maybe. The more pipes we may have, the harder it can be to keep them in rotation. It makes sense. We tend to gravitate towards our current faves, the ones that most appeal to us for whatever reason, and sometimes, maybe they stay in rotation longer than they really should. The side-effect of this, of course, is that another favored pipe might end up too-long forgotten. That’s exactly what happened recently. Exhibit A: The Castello pictured is one that has been long overlooked. It’s a Trademark shape #55. It’s a really nice example of the shape. The red pearlized stem is beautifully done. The wood isn’t really anything special to look at, but it’s evenly covered, without any bald spots. When I look at it, I wonder why it wasn’t done in the more typical dark ruby-red finish that adorns most Trademarks. I’ve seen a great deal of variation amongst the grade over the years, including one really nice bent-bulldog that left the factory with a brown sandblasted finish. (For those who don’t know, Trademark has long been the lowest Castello smooth grade, usually finished in a dark red.) Was this a stamping/grading error, or is there just more leeway in the grade than we’ve come to expect? I might never know. This example is from the early 1970s, maybe even the late 1960s, identified by the upper case Ks in the grade designation. (On Sea Rock and Old Antiquari pipes, the Ks reflect the size, while with the smooth finishes, Trademark, Castello and Collection, the Ks represent the relative grade.) It has been living in a different rack than the one housing the majority of my #55s. I don’t recall why I put it there, but as many of us can relate to, rack space is often at a premium. I stumbled upon it while looking for something completely different. “Oh, you? Why are you there? I remember you smoke pretty well.” Yeah, I sometimes talk to my pipes – one of many quirks, I suppose. I won’t begin to worry until they start talking back. I grabbed it from the rack, dusted it off, and decided to give it a fill with a bowl of a slightly aged VA/perique blend, Telegraph Hill, from 2018. What a delightful smoke! At five years, the tobacco is expressing a lot of the complexities of aged Virginias and the perique adds a delightful fruitiness. When young, the composition is a bit brighter, maybe a little spicier, but time has polished any edges, and amplified the sweeter notes. Like the pipe, I’d forgotten about this blend for quite a while, but one evening in March, after chatting with my good friend Nate, who is quite a fan of it, I decided it might be time to revisit it. I got a couple of fresh ones, and excavated a couple older tins from the library. I normally reach for Fillmore when I want a VA/perique thing because of its boldness and depth, but in revisiting this one, I’m finding something soothing and comfortable about it that I’ve really been enjoying, both young and aged. Sticking with the theme of the forgotten, and as a perhaps interesting tidbit to the photographically inclined, I shot the pictures for this month’s column with my old Nikkor-O 35mm/2.0 mounted on my trusty Nikon Df. The last time I used this lens, it was adapted to one of my Fujifilm bodies, and I didn’t care much for the results, so I put it away and pretty much forgot about it. But, I’ve recently been exploring some of my old kit, deciding what to keep, what to pass along, and this one once again came to my attention, kind of like that old Castello. On the Df, there’s something about its vintage rendering that I find truly appealing. Another forgotten treasure, and just like with that old pipe, it seems that, at least today, everything old is new again. If your collection is on the large side, are there pipes or tobaccos that you’ve all but forgotten, only to come back to them one day to find yourself wondering why? Maybe it’s just another fun dimension to this endlessly fascinating journey.
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Ok, so it’s that time of year, as we all know. Family feasts, houses, yards, and big trees festooned with lights and dangling ornaments, just high enough to keep the cats from reaching a paw into the greenery. It’s also the time of year when your pipe-smoking-significant other makes vast hints about a new pipe. That’s to be expected since he or she was a good boy or girl during the year. Yes, ladies smoke pipes, too. Oh, you want an example? Okay, try Actress Greta Garbo, Millicent Fenwick, Mary Frith, and my late grandmother (who died when she was 93) dipped snuff and smoked a cob occasionally. So now that we have settled that the gentler side of life will puff a pipe too, let’s move on to the upcoming biggest holiday of all. Of course, that huge event is brought to us by the hefty fellow in a red suit, puffing his pipe all the way in a sled filled with presents, being led by a reindeer with a red nose. Or some such. That’s Santa Claus, of course. Becoming a bit more serious, Christmas is such a wonderful time for families and friends. It’s also quite special for pipe puffers. For many of us, this brings up a nostalgic look back to our pipe-smoking or cigar-smoking friends who have died during the current year. A great journalist pal whom I often joined in a local brick-and-mortar pipe and cigar shop. I puffed my pipe, and occasional cigar, as he enjoyed a cigar. He died in October and will be missed. On the happier side of things, Christmas is also a time when mind workers of the world renew their collections with fresh additions. Pundit included. A French passion has overtaken Pundit, from reading more Albert Camus, a heavy cigarette smoker, as were many French intellectuals of a certain time. Instead of cigarettes many of us prefer the more relaxed enjoyment of pipes for that “calm and objective judgment” in the comings and goings of the world. This brings me to French pipes. While visiting France once in the long ago, I happened by a “Tabac” shop in Paris, Tabac Des Vosges. I purchased a beauty of a Chacom bent. I also later bought a Ropp made from ancient briar. To learn more about the dawn of briar pipes and beginnings, take a peek at a well-done piece by Davin Hylton in Pipe Line on April 12, 2023, on Saint-Claude, France, the birthplace of briar. Also in the long back when, on a cold Christmas afternoon, Pundit wandered into an Atlanta bricks and mortar pipe shop to look around. There, resting in an enclosed glass counter was an exquisite Comoy. An older gent, smoking a beautiful bent, asked me if I wanted to look at that pipe. It had a $100 price tag. A college student working for a grocery store chain to help with college tuition at the time, Pundit didn’t have one hundred cents, let alone a C note! I declined and found a $5 basket pipe. A Christmas tradition had just begun. Since that early time, Pundit has made it a holiday ritual to either reward himself, or a special friend, with pipe or tobacco. A Claudio Cavicchi would be nice. Just sayin.’ And now for a couple of December-born Pipe Smokers of the Past: Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on Dec. 30, 1865, and died on Jan. 18, 1936. I always prefer to believe the best of everybody; it saves so much trouble—Rudyard Kipling. Martin Van Buren, born Dec. 5, 1782, and died July 24, 1862, U.S. President, 1837-1841 As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it—Martin Van Buren. And one more note to recall a deceased World War II veteran who loved William Somerset Maugham, the author. Maugham, a pipe smoker, was born in Paris, France, on Jan. 25, 1874, and died on Dec. 16, 1965. One cool afternoon as the veteran and I talked while sitting in his backyard patio, he looked off into the distance as if studying something. Nothing in particular. Just looking. He turned to me and said if I wanted to learn about life, “read Somerset Maugham.” I did. It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, ‘I don’t know’ –W. Somerset Maugham And now a Parting Shot: Any day with an old friend with pipes and tobacco is a good day.
What a great review! I haven’t tried mine yet, but now can’t wait.
That is one pretty plug, highly photogenic. I’d say, never peel a plug by layers, since you’ll miss the fullness of the blend, but otherwise, I accept the recommendation and will add this to my list on my glacial way through pipe smoking. The tin art is extra snappy too.
I enjoyed reading this. For many years we didn’t have much of a selection for pipe tobaccos like we do today, and spark plug is definitely on my list. I’ve been drawn to plug tobacco because of how the flavors meld together from each different leaf, and I like the preparation.
I’m 2.5 years quit, but were I to resume, I would undoubtedly do so with Dark Flake. But just as surely I’d have a tin of “Spark Plug” at the ready, as your words and the photo were deliciously compelling. Here here, good sir!
Thanks, guys. I’m glad you enjoyed the read! ?