This opens up to a full, solid cake of tobacco, something I've never encountered so far. Took off a chunk, rubbed it a bit, and stuffed it willingly into my Dracula 999 Peterson, its scent a little more "reserved" as it were; I found it a bit on the dry side but equally as dense as standard Plum Pudding.
Lit readily and dug-in.
So.. a quick analysis by my reckoning is that it's the same as Plum Pudding but cellar'ed about 5 years. Not sure if that's actually the case but I suspect so. Interestingly, I had commented Plum Pudding might be interesting to have it matured and .. well.. no need. Here it is!
From my Plum Pudding review:
"Strong notes of raisin and deep, dank-wet woods with a bit of what seemed to be a few drops of fermented lemon juice (to me anyway). Cavendish vanilla comes in-and-out distantly but richly as well. A bit skunky and heavy-ish but not as such as the infinite complexity of Balkan Sasieni but more-so than Pete's Early Morning. Quite tasty. Almost a molasses sugar note.. almost."
So.. not the same.. quite.. here's how it's different..
The flavors are all pulled-back quite a bit and blended now in a natural way as if cellar'ed a decent amount of time. Standard Plum Pudding is like a Corvette whereas this is more like a Cadillac of yore (not those race-y ones like the Blackwing V-series but more like an ElDorado, Deville, or Fleetwood). This is a cruiser, not a race-car.
Like putting a splash of water in Glenlivet scotch, it's mellowed for those who imbibe. (not quite rich like Macallan though).
Another description would be Plum Pudding is like a gorgeous but a bit awkward 20 year old blonde in intensity, but Special Reserve version is more like a very mature woman teaching you the birds-and-bees first-hand with patience, confidence, and encouragement; soft, slow, deliberate, and wonderfully.
Flavors of raisin are present but soft as are the lemon juice fermented distantly. Cavendish is soft and backed-off further. Lighter, almost a late-spring smoke. Sugared molasses a bit more up-front and smoother. Everything blended softly and smoothly. Taste is halved overall, and smoothed-over such that it's mellow and nice. Consider liquid chocolate in a milkshake well-blended and then consider powder chunks fighting in a poorly blended milkshake back-and-forth. Plum Pudding standard has flavors fighting each other to be up-front, pushing each other around, (which is fun too) but this one is all working together as-one.
Other, different notes are what I can describe is an overall high-end clove-cigarette taste replacing the cigar-like taste of Standard Plum Pudding. Some bourbon hints in the back, perhaps Maker's Mark 46. I know there's a Bourbon version of this I'll try tomorrow that will likely pull that flavor more up-front.
This is a nice, soft, gentle smoke of very-well expertly blended flavors in an elegant and gentlemanly fashion. Nic hit is the same at slightly above average. Pipe was just a tad over-warm for a few minutes and backed off (or I did, one or the other on my pulls). Sipping is rewarded.
I recommend this and standard Plum Pudding if you want even more powerful flavors to grapple at you as a different experience. Both are good and recommended.
