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Today Jeremy Reeves, Director and Head Blender of Cornell & Diehl, discusses an exciting project from C&D, joining their regular production: the Summit Series, featuring four new plug-cut blends. Available as of January 20 at 6 p.m. ET.
Note: The following transcription has been edited for clarity and brevity.
[Jeremy Reeves]: The Summit Series is not limited edition. If you are a fan of some of our work with darker Virginias in flake, or if you enjoy adding a little of Bright Virginia to a particular blend and you're using our blending components, you'll find a lot to enjoy in this line. Also, it's ideal for those who are fans of Virginia/Periques and Va/Pers with Oriental.
A Note on Plugs
Plugs are interesting, by the way, because with Virginias, we understand that they ferment and age really well due to the high sugar content that they have. The process of fermentation is really about whether or not there is oxygen in the mix. Anaerobic fermentation tends to require a lot of heat. Aerobic fermentation doesn't necessarily require heat; it just needs sugar. So, when there's oxygen in play, you have a more active, or faster, result of fermentation.
A ribbon blend is going to oxidize, if you will, more quickly than say a flake blend will. Flakes start out their life having been put under a bunch of pressure for a period of time but then they're sliced so they're starved of oxygen for a bit, and then oxygen is reintroduced into the mix.
With a plug, this is a longer trajectory that you're going to need for it to really go through the fermentation that you would find more readily in a flake, say five years or so in an unvacuum-sealed tin like we use. With a plug, you may find that it's a longer process but it's also going to be a different result that you get. That longer-term fermentation is actually gonna get deeper, meatier, and fuller in sweetness over time than your flake will.
It's just a different way to experience a blend. If you're a fan of plugs, I definitely would recommend trying some of these. I think they're gonna be up your alley, and be sure to use a knife.
Skyward Gate
To start, Skyward Gate is our Red Virginia plug. This is tobacco leaf blended, compressed, and stored under pressure for 14 days. They're very dense, so your knife will help prepare these for smoking.
Lone Sentinel
Next we've got Lone Sentinel, which is our Virginia/Perique blend. If you're a fan of some of the things that we've done with Virginia over the years, like Red Carpet or Poplar Camp, I think this would be a blend that would appeal to you.
Watchman's Reach
We've got Watchman's Reach, which is a Bright Virginia plug and it's straight Canadian Bright Virginia. It's beautiful stuff. Through the pressure, it really takes on this interesting mellow, honeyed kind of tone in flavor.
Hoodoo Ridge
Then lastly, Hoodoo Ridge is a Virginia/Oriental/Perique plug. Of the four, I think you'll find that Hoodoo Ridge is the most complex, straight out the gate.
Summit Series
I think that each of these blends are going to bring more and more complexity with longer aging but they're delicious now. They're soft and mellow, and the plugs are nice and dense.
A lot of times I find myself reaching for a plug when I'm going on a trip and I want something that's easy to transport that is going to hold its moisture well. Plug was originally invented specifically for allowing tobacco to take long journeys on ships and maintain its moisture instead of getting dried out and acrid.
I also find myself reaching for a plug when I just want a reason to use my knife. Also, if I'm going on a hike, I may want to pack my pipe a little differently for an outdoor excursion where there might be crosswinds; I find a coarser cut would be better. Plug gives you full customization when it comes to the way that it's cut. You can shave it very finely into a shag, slice it into a thin flake, or you can slice it a little thicker, cross cut it, and basically make a cube-cut version of the blend.
There's a lot of variation at play. Being able to customize that and pack my pipe differently for the situation that I'm in is one of the key benefits of a plug.
Other than that, it's neat to have another aspect of the ritual of pipe smoking that you can incorporate. For those of us that are pipe guys but also knife guys, that can be a neat little activity as well. It's an inspiration to keep your knives nice and sharp, so whenever you want to have a smoke, you can shave it off exactly the way that you want.
I hope you'll check out our Summit Series, available on January 20. Leave us your feedback on the blends as well as what your experiences are with plugs. I'm really interested to see how those of you haven't had experience with a plug like this before interact with it. Thanks very much.
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Comments
Thanks, Kayla and Jeremy. Excited for these.
I wish one of these was a Va/Or plug without perique, I guess that's what Geometrie is for
I agree. I’d love a Red Virginia & Oriental blend without the Perique. I love Perique, I just get enough of it in my Bayou Morning Flake.
Oh- and I tried Sunday Picnic but that gave me tongue-bite. The lighter Virginias can really get me. C&D brights usually don’t bite me but Sunday Picnic did
Oh- and I tried Sunday Picnic but that gave me tongue-bite. The lighter Virginias can really get me. C&D brights usually don’t bite me but Sunday Picnic did