Q: What's So Great About Salty Dogs?

[Chico]

A: It's hard to find, and it looks cool.

I've tried it in a cob, in three different briars, with 6mm and 9mm filters, and without a filter, folded and stuffed, and rubbed out.... and it still just seems like a pretty ordinary, slightly sharp VaPer. I will say folding and stuffing doesn't work well for me because theses aren't like regular flakes or even cakes. They're large, thin flakes of tobacco compressed into flakey hunks that you have to peel apart to get them to ignite. This is coming from a person who smokes Gawiths without drying, and believes that rubbing out is akin to breaking up spaghetti before you put it in the water.

Maybe it's for people who like pie better than cake.

 

[WrightwoodJohn]

Again with the pie vs cake !

 

[jpberg]

Nothing is great about it. It’s a little exotic and looks funny. Ergo cool.

 

[Sparks]

I wasn’t really blown away by it either. it’s a decent VaPer plug, but nothing special.

 

[Thepipehunter]

I thought it was very good but I still haven’t decided if the price tag justifies it yet or not.

 

[millarddj]

Yeah I tried some, liked it, bought a bunch, and have since found it merely "pretty good". I think I'm actually backsliding away from my previous attraction to plugs.

 

[cigrmaster]

I have found that cube cutting into small cubes is the best way for me to smoke it. I also believe this is going to be a 7-10 year aging tobacco not something that ages in just a few years. I like Curly Block better when it is young. I didn't load up on Salty maybe 15 plugs is all. After smoking half a cube I couldn't get a real good grasp of it's flavors for down the road. Curly Block I knew after a few bowl it was a keeper.

 

[SmokeRings]

I just finally found it in stock after being curious for a few years and added a plug to my order, I have been on a huge VaPer kick for the last couple of years, so maybe this will be a good fit, considering how hard it is to find and the price I doubt very seriously that it becomes a regular thing

 

[DannoH]

As a plug it's inherently interesting to me, but agree that it's not a real standout. I'll generally reach for 3Ps over it just 'cause the Peterson offering costs far less.

Re: prep - I have had good success in slicing Salty Dogs *very* thinly, breaking up the flakes slightly, and drying for 15 mins or so before stuffing into pipe.

 

[Logs]

Mostly just a novelty smoke from my perspective, but some guys really love it.

 

[Chico]

Okay, well I'll try cube cutting like @cigrmaster suggests, then thinly slicing as @DannoH suggests. But I'm guessing I'll be trading the other pouch I have when I'm reunited with my cellar.

Interesting to see the lack of passion for it around these parts, though. PSD: Home of the True Pipe Smokers

 

[TrubkaJoe]

IMO Salty Dogs has a depth and intensity of sweet, dark fruit flavor that few VaPers can match, and it smokes beautifully. It doesn't do much for me when sliced into flakes. I shave it thin and rub it into a very fine shag to get some flavor. It is pricey in the US (though worth it, I think), but it usually costs 6-8$ at Estervals, so I throw in a bunch of them with every order. The savings on four plugs pays for the shipping.

 

[Chico]

IMO Salty Dogs has a depth and intensity of sweet, dark fruit flavor that few VaPers can match, and it smokes beautifully. It doesn't do much for me when sliced into flakes. I shave it thin and rub it into a very fine shag to get some flavor. It is pricey in the US (though worth it, I think), but it usually costs 6-8$ at Estervals, so I throw in a bunch of them with every order. The savings on four plugs pays for the shipping.

Okay, I'll try that too, what the hell. . When you say " sweet, dark fruit flavor" in a VaPer, though, I think SJF or Marlin. SD doesn't strike me that way so far.

 

[MikeInMaine]

I bought some a few years ago. I think I liked it ok and decided not to touch it for ten years. I’m tempted to pull some out and give it another go.



but I won’t.

 

[SmokeRings]

Okay, I'll try that too, what the hell. . When you say " sweet, dark fruit flavor" in a VaPer, though, I think SJF or Marlin. SD doesn't strike me that way so far.

SJF is a fabulous, definitional VaPer for me, bit of a shame it's hard to find, well worth it though if you can find it, Salty Dogs will find favor indeed if I can get it to come anywhere near the taste of SJF

 

[Ozark Wizard]

It's a bit of alright in my opinion. Just a bit sweeter than Peterson's Perfect Plug. But as to why it became such the rage?

It's from across the pond.
It's twice as expensive as 3-P's.
Small releases make it sell fast. That gives the illusion of covetousness. Hurry, don't think, just buy it!
It's twice to three times the effort to get it even in your pipe. Tinkering with our hobby is half the fun. Gotta be worth twice the cost. Business logic.
Did I forget anything?

 

[SteveNH]

Just opened a package from Watch City. I let it dry out after slicing a few flakes, cutting them up and rubbing them out. Use a smallish pipe and thoroughly enjoyed the pipe.

 

[WalkinStick]

I shave it thin and rub it into a very fine shag

I do the same, and enjoy it quite a bit. I don’t buy it because it’s bloody expensive, but if it’s in front of me, I smoke it.

It’s good, but it’s also another “get it while it lasts!” hype plug. I don’t chase tobaccos anymore.

 

[gnossos]

IMO Salty Dogs has a depth and intensity of sweet, dark fruit flavor that few VaPers can match, and it smokes beautifully.

This is what I'm finding. The blends that have this profile like Astley 44 are often not what they used to be. I feel like Salty Dogs is in the same general flavor profile, maybe a few doors down in the same neighborhood, but it has more going on. I'd probably smoke it more if it were a flake rather than a plug.

 

[SmokeRings]

I do the same, and enjoy it quite a bit. I don’t buy it because it’s bloody expensive, but if it’s in front of me, I smoke it.

It’s good, but it’s also another “get it while it lasts!” hype plug. I don’t chase tobaccos anymore.

Chasing tobacco is an expensive hobby, and the return on investment has been rather mediocre at best, it's sort of necessary for the first couple of years that pipes become a hobby or an obsession so that you get it out of your system and figure out what you like, after that the value disappears quickly, I smoke 4 blends probably 80+% of the time, and I have a bowl of something different a few times a week to keep things from getting stale.