Mick McQuaid - Mick McQuaid Square Cut pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 18 of 18 reviews of this tobacco
Philosopher	09/21/2012	Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant
I've got through 2 tins of this and like it very much: a robust brown flake with a subtle hint of berry fruits. I'm intrigued that the ready rubbed seems to score higher but have yet to come across a tin: I'll snap it up if I do.
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Connoisseur	03/02/2012	Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Mick McQuaid brings back special memories for me as it was the first quality tinned tobacco I purchased upon commencing my pipe smoking adventure. Admittedly, I really only bought it because I liked the tin. It was the "cut plug" version in fact, and as I recall, not only was it difficult to pack and light, it was overwhelmingly strong with enough nicotine to give the thoroughly inexperienced smoker I was a nasty head spin. Several years hence, and a little more seasoned, I bought the "square cut" version with the hope it was only my youthful folly that made this tobacco so insurmountable. On popping the lid, a row of neat dark tobacco squares circled the tin in domino fashion. The aroma was as I remember it: a rich sweet plum-like boquet that was good enough to eat. I would describe this tobacco as "full" with a rich flavorful smoke with little tongue bite - something ideally enjoyed after a hearty meal with a glass of Islay malt or a cognac.
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DrDyson	07/30/2011	Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable
My late mother-in-law used to say that this smells like a frying elephant. She was a woman with a remarkable turn of phrase, now entertaining the angels. The room note is certainly a little surprising, but as a smoking experience it's pleasant enough: cool, full, heavy, slow and consistent. It's a winter smoke, if you know what I mean. It has a distinctive flavour that I can't quite place, something in the vicinity of St Bruno, Walnut Flake and Gawith & Hoggarth's Bosun Cut Plug, but also different (that, I'm afraid, was not a very helpful description). It's perhaps too distinctive for an all-day regular smoke, but quite pleasing in smallish doses. Beware, though: Mick is strong lad and swift to anger, and you need to approach him with care. If you're partial to strong flakes, give this one a try. It's no better and no worse than many other strong flakes, and I wouldn't smoke it regularly; but it makes a change. Beware of the room note, though, if you value company. The chief downside, to me, is that I just can't keep it lit. I don't think it's my bad technique, either; I've heard quite a few people say the same thing. It's best rubbed out; fold and stuff doesn't work at all well. Recommended, but I wouldn't sell my children for it. As the popularity of pipe smoking has declined, and as we move slowly towards prohibition, so many old favourites have ceased to be available. It's a bit surprising that Mick McQ has survived in a world from which so many good 'uns have perished.
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Stewiebob69	11/01/2010	Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant
This is a re-review as I initially thought that I must have got a duff batch. The flake at the top of tin must have dried out, so lacked the flavour & taste I expected. However,after smoking the flake in the lower layer of the tin which had retained it's moisture there was a big difference to quality of the smoke. I bought it after reading recommendations of fellow pipe smokers. I actually asked for plug @ local tobacconist, but they put tin in a paperbag so found out it was square cut when got home. Tin smell: like St Bruno flake - peaty, but more molasses than fruity smell but not as strong. Room note: Smoked it in entry. Then went back to smell smoke afterwards - quite pleasant. Flavour & taste: again, similar to St Bruno flake, more peaty & meaty with a more molasses/treacle sweetness than fruity/plummy. So glad I stuck with it!!
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Juna Gu	12/22/2009	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Slight hint of casing or something from the tin, definitely. Nice smell. This is an awkward tobacco. When it smokes well it's good. It will not be rushed at all and demands a lot of attention. I find that it really likes being packed loose. It can bite easily, but as long as it's treated gently it has a nice pungent, tangy taste. However the tobacco in the flake has a sort of waxey surface and I find myself having to relight this too many times during a smoke. I don't mind that too much but I notice it doesn't happen so much with other tobaccos. At first I liked this but after two tins now I'm finding myself lowering this to 2 stars. I think that once this is mastered it might be a good smoke but I'm having trouble with it. Edit 25th Jan 2010 Well, I have to say I'm finding this one perplexing. I was getting thoroughly cheeeesed off with this one as I couldn't seem to keep it lit. Then I tried rubbing it out and that makes the difference. And I started noticing what Invigilator described as little bursts of flavour going off like flares in the black night, right down at the bottom of the bowl too.
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paulwfromtheden	09/15/2009	Medium to Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable
Very nice to look at in the tin and the square cuts rub out very easily. This is a very 'full' tobacco, with a strong nicotine level. Those who do not like strong tobacco are well advised to avoid this, but for anyone who wants a fulfilling smoke, this is to be recommended.
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Pipemanuk	07/25/2009	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
Not being a son of Erin, except in the holidays, I had not tried this tobacco before. I love the Plug...it's one of the greatest tobacco's you will ever ever smoke...but this is, well nothing really. You can't believe that the two share a familial relationship. To paraphrase Briar Chef...the Plug is awesome stuff....this is just stuff. I'd avoid it.
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DK	07/24/2009	Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is one of the most beautiful tobaccos to behold in the tin. Small square cut flakes of dark virginia mixed with some lighter leaf. The tin aroma is of natural tobacco with perhaps just a hint of flavoring. At times I think I taste a little casing but I can't be sure. The overall flavor is quite an enigma. I'd classify this as a fairly powerful smoke, heavy in body but very light in taste. By that I mean this tobacco just sort of "is" in the flavor department. There's no burst of flavor upon first light and no development or depth as the bowl progresses. Full Virginia Flake this ain't! I wouldn't classify it as boring; more just monodimensional. A nice "set it and forget it" smoke - nothing to write home about. I'll finish the tin but won't buy any more. Try it if you like a nicotine rush with a nice middle-of-the-road flavor.
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Plunket	05/02/2009	Medium to Strong	None detected	Full	Tolerable
For clarification, the blender was originally P.J.Carroll & Co Ltd, Dundalk, Ireland; subsequently, Murray & Sons Ltd, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and now Orlik. Not strictly a flake: originally this was sliced plug under P.J. Carrols banner, and I believe both Murray's and Orlik have remained true to its cut - hence the name 'square cut'. I believe the ready rubbed version is manufactured by Peter Stockaby - also a subsidiary of Orlik. The blend is still a market-leader in the Irish tobacco market, and although P.J. Carolls no longer exists since the 80s their cigarette brands are still the market leader in Ireland. I have just finished two tins and was disappointed, but I can still remember the original. The square cut is now substantially smaller in size, but overall the flavour and taste is not too far from the Murray's blend. All virginian, there was the virginian tang, but it disappeared all too quickly. If anything, it's stronger than the orignal version but is still palatible. Not one I that will go out of my way to re-visit too often. I am updating this to 4 stars - why? well I just returmed from Ireland where I smoked this for two full weeks and it was substantially better than my last experience. I used a larger bowl pipe and rubbed-out a little mmore this time - the smoke was more intense and vibrant with a more pronounced virginia flavour - good stuff!
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hagen	06/08/2007	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant
another update: "a lovely, typical british, classic", i wrote. well, so it was 10 years ago, perhaps, but today it's made in denmark - or that's what mcgahey tells me :-/. probably orlik, then, and i'll have to revise my ideas of that manufacturer's capabilities. 06.06.2007: update. two things: having smoked it some more, i find it now to be medium-strong. and believe me, THIS IS WONDERFUL TOBACCO and you should get hold of some BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, as those classics are disappearing one by one! 05.31.2007 a lovely, typical british, classic. rich, fruity/berry'ish/chocolaty aroma, mellow in taste (but not exceedingly sweet), slightly topped in a way that complements the mature, stoved virginia beautifully. it's first class virginia and, i think, (as has been suggested by others) a bit of burley. absolutely no tongue bite; leaves a nice dry pipe.
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Invigilator	06/08/2007	Medium to Strong	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable
This is a wonderful tobacco for the experienced smoker, a traditional square cut flake with depth of flavour and a pleasing amount of nicotine. Smooth and mouth filling, it delivers a truly rewarding smoke with an occasional note of sweetness showing up like a distant flare of light in a coal black night. Most highly recommended.
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Pipesmoking101	08/25/2006	Strong	Mild	Very Full	Tolerable
I bought a tin of this with no idea of what to expect, having read no reviews of it or spoken to anyone who knows their tobacco. I was pleased with it indeed. Upon opening the tin, one can detect a slight hint of cherry mingled with the stong, alluring tobacco aroma of fine virginias (with a slight burley addition, I think). The casing is very light, but nonetheless noticeable - moreso in the aroma than the smoke. Upon rubbing this out, I found it to be slightly over-moist, in contradiction to the other reviewer's opinions shown here. The moisness did not hamper the light too much, with the bowl requiring 6 relights throughout a 1 & 1/2 hour smoke, but I did experience some gurgling after the fist 1/2 of the bowl. As I was smoking in a short straight pipe, this slightly marred the experience for me. On the whole, though, a straightforward, forthright, startlingly honest & powerful tobacco. At the end of the day, it is nice to put you feet up & have a cool beer & a pipeful of this. The casing is light enough to allow the tobacco to come through with force, but adds something which would be missed if absent. I think I will allow my tin to dry out some, & possibly alter my review if it alters the experience noticeably. Even before this is done though, heartily recommended.
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Pipepundit	12/25/2005	Medium to Strong	None detected	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
My tins came from the UK, which may explain the absence of any casing. The square flakes are a delight to handle, and the smell out of the tin is nothing but tobacco. Strong and pure in taste, there is a satisfying level of nicotine. Masculine and muscular, Mick McQuaid makes the perfect companion to a stout or a lager.
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Air Commodore	03/10/2005	Medium to Strong	Medium	Full	Tolerable to Strong
Its brown flake, full stop. Nothing special.
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Steerpike	07/27/2004	Strong	Mild	Extra Full	Strong
Very good quality, rich tasting flake tobacco. Much the same as the plug variety, but with perhaps a hint of casings. I'd smoke this a lot, if the plug were not available, but I simply find the plug tobacco much more fun and versatile. Technical notes: The moisture content is perfect, the flakes are cleanly cut and carefully packaged, they rub with ease, light with ease, dont gurgle and never bite. Basically its the same as the plug, but the cutting has been done for you.
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chaplikc	02/15/2004	Very Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable
Wow, I don't normally get light headed from smoking a pipe but this one did it to me! Was the chubby guy on the tin laughing at me? The virginias seem to be of very high quality and as mentioned before I think there is some burley in this as well. If I didn't get such a nicotine dizzying experience with this I would give it a higher rating and smoke it more often as the taste was very good and full with the sweetness from the virginias and the light nuttiness from what I think is burley. This is a blend that I might try again in the future as I have had some other blends give me an ill nicotine affect and when tried later it was very pleasing. I recomend this as a try it blend for virginia flake lovers.
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Tantric	01/18/2003	Medium to Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable to Strong
A brawny Virginia, with a strong, assertive personality! Nice and rich, these flakes seem to have a slight sweet topping that, never the less, does not preclude the natural tobacco leaf from making its mark. This is no nonsense tobacco. Its manly, designed for cold, windy weather, and to be drank with Murphy?s or Guinness? beer. I presume this is high quality leaf, but it is not processed in a sophisticated fashion (compared to N° 44, Astley?s full strength Virginia flake, or to Hal O? the Wynd, this tobacco seems a bit raw). IMO this trait can make it a notch overwhelming: after a bowl of MM other tobaccos will erroneously seem pale and tasteless. The square cut flakes come a bit dry in the tin for my taste, but they are easy to crumble or roll in as they are. It burns very well: cool, producing with clouds of smoke. IMO this tobacco is especially suited for outdoor smoking. A great, straightforward and unambiguous smoke, excellent for a seasoned palate.
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Pipestud	12/31/2002	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant
Mick McQuaid Square Cut Flake is no longer being sold in the USA. Too bad. It is an outstanding flake tobacco with just the slightest hint of casing. It rubs out easily, and the short strands are easy to pack in any sized pipe. (Because of its strength, you might opt for a smaller bowl). Unlike Mick McQuaid Ready-Rubbed (which I prefer), the Square Cut boasts a bit more muscle and burns more slowly. The Virginias are top shelf, and I particularly enjoyed the "no bite" smoke from beginning to end. I think there is a bit of Burley in this blend which aids the cooling properties. If you prefer a straight tobacco taste from your blends, this might work for you, even with the top coating. Absolutely delightful!
Showing reviews 1 through 18 of 18 reviews of this tobacco