Opening the tin is a real surprise of aromas and tastes, and when you light it, the taste sounds extremely better.

It is a strong tobacco, not for frist-times-smokers, it requires a bit of experience in tobacco tasting.

The room note is tolerable (personally I love it but not alla the people might like it), so that when I smoke it I feel very well, and the smell that pervades the room gently wrap me in an overwhelming sensation.

I love the taste that Old Ironsides leaves in my mouth after smoking, even if, I repeat, it is not an "easy" tobacco to smoke: it requires you'va quite experience with the oriental tastes.

One of the best tobaccos I've ever smoked, and always present in my whishlist!

Ironsides provides the nice leathery smokiness that I expect from a blend like this, but without the flat or bitter taste that I have experienced in other English/Latakias. Smokes very cool.

If it was still readily available, I would add it to my rotation.

I tried it on a lark, and fell in love with its rich and creamy taste. Low nicotine content also appeals to me since I am not a cigarette smoker. It takes some work to get it lit, but after the initial lighting process it's smooth sailing. Very cool burn, with not bite what so ever. The flavor is sweet with a hint of mint as an aftertaste. The smoke is abundant and heavy which tends to linger. It can leave a residual taste in your pipe, but I dont mind it.

If you can find it, buy it. Hopefully there is some other tobacco company that will pick up this blend for future sale.

I will say that my buddy was smoking something that smelled like Swiss Miss, and that made me happy that I had the Old Ironsides, but it wasn't happy enough to buy it again. (By the way, I lived in Boston for 10 years, and CAO's "Old Ironsides" really DOES smell like the U.S.S. Constitution. Take it for what it's worth.)

That all said, this is a Latakia blend. It is very stout tasting, if not too strong in the nicotine department. This is a little bit like Pirate Kake, as far as latakia content is concerned, but it's better balanced. Guess I'll have to order the 8 oz. bag. That won't fit in my ass pocket! Yes, I said ass pocket. (that of my pants, of course).

Black semi-rubbed flakes. Can be smoked either fully rubbed or in flake form. I prefer a combination: Create a plug a little smaller in diameter and a little higher than the bowl, tamp it in and then fill the rest of the bowl with the rubbed tobacco.

Burns really dry and cool. The rich and creamy smoke will not let you overdo it with puffing. It is very nicely accompanied by a cup of strong black coffee.

I do not think, though, that more than two bowls per day can be pleasant. This is the exact reason for which I withhold the fourth star. You need some other tobacco for the rest of the day.

Room note: Old coffee and maybe maybe a touch of spilled beer.

I like this stuff better than Penzance in taste and in leaf style. Not a clone, but in that ballpark. If you expect to require your sense of taste for about 6 hours after, don't smoke this stuff. I can just see a wine-tasting now: Lovely ruby colour, bouquet... Latakia. Taste... Latakia. Finish... mm hmm, more latakia.

Fwiw I agree with the tin description. Upon opening the tin you will discover beautiful dark flakes with a few lighter strands contained within the flakes. The tin aroma, naturally, smells strongly of Latakia. Moisture content seems slightly high, as I prefer it that way its perfect for me.

Packing: I like to use the flake folding method with Old Ironsides and the tobacco complies well with this. A little sprinkle of fully rubbed out OI on the top helps with lighting.

Smoking: An easy charing light followed by a quick tamp/relight and I'm on my way. This one does, imo, seem 1 dimensional. Its Latakia followed by more Latakia. Mid-Bowl I taste more Latakia..and the finish is a nice smoky Latakia taste. :) Burns to a fine grey ash with no wet goop. It does indeed smoke full & cool and doesn't bite at all. Quite nice overall.

Room note: I would think it unlikely that anyone other then our pipe smoking brethren would enjoy/tolerate it..don't expect the wife to be jumping with joy when you break this one out. Outside only for this pipester.

I do like this smoke when in the mood for a nice, heavier evening smoke after a hearty meal. Or pair this one up with some Jack Daniels on the rocks..

And yeah..if your not a fan of the dark leaf..skip this 3 of 4

11/27/2006 Update: Latakia overload.

I have to say, this new tin is not nearly as impressive as what I remember. I don't know if they changed the formula or if this tin is just a lemon, but I was mighty disappointed. There's still a smokey undertone of latakia but it's cased with some heavy, caustic flavor that produces an surprising amount of tongue-bite for a non-aromatic. I really hope this was just a bad tin, but I'm afraid to lay down another eleven bucks only to be supremely disappointed. For now I'm knocking my review down to 2 stars. It's not terrible, and I'll probably finish the tin off sooner or later, but it's just not as brilliant as I remember it.

I'll keep my old reviews below for posterity.

----------------

This came very highly recommended to me as a fine Latakia. To me it looked, tasted and felt exactly like beef jerky. It was just -too- smokey tasting to me, like a wrack of ribs or something. I enjoy a sweet tobacco so it just wasn't my thing. It burned well and had a nice thick richness to it but I couldn't get over the mesquite barbecue seasoning.

-----------------

I guess it happens to all of us, eventually... It happened for me tonight. After reading some Sherlock Holmes and getting into the mood I decided that I would learn to appreciate non-aromatics whether I liked it or not... So I bought a cheap corn cob, dug out my tin of Old Iron Sides, sat down, and smoked a couple bowls of this stuff.

Now I'm beginning to understand what all the fuss is about. After an initial (extreme) distaste, I began to get comfortable, and now I must say that - though completely different than aromatic - this stuff is quite a wonderful experience.

Everything I hate about aromatics (tongue bite, thin smoke, hot smoke, lack of complexity) is wonderfully inversed in this stuff. Thick, cool, complex, curling smoke. Delicious but in a very serious way.

I don't think I'll be retiring my aromatic pipes any time soon, they shall still be my full-time staples, but now I know that I can comfortably sit down and begin to explore the wonders of non-aromatics.

We got off to a rocky start, Latakia, but now I'm ready to yield to your temptations whole-heartedly!

Tin note is a subdued, slightly sweet leather-and-charcoal complex of scents. Initial moisture level in the tin was not unusually high, and an opened tin will likely balance to perfection after a few days.

The cut is more a flake that crumbles, rather than a true crumble cake or flake that 'rubs out,' and this construction is perfect for no-nonsense loading of the bowl, making it easy to reach the texture and consistency desired.

Though mostly unchanging from start to finish, O.I. has a singular complexity and wood-smokiness that would be complemented well by a peaty Islay malt scotch like Laphroaig, etc.

Yes, O.I. is another full-on latakia rock festival. No, you cannot discern the individual components and savor each flavor, nor I think are you supposed to be able to do this. What you get here is another praise-worthy, latakia-focused, but balanced blend. Penzance and Pirate Kake fans will likely enjoy this very much.

The best Balkan flake in my experience has been Abu Riha, a flake made in England for G de Graaff and Sons of the Hague. In the mid-nineties I was able to obtain a couple of dozen tins but subsequent efforts to locate some have not been successful.