In addition, I found that when I did try Old Ironsides late at night, I was greeted each time by, yes, Old Ironsides firmly imprinted on my tongue first thing the following morning. What that eased that effect somewhat the most recent time was a good brushing on the tongue with toothbrush and paste right before bedtime, a good way to cleanse the pallet for the next morning in general (and a typical practice in India as a general means of oral hygene/breath freshening, as I understand it).

Also, my schedule doesn't seem to permit a nice full meal and then an evening of relaxation most nights. It is with no doubt in my mind that I tell you that a hearty meal in the belly is what's required for me to enjoy a blend like this! Whoa Nelly!

I am indeed a fan of Latakia. But I suppose even my fanaticism has its limits. The strongest blends that I've enjoyed in the past include Timm's London Blend 1000 and the currently available Balkan Sobranie (European pouched edition, not available in the USA). I've gotten enjoyment from those fine blends, usually in small bowled pipes with enough shank/stem length to add a bit of coolness. But Old Ironsides...*whew*...I guess this sailor is just not enough of a 'manly man' to handle this intensely smokey flake. Not sure what to do with the remainder in the tin...who knows, maybe it will grow on me? I'll Zip-Lok the tin and give it a few more tries ...

This blend requires a minor rubbing out and in fact is so minior you can just fold it and load it. Watch out you will get a little dirty just handling this mix.

Latakia lovers give this one a try.

i know,alot of people hate the smell of this tobacco being smoked,but hey,i`m not out to please them.i would recommend this tobacco to anyone looking for a good latakia tobacco.this ones going into my rotation! thankyou santa.

Unfortunately, to me it wasnt that great, the cut is to large to just pack , so I had to rub it out, now I dont mind doing that, but this is the first tobacco that actually made my hands dirty, like I just arranged the charcoal in my Weber grill.

The flavor wasnt all that outstanding either,it tastes kinda like hot asphalt smells...And it takes many relights, which I thought odd, being it feels dry when rubbing out.

It took a month to smoke thru the 50 grams and I dont think I will buy it again, instead I'll grab the Nightcap, or Stokkebyes Proper English, or one of the many other Latakia rich blends that I enjoy much more for my Latakia jones.

The first bowl took 3 to 5 relight's so,from then on I aired the tobacco out for 10 min's before packing.Only one relight was required after that. In one word "DELICIOUS" all the way to bowl's end. Definitely no sourness detected at all,without goop leaving a nice dark grey ash.

Highly recommended.

I love Latakia. I've smoked top-grade Latakia on its own. I know the stuff. When it's used well in a blend, there's nothing like it. When it's either misused in a mixture -- or if the rest of the blend doesn't agree with it for one reason or another -- Latakia is like fanning the flames on a pile of burning tires. Luckily, the latter is not the case with Old Ironsides.

Describing this blend as Latakia-forward is not enough. This blend owns every house on Latakia Lane. It's a one-way ticket to Latakia Land! While the room note is fine to me, you can bet your ass that it'll offend every man's wife in a five-mile radius.

All that being said, I wasn't too impressed with Old Ironsides. Yes, it has a boatload of Latakia. And while that's nice, Old Ironsides just doesn't hold its mud in the company of the classic Krumble Kake from Smokers' Haven (the recipe that spawned Penzance). Krumble Kake and its Penzance offspring also serve up boundless helpings of rich Latakia. But more importantly, they offer the one thing I missed in Old Ironsides: depth of flavor (known to some of you as complexity). Old Ironsides just didn't excite me.

Old Ironsides is full, but not too heavy or nauseating. I've smoked some pretty big bowls of it (for example, in a virtually bottomless Ser Jacopo Maxima and in an astonishingly cavernous Paolo Becker Oliphant) in single sittings with no ill effects.

I gave this the "Might try this again, but will not keep it on hand" rating because I will finish the nice sample I received. However, buying more is out of the question. I would like to once again thank my esteemed cohort for allowing me to experience this tobacco, even though it didn't make the cut.

Old Ironsides is a much more manageable flake than Penzance (a natural comparison), and is loaded with more latakia than that already heavy blend. It burns very slowly (thankfully) and is quite cool. It compares well with Nightcap and Red Raparree, but if you think it's just too overbearing, I won't disagree. Still, it may just fit the bill for a late night treat for lovers of powerful, heady smokes.

2011 Update (after 6-7 years): Well, I hadn't tried this tobacco since a long time ago, so I got a new tin. Bad surprise... it has changed considerably, even from the looks of it. Much softer and larger flakes, not as dark and leathery as they used to be. And the taste disappoints too: no longer the strong Latakia blast of old, no longer as stout and licoricey. Should have stocked up the old version...

I agree with all who feel this is a monochromatic, single bass note of pure Latakia. That's what I like about it. Nothing exceeds like excess! If you are in the mood for Latakia, pure and absolutely, this fits the bill. Sometimes, the pure taste of that particular leaf is just what I'm looking for. A nice cup of coffee with cream and a bit of sweetner can be right- but so can a quad-shot of espresso.

The room note has all the charm of freshly laid asphalt, and is particularly effective at driving children away. If you are inside, get outside. The house will smell like the inside of a work boot if you smoke any amount of this in the home.

With that being said, I just love to push the envelope on occasion. I bought a second tin of this and vacuum sealed about 20 grams, knowing that I would not smoke all of it at once. On the other hand, a little of this can be used to spice-up the afore mentioned "restrained" English blends. So, if you try it and absolutely can't take it's merciless pounding, consider mixing a little Burley or some Virginia in, and being your own tobacco blender.

Either way, this is an adventure that I believe is worth taking.

There is a flavor in this that almost seems like licorice, although I cannot place it properly.

The blend is somewhat moist in the tin. It does dry upon exposure to air, which really seems necessary in order to smoke it. I rub this out, but despite my best efforts, the resulting texture is overly stick-like for my preference. I try to rub flakes out to long soft strands, and that just isn?t possible with this blend from my experience. The tin design itself is to be commended, as it retains a seal nicely despite having been open for several months.

This blend just does not call to me from the shelf.

October 2002.

I admit to having smoked just two bowls of this blend. I just couldn't get past the heavy latakia taste. And besides, I had to smoke this in the garage with the dogs because the wife would not let me in the house with Old Ironsides smoldering in my pipe. Worse, the dogs growled and wouldn't let me near them either!

I guess this tobacco does have some good qualities, but it will take someone with more refined taste buds to to explain them. Come to think of it, NEWMAN did!