UPDATE 5-23-11: Now that my 11.5 year old tin has been opened for a time, I am enjoying this tobacco more and more. The peaty mustiness is ever present. I feel that it is not entirely due to the Perique and still a bit chocolate-like. I tried a newer tin just purchased and honestly find it the same as the 11.5 year old tin. The older tin had a more darker appearing flake (assume from the aging) and a more, musty-molasses-like tin aroma. By the way, a very nice side-stream sweetness when you take your time with this one and a great room note.

This blend obviously ages well. And I would heartily recommend what I'm smoking here to anyone who appreciates a fine tobacco. Again, I just can't vouch for a fresh tin but if you have the patience to age some, a person won't be dissappointed. And, if you're aging some you are probably a VaPer smoker to begin with. I'll recommend this blend and give what I have Three stars.

Nevertheless, this is a very interesting flake well worth the try.

Smooth and tasty.

Opening the tin, the aroma is pure VA. Grassy, somewhat sweet, with some acidity to it. I love it. The flakes don't seem to contain anything dark (like, e.g., Perique).

Rubbed out or folded, there is little difference. The smoke is nice and even, no dottle worth mentioning left over, and the taste is steady except for the last bit, where the rather elusive Perique does finally make itself felt in the form of a gentle, peppery note that lingers on for a bit after the pipe is finished.

A great offering, IMHO, with freshness and spice; certainly worth a try for any VA flake smoker. While I personally can stand more Perique, this blend makes me smile while I smoke (few do that), it's easy to maintain, it's satisfying... I don't believe I have anything else that could add to the praise. I like this stuff a lot.

Far as I know, this blend is still in full production, and I can (and do) still get it either by mail order or by kicking my local tobacconist in the right places.

Two things in the below reviews stand out. First, this one does remind me of Dorchester to a large degree in that the perique is mainly a teaser and the predominate flavor is of a sweet grassiness or hay. It's fairly monodimensional but the second item I saw below is someone mentioning the floral, Kendal aroma, which I also noticed. It was very mild but it was consistently there through the entire 50 grams. It added a dimension that the Dorchester does not, in that regard. Coin flip on which of the two I would prefer.

I believe this one is out of production but if you can find it, it's a nice change of pace for either the Gawith soapy flavor lovers and the sweet grassy VaPer lovers, as it combines the two while rounding off the edges of both. Quite an innovative blend, and I enjoyed my time with it. If it comes back, I'd probably buy more.

The addition of a small amount of Perique to the blend, adds something extra, that is more noticeable as the bowl progresses.

It also produces quite a reasonable nicotine hit, without being too strong.

All in all, a very enjoyable smoke, if you are not looking for an aromatic.

Pure brilliance!!

according to some of my fellow reviewers here on tr.com, limerick has a topping of sorts. i guess that's true, but it is quite limited compared to many other "irish" blends. what i notice is a plum flavour which reminds me very much of escudo. limerick is supposed to contain perique, but only in small quantities, so that can't be the culprit. so, it must be the topping. apart from that, it's a very gentle darkish brown, well aged semi-sweet virginia flake, clean-tasting (in spite of the topping), mild-medium, ideal for all day smoking. the flakes pack and light easily, and dgt'ing works fine.

it has at times a curious but very faint note which reminds me of the "soap" found in nearly all gawith, hoggarth etc-blends. nothing disturbing, though.

i really like it a lot, and will order some more for smoking as well as aging.

That out of the way, I really like this blend. I don't know if it's the 18 inches of clay, but I get a very sweet and grassy taste off this blend. It has a relatively unremarkable room note (according to my wife, but then again, I torture her with black rope, so maybe she's just desensitized?) Unremarkable meaning, by the way, that it smells like tobacco (go figure.) It's just the way tobacco *should* smell (in my humble opinion) and it's the way a nice Virginia blend *should* taste.

Let it dry and give it a shot in a 'warden if you've got one. Relax with it, like an old friend, and it may soon become one. Not sure if you'd get the same out of a calabash, but since I don't own one, I leave that review up to someone else!

Well, after a couple of day?s absence, I?m ready to review another blend. This time it is the CAO/Dan Treasures of Ireland-Limerick blend. I also have the good news that the order that I placed with pipesandcigars.com is finally going to get here. Apparently they were waiting on the McConnell Scottish Cake to come in. With that said, I will now be able to review the McC 2015, H&H Anniversary Kake, and the McConnell Scottish Cake.

Right, now back to the Limerick blend. I have to say that this blend smelled better in the tin than any of the others so far. It has a very sweet Virginia smell and to tell you the truth, I didn?t really smell any Perique in there. This blend comes in flake form so I grabbed two flakes and rubbed them out to dry. I let this dry for about 2 hours as it is rather moist in the tin.

It packed decently even with the long flake strands in there. It was a little hard to light up but once it was lit it burned very well. I had mostly sweet Virginia tastes in the first part of the bowl but then the Perique kicked in a bit and stayed present for the rest of the bowl. It may have been that when I rubbed it out and packed the pipe I may have separated the tobaccos a bit. Either way, once it got started I knew that this was going to be a great blend! This blend is kind of in between Escudo and Dorchester as to the amount of Perique involved. It isn?t hidden in the background like Dorchester but it?s not really in your face like Escudo.

This was a well behaved blend and it didn?t require many relights. It burns down to a grayish-white ash that is very easy to tamp. It burns very cool and I never had any hint of bite from this blend. I have to admit that this blend didn?t wow me the first time that I smoked it. But after the first, it got better and better with each consecutive smoke. It took me a while to notice the subtleties of the different Virginias playing off of the Perique. It is medium in strength and can probably be smoked throughout the day.

All in all, I really liked this blend and will definitely buy more. This blend almost unseated Escudo as my favorite. Almost. I rank this one a solid second.

Here are the standings so far:

1) Escudo 2) Treasures of Ireland ? Limerick 3) Dorchester 4) Luxury Bullseye Flake 5) Kajun Kake

For that first bowl, I don't think I really "got" this tobacco. It was enjoyable for sure, but I don't think I really got it. Very mild flavoring of some unidentifiable sort at the beginning of the bowl that burns off before mid-bowl. All-in-all a pleasant smoke. Packs easy and burns great. I had no complaints, though it wasn't like the VA flakes I was accustomed to.

I get home and pack another bowl. Still packs easy, lights well, and burns well. Still tastes good, but this time it hits me -- there's perique in this. There is the unmistakable spicy, tangy deliciousness of perique. And that realization made a world of difference. I guess it's knowing what I'm supposed to be tasting, but the blend became much more enjoyable. The perique makes itself known all thru the bowl, and especially toward the end. It's not as prevalent in the taste here as it is in Butera's Kingfisher and certainly not as much as my staple VA/per, SG's St James Flake, but it's there, and it makes this blend really, really good.

Highly recommended to the smoker who is new to flakes because this one burns so easily and to the Virginia smoker who is looking to expand into VA/per's, but just overall recommended on it's own merit as a nice, enjoyable smoke.

One question please: is this really a Vaper blend ? I?m not accustomed to dark Virginias that much, but several things in this blend make me think there is Burley in it. I like to smell the tin aroma of bitter chocolate and raisins/figs, sour and pungent. I don't trace any superimposed topping while sure there is some casing. The flakes are soft and fibery, stuffing them into the pipe is children play and burn very well, leaving a light grey ash. But it's not so easy to reach the end, because the strength develops from medium to strong. It's good as after a dinner, better accompanied by a glass of white wine which helps to clean the palate. Not for an empty stomach nor for the beginner! The flavour is of dark tobacco, woodsy, musty and bittersweet, sometimes ashy and piquant. It easy becomes bitter if you sip fast. In no case it bites the tongue. It's an experience quite closer to smoking a Toscano cigar, which is notoriously made of Kentucky... To the nostrils: bitter chocolate, wood, some sweet/piquant notes. The room aroma is surely not a winner. Three stars for the quality of the leaves, two for the smoke. Nevertheless I'll revisit again, this is one of the few blends containing Perique I can find in Italy. Dreaming of C&D's!

Edit 7/18/2009:

two years and more after.

My opinion is not changing that much... just, I would reconsider my opinion regarding the possible presence of Burley. No, no Burley in here.

This is virginia processed in some particular way, a' la Dan, that makes it dark and with a deep woodsy/vinegarish aroma, due to a good help by the Perique. Some sweetness of the Va's shines only during the first third of the bowl.

Such a particular combination that makes me enjoy it just once in a while 'cause it's a bit strong for me. Nevertheless I will always keep a tin of it in my cabinet. Along with Killarney, Limerick is the only non-aromatic blend by TOI, and I consider both being nice blends.

The tin aroma is spicy-sour, probably due to the perique, which is very mildly noticeable throughout the smoke.

The burning behaviour is outstanding. Very dry and cool, with no tongue bite.

Taste-wise I like Limerick. A mild, flavouring agent, which I can't describe nearer, seems to be present. At first I found it a bit irritating, but after a few bowls, it's quite pleasent, defining very much the character of the flake.

A good all day smoke, due to it's mildness, taste and well-behavedness. Nothing too fancy, but not boring also. Decent.

That comes in a 50 gram can

If you?re the kinda fellow,

That likes mild and mellow

Then get some of this while you can.

While this is not the best of limericks, the Limerick tobacco itself is much better. I was not initially impressed with the first few bowls but I did not rush to judgment. Subsequent bowls proved much better. This is one of those blends that grew on me. It is not overpowering nor overly complex. It was hard for me to detect the perique but there is an indescribable light topping that is reminiscent of the indescribable toppings that are present in some of the (Irish) Peterson blends. However, the topping in Limerick was not nearly as pronounced as it is in the Peterson blends. In short, Limerick simply satisfied my palate and provided a most enjoyable smoking experience. You don?t have to ask any more than this from any blend. Nice smoke!

A cigarette is to be smoked. A cigar is to be enjoyed. A pipe is to be savored.

I rate this blend 9.94 out of 10.

Cheers, VC