Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) Mick McQuaid Square Cut

(2.92)
High quality Virginia leaf is used to produce a robust tobacco that is slow burning due to the cube cut and perfect for the outdoors. Medium Strength with a mild long lasting flavour and aroma.
Notes: Originally blended by P.J.Carroll & Co Ltd, Dundalk, Ireland and Murray & Sons Ltd, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Available in Europe, not in the U.S. Mick McQuaid was the hero of a series of comic tales published in Irish story papers in the latter half of the 19th century and the early years of the last century. He was a quick thinking, wise cracking chancer of a man who usually triumphed (eventually) over authority. Such was the popularity of these tales that Carrolls of Dundalk named a tobacco after him in 1889.

Details

Brand Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG)
Blended By Scandinavian Tobacco Group
Manufactured By Scandinavian Tobacco Group
Blend Type Straight Virginia
Contents Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Flake
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United Kingdom
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium to Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.92 / 4
6

13

4

2

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 25 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 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.
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 27, 2017 Medium to Strong Mild Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
The bold, fermented Virginias are tangy dark fruit sweet with a touch of mild tart and tangy citrus and sugar. It is earthy and woody with a couple blades of grass as well. I also perceive a few hints of stewed fruit. There’s a very slight nutty note, and I wonder if a few dabs of burley is present. It might also help explain the minor molasses I taste. The fruit toppings are hard to define, but I get a small sense of berry and almond. The toppings tone down the tobaccos to a mild extent. The strength is just short of the center of medium to strong. The taste is in the center of medium to full. The nic-hit is almost medium. No bite or harshness is present, and has few rough edges. Burns cool, clean and just a little slow with a very consistent, fairly smooth sweet flavor from start to finish. Requires some relights, and leaves a little moisture in the bowl. Has a pleasantly lingering after taste, and stronger room note. Not an all day smoke.

-JimInks
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 06, 2015 Medium to Strong Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Not amazing, but fairly pleasant. I found it very tricky to keep lit as others have attested to but it does smoke very dry. I think fully rubbing it out would be good. I felt quite a tang on my tongue but I wasn't sure if it was the onset of tongue bite, or just the bright taste. I'm thinking the latter. The taste does develop more nicely as the bowl progresses and for me has a slight copper coins type of taste mixed with very faint vanilla and berry. I just found out a bit of a pain to smoke and a little samey...
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 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.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 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.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 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.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 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!
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 27, 2020 Medium Medium to Strong Overwhelming Tolerable
This review is on a tin , (not a full tin) smoked about 12 years ago and I can't see it improving .this stuff was unsmokeable for me , I was an experienced smoker , I found it to be harsh , gave me the feeling of having a head cold , never smoked piss soaked cardboard but that's probably a good analogy out of the hundred or so different tobaccos I have smoked have only dumped 2 this is one of them , sorry if this review isn't very helpful , oh flavouring maybe vinegar.
Pipe Used: Briar
PurchasedFrom: Local tobacconist
Age When Smoked: Fresh
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 25, 2017 Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant
Mick McQuaid Square Cut.

From my notes:

The square flakes were exceedingly robust and needed an extremely firm hand to be fully rubbed. They took a little tenacity to ignite, and then gave a straightforward Virginia taste: hay-like, citrusy, and slightly woody. The nicotine was about Mac B' Navy Flake strength, and it hadn't got a bite in it.

Not anything dazzling, but a good quality Virginia.

Four stars.
Pipe Used: Various
PurchasedFrom: Various
Age When Smoked: New/cellared
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 24, 2016 Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Unnoticeable
Having heard from the proprietor of my local b&m that all Mick McQuaid products were being withdrawn from the UK, I decided to purchase a tin of his remaining supply while I could. Having tried the excellent plug, I had some quite high expectations for this and it's quite a pleasure not to be disappointed.

The tin aroma is one of tropical fruits, quite a change from the almond of the plug,, it's actually a very fond reminder of HU Docworker, but it's there the similarity ends. The small square flakes ("does exactly what as it says on the tin" springs to mind, no surprise really) look quite cute there, sitting nicely arranged in the tin. The colour is one of medium brown flecked with gold and lighter brown and hints of gold. Given the smallness of the flakes (yes, these are flakes, a previous reviewer described them as slices and not flakes - isn't that what flakes are?), I decided to use one and fold it into a very small bowled pipe, a description which fitted my mini Rhodesian Dr Max Dental perfectly. Given the ease of the packing, the lighting is no less amenable either. The smoke itself is stunning, it is earthy, woody and hay-like, it only occasionally has hints of that fruity tin aroma, which is no biggy as the tobacco itself is such a great smoke which lasts a good while, even with the small portion size.

This is an absolutely stunning tobacco, it has the feel of a good old fashioned smoke, the kind of thing I would expect my great uncle to stick in his pipe before he ventured off to that great tobacconist in the sky. It is at this point I would like to apologise profusely to both the producers of this and to all you good people in Internetland who enjoy this. If people like me had tried this earlier, we would have bought a hell of a lot more of it and maybe it would still be on sale here in the UK. Given the amount of stock my local b&m had left though, I hope for the chance to buy at least a tin or two more of this and the plug before it disappears from the shores of our Sceptred Isle for good.
Pipe Used: Dr Max Dental
PurchasedFrom: Cuban Cigar Club
Age When Smoked: Fresh from the tin
1 person found this review helpful.
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