Tobaccos Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) - Mick McQuaid Square Cut

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3022)	2017-01-27		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

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-07-24		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.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jakob Kiilerich (120)	2014-03-18		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

The generic taste of St-Group's VAs...

Mick McQuaid has been in my mind for fifteen years now, but I never got to buy it when it was produced in England. I was not surprised when I discovered that my tin was produced in Denmark. Basically I'm not a fan of big conglomerates, but I will hand it to Orlik, that they do keep the classics on the market.

But I also suspect that this one has absolutely nothing to do with the British made version - even though I'll never know - could this be blue Capstan in a different tin??

Anyway, it tastes quite good being a Danish made flake. It's classic brown semi non-sweet tobacco. Burns well, packs an ok wallop, but is also very monochromatic.

Bored you ask? Well... a bit: As in "ok-standard-reliable-unobtrusive-daneificated-smokeable-baccy-bored".

The cool tin art barely triggers three stars.

=== Jakob Kiilerich, Denmark ===

Pipe Used: Duncan Billard

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: mysmokingshop.co.uk

Similar Blends: W.D. & H.O. Wills - Capstan Medium Navy Cut Ready Rubbed, Astley's - No.44 Dark Virginia Flake.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Philosopher (27)	2012-09-21		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.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	paulwfromtheden (14)	2009-09-15		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.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2002-12-31		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!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2075)	2017-02-25		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

Age When Smoked: New/cellared

Purchased From: Various

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Christrom (34)	2015-07-06		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.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-02-15		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.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2020-11-27		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

Age When Smoked: Fresh

Purchased From: Local tobacconist

Similar Blends: Old gowry.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Wibblefishofdoom (139)	2016-03-24		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

Age When Smoked: Fresh from the tin

Purchased From: Cuban Cigar Club

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SamH (31)	2015-10-24		Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I quite liked this. I tried the rubbed, flake and plug all in the same month. Personal preference is for Flake, if that's not convenient out and about I just prepare a bit as needed and take it out, rubbed, in the tin - as probably do most flake smokers. Pleasant, not too strong, not too mild and slightly fruity.

Pipe Used: Billiards

Age When Smoked: From bought to 3 months old.

Purchased From: MySmokingShop

Similar Blends: The other McQuaids really..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old German puffer (106)	2015-07-12		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This has been in my smoke rotation for years. I have about 50 tins in my cellar that I purchase yearly. It is a cheaper tin but smokes very well out when opened. Cut is perfect to pinch and rub in with the palm. Smokes cool and dry and leaves no aftertaste. This is a very mellow tobacco. You are not paying for a smoke with angels here. This is a all day tobacco.

Pipe Used: Webster, Peterson, Thurogood, Meer.

Age When Smoked: fresh tin

Purchased From: London England

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Connoisseur (47)	2012-03-02		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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DrDyson (148)	2011-07-30		Strong	Mild	Full	Tolerable

My late mother-in-law used to say that this smells like frying mice. She was a woman with a remarkable turn of phrase, now entertaining the angels with her stand-up routine. The room note is certainly a surprise, 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.

Update, 2017: I see that, alas, Mick McQuaid has indeed now been discontinued. Ichabod.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-12-22		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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipemanuk (76)	2009-07-25		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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-05-02		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!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-06-08		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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipesmoking101 (63)	2006-08-25		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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipepundit (168)	2005-12-25		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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Steerpike (149)	2004-07-27		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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tantric (321)	2003-01-18		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.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-11-01		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!!

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-06-08		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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