Dan Tobacco Old Ironsides

Picked up a tin of this hoping to find a suitable substitute for my beloved Commonwealth that is near impossible to find. I was only looking for a heavy latakia blend, not thinking I could ever get the taste of Commonwealth from another tobacco.

Opening the tin, it smelled wonderful, was a little moist, but I don't bother drying out my flakes, I just fold tease and stuff. I lit easily, and then the taste hit me. It was delicious!

I only tasted Latakia and a bit of a sweet Virginia, and no Orientals. The taste went to mostly Latakia about half way through the bowl, and stayed there all the way through. It never got hot hot, never got bitter, and didn't bite my tongue.

The only thing I can say bad is that it has the tendency to really dry out my mouth and throat while I'm smoking it.

Great tobacco, great taste. Recommended.

I love this tobacco. It burns very well in my best pipes.

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!

This is why I keep trying the heavy Latakia blends. When I come across one I like it makes me very pleased. The aged flake/cake in my tin is in perfect condition for easy pack and ready smoke.

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.

We were in Las Vegas and I found a tobacco store on the strip. The only non aromatic they had was a tin of this. Fool I was to open the tin and smoke the whole thing only to find out I cannot get it anymore. The Latakia was excellent.

This may sound strange coming from a cross over blend lover, but this stuff is great! I am sorry that I discoved it too late, in that it is no longer available. I am buying up tins that I can find, and storing them for later enjoyment.

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 picked up a tin of this at a B&M I found on my way home from work one day. It was one of the only non-aros in the place so I took a shot.

I am glad I did.

Very, very, smoky flavor from start to finish that developes a little sweetness as the bowl progresses. I did not taste much from the orientals, and didn't really care either.

If you are looking for a man sized portion of latakia you will not find a better blend out there, IMHO of course.

I do save this one for the end of the day, because I find that it kills the taste buds for anything else for a while.

Over the past few years I have been dabbling in English blends with increasing amounts of Latakia in them until I found this blend. I am wowed by this blend with its mildly soapy earthiness, which turns to a deep cool woody taste mid bowl. This tobacco has moderate complexity with straightforward tastes. It is extremely consistent, and an excellent complement China Clipper tea. The room note is strong, yet pleasurable if you love smokey tobacco aroma. I have found no tongue bite even to the bottom of the bowl, and have found larger pipes a better coice for smoking this blend. A light rub of the tobacco will help with packing I have found. If you are new to English blends, and want to try Latakia I suggest this. It is full in flavor, but not the "velvet hammer", or complexity of Dunhill Nightcap. ENJOY.

If you like Latakia in big doses, but want something beyond straight Latakia, try this. OI is Latakia with a little complexity to keep things somewhat interesting. I also like the broken flake presentation. OI burns nicely, cool and clean. A great, occasional, cold weather companion.

One more thing: popping the four year old tin reminded me of breaking the seal on one of Dunhill's Latakia laden blends from the distant past. That musty, rich sod smell was so powerful and inviting.

Here's the only problem with this blend: it calls itself a "Latakia lover's dream." It should say: "if you taste Latakia in this blend, you must be DREAMING!" This blend packs reasonably well, burns to a clean white ash and stays lit, but it really doesn't taste like much at all. In fact, it tastes like the neighbor's barbecuing with a mesquite BBQ sauce next door, and the smell's drifting over to your yard. Not unpleasant, but not knock-your-socks off.

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.)