Peterson Irish Flake

Peterson's Irish Flake is dark, highly processed, fairly strong, and intense. It comes pretty wet in the tin, and IMO it's best smoked fairly wet. Dry, it's not so strong, and it lights and burns better, but, at the same time, drying it out makes it taste like a cheap cigar. Smoked wet (which is not so easily done...), there seems to be a lot going on in the thick, rich clouds of smoke it exudes, and it also seems like much of what is going on is not exactly tobacco. Yes, the tobacco tastes are there, all right, and I have to say I like that part of IF a lot. That I give 4 stars. But the more I've smoked it the less patience I've had for the "incense" thing and its oily aftertaste, and the less I like the way it ghosts my pipes and stinks up my clothes and hair. Back to the smoke, at the match, IF starts right in with some cigar-ish spices, and I'm guessing that some smokers are quickly overwhelmed by this, and some likely think this means IF is "strong". My "trick" with these spices is simply to regulate my intake until I reach and maintain the desired degree of saturation. As for IF's flavor profile, the Peterson blurb mentions only VA and Burley; but these are stoved, pressed and fermented, aged tobaccos, after all. Because of the spices, I've long suspected there are Orientals and some Latakia in the mix, as well. However, I suppose it is possible that a particular strong, fermented KY could provide the noted effects, at least as far as the tobacco is concerned.

Back (again) to IF's celebrated "strength", IMO, too much has been made of it. It is strong when it's moist, but not all that strong. Dried out, it barely rates a "medium", compared to any number of blends on this board that are rated "strong". Room note is fairly strong. Apparently, some like it. My wife and daughter hate it. The aftertaste is pleasant, and it lingers long; quite nice, apart from the oily thing.

Overall, IF is a mixed bag for me. Wet IF is fruity, exotic, spicy, aromatic and darkly intense, with cigar-ish side notes. I like it on occasion, but it's not my idea of an everyday smoke. To date, jar aging has not helped IF. Balancing the worst of it against the best of IF, 3 stars.

The best cigarette tobacco you will ever put in your pipe. (I mean that as a compliment.) The Burley and Kentucky dominate everything about this blend. Just enough Virginia is added to make it tolerable.

Manufactured for the Peterson brand by Kohlhase & Kopp in Germany, the flakes and the packaging might cause you to mistake it for a Solani tobacco that is made in the same workshop. Like Solani and other Kohlhase & Kopp blends, this one seems to be cased with honey. If you pay attention, you can taste it in every puff.

It comes is a compact tin, 18 pieces of chewing-gum-size flakes. Smokes well after rubbing out and drying to your preferred texture. I get a dozen or more medium-size bowls from a 50g tin.

That's not tongue bite, but the tingling of nicotine, something that I don't usually experience from pipe tobacco. The nicotine is present from the beginning, not just at the end of the bowl or in the bottom third of the bowl. It won't make you ill unless you try to abuse it. Smoked at a normal slow pipe-smoker's speed, it just supplies a gentle buzz that stays with you from beginning to end.

This is not a favorite of mine, and not in my regular rotation. My wife detests the smell of this one. But with the presentation of the flakes, the convenience of the small and narrow tin, and the high nicotine content, I will always keep a tin around. Great late at night with brown beer after a stressful day at the office.

This is a great tobacco for a number of reasons... 1. Great taste 2. Exceptional burning qualities 3. No bite 4. Great value

The reason this tobacco is a great value is that I only need to smoke it once a week to overload my nicotene urge!! Good Stuff.

Rich, dark, earthy, hearty but still a round and balanced flavor profile. If described as sweet, it's more of a BBQ sauce sweetness that's to be expected. The Kentucky is very at the forefront, but not nearly as spicy as in Mac Baren's HH Old Dark Fired. Quite smooth, not harsh at all. There's a faint note reminiscent of lakeland essencew, but although I don't like lakelands here it's quite nice. No ghosting though.

Now the Nicotine is strong and you'll quickly feel it. I've never not gotten an obvious buzz while smoking it. I recommend standing up every now and then to see how you're doing, otherwise it can sneakily take you out - just like we know the Irish. I'm more than satisfied with a small bowl or just pack half. Definitely eat something before smoking it unless you're a veteran or plan on seeing things.

I'd give it a bit shy of 3 stars - recommended. But you gotta know what you're getting yourself into.

The tin does not lie. After about 6+/- months of pipe smoking, I thought I would give this one a whirl. Bad idea. It was like getting pepper sprayed in the mouth. Fast forward six years give or take, I decided to give it another go. I cubed one flake, and fired it up. It is still extremely peppery, but not nearly as much as my “virgin” palate would have thought. Has a slight Copenhagen fermented type taste, but enough of my pontificating. Is it good? Yes. Is it for beginners? Nooooooooo.

First, and foremost, let us clarify a bit of false information on this blend. Kentucky Fire-cured is a specially treated Burley Tobacco. The term fire-cured is used only to describe the curing process. Because one can grow an apple tree, it does make him an expert on apples. Now, back to the blend. PIF is a brilliant Burley based flake that I smoke on a regular basis. Indeed, there is a dedicated jar for this flake next to my Churchwarden on the study fireplace mantle. As other reviewers have previously noted, this flake needs a good drying to be smoked properly. I prefer to place my flake under the reading lamp to dry it, then rub it out on my palm and dry it a wee bit more. Once properly dried, this flake offers a very hearty, robust, flavorful smoke. An excellent tobacco to smoke while pondering life in general. Can be a bit heavy in Vitamin"N" and a bit harsh to those of a delicate nature. Still, a brilliant blend if one is looking to try something other than the usual VA Flake. Cheers

I grew air cured leaf for a while and know a thing or two about tobacco. This blend has fire cured leaf in it that boosts the strength and gives it the campfire taste. Fire cured is neither Burley nor is it Bright (Virginia). Irish flake has just a tiny bit of fire cured in the flakes. A little of this leaf goes a long, long way. I'll put it like this. If you were to bring a hand of this fire cured into your home you would smell it all over the house and the smell would linger after it had been taken back outside. I passed through Kentucky a couple of weeks ago in the wee hours of the morning and rolled the window down. The fire cured smoke could be smelled for miles around. Irish Flake is a nice earthy, smoky flake that is sure to please. I didn't find it all that strong. Please let this dry out a lot before trying to enjoy it.

Update/Reevaluation: I have come to like this newest incarnation of Irish Flake and am upping my rating. It's difficult reviewing tobaccos because they change blenders and all of a sudden it's not the same, and the first inclination is "it's not as good."

So I've grown to like this latest version of Irish Flake quite well, although it takes a different smoking technique than the original.

Update 2: Tried a round tin a few years later. Less casing, more Va, and more Va bite, relative to an old square tin I had. I don't consider this the same quality product it was.

The old square tin I had is the same as in update 1, so age does help (it was a few years old), which shows how much young VA is mixed in .

Possibly with years of age and mixed with some Bold Kentucky, this might approximate what Irish Flake used to be.

However you'd be better off mixing MB Bold Kentucky with something else of higher quality, like FVF, to approximate the old Irish Flake.

Update: Fresh out of the tin and with a new blender. Very pleasing distant fruitiness that I do not remember, which must be some kind of subtle casing. Not as much dark fired taste, and I smoked it too hard and too wet and got a kind of tongue bite, a testament to the new blender. One degree less strong and less harsh than K&K version I remember, but unfortunately the p.h. didn't seem to agree with me. Thus I'm altering my rating.

This is University Flake's stronger and more natural tasting country couisin, and that ought to be enough to scare off some of you.

But really, I love this flake. It is like GH Dark Flake but creamier and better balanced and not quite as strong. It is obviously blended with much care and very high quality though strong components. Rating goes a notch lower...

So if you like strong, like Bracken Flake, GH Dark Flake, Dark Birdseye, then this fits right in, and it has a charm all its own. I like the fact that it is entirely natural, no topping. Not even a hint of berry essence like University.

It is smoother than GH Dark Flake or Dark Birdseye and not exactly as strong or relentless as those. It has some complexity too, not monochromatic, again revealing the hand of a careful blender.

I taste a measure of dark fired tobacco (similar to what is in American chewing tobacco twists or Five Brothers) which makes like Walnut Flake from the UK, but this is richer and made of higher quality leaf.

It's perhaps a bit edgy here and there, though this is a new blend, and the edges seem to fade quickly ... creamy, nutty and slightly oaky, this is a very full blend. I think it is the best of the very strong, unscented flakes out there.

I never had the opportunity to try earlier incarnations of Irish Flake. But, having had nearly a tin’s worth, and having tried others in the same ballpark (Rattray’s Stirling Flake, Mac Baren Old Dark Fired, Gawith Hoggarth’s dark flakes), I feel I have a pretty good understanding of the heavy hitters of pipe tobaccos and where this one stands.

First off, Irish Flake is a quality product. That’s the only way Peterson knows how to do it. And if it was the only option for a nice rich, bold, strong flake, I’d smoke Irish Flake daily (or nearly so) with no complaint.

As stated above, it’s strong... but it’s a very smooth smoke for such a nicotine-laden commodity. Smoking it is akin to sipping a very strong coffee with a splash of amoretto.

But it’s not the only show in town. Irish and Stirling are virtually indistinguishable as far as I’m concerned. And they’re both superior to ODF. But, to me, Gawith Hoggarth’s dark flakes, both the aromatic and unscented versions, are the heavyweight champions. I find them more tasty and a bit stronger.

But like I said, this is a quality product. I’d never turn my nose up at it. And I almost certainly haven’t bought my last tin of Irish Flake. They’re just not the king of the hill.

A very solid three stars for this one.