Peterson Irish Flake

I think Irish Flake matches the Irish's collective mentality: Strong, oily and dark. Haha! Anyone who has been to Ireland knows that the Irish value stoutness, strength and meandering straightforwardness over about anything. A fitting blend for the "common" Irish pipe smoker and others apparently. When I'm smoking it, I can imagine the Cliffs of Mohrer, the pubs in Doolin with four musicians going at it known as the "sessions" and I can even see the endless wide-open hills of Killarney speckled with black and white Holstein dairy cows. Yeah, Ireland is a magical place that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND VISITING, but as far as this tobacco, too much of all four criteria to enjoy.

Well, the flavor is a bit floral at first yet settles down to a nice smoke. Then halfway down the bowl, the nicotine kicks in. I ,now only have to think of the flavor and I get ill. I don't like to think of myself as a wimp. I smoke three Punch cigars a day and 2 to 3 pipe fulls in between. 1792 Flake is mild in comparison. It reminds me of a younger time when I drank way too much tequila mixed in a drink called a "zombie". 25 years latter I still get ill just thinking of Rosie's Lime Juice. Strange enough, I never had a problem with the tequila afterward, though.

maybe it's just me, but i can't handle this one. i'd really like to enjoy the interesting taste, some sweet tones with a huge smokyness, like a wood fire plus honey. BUT the strength keeps me from enjoying the tobacco. yuck! it nearly gave me hickups! i rubbed this one out since i'm not experienced enough to smoke folded flakes. but even though, it burned somewhat not so good since you have to puff it very slowly. so slowly that it always extinguishes.

i'll stay with my medium strong VaPers, but if you're looking for some strong, full tasting stuff, here you go!

I didn't realize that Nicotine could knock you down like knocking back hard liquor. I smoked this for the first time with a friend of mine. We both got pretty light headed and somewhat silly.

Very straightforward uncomplicated tobacco taste. The flavor is strong without burning the palette. The flake can be a bit of a challenge to light when all you are used to is the ribbon cut. But fold it over a few times and give it a twist and after a few relights and tamping it will burn alright.

I would recommend half a flake for the first try. One full flake was to much for me without building up to it. Not for beginners.

This one's a full meal of a pipe and does exactly what it says on the tin. With enough punch to sedate a Japanese salaryman after a bad day at the office, you'll need to be sensible with this, or else it'll slap you silly.

Inside this fairly small tin, you'll find a compact, neatly lined up, and rather potent flake: bold, warm, and somewhat sour, with a natural peppery spiciness. It rubs out easily and isn't so moist as to stop you filling up a pipe from the off, should that be your poison.

Taste wise, this is extremely strong and the tin aroma is certainly replicated and largely exaggerated in the smoke as a whole, leaning towards bitter. I first tried this in a standard shaped pipe and I found it way too overpowering to get a handle on the flavours; merely, I found it acrid on the tongue and cloying on my throat. Smoke it too quickly and you'll also get a good dose of the niccups. Evidently, it's enough to put off some folk, judging by a few reviews, and initially, I thought I'd blown a sizeable £9+ investment, as well as leaving myself needing to fully clean my now-contaminated Peterson. Thus comes my first tip: If you're able to dedicate a pipe solely to Irish, then do so.

However, as I said at the beginning, it's worth being sensible and playing around until you find the right balance between prepping the tobacco and making the correct choice of pipe that works for you, before you give up on this, as you're likely to regret it. A churchwarden reserved for stronger blends worked wonders for me, as did fully rubbing out the flake in my palms and leaving it to air from anything between 30 mins and a few hours. This made things a lot smoother and more palatable, with a nice nose, and finally I am able to appreciate this quality, unsullied Burley for what it is.

A few people have drawn some comparisons with Gawith's 1792 Flake in terms of strength, but Irish Flake is certainly the stronger of the two in my estimation - and my preference lies with the former. Undoubtedly though, the Irish really must be sampled at least once, even if you're into aromatics. It's what pipes are all about.

01-03-09 UPDATE:

For what it is, this is good tobacco. But what it seems to me is the blender is shooting for an alternative to cigars. Too much straight, cigarette-like tobacco flavor for me. When I smoke a pipe, I want it to taste like a pipe not a cigarette. To me this tastes one-dimensional and monotone. It's a tough rating for me to give because it's obviously some high-quality leaf, but like a weasel in a henhouse it just doesn't belong in my collection of pipe tobaccos. If I could roll this up like a cigar I might appreciate it a little more. A little. I'll try aging it for a while and see what happens...

I wanted to like this, and thought I would since I'm a lover of strong cigars. . . , but NOT! Beautiful tin, nice flake, sweet aroma from the tin -- but upon lighting all you get is hell's fire. In a word, harsh and one-dimensional. After a few more bowls I'm upgrading this review a bit -- my original negativity had more to due with the fact that this is just not my style -- looking for a bit more complexity. . .