Peterson Irish Flake

Peterson's Irish Flake, in a nutshell, is delicious, strong and cool burning.

Upon opening the tin, I was greated by a greasy, dark flake that smelled rancid. Experience told me I'd be in heaven once I got it in my pipe. Due to the moisture content, I let this one dry out for about half an hour after first giving the flake a good rubbing out. I loaded up in a medium bowled pipe and enjoyed a rich, straight forward, no frills smoke that provided just a slight hint of sweetness.

The taste was strong... The nicotine content was full to the brim... And, the flavor was that of a heavily stoved and strong Virginia with perhaps a smidgen of added flavoring.

If you are new to smoking, puff slowly as Peterson's Irish Flake, quite frankly, was made exclusively for the full scrotum crowd.

An absolutely delightful, thick, dark and delicious tasting tobacco.

There's a definite gravity to the rich full bodied smoke produced by this flake. The strength is more full tilt than I prefer but once I experienced smoking this a handful of times, I learned a couple tricks to help stave off feeling as though I got hit by a dark fired wrecking ball.

Stylistically, I liken Irish Flake to Old Dark Fired, but I.F. is more heady and a bit more firm in flavor. There's also a very subtle flavoring at play. It's there but it's quite mild and difficult to describe.

Strong and good. Damn Good...

Irish Flake is everything the label says it is. It is strong, you could almost say it’s menacing. I can’t smoke it in the morning, but in the evening that’s another story. I agree when some reviews mentioned it having a taste of cheroot, the preferred smoke of Samuel Clemens. But I think the smoke has more finesse than a cheroot. I’ve read folks mentioning its flavored with anise, but I bet it’s licorice, see article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licorice This tobacco burns effortlessly to a fine ash. The trick to enjoying this blend is don’t ever inhale- you’ll get all the nicotine you want by your mucous membrane’s absorption of nicotine. There are a few tobaccos that I’m quite fond of, but they lack the punch of nicotine, so I find myself inhaling to round out the experience, but not here. It has a wonderful sweetness I can’t describe, and I don’t notice an overbearing or ghosting Lakeland essence. I also think that University Flake (its lil’ brother) is really quite medium in strength and more sugared up, and I don’t find the ash as powdery as IF. I'm quite fond of this tobacco. If you prefer strong dark tobacco I suggest trying this blend.

Oh, dear! This is a very strong tobacco but, boy, it's so good. I wanted to start quitting aromatic tobaccos so I picked up a few strong Virginias and a few Latakias and, indeed, it's something different. I think that this is the true nature of pipe smoking. Not an all-day smoke and I won't recommend you to smoke this in the presence of non-smokers. When you want to smoke alone and you feel in the mood for something strong, this is the best choice.

Ohh, this is the stuff! I've gone a week smoking St. Bruno's Flake, Peterson's Old Dublin and Irish Oak and - despite the many notable and diverse pleasures these blends provide - I just wasn't getting into the zone (and my tongue was getting a bit fried).

Today, I finally got a couple of tins of Irish Flake and all is well! A delightful smell of prunes from the tin and gives a creamy-smooth smoke. A superb tobacco: undemonstrative yet tasty and with a long-lasting and satisfying belt to it. Heaven. Lesson learned.

My default setting tends to be St Bruno, simply because it is so readily available from my local supermarket. But with a narrow boat holiday on the horizon I thought it best to stock up on some different experiences. So I looked at tobacco reviews.com for some inspiration. 3 tobaccos came to light, Dunhill my mix 965, Cornel and Diehl black frigate and this little beut. So I took a trip from Beeston on the new tram system in to Nottingham and headed up to Gauntley’s. Oh boy, I savoured the experience, firstly by gently perusing in the window at the finest display of wine, whisky, cigars, lighters, pipes and tobacco. A proper good old English tobacconist. I walked through the door.... It gently hit me, a gradual realisation of the fanfare of delights laid out before my eyes, everywhere I looked yes I looked everywhere. I had to stop myself, I announced my requirements. Of course sir, she said. The lady then selected my tobacco from the well stocked shelves and cupboards, although I am sure the lady must have visited Narnia for my selection, not because of the length of time it took but because of the mystery and dreamlike constitution of the products received. So this needs some serious contemplating

Pause....

I head down to my local pub. The Crown in Beeston Nottinghamshire. A pint of Sunchaser I reckon will go well with this. So to the review...I open the tin.... sssppsss the sweet-tempered hiss of air meeting merth. Not knowing my Burley from my perique this review will be based purely on my experience with flavour and satisfaction. Next I open the crisp paper wrapping to expose the perfect flakes of joy. The nose heads towards the exposed flakes to gather the first fresh aroma of the newly opened tin. Nuts, especially walnut husks and dried figs wrapped in slightly damp deer skin with a hint of sultana. I rub half a wide flake gently but firmly with my right thumb pressing into the palm of my left hand, just as my father did when I was a boy. Packed gently into the bowl of my 1960’s Peterson system standard 313 restored by yours truly. It half fills the bowl, the other half of the wide flake is carefully bent in 3. This sits wholly in the top half of the bowl. Lighting and the first full burst hits me immediately, walking in a dry peat earthiness with wool socks and an aroma of burnt heather. It is liken to a smouldering fire of Ash logs and the texture on the nose is as a tweed jacket. That’s it, I am walking through moors of heather burnt yesterday wearing a slightly damp tweed jacket with some dried figs and walnut husks mixed with sultanas in my pocket. Now that’s an experience I can only get by going to Scotland or Ireland or by smoking Peterson Irish Flake. The depth and lingering experience of these flavours is an earthy journey only known and savoured to the experienced pipe smoker who’s depth and knowledge can only come through the quiet contemplation of peaceful felicity.

Marvellous

As a Bold Kentucky and Old Dark Fired lover I was really looking forward to try this one. I was expecting something like those two, but now that I've smoked Peterson's Irish Flake I have to say: They may be living in the same alley - yet they are TOTALLY different. First thing I want to mention is that I don't find the Nicotine overpowered. Is it strong? Yes! Is it too strong? Hell no! At least if you like a stronger smoke.

Peterson's Irish Flake comes in a classy tin with a simple lable, which is typical for Peterson's backys. Inside there are appetizing flake slices stacked. Dark brown in colour, with a few yellow/golden dots.

The tin smell is tempting, and at the same time hard to describe for me. I get nutty-scents, along with a bit of woodsy notes and a aroma that reminds a bit of anise or licorice. Very savoury. Flakes are a bit moist when you crack the tin, but they can be smoked without drying time.

Packing, lighting - no problems! Quality tobacco in quality condition.

The taste is building up throughout the smoke. On first light I only perceive a slight nutty note with a whiff of tanginess. At the beginning I was a bit suprised of it's simple, honest taste, but it diddn't dissapoint me in any way. I was expecting a bit more "oomph", a complex blend with a bunch of different notes to it. But Irish Flake is rather simple - but definetly not flat!

Irish Flake gives me some deep bursting nutty notes, along with a bit of woodsy-notes and a gentle sweetness. A hint of licorice/anise is lurking in the back and enriching the taste. There's a gentle sweetness that's always present, which marries well with the slightly sweetish nutty taste. Accompanied by a woodsy note thats shining through in the back. Every few puffs a delightful note of the said licorice/anise flavour comes through. A nice condiment is always present. Tangy, slightly sweet and aromatic.

Also worth noting is that I find the Kentuckys to have a very different taste than the ones used in Bold Kentucky and Old Dark Fired. It's a bit more dry in taste and has a different taste-profile to me.

EDIT: Smoked in a wide bowl (in diameter) it's even better for my taste. More sweetness and nutty flavours comes through.

Even tho I was expecting something totally different, I diddn't get dissapointed. Irish Flake is a smooth, palatable and unique tasting tobacco of fine ingridients that melt into some tasty smoke. A taste that's matchless imho. I guess it's rather you love - or hate this tobacco.

By the way: The only additive in this tobacco is ~28mg of flavoring on 1000mg of tobacco! ** https://service.bmel.de/tabakerzeugnisse/index2.php?detail_id=104601&site_key=153&stichw_suche=irish+flake&zeilenzahl_zaehler=1 **

4/4 Stars for this honest and seductive blend! Takes a place in my tobacco-bar for sure.

Summary: a strong Burley-forward blend with a subtle dark fired flavor heavily spiced with anise, honey, and other delicious stuff.

This is one of my eternal go-to tobaccos because it always delivers a flavorful, pleasant, and long-lasting smoke. Burleys hit some people stronger than others, and this one is chock full of Burley, so will set your stomach off if you get that feeling like having eaten an underripe vegetable after smoking Burley. The bowl starts with domination by the topping, a licorice-honey flavor with possibly other spices and condiments, but as the flake burns down, more of the dark fired flavor and then a hint of sweet Virginia emerges, eventually caramelizing. The anise remains a presence but not overdominant during the majority of the bowl, producing a fragrant smoke with lots of flavor, and enough Nicotine that I could smoke this all day long without nodding off. As a moist and dense flake, "Irish Flake" rewards extremely slow smoking or it generates a boatload of water. At that speed, it delivers a nuanced and complex flavor with a strong aura of natural tobacco taste.

Update for 2019: the "new" Irish Flake comes in shorter flakes and is the Dr. Pepper of tobaccos: it has a semi-cola flavor from the interaction of dark fired and Virginia leaf with the anise, then they added some of the fruity stuff they put on "University Flake," and the new flakes are shorter and sweeter (more bright Virginia). The result tastes a bit like the amaretto-cola flavor that is Dr. Pepper. I would like the old Irish Flake spun off as its own blend because it served a vital niche, where the new version seems to be gunning for the general Virginia flake market, namely Orlik "Dark Strong Kentucky." Losing uniqueness translates to replaceability.

Plenty of reviews on this great stuff. But it deserves mine too...

Tin is only a bit moist, perfect for long term storage. Tin note is not unpleasant, perhaps Heinz 47 Steak Sauce? You get about a dozen nice sized flakes, perfect for two small bowls or one medium-large bowl. The flakes dry overnight and are easy to rub out. After a slightly persnickety relight, you get a very well behaved long smoke. Burley flavor is there, but so is sweet dark Virginia and a hint of cloves. Very smooth smoke that is flavorful and easy on the mouth.

Strength is nothing to be intimidated by; N build-up is predictable and pleasant. You can put a pipe of this aside and relight later; the flavor will still be pleasant. More dottle than a typical flake, but still very well behaved and the pipe is left easy to clean. Goes very nicely with Constant Comment Tea, hot with milk and sugar. This is 100% good smokable tobacco; a great value from smokingpipes.com at $9 per tin on sale.