Dan Tobacco Limerick

The hero of my review today was a Limerick blend from the Treasures of Ireland series. The label said "Virginia Flake. The blend itself is, according to the creators, almost pure virginia with only 5% perique added. The tobacco looks like long strips of dark brown flake. The flake is loose and easily falls apart into individual fibers.

It needs to be said that most of the blends in this series are aromatics. The more interesting it was to try the pure blend. But here I got the first surprise: despite the claim of this mix as "virginia perique", it smelled very dense aroma coming out of the jar. The blend was clearly heavily flavored with honey or molasses. There was a distinct scent of dark raisins mixed in with that sweet smell, and in the background, a cautiously earthy, dusty note of dark Virginia with a little bit of stale hay was cautiously squeezed in the corner.

The humidity of the tobacco seemed normal to the touch, and I stuffed and smoked a medium-sized pipe, expecting a sweet flavor, but it turned out I was wrong again. The tobacco tasted like stale dry grass, dust, and some black pepper. Despite the Virginia in the base, the taste was no sugar at all, moreover, the tobacco was a little bit bitter. The taste and scent of the smoke was reminiscent of German cigarettes. The tobacco did not burn quickly or hot, but it was quite a tarry smoke. Moreover, there was a lot of water in the tobacco, about fifteen percent of its weight. I was literally pouring water out of the pipe as I smoked.

The strength of the blend is deceptively medium, but it's actually above medium - the nicotine hit comes unnoticed, but hits hard enough, catching up after about half an hour.

The smoke has an earthy and charcoal scent to it. Not persistent, disperses quickly. Neutral to others.

Bottom line: smoker's tobacco. Enjoying this blend, in my opinion, impossible - it tastes too simple, and has no complex pleasant aromas, being harshly flavored - perhaps to hide the cheapness of Virginia. I don't know why the manufacturer decided that this tobacco resembled something Irish. Out of poverty, is it?

Yes, there is definitely toping in it. Nice smell of dried apple and citrus fruits after opening of sample was significant and tell you this tobacco is good for summer smoke. Light VA Flakes combined wit darker veins of periq was perfectly presented. Easy to prepare with accurate moist. Toping during the smoke was mild, underline taste of sweet, tangy hay-like VA. Periq was not so spicy as I was expecting, very gentle peppery. I would rather say, never would guess, P is included in the blend. Very interesting fresh blend.

For some reason I never tried this until recently. And what a pleasant surprise. Its a basic Vaper....dark virginia, fermented and pressed. There is a nice hit of perique in this. The whole package has a subtle spicy flavour. I liked it and will order again. In these times, its nice to get basic high quality flakes for us virginia smokers. Three and a half stars.

This is an easy going va/per.once the tin opens a nice grassy and woodsy smell comes out.a sweet topping is detected with some spicy notes too.the dark flakes are moist,very manageable and some drying time is needed after rubbing them. Lights with some effort even if dried out with several relights needed through the process.while burning the virginias are the main player offering grass,woods and citrus notes.perique is in the backround offering spices,figs,raisins and some sour notes.a sweet topping is mildly applied to enhance the general taste.burns slow,hot with a lot moisture left at the filter to ash.the room note is bareable with no chance of tongue bite.nicotine level is very low.an ideal blend for a starter or for someone who likes very smooth va/pers.recommended.

Tasteing Notes: Dan Tobacco Limerick

Component Tobaccos: Virgina, Perique

Flavor: Chocolate

Cut: Flake

Tin Note: Figs Newtons, chocolate,

Body: 6/10

Strength: 4/10

Nic: 3/10,

Moisture From Tin: A little wet but not unsmokable.

Mechanics:

I fold and stuff flakes so that's really easy, the flakes are large and beautiful. A large bowl will take a full flake; smaller bowls will take half or 3/4 flakes. This tobacco lites well and stays lit. I've experianced no bite with this blend. Easy smoking and cool.

Taste:

There is a chocolate topping, it's noticable but not unpleasant. I would not call this an aeromatic or even a pseudo-aeromatic. The chocolate topping and the fig notes of the perique nicely. The viriginas are nice and bready. This is a very sweet blend remenicent of desert.

Thoughts:

I first head about this tobacco on a Smoking Pipes newsletter several months ago, in fact that's the only time I have ever heard about this blend. From what I can tell, not many have heard of this blend and that's a shame. This is a really solid blend that any VA/ per lover should at least try. The tin note is of Fig Newtons and chocolate. The fig notes from the perique and the bready quality of the Virginias come togeather with a nice chocolate topping to produce a marvelous smoke.

Overall: 8.5/10

A little bit of spicy Perique is added to a not-too-sweet Virginia. The result is a pleasant blend, although not so intriguing. Good for an all-day smoke. 3,5/5 in my personal rating system.

I had been wanting to try this for some time. While it is very good tobacco, it is not Excellent tobacco. The tobaccos are the finest quality, the presentation is nice but it does lack depth and does not have any of what I would call, unique character. Still worth trying!

UPDATE: 2017-01-16 I am upping this rating to 3 stars. It does age very well. This furthers the consensus that most pipe tobacco is coming to market too soon.

Once I opened the tin I got the taste of fig. It was the first time this scent was so clear, even my wife recognized it immediately. The tobacco is in flakes with brown and dark brown color. Its humidity is good and it contains Virginia and 5% Perique, according to the description, which you can feel easier in the morning smoke. After a meal and a glass of wine, the flavors emerge better. Maybe because I am not a Perique fan. For me, it's not an all day smoke, but I will try to find and store a couple more tins, believing that I will be rewarded, taste wise, for my effort. It is packed quite easily, but the first light-ups were a bit difficult.

I am just now smoking the last bowl of what ended up working out to a five-bowl sample of very crunchy, dried-out flakes. No problem, that's how I like my flakes! Obviously, then, this review is based on limited experience, and I can't say anything about tin note or appearance, though these are rather typical, well-formed Virginia flakes. I'm glad I waited to review until the last bowl of my sample. The first bowls were not promising, but that is only because I have had limited opportunity to learn this new blend (to me). Much better to smoke a bit more of course, but I can see now how some folks seem to like this. I probably puffed too hard on the first bowls. I think I left the dry flake out too long on them as well, and it probably absorbed some tainted moisture from the room or something, because those first bowls were harsh. I packed this last bowl right out of the bag, and am sipping it more slowly. I am getting much better flavors now. In fact, the casing and style of this kind of reminds me of MacBaren, and I am treating it accordingly! Nice VAPER for sipping. I say VAPER, but being somewhat jaded to Perique, I would have to say this one is like PSLNF: if they say it has Perique, I'll just have to take their word for it! The person who sent me the sample thinks there's burley, but I would have to say based on this last bowl, no. There's something in the curing of this flake that causes a little burley-like roughness when it's puffed heavily, but that is all. All in all, though I really haven't smoked enough of this for a proper review, this farewell bowl of my first introduction to Limerick is good enough for me to recommend it to the lover of milder VAPER flakes, and I will probably buy my own tin of it sometime. Very nice sweetness from the Virginias, mild and pleasant topping which is not overbearing as long as you behave yourself, and a very good burner.