Peterson Irish Cask

This is an interesting tobacco. I was expecting it to be flavored, but I found a pleasant, natural taste and those around me found a pleasant smoke smell. If you want something a little different, this is it.

One of my local tobacconists recently added an assortment of tinned Peterson tobaccos to their regular selection of mostly flavored bulk aromatics. I've tried several of the Peterson offerings, including Irish Oak, now with the plain olive-green label. Irish Oak is a pleasing Virginia-Perique blend, with a touch of Cavendish. The Cavendish adds a little extra sweetness to the mixture, and the Perique comes through with plenty of peppery tang. To me, it seems almost like a cross between Dunhill's Royal Yacht and their Elizabethan Mixture. I found it to be in the middle range in strength, a good choice for an after-dinner pipe. The tin aroma is reminiscent of raisins, sweet and inviting. The room note doesn't draw too many hard stares or grumbles; it's not an aromatic, but is not nearly as strong-smelling as most English mixtures, for example. My tin of Irish Oak was only slightly moist, and dried to the ideal moisture level in a matter of days; no difficulty in lighting it and keeping it lit. I didn't experience any tongue-bite with I.O., and I tend to puff a little vigorously sometimes. Anyone who would enjoy a Va-Per blend that's slightly sweet would find Irish Oak to be a good choice, I think. For me, it's not an everyday smoke, but one I'll choose once or twice a week. It seems to go especially well in a bent pipe with a slightly deep bowl.

What I like about this stuff is its' uniqueness. I'm not sure what category it falls into and I don´t really care. It works for me, and that says a lot because as I get more experienced in pipe smoking, I find that a lot of things that worked for me in the past, don't anymore. It is natural tasting, well balenced, and keeps my interest during the smoke. Also bends well with other natural tobaccos.

A different kind of smoke here.. Exotic Virginias predominate in a unique character blend.. Definitely worth a try..

This is my first encounter with perique and I'm quite pleased. This is a very smooth tobacco and there's no point in me repeating all the positive attributes that others have stated. If you haven't tried a perique tobacco, try Irish Oak.

Peterson's Irish Oak is a really nice change from some of the latakia blends or virginia blends, an easy to light, burns to the bottom of the bowl leaving only light gray ash mixture that I found to be, for my tastebuds, very complex and complicated. The mustiness is almost the first thing that you notice, but it's a good kind of mustiness that makes you sense that you are in the middle of the woods (which I find very attractive). The blend changes flavors during burning, becoming a little hot if I puff too much too fast, but once it settles down, it's very nice. Room note was ok, although the resident room-note expert indicated to me that this blend didn't leave a great smell.

I did find that my tastebuds tended to get used to the complexity very rapidly and that I would get to the point where it would cease to be noticable; meaning, after a few pipefuls, it was more like a general virginia blend than anything else. But if I smoked something else, then came back to it on the next round, I found the wonderful complex flavors there again. As such, I wouldn't want Irish Oak to be my mainstay, and I think I might keep some in my rotation, but I probably won't go out of my way to buy it again. At the same time, I would certainly not pass up a pipeful if it's available. So I give it 2 stars. The complexity alone should go 3 stars, but it just wasn't all that for me.

First off, I am only going two stars on this due simply to the fact that I suspect a lot of what's out there needs to be put away and aged for awhile before being smoked. If you're looking for it, look for a can that has been on your tobacconist's shelf for awhile. I strongly suspect that aging would really bring out the flavors that are otherwise merely subtle undertones.

The stuff really smoked easy right from the can, no need to let it dry. It didn't have an overwhelming aroma, just a whiff of something really nice. I couldn't detect any one specific flavor or tobacco at first. There was a faint citrusy taste mixed with a little bit of floral aroma; kind of like what you get in really good Ethiopian sidamo coffee.

Another striking charactaristic, one that I liked, was the peatiness to the taste and aroma. I've heard this described about good scotch, but I don't drink the stuff, so wouldn't know. But there was a peatiness to it, and it was really unique and nice. A nice, mildly sweet blend, with no tongue bite whatsoever. None, zip, zero.

**After some good old dashboard stoving, the flavors have really begun to come out quite well in this blend. I have to bump my recomendation up to three stars. I can't give it four stars due to the fact that it isn't great right out of the tin, needing a little time to get itself together.

All in all, a very good tobacco. I loved the taste, but it was just not quite "all there" yet. Like I said, I think that several months of aging would do this particular blend very well, and I suspect that those who are experiencing a strong perique flavor are getting tins that have got some age to them. As for comparing it to cigarettes; that's just nuts, unless you roll your own with some very high quality tobacco.

I am smoking a bowl of some slightly dry rests of Irish Oak I found in a tin right now. While other virginia/perique combos I have tried (St. James Flake, Holker Twist) have a considerably deeper and not necessarily better character, Irish Oak presents itself lighter, I would almost say airy and playful. The tingly perique keeps the overall impression from being superficial and the pleasant sherry note adds a nice descant. This blend ist done with skill and can provide an uncomplicated experience far from being exhausting.

This stuff tastes like a wet dog smells. I've tried smoking this on a number of occasions--two cans worth actually and it doesn't do anything for me. It tastes like an asstray--blech.

This isn't to say that other Peterson blends are bad--just this one. Their aromatics aren't too sweet and their English er Irish blends aren't bad either. I'd gladly fill a pipe and smoke some of them, but not this stuff.