Peterson Irish Cask

The tartly citrusy, mildly grassy Virginia and Virginia cavendish also sport some tangy dark fruit, hay, wood and earth as the lead components. The nutty, woody, earthy burley is a supporting player that often competes with the aforementioned varietals for attention. The raisiny, plumy, lightly spicy perique is fairly mild, and never gathers any potency. The sherry topping doesn’t sublimate the tobaccos overly much. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is closer to medium than it is to mild. Won’t bite or get harsh. Burns cool and clean at a reasonable pace with a touch of inconsistency in flavor (mostly caused by the perique, which waxes and wanes). Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires just a touch more than an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, lightly lingering after taste and room note. Not an all day smoke, but can be repeatable at times during your smoking day. Not as complex as expected. Two and a half stars.

-JimInks

Starts off non-descript and muddled. VA delivery builds, with a touch of Cavendish, and nice spice (Bergamot?) on the retrohale. Floral and slight wine background weaves in and out. Mid bowl the burley comes into play, melding with the VA. This holds, along with the background notes, until the final third. Lit well, easy to manage. Last third is somewhat harsh - Vit N predominates. 2+ stars.

High quality tobacco, but not one of my favorites. I usually enjoy the first third of the bowls, but after that the Burley starts to dominate the mixture and, combined with Perique, it becomes too sour to my palate.

It's high on nicotine and low on taste. It lacks the mild sweetness and nuttiness one usually finds in good Burley mixtures and the complexity of good VaPers.

Mottled tan to mahogany brown ribbons with an on-the-light-side tin aroma of wet hay. Interestingly, I got the best results with very minimal drying time, although the results were far from dramatic going from tin moisture to very dry. This suffers no real flavor degradation when smoked on the wet side, which is antithetical to most of the Virginias I've smoked.

Confounding tobacco! There seems to be some question as to whether this contains burley (the description here says there is, the tin does not), but the first 10 minutes of each bowl presented burley's characteristic nuttiness, which thereafter was not heard from again until the next bowl. The cavendish was top-noted a bit with what Peterson says is sherry or citronella, but i'm not familiar with those flavors so my tastebuds couldn't confirm or deny. The African strains of virginia mostly ran the show, although there was more than a hint of lemon citrus that I associate with U.S varietals. There was also a wisp of perfume that was fleeting (perhaps the sherry/citronella). Perique is another tobacco that the description here claims the blend contains but the tin does not. I didn't get much in the way of perique spice and no tingle when I snorked but there was a slight fruitiness that could certainly have been perique. Pretty high on the nicotine scale and overpuffing didn't cause this one to bite at all, but it did make the concoction lose what focus it had and give me a pretty good case of niccups. Puffed gently, this one was mostly middle of the road with a few complexities thrown in that didn't hang around long. After smoking the entire tin, I'm still not sure I grasped this one's full measure, but I award 2.5 stars for this. It's interesting enough that I may try another tin, but I hear no calling to pursue this one with much determination. Definitely something I'd recommend everyone try, however.

Peterson Irish Oak is a peculiar tobacco with a coterie of fans as well as a considerable number of smokers who are less enthusiastic. The constituent tobaccos (Virginia, burley, cavendish, and perique) meld together through aging in oaken sherry barrels. The touch of sherry makes this a semi-aromatic.

Open the tin and you find brown and gold ribbons of varied length and thickness. The variance in size means that you must pack it carefully in order to get an easy light and a smoke not requiring frequent relights. A well tamped pipefull smokes nicely. The smell of the tobacco in the tin is unremarkable--a slightly woody tobacco odor with a whiff of figginess from the perique. You do not note the sherry when sniffing the tin.

I prefer to let Irish Oak dry ten or fifteen minutes before smoking, but it is quite possible to smoke it just as you find it. As noted before, when you have a firmly packed pipe there is no problem in getting the smoke going.

The taste comes across quite fully. The Virginias provide a base, the burleys add a bit of nuttiness, and the perique is noticeable but not strong. (I would guess that perique is at most 5% of the blend.) The cavendish seems to be sweetened, for the degree of sweetness in the smoke is greater that what Virginia alone would provide. While smoking, the sherry taste comes through as barely noticeable. It burns down to a white ash, with no goop in the pipe.

The room note has no particular merit, but it would not elicit derogatory comments from any but the anti-tobacco nazis, I have no problem with tongue bite while smoking Irish Oak. The nicotine hit is a bit above medium.

When smoking this mixture, I have no problems with it. Yet it fails to ring my bell, and I have thus rewarded only two stars. However, smokers especially fond of Virginia/perique blends would do well to try this tobacco. The fervent fans of Irish Oak almost surely come from this group.

I use pipes dedicated to Virginias, or Virginia/perique to smoke this one. The wisp of sherry flavor is not enough to ghost a pipe.

I really tried to like this blend but it seems entirely lacking in broader flavor balance.

What it does have is a load of very bright flavors. You have the upper-register spiciness of the perique, quality cigarette like flavors coming from the Burley and Virginia, a citrusy top note along with a subtle dry woody flavor that I do enjoy. It also performs really well, very little tamping or relighting was needed.

However, this blend is so devoid of sweetness and any amount of warmth, that the flavors never seem to establish any semblance of harmony or very much depth for that matter. Irish Oak does have a pretty good punch to it, and it does go nicely with a sweeter, malty dark beer. But by itself as a stand-alone smoke, it doesn’t captivate.

I wanted to like this blend. This was my 2nd tin of it as well. It just was too much like cigarette smoke. Every time I smoke it I get a massive headache or I get the spins. Something in it just doesn't agree with me.

With that being said. It's quality tobacco. Very natural and well made. Light and medium brown ribbons in the tin. Smells like grass, hay, woody, with a bit of dried fruit smell. Packs and lights excellent. Produces a lot of smoke, but the flavor is just too much like cigarettes IMHO. Wish I could have given it a better rating. I"ll be passing this tin on to another Brother of the Briar.

A very unique blend indeed. This tasted like nothing else I have experienced, there is an astringent type of effect on my tongue and mouth...the Sherry Casks? A puckering effect. I must say I enjoyed this somewhat though. Orange rind, pepper/spice, sour apple, quite interesting. I had some problems keeping this lit, even after drying. Smoke volume was moderate, but it has some body. I won't buy this again, but I also won't forget a truly one of a kind blend. TYLFD

I almost liked this one. I see what others appreciate in it, but it's not a bell ringer for me: it's too high-key for one thing, I like more bass in my 'baccy. IO is like a temperamental VaPer with just a bit too much burley and cavendish and then some kind of subtle warm citrusy topping (maybe the sherry?), all obscuring a delightful sweetness -- trying to assert itself -- with a slight nutty astringency. It does have some lovely nuance if you slow down (a good idea, 'cause this can bite), but it's too subtle and blurred, like a soup that's been seasoned with too many spices, yet none strong enough to focus on so that it ended up striking me as somewhat bland despite all that's going on. (Maybe IO is a stillborn aromatic?)

An unusual quality blend that undoubtedly appeals to certain tastes, but it's a miss for me.