Peterson Irish Dew

Very fruity smell from pouch and very appealing. Reminded me of Troost Aromatic from a freshly opened tin. Medium brown ribbon packed nicely in the pouch. Loading and lighting was easy without problems keeping lit. Not much of a taste - mild tobacco, no detectable flavors as per the description. However, if you want something mild with a pleasant room note this would serve the purpose and I can't see many non-smokers complaining here. Irish Flake is my number one favorite/daily go to (smoking several bowls daily). The only similarity is the word "Irish"; same with Peterson's Irish Mixture (formerly Irish Whiskey), and I didn't care for that one much. With Irish Dew, there is a pleasantly sweet, but non descript side stream which I found pleasant. Recommended for when you want something mild ie, a set-it-and-forget-it smoke.

First impressions: in my pouch I have found big broken flakes, that were definitely not dry.

Tin note: not a whole lot other than sweet, grassy Va, maybe some herbal notes.

When smoking: tongue bite is non-existent. The taste does not become very strong at any moment. Falvouring is mild and it does not dominate Va taste. The casing itself appears to be mainly whisky. Tobacco has some problems with catching the fire, but after being well lit burns more or less properly.

Final thoughts: probably an example of love-hate situation. If you are not closed for such blends, you may actually like it. It is not the best blend by any means. However works nice as a book companion as it is mild and undemanding. If you choose to pay more attention to it, you may find that it has some hidden notes that are very rewarding to discover. I like it and will get more. It is one of those, which are possible to enjoy. I don't really understand its low rating. Especially when you compare it to Alsbo rating.

The aromas in this are subtle, both from the tin and smokewise... some faint chocolate and whiskey. For me this was way too boring to delve deeper into, so a short review for a dull blend. Maybe it could work for someone with a much more sensitive palate, but I'll pass on this one. Not worthless or unsmokable though, so two stars it is.

I've reviewed Peterson's blends in the past and pronounced them tasteless and bland.

This one is neither of those things, and besides, my tastes have changed over the last few years.

I was rather surprised to find this in the smallest tobacconist in Worcester. Well it wasn't even a shop or a room - it was a shelf, cunningly hidden behind the ubiquitous iron door. Of those on offer this was just about the only one I hadn't seen before.

It came in a 40g pouch, which I thought was a bit mean. Wasn't cheap, either.

The pouch fragrance is not what I expected. Like other reviewers I was expecting an aromatic, but this is a rather coarse tobacco-strand mix with a topping of what could could well be whisky. Don't get vanilla nor, thankfully 'floral' tones.

The smoke is excellent, smooth and comforting with few relights. Goes rather dry in the pouch. Can't say I can compare it with anything else and I haven't had the (apparently) dreadful Borkham Riff Whisky.

It's certainly an all-day tobacco, but not a day-in day-out blend. A decent tobacco with subtle flavourings. Well worth having in your collection.

Peterson makes some very fine tobacco's, however this is not one of them. The cut was of a broken flake that was partially rubbed out. The pouch note gave me some hope that this was going to be a decent smoke, it was tobacco forward, with that typical burley nuttiness, not syrupy with maybe a slight cocoa, whiskey and floral note. These notes did not translate to the smoke all that well though, I found it to be kind of boring and bland and the nic content was a tick above mild. I think I may have tasted some whiskey, and maybe some of the cocoa but very far in the background. It burned fairly evenly with 4-5 relights and did not give me any tongue bite. This blend needs some character though, at the halfway point of the bowl, I picked up on some sweetness, but alas it slipped away after a few puffs. I will probably jar this up with a little blending perique added in and put it away for a while. Maybe that will give it the character that it needs. I will give it 2 stars, but just because I have had worse.

The adjectives that come to mind to review this are innocuous, flat, boring, and so forth. I didn't find much taste at all; what little there was okay.

As of now, I gave up to guess what does it smell or taste. I just enjoy it. It has a unique, almost funny taste that travels my mind to the mountains of Ireland, to small cottages amids endless forests. It's name, Irish Dew also helps with this. Perfect pairing to LotR soundtracks and fantasy tavern music. ...ok, I'll try. It tastes like a blur of sweet virginia, irish whiskey and chocolate, and nearly anything you can think of (beside latakia, perhaps). Funny that I got to taste some orientals in it just to discover later on that is haven't got any inside. Imagine it like the ARO-man's EMP; perfect all-timer, but shines best early in the morning or late afternoon right before sunset. Pair with nearly any drink you like: whiskey, coke, fruit juices, rum, tea, beer or ale, and so forth. Avoid however, in my opinion, wine and champagne, hence they attract a sophisticated atmosphere that doesn't match with that tobacco (and with piping also, few exceptions only), and liquores as they tend to be a bit too strong for Irish dew (it is not a horse-kicker strong ARO after all...)

The pouch was packaged in May 2021, so the tobacco in it was fresh. I find it pointless to try to store and age such budget blends.

Appearance: a finely chopped blend of light, almost lemon Virginia and a slightly darker straw burley. I know from the description of the production of this blend that the tobacco is first pressed into a cake and then finely chopped, so the cut can be considered something in between just chopped tobacco and broken flake. The shades of the different tobaccos are very close in color, and at arm's length the blend seems almost homogeneous. It is very easy to pipe, and the moisture to the touch is almost perfect.

Flavor: A fairly simple bouquet consisting of hay, fresh malted bread, roasted chestnut, bitter chocolate and a barely recognizable vanilla note. The flavoring is definitely noticeable, but overall - the overall flavor of the blend is very unexpressive. I'm not sure that I felt the whiskey in it.

Taste: a straightforward typical ordinary Virginia with some Burley. Fresh sweetish hay, a little bit of woody and earthy burley with a nutty hint - and, actually, that's it. No undertones, no transitions. The tobacco smokes hot enough and requires slow smoking, but initially it tends to bite your tongue if you overheat it a little. By the middle of the pipe the birley gains strength and the light Virginia becomes weaker, the flavor becomes softer, sweetish-woody with a typical earthy-walnut flavor, but remains the same unexpressed. The strength is just below average. The tobacco burns into a fine ash of almost white color, leaving some moisture in the pipe.

The smoke is quite dense for such a light blend, with a distinct "cigarette" smell. It hangs in the room, having a sweetly woody smell, similar to the smell of American cigarettes.

What's the bottom line? Overall, it's hard to say anything about the advantages of this blend. But it's also hard to find faults with it. This is a very ordinary budget tobacco "for every day" that unassuming fans of Virginia-Burley blends can smoke - the flavoring hasn't spoiled it one bit. Honestly, I don't understand what for it was needed here at all.

This tobacco is quite amusing. I actually bought it because I am in search of good whiskey flavoured aromatic which are pretty scarse in Eastern Europe where I live. Anyway, opened the pouch - got smell of hay and rasins, it was really quite unussual. Stuff lights pretty lightly, stays lit pretty well, no tongue bite even if it gets too hot. It's actually my first aromatic that wasn't sweet and I enjoyed very much. Flavour during is smoking is mostly vanilla with bitter chocolate and a nice note of rasins. Room note is almost godly. This tobacco tastes like normal tobacco but at the same time has many different flavours. Half a bowl later flavour started to taste like campfire wood/coal. All in all it's and everyday smoke for me. Highly recommended