Peterson Irish Flake review

I opened the square tin and was greeted by a rich aroma of mature ripe tobacco, with musty wood tones. A gold colored sticker with Mr Peterson's likeness and signature sealed the paper wrap. There were 22 neatly stacked deep reddish brown slices inside the paper wrap. The slices were moist, little oily and springy.



Took one slice and broke it in half, then further separated the strands and rolled it in a little clump which filled the bowl of my Aran 03 about two-thirds. The other half was placed back in the tin. I poured a cup of strong Turkish coffee, put on my jacket, and headed into the sunny but cold ( 36 F ) Alaskan afternoon.
Charring light took extremely well. I tried to let it go out but it did not, so I continued on. This is STRONG stuff, rich in taste and packs a BIG punch in the nicotine department. Tingles the mouth, not with a spice but with aroma and strength. DO NOT inhale ….. well, if you do, give it a while to settle in with you. It's full bodied and rich. Compared to wine, Malbec or a good Zinfandel come to mind.
Halfway through the bowl, after sipping it, it decided to go out. After a light tamp and relight, the strong tingle was not noticeable unless puffed. A grassy aroma made itself noticed and stayed to the end. Toward the heel of the bowl, the nicotine punch came through again for a nice finish.
I smoked another half a flake that evening, this time along with a small sipper of Single Malt Scotch. Sort of a bad idea, in that it intensified the effects of the alcohol. Not to an uncomfortable, sickly sort, but it seemed to mask some of the fine subtle flavors of the baccy. Even with that, it makes for an excellent night cap. It smoked consistently as it did the first time.
Yesterday evening I decided to give another half a flake a try. Same results. Burns consistently to a fine grayish-white ash, tastes consistently good, leaves little dottle in the bowl. Smokes fairly cool unless pushed, and very dry provided you take your time and don't drool through the stem. I would smoke it strictly outdoors as the smoke seemed to burn the eyes a bit whilst smoking it in the confines of my Jeep with the windows up to try and get a room note. Speaking of which, it smells like a tobacco barn in the forest. Very lovely.
In conclusion, this is an excellent, awesome, quality baccy which must be treated with respect, or it WILL demand it.

the flakes are so perfectly formed and nice to look at that it's tough for me to break them up

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Indeed. They look appetizing to me but I know better ..... I don't know if I'll graduate to a full slice any time soon ..... the half flake took a good 40 minutes to go through, plus I haven't a pipe big enough for it.

adding a few tins to my next TAD order

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That would last me quite a while. I bought two tins. 22 slices per tin. Half a slice a day ( okay, maybe a whole flake on my days off ). That's probably enough for a few months. :puffpipe:

Thanks guys!
@flyfishn: I haven't had a drink "outdoors" ( except for the stoop of our apartment building ) since the baby came in January, so that sounds like a great idea. But not the Bush Co. WAAAYYYY too rowdy for me in more ways than one. I'm more of the McGinleys/Snow Goose/the downstairs at Orso's type ::
@brian64 : Spring is still about a month or so away. There's still a couple feet of snow and "breakup" hasn't yet happened. We had a fairly rough winter. It won't be "proper" spring until all the snow goes away and things turn green.

@juni: UF is on the list of "next to try" .... by "next" I mean sometimes mid to late April. I have 9 different things open right now ...... 3 regular smokes ( MB Lat Blend, Villiger 1888 Late Night and PS Black Vanilla ), 3 sample-sized "once every couple three days" ( PS Optimum, HH Marble Kake, MB VA#1 ), what's left of the Rincon de la Pipa, the IF and a vintage tin of Radford's Sunday's Fantasy that's my "special occasion dessert smoke".
@flyfishn: let's continue on PM please, so we can stay OT :puffpipe:

I just ordered 2 tins after reading this thread! Im excited

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Enjoy ! I saw your thread about the Pete pipe you picked up, I have learned that Irish Flake tastes best from a Pete ( mine is a P-lip Aran ). Maybe it's me, maybe it's my first impression that is impacting upon further experiences with this blend, but I have tried smoking it out of my other pipes and it doesn't quite taste the same ( the "boooyahhhh" factor is diminished and it tastes a little milder )