After discovering quite by chance that Rattray's Stirling Flake bore more than a passing resemblance to my tobacco of choice, the 'Mighty Condor' (both ready rubbed & flake) I started to read reviews of SF and found many folks comparing it to Peterson's Irish Flake. I had tried many Peterson blends (with very mixed feelings) but not IF so on my next order it was on top of the list.
In the square 50g tin one has two neatly stacked rows of thin flakes, very dark brown in colour intermingled with flecks of gold . The aroma is of leather and musky peat with the very slightest whiff of floral notes. Methinks I am going to enjoy this!
I rubbed out half of the flakes and aired them for a couple of hours afore loading a bent bulldog. Several char lights later the game was finally on. I immediately understood the comparisons twixt this and SF, to my untutored tastebuds they were pretty much one and the same blend though I thought the aforementioned 'slight' floral notes were more apparent in IF than in SF. Nice and creamy in texture and full of smoky flavours from the dark fired leaves I was really impressed. Many reviewers regard this blend as strong+ but I would place it twixt mild and medium though closer to medium. It is a robust blend but only in flavour and not overall strength. As for nicotine content I can only say I was never aware of it so perhaps it is medium in that regard.
That was a week or so ago and since then I have enjoyed several bowls of this gorgeous blend. As I write this I am sipping away on a largish bowled Peterson bent pot and loving every moment. I can only find one negative regards IF and that is whereas Condor manages to maintain its flavour throughout the bowl (as does Stirling Flake to some degree) the same cannot be said for IF. From mid bowl onwards IF loses much of that lovely slightly floral peaty earthiness and becomes a little sour. Not necessarily a nasty 'sour' more of a tangy bitterness associated with some other blends where it is regarded by some as a positive feature. No tongue bite at all and it leaves behind a small dollop of soggy dottle.
Peterson's Irish Flake is now part of that select group that is my five favourite blends but for how long?...There are so many blends out there yet for me to try. Not quite the 9/10 I would give my beloved Condor but not very far behind, I would give IF a well deserved 8/10. As for similarities to Stirling Flake I would say that SF just pips IF as the better of the two but I will be buying both regularly just for the slight differences they offer.
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