Kyle Weiss
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2011
- Messages
- 11,988
- Reaction score
- 7
There's tin art that I find cool, and some that creeps me out. The "Shrewd Judge" looks like the cat who ate the canary and Cornell & Diehl has had countless awkward and fun cartoon-like labels. Ol' Mick McQuaid on the other hand has a sly, somewhat intoxicated and odd grin that has to go down in the pipe world as one of the strangest and uneasy faces for an ambassador of the briar and leaf:
...digging a little further, it seems Mr. McQuaid has enjoyed a long history of posing for artists with his unique face, and as you get to know the guy via stories and viewing his likeness, it becomes clear he's quite like a quirky uncle more than a mincing creep.
Which is good, because I've been smoking some of his "Square Cut" tobacco the last few days, and I don't feel any creepier than usual.
The first of his stuff I've tried, the Square Cut features a dense flake that one shouldn't expect to really ever fall apart into ribbons or loose flake. It has a feel similar to McClelland Dark Star: they obviously press it in boxes with M1 tanks and leave it for about six months, wait for it to partially petrify, then extract and cut it with a bandsaw. That's where Square Cut and Dark Star part similarities, though. Colorful criticism aside, it crumbles nicely into a loose pack and takes a flame with ease.
McQuaid's Square Cut is interesting. It packs a nicotine punch like a charging bull, and while not the highest-octane stuff I've tried, if you're into the muscle-numbing and head-spinning effects of strong tobacco, you might like it. It's gentle on the tongue and palate, but unfortunately, also lacks a little liveliness and character of other strong tobaccos. In the tin, the stuff has a nicely fermented smell, almost smoky in that dark-fired Kentucky kind of way. Every time I've lit it up, I wish it would taste as intense as it smells. There's some sweet, woody, and resin-like notes in it, distant whiffs of dark cocoa--nothing over the top.
I figure if you accidentally roasted your tongue by diggin' in to the lasagna on Sunday for your family dinner, and yet still needed a nice pipeful to cap off the evening, this tobacco might be a good choice. It's stout without being a kick to the palate, it has enough nicotine to satisfy a craving, and is easy to deal with from packing & lighting to tamping and finishing.
Considering I have plenty of gut-punching nicotine delivery systems in my cellar at the moment, I don't think I'll be making space for this one, but it leaves me wondering what else ol' Grinnin' Mick has in his other tins.
8)
...digging a little further, it seems Mr. McQuaid has enjoyed a long history of posing for artists with his unique face, and as you get to know the guy via stories and viewing his likeness, it becomes clear he's quite like a quirky uncle more than a mincing creep.
Which is good, because I've been smoking some of his "Square Cut" tobacco the last few days, and I don't feel any creepier than usual.
The first of his stuff I've tried, the Square Cut features a dense flake that one shouldn't expect to really ever fall apart into ribbons or loose flake. It has a feel similar to McClelland Dark Star: they obviously press it in boxes with M1 tanks and leave it for about six months, wait for it to partially petrify, then extract and cut it with a bandsaw. That's where Square Cut and Dark Star part similarities, though. Colorful criticism aside, it crumbles nicely into a loose pack and takes a flame with ease.
McQuaid's Square Cut is interesting. It packs a nicotine punch like a charging bull, and while not the highest-octane stuff I've tried, if you're into the muscle-numbing and head-spinning effects of strong tobacco, you might like it. It's gentle on the tongue and palate, but unfortunately, also lacks a little liveliness and character of other strong tobaccos. In the tin, the stuff has a nicely fermented smell, almost smoky in that dark-fired Kentucky kind of way. Every time I've lit it up, I wish it would taste as intense as it smells. There's some sweet, woody, and resin-like notes in it, distant whiffs of dark cocoa--nothing over the top.
I figure if you accidentally roasted your tongue by diggin' in to the lasagna on Sunday for your family dinner, and yet still needed a nice pipeful to cap off the evening, this tobacco might be a good choice. It's stout without being a kick to the palate, it has enough nicotine to satisfy a craving, and is easy to deal with from packing & lighting to tamping and finishing.
Considering I have plenty of gut-punching nicotine delivery systems in my cellar at the moment, I don't think I'll be making space for this one, but it leaves me wondering what else ol' Grinnin' Mick has in his other tins.
8)
:drunken:
