McClelland Best of Show

(2.75)
A blue ribbon blend of Americas finest tobaccos. You'll judge it full flavored, satisfying, mild. We have polished it off with nougat flavoring. Tastefully opulent. A winner.

Details

Brand McClelland
Series Premium Aromatic
Blended By McClelland Tobacco Company
Manufactured By McClelland Tobacco Company
Blend Type Aromatic
Contents Black Cavendish, Burley, Cavendish, Virginia
Flavoring Nougat, Sherry, Whisky
Cut Coarse Cut
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Medium to Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Very Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.75 / 4
12

7

13

4

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 36 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 17, 2009 Very Mild Medium Medium Very Pleasant
I just bought this tobacco today from Grant's in San Francisco and I must say it is a very high quality tobacco. I loaded the tobacco in my Tonni Nielsen Ebony and Boxwood Calabash pipe. The first bowl had a problem with staying lit but burned with several relights just the same and had a nice flavor and aroma.

I let the pipe cool off for a while and decided to repack it again and then just let it sit for about 30-minutes. I lit up the pipe and bingo, the flavor was very mild, sweet and creamy with a sweet tobacco foundation that burned very smoothly and did not bite one bit. The aroma was absolutely wonderful! As I walked around the city today I had several people walk behind me sniffing the wonderful aroma and whisperring of how good it smelled.

For the immature wankers who knock this blend stating how it is terrible and smells bad, slow down and try to enjoy the smoking experience. Don't drag like a Hoover or huff and puff like the big bad wolf looking for a strong nicotine hit. It will burn lousy, taste awful and smell terrible. And again for the wankers who state it is full of humectants? Humectants are in cheap drug store tobaccos NOT quality blends such as this. And brsides, pipe smoking is not about the nicotine; it's about the pleasure derived in the flavor and aroma of the tobacco in times of leisure and relaxation.

For those who have insipid expectations of a nicotine fix and smoke to exasperate all those around them, they should simply stick to cigarettes.

I highly recommend this blend to new smokers looking for a high quality aromatic and for people who know how to smoke and enjoy the pipe experience.
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 23, 2015 Mild Medium Mild Very Pleasant
The unsweetened black cavendish has no vanilla notes, and is a minor player beyond adding a little smoothness as far as I can see, because I don’t really notice it much until the half way point. The cavendish is sweet, but sublimated. The same mostly goes for the burley, though I get a light nuttiness from it. The Virginia is dull with a “vinegar” note that fades soon, and a hint of grass. The stars are not the tobaccos as the toppings dominate. I believe it’s the sherry that adds an alcohol essence that I did not care for. The whiskey is faint. The nougat is the most obvious topping, but it’s just kind of “there”, and not enough "here". The flavors somewhat fades toward the finish, though it burns well enough. Leaves just a little moisture, and does not bite. Has little nicotine. An all day smoke while you do routine work, but the taste doesn’t match the smell out of the tin in terms of flavor strength.

-JimInks
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 25, 2013 Mild to Medium Medium Medium Very Pleasant
One of my favorite aromatics. I usually keep a tin or two in my rotation. Not overpoweringly topped, but the nougat is very noticeable both in taste and in room note. Like most McClelland aromatics, the balance in this blend is outstanding with little or no bite. I find it burns relatively cool and reduces down to fine ash with little goop in the bowl. An all-day aromatic.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 23, 2014 Mild Mild Mild Very Pleasant
First off I am a relatively new pipe smoker, but I have done quite a bit of research both hands on, through reading some very good books on the subject, talking to experienced pipe smokers, and a lot of time on the internet. I have tried well over a dozen aros, from cheap drugstore mixes to high end offerings from Boswell and Russ Ouellette, but nothing I have had has ever compared to McClelland Best of Show. It lights easily, burns all the way down with minimal relights, has one of the best room notes of any aro ( according to the wife). And according to reports from my father to whom I gifted some, it is the only tobacco that my mother ( who has drunk deeply from the second hand smoke Kool-aid cup) that she will actually encourage him to smoke in the house. It is my desert island tobacco. That is not to say I don't enjoy non aros, in fact BoS is pretty much the only aro I regularly smoke. I really enjoy English, Vaper, burleys, and Balkans as well. Any well made quality tobacco I will make room for in my tobacco cabinet. Among my other favorites are Solani 656 aged burley flake, davidoff red mixture, frog Morton cellar, and dunhill flake among others, soon to be reviewed. My point is after reading so many reviews that started "I really don't like aros but I am reviewing this aromatic anyway.....and I never understood that.

Maybe it is because I am new and don't have any preconceived notions, and after trying several dozen tobaccos of all different types, I like what what I like regardless of what is on the label.

And when I open a can of Best of Show, it's like a whiff of nirvana, packing a pipe and lighting it up, It is the only aro that I can actually taste! Hints of caramel and brown sugar in my mouth. If I could only have two it would be BoS first and Frog Morton cellar second, I'd be a happy camper.
Pipe Used: Peterson Killarney straight, P-lip
PurchasedFrom: 1 year old
Age When Smoked: 1 year
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 16, 2017 Mild Medium to Strong Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
An amazing tobacco! Very smooth, tasteful and well balanced. It has aromas of white chocolate and caramel with a hint of Sherry. It burns pretty well and it has a mellow taste of caramel. With low sweetness at the end. Highly recommend for aromatics fans, a piece of at.
Pipe Used: Peterson PSOI POY 2016 (XL15)
PurchasedFrom: Paulo Santiago
Age When Smoked: New
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 16, 2015 Mild Medium Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Among aromatics, this is really something. Tin note and room note are hard not to enjoy and actually match the taste in the first half of a bowl. After that it’s like chocolate cream on toasted dark bread combined with sporadically appearing earthy tones.

Buttery smooth and too mild for after lunch/dinner, I like Best Of Show exclusively in the early mornings, when the taste buds are still sensitive. For that, and only that, it’s a winner to me.
Pipe Used: Various with and without filter
Age When Smoked: fresh to 2 yrs
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 27, 2009 Mild Medium Mild Very Pleasant
This, along with Boswell's Christmas Cookie, has the most delectable pouch aroma of any standard aromatic pipe tobacco I have ever smoked. I found myself sniffing the opened tin very often. Absolutely wonderful aroma. Smells good enough to eat (but don't!).

Taste-wise, I found this very ordinary. Unlike Tastemaster, this one did not rise above traditional flavored black cavendish based aromatics. The cut is a chunky ribbon, very black but with some flecks of lighter leaf. It burned very well and was mild to the tongue except when I puffed more vigorously - which is one way I taste test tobaccos in order to see how they behave in multiple situations. When puffed slowly and methodically, this was very mild and crossed well over into bland territory. There was an underlying sweetness (nougat, caramel, butterscotch, or some such) that was pleasant enough but too mild to really savor. When puffed a bit harder, the casing wore off too soon and the blend became harsh after about half a bowl. That's typical of aromatics. Best to smoke them slowly and not overpuff, so as not to wrongfully expand the blend's focus.

Room aroma was traditional black cavendish. The nougat scent got lost in the fog. Overall, a very ordinary experience. Not bad, but not repeatable.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 03, 2018 Very Mild Medium to Strong Full Very Pleasant
I wish I had known this was going the way of the dinosaurs, so that I could have bought a few tins. I won't mis it too much however, as it was impossible to dry out fully.

It was one of the best nougat flavored blends available. The room note was of a strong peanut brittle cooking. As a result, everyone and their dog asked about it.

This tasted almost candy like but on the burnt peanut side.

I have only a half a tin left, and will hurry up and smoke it with a relish.
Pipe Used: No name oom paul.
PurchasedFrom: Tinderbox
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 11, 2014 Very Mild Strong Medium Very Pleasant
This blend. Starting with the good. If your an aromatic smoker, you will find this room note to be amazing. The wife absolutely loved it. It was a cool smoke, and easy to light, which is not the case for all aromatics.

I did not appreciate how it was more overwhelming of the actual tobacco itself that mc does so well. It was a bit too much. The tobacco is not bold whatsoever. If that's your thing look elsewhere.

If your looking for a good extra cased aromatic, this could be for you.
Pipe Used: H.I.S Egg, Peterson System (Bent), Cob
PurchasedFrom: Various
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 10, 2014 Extremely Mild Very Mild Extremely Mild (Flat) Very Pleasant
How this blend is called "Best in Show" is beyond me. Its rather flat, bland and just not really enjoyable. If you want to please others noses with no regard to your own enjoyment of what your smoking then this ones for you. It burns cool with no bite but also no flavor. However it smells fantastic so if the in-laws are coming and you're looking to please them then give this one a go. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it. After all smoking is a personal pleasure meant for personal enjoyment. So what's the point if all the blend does is smell good to others? However I must admit I am not much of an aromatic smoker and maybe my aromatic palate has been destroyed by latakia, perique and flue cured tobaccos. So I'll give it a two star rating instead of a one.
1 person found this review helpful.
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