McClelland No. 2000 Fragrant Matured Cake

Several Virginias were used in the processing of this broken flake, and the tobaccos offer a little citrus, lemon, and grass, some tangy dark fruit and stewed dark fruit with earth, and an ever present mild spice. The nougat is more obvious than I have encountered in many other blends, and is well complimented by a mild but rich sweet vanilla and cream. The nic-hit is just past the mild mark. The broken flakes tend to be a little dry in bulk, but there’s not much need to hydrate them. There’s not a lot of complexity present, but there’s enough between the harmonious marriage of toppings and tobaccos to hold your interest. Burns a little slow as flakes tend to do, but it’s a clean, moderately cool smoking with a zesty, tangy sweet consistent flavor that never weakens or gets harsh. It does need a slow puffing cadence because of the inherent spice note and a tendency to get a little hot - not harsh - on the tongue when smoked beyond a moderate rate. Requires some relights and I suggest loosely packing your bowl with it. Takes a little effort to burn it to ash, but it can be done much of the time. Doesn’t leave that much moisture in the bowl. The after taste pleasantly lingers. Not an overwhelming product in terms of strength, but it’s filling enough that you may find it’s not quite an all day smoke. Experienced smokers may differ.

-JimInks

Based on a sample of about an ounce, perhaps a bit less. This came pretty dry in the bag, which is how I prefer my McC broken flakes. The flakes were mostly very dark brown which look "overlaid" on the lighter brown rather than co-mingled. A result of the casing, perhaps?

The flavor was vanilla on top of sweet virginia, just as the description leads me to believe. It is a sweet and zesty flavor, very refreshing. This flavor lasts throughout the entire bowl. Whereas most traditional American aromatics flavoring burns away early, this is more of a crossover blend. Crossovers are, to me, mostly misses, but this one hits the mark squarely. Nice room note, sweetened flavor but a dry, cool smoke that never gets murky or ashy. This reminds me of Tordenskjold Virginia Slices without the perique. As a result, it loses a little depth but this blend isn't about depth or complexity - it's about providing the aromatic smoker with a more flavorful and drier smoke.

I generally prefer a bit more tobacco taste in my blends and this will be an occasional smoke for me. 3 stars for my taste but I'm giving this 4 because it perfectly meets its "design" goals. This is one of the finest crossover blends I've ever smoked, and will be near the top of my list when I want something sweetened and/or good while with other people.

A recent jaunt into the world of McClelland bulk blends has opened my eyes, wallet and palate to some flavorful, high quality and affordable mixtures.

Fragrant Matured Cake is one that I have been enjoying quite a bit. The flavor has a delicate vanilla, coconut and clove taste and the smoke is somewhat sweet. At a slow sip it's gentle and creamy, when puffed more aggressively there's a touch of spice and a tasty bittersweet edginess tingles the senses. It's just as sweet as most quality aromatics only with more tobacco flavor and without any bite or chemical like off-flavors.

Like most McClelland broken flakes it comes overly moist, firmly pressed and requires a thorough rubbing out and a good amount of dry time. All of this of course is well worth the effort. From top to bottom, this is a very enjoyable tobacco with a fine flavoring that perfectly enhances with the naturally-sweet Virginia.

Fragrant Matured Cake produces a pleasant room note that my wife continually compliments. An outstanding bulk blend that seems to only get better with age and it's also a great value.

This is a very fine tobacco consisting of Virginias,burley and flue cured Virginia cavendish. Natural Sweetness of the Virginia,natural chocolate tastes of burley and the headiness of the flue cured along with a top note of Vanilla and fruit essence ie.(coconut) make this broken flake a real winner! The room note is suttle, though comforting and sweet warm fruity. The taste is caramel and toffee with a slight coconut playing through at times. With all these smells and flavors it still tastes of very fine tobacco. This is wonderful pipe tobacco, really wonderful.

I swore off aromatics about 15 years ago and it almost put me off the pipe completely. I was saved by a tin of EMP. I enjoy VAs from time to time, but I was ready for something different (and so was my wife). She asked if I could smoke something that had a good aroma and that tasted good to me. After trying serveral different "quality" aromatics, 2000 has found a place in my daily arsonal.

The flavor is steady throughout the entire smoke. There is no question that it consists of quality, matured VA and just enough casing to create a pleasant room note. I think it is an excellent mix of tobacco and flavor additive.

There is no goop and it doesn't "own" the pipe like many aromatics can. This blend was recommended by a friend who referred to it as a change-of-pace smoke. This may sound strange, but this blend allows me to enjoy my Latakia blends more as it clears the pallete, so to speak.

The flavor is not complex by any means, but I find it satisfying, nonetheless. I can only assume that it will age well as most VAs tend to do. I think this blend is worth a visit.

McClelland - No. 2000 Fragrant Matured Cake.

This is exactly what I want from an aromatic blend! It's not sour or bitter from too much sharp fruit, but richly flavoured.

The broken flakes are on the chunkier side, some need a further rubbing. The pouch-note's pretty sweet, but also there's a slightly rustic character: sweet, rustic, and nutty, that'll be the nougat! The smoke I get is one of the finest aromatics I've had, it's absolutely delicious.

I get very little tobacco flavour, there's only a slight Virginia note, the flavour's mostly aromatic. The initial added taste that comes through is the nougat: sweet, a little sticky, and quite nutty. This works perfectly with the vanilla cream that's just behind it. After the burn's established itself, I notice a fondant flavour coming through: this isn't too much, but compliments the profile nicely. To me, the flavour stays quite constant throughout, from reading other reviews I'd expected some more tobacco to enter the smoke at some point but it seems steadfastly aromatic throughout. Despite the fairly sweet topping, it doesn't bite any, and the temperature of the smoke sits in the middle.

The nicotine's a little below medium, and the room-note's absolutely divine.

A very high class aromatic:

Highly recommended.

This blend was a little bitey. It was also cased with a maple/vanilla essence of which I disliked the flavor. The smoke volume was wispy and it burned hot. Not much to like here, but I favor natural tobaccos mostly. I always smell aromatic type blends and hope I might find one that tastes as good as it smells, its a fun game I play with myself and maybe someday I'll win. Grin.

A sweet, less tangy broken flake from McClelland. Easy to pack and light, a perfect all day Va that will never bite. I enjoy it as much in the morning as I do at night. Noticable chocolate cream notes, Burns slow and easy. Perfect aroma to smoke in the car on the morning commute or a road trip.

Update: After smoking almost a pound of this, I have found a new favorite aromatic!! Solid 4 stars!

No. 2000 has a pretty strong Lane 1Q flavor that smells nice enough in the bulk bag but doesn't translate very well to a straight Virginia flake. Without some burley to carry the flavor, it is always going to contribute less than a normal aromatic.

They probably had to sauce it fairly heavily to to get that flavor, which turns this stuff into napalm if you even dream of puffing too fast. Maybe this is why crossover English blends work and crossover pure Virginias don't. It just seems like a bad idea in general.

McClelland does a much better job with normal VA broken flake than with this confused crossover, it is best to stick with those.

MAJOR TIP!!!! Do Not Pack This One Tight!!!,, use loose gravity fill. packing tight will make this one smoke hot and wet!!!!

WOW!! been smoking this for a few months and just ordered a pound of this. I'd give it 5 stars if I could. Aromatic quality is so slight it can be ignored and smoked as a straight VA. Also, it's a crowd pleaser,, even non-smokers smile at this one 🙂

The name says it all, and a classic VA done just the way I like it. Somehow the folks at McClelland must have a palate very similar to mine because I like virtually every blend of theirs I try to varying degrees.

This VA has all the class of their Christmas Cheer series of which I am a huge fan. If you like CC, you'll like this. I can detect a very slight aromatic quality to this blend. It smokes most like a classic VA flake to me. I like aromatics as well, and have smoked many of them for years.

For my palate the aromatic topping here is very faint, but pleasant and I also detect the VA depth and creaminess with the classic VA light citrus tang. No bite. If you make this one bite, you've really accomplished something.

Compared side by side to McC 2010 VA, this blend gets 4 stars. I will buy a pound in the near future, plus, it's a cheaper and more readily available alternative to Christmas Cheer. Worth a serious look to all you VA lovers.

Also, I have found myself mixing this blend into some of my aromatics to give them a bit of VA tang and kick. It has worked well so far and it's fun to experiment. Part of the joy of The Pipe. 🙂