McClelland - Matured Virginias: No.24 pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 49 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
Wawalsh	09/10/2011	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant
My first two attempts to smoke this tobacco ended up in me dumping the bowl before it was fully smoked. I decided to try it a third time and filled my Dunhill Tan Shell estate pipe and lit her up. It started out bland as I remembered it and then...... 1/4 of the way down the bowl the tobacco came alive. Very complex with a sweet earthiness. Just a little spice in the background to enliven my taste buds. Once lit, I did not have to relite and she smoked all the way to the bottom. It left me wanting more. I am a fan of the McClelland line but I would like this tobacco no matter who made it. Highly recommended.
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Davie Jones	08/19/2011	Mild	None detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable
Despite the obvious quality of the product it did not agree with me. The addition of some OR leaf made things interesting so I was looking forward to try No 24. Unfortunately, the taste was too bland for me and it quickly bite my tongue. It would probably do weel in a blending of some sort with some LA.
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Tom Servo	03/29/2011	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Tin aroma reminds me of playing in the hay loft of the old barn on a humid, rainy Autumn day. Beautifully matured Virginia. Just a whiff of the sweetish-tangy, sea air saltiness and fresh citrus nature of the Drama. Sweet and sour - curing hay and grain - fermenting grain, heady and earthy and intoxicating. Lighter notes of malt syrup, molasses, cocoa, sun-dried tomatoes, pepper, white wine (riesing). Light it up, and dive into the deep, sweet ripe Virginia. Warm cookie dough, rum cake with raisins, hay, coffee, black pepper. The Drama Orientals add a fresh, spicy, salty, citrus tang that blends nicely into the delicious Virginia background. Delicious, light Virginia flake. Magnificent flavor, but has a tendency to bite. Even with careful puffing, in five different pipes. The fact is sometimes Virginias bite, there no getting around it. A great blend, the only minus is having to be so diligent with your puffing to keep your tongue safe. Not on my favorites list, but very, very good. I’ll try this one again, but as long as McClelland still makes Blackwoods Flake, I’ll probably grab that first. Although I do like the Drama - Virginia combination. Gonna give it 3 ½ Stars.
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rintrah	03/24/2011	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant
Excellent leaf. Highly recommend it.
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chaplikc	02/26/2011	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
As of late this has been one of my go to blends. I absolutely love this blend. I am a big fan of Virginia blends with orientals in them and this one does not disappoint. The virginia's in this blend are of the darker and red variety and it contains a little bit of drama leaf. The combination in this blend produces a wonderful subtle yet complex smoking experience. The blend starts of sweet and then for me the oriental starts to show more pronounced about a third into the bowl. The sweetness wears off a little bit and then you get a nice interplay between darker virginia flavors and the drama leaf. The drama leaf is a nice addition to this blend and has a unique flavor that is slightly pungent and a little bit assertive. If you love virgina / oriental blends this is a must try. If you can cellar this up as it ages very well. I have been smoking tins of this from 2007 and am going to continue to stock and cellar this. Very, Very good and highly recommended!
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John Offerdahl	01/08/2011	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable
McClelland's Virginia #24 is my first experience with the tobacco Drama, which is a strong Macedonian condimental tobacco. The blend comes as a small flake, cut fairly thick but easily rubbed out; it is fairly consistently medium brown in color and has a pleasant pouch aroma. The charring light strikes me as basically Virginia. Once lit the Virginia is still the primary flavor, coming through as sweet and slightly fruity, but there is an interesting undertone which reminded me somewhat of the taste of Orientals, but which certainly is not a typical Oriental flavor. The early part of the bowl needs to be smoked quite carefully. This blend could potentially burn the smoker's tongue more than most blends I can think of. Deeper into the bowl the flavor remains sweet and creamy, while the bite-inducing nature dissipates, making the mid-bowl extremely pleasant. The undertone previously noted has picked up a bit at this point, but the Virginia sweetness is really enjoyable. The somewhat spicy underflavor of the Drama is quite pleasant now. If the entire smoke was what it is at mid-bowl, I'd run out and buy a couple of pounds of the blend. The end of the smoke, unfortunately, lets off on flavor. To me, the taste of the Drama adds a somewhat metallic flavor along with the musty spiciness. With each bowl I smoked, the last quarter or so was quite a letdown after the exciting, almost brilliant mid-bowl pleasure. It could be that Drama is a tobacco I simply need to get used to in order to enjoy. However, the blend is sold as a Virginia, and so my expectations in smoking it are naturally going to be based on what I know of this type of tobacco. As Virginias go there are many better. Coming from McClelland, I was disappointed with #24.
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Papercutpostman	12/15/2010	Mild	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable
Today, I officially moved away from aromatics and thanks to 'tobaccoreviews' had decided to give VA 24. a shot! Upon opening the tin, I was greeted visually with rectangular flakes that were dark, lined with a few bright leaves. They looked like small pieces of chocolate lined with thin slivers of almonds. The aroma was a little sour. Now that I think of it, when I opened the tin it did smell like ketchup. So, as some reviewers suggested, I rubbed out the flakes and left them on my table for a good 10-15 minutes to let them breathe. After the sitting time, I came back to what smelled like rich, leathery tobacco leaves. Being an aromatics smoker, I didn't expect much in terms of taste because I was accustomed to just getting a whiff of the aromas while I puffed (yeah...'smoker's pride, captain black, macbarens, etc.) I lightly packed my Stanwell colonial pipe 3/4 not knowing what to expect. After lighting the baccy and 'gently' tamping the charred flakes, I didn't get much with my first few puffs. However, after the leaves smoked themselves a bit, I started to notice sweetness at the tip of my tongue. Then, the flavors started to orchestrate themselves and I was pleasantly surprised by the sweet, nutty, and spicy notes. I'm a 'sipper' of tobacco so naturally, I experienced no bite. Being that this is my first with VAs, I decided to really draw some smoke. NO BITE! Wow... I vow never to touch aromatics again! My next level will be Dunhill EMP and 965. I'm nervous as heck but soon...
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apipeareyouserious?	10/22/2010	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
My first, and still my favorite Virginia. Very flavorful, not at all subtle, and incredibly good. Sweet, smoky, absolutely unlike anything else I've smoked and I love it. Tin note? Who cares? Nothing tastes like it smells in the tin anyway. I've always had aged tins of this, by the way, which I understand has a great impact on my perception of the tobacco.
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Unsal	10/11/2010	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Nice tobacco. Recommended.
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Fly ticky	02/13/2010	Strong	Very Strong	Medium	Very Strong
As you may see I am not thrilled with this tobacco.Will update and change my call if things change.
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bernie c	02/08/2010	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
1999 tin, decanted into a glass jar perhaps 2 months ago. Radice medium sized straight pipe. Flakes are dark and richly coloured with a variety of different hues. On closer inspection I notice what appears to be bloom on the flakes. I certainly hope it isnt mold!! I`ve seen this before, particularly on some of G&H and SG`s offerings. There are also a multitude of sparkling sparkly bits. Glistening in the light as I turn the flake one way and another...they twinkle like stars. Dried out just this side of crispy, I loaded the flakes in a broken almost cube cut into the bowl. Upon lighting I notice sweetness with a slight spicyness in the background. It is similar to a VA with a small dose of perique, but slightly different. Unique. I notice a pronounced creaminess too. Taking a sip on my beer I notice some bite across the tongue, but nowhere near the agony a typical beer/VA experience usually produces. Putting down the pipe and picking it up again several minutes later, I am pleased to find it smoking gently. Puff, puff....thar she blows. No problems smoking this flake, with a bit of drying its burns superbly. As I make my way down the bowl I taste darkness more. Less sweet VA and a headier, thicker darker noted smoke. Really quite nice. I am surprised how smooth it feels too. As carefully as I smoke, most VA`s far too often give my mouth pain. Not this one, not tonight...not in this pipe. Having a tin/jar of this tobacco which has aged since 1999 is a treat for sure. This is the kind of stuff probably not that great straight from the store. With a bit of aging tho...quite delicious in very subtle and interesting ways. Smoke it slow, sip.... breath-smoke it gently...and it is a rewarding VA flake with a little more depth than a pure virginia. Put some of this away for a decade if you can. Nice.
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MDP	02/08/2010	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Overall impressions: Dark and deeply flavorful Virginia flake made the more complex with a varietal Oriental dappled in the layers. Very cool, slightly sweet and without the sourness associated with some Virginia/Oriental attempts (cf. Embarcadero or even Blended Flake made by McClelland). Perhaps my favorite McClelland Virginia presently, having tried all their brown and reserve tins. I can find no fault.
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mo	01/23/2010	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
I must say, this blend caught me by surprise, a very pleasant one if i may add. I love the cut, the tin aroma, the perfect moisture level from the tin. The taste is deliciously tangy, sweet and natural. It is a great virginia blend that i really enjoy. If you are a lover of virginia blends you cannot go wrong with this one, please bear in mind that it is a bit light on nicotine
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doc'spipe	01/23/2010	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
An ammonia-like smell is what greets you after opening the tin. The only drawback is that it can taint the room note, hence the "pleasant to tolerable" rating. Some have noted the smell of urine while I smoked it (a similar experience with McClelland Navy Cavendish), but don't worry as none of this translates into the smoke. In spite of all this, I enjoyed Virginia No. 24 very much. It was pleasantly sweet, and I am sure some of that extra sweetness was due to the addition of the Drama leaf. There was no bite or moisture while smoking, the end result a clean medium-gray ash. If you favor Virginias, you should try this blend at least once. Not in my regular Virginia line-up, but a nice smoke for when the mood strikes. 3 solid stars.
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seasonalpipesmoker	12/01/2009	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
This can had been cellared by an expert for years before he handed it to me, so your mileage may vary. On opening the can, I didn't get any of the ketchupy aroma that people seem to associate with MacClellan. It was sweet, but not at all tangy or pungent. The cut packs wonderfully, lights easily and stays lit once you get it lit. The aroma is also very nice. It makes me think "pipe tobacco" in a pleasant way (as opposed to an old socks on a campfire way). It will burn hot if you let it get too dry. I find just moist enough to hold together after a pinch is just right. I'll be buying more of this to put in my own cellar for a few years.
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Alguhan	11/28/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This blend offers all the great tastes of a true Virginia smoke. If you puff it slowly you'll have a great pleasure with some real and sweet tobacco taste and a nice nicotine dose. It is rubbed easily. However I choose to smoke it unrubbed for a slower smoking. The little flakes are hard to keep lit if you don't air them as they have a higher humidity level. Highly recommended for Virginia lovers.
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Requiem	11/07/2009	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
What an excellent tobacco. As tastefull as a Virginia can be, it progresses admirably down the bowl, changing notes and ending perfectly. I can´t really discern the role played by the drama leaf, but this is a winner.
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Kilmarnock Piper	10/04/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Loved it, but I love most McClellands I've tried. This one is especially rich and satisfying. 12-6-11 Aquired a tin from 1993; don't ask how much I paid. Still debating whether to cellar it (i.e. for how long) or smoke it (i.e. sooner rather than later), but when I do smoke it, I will post my thoughts. The review by DK right below mine is tempting me to go for the smoke it sooner option...
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DK	05/22/2009	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
This is by far my favorite of the McClelland brown label virginias, and I think the inclusion of the Drama leaf is the reason. It imparts a beautiful spiciness faintly reminiscent of perique to the blend and elevates this to 4 star status. Not my favorite blend but it will be part of my regular rotation... a regular but occasional smoke. As mentioned, this is wet out of the tin and needs some drying time to perform at its best. I recently smoked a 19 year old tin of this but most of my review is based on a 1 year old tin. With regards to the aged version, it's absolutely wonderful - the best tobacco I have ever smoked. The one year old is also very good but it makes me want to cellar a tin or two for a couple of decades, which I have decided to do. As is, this is still a great smoke.
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frankluke	05/02/2009	Mild	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
this is the best of the brown label series IMO. a little too wet out of the can like most McC stuff i hate to say but that's my only complaint. after a few charring lights your rewarded with a slow burning sweet and sometimes spicy (drama leaf?)smoke.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 49 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >