BTW, I had never understood what people meant by the "Ketchup" smell of McClelland blends. With this one it suddenly hit me -- now I can't stop smelling ketchup! But as one reviewer said, who cares how it smells in the tin it if smokes well. OTOH, I believe odor in the jar is important when judging bulk tobaccos in person. It may not tell you everything about how a blend will smoke, but it's good for a first guess.

I will be stocking up on this for aging

On another note, my wife, who really isn't a fan of my pipe hobby, likes the smell and taste of this tobacco (unlike most smokes, she will kiss me after I've been smoking this blend). I've tried similarly constituted blends anonymously to see if I can fool her and I can not. She complains about every other smoke except this one. For peace at home after a smoke, this is my favorite (which is good because I like it just the same).

This blend's true pleasures are revealed in the last 1/3 of the bowl after the hotter and sweeter Virginias are all but burned out and the Lataka and Perique are left. The dark complexity and flavor, with the lingering sweetness of the Virginias, are one of the purest forms of relaxation that can be had smoking a pipe. A trule special experience.

I simply cannot explain characterizations of BE as "mild" or that it burns poorly. Like most McClelland blends, it needs moisture reduction and time to breathe after the tin is unsealed. As OSR said, it is for sipping. Chuggers need not apply at the English blends department.

As for tin aroma, it smells like all good English blends smell: bloody awful. I don't understand why anybody cares about tin aroma. In my experience, generally the worse a blend smells, the better it tastes, and vice versa. If I want tobacco that smells good, I'll buy an aromatic and use it as potpourri in my smoking room, while I smoke real tobacco. (I actually did that once. It was enjoyable, but expensive.)

I usually drink tea, but sometimes I'm in the mood for a double espresso. Likewise, I usually smoke medium English blends, but when I want a serious Latakia hit, I reach for Bombay Extra.

As I began to smoke Bombay Extra I detected all the noticeable McClelland qualities and almost concluded that there is nothing too special to note here...just an all round good smoke until I realized how all the leafs marry perfectly together and each can be detected and yet not one ever comes to the front to dominate...a perfect symphony. This symphony can be perceived as boring or bland but I think in reality it is a master blend. It just an all round decent smoke.

Bombay Extra should be sipped if you desire to maintain the balance...then she is perfect. Enjoy.

The smoke is cool. It is biteless. There is a perique peppery tingle, but it is not bite or burn.

I noticed that famous McClelland sweetness. It was hard to miss the sweet matured virginia. The room aroma is pungent. I was asked by the moaning of the kids, the whining of the dogs, and rhetoric of the wife to step outside.

This a worthy blend in the latakia-perique genre. I will seek out other blends in the gnere, but I will stock up on Bombay Extra.

I think it is fairly pipe picky. So far a deep 7/8ths dia. Karl Erik is working good for me. I also like it in my Pipa Croci, and Ardor fantasy volcano. Definitley better in mid size to larger, deeper bowls.

A bit of drying helps out a lot. About an hour on top of the tin is enough to dry out a bowlfull. I would not ever try to smoke this when the air was moist with humidity, it really does not seem like that more than other blends.

Stays rich and mellow as long as you pull slow. It will sweat a lot if you puff hard. I am finding a normal to slightly looser pack works well, be careful not to get it too tight. Can sometimes require a lot of relights, might just be the pipe though and the fact it is a sipper.

Good after a meal or especially late at night. Highly reccomended. I am going to switch from 5110 to tins of this simply because it is more refined and complex and also less candy like.

update: This is not bad but it is not doing much for me anymore- just too much trouble to get a good dry smoke.