McClelland - Virginia 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 42 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
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.
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Kapnismologist	06/06/2009	Mild	None detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Moist broken flakes which are predominantly bleached brown in color streaked with chestnut, chocolate, and light grey to nearly cream-colored veins along with a light dusting of sugar crystals. The visual effect is that of a dull late-winter landscape, something accentuated by the overall grayness of the sugar bloom and the jagged brokenness of the flakes themselves: a tired, abandoned field at the edge of a ratty forest on an overcast, snowless February afternoon. It is presumed that the grayish-white streaks are the Drama. The tin nose is sharp, with a predominant note of fresh cut grapefruit and just a touch of musty earth. The expected acetic acid aroma is entirely absent, perhaps obscured by the heady citrus smell. Thick and moist, the broken flakes of cut cake rub out with considerable ease as well as having enough pliability to accommodate various fold-and-stuff methods, depending on individual circumstance or preference. Like all such preparations, lighting and maintaining a proper ember requires patience and attention. Topping the bowl with a pinch of finely rubbed crumbs is recommended. On the thin side of medium bodied, this oriental-seasoned matured Virginia flake is sweet and piquant with notes of citrus, new wood, and light roast coffee. Marked by a peculiar, occasionally smoky spice which can tend towards sourness, it has a refreshing finish which is short and crisp. The grapefruit aroma present in the tin carries forth in the bowl, adding a brightness which is accentuated by the signature natural zest of the McClelland aged Virginias. While this reviewer found bite to be rarely, if ever, an issue, No. 24 can become a bit taxing on the tongue if puffed too aggressively. As a Virginia-Oriental blend, it components are clearly distinct yet sometimes a bit off balance. The example under review here, coming in the ever fetching McClelland 100g. tumbler, was tinned in 2000 and opened in 2009. An intriguing blend, Matured Virginia No. 24 bears many of the hallmark characteristics of McClelland's unique aged Virginia cut cakes. Among them, however, this particular offering seems the least zesty and rich, although like its brethren there is little reason to believe that it will not fare well with extended cellaring.
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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.
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william trexler	03/27/2009	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable
I love the the smell needs to be ground up in a leaf grinder to pack properly.Takes a while to light drying out first helps.Pack loose in a large bowel for best results.the taste is very smooth and sweet halfway down to end.can't pinpoint a flavor.just a mild sweetness.Not bad,but I'm still a Mccranies ribb,flake fan.
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Hermit 78	09/17/2008	Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
The virginias in this blend are typical McClelland fare: sweet, grassy, with a ketchupy aroma that fades in a week or so. The drama imparts a subtle oriental flavour with floral and citrous notes, as well as a weird sweet taste that strengthens with age. Give this some time--it tastes like hot air until it gets at least a year on it.
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al1	08/20/2008	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is one weird va blend. It has this nutty almost musty woodsy smell and taste to it to me. Kind of interesting tin aroma. Not offensive but not the typical mclelland aroma for va's. Just Interesting. Will keep you wondering what it smells like for a long time. I find this blend is one of the few that tastes close to the way it smells. As far as taste this is not your ordinary va. I find it good to mix things up but not a daily smoke. Smooth and nutty. Not bitey at all. Not that flavorful either but a good solid smoke. I find the tin aroma and taste nothing like #27 as others mentioned. Much more mellow and unpronounced in both smell and taste. Good, interesting and worth the money. Will smoke it once and a while. Just not as much as the others I smoke everyday in this series. I like the 27 and 22 the most. update: I am finding myself coming back to this blend more and more often. It is very good and smooth. A little hard to get lit but worth the effort. Fast becoming a regular for me.
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Johnny River	09/30/2007	Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant
I recently purchased a 100 gram can of McClelland's Virginia #24 from jrcigars.com along with several other tobaccos. This has a similar aroma to McClelland's Virginia #27 when you open the can (a wonderful tobacco that has a hint of an All Spice like smell). The flake breaks up nicely and the tobacco burns smooth. This stuff has a beautiful color (reddish-brown with a bit of white). I guess if I knew more about tobacco I could identify the white - I guess that's the Drama? I like this stuff but I must say that even though I Highly Recommend it, I like the #27 a bit more. This seems to have a drier taste in the mouth. I will continue to sample this an update my review as the tobacco "breaths".
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Tobacco Saves Lives	09/28/2007	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
McClelland takes their art seriously. You can pick any tin and you will be satisfied. So many to try! This is another fine blend, I can only say, grab any tin and then refine the blends to better suit your individual taste.
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NapaWineLover	05/12/2007	Medium	None detected	Medium	Very Pleasant
This is a most remarkable blend. Other reviewers have noted the initial qualities most adequately. While I have smoked this in various degrees of maturity, the tin I am smoking for this review has 7 years age. Some sugar crystals are noticeable on the flakes, yet they are still slightly pliable. I was most surprised that this particular tin has smoked delightfully without any drying whatsoever. Not my usual experience. I'm smoking it in a Savinelli - Bing's Favorite - which is long stemmed, long shanked - slight bent billiard with a medium bowl. The pipe has been dedicated to this blend. My personal observation; one must dedicate a pipe to this blend or similar blends to really enjoy it. To the best of my senses, there is no topping at all. This particular smoke is very nuanced and I reserve the time to sit and enjoy it without distraction. The subtle amount of Drama in the blend provides an occasional incense-like waft every so often through this very nutty-woodsy smoke. This is a very satisfying tobacco with a nice nicotine level. Unlike so many other VAs, this never gets hum-drum. It always leaves me wanting more when I am finished with a bowl. There is no signal in flavor to detect the bottom of the bowl - it smokes wonderfully from char light to final ash. This is a smoke of choice before a meal - since it leaves the taste buds stimulated. It is NOT my choice just after a meal, for I feel it requires a fresh palate to enjoy the complexities of this fine blend, My pipe-packing method of choice is to lightly rub and then gently screw the wad into the pipe. My tastes run the spectrum of unflavored blends including many VA/Oriental, Latakia-heavy Oriental blends and very lightly cased Cavendish cut VA blends. However this unflavored VA flake is in a class by itself and is a regular treat and deserves it's own pipe. Cheers, VC
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Buster Bluth	04/14/2007	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This McClelland blend typifies what I love about this hobby. By 'hobby', I mean that us pipe smokers are on the quest for that magic experience that takes us to the next level. Cigarette and Cigar smokers aren't after that grail, IMHO. The 'high' or the 'status' dominate. As an ex' cigarette smoker, I smoked to cope. Cigar guys say..."This is a good smoke at $17 a stick". Well, pipes aren't about need or price, its about the personal experience that matters. So where does #24 take you? To an ethereal place if you can do the pre-flight chscklist. First off, way too wet outta the can. I let a pinch of flakes dry on a paper plate 48hrs before light-up. Currently, I'm popping cans 2 and 4 yrs old. A previous reviewer mentioned a size 4 pipe. This is the best size for this weed. Smoke this stuff fast and you lose and get burnt!!! Do a subtle breath smoke, and you'll be rewarded. The flavor will awe you, and the nicotene will floor you. Don't rush this tobacco. Waste your matches, it's a small price to pay. Unlike Mc's Dark Star, this stuff is worth the time.
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Pipestud	12/24/2006	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Oh yes, another fine Virginia tobacco blend from McClellands! More forgiving than Dark Star and even #27, this tobacco surely will win over even the most "dainty tongued" pipesters who shy away from Virginia blends due to the heat. It is also (nicotine wise) a headier brew than #27, and I do appreciate that drug. McClelland's #24 is, simply stated, regal in flavor and behavior. It rubs out and stays lit easily. Puff slowly in order to savor the varying waves of Virginia flavor. Hey McClelland's, you done good with this one!
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 42 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >