McClelland - Premium Aromatic: Town Topic pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 21 through 35 of 35 reviews of this tobacco
Capt. Cavendish	12/09/2009	Mild	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
You're in for a treat with this one. Great maple flavor, room note that will gather friends and neighbors. Everybody wins here. The tin claims that it's destined to be the talk of the town--I live in a small town where nobody knows each other anymore and everyone spends too much time at the big box stores, so it's hard to imagine anything being the talk of the town around here, but let's just assume (for argument's sake) that there was a talk of the town--this would most definitely be it (and rightly so). If you like aromatics, you are sure to like this mixture. And if you like maple, you are in for a really special smoke. Upon opening the tin I was greeted with tasty aroma and the tobacco was quite sightly. It looked anxious to get into my pipe. But it's the taste and aroma that keeps me coming back for more, and the smoke dissipates from the room quickly, which is a bonus in my book. Forget the hearty breakfast of pancakes for me; I'll just have a bowlful of Town Topic.
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thedstnguishdgntlmn	12/08/2009	Mild to Medium	Strong	Medium	Very Pleasant
I state with prejudice that I love MAPLE anything! With that being said, I 'll try not to be too subjective :) ! I cannot understand how McClelland can produce such a lousy maple mixture like Townsman Cavendish Blue and then simultaneously create this masterpiece called Town Topic. ???? This actually, in my opinion, surpasses P&W's Vermont Maple Cavendish. It is undeniably, unmistakably maple in the tin aroma. At First light I tasted a wonderful sweet and creamy maple flavor. This remained throughout the entire smoke. No goop or wetness in this mix at all. VERY NATURAL maple flavor. In truth it rivals at the least and surpasses at best PIPEWORKS Maple. I have to keep reiterating that point ,as I consider that blend to be the finest of this flavor palate on the market. The cut is like Best of Show, Taste Master, and Easy Street.It is Chunky and predominantly black cavendish. Very easy to keep lit and very sweet and delicious. A solid 4 stars for maple fans and 3 stars for all Aromatic fans! Try this if the opportunity presents itself.
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221B	10/28/2009	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
I like this mixture. I am a big fan of McClelland blends because I have found their name's match the tobacco nicely. This one is no exception. Upon opening the tin, you are greeted with a nice maple style aroma that reminds me of pancakes after a nice morning of duck hunting on the lake. This blend goes well with a coffee in the morning or as an after dinner smoke. My friends constantly comment on the very pleasing aroma this one gives off as it burns. The mixture is a bit moist due to the flavoring process and I have found it helps to dry it out a bit after packing the pipe. The clean up after is not so bad and it leaves a nice layer behind in the pipe. Smoke this one slowly to enjoy the flavors and to keep the taste nice.....smoke it too hot and it tastes a bit wrong. This is my camp blend. I take this to the lake with me during hunting season because of the consistency of good smoke and the fine aroma. Happy lighting!
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erickghint	09/23/2009	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
This blend I found not to be overbearingly sweet. Just enough to give a little hint sweetness and not taste of pure sugar. The room note is nice, and has a pleasant hint of maple. No bite what so ever in the several bowls that I've had. No glob of wet mess in the bottom of the bowl, either. If you're looking for an aromatic that's not just candied tobacco, this one is worth trying.
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Big Nick	07/08/2009	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
Smooth, mild and softly sweet. Not a bite in the bowl. Unmistakable Maple aroma. Smoked clean and dry to the bottom of the bowl. In my mind, a true benchmark for mild aromatics. Are we sure that Carol at P&W did'nt create this ? This blend delivers what the tin claims. It always shocks me when I read a review that is critical of a blend for delivering what the tin note says it will deliver. To me, if a blend delivers what the tin says, well hell, thats 4 stars! Nuff said.
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doc'spipe	01/24/2009	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant
In my opinion, compared to McClelland's Tastemaster, Town Topic is an improvement. Didn't have any problem with moisture or packing. Much easier to keep lit than Tastemaster. No chemical taste to speak of. Not quite as sickeningly sweet, either. Room note is commented on favorably - my son walked in and said, "It smells like pancakes." However, I can not smell nor taste the maple flavoring. It was very evident upon opening the tin, along with a beautiful appearance, but there it stops. As with Tastemaster, if it wasn't written in the description, I wouldn't have guessed it was Maple. Although there was ample sweetness present (sugary and not maple), there was also a slight bitterness that presented itself at mid bowl and remained throughout (granted that it was smoked fresh from the tin) and left me with mild agita, but never any moisture in the bowl. I smoked it in a medium-sized billiard Meer. No tongue bite, but for me, not much in the way of real tobacco flavor. If you want tobacco flavor as well as the taste of the aromatic casing, try Mac Baren's Vanilla Cream Loose Cut (see my review for it on this site). All in all a somewhat pleasurable diversion from headier blends, but not a daily one for my tastes. It's too much like the typical aromatic. I'd rather have smoked the high class tobacco McClelland claims to have used for this one without the casing - I'm sure it would have been better. A notch above Tastemaster so I'll rate it 2.5 stars out of 3. ADDENDUM to my original review on 1-23-09: I left the tin opened overnight. I smoked it today in another Meer, and also in a Ropp Cherrywood pipe. No bitterness but the agita was there again. Still not much in the way of tobacco taste, but I actually tasted the Maple which was quite pleasant and still didn't become sickeningly sweet. Although I still prefer Mac Baren's Vanilla Cream Loose Cut over this one because I can still taste the fine tobacco along with the vanilla, I'm changing my rating to "recommended" and giving it 3 out of 4 stars. Won't become an every day smoke for me, however.
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Gordy	11/23/2008	Mild	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
I'm not real crazy about aromatics. Especially sweet syrupy ones. But for some reason I sometimes crave the Maple! When I do Town Topic cures my craving. Its a well burning cool sweet Maple aromatic, what you would expect from McClelland. Non smokers love it too! However; if you smoke a bowl in the evening, come morning you will be craving pancakes and maple syrup. And your room will smell of the maple. In a nice way.
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SMOKETSES	12/19/2007	Mild	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant
Amazing smell in the room, soft in the palate. Very liquid when you open it. It needs a procedure of drying, for a few hours. Very pleasant, it has the flavor of tobacco without being covered from maple. Maple that perfumes it, is very discreet. Cavendish, Black Cavendish, Virginia, all of them very nicely smashed in heavy snowflakes. Although I filled in the first bowl ? so, liquid enough, it didn?t warm up the bowl. I don?t know whether it would make me sick, smoking it continuously, like a baklava full of syrup. It will get his place of my all day tobacco. Perfect combination with Sir Walter Raleigh or Carter Hall
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LondoMollari	03/04/2007	Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild	Pleasant
Much better than the two stars I have handed out, so it earns a three. The tin aroma defiantly says maple to me, just like the label mentions. When smoking it, however, the maple isn't so pronounced as you would expect. Without being an expert at describing the flavor in depth, I would say it was ok but lacked pizzazz.
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Howlin' Wolf	09/02/2006	Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
I'm not a big fan of aromatics, but I like Town Topic. Some aromatics are very very sweet and sugary. Town Topic is not sticky or cloying at all. The flavor is tobacco that tastes like maple, rather than maple syrup that happens to be smokeable. I give it three stars because it strikes a nice balance between tobacco and flavoring. I don't give it four because I'm just not an aromatic fan, not because it's inherently flawed or incomplete.
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tobaccoman	10/16/2005	Mild	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant
This is a very mild basic aromatic tobacco. upon popping the top you will be greeted with a maple/pancake aroma and a moist tobacco. My tobacco was tinned in August 05 and I had some trouble getting/keeping it going. Considering the moisture level of the product going into the pipe the results were fairly dry with no real nasty cleaners resulting from smoking. The taste of the tobacco was flat at best with a much more pronouced aroma than taste. Typical aromatic I guess. Considering the townsman line at 16.00 for 8 oz this tinned version is overpriced. I paid 10.00 for a 50 gram tin at the local B&M
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Diogenes	04/12/2005	Mild	Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant
As with Tastemaster, this another one of my favorite aromatics... and for the same basic reasons. However instead of chocolate/honey you get a hint of maple. As I noted with Tastemaster, there is nothing earthshattering about this blend however it's room note is sure to please and make you the town topic.
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Darth 69	01/06/2005	Mild to Medium	Strong	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
What do they think they are doing? This is simply a one notch upscale in generic cavendish with a premium price attached. I expect a lot more from these people in the realm of aromatics than "Captain Black-like products." They are rooted in the taditions of English and Scottish tobacco houses, they should be developing aromatic products along the lines of the ones from the Gawith firms and the like when marketing and charging a premium price. For me on most occasions it is not about the price. A base of that awful green river black cavendish, which tastes like a sweet, burnt marshmellow in base flavor, with a much lesser amount of sweetend viginias that seem to be rough-cut. On top of that the added sweet flavoring that is barely detectable as maple. What can I say but...Blahhhh! - Not recommended
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RCUSElder	10/22/2004	Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
10-22-2004 The quest continues! Appearance and Tin Aroma: Typical dark to light brown cavendish in a medium ribbon cut. Smells wonderful, pancakes anyone? Packing and Lighting: Despite the casing, packed and lit well, just a couple of relights and then burned to the bottom with no fuss. Initial Flavor: Well, this is where it lost me. The cavendish in this blend tasted green to me, could not shake it! The maple cannot be tasted too well, but it sure could be smelled by those around you. Midbowl: Same, the cavendish still tasted green. Bottom of bowl: Some improvement in the taste of the cavendish, the bottom of the bowl was cosiderably dry for an aromatic. Overall: When I look for an aromatic, I prefer one that is sweet (like P&S Premium or Peterson's Luxury). This one was not sweet in spite of the maple casing. The cavendish in this blend did not go well with my tastebuds. Also, this blend was a little hot on the tongue. Pros: the room note was wonderful and the odor on your person and clothes after smoking was pleasing, even to my family. Rating: 2 out of 5 points
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MozzMann	09/30/2004	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Town Topic will be the the talk of the town! I just tried my sample of this Monday nite, and It was a very nice smoke. Its mild and burns cool and smooth. Has a nice roomnote and has a nice maple aroma. Town Topic will be a staple in my stock. Peace! M.O.Z.Z.M.A.N.N
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