McClelland - Collector Series: PCCA Aurora pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 21 through 28 of 28 reviews of this tobacco
SirLoirn	09/02/2009	Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
Tin: Familiar, sweet, rich McClelland VA scent. Overall chestnut hue having a small amount of light tan and brown-black. Standard medium ribbon cut. Tin date on bottom: 2009. At just the right moisture level, supple to dry, leaving no residue on the fingers. Left out to dry for 2 hours, it is not completely dry. Taste & Aroma: Full, rich, deep or dark, red VA. Soft and mellow. The smoke coming out of the bowl is likewise nice, soft and rich. There is a mild salsa effect on the tongue. I notice a mild, nice sweet tone. A little tangy, red VA, note is interspersed in the smoke, from time to time. Nicotine: Mild to medium, closer to mild Room Note: Pleasant sweet scent Overall: Aurora is part of the 6-member Collector Blends produced by, and labeled as, McClelland. McClelland originally made it available for the Pipe Collector's but McClelland no longer puts PCCA on the label. Another good variant of McCranie's Red Ribbon. An all-day, indoor smoke. 3.8 stars. There is also an uncanny resemblance between Aurora and McCranie's My Reserve. McClelland produces blends for McCranie's under their guidance. A reviewer mentioned that MR is 5100 with the addition of stoved VA's; a similarity between First Light and 5100 has also been mentioned. Many have likewise noted the confirmation between RR and 5100. I use the bulk MR for a quick smoke and age the tinned Aurora.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
vaperfavour	08/21/2009	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable
This is good stuff! I have tins ranging in age from new to 9 years old. i always seem to taste orange and baked bread. I love this in tall bowls in the morning. When this tobacco gets some age on it the taste really blossoms. New tins can lead you to puff too hard looking for flavor, but no worries give it a year and the tobacco "comes to life".Stock up!
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
krumpelman	07/01/2009	Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
This blend is nothing short of amazing. There have not been many blends that I would say were amazing. This, however is one of them. Easily my "desert island" tobacco. The great sweet taste of virginias with the stoved virginias give this blend great body and flavor. The most pleasurable part for me about this blend is the notes of carmel. Burns well and lights easy with minimal drying. This is a blend I will be buying a few tins of.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
coreyb2003	06/06/2009	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
I am fairly new to pipe smoking first of all. I have been doing it about a year or so. I have dove in whole heartedly and tried many different virginia tobaccos. I am very fond of the grand oriental series from mcclelland. But this new blend has so much going on I believe it is one of the sweetest mild virginia blends I have ever tasted. Very little tongue bite and the lemon virginia can really be tasted well on the finish. If you are a virginia smoker this would be a must add to your rotation of tobaccos.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
pipewhisperer	05/09/2009	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I smoked a sample bowl of Aurora at Chicago and was very impressed with its smoothness, even while suffering from chalk tongue. After I returned home, I tried another bowlful in an unsmoked vintage Mastercraft Algerian briar. I cannot recall ever smoking a smoother, more flavorful "first bowl" in any pipe I've owned. Subsequent bowls were just as pleasant. The taste was very similar to McCranies Red Ribbon, but with a bit wider range of "high notes". Absolutely no bite and smooth as silk. The room note was more subdued than the typical gamut of Virginias I usually smoke. This tobacco is definitely a long term cellar candidate! I'll have to order ten more tins to feel secure in coming days.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
oldsouth	04/20/2009	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant
What a treat! This tobacco delivers in depth, and natural sweetness. I just finished it for my after dinner smoke. McClelland tobacco once again delivers! Where has this blend been all my life? Try this blend, that apparently most folks don't know about.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Stan	02/15/2009	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
A ribbon mix of dark stoved and red virginias. Well balanced so neither completely dominates. P&T reports it is the best Virginia blend out there. I do not concur, but it is certainly not bad in any way. The two strong virginas produce plenty of flavor fullness. Maybe too much for some. Burns easy. The balance is good but a drawback if you love red virginias only (bulk "red cake") or just adore dark stoved blends (Butera "dark stoved"). That is, the scent and sweetness of the reds are there but restrained by the darker virginias which are constantly sneaking through. Yet the darker taste does not completely dominate. Nevertheless, an interesting combo. Due to the body of the tobaccos, this is not a mild blend for beginners I feel. Still smoother burning that a shag cut mixture of the reds and stoves (another one of McClelland's numbered virginia tinned blends). A quality blend, but it simply did not have enough "red" in it to satisfy me on the first tin go 'round.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
BigMonsterTruck	01/13/2008	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
If you can get ahold of the original tinning, you are in for a real treat. This blend has been redone at least twice with a similar flavor profile. However, I recall the first time I lit up with the original, it was nothing short of wonderful. That tin disappeared in about a week, which is very fast for this reviewer who usually smokes less than an ounce per week. It may have been the memory of the moment, but I am not sure if the new tinnings are as good. That will not keep me from buying the new batch as soon as it is available.
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