McClelland - Christmas Cheer 2007 pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 21 through 34 of 34 reviews of this tobacco
Latakia	01/12/2008	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I am usually a fan of latakia in some degree or another. I am also a cigar aficionado and have switched to pipes after a long hiatus...20 years or so...and am now coming back with a vengence and love getting back to briar and the diversity of pipe tobacco. I decided to try McClelland upon a recommendation from my tobacconist and loved the can (that's right, I did judge a book by the cover). It was also two days before Christmas and thought I would try a Christmas Blend for a bit of a change. Upon opening the can, it did smell like ketchup. The first pipe was OK and before I was completed with that first bowel, I was thinking I wasted my time and wanted a taste of latakia. My second bowl a few days later was surprisingly better and after a few more bowls, I was sold that this was a blend I would keep as a regular. I think this will age nicely and will buy a few tins to stash away. Am now going to venture out to Virginans which are not blended with latakia. Any recommendations anyone? The room note is very pleasant and one test that gives any tobacco that I smoke is the comments from my wife. She loved it. I also feel it leaves a nice cake on the bowls. I do not detect any tongue bite. Really a tobacco I can smoke everyday. Addition #1: Smoked this in one of my meerschums and it was truely a treat. Smoked very cool and was a nice mouth wash after a strong Odessey smoke tonight.
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wosbald	01/07/2008	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
With these hard-pressed, medium-cut broken flakes have usual McClelland tang in the tin. The taste is, again, typical for this style of virginia: rich, complex, earthy, nutty, sweet and sour. As with many McC VAs (particularly the Cheer series), second verse same as the first. If you enjoy those, you'll enjoy this. Congratulations to McClelland for continuing to produce this compelling, and labor intensive, style of virginia. Additional aging is highly advised, as is a narrow gauge chamber.
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Eonwe	12/28/2007	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
yes...this tobacco smells like vinegar...and yes..it smells like ketchup...and indeed...it is moist. but, beyond that...I love the 07 offering. It's a smooth, yet rather complex taste of Va's. It rubs out easily. it does need to be dried properly. It burns to the bottom without too much effort. honestly...if you like Virginia blends, then you will love all of McClelland's Christmas Cheer blends. IMO the aroma and taste have no equal. I found the room note to be very pleasing, yet my friends did complain a little. For me, this tobacco is another joy of the Christmas season to look forward too.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
mo	12/27/2007	Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
While I am thiking about ordering a new Virginia, I read the reviews, do some thinking, and ask myself what this new tobacco can bring to my cellar that others before it has not. When I took the plunge, there were no reviews on this one as yet, curiosity got the better of me. I thought to myself that surely, since the other years got such high ratings, this one must be great too, right??? WRONG When I think Virginia tobacco, I think of a 'baked bread' taste, or cookies and milk, I will refer to Rattrays Old Gowrie as the benchmark. Christmas Cheer 2007 is a very bad Virginia, it reeks of cheap aftershave in the tin, as bad as that is, the taste does not entirely go away while smoking, instead along comes the taste of cloves just to ruin your day. Save your money, buy something good. The Rattray trio is a good place to start but there are tens of blends that will delight you and give you your moneys worth. Mo, South Africa
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Tubalcain	12/26/2007	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant
One of the best Christmas Cheers to-date. Have a tin opened and have two more on the way. Like all McClellands, this flake should be left out to dry for a little while. I usually place a two-bowl portion in a dish and let it sit for a couple to several hours. Then I rub it out thoroughly a have a great smoke. I love sticking my nose in the can and smelling that wonderful McClelland aroma!
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Irishlefty	12/26/2007	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Unnoticeable
I hate to stand out and dissent but as a person who really thrives on a number of McClelland blends, I can't say I see much to this one. Forget the smell from the tin - I didn't buy it to sniff. A bit on the moist side, the second and third bowls I tried were improved thanks to some air drying. Overall, Christmas Cheer 2007 has a slightly sweet, pleasant taste. It is a good tobacco, just not one I go 'whoopie' over. I didn't get a bite from it but I also didn't get any strong flavor or nicotine jolt - I really want one or the other or both. The room aroma didn't disturb either humans or cats in my household. I much prefer the McClelland Frog Morton series.
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fourshephards	12/20/2007	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
CC '07 comes in the familiar and welcome red wrapped tin and when opening it, you are greeted by the familiar McClelland ketchup/acid-like aroma (something I have grown to look forward to). Has familiarity bred contempt for this new edition of Christmas Cheer? To make a long story short, no. Absolutely no. CC '07 comes in smallish flakes of medium thickness that are quite dark in color. Immediately upon opening the tin I realized that I would need to dry it out a bit, so I left the tin open for a couple of hours before smoking any. I did my usual fold, twist and stuff and then hit it with flame from my Ohio Blue tip (extra-long kitchen size) and it was "Lucy, I'm Home!" Sweet, musty, pungent and spicy smoke greeted my palate with a sensation that made me ask, is there perique in this? That perique-like sensation lasted throughout the bowl and every bowl since. CC '07 is very good. VERY good. I am glad I bought a few tins, because I look forward to trying this again with some age on it.
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SMOKETSES	11/24/2007	Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant
When you open the box, you do not get impressed by the perfume. Mmm? Ketchup Heinz with more vinegar. It is enough liquid and surely it needs a lot of drying. Fine quality of red Virginia with natural sweetness and without any smells. You need to be careful when you fill in the bowl cause if you push it, it will burn your tongue. It is difficult to smoke it and especially if you smoke it nervously, it will bite your tongue immediately. I cannot compare it with Christmas Cheer of previously years cause I haven?t tried them. I have one more tin which I will keep for next year. First impression: medium to good.
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Slow Triathlete	11/21/2007	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
I must echo what has been written prior. This is a great blend. I quite enjoyed the tin aroma as it had a certain citrus sweet aroma to me. I usually dry this for about 2 hours before smoking it. I also bought two extra tins to cellar.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
smokinj	11/21/2007	Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Save some for next year another great year for mccelland
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TeeBee	11/15/2007	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong
The aroma from the tin is not very nice. The first thing that comes to my mind is HP sauce, in other words vinegar. The content is rather moist, so you have to dry it ut for some time, but you will be well rewarded. A fine VA with nice sweetness. But you can't push it too hard or you get a cruel tongue bite. I will leave my second tin unopened for a couple o years and see what happens. Recommended edit 11/15 I move this up to four stars, because it tastes better and better. I am on my second tin now and I just love this stuff.
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tobaccoman	11/13/2007	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Tin aroma has the signature McClelland whatever you call it plus something more. A first for me in the CC line. To me it smells of Clove or a "holiday" aroma. Quite nice. I dried a bowl overnight. The Broken flake was rubbed out a little more and loaded into a viking bulldog. Burn was fine aroma of cloves still there as well as in the after taste for me. Quite nice. Probally the best so far for the line but i have only tasted vintages from 1998 on up to current.It will bite if pushed but with minimal care it stays nice. I have 2 tins in the celler and may add a few more of this year as it should age nicely. No nicotene Wallops either.
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ferdoe	10/31/2007	Mild	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Nothing bad can be said about any of the Christmas Cheer blends. They have never tinned anything but tobaccos of the highest of quality for this once a year release. The popularity of some years over others thus becomes a question of taste more than quality. This said, to my taste Christmas Cheer 2007 is the best release of the decade- - so far. CC 2007 is a mellower blend than many previous ones, exhibiting a rounded sweetness which balances extraordinarily well against the reediness that many, including me, seek in smoking Virginia tobaccos. The bowl starts round and sweet, does not lose its roundness as it moves to reedy, meanwhile a "non-aromatic", "non-soapy", completely natural floral top note teases the palate. This is a great one.
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WayOutWest	10/27/2007	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I love this blend. Be forewarned as this is my first Tinned and especially non-aromatic tobacco. I love this. Tin aroma is a nice tobacco and fruity smell that entices you from the start. The tobacco is pressed flakes that break easily to be packed. I don't know how or what "rubbing" out is so I just broke apart the flakes and packed it accordingly. It definitely arrives moist, too moist, so I let each bowl full of broken flakes to dry out for 2-4 hours. You need to do this less as the days go by. The flavor is exactly what I want in a pipe tobacco. An honest true all day smoke. The spicy virginias are superb. I really enjoy smoking this and hope to order one more tin before Christmas. sam
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