McClelland - 221b Series: Arcadia pipe tobacco reviews

Review

Please log in to add or edit a review. If you do not have an account yet, you can sign up for one here.

Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 61 through 80 of 93 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
smokey	02/18/2005	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
arcadia is a bit different from the other mcclelland blends i have smoked in that it is a bit drier in the tin than something like frog morton. it also doesn't seem to have the famous (infamous?) ketchup odor, it's actually more of a vinegarish sour aroma. the coloring is black and dark brown flakes with a fine ribbon cut. it loads easily and fires right up at the touch of a match. the first thing noticed is the wonderfully mellow taste of the oriental tobaccos. some blends take a while to make an impression, arcadia grabs you right from the first puff. after a few more draws, the virginas start wafting their way into the mix, adding a wonderful subtle sweetness. their influence intensifies a bit as the bowl burns down, but never shows a hint of bite. this is one tobacco that seems to perform well in any pipe. it smokes well in everything from my stanwell and petersons to the cob i'm puffing on right now. it burns down to a fine gray ash with a minimum of relights. this is not just an all day smoke, but one you would be happy with for days on end. smart guy, that dr. watson! four BIG stars for arcadia!
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Thatcher	01/19/2005	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I was quite disappointed with this one, hoping for it to live up to the hype carried by the name ?Arcadia.? The biggest let-down was the paucity of latakia in the blend. Overall, not a very pleasing or memorable smoke.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Ralph	11/15/2004	Medium	None detected	Full	Pleasant

Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Tiger	11/07/2004	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant
221b Arcadia is outstanding. Four large, solid stars. Tiger
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
thedigger	09/11/2004	Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Strong
Every bowl I packed of this, the first few puffs had a very strange, slightly sour taste. As the bowls burned, the strange taste disappeared and they turned out to be decent smokes. It does taste like clean, quality leaf once it has burned down. It burns well and eventually produces a flavorful, rich, thick smoke. I just can't forget that initial taste and it often prevents me from grabbing the tin. If you don't mind that initial "unique" flavor, this might be a good choice for you. I'll finish the other half of this 11 dollar tin eventually but don't expect I'll return to this one.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Elric	08/20/2004	Mild	None detected	Mild	Pleasant
When I recently picked up pipe smoking again, I desired to find a mild English-style tobacco as a counterpoint to my usual aromatics. I picked up a can of Arcadia and was extremely pleased, for a while. Arcadia is pleasantly moist and packs easily. Once through the charring light, it stays lit very well and smokes cleanly. Tongue bite isn't really a risk unless you are seriously overdrawing on your pipe. The room note is mild, if unremarkable. It certainly won't offend anyone not already offended by tobacco smoke in general. All in all, a pleasant bowl to meditate over. I resolved that Arcadia would be a regular part of my tobacco rotation; a resolution I kept for a couple of tins. Unfortunately, as I sampled more and more tobaccos, I found that Arcadia really doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Another reviewer used the term, 'single dimensional', and that describes it pretty accurately. If you are a new pipe smoker or an aromatic one wishing to branch out a bit, this may well be a non-traumatic introduction to this style. If offered a bowl in the future, I would not turn it down. But, given the variety of better tobaccos in the pipescape, I doubt I would be sufficiently motivated to purchase another tin.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Master Merlin	07/22/2004	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
Arcadia...What can I say. Although not a sherlockian, I can well understand how the room note was said to "Stop all Conversation." Even my Wife, who claims that all my english blends smell like "Burning Beef Jerky", Likes it!! However, As expected, itdoes come with the McClelland Katsup Top Dressing. I wonder if they clean their blending vats with vinnigar? I find this packs and smokes best in a small to medium sized bowl, and if smoked with great care, can be quite wonderful. But of course, as with all other McC blends, will boil the tast buds right off your tounge, if puffed carelessly. I also find the aftertaste to be quite pleasant. Try it with a cup of Good Hazlenut Coffee. All in all, Recomended!
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Eulenburg	06/05/2004	Mild	None detected	Mild	Tolerable
Arcadia was the name of the fictional mixture in Sir James Matthew Barrie's minor masterpiece of irony, My Lady Nicotine. This was, supposedly, the real-life Craven mixture, which Barrie actually smoked himself. If this is a reproduction of a real-life mixture, how could it possibly have anything to do with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional stories of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson? The entire tin legend for this tobacco is arrant nonsense, and an egregious example of the lengths to which blenders will go, to say nothing of any value on their labels. Either that, or they have a very wise confidence in many of their customers' inability to tell fact (Craven's) from fiction (Sherlock Holmes.) Be that as it may, this is a good blend. The bouquet of the almost shag-cut tobacco, unlit, is yeasty in the way of latakia, but I do not taste latakia when I smoke it. The chief flavour is the savoury sweetness of lightly-stoved virginia, but some other leaf?not Turkish, I woundn't think?keeps it from getting syrupy. The taste bears some kinship to Rattray's Dark Fragrant, but this is a far more manly, interesting smoke. It is a bit like Haddo's Delight without the Périque. An excellent afternoon mixture, if smoked slowly.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Pounder 5000	05/29/2004	Mild	None detected	Very Mild	Tolerable
Hate to be a dissenter, but I found this blend to be full of hot air (i.e. steam)! It truly held very little interest for me. The smoke had little or no body and the burn got me. I smoked my way through a whole tin, and although I found some of the early morning smokes pleasant, overall I won't be buying more. Give me Skiff or EMP anyday.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Ivanhoe	04/26/2004	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
There seems to be a considerable range of experience and taste with Arcadia. Some find it hard to light, some say it's easy. Some smell the McClelland ketchup, others don't. Some say it's sweet, others say sour. I can't tell if these are just different impressions from different people or if McClelland has some sort of quality control problem with this one. I find Arcadia to be inconsistent in taste -- even within a single bowlful. Here is my experience. I found no characteristic ketchup odor when I opened the tin; in fact, the pouch aroma was quite faint. The tobacco was cut in a shag and was quite dry for a McClelland blend. (Just about the way I like it, actually.) You don't really need to pack it at all, it just pours into the pipe bowl. I found it to light easily and burn steadily without many relights. I like many McClelland Virginia blends, but I am still undecided about this one. The taste changes erratically for me. Sometimes it's just muddy, as an earlier reviewer reported, and sometimes I taste sweet Va tobacco. Other times a sharp, sour taste comes through that some may like but I do not. Also, the turkish tobacco in this blend seems sometimes to impart a cigarette-type taste sometimes that I do not like. This may be the source of the muddiness. I will finish what I have and probably not buy any more of this stuff. There are too many delicious tobaccos waiting for me to spend time on one that only pleases me intermittently.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
chaplikc	02/15/2004	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
This is my favorite out of the mcclelland latakia blends.(at least the ones that are directly under the mcclelland name) it is round and smooth and very tastey. I like to dry it out a little bit when I get it as I feel it is a little to moist on immediate opening. This has a nice light sweetnes that I enjoy and smoke this when I am in the mood for an english that is on the sweeter side of the spectrum for english blends. This is good! Recomended for those who would like to try an english blend that is unique and on the sweeter side.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Montague	10/19/2003	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable
McClelland's Arcadia, the second blend among the 221-B series, is a wonderful mild English tobacco. The tin aroma of this tobacco is very pleasant to the nose of an English tobacco smoker. I find myself simply breathing in the smell when I just don't have the time available to smoke an entire bowl of it. I believe this blend contains Virginia, Oriental, and perhaps a hint of Latakia tobaccos. The ribbon/shag cut of this tobacco packs effortlessly. The blend has a medium moisture, which I find to be the correct level for this tobacco. I find one of the most admirable qualities of this smooth blend is its burning characteristic. Simply stated, this tobacco has a no hassle burn, one of the best I have ever witnessed. The result after a few moments of puffing this blend is an almost white, full ash. A tolerable aroma is emitted from this tobacco. Aracdia does have the tendency to taste slightly bitter from time to time but this should not be feared. I find that this blend smokes best when slightly moist. I feel that further aging would benefit this tobacco. I highly recommend Arcadia.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Joe Patterson	09/12/2003	Mild	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
This is an excellent transition from some of the milder tobacs to a fuller richer blend. I have learned to love Latikia in a big way since my discovery of this blend. This is THE example of a mild to medium English where the VA still stands up and makes you take notice. Also, is there anything that smokes quite as cool and sweet all the way to the bottom of the bowl. DGT is also an option with this blend. I think it may even gain a bit of strength when employed correctly. I have a few pipes in excess of three inches in bowl height that make for an excellent cool smoke, but they all handle the shag cut of this blend to perfection. 4 stars, two thumbs up, and good smoking.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
tvine	09/07/2003	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Danno	06/26/2003	Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Full	Tolerable
One of life's great pleasures is opening up a new tin o'tabac, keenly anticipating some ephemeral scent which man has never before encountered. That said, upon opening a tin of Arcadia, this reviewer nearly hit the deck, courtesy of the "McLelland Effect", or "nausea-inducing-stench". Once suitably recovered, I let this tin dry for 24 hours, then loaded up my Sasieni 4 dot straight for a test run. Initial thoughts: Interesting...is there latakia in here? Stronger than I would have thought, but with the tin smell plutonium could have been hidden...strange white ash, flavor getting better. Over the next 7 days I smoked the tin up and while it is still interesting, there isn't anything memorable enough to cause me to run out and buy more. NB-significant other kept muttering that the room note smelled like "German Cigarettes", while I just found it to be murky.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Jumbo	06/19/2003	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I particularly like the tin aroma. I'll stick my nose right into this weed and inhale deeply. I'll do this for a while before I even get around to loading a bowl. Once a bowl is loaded and lit, though, the pleasure really begins. The orientals sit just on top of the sweet Virginia. I can taste both simultaneously and distinctly, with absolutely scrumptious cashew and peanut notes moving in and out, particularly when exhaled through the nose. I'm having a torrid affair with this weed. We'll see whether it settles down to a long-term romance or not.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Hoplophile	04/30/2003	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
The tobacco is just fine if you don't mind rather subtlely flavored mixtures. I write mainly to clear up the literary cofusion above. The arrogant fellow who claims that Arcadia has "nothing whatever to do with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson" is blowing smoke from more than just his mouth. Apparently, one need not be correct in order to display unbridled confidence in oneself. If he were to read the Sherlock Holmes short stories (I believe in The Adventures, though it may be in The Memoirs), he would find a clear reference when Holmes enters Dr. Watson's home (after Watson's marriage when the two no longer roomed together) and says something like: "I see you still smoke the Arcadia mixture of your bachelor days." I do not have the books available at the time, or I could give a more precise reference. I believe it is also mentioned at some other time in the stories. Whether this is an accurate imitation of whatever was meant by Doyle as an "Arcadia mixture" I have no clue, but Arcadia most certainly does have something to do with Dr. Watson.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
dangpipes	04/03/2003	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
What a treat. This tobacco surprised me upon first openning and continues to do so every time I smoke it. The robbon cut is very thin and suggests a quick burning (hot) smoke. Surprise #1. It smokes slowly and cool, all in all a very smmoth smoking experience. The aroma from the can is nice with a mix of Latakia, Oriental and Virginia. No suprise there and the smoke follows the same guidelines. Sheer pleasure. This tobacco, time and time again comes across as sharp and clean with each tobacco standing in its place and joining together with the others for a very pleasurable smoke. I keep waiting for this tobacco to fall short of my expectations, and each time I smoke it I am again reminded how good it is. Enjoy!
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Mike Castello	01/19/2003	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This is an interesting blend. The color is dark brown and black in a ribbon cut so it is easy to pack, easy to light, stays lit, and draws smoothly. The tin aroma is some vinager, some sweet Virginia reminding me of the 5100. The orientals are in smaller proportion, but give a little bit of musk to the aroma and taste. My impression of the flavor is that this is definatly a McClelland Virginia blend that reminds me very much of the already mentioned 5100. Unlike the 5100, there is more variety and complexity to this blend. The orientals give a nice bottom note, but without the dominance of latakia found in an English blend. I would call it an American Virginia-Oriental blend. My opinion of the overall effect is that I like it. It is sweet, but not boringly so. There is mystery in its flavor, but dominated by the familiarity of a red Virginia cake. I can certainly see this as some smoker's daily smoke. For me it would be something to always keep on hand and smoke as a break from English blends and Virginias. Arcadia is quite a find and I am sure that I will get to know it much better as time goes by. Highly Recommended.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Grim Chieftain	12/16/2002	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is an outstanding pipe tobacco. The taste improves with every puff. One of my favorite McClelland blends. This combination of Virginia and Oriental tobacco was masterfully blended. I have stocked up on this one!
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 61 through 80 of 93 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >