Update:For something extra special, blend 50% Mac Barens Virginia #1 with 50% 5100 Red Cake. This seems to make the Red Cake more interesting and at the same time eliminate the bite from the V#1. Another blend to try is 2/3 RC and 1/3 C&D's Briar Fox ; this gives a little base to the RC and a little more interest to the BF.

Update: Every time I try this It just gets better. I've had this cellared now for 6 months and it is good. More interesting , the McC VV is now that tangy sweet and sour, I love it. I've got to buy more and cellar. Good just straight. It is very similar to Aurora not quite as flavorful but close and for the price it beats it. Bumped to 4 stars.

5100 packs very nicely into a pipe. From the first light the blend delivers a nice, mild but full flavor typical of Virginia tobacco. There is a pleasantly creamy undertone to it, though not as noticeable as, say, McCranie’s Red Flake or 5115. But the overtone is slightly fruitier than Red Flake, too. For my way of smoking, the flavor gets a bit stronger as I get through the bowl, but it remains pleasing and satisfying, never acrid. Like all Virginias, the sugar content of 5100 makes it likely to cause tongue bite if smoked hard, but an experienced Virginia smoker can enjoy this blend as an all-day smoke without worry.

5100 is an extremely pleasing and delicious tobacco. I’ve blended it with others, such as 2035, with some success, and have also added in a dash of perique. Perique, mixed lightly with 5100, gives it more fruitiness and seems to actually make it milder. I would have to say that this ranks as one of my favorite tobaccos. It's a standard by which other, similar blends may be judged. An amazing value for the price.

Herein is a commentary that what the tobacconists told me years ago, that in order to fully appreciate one's pipe and tobacco one must quit smoking cigarettes. They were right, and when I finally did, I discovered a whole new world of pipe smoking. The longer I smoke my pipe the more I appreciate this tobacco right here under review. This is my main smoke. There is not a day that goes by that I smoke the pipe that I do not smoke this excellent tobacco. The advertisement that you might have heard is right this is a very rare find in the tobacco industry.

If you invest a pipe to the cause, preferably several pipes and smoke this tobacco more than once under various conditions you will discover that it is complex in flavors. It is sweet without being syrupy. It is mild but full of flavor. The flavor tones are not one dimensional, it is both sweet and tart and the flavor tones are both round and high. In other words there is a full spectrum of flavor. you will, if you give it a chance, discover that there is a full wall of flavor that comes from a natural, un-flavored straight tobacco. It is neutral, inasmuch as you can smoke this tobacco in a pipe that you smoke an aromatic, that if aromatics are your thing, this is a nice full real tobacco change up, that if given a chance could become your main smoke.

It is not overpowering but it is rich in flavor. I personally love this tobacco more than any other on the market today. It is my constant "go to" tobacco. It burns well from the top to the bottom of the bowl, any bowl. Different pipes, different shapes render different characteristics of the smoke, but this tobacco acquits itself wonderfully in all of them.

I recommend this one to everyone, novice and seasoned alike. But you have to give it a chance and throw away your preconceived notions.

This is one of the best sellers most places and for a reason. If you don't like it, that's great as far as I am concerned. Until they kill tobacco absolutely, they will keep making this and that will mean more for me.

On a scale of one to four, I give it a ten.

5100 is a great English VA. This tobacco is used in a number of high grade blends that are on the market today. It is a rich, full, and sweet red VA that ages well.

When you first light the bowl you immediately taste the tangy sweet flavor of citrus inherent in this blend. You can smell the ketchup scent that is typically of McClelland tobacco, but this does not translate into the taste of smoking. As you move through a bowl of this remarkable leaf you find a smoky flavor enhanced by a bit of grass. Toward the bottom there is a hint of raisin.

Buy this tobacco seems to do better with some aging. I also like the fact that this one seems to taste better if you smoke a little the let it go out and come back to it later.

To my mind, it's the Carter Hall of Virginias: a simple, cheap and available all day smoke. I have watched my tastes change from burley towards Va's as of late, and I find Red Cake fills the same role as CH for me.

I actually call it a favorite of mine; in reality, there are blends I like more. Thing is, I always come back to it, whether to cleanse my palette or just to smoke mindlessly for a while.

The fact it is a blending component means it's useful too. Got a 'baccy missing 'something'? Drop a pinch of 5100 in, and it will no doubt help things along.

The only downside, I suppose, is it's one dimensional character. If you only smoke the occasional bowl, or always smoke looking for complexity, Red Cake will no doubt disappoint. If you're looking for a quick work break smoke, or one to pair with yard work, etc., this may well fit the bill for you. It does me.

Good smoking, slightly treated with PEG, and a generally good blend for trouble free, readily burning VA. Gives the same satisfaction of a good VA flake without the work. Despite the apparent topping, it turns out to have a VA flavour throughout. Good for regular smoking, albeit, might be considered a bit plain so a good base for adding a dash of perique or some other condiment of your liking.

-- Red Cake is a solid foundation tobacco, worthy of keeping around by the pound in mason jars. With a dash of perique sprinkled in, one creates an archetypal VaPer. Huge volumes of smoke emerge after a proper charring light-- and it can last a full bowl with single match. Inoffensive smoke, with a briny... including a loveley woodsy, stewed fruit depth of flavour when I sprinkle with perique and have it to the right dryness. This is one of the pinnacles of pipe smoking enjoyment and should be in your cellar if you like aromatics, virginias or VaPers

I recommend this for when you have time to really sit down and enjoy the blend, it won't bark unless you really tempt it to but absent minded puffing while doing something else may cause it to bite.

Pipes brands used: Dunhill, Charatan, Ferndown, GBD, Peterson, Stanwell, and one Gourd Calabash. (all pipes were pre-1963 except the Stanwells and the Calabash).

5100 is the epitome of an English VA. It is so special that there is nothing else like it in my opinion. This tobacco, it may surprise some to know, is used in a number of high grade blends that are on the market today. It is a rich, full, and sweet red VA that ages like a dream.

When you first light the bowl you immediately taste the tangy sweet flavor of citrus inherent in this blend. I have read the minimalist comments of "ketchup" which I think carries a negative connotation. Anyone can reduce and/or minimize a complex flavor experience to some common reference. We could all say that wine tastes like Welches Grape juice or that caviar tastes like sea water. However, such reflections by the masses dismiss the subtle and complex flavorings that can only be detected by a patient and attentive palate.

As you move through a bowl of this remarkable leaf you find a smoky flavor enhanced by a bit of grass with an undertone of cashew that reflects continually off the dominant flavor of plum and fig which remain primary through the last few puffs. Toward the bottom there is a hint of raisin.

Buy this tobacco in bulk and age it. You will note an increase in all of these flavors within even a year of proper aging. This tobacco is a real gem and I can only hope that subsequent years are as kind.

I am amazed, not that such a wonderful leaf exists in our world, but that it is available in bulk. It truly is one of the most under-rated tobaccos I have come across, and I hope it continues to be available to everyone at an affordable cost.

Update: 3/31/11 This VA blend is still the best English VA on the market. McClelland warehouses have the best tobacco in the world. They are, IMO, the source for blenders who want to create notable tobacco blends. 5100 is a great tobacco to use as a foundation for some of the best blends in the world, and it is a great smoke by itself. Though I love flake/blends like OG, FVF, etc. I give 5100 4 stars for both its stand alone ability as well as being the best for blending. There is so many things you can do with 5100, that the possibilities are nearly endless.

I cracked open a 2 year old jar and never cease to be amazed at how aging can improve a VA. 5100 is no exception, and it becomes even better with age (if it is possible to improve upon perfection). I bought another 5 lbs of this because I never want to be without this blend and there is no way of knowing what the future holds. I did note that the price had gone up significantly (almost 50% increase over the original price) on this blend since I started purchasing about 3 years ago, not sure why. Sure, there have been increases in all tobacco for a number of reasons, but this one went up before the others ... and in excess of what the fed issues would warrant. Perhaps the importance of this Red VA became more obvious to everyone.