UPDATE 2-19-11: I was in JR Cigar today and spotted McClelland Navy Cavendish and decided to revisit as I haven't smoked it since the early to mid 90's. This time, not a broken flake as I remember it, but individual flakes - about the size of Erinmore. This is even better than I remember it. The vinegar smell in the tin did not in any way translate into the smoke. The rum was present in the taste, albeit subtle. It was a very tasty, spicy smoke. Not hot at all. A very good Virginia presence and slightly sweet without being over the top. No hay-like taste at all. I am very happy I purchased a tin. 4 stars.

This stuff, especially if not properly dried out, starts off harsh. I actually have to relight early (unless it's bone dry). Once the tobacco is evenly burning, it's a wonderful smoke that improves in the bowl as it progresses. I don't find any butter notes and I wouldn't call this a smooth tobacco. It's quite flavorful, much like eating a porterhouse steak. Each puff simply tastes like another bite of steak and as you get closer to the rib - oh mercy!

If you enjoy Guiness Stout, you'll have to try the two together, perhaps after a nice porterhouse or NY strip.

Very highly recommended

If you dont already have one get an herb grinder. Any headshop, and some tobacco shops online carry them. Get the LARGE!

Well, believe it or not, I have a tin of Navy Cavendish that is 27 years old, almost to the day I am writing this review. I can say this for certain because I still have the receipt - #2216 -dated Feb 19, 1981 from McClelland Tobacco Company. I purchased it direct for $4.50 a 4 ounce tin. I am less certain how the receipt managed to survive, but know how the tobacco did. Shortly after getting this tin I quit smoking my pipes, but kept my tobaccos in a large floor to ceiling humidor that I have in my house. There they've aged away (I also have tins of #1, #14, #24). Last year I picked my pipe up again and started rummaging around in the humidor (mostly filled with cigars). When I found the receipt tucked away in my desk, my eyes nearly fell out. Where does time go besides quickly!

I had opened the tin, but smoked little of it in 1981. It was in great shape. However, the noted "ketchup smell" was still present. It is acidic and sharp and still bites my nose when I smell the tobacco deeply. It was perfect in moisture content; I would say on the slightly dry side. So I loaded up a large bent bulldog.

I am not sure how helpful this review, other than having some interest given the age of the tobacco, can possible be. I have to guess there are not too many 27 year old cans of McClelland Navy Cavendish rolling around out there. Furthermore, I don't have a modern day can to compare it against, nor can I remember what my initial experience was back in 1981. And, I don't want to order another tin unless I like it (call me cheap). So I closely read all the reviews herein to see how my experience compared, and there are some interesting similarities between old and new. In fact there are so many I doubt I will order another can, nor can I recommend to you long term aging. Given the quantity I have left, it will easily hit 35 years of age.

The tobacco, as noted in the reviews, has some sharpness, tongue bite if you will, upon lighting. As it settles down it became a basic Cavendish smoke from top to bottom with the ash varying from white to gray. Some describe this as "one-dimensional", and it was basic, good old tobacco flavor. It was not unpleasant, just basic. However, it would with regularity bite me on the sides and tip of my tongue with that tangy, acidic sweetness that you can smell in the can. Puffed slowly it was rather one-dimensional with its flavor tending toward Virginia "high notes". If I had to guess, there is Turkish and Perique tobacco in this blend. The Perique was slightly present as a "lower" or plumy/nutty note. Now I like Perique and its interplay with Virginia leaf, but in this blend it is too faint, or it has mellowed too much in 27 years.

I'd like to say that after such a lengthy cellering the smoke was sublime. It was good, but not as good as the one year old bowl of University Flake I smoked afterward. Both are similar, but University Flake doesn't bite me and it has more lower notes to balance the Virginia/Turkish highs.

It's very bitey on opening. Let it sit for a month or so in the tin. The drier the beter. When fresh it's the toughest flake I've ever manged, like jerky. When it crumbles between your fingers it's so dry, then you know it's ready.

Good stuff but I don't know it will be a regular in my rotation.

It does require some initial drying, and I would not reccomend this to a newbie at either flakes or the pipe in general. I think the work involved is well worth the rewards of enjoyment. Try it in a medium or smaller sized pipe.

It has a good flavor. I like this a lot. It is rich enough for a continuous smoker to fit into his routine. But easy enough on the tongue to satisfy that anytime need for a good solid smoke.

I was a little surprised at how well the rum enhances the natural cavendish flavor. It kind of creeps in as you go. Has a good va flavor with some added mellow sweetness from the rum which by my taste is dark and well aged. If you are expecting a blast of rum on your tongue you won't find it here and should try a rum aromatic for that.

I'm done with black cavendish for the most after finding this lovely flake. It has some punch for those not faint of heart.

Like all mc va's, rub it, dry it out most of the way, then enjoy- just pace yourself. It takes a while to adjust to va's anyway so I can see where a different type of smoker or the inexperienced could not understand this or any tobacco in this series. With all mc va's patience is key. I feel quick drying is no problem as long as approached correctly. Rub out a palmfull or two, put it on a plate or the like and 4-10 hrs in the house out of sunlight usually gets her right, just keep checking it every couple hrs. Then I put the dried portion (about 5 bowls worth) in a mason jar to lock it in at the right moisture which is around 95% dry leaving the rest of the undried tin for later to keep it fresh. I do this with everything in my rotation to keep some of everythng ready to go. Any airtight container will do and if you smoke up a tin quicker than I do you could prep the whole thing and just use the tin, I use glass because it is easier to see how much is left than having to peek under the lids of tins and as long as the jar is clean and has a good lid there is no way it will ever color the taste of your smokes like plastic can. Of course the Spouse thinks I am too particular- I prefer the term conniseur.

Common sense should tell you when it is super humid or while raining is not the best time to dry. There is no reason to let it sit for a year after opening! Maybe before opening to age some would make sense but every tin I ordered so far is at least two years old anyway.

But then again I am a farmer that raises hay and has raised tobacco, this seems very simple to me. Not for those who want to pop a lid and pack. Or those who can't sip slowly.

I would call this virginia based rum candy myself. Not as sweet a s#27 or #25 though. Very distinctive.

Update 9/15/08 This is bothering my allergies somehow and it took me a while to put my finger on it. It always makes my mouth dry way too much and makes my eyes water and itch. Real shame cause I liked it till then. Seems too hay grassy for me now.

Well, it was September's end, and I found my long-forgotten tin in a box full of other stuff. I attempted to kick myself, thinking I had just found a dessicated version of a promising tobacco. Lo! it not only wasn't desicated, it was in the moisture region I look for as a matter of course in my tobacco choices! Luck? Good packaging? Who knows? The leaf was now easy to rub out, but just moist enough to stay well-packed in my pipe.

I found my favorite bent Barling that often cradles my virginias, and packed a pipeful of the NC. Being of sound memory, I took my time lighting it to avoid a tongue-grabbing initial bite. It worked, and the reduced moisture made lighting a breeze.

My first puffs were of nice, medium-bodied tobaccos. If there was any of the rum left after such a long period, it came through only as a residual sweet note harmonizing with, but not in any way overpowering, the tobacco's own natural sweet tones.

As I progressed through the bowl, the flavor of the smoke became fuller, but only slightly so. I can see why some pipe folks would feel this one-dimensional with little variation. It's simply that the variation is subtle. They suit me in this particular blend, though.

The final third of the bowl became a little hot, but I attribute that to my drawing a bit harder (I was in the middle of an action sequence in a book) and that some moisture had built up at the bottom. The moisture was probably not entirely the tobacco's fault, as I tend to smoke "wetter" than many other pipesmokers with whom I've spoken.

I've gone through 2/3 of the tin since I found it, and I have to put this in my "Keeper" category. There are more complex Navy Cavendish blends out there, but I'll happily keep this one in my "cellar" as a nice, mellow, medium-bodied diversion. Of course, I'll probably open the tins a year in advance of smoking them!

The flake needed to be rubbed out some but packed well in a mediuum size bowl.The smoke was dry with hardly any moisture build up.Sweetness wafted in and out of the entire bowl with a subtle spicieness that lingered in the background.The flake mostly consists of browns with a few lighter leaves..

Like most virginias a few relights were needed but this is a minor setback when enjoying such a fine smoke.

I would have called this a broken flake rather than a ribbon, but maybe I'm out to lunch on that.

This tobacco needs a bit of a rub, but not much. Moisture content wasn't bad, and unlike some McClelland's, this stuff actually will dry out.

Inoffensive in the pipe, there's a nice dose of vanilla, rum, and the carrying Va tobaccos. Not as sweet as a black cavendish by any means, but the balance of flavours is really good. It's not real heavy, and a guy could smoke this all day without trouble, I think.

I wasn't terribly impressed with this tobacco until I tried it in a really good pipe- I don't know if it was the size, or the quality, or whatever, but right at the end of the tin I had one fantastic smoke with this tobacco, and finally understood it.

While I don't smoke this regularly, I do keep some around and enjoy it particularly in the winter, when, as in beer, I prefer stronger flavors than I do in the summer.

The presentation is a nice pressed leaf - almost cake in appearance. Rubbing it out was easy. Gravity feeding the pipe seemed to be the best method.

It took a bit to get lit in the humid air, but once I got a nice char on top - the rest of the pipe took to the flame fairly easily.

I think this is a good example of what "sailor's blends" such as Captain Black, the various drug store cavendish blends, etc... attempt to be. It is flavorful - with the vanilla and rum essence coming through as a compliment to the tobacco.

Initially it starts out a bit bland - mostly cavendish with faint casing. But by midway through the bowl the spice of the rum and the tobacco shines through. The end of the bowl was remarkably tangy - almost perique like in sharpness.

The taste remained fairly constant but did allow for some variation through out. Not something I'd smoke all the time - but I'd likely fill a pipe with it again.

Recently I made the pleasant discovery that Navy Cavendish is wonderful in an olivewood pipe. It's a marriage made in Heaven! It could be, though, that my tin is just hitting its stride, having turned two years old.

I have tried this in a large Cavicchi billiard, a small Savinelli bulldog, and a medium Parker pot, and it seems as though larger bowls do better.

I have only one comment to make. This delicious tobacco develops a marked nutmeg note after about the one-third point. Delectable and unexpected.