St. James Woods is by far my favorite of the Personal Reserve Series. As stated many times before, McClelland flakes need to be dried out blah blah blah, but once that optimum moisture level is reached, SJW is pleasing. Sweet and subtly sharp at the same time, tangy, elegant and in true McClelland's fashion, never too much. SJW fits neatly into my mild-medium slot in my spectrum of Va/Pers. It has a PERFECT amount of perique for my tastes for that range. When I want something stronger in the cajun weed, I reach for Escudo or even Haddo's.

St-James Woods is no different. A beautiful broken flake, but that requires several charring lights, gives no taste, nicotine, etc.

The only one that still appeal to my tastebuds is 221B Arcadia.

Very smooth smoking VaPer with a touch of creaminess on the charring light that is vaguely reminiscent of GL Pease's Fillmore, though not as stout or as Perique-forward. This soon gives way to the classic McClelland Virginia tang.

McClelland blends three very similar VaPers: Beacon Extra, St James Woods, and Bayou Sliced. And I would recommend them in that order. But all three are excellent choices and I recommend this one to any VaPer smoker.

It looked to be a flake that was broken up into smaller pieces. Brown with some black, very moist/sticky pieces holding it together. It seemed a quite moist in the tin, however after rubbing it out it was less so, but still on the wet side. It rubbed out to long ribbon like strips for the brown pieces, and smaller, still sticky bit for the black pieces. You definitely will want to let this one dry for at least 30 min prior to smoking.

Tin Note:

Earthy, kind of like wet hay, but pleasant, with a hit of spice to it. Overall I found the tin not to be quite appeasing, I didn't pick up on the ketchup or vinegar scent others have mentioned.

Char Light:

Wow, the second I took my first smoke filled puff after the flame hit it I was smacked by an unexpected, delicious, but not overpowering sweetness.

1/3rd of the Bowl:

The smoke, I noticed, was wispy, not full and creamy like say STM. By itself it had a slight spice element, but when snorked...WOW, I was hit with the sensation that I just bit into a fresh, juicy grapefruit (again unexpected based on bag note & char light). The taste was unbelievable, so much so, that I found myself snorking more than I ever had.

2/3rds of the Bowl:

The delicious grapefruit note was still there, with the added sweetness I first encountered duing my char light (it seemed to take a back seat during the first 1/3rd but came back). To top it all off, the spice I noticed in the bag note came out as well.

Bottom:

Burned nice and cool with only a slight bite towards the very bottom. Only had about 5 relights throughout (which is good for me), everything burned down to a nice, white ash and only a very VERY small amout of dottle (which is probably on my part because I'm new). The flavors from the 2/3rd were still dominant at the bottom, with the spice intensifying slightly but never overpowering the grapefruit or the sweetness.

Conclusion:

This blend knocked my socks off, so much so that I am about to go smoke another bowl . It was sweet, zesty, and spicy, everything I like in a smoke. A full complexity of flavor, each complimenting one another. I definitely recommend this blend!

Second bowl update: I rubbed out the whole tin and gave it some drying time. The result was a more well rounded smoke, that stayed lit very well after 3-4 charring lights. It is one you can play with a bit, the slower you smoke the less pepper/spice you perceive, and vice versa. I still found that towards the end, the smoke didn't smooth out, and the pepper/spice still overpowered a bit. If you like that, you will like this smoke. I was looking for more balance.

Third bowl: Over time it is getting better. Perhaps mellowing out a bit with time now that its been opened and rubbed. I liked the level of spice and pepper, and there was some nice background flavor but still not enough. I'm sticking with two stars.

Ongoing: This really improves with time. I have a tough go with Va/pers, but this one is growing on me. I smoked it in a brigham with the rock maple insert filter and enjoyed it more than any other va/per I have smoked before. Moved to 3 stars.

The cut is unusual (these days at least): broken flake doesn't seem quite the right description, or maybe I don't know the proper definition; my tin was more like a sliced block, 1-2" medium thick slices. It needs to be rubbed. Rubbed & carefully filled, my large pipe took 2 lights but then burned very evenly for well over an hour. The tobacco is quite dense, so a pipeful contains more than the average: I've rated it Medium Strong, but the effect is quite strong because of the long burn.

I wonder if this blend has been changed since the earlier reviews, or if the export version is different (bought in Canada, USA export): as stated above, the cut is not flake, and the Perique is subtle rather than dominant (IMHO).

Fairly easy on the tongue, although a little hard on the throat if I smoke much.

I wouldn't recommend this for a novice smoker, but highly recommended for the rest of us "sophisticated" types, and a most unusual blend.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy Virginia/Perique blends.

The tobacco is a medium rubbed out flake, almost very dark brown with few lighter specs, delivering a quite strong spicy/vinegarish aroma, stiff to the touch.

A bit laborious to light, SJW then burns very cool and steady and doesn’t needs relightings.

Perique is here but not in spades. I find nice and interesting the pairing with dark stoved Virginia and this one makes me think to Dark Fragrant (Rattray) and Maduro (McConnell).

The first half of the bowl consists of a mild bodied smoke with faint notes of grapes and coffee. Barely sweet & sour and almost non piquant, the smoke is refreshing but bit monotonous. The second half is much rewarding, instead. The smokes grows stronger, creamier and slightly musty. The flavour is dark and woody, with some raisins still on the back and occasional peppery notes.

Not the tobacco of my life, but a pleasant diversion

Rub out to taste, lights and burns slow. If you don’t rush the Virginia it smokes quite coolly. This flake’s smoke is filled with delicious McClelland aged Virginia, warm, sweet and complex. But adding the Perique - adds a dimension of depth and earthiness. Really great stuff, may play second or third fiddle to some other Virginias in the McClelland Personal Reserve series - say “Blackwoods Flake” or “Dark Star“, but I found it very satisfying - and found it very easy to smoke. Goes on the favorites list.

like some people have noted, it doesn't roll out all that well so i packed it as flakes and topped with some loose stuff that i rubbed out. a little trouble with the lighting at first but once it got rolling it delivered on a lot of levels. each puff truly fills your mouth with exotic flavours of dried fruit and hints of pepper; a perfect marriage of these flavours. i love the mouth feel of this tobacco, a very sensual experience. and it keeps delivering from start to finish. the VA has a nice sweetness but not too sweet, kinda peeks out to say hello just when you need it.

it's quite a smoky tobacco but is likely the reason why it's so mouth filling, and lends itself to slow sipping. nicotine is on the high side but not overwhelming and had no bite throughout the whole bowl.

i've got some escudo on the way so very curious as to how it's going to compare but regardless of how it stands up to other VaPer's i can't imagine ever doing without this lovely tobacco in my rotation.

highly recommended.

and as far as the tin notes that everyone speaks of when it comes to Mc's, all it speaks to me is about style. they've picked a style, which i respect in any blending craft, and stick to it. it's a signature as much as anything. and regarding the ketchup tin aroma, i get (as i believe someone has said before) more of a dill/canned pickle aroma. and i can deal with whatever the tin notes deliver as long as it smokes like this.

For me, the taste is like figs seasoned with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, then smothered with Vegemite or HP sauce. It does not have the elegance and balance of Escudo, but instead is monochrome and too sharp.

Like all McClelland's blends, it's quality. I expect there are some for whom this will be nectar, but it's just not my flavor.