McCranie's - Old Master 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:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 29 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
DK	11/11/2012	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I bought an estate briar and the seller threw in a 2 oz baggie of this. How cool is that??? Toffee-brown ribbon cut with a rather noticeable aroma of chocolate in the bag. Easy to load and it took to the match very well, giving off large plumes of smoke. This seemed a bit to0 moist and a bit too chocolatey to be "unflavored" as is claimed. I think McCranie's sources some of their blends from McClellands and I believe this is one. McClellands "unflavored" burleys seem a bit flavored to me as well, and I think this is their X-10. But no matter, this is no aromatic. The burley and bright tobacco taste is at the forefront. The casing is mild enough to be noticeable but is not intrusive. Seems like an excellent tobacco to break in a briar, and I picked up two recently (odd for a dedicated meerschaum guy!). I found no complexity here, as is the case for many burley blends, but the flavor was consistent up and down the bowl and didn't get bitter or harsh... which sometimes does occur with burley. So if you enjoy a little extra flavoring in your burley but still want a natural smoke, this one should be on your short list.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
The Saint	02/19/2012	Mild	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Very Pleasant
I'm not a big burley smoker. I've always found them rather bland, until now. I opened the zip lock bag it came in and put my nose to the tobacco, chocolate and vanilla came to mind, but just a hint, not like a aromatic blend. Packed easily and stayed lit well. So smooth and no bite. This would be my first recomendation to a new pipe smoker. Before I knew it the bowl was done and I wanted more. Whenever I want a change from my Latakia english type blends, I will have this by my side.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
LifeOfRiley	12/27/2011	Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
In a word, pleasant. There's the obvious nuttiness of the burley but also just the right hint of vanilla or deertongue in the background. It can be enjoyed as an all-day smoke while going about your business, but also has enough subtlety to be quietly savored on the back porch. Nice room note, easy to keep lit, little to no bite. Use it either as a mainstay or for when you want to a change- up from English or aromatic blends.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Ryepipe	09/21/2010	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
Smooth, really. If this is not cased then it must be some Deertongue but just enough to sweeten in the background. Way less than C & D's Crooner. This is by far the best uncomplicated burley I have tried. I'm not an all day smoker but I can do a bowl in the am and more later. If you like burley this is a gimme. Happy camper here. Update:11/20/10 okokok enough with the deertongue. Still like but less frequent.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Steden	03/09/2010	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Another gift from Clarkus. Indeed an exquisite tobacco offering to the nose the typical dark chocolate note of the Burley (underlined with a light cocoa/vanilla flavoring) and delighting the mouth with an unbelievable mellowness and a pleasant nuttiness. Besides it smokes quite cool leaving a pleasant room note. Thanks to Clarkus and applause to the blender of Mc Cranie's. Drink suggestion: a chestnut beer.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Clarkus	02/02/2010	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Without repeating what has already been said, this is my favorite burley blend. I've been a burley smoker for years only recently venturing into VA's and I find this to be an extremely fine tasting blend. It burns well, smells good and tastes great. While I intend to continue my venture into VA's I will certainly want a burley to go to and this will be it.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Kilmarnock Piper	10/12/2009	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
Folks seem to love this! Well, I will give it three stars, then. Actually, it was one of the first pipe tobaccos I tried, and I moved on from it. I can't think of anything negative to say about it; apart from the fact that it just didn't turn my crank, resound with me, whatever. Supposed to be a great tobacco for the beginner, but the first tobacco I loved was Stokkebye Bullseye Flake. No accounting for taste! Old Master is mild and pleasant, perhaps too much so.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
frankluke	04/21/2009	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
this blend was just a throw in a few orders ago from mccranies, it's a bulk blend doesn't look all that great, palish looking burley and lemon colored virginia, which i hate the color of. smell in the baggy was, well, nothing, it didn't have a sweet smell or a hay smell that i get from other burley blends. now maybe you can understand why i didn;t bother trying it for a few months. for whatever the reason i decided to try this last week. i'll keep it short and sweet, this is simply the best burley blend i've tried... looks aside this blend get's A's across the board from packing, lighting, smoke volume you name it. cool smoking, thats not a throw in line, it smokes extremely cool and fresh and has a nice room note. you get that typical nutty burley taste but with the addition of virginia you get an added sweetness thats not found in most burley blends i've tried, thats a big reason on why i like this blend so much. give it a try fellas, it's a can't miss blend.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Plex	01/25/2009	Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant
Simple, flavorful, sweet, smooth burning with great nose, no glop, bite or goo found in the bag, bowl, stem or mouth. Well worth getting yourself a sample bag and relaxing after lunch with a pleasant and pleasing smoke.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
SirLoirn	10/13/2008	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
Only one solid dark red-brown auburn or chestnut color to it. Moderate vanilla chocolate aroma in the bag. This tobacco comes in bulk, not tin. Light, mellow chocolate taste and aroma. Light sweetener and a smidgen of vanilla may have been added, and mildly nutty. Leaves a pleasant room aroma. So, it may be lightly flavored, but this is definitely a Burley, not an "aromatic." Tobacco in the bag is moist. Incomplete combustion in bottom of bowl due to moisture, using tobacco straight from bag. Let the tobacco dry out for a day on a plate. I tried this and it still smoked wet in the bottom of the bowl(humectant?). And it still left a sticky reidue on my fingers. No tongue bite, but scours the lips. Slow burning This could be smoked all day. A mild, mellow Burley. 4 stars for a mild, light, all-day smoke with a good room note. 2 stars, due to moisture in pipe and mouth scour. 3 stars overall
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Michigander	09/16/2008	Mild	None detected	Mild	Pleasant
This one is much milder than I had expected based on the aroma in the bag. It is a beautiful if somewhat mild smoke. I detected none of the sweetness or casing that others have commented on. To me both the taste and the aroma are clean and natural tobacco. The room note is mild yet pleasant. Towards the light end of the spectrum and a very nice smoke. As with all McCranie's, the burn is spot-on and ends with a dry ash.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Pkloop	02/17/2007	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
The one arrives in bulk.. Upon opening the bag I am greeted with a wonderfull aroma. The bags' content, is a mostly brown mix of burley & I guess VA. My sample was neither overly moist or PG'ed.. Packing & Lighting: This blend is an easy 3 step pack & lighting is a breeze. The leaf takes to flame straight away. Smoking: This is an excellent burley! Smooth, cool, nutty, sweet. There is no way that this isn't cased. Its too sweet to be straight. Not that the sweetness is a problem mind you..Its great and doesn't distract at all. FWIW I can't detect any VA's here..and I could care less..This is a great blend. Finish: Finishes up to a nice, dry, ash. You won't be finding any huge clumps of dottle left over. Folks this could easily be an all day smoke..never hard on your palate..just a nice sweet & nutty taste. Give it a try..you won't regret it! 3 of 4 nice blend McCranie's!
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
obxemt	02/04/2007	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
If you've decided to venture out and look for a burley blend, stop here. I can't really add anything to the other comments, other than to point out the high quality of the tobacco itself. Also, if you are a dedicated aromatic smoker, you may want to start with "Porter's Pride" instead, which seems to me to be a more aromatic version of this (maybe the same thing, just cased?). Appearance is identical and aroma is quite similar. Even though PP is a high quality mild aromatic, when you want something more natural but still with a nice aroma, switch back to this. I purchased this on Bjarne day as well, and found the moisture content was perfect for smoking...not dry, not moist.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Talonr1701	01/30/2007	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Picked this up going to the Bjarne Trunk show that McCraines hosted. They were great hosts and we all had a great time..... That said, I got three blends while I was there. I am starting with Old Master. Smoking this at their great tobacco bar- This was a mildly sweet, nicely nutty blend with a bit of spice that reminds me of granulated deer tongue. Its a great blend that burned to a nice white ash, very well behaved- no bite or nip. Got 7 oz's. When I got it home, the stuff was damp with PG or some kind of artificial humectant. Serious bummer. It took three days to dry out and start to recover the taste I was looking for. Over all- Recomended- but it would have done better with less PG.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Brian Scherzer	01/15/2007	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I tend to choose which tobacco to smoke based on the pipe and the mood I may be in at the time. Sometimes, I want a stronger taste or maybe a bit of "pepper" from a blend with perique in it. What had been missing for me was a blend that was relatively mild, had little casing, but had taste and good room note. Based on the reviews read here, I decided to try Old Master, and found that it was a perfect fit. Unlike some fairly mild blends, OM has sufficient taste to keep things interesting. It is neither sweet or sour, but has a distinctive taste that is unlike the other blends I smoke. It seems perfect for a beginning smoker due to a lack of tongue bite, easy loading into any pipe, and good burning qualities. A person might get bored with OM after a while, but I now find myself smoking Old Master about 50% of the time. More experienced pipe smokers will likely enjoy OM whenever they want a smoke that isn't overpowering or highly aromatic.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
baabbate	12/21/2006	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
There's a lot of "no's" with this tobacco that add up to one big yes. No bite, no re-light, no topping, no dottle, and no sour pipe. It burns slowly, evenly, and completely to a fine ash. The smoke is light and full bodied. The taste: nutty and vaguely sweet. It's also one very consistent smoke. I'm new to Burley, so I have to figure that's it. Most VA's and aromatics I've had seem to taste differently in different pipes. Not OM; I've packed it in a Peterson, a Don Carlos, a beater, and a corn cob; with the same wonderful results. (Sitting here, about to light the THIRD bowl of it today!) Really didn't think anything could be this good. One last note: I kind of get that McClelland "vinegar" aftertaste with Old Master. Has anyone else had this experience? But far from being a negative it's a huge personal plus and the reson I pay through the nose for 221b Honeydew. It makes it more than a smoke, it's a snack in a bowl.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Meerschaum Man	11/19/2006	Mild to Medium	None detected	Very Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I readily join the chorus of praise for this fine blend of quality tobaccos. The sweetness of Virginia Brights has it's sharpness mediated effectively by the Burley's rich and full nutty flavor. Here is a smoke for any time and place. As the smoke progresses, it continues to develop into increasingly greater levels of enjoyment, not unlike the prelude of a sunrise. From fine ingredients come fine products and this is no exception. I can think of other Burley blends that have achieved far less with more tobaccos used. Simple, yet high in quality, these leaves combine to give a most unusually satisfying smoke. Slow burning and heavy with dark oils, it yeilds an excellent reward for the Burley/Virginia pipester. Meerschaum Man Smoking a Flying Dragon by Gezer
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
The Unknown Piper	07/23/2006	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
tonyg	07/23/2006	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Not being a big fan of burley, Old Master was a plesant surprise. This is a high quality tobacco despite its relativly low cost. For whatever reason, the Virginia's seem to prevail and shine in this blend. The folks at McCrannie's do a very fine job with all their tobaccos. If you're looking for a Virginia Blend from them, you might want to begin with Owner's Choice or My Reserve; if you're looking for a Burley blend, then Old Master or Currituck is the way to go. I find that airing this out a bit, produces a far more enjoyable smoke.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
OLDTIMER	01/12/2006	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I have been a pipe smoker for over thirty years, and I am always looking for the perfect all day tobacco. Well I just found it. This tobacco is so mild, and tasty, and bite free, I want another bowl right after I finish my last.It is slightly sweet and nutty in flavor. If you like Burley try this one. It is truly different.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 29 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >