McClelland Christmas Cheer 1998
(2.55)
Hand-blended, premium pressed Virginia flake tobaccos. A fine vintage, naturally sweet, in limited quantity.
Notes: Produced in 1992, 1994-present in limited quantities. Tinned in July of the respective year.
Details
| Brand | McClelland |
| Blended By | McClelland Tobacco Company |
| Manufactured By | McClelland Tobacco Company |
| Blend Type | Straight Virginia |
| Contents | Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Broken Flake |
| Packaging | 50 grams or 100 grams tin |
| Country | United States |
| Production | No longer in production |
Profile
Strength
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
2.55 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Aug 17, 2006 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
I came upon this excellent tobacco by way of a friend who had himself sampled and sealed the flakes in a mason jar. Over time through a trade it made its way to my cellar and lingered there for almost a year before I smoked the last bit of it today, I was sorry to see it go.
I smoked this blend in over a dozen pipes ranging from large group 3?s to small group 5?s and I can recall no tongue bite or what I consider misbehavior whatsoever on behalf of the blend.
The tin note (or jar note) was light, and had lost much of the in your face aroma that comes from opening a brand new off of the packaging line tin and slightly hinted to figs, raisins, and straw. Also I might add it seemed to have lost much of the aroma that I find characteristic of McClelland blends, though present now were sugar crystals that had over time formed on the beautiful red and yellowish flakes.
I have smoked Christmas Cheer 1998 stuffed as a flake, and fully rubbed out, both techniques yielded a phenomenal smoking experience, the char light was no Herculean effort- the first few puffs were very zesty, and keeping the bowl lit was quite easy. Admittedly I rarely have a problem with relighting and am not prone to complain about having to tamp and relight a pipe, in fact it is one of the many aspects of pipe smoking that I very much enjoy.
The bowl that I am smoking at the moment is smoldering the last I have of this fine blend, it is in a Danish Pot carved by the extraordinarily talented Hans Former Nielsen. I find the taste to be consistent albeit a little more subdued with the younger Christmas Cheer productions; clearly it has mellowed with time though it lost none of its sweetness throughout the bowl.
Highly recommended.
I smoked this blend in over a dozen pipes ranging from large group 3?s to small group 5?s and I can recall no tongue bite or what I consider misbehavior whatsoever on behalf of the blend.
The tin note (or jar note) was light, and had lost much of the in your face aroma that comes from opening a brand new off of the packaging line tin and slightly hinted to figs, raisins, and straw. Also I might add it seemed to have lost much of the aroma that I find characteristic of McClelland blends, though present now were sugar crystals that had over time formed on the beautiful red and yellowish flakes.
I have smoked Christmas Cheer 1998 stuffed as a flake, and fully rubbed out, both techniques yielded a phenomenal smoking experience, the char light was no Herculean effort- the first few puffs were very zesty, and keeping the bowl lit was quite easy. Admittedly I rarely have a problem with relighting and am not prone to complain about having to tamp and relight a pipe, in fact it is one of the many aspects of pipe smoking that I very much enjoy.
The bowl that I am smoking at the moment is smoldering the last I have of this fine blend, it is in a Danish Pot carved by the extraordinarily talented Hans Former Nielsen. I find the taste to be consistent albeit a little more subdued with the younger Christmas Cheer productions; clearly it has mellowed with time though it lost none of its sweetness throughout the bowl.
Highly recommended.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 07, 2018 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Tolerable |
I have tried quite a few years of this annual McClelland offering and this is not the oldest, but it is the oldest that I could actually review. I was given a bowl of the 1994 offering at the last Chicago Show, but as is always the case with bowls at the Chicago show, they are accompanied by much whiskey and so many more bowls than I normally consume, that my palate is too overwhelmed to give a worthy review.
So I was happy when a friend from Quebec shared some of his bounty with me. This turned out to be about 4 big bowls worth. I am not good at differentiating between the diffrering vintages of CC as they all taste pretty similar to me, so I can't comment on how this particular vintage compares to the year before or after it, but with 20 years gone by at this point, I think it is a moot point.
Some say Virginias peak at 10 years aging, I say that is hogwash as I found this to be the sweetest tasting CC I have had to date and this comes not too far off finishing a tin of CC 2002 about a year ago. It was a phenomenal experience. The leaf itself did not contain much plume, actually less than was on the leaf from 2002, but it did not matter.
I have tins in the cellar dating from 2000 to the final year of 2017 (really 2016?) and this experience has mre really pleased at the prospect of trying these in the coming years.
As a friend once explained it to me. McClelland Christmas Cheer is to Virginia tobacco as the single malt is to Scotch whisky. And as always with the varying vintages, I highly recommend it.
So I was happy when a friend from Quebec shared some of his bounty with me. This turned out to be about 4 big bowls worth. I am not good at differentiating between the diffrering vintages of CC as they all taste pretty similar to me, so I can't comment on how this particular vintage compares to the year before or after it, but with 20 years gone by at this point, I think it is a moot point.
Some say Virginias peak at 10 years aging, I say that is hogwash as I found this to be the sweetest tasting CC I have had to date and this comes not too far off finishing a tin of CC 2002 about a year ago. It was a phenomenal experience. The leaf itself did not contain much plume, actually less than was on the leaf from 2002, but it did not matter.
I have tins in the cellar dating from 2000 to the final year of 2017 (really 2016?) and this experience has mre really pleased at the prospect of trying these in the coming years.
As a friend once explained it to me. McClelland Christmas Cheer is to Virginia tobacco as the single malt is to Scotch whisky. And as always with the varying vintages, I highly recommend it.
Age When Smoked:
19+ years
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