McClelland Pal O' Mine

McClellands tinned aromatics seem to occupy shades of a grey area for me. They're not "hit or miss" - they're more "just good enough or not quite good enough". This falls into the latter category.

This didn't have the mouth-tingling flavor of Tastemaster, nor the intoxicating tin aroma of Best of Show nor the quiet whisper of added flavor in Easy Street. The peach flavor was a little more notable than I cared for but it wasn't unpleasant. In fact, if you like artificially flavored fruity tobacco, this is probably one of the best. To that end, it achieves what I believe McClellands set out to do. My personal bias is away from cherries and peaches in tobacco; but I intended to try all the McC's tinned aros and I think this is a good one for those of you without my personal bias. It's a high quality American-style aromatic from a high quality American blender. If you like peaches in your smoke, don't wait.

Looking for something to enjoy in the warmer season I decided to give this a go. As I have found with all McClelland blends, quality tobacco was employed here. Peach flavor is evident from tin to ash. Light, easy and one dimensional all through the bowl. After a few bowls I decided to throw some Virginia in the mix to add some character. I normally don't smoke aromatics, but on the front porch this does well with mixed company. Without the addition of some Virginia I would have found this boring and almost not worth loading in the pipe.

Due to my inability to acquire more of this blend I suppose it’s a good thing I don’t care for its flavor. In the tin it smells as advertised, like peach cobbler. Once lit, the story changed, I tasted mostly a sort of zwieback toast kind of flavor, with the peach as a mild topping. I don’t know if this is coming from perhaps the Burley or possibly some supporting topping that was put on the blend, but it is very distracting and rather unpleasant. Those who are searching this out will get no competition from me.

​The pros of this one is in his very mildness. But the same is his flaw - he’s too loyal to you so you cant really remember what music is he into. Actually, a true pal should be harsh sometimes.

I don't smell peach to me this brand smells like wine flavouring. It's mild but yet more tasteful than some aromatics. It's not sweet enough or creamy for my taste but I can see why people like it. I think it's worth a try. If you are into say chocolate or more dessert type flavours then you may not like it. Again I didn't pick out the peach but it could be just the batch I received.

I've never met a McClelland I didn't like, and the 2 stars doesn't mean I don't like Pal o'Mine, it just means what it says - "Somewhat Recommended." McC aromatics certainly fill an important niche: if nothing else, they are indispensable for introducing our gentle art to the novitiate; they are tasty and fragrant, they are quality tobacco, and they are nigh-ubiquitous. E.g., I have a friend who had been turned off by the nasty experience of trying the Cheapest Aromatic Possible in a lousy pipe, who has been steered back onto the True Path by convincing him to spend a little extra on a tin of McC aromatic and a Bjarne.

Pal o'Mine here is a solid blend tasting of creamy peach and nutty burley. It burns relatively clean and dry. Still it leaves me kind of - "enh" (actual technical term). I whittled away at my tin little by little for more than a year, and then, well... aromatics don't keep well, do they? Whenever I get that hankerin' for aromatic I find myself preferring Trout Stream or Solani Sweet Mystery (cf my other reviews). So, Pal o'Mine, I must only Somewhat Recommend you.

100 % of aromatic peach. He is the one. It will leave his flavor on the used pipe, since its perfume of peaches is very strong. A beautiful perfume, also for those around the smoker. Burley makes this mix, a success. It also contains Cavendish. It is difficult to smoke only him, but you can smoke it when you want something light but surely it gives to the blend, a very special sweet taste.

After Mellow Mack and Captain Cool, this was the last one of the line to try: most of what was said for the other two is still valid, but Mellow Mack remains the winner thanks to its biscuity taste. This one, peach-flavored, is not as tasty as I would have hoped: not bad, but not memorable either. Flavoring goes away quite a bit during the bowl, and there is not enough tobacco taste to support it.

I like to try this type of aromatic so I know what to recommend to a beginning pipe smoker. As its name states, it is a pal-o-mine. The room note is very sweet and unobtrusive. There is no tongue-bite and for me it was so mild I had to check my pipe to see if it was really lit. I definitely will use this for apprentices....