McClelland Vanilla Black Cavendish

The bowl of VBC that I am smoking now is about 2 years old. The tobacco is still sticky and moist. The short ribbon cut makes packing quite easy.

The flavor and sweetness have mellowed some, but there is still no doubt that this tobacco was heavily cased. Tons of sweet vanilla, and the burning sugars add a sensation of over-cooked (but not burned) caramel. The room note is pervasive and pleasant.

This tobacco can bite somewhat if puffed too hard, or if it is packed too wet, so sip with moderation. This is a great aromatic for newbies and mild 'baccy lovers.

The aroma is wonderful. That's about it. I purchased a lot of this blend after reading the reviews here, and this is not one of the best aromatics I have smoked. It is prone to a very foul and sour moisture quite easily. It tastes incredibly bland, sometimes even sour. It is great if you can tolerate these shortcomings, as it does have a very pleasant aroma. Overall though, I wouldn't purchase more of this blend. There are plenty better and more balanced aromatics out there.

I bought a sample of this tobacco and let me say, I am going to buy a pound. This blend smells so good in the pouch, I mean REALLY good. I expected a very hard/harsh smoke because of the great smell, I was pleasantly surprised by mild smoke. The flavors of this tobacco are not nearly as strong as you would think by the odor of the unsmoked tobacco. I have smoked it in a cob, with a filter, without a filter and in my briars, this is good stuff. I would PREFER a bit more sweetness but think I can add a touch of something to fix it up for my tastes. I plan on carrying this tobacco with me wherever I go, there is no way a non smoker is gonna complain when they smell this tobacco in the pouch. Keep away from children, it really smells good enough to eat! Really recommend this blend to fellow novice pipe smokers, very good stuff!

As a man who loves pipe smoking, from fancy to simple, aromatics are in a class of itself. This is one of only a very few VBC,s that just delights its self all alone in a simple cob or apple wood pipe. If you were to smoke this alone I would recomend you put a filter to this, it is cased a bit heavy, so to compensate the gurgle you may come upon if your puffing a dad to fast. As a huge fan of McClelland, let me share a great summer time smoke, mix this with 2 parts Pal O mine and One part VBC, I like to keep opened tins in those glass jars with the rubber rim snap shut lids,...Give it a good shake in the jar, leave it for a week, open the lid just enough that air gets in without fully opening the lid, give it a day, and boom!!!, peaches and cream baby, sweet and rich, its summertime stuff, like warm humid evenings, honey suckels, and tree frogs, yea man, its down home, simple, straight or blended, 3 stars, not including the million stars you will be gazing at as you smoke and ponder in the heat of the nite, you won't be disapointed,... Not if you like VBCs. Happy smoking, and a wonderfull summer to all of you, HAPPY JACK

Sweet to the point of being slightly nauseating to my palate.

Absolutely fantastic Black Cavendish! Very similar to Iwan Ries' 3 Star Ebony. Dry, cool, and a lovely honey/vanilla taste and aroma. A good blender and outstanding on its own. For the lovers of sweet aromatics this is a must try. 4 stars.

this is the best aromatic i've had so far. smells incredible, lights well and stays lit. tastes good and much better than most vanillas i've tried. one day i may end up blending this with a burley or something with a little more strength. but i'll keep purchasing it and enjoying it as is. highly recommended aromatic.

When I first opened the pouch, I was not sure this was really vanilla. I have to agree I thought it was more like a sweet Butterscoth. I didn't smoke it until I let it dry some because it was very moist right out of the pouch. After an 8 hour dry on a baking sheet, I smoked this in a savinelli "clarks Favorite" pipe without the balsa wood filter. The first half of the bowl had very little flavor, and was very mild. It stayed lit very well, but again, the flavor was not there for me. The second half smoked a little better, and although it was still a very mild smoke, the vanilla flavor did make an appearance at the end. My opinion is this would be a nice tobacco to blend with a burley. I can't see me smoking it by itself as the flavor is just to mild for my taste. I would say this is a great smoke for someone who is just starting out. Its better than alot of aromatics I started with I know that.

A good bulk aromatic. Very wet out of the pouch/bag. however, I laid mine out on a baking sheet on top of some wax paper and stuck it outside for a few hours in the open air to dry out and then popped it back in a glass jar to relax.

I'd say with a little TLC you shouldn't have a problem with lighting, smoking and bitting issues.