McClelland Vanilla Black Cavendish

A pleasant surprise! I wasn't expecting this to be great, but wanted something to blend with as a sweetener. I does well mixed with Lane 1Q!!! I smoked three bowls of it by itself and was pleasantly surprised at how great it was on it's own. Great vanilla flavor with a deep rich smoke. It will bite if it's smoked too hot. Smoke slow to get the full rich flavor!

This tobacco to me is not too bad on its own but is better suited as a blending tobacco. The aroma out of the bag is awesome. One almost wants to eat it rather than smoke it, it smells that good. It burns very cool in the pipe. However there is little or not strength or flavor. I could hardly tell I was drawing smoke in it is that mild. My wife loves the aroma so i will probably keep some for around the house smoking.

I found Gawith's Bobs Chocolate Flake way too strong for my liking but when blended with this it makes a really good smoke.

McClelland has closed shop, and with it goes this wonderful blend. OK, I know they aren't known for basic aromatic staples like this, but I can see why McClelland was so loved, and will be so missed! This one hits all the high notes for a black cavendish, with a lovely buttery vanilla, but also notes of coconut and maple (I can this going well with an Imperial Porter). It burns very well, but not hot. Perhaps due to the unique rough cut and very mild moisture of tobacco? The room note is of course first rate, but not cloying. If I could buy this again by the pound, I would. From now on, I guess I'll have to settle for Peter Stokkebye BC or Lane's BCA.

You'll be missed, McClelland!

I don't now, nor ever will buy tobacco based on room note alone...That being said, this is a pleasant--not great--not wonderful smoking tobacco...It is what it is...An all day, pay no mind vanilla black Cavendish...Kind of heavy on the vanilla...Would not buy again.

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.

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

A decent black Cavendish blend. You must of course love vanilla. This is a perfect blend for the "smoke instead of eat dessert" crowd. Not as goopy as some.

Best used as a blending component as the vanilla casing is very rich to the point that it smells and tastes like butterscotch. I use it in a 50/50 mix of Lane HS-3 and VBC. If you're looking for a black Cavendish to smoke by itself, you would be better off with Lanes BCA, which is much smoother and contains less casing.

As Vanilla aromatics go this one is one of the more tolerable. I would never consider smoking this without letting it dry out for a day or two. I am not often an aromatic smoker, maybe a hand full of bowls a month, but this one is one of the few that I consistently grab. The thing about it is that I always want a bit more and I just never seem satisfied with the result. This one mixed with bulk no. 710 Columbian mocha and any good quality white burly is a good smoke. I am just not enthusiastic about it by its self.