McClelland Tastemaster

Undated ebay tin. This, and the others from McClelland Premium Aromatic series, are sticky-wet out of the tin. A lot of people don't like this, and while I'm not overly happy with the moisture left in the heel of my pipe, I actually find the gumminess helpful in packing, especially with the Frank method that I favor.

The initial light brings the strongest flavor. A rush of pure sugar followed closely by an unassertive sweet chocolate. Not too promising. I like the sweetness, but it's a bland sugar-water flavor without character or development.

It is quite slow-burning, even given all the puffing I did trying to extract some flavor. All the good points here are mechanical: packs well, stays lit, stays cool (even with all the sugar) doesn't bite. It burns evenly and slowly, giving off fluffy grey clouds that disappear almost instantly. Fun to watch, which is good, because the smoking itself is boring. Oh, there we go. Stoking it a bit- something's changed. The mild sweetness turns to a dirty, acrid taste. Slowing back down, we return to insipid sugar water. That's what I get for trying to taste something. The smell off the bowl is a sour, old-urinal aroma, but the evanescent smoke seems to leave behind a mildly pleasant trace of waxy, candle-like chocolate. Eh. Burns nice and slow, though. Got 50 minutes out of this bowl, which is on the smallish side of medium. No strength to speak of, even for this nicotine lightweight. That felt like a small plus for this smoke today, even though I like a little kick on occasion.

I think I remember trying and liking another of this series (Town Topic, if I remember correctly). That one had the same cut, same high moisture, but none if any of the flavor issues. I wonder if operator error is to blame here. I don't smoke often, and I don't smoke while doing anything else , so I like my tobaccos to be something of a special occasion. This is a lawnmower blend- I can see it being perfect for mindless puttering around the garage, if one is looking for that sort of thing. I wasn't, and I won't be buying this one again, unless someone tells me that it's way better from a fresh tin.