McClelland Best of Show

One of my favorite aromatics. I usually keep a tin or two in my rotation. Not overpoweringly topped, but the nougat is very noticeable both in taste and in room note. Like most McClelland aromatics, the balance in this blend is outstanding with little or no bite. I find it burns relatively cool and reduces down to fine ash with little goop in the bowl. An all-day aromatic.

First off I am a relatively new pipe smoker, but I have done quite a bit of research both hands on, through reading some very good books on the subject, talking to experienced pipe smokers, and a lot of time on the internet. I have tried well over a dozen aros, from cheap drugstore mixes to high end offerings from Boswell and Russ Ouellette, but nothing I have had has ever compared to McClelland Best of Show. It lights easily, burns all the way down with minimal relights, has one of the best room notes of any aro ( according to the wife). And according to reports from my father to whom I gifted some, it is the only tobacco that my mother ( who has drunk deeply from the second hand smoke Kool-aid cup) that she will actually encourage him to smoke in the house. It is my desert island tobacco. That is not to say I don't enjoy non aros, in fact BoS is pretty much the only aro I regularly smoke. I really enjoy English, Vaper, burleys, and Balkans as well. Any well made quality tobacco I will make room for in my tobacco cabinet. Among my other favorites are Solani 656 aged burley flake, davidoff red mixture, frog Morton cellar, and dunhill flake among others, soon to be reviewed. My point is after reading so many reviews that started "I really don't like aros but I am reviewing this aromatic anyway.....and I never understood that.

Maybe it is because I am new and don't have any preconceived notions, and after trying several dozen tobaccos of all different types, I like what what I like regardless of what is on the label.

And when I open a can of Best of Show, it's like a whiff of nirvana, packing a pipe and lighting it up, It is the only aro that I can actually taste! Hints of caramel and brown sugar in my mouth. If I could only have two it would be BoS first and Frog Morton cellar second, I'd be a happy camper.

An amazing tobacco! Very smooth, tasteful and well balanced. It has aromas of white chocolate and caramel with a hint of Sherry. It burns pretty well and it has a mellow taste of caramel. With low sweetness at the end. Highly recommend for aromatics fans, a piece of at.

I wish I had known this was going the way of the dinosaurs, so that I could have bought a few tins. I won't mis it too much however, as it was impossible to dry out fully.

It was one of the best nougat flavored blends available. The room note was of a strong peanut brittle cooking. As a result, everyone and their dog asked about it.

This tasted almost candy like but on the burnt peanut side.

I have only a half a tin left, and will hurry up and smoke it with a relish.

Had a bowl of this lastnight and it was amazing. The tin didn't say what leaf was in the blend, only that it had a nougat casing. I also detected a bit of caramel in the tin aroma and smoking flavor. Tasted like a nice pastry of some sorts. The tobacco burned very evenly and to the bottom of the bowl. No tongue bite or anything. One of the other pipe club members said it was "an aromatic for non-aromatic smokers". Definitely recommend picking a tin of it up, especially if you're looking for a good aromatic to please the wife and smoke inside.

McCelland, in my opinion, is a maker of some of the most mellow aromatics around. This is no execption. Best of Show seems to be missing the vanilla notes common in other aromatics like Captain Black, Blue Note, etc. but makes up for it with the nougat flavoring, and it does taste like nougat. A smooth, cool smoke all around that is not much different than Town Topic (same base tobacco?) when the casing is taken out of consideration. Overall it's cool, smooth like velvet, and rich - definately not something that is hot, bites, or pierces the tongue.

I like this particular blend much better than Town Topic's uneventful Maple flavor.

I smoked my first bowl of McClelland's Best of Show and fell in love with it from the first puff.

Opening the lid you get the aroma of Nougat from the coarse cut Virginia, the Black Cavendish is most likely toasted and the Cavendish is most likely a Sweet Cavendish. The combination of the three presents an excellent flavoring and aroma that I enjoy as a connoisseur of the aromatic tobaccos.

There was no tongue bite not even a little nip, this is a very mild tasting tobacco with full flavor that is very satisfying.

I love and it will be a great addition to my tobacco collection.

This is really an excellent tobacco in my view. A wonderful smell when you open the tin. A very smooth smoke with a great flavor. One of my favorite tobaccos by McClelland.

A great flavor and an awesome blend of tobaccos. A very good hybrid of English Blends and Aromatics.