McClelland Town Topic

Ah this is a tough one to review. I am not an expert on anything but as I have smoked just about every maple tobacco available I guess I can be considered a maple pipe tobacco expert... It's fall and that means maple tobacco time, picked up a tin dated 2015 so that's good (one never wants an old aromatic as they lose their potency). The topping is not as good as Autumn Evening, I suspect Aunt Jemimah vs Real Maple syrup in AE but you cannot compare the tobacco since AE is red Virginia Cavendish and TT is Black Cavendish with some yellow Virginia. Sweet, not goopy, smells wonderful, no nicotine and will not bite. **Blend half Granger with half TT for a delightful maple Burley & Black blend!**

I'm not usually into aromatic blends, after having a somewhat rough introduction to them through Borkum Riff Cherry Liqueur and Captain Black White. I bought this tin because of the room note and in order to have something to smoke in the morning without getting tired of it, but was very surprised to find that the aroma/tobacco ratio was just the way I wanted it to be! Great job, McClelland. The tin aroma is overpowering, so much that when I first opened it in my office my friends smelled it 10 feet from where I was. I wouldn't describe it as maple syrup, but more as cappuccino. My fears of a heavy-laden maple flavor were soon dispelled when I took my first whiff. I would recommend this as an aromatic blend for non-aros.

Let there be no doubt as to how Town Topic is made. Gnomes that work for McClelland wake up early every morning and sneak into your kitchen. When you are not looking, they steal your fresh pancakes and maple syrup. Then when the sun is at its apex they incant the magical words that turn your breakfast into pipe tobacco. At least that is what I got when I smelled Town Topic the first time. There is really no guessing what the sticky topping is... just pure brown-sugar maple.

Like many aromatics, the flavor of the smoke is much more subdued than the unsmoked leaf, so don't think you will taste those pancakes you smelled earlier! You will however, get a nice mild easy smoker with a light caramel/sugar hint.

It was quite nice, and I have to say all the McClellands I've had so far really make the grade.

I recommend this only compared to other aromatics. The maple flavor was very pleasant (fitting for me living in NH). My wife loved the room note which helps. I would put this above my other aromatics in CB Gold or White.

I don't have a lot of experience with McClelland aromatics as this only the second one I have smoked. Town Topic is a solid, straight forward blend with no bite and best of all, no chemical taste. The maple flavor extends somewhat over to the sweet smoke. One of the things I really don't like about McClelland blends is the heavy dose of PG that is often used. I don't know if this blend actually has less of it, but I was able to dry it fairly quickly. As tinned maple blends go, you can't go wrong with TT. I personally prefer Vermont Maple Cavendish from Pipeworks & Wilke as it's made with pure VT maple syrup and is sold in bulk. Recommended

I'm not usually a fan of aromatics, but after reading the reviews on this site I decided to give Town Topic a try. I'm glad I did, as this particular blend will be a regular in my collection. As soon as you open the tin you're greeted with the distinct smell of maple syrup, the tobacco is moist but smokable out of the tin which is good because I was too anxious to let it dry for very long.

From the first light I was greeted with the subtle tastes of maple flavoring, the smoke was light but the weed burned cool and had a minimal level of relights. There was none of the characteristic aromatic tongue bite. That superb flavor lasted for the first two thirds of the bowl, unfortunately for the last bit of the smoke the baccy became very sweet, almost like flavored coffee syrup.

This is a perfect blend for a post-breakfast smoke with your morning coffee, or even a great after dinner dessert smoke. I am already looking forward to tomorrow morning so I can spark up another bowl of this wonderful blend.

This blend suits me better than C&D Autumn Evening. It smokes much cooler, and the maple flavor stays through til the end. It may smoke somewhat wet if smoked hard or not dried a bit.

The wife loves it, so that makes it even better. If you are looking for an all day aromatic that will please the crowd and your palate, this is the one.

4 out of 5 stars for Town Topic!

In my opinion, compared to McClelland's Tastemaster, Town Topic is an improvement. Didn't have any problem with moisture or packing. Much easier to keep lit than Tastemaster. No chemical taste to speak of. Not quite as sickeningly sweet, either. Room note is commented on favorably - my son walked in and said, "It smells like pancakes." However, I can not smell nor taste the maple flavoring. It was very evident upon opening the tin, along with a beautiful appearance, but there it stops. As with Tastemaster, if it wasn't written in the description, I wouldn't have guessed it was Maple.

Although there was ample sweetness present (sugary and not maple), there was also a slight bitterness that presented itself at mid bowl and remained throughout (granted that it was smoked fresh from the tin) and left me with mild agita, but never any moisture in the bowl. I smoked it in a medium-sized billiard Meer. No tongue bite, but for me, not much in the way of real tobacco flavor. If you want tobacco flavor as well as the taste of the aromatic casing, try Mac Baren's Vanilla Cream Loose Cut (see my review for it on this site).

All in all a somewhat pleasurable diversion from headier blends, but not a daily one for my tastes. It's too much like the typical aromatic. I'd rather have smoked the high class tobacco McClelland claims to have used for this one without the casing - I'm sure it would have been better. A notch above Tastemaster so I'll rate it 2.5 stars out of 3.

ADDENDUM to my original review on 1-23-09: I left the tin opened overnight. I smoked it today in another Meer, and also in a Ropp Cherrywood pipe. No bitterness but the agita was there again. Still not much in the way of tobacco taste, but I actually tasted the Maple which was quite pleasant and still didn't become sickeningly sweet. Although I still prefer Mac Baren's Vanilla Cream Loose Cut over this one because I can still taste the fine tobacco along with the vanilla, I'm changing my rating to "recommended" and giving it 3 out of 4 stars. Won't become an every day smoke for me, however.

Very nice aromatic with a nice maple flavor. Mild aromatic with a nice mild smoke and room note. I'm giving it 3 stars, because I prefer chocolate or Vanilla aromatics over over maple ones. But, if you prefer maple, this is a good one. Mom will like the room note, too.