McClelland Honeydew

Update: I have found this works much better for me in pipes with wider bowls. In a full bent Comoy's Gilded Grain, the experience was warm with a pleasent honey sweetness. I'm going to give this an extra star.

Let me preface my remarks, by saying that I am not a big fan of straight Virginia. I have tried a number of them over the years, without being impressed. Honeydew reminds me of the Mclelland Christmas blends, with a barely perceptible topping. The flavor lacks the sharpness of some Virginias I have tried, but has very little sweetness or complexity. I would call the flavor thin and cigarette-like. I did not rub this out at all, simply packing some of the broken flakes into an Upshall straight apple and lighting up. The blend burned cleanly with few relights, but tended to be hot. Perhaps some years of aging would bring out more flavor.

Previous reviewers have done a good job of describing this blend, so I'll just say that Honeydew is a delicious smoke, if:

a) you dry it well

b) you smoke it slowly with concentration

c) you smoke it in a clean pipe

d) you don't mind a subtle honeydew taste that comes and goes as you smoke.

This is not at all a walk-around-and-do-things blend. This is a pay-attention-or-you-miss-it blend.

I made the mistake of breaking up the flake and stuffing my pipe with the stuff. It got way too hot. As other reviews here suggest, the best bet is to keep it more-or-less intact in the bowl. Once that is done, it's a fairly pleasant smoke. Of the 221b series I don't like it nearly as much as Arcadia. I'm going to let it dry out under the plastic lid for a few weeks and approach it again. Like a lot of McClelland's it's somewhat damp and may benefit from a little airing.

I enjoy this when I am in the mood for a light sweet virginia blend. This is sweeter than the tin aroma may lead you to believe. There may be a light honey topping but I think the sweetness mostly comes from the virginias. Even though this is a virginia blend I believe that there may be a small portion of burley in this in that on occasion I detected low notes that were cigar like. I may be wrong on this but I am a fan of virginia based blends with very small portions of burley and many of these style of blends have a very similar low note that occasionally comes through that straight virginia blends dont have. I prefer to smoke this dried out much more than the way it comes in the tin. It bites less smoked this way, however it still will bite with out much provocation. For this reason I give it 3 stars and not the highest rating. Recommended.

I am just getting 'round to a review for Honeydew. A friend passed over the last half of a tin, which I polished off in good time. I purchased another, which sat for a few months, then was smoked over a week, finishing up today. This tobacco is a rough cut, very pretty in the tin, not much "ketchup" aroma, more peppery to my nose, very "irish flakeish". Lightup is rather uneventful, frail wisps of smoke give way to a gentle taste experience. It certainly is a competent cake builder, and smacks of a quality blend of virginias, mostly sweet but not offputting to the non-aromatic crowd. Room note is pleasant, albeit heavy. I like this blend the most of the Baker St trio, it being welcome reprieve to my latakia inured palate. I will cellar a few tins.

This is a light tobacco that is good as an early morning smoke or an all day blend. It smokes smooth and cool. Don't let the name "Honeydew" scare you if your hesitant about aromatics. The flavoring has been applied with with reserve. It has a great tin aroma and room note, but again the flavoring is delicate and remains subtly in the background. It smokes well all the way down the bowl and becomes a little more medium bodied and flavorful as the bowl progresses. Overall I think McClelland has done a fine job with this much anticipated blend. If you like this blend, you may want to try Peterson Irish Whiskey.