McClelland Honeydew

I'm on my second bowl of the Honeydew. My first bowl was consumed a little quickly, and I didn't get to taste it as much and it started to bite toward the end. Today I'm relaxed, sitting in my library enjoying Honeydew with a mug of black English tea. Also, I bothered to do a decent pack and light today, which helps tremendously. So that's the first part of my review, this light tobacco wants to be taken slowly. Flavor disappears when smoked fast.

The prep: rubbed out bits of the flake and smelled the tobacco before packing. Mild, but it held a definite cream and honey scent.

The pack: three pinches, packed light, medium and firm. Checked the draw before lighting. Might have over-packed a bit and the draw wasn't wide open but better than when I'm rushing and just shove it tight.

The light: lots of expansion on the false light. Since I had piled it high, had to tamp and settle it back into place before the true light, which expanded more. This left a nice fluffy medium gray ash, which became speckled with light grey as I continued to smoke.

Taste: mild but notably sweet. I like sweet and haven't found many (yet) that remain consistent through the whole bowl, but this one seems to be doing the trick for me (relative to a consistent pace, that is).

Nose: Smelling exhaled smoke was mainly spicy, but still mild. Though most tobaccos do that to me, so I don't know whether it's specific to my selections or just how my nose reacts to smoke.

Room Note: Also mildly sweet. Pleasant.

Seems a reliable choice for those who enjoy a sweet selection with a consistent experience.

McClelland - Honeydew (221b Series).

The cut's a broken flake, over half of the tin is exceedingly well broken. The tin note's perplexing, as many reviewers mention, it has the ketchup note found in McClelland blends, whereas the smoke doesn't. The moisture's good for immediate smoking.

The smoke has just the right amount of sweetness to it for it to qualify as being a steadfast aromatic. The sweetness isn't heavy, but kind of 'sharp', if that makes sense? The Virginia's give a rich fruity note, without being very caustic, and can seem slightly tart at times. The burn from Honeydew's good, producing a cool smoke, without any bite.

Nicotine: quite mild. Room-note: very pleasant.

A top quality smoke. Highly recommended:

Four stars.

Finally a McClelland I can enjoy! No tongue burning, not the faintest acidic undertone, this tobacco is, to say the least, commendable. Smooth and gentle, it nevertheless retains enough body and tobacco complexion to make it enjoyable, and due to the cut and preparation, it is long lasting, consistent and well behaved.

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The subtle sweetness and rich flavor are NOT the result of an artificial casing or topping, but of the honeydew ?process?, that is, a means of preparing and maturing the pipe tobacco leaf (by the same token, Cavendish is not a tobacco, but a form of leaf processing), that allows the natural sugars, oils and resins to combine and ferment in such a way they provide a deep and rich bitter-sweetness, in this case to Virginia leaf, and a uniform reddish-brown hue to the flake.

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There are other similar tobaccos out there, like Gallaher?s Rich Dark Honeydew, J. Fox?s Honeydew Aromatic or Clan Shaw?s Honeydew Cavendish, and they all have this deep rich flavor, slightly sweet and toasted.

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McClelland?s Honeydew vaguely reminds me of Deep Hollow. But where Deep Hollow is bland and undefined in terms of flavor, strength and structure, Honeydew is unambiguously intricate and dense, yet mellow and temperate. It is an excellent option for those seeking to leave behind artificially aromatic blends, and a great introduction to pipe smoking in general.

Maybe I just want to smell honeydew melon...? This tobac smells very close to a sweet smelling fruit or melon. I find myself sniffing the tin just to get a whiff of this delicious flake. Ok so it's sweet but it's not too sweet or I wouldn't like it. It's a Virginia type sweetness that is mellow and  very satisfying especially later in the day. Another bonus is that my wife loves the room note and is ok with me smoking this inside of the house with the windows closed. When I first smoked this I dried it out for several hours beforehand which I later found out was too long. The second attempt  I let it sit for 10-15 min which was perfect, but I think like all of the 221B series you can smoke them right from the tin which is really enjoyable and quite convenient.

I tried this on the recommendation of my local tobacconist, and upon opening was greeted by a ketchup-like smell that I've learned is common to McClelland tobaccos. I didn't expect much, and the first bowl didn't greatly impress me. It seemed too moist, lit with some difficulty, and required several re-lights. However...

I let the tin dry for about a week and WOW! What a difference! It lit easily, smoked dry, and the flavor is sublime. The strength is medium, which is perfect for me. It has a fantastic Virginia taste complimented by a very light casing, which provides some mild sweetness. This is definitely a tobacco to rub out and let dry a bit, but once you do, you'll be rewarded with a truly sublime smoke.

Also, after several bowls, I agree with the reviewers who say that it's best suited to a larger pipe. It smoked best in my large Peterson spigot, and provided an hour of great, unhurried relaxation.

I really enjoyed this one. This is another of those blends that harkens back to college memories for me. I smoked through a tin of this rather quickly and loved it. At first I wasn't super impressed, but the tin was open and I had alot of papers to get written, so I kept smoking it. This one claimed my Churchwarden for some time, it has a nice soft sweet smell from the tin and a fragrant and mildly enjoyable taste on the pallet. Great smoke to have around when you are working on something that requires thought I think, it goes well with contemplation, however I wouldn't classify it as a late night smoke, for me it was more of a just got home from work, sitting down to work on papers for school in the late afternoon kind of smoke. Goes rather nicely with a rainy day where smoking indoors is available. Give it a try especially if you haven't smoked much VA, this is a nice one to cut your teeth on.

A balanced blend that is especially suited for enjoying indoors or on hot summer days. The room note of this tobacco is wonderful, including the aromas of figs and spices with an occasional hint of cedar.

Upon opening, the tobacco presents itself as medium brown broken flakes interspersed with a small quantity of ribbon cut tobacco. The mixture appears to be exclusively Virginia tobacco. A dry, fruity tang like raisin or fig with an undertone of vinegar is detected upon opening the tin.

Honeydew burns well straight out of the tin. A charring light produces a strong autumnal scent reminiscent of a cup of hot cider enjoyed outside on an October evening. The tobacco lights evenly, even when there are some larger bits of flake present.

Smoking this tobacco hard in a pipe with a small chamber does not produce any oppressive overtones, although it does seem to smoke a bit wet even in a small straight pipe such as a Dunhill group 2 billiard.

There is no need to worry about this blend causing any ghosting in a favorite pipe. Indeed, it can have an almost cleansing effect on all but the most intractable of Lakeland-impregnated briars.

When enjoyed in a meerschaum, more of the subtleties of Honeydew become apparent, with just a touch of pepper coming into the mix at the end of a drag.

This is one of my favorite tobaccos, and one that I highly recommend.

Pipes used for testing: Peterson XL315, Stanwell Featherweight Poker (245), Stanwell Featherweight Horn (245), Savinelli Dry System Oom Paul 1604, Savinelli Byron's Favorite Churchwarden

When I opened the tin I thought hmmm....doesn't smell that great, a little sour, but once I lit up....WOW! Very nice! Very light and mild. Slight melony fruity taste, just a little bit of sweetness. My first broken flake tobacco. It smoked very cool. I'm so motivated to try more flakes, this was a perfect transition. I recommend giving this a try, it won't disappoint!

Appearance: A nice medium thickness broken flake, mostly medium in color.

Aroma: There is a noticeable but not overpowering top note, on top of some nice sweet Virginia aroma. The characteristic McC vinegar was missing, thankfully.

Packing: It packed nicely as-is into medium to large bowls, needed to be rubbed out for small bowls.

Lighting: About average in ease of lighting.

Initial flavor: Just as it smells, this is a mild/medium Va, with a subtle added top note. I can?t identify the addition, but it tastes right for the blend. No noticeable heat when smoked at normal rates.

Mid-bowl: Very pleasant flavor of VA., very light aromatic. No complexity or layering, making it a good all-day smoke, but not a nightcap. Cool and well behaved at all times.

Finish: No surprises, burned down to ashes in a dry pipe.

Summary: For me, a good warm weather morning and afternoon smoke. Don?t let the slight aromatic quality keep you away from this one. For me, the hit of the 221b series. BTW, many people will enjoy the aroma, always a plus for a sometimes Latakia smoker like me.