McClelland Christmas Cheer 2003
(3.33)
Hand-blended, premium pressed Virginia flake tobaccos. A fine vintage, naturally sweet, in limited quantity.
Details
| Brand | McClelland |
| Blended By | McClelland Tobacco Company |
| Manufactured By | McClelland Tobacco Company |
| Blend Type | Straight Virginia |
| Contents | Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Broken Flake |
| Packaging | 100 grams tin |
| Country | United States |
| Production | No longer in production |
Profile
Strength
Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
3.33 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 11 - 15 of 15 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 01, 2005 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Tolerable |
A nice flake in the usual McClelland tradition: sweet and sour, slightly tart, fruity and flavorful, slighly grassy and very American.
It is definitely better and tastier than the 2002 edition, although similar in appearance (maybe slightly darker).
The ketchup smell is a bit more subdued than in other McC offerings, and as usual it doesn't translate to a ketchupy taste.
My only "complaint" is that other "ordinary" McC blends like Virginia 27 and Blackwoods Flake are even better, richer and tastier than this "special edition" (which is supposed to be great and unique)... but this doesn't make Christmas Cheer 2003 any less delicious for lovers of the typical Virginia taste of this legendary brand.
I am happy to have some more tins of this in the cellar, which should age wonderfully: you can't go wrong with a McClelland flake!
It is definitely better and tastier than the 2002 edition, although similar in appearance (maybe slightly darker).
The ketchup smell is a bit more subdued than in other McC offerings, and as usual it doesn't translate to a ketchupy taste.
My only "complaint" is that other "ordinary" McC blends like Virginia 27 and Blackwoods Flake are even better, richer and tastier than this "special edition" (which is supposed to be great and unique)... but this doesn't make Christmas Cheer 2003 any less delicious for lovers of the typical Virginia taste of this legendary brand.
I am happy to have some more tins of this in the cellar, which should age wonderfully: you can't go wrong with a McClelland flake!
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| May 21, 2005 | Medium | None Detected | Medium to Full | Pleasant |
This review will discuss McClelland's Christmas Cheer 2003, McCranie's Red Flake and Wessex Classic Virginia.
Christmas Cheer 2003 (CC) is a red Virginia made from a 1998 Old Belt crop while McCranie?s Red Flake (RF) was made from a 1996 North Carolina crop. CC and RF are both medium-to-full-bodied.
CC fails to deliver the consistently deeper red Virginia flavor that RF offers. While CC has bursts of RF?s consistently dusky red Virginia flavor-a flavor that in comparison is both darker and deeper than a signature brown Virginia, Rattrays Brown Clunee-such bursts are more atypical than constant. This is not to say that CC is not an enjoyable tobacco but simply that in the realm of red Virginia, RF is the winner.
RF?s tin notes state that softness is this tobacco?s chief characteristic. While I don?t disagree with this statement, I would add that RF?s deeper, richer flavor outdoes the competition. One wonders how the considerable tobacco wisdom of McClelland, whose most notable entry in the Virginia arena, its Christmas Cheer series, allowed itself to be content with anything less than a product just shy of perfection. Yet perhaps this has something to due with the time constraints of finding fine leaf in time to process it and still meet Christmas Cheer?s traditional release at the RTDA show.
We then come to Wessex Classic Virginia (CV), medium-to-full bodied, blended by Kohlhase, Kopp und Co. It has more in common with RF than CC and is comprised solely of mature Red Virginia. It has less flavor than RF but I tend to believe this a choice of the blender, not a flaw. It throbs with the rich, basal note of a curing process designed to produce a no-nonsense, straightforward, aged tobacco. Little complexity in comparison to CC, the most complex of these three tobaccos-if any Virginia can be called complex-just a delicious, singular, deep, red Virginia flavor. In comparison to CC, it has little of that tobacco?s grassy, reedy flavor components.
Ranking, in descending order: RF, CV, CC.
Christmas Cheer 2003 (CC) is a red Virginia made from a 1998 Old Belt crop while McCranie?s Red Flake (RF) was made from a 1996 North Carolina crop. CC and RF are both medium-to-full-bodied.
CC fails to deliver the consistently deeper red Virginia flavor that RF offers. While CC has bursts of RF?s consistently dusky red Virginia flavor-a flavor that in comparison is both darker and deeper than a signature brown Virginia, Rattrays Brown Clunee-such bursts are more atypical than constant. This is not to say that CC is not an enjoyable tobacco but simply that in the realm of red Virginia, RF is the winner.
RF?s tin notes state that softness is this tobacco?s chief characteristic. While I don?t disagree with this statement, I would add that RF?s deeper, richer flavor outdoes the competition. One wonders how the considerable tobacco wisdom of McClelland, whose most notable entry in the Virginia arena, its Christmas Cheer series, allowed itself to be content with anything less than a product just shy of perfection. Yet perhaps this has something to due with the time constraints of finding fine leaf in time to process it and still meet Christmas Cheer?s traditional release at the RTDA show.
We then come to Wessex Classic Virginia (CV), medium-to-full bodied, blended by Kohlhase, Kopp und Co. It has more in common with RF than CC and is comprised solely of mature Red Virginia. It has less flavor than RF but I tend to believe this a choice of the blender, not a flaw. It throbs with the rich, basal note of a curing process designed to produce a no-nonsense, straightforward, aged tobacco. Little complexity in comparison to CC, the most complex of these three tobaccos-if any Virginia can be called complex-just a delicious, singular, deep, red Virginia flavor. In comparison to CC, it has little of that tobacco?s grassy, reedy flavor components.
Ranking, in descending order: RF, CV, CC.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 12, 2004 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Overall a nice example of their Christmas Blend series. A steady, rich, Virginia that runs consistent the length of the bowl. As nice as it is, I feel confident that with aging, it will take on an even more characteristics and nuances to increase it to a mezmerising experience. A fine example of the broken flake genre.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Oct 04, 2004 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Tolerable |
Every year Charlie Brown goes flying when Lucy pulls the football away at the last second.
Every year I pop open a tin of the current year's iteration of Xmas Cheer on release, only to ask myself why on Earth did I waste another tin of a tobacco that I know will not be ready for another five years. So this time, for a change, I decided to wait a whole year before opening a tin of MCC '03. Verdict- only four years too soon. I'm getting better, I suppose.
Tomorrow I will punish myself further by attempting to sample the '04 version. Some guys never learn.
Every year I pop open a tin of the current year's iteration of Xmas Cheer on release, only to ask myself why on Earth did I waste another tin of a tobacco that I know will not be ready for another five years. So this time, for a change, I decided to wait a whole year before opening a tin of MCC '03. Verdict- only four years too soon. I'm getting better, I suppose.
Tomorrow I will punish myself further by attempting to sample the '04 version. Some guys never learn.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 19, 2004 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Tolerable |
A limited tobacco and different every year...this year is rich and more in the traditional virginia tast than the last 2 years all of them however tend to the richer veriginias. A worth while treat and since it is limited you may not be ble to find this in the future however do give it a try and you will be pleasently rewarded. Smooth and slow with unique sweetness. The tobacco used is of great quality and produces unique taste. Mery Christmas!
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