McClelland Christmas Cheer 2004

The red Virginia is rather earthy, slightly grassy with a deep dried ripe, tangy dark fruit, bread, wood, a little tart and tangy citrus, sugar, and light spice. It’s more tart and tangy than usual. The "vinegar” smell and taste lasts longer than other years, and sublimates the tobacco flavor more than some other years. It’s not quite as smooth as it is in other years, but the rough edges are small. Won't bite or get harsh. The strength and nic-hit are a step past the center of mild to medium. The taste level is a slot past that mark. Needs a light dry time. Burns clean, cool, slow and moist with a very consistent flavor from top to bottom. Requires some relights, and leaves a little moisture at the finish. Has a lightly lingering, pleasant after taste and room note. Can be an all day smoke. Three and a half stars.

-JimInks

This blend didn't really do it for me at first. I could smell a bit of a cinnamon from the tin, but it tasted too tart (almost bitter) for my palate. After smoking about a third of the tin, I decided to stove it. The result was fantastic! It really matured the smoke, and the bitterness all but disappeared. If you didn't like it, stove it. You might be surprised.

I agree on many points with the previous reviewer. In my own words this is a wonderful qualilty in a virginia flake. A somewhat mild, yet profound complexity to be experienced by the smoker. Spice notes that accompany a higher than average natural sweetness with a noticeable coolness than one usually finds in a straight VA flake. There is also that characteristically McClelland vinegary tang upon opening the tin. The only one complaint I have is like with many of McClelland flakes and blends the tobacco is cut to wide. This makes it troublesome to keep lit. However, what a fantastic example in natural tobacco qualities can be achieved with top quality leaf and extended aging. In this case 10 years.

- Recomended

This is the only Christmas cheer I have smoked so far. I am lucky enough to have various years cellared so I'm sure to review more when I do decide to pop those tins.

First of all let me just say from my experience I find mcclelland Broken flake blends a little difficult to deal with. I have found that ample drying and fully rubbed out seems to burn best. If left in their broken clumps they require tons of relights.

This being almost ten years old I wasn't sure what to expect. Truth be told I don't have that much experience with aged tobacco. When I popped the tin I was greeted with the classic ketchup smell. The tobacco was still fairly damp. I smoked several bowls fresh from the tin and it was to damp to deal with plus I did not really rub it out all the way. I decided to allow the remainder of my tin to "air out" for a day then rub it out and put it in a mason jar.

Now when I smoke this I completely rub out a bowls worth and allow to dry 10-15 minutes. From the initial light I was greeted with a very delicate but sweet Virginia flavor. That flavor is very consistent throughout the bowl. I find gentle sipping seems to bring out the best of this blend. I get sweet grassy flavors with a light citrus taste here and there. This is a rather pleasent tobacco to smoke. It suits me well in the morning with my coffee. The wife thinks the room note is ok.

I have DGT this and it does gain a little deeper flavor but not too much. Overall this is a good smoke. I would reccomend it. I only gave it three stars because for me it's not strong enough, but I don't think it's supposed to be. It is overall a great smoke but can be a bit of a bitch to work with and keep burning.

I believe that this VA has not been given enough credit for its composition. I agree with POUNDER's review, in that the beauty of this blend lies in its potential. Although this tobacco is already ten years in the making, there is still so much unmetabolized sugar remaining, that this VA will age to perfection. I really can't get over the amount of sugar that must have originally been present in this leaf but, this is what allows most VA to age so well. Stock up on this one boys, the future of this blend is bound to be legendary.

This stuff burns the mouth and tastes like No. 27 and The Navy cavendish had a kid that couldn't live up to his poor parents name! So why the high rating ? Because I believe in this flake. I have utter faith that given a few years of aging this stuff will be remarkable. Opening a new tin right now and tasting it is an exercise in what is to come. Greg Pease is one of the most esteemed blenders in America today. His only problem is his typically American trait of impatience. All of his wonderfully blended tobaccos are sent out to the consumer far to young. If you taste a Pease blend that is absolutely no good, simply put the remainder in a mason jar and wait a year. The transformation is amazing. Now this is a problem that the McNeills have never shown us before and I hope this doesn't become a habit. How many smokers around the world have been informed that Mr. Pease is one of Americas best only to pop the top and taste an unsmokeable tobacco that is merely lacking age? Do you think they will ever buy anymore, much less take these American tobaccos as seriously? Hopefully so, but I still think that all of these young blends would sell better and make a much more favorable impression if they were sold when they are mature and ready. Perhaps they were just in a rush to find a special leaf for this years Christmas blend and had to release it. But don't you think they would have been better served by keeping it in good aging conditions and releasing it as next years blend? At the very least they could put a note with the tin description with the advice to open and put in jars for aging awhile before partaking. I think the public would appreciate this and would end up buying more. Oh well, enough rambling- go ahead and stock up on this stuff- just be more patient with it than its blenders- and in time I think you will have a heavenly smoke!