McClelland Royal Cajun Dark

My favorite in the Royal Cajun series as this Virginia tobacco has body and strength. The bottom is there in droves, and I am sure some would think it's a little on the strong side. It will absolutely not bite no matter how hard you puff. An almost toasted flavor comes through. I've socked away several tins for future enjoyment.

Pipestud

The Virginias are fruity, sweet, and spicy. The "Periqued"" Kentucky is earthy, smooth and only mildly spicy. I find this to be much better balanced than Ebony. It's sweeter and spicier with a milder earthiness. An outstanding, most enjoyable smoke.

Body is mild to medium. Flavor is medium. Burn was spotty requiring some relights so I pulsed it a few times in my food chopper and improved the burn to excellent.

Oh Holy Zeus this one is yummy! From the very first puff I knew I was smoking something extraordinary.

Unbelievably sweet for a non-aromatic, and yet so marvelously pure and natural. And smooth?! Zounds! I don't know any other smoke that feels and smells so good coming through my nostils. And zero bite, no matter how hard you puff at it (and I tried!).

calavera astutely compared this to another McClelland masterpiece, Dark Star. RCD is like Dark Star's coarse (ie: easy to prep and light), more gregarious cousin: it's just as subtle, but less complex and mysterious, and a lot more playful, with the sweet dark flavor coming front and center.

But it's not a monochromatic sweetness at all, but one suffused with a myriad of wonderful spices -- predominantly sweet ones like clove and nutmeg, but with tiny little hints of something tangy and sour here, something peppery there -- that together form an impeccably balanced melange of flavors that deepens and develops throughout the bowl.

But the flavor never overpowers. It's like emmbee says: "This is one of the most understated tobaccos you could smoke, and yet, the flavor reaches out politely and ubiquitously without offending." emmbee also likens RCD to a "magnificently aged single malt scotch", and I find that another apt comparison.

To contribute my own synaesthetic metaphor: if Dark Star is a Berg String Quartet, then Royal Cajun Dark is a piece by JS Bach in G Major, playfully and serenely joyous.

Great, absolutely great. My congratulations to McClelland for developing a whole new genre that can produce such a sublime concoction! I can't wait to try the other blends in this series.

UPDATE: Two months later, and this seems to have become my default blend. Absolutely love it. I've decided that it is more a fine port than a single malt scotch. I've tried the other Royal Cajun blends (which I will review at some future date), and this one is definitely the best (for my taste buds, at least). My #1 tobacco. Beer (reviewer below) nailed it when he said "if you are into dark but subtle tobaccos, give it a try", for indeed RCD hits the bullseye in my happy spot.

This Cajun Black: the nicest surprise I could get back from the U.S. !!!

The inner disc tells the story: a Virginia seed grown in Kentucky. I would say it's a kind a natural black cavendish, mild, spicey and smokey. Truly delicious. I wouldn't say CB is something to imitate the Perique. This is another thing.

RCD is something dark, very dark, almost black. Not wet. A bit complicate to light, but then it goes his way without great troubles. Mild, but not exagerately. Sweet like stoved virginias can be, without the very minimum bite, no matter how hard you draw. Spicy like the best Orientals can offer. Softly smokey and citrusy like Syrian Latakia, without being leathery.

Before me, Kingcole says it right: RCD smokes like an aromatic without being an aromatic. Nice statement. I would add mine: smokes like a mild english mixture without being an EM. I do think each smoker can find his motto: that's because RCD offers many layers of depth (DK).

I usually prefer blends several notches stronger. Here we are in the mild territory, but that is counterbalanced by a consistent flavour body, which makes RCD a satisfying and contemplative smoke.

I'm of those thinking RCD is a true masterpiece.

Royal Cajun Dark, what can I say? I am down to my one and only last can. I was going to buy the series but McClelland’s closing down at the end of February caught me completely off guard and I did not find out about it until several months later. I really liked this one. Dark tobacco with medium brown ribbons interspersed throughout. It has (had) a nice earthy smell to it and smoked really well. Can’t really compare it much but I will use the terms dark, smoky, spicy. My tin was dated 2017. I would definitely recommend it but would not pay any inflated price since it is no longer in production along with their 233 other blends.

I did not know what to expect with Cajun Dark, I thought it might be similar to a Latakia blend or possibly similar to a Dark-Fired based one, but it resembles neither. Also strength- wise I presumed it would be a strong tobacco but it’s not…

Tin note is quintessentially McClelland, vinegary and redolent of sweet spices. It consists mostly of pitch black pieces of tobacco leaf with some ribbons here and there of red and blonde Virginias. The pieces are rather large and unless you want to press the tobacco hard it loads in quite a loose way. And although the tobacco is a little bit moist, it lights with ease.

Now to the interesting part. This tobacco is very subtle, tasty, but in a very elegant way. It is smoky but not in a pungent Latakia manner, more like an unflavoured English Cavendish sort of way. It feels like the tobacco has undergone a process of rounding, smoothing and mellowing without however losing its taste. Underneath the gentle smokiness lurks the supreme McClelland spicy sweetness of red Virginias, very similar to 5100. Actually it does taste to me like a blend of Black Cavendish with 5100...

The smoke is full bodied and very tasty, yet it’s not strong but does contain a fair amount of nicotine. No harshness at all, on the contrary it is supremely smooth and it smokes dry and clean. Overall Cajun Dark is a very interesting blend, complex and unique in style but with the tell-tale taste of the McClelland hand.

This was a surprise! Unfortunately I only smoked a sample given to me by a close friend. It's a shame that this and the other McClelland tobaccos are gone forever. This is a gem, very rich in flavour, with no bite and mild. An explosion of flavour will greet you from the first puff to the last. Smokes cool, and reminded me Mississippi Mud a bit, but much milder.

This is fantastic stuff. Smokes so cool with no gurgle, no bite, and stays lit pretty well. I agree with other reviewers that this has good complexity ranging from leather, wood, spice, and dried fruit.

This is a lovely tobacco, sweet, savoury and smokey. Full of fruity complexity it burns beautifully and the transition in flavour as the bowl progresses is astounding.

An interesting feature of this baccy is the difference between the flavour in the mouth and the aroma through the nose. The former is lively and fruity: the latter is all earth and wood and deep smokey tones.

Absolutely bite free, but does produce some moisture straight from the tin.