McClelland Royal Cajun Special

I haven't been looking forward to this review. With every subsequent bowl smoked, I knew that my review would be ravaging. I hesitate only because I admire McClelland, particularly for their insistence on experimenting. There are only so many blenders as bold...actually, there are none, I apologize. I crave different tastes, and when I scour the interwebs in search of something new, I am inevitably led back to that familiar profile of a whale taking in a breath of fresh air. In my mind, GL Pease exists to refine, and McClelland exists to create. Royal Cajun is squarely within that tradition, and I confess, I feel a bit guilty for hating the stuff.

"Cajun Black." I remember reading about this a few years back, a bit intrigued, imagining that I would get around to it sooner or later. That time has come, with a tin dated 2006--that's a good four years of age. Reading the verbose insert provided by McClelland, my first instinct was to imagine a cross between Latakia and Perique, a smokey, fermented condiment soon to line the shelves of tobacconists and their mason jars of blending components...how can this fail?

My only reservation going in was the notice that these blends lack oomph. I like a strong tobacco, and have gone far enough to add Perique and sliced rope as necessary to toughen up a blend. Nothing is safe, from Frog Morton to Blue Note. This tends to change the taste profile, obviously, but it extends the range of tobaccos that I may sample, which my curiosity appreciates. So, I stand ready to amend this concoction if necessary.

Prodding though the contents in the tin, the tobaccos are course, largely black-- the stoved Virginias and Cajun Black indistinguishable, and a bit of that light, lemon Virginia, sparingly evident. The classic McClelland Virginia scent pervades throughout (I do enjoy the novelty, I admit).

The smoke, honestly, doesn't deliver the promise of new flavor. The blend is decent enough, but I don't seem to taste anything that new or that different. There's a hint of what might be Perique, and some smokey notes, but taken together, it's nothing distinct enough to warrant jubilation.

I understand now why the blend is so light...to pair this with a strong Virginia, or a robust Burley would diminish what little individuality the blender claims that this leaf may possess. And so you are condemned to these mild smokes, or some oft hope that the next batch might use a stronger strain of Virginia. Either way, the future is bleak, as perhaps obvious by the lack of other blenders who have taken to the cause of "Cajun Black". But McClelland is a tasteful company that could probably make a pile of crap at least halfway palatable, which is clear in the simple instance of Special, which should ideally fail to offend most people.

Forty years, that's how long it's been since a new tobacco component emerged-- according to McClelland. I like the desire to branch out, but I think we can do better.

For my part, I'll take a pinch of Perique and snap my fingers.

One and a half of Five.