McClelland Royal Cajun Special
(2.96)
Two dark stoved Virginias and one wide cut lemon Virginia expertly blended with Cajun Black. This blend is one of a kind, ethereally smoky, deeply rich and incredibly complex. Virginia's natural sweetness cooled by Cajun Black's fire-curing and perique style processing.
Notes: Cajun Black is the first new pipe tabacco component in more than forty years. Cajun Black derives from Virginia seed brought to southern Kentucky long ago to grow in that fertile, heavy soil where it was crossbred to create dark fire-cured tobacco. It is stalk-cut and hung over slow-burning hardwood slabs in a three to five step smoking process until it turns a deep chocolate color and achieves its distinctive smoky flavor.
Details
| Brand | McClelland |
| Series | Royal Cajun Series |
| Blended By | McClelland Tobacco Company |
| Manufactured By | McClelland Tobacco Company |
| Blend Type | Straight Virginia |
| Contents | Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Coarse Cut |
| Packaging | 50 grams tin |
| Country | United States |
| Production | No longer in production |
Profile
Strength
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
2.96 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Oct 05, 2008 | Mild to Medium | Extremely Mild | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
A McClelland brochure says Cajun Black is the first pipe tobacco to be developed in over 40 years. Virginia seed was grown and crossbred in Kentucky. This tobacco leaf is processed by fire-curing and Perique-style fermentation. This Perique-style pressing and fermentation gives the new Cajun Black leaf its characteristics.
RCS has a McCellandish strong, sweet buttery and raisin tin aroma as its key signature. It's coarse, chunky ribbon cut, one of the widest ribbon I've ever seen, particularly in the lighter leaf. It's 90% black and 10% blonde leaf. Moisture is less than in other McClelland blends. It packs readily. Tin date code on bottom: 980206, meaning tinned in 2006.
Another signature is that RCS is a VA with a sweet flavor and a mild salt and sour Perique effect. With careful attention, a chocolate-vanilla taste and aroma is noticed.
A third key element is a strong toasty taste that is not tangy or sharp. This toasty undertone is really nice.
Somewhat mild in taste and aroma, RCS is medium in nicotine strength. It leaves a moderate room note.
Definitely not a strong Perique style of tobacco; it emanates only a moderate truffle-like pugency of Perique.
RCS burns mostly to the bottom of the bowl and is only vaguely moist, with little gurgle. Three hours air-drying left it a bit more dry and slightly easier to light and burn to the bottom.
This is a somewhat medium all-day smoke. If you are looking for an expensive VA having mild Perique qualities, this is it. But, there are VA tobaccos available with St. James Perique blended in. For RCS, the Perique thing seems to be a promotional alternative designed to please smokers of quality VAPER blends that will likewise not offend non-smokers.
Overall: RCS: Liked this the most, due to a toasty undertone.
RCE: Liked somewhat; decent, in that it is mild.
RCD: Considered not even finishing the tin; plastic tone; lingering negative room note.
RCS has a McCellandish strong, sweet buttery and raisin tin aroma as its key signature. It's coarse, chunky ribbon cut, one of the widest ribbon I've ever seen, particularly in the lighter leaf. It's 90% black and 10% blonde leaf. Moisture is less than in other McClelland blends. It packs readily. Tin date code on bottom: 980206, meaning tinned in 2006.
Another signature is that RCS is a VA with a sweet flavor and a mild salt and sour Perique effect. With careful attention, a chocolate-vanilla taste and aroma is noticed.
A third key element is a strong toasty taste that is not tangy or sharp. This toasty undertone is really nice.
Somewhat mild in taste and aroma, RCS is medium in nicotine strength. It leaves a moderate room note.
Definitely not a strong Perique style of tobacco; it emanates only a moderate truffle-like pugency of Perique.
RCS burns mostly to the bottom of the bowl and is only vaguely moist, with little gurgle. Three hours air-drying left it a bit more dry and slightly easier to light and burn to the bottom.
This is a somewhat medium all-day smoke. If you are looking for an expensive VA having mild Perique qualities, this is it. But, there are VA tobaccos available with St. James Perique blended in. For RCS, the Perique thing seems to be a promotional alternative designed to please smokers of quality VAPER blends that will likewise not offend non-smokers.
Overall: RCS: Liked this the most, due to a toasty undertone.
RCE: Liked somewhat; decent, in that it is mild.
RCD: Considered not even finishing the tin; plastic tone; lingering negative room note.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 12, 2009 | Mild | None Detected | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
i like this! i found it to be quite flavorful and unique. rich, smooth, and satisfying. the tin aroma and the color are wonderful, it packs and burns with ease, and solicits many compliments about how good it smells burning. as we all know, this is blended with the "new perique" due to the la. st. james parrish hardships, while i am not so sure it is too similar to the original perique (which i like very much), i would accept it as an alternative on it's own merit any day. i applaud the group that had the foresight to develop this. i will return to this and i will try the other two in the series.
01/2016 as an additional note, I found this to be even more pleasant when put through a tobacco grinder to loosen up and tear some of the larger chunks, it helped bring out more flavor and aided in burn. Good made better.
01/2016 as an additional note, I found this to be even more pleasant when put through a tobacco grinder to loosen up and tear some of the larger chunks, it helped bring out more flavor and aided in burn. Good made better.
Pipe Used:
Briar and meer
PurchasedFrom:
Tobaccopipes.com
Age When Smoked:
1 year in tin
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Nov 22, 2015 | Mild to Medium | Mild | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
When I reviewed Royal Cajun Ebony (RCE) on the 5th of October this year I gave it a major thumbs up. At the time, I had not yet tried the Royal Cajun Special (RCS) nor the Royal Cajun Dark (RCD). I am smoking RCS now and find it quite delicious also albeit a tad stronger.
The Royal Cajuns (RCs) are a completely different tasting blend from the normal tobaccos we smoke in terms of appearance (real nice darkish), richness and flavour/taste. Don't get me wrong; there are many top class tobaccos out there but the flavour of the RCs is quite unique.
This is as creamy and spicy sweet as RCE but a little less so; not sure why it is less spicy that RCE, but perhaps because it has less Perique than RCE or none at all. Or does it? To my taste, RCE has a slight edge over this (RCS) and since I gave RCE a straight four star, I will rate this as a four, less half. But I can see RCS joining RCE as part of my regular rotation.
The Royal Cajuns (RCs) are a completely different tasting blend from the normal tobaccos we smoke in terms of appearance (real nice darkish), richness and flavour/taste. Don't get me wrong; there are many top class tobaccos out there but the flavour of the RCs is quite unique.
This is as creamy and spicy sweet as RCE but a little less so; not sure why it is less spicy that RCE, but perhaps because it has less Perique than RCE or none at all. Or does it? To my taste, RCE has a slight edge over this (RCS) and since I gave RCE a straight four star, I will rate this as a four, less half. But I can see RCS joining RCE as part of my regular rotation.
Age When Smoked:
New
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jul 03, 2006 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant |
I am fortunate to have smoked this excellent blend of skillful curing and inspired blending. The result is a smoking experience for pipesters seeking pleasures both subtle and complex. It burns easily without leaving undue mess in the bowl save grey ash. The element of Cajun Black is going to be around for a long time once people have the opportunity to smoke it. I have no problem recommending this to anyone, except maybe those who do not smoke Perique. I've already started laying in a supply to cellar, since I don't think I can keep it out of my rotation of blends I keep open. I have little discipline in this matter.
Meerschaum Man Smoking a CAO Dunhill Man Pasha
Meerschaum Man Smoking a CAO Dunhill Man Pasha
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 02, 2006 | Mild to Medium | Extremely Mild | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
I feel privilged to be the first to review this wonderful blend. Upon opening the tin one is greeted by a very dark and chunky cut tobacco.It is very similar in appearance to "Best of Show". The aroma is similar to an aromatic,yet THIS IS NOT A SWEET AROMATIC blend.THIS IS MORE "PERETTI-ESQUE" IN ITS TREATMENT OF A NATURAL TOBACCO WITH AN AROMATIC ELEMENT ADDED. It is also very moist, so I advise at least 30 mins. of open air exposure. 1st light yields a very naturally sweet flavor. This flavor is incredibly rich,yet does not change throughout the length of the smoke. This new "Perique Style Process" does produce a very unique flavor. It is not that typical McClelland ketchup smell. It has more of a vanilla cased Virginia smell.The smoke goes rather quickly and burns to a cool ash. This is for the adventurous. It is a cross between an aromatic and a virginia blend. Highly recommended for the smoker who likes change. 4of 4 stars. P.S. THIS IS ACTUALLY A LITTLE BETTER THAN THE "CAJUN EBONY".
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 13, 2010 | Medium | None Detected | Medium to Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
I purchased my first tin of Cajun Special because my regular tobacconist was out of Cajun Dark, which I was wanting to try. He said Special was also a good blend, so I tried it.
Upon opening the tin, the aroma was very smooth, spicy and unusual. I filled a bowl on a large Wiley pipe. Some of the tobacco is soft and smaller, and other flakes are firm and a bit larger. I broke up some of the flakes before filling.
The tobacco wasn't too dry or too moist. It was a slight bit bitey at first light. After turning the top to ash and coal, I tamped it down a little, and relit. It swelled considerably, and I tamped while puffing gently. The flavor mellowed, and smoothed out to be a really nice, unusual smoke.
I liked Royal Cajun Special enough to buy three more tins and put them in their own special tobacco jar.
Upon opening the tin, the aroma was very smooth, spicy and unusual. I filled a bowl on a large Wiley pipe. Some of the tobacco is soft and smaller, and other flakes are firm and a bit larger. I broke up some of the flakes before filling.
The tobacco wasn't too dry or too moist. It was a slight bit bitey at first light. After turning the top to ash and coal, I tamped it down a little, and relit. It swelled considerably, and I tamped while puffing gently. The flavor mellowed, and smoothed out to be a really nice, unusual smoke.
I liked Royal Cajun Special enough to buy three more tins and put them in their own special tobacco jar.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| May 29, 2007 | Mild | Very Mild | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
This is a fairly complex blend, it has a spicy start with some notes of citrus, maybe lemon zest. As the bowl progresses the flavors get richer and more heavy, the sweetness goes away and the layers of chocolate and perique (or the simulated perique) start to take the forefront. I prefer this to many other dark and complex blends because it does not have the heavy nicotine that is almost always associated with this style of tobacco. It also does not have the tomato smell associated with some of their other blends.
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