McClelland Beacon

I love this tobacco. If smoked gently it will give you flavor that lingers in your mouth long after the dottle has been tapped out. Hints of citrus similar to a lemon drop (tho not as sweet) and black pepper. I'm currently smoking a tin from 2009 which has been aged in the tin - that may explain the mellowness. If you like VA/Pers you should give this a try

I enjoy pure aged Virginia flakes. Virginia flakes have what I call the "Yum" factor. The exception to that rule is the adding of a little Perique. I love this tobacco. I went through a 50 gram tin in a week and ordered a bunch more. In my opinion it is much better than St. James Woods and slightly better than its cousin Beacon Extra. I love Beacon Extra too. I do not care that it smells like catsup when I open the tin... it tastes great! After all, parmesan cheese smells like smelly feet and people pile it on their food!

Upon opening the tin you are greeted with the typical McClelland smell, some refer to it as a ketchup smell, or a strong tang smell; Either way I find it pleasurable. The tobacco is in the broken flake style, and seems to be fairly consistent in size. Each flake consists of dark and orange colored virginias, with highlights of lemon virginia and streaks of perique. The moisture content is average, not overly wet, but most people would probably want to dry it out for about 30 min or so, depending on your preference.

The tobacco flakes rub out easily into fine ribbon strips. I chose to gravity fill the pipe, but I am sure this tobacco would work great for the air pocket method as well. Packing was easy and the blend lit well after an initial char lighting.

My first few puffs of this blend were very sweet. Sugar and perique with a hint of Virginia were dominate for the first 10 puffs. After the initial puff the sugar sweetness subsided to a nice matured virginia sweetness and a solid virginia taste came through. The balance of Virginia and Perique is very nice. The perique never seems to dominate the matured virginias. About 1/4 of the way through the bowl the lemon virginias start to play on your tongue. A nice lemongrass flavor is apparent but like the perique, it never overtakes this blend. !/2 way through the bowl the flavors seem to meld into a sturdy, cool, and slightly sweet virginia. The Perique kicks back in towards the end, with the occasional note of lemon virginias.

This blend burns down to a fine ash. I never had much of a problem with moisture. I ran a cleaner through the stem of my pipe once, and more for good measure then out of necessity. I did not notice an extraordinarily strong nicotine content in this blend, and feel it is on par with most Vaper blends.

In my opinion this is a surprisingly good Vaper blend. honestly I didn't have real high hopes for this blend, but I ended up being very satisfied with it. If I had to compare it to another Vaper I would say it is reminiscent to Solani 633, but subdued on the lemongrass virginia and a higher sugar content. I would heavily emphasize the word reminiscent though! My experience with this blend was in a medium to large billiard shape Stanwell pipe. I feel this is a great offering from McClelland and would not hesitate to recommend it or purchase more. *DGT Update* I went ahead and set 1/2 a bowl aside for DGT. The flavors seem to have melded. Medium in virginia flavor with a spicier note of perique in the foreground. Once in a while the smallest whiff of lemon will appear. Personally I cared more for it before the DGT, but just one mans opinion.

This is a very rich VaPer built on a solid foundation of tasty matured Virginias. I smoked a tin of this alternating with a tin of McC 40th Anniversary, and the Virginias here are every bit as wonderful as each other. To my limited tasting abilities they are of the same stock.

The Perique is first evident on the nose straight out of the tin. That ineffable fruit and pepper quality that Perique has. The first few bowls I struggled to find Perique in the smoke itself. I knew it was there, and I was sure I would notice if it were gone, but it took me a while to dial into the flavour. But when it hits you it never leaves. Great stuff, perfectly balanced.

This is not much like Dunhill DNR, or its kissing cousin, Escudo. This is more like Cabbie's Mixture. The Virginias in Beacon and Cabbies' are much riper and richer. That doesn't mean better, nor does it mean worse. They are all 4 star blends in my book, but it is a lesson in how the same core ingredients can produce quite different outcomes.

This is an easy, bite free, medium strength blend that suits any occasion and can easily work as an all day smoke.

No long review here. I've been smoking this (heavily) since it was re-launched, just didn't get around to a review. Simply put it's one of the finest VaPer's on the market. It is perfectly balanced in my opinion and delivers a flavorful and gratifying smoke with no nicotine assault. I consistently reach for it and it never lets me down. A top five tobacco for me.

I love the tanginess of McClelland's VA. I don't know if it is the Lemon VA, but this blend left a tangy note in my mouth that makes it water still. The smoke begins mild but, after you get to about half of the bowl, it begins to show its true colors. Complex, bodied and soothing, this blend was the first one for a friend who wanted to know what all this pipe-nonsense of mine was about. He loved it! I expect to have more tins of this in the future but, as much as I liked it, it won't enter my rotation. Hence the three stars.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Until I tried Beacon, I never really knew how hot a blend could burn. This mild VaPer flake will singe the hairs from your tongue if you're not careful. This blend will make an acrylic mouthpiece too hot to handle.

If you smoke it slowly, you will have a tolerable, and somewhat bland VaPer. The Virginias are too young, not the aged or stoved stuff you see in so many McClelland's. Not one of McClelland's best.

But I love VaPers, and there is a generous amount of Perique here. I bought several tins, so I'm putting them away for a while. Maybe in 2016 I will find that it has aged into the great blend that others have experienced.

McClelland - Beacon (Collector Series).

The flakes themselves are thick and robust, but because the moisture was great when I opened it they weren't too difficult to prepare. It's actually a broken flake, not to the point of being virtually a ribbon, but it's slightly broken.

This is a fantastic smoke. Sure, the Virginias may have been added more heavily, but the inimitable flavour of the Perique still comes across; the Perique gives some 'zing', while the Virginias sweeten the smoke. They work together great. The Perique cools the smoke, and a bowl burns perfectly steady. I don't get an ounce of tongue bite, no matter how hard a chug on my pipe.

I find the dose of nicotine about medium, and the room-note's good.

Highly recommended, easily.

A fantastic blend where light sugary yellow Virginias are paired with darker heavier -yet still sweet - Carolina leaf with a delicate and yet pungent perique, the likes of which this Cajun hasn't tasted outside of St James Parish in any blend that I can recall. Cut is nothing special, correct in every way as one would expect from McClelland, doesn't burn out of the norm, but somehow the pairing of this VaPer is near perfection in that it delivers a nice nicotine-laden experience without being overbearing or harsh... no bite whatsoever.

I have had half a dozen VaPers of which University Flake and La Flake are favorites, but this blend surpasses them in that the flavors are layered. Think tiramisu vs pudding in that sense. Both have sugar and are pudding-like, but the former has such depth compared to the latter. So goes Beacon. Have a tin of Beacon Extra I am about to sample... VaPer and Virginia lovers should consider this outstanding blend.