McClelland Beacon

Beacon where have you been all of my life! Just like your true love, you remember where and when you met, the lighting on the street corner across the street, the way she walked over to your SUV, watching her ample hips sway, your dream lady is coming towards you; you roll down the window & sigh &.. , I have that feeling for Beacon, I have vivid memories of when we met. This was not a cheap hookup, it is magical, its for real man!! We are in love!!!

I am new to pipe smoking, ex cigarette smoker, started our hobby in October 2008. I ordered three tins of Beacon along with two others (Haddos Delight and Waccamaw) to be honest to the other brands I have not tried them, and I am not to sure that I will, unless my woman burns me. Beacon I think is my holy grail of pipe tobacco.

When I open my first tin I was put off by the smell. From reading the blender review of their products I expected this. So after the initial opening I let the tin sit for an week at the office. Then I open the tin and let it sit for an half hour trying to get the initial smell out of my tobacco. I also rubbed some of the Beacon tobacco out on a paper towel from the coffee room and let it set out for an hour. I packed my pipe using the three step method. The pipe I used was a Dunhill group 4 Dublin. This was the best smoke that I ever had. Upon the first puff after the charring light there was a citrus overtone to the tobacco which in my opinion is perfection. Beacon is highly recommended.

This is a great, somewhat broken, bright flake with a touch of perique. I really don't taste the perique, so it must be in there mainly to cool the blend. Plenty of natural flavor from the get go. North of medium. Not wet.

Burns easy, sweet and savory to the taste, but can have a trace of an edge (not bite or hot per se), if smoked in a large bowl. Smoother if smoked in a smaller or medium bowl I feel.

Taste reminds me a little of the flavor of McClelland's Honeydew flake tin, but not as sweet and certainly not as potentially hot as that one. I don't think this blend is scented; it just has well aged virginia.

If you like sweet virginias (but not real sweet or aromatic) and are into flakes, this is a good choice. Recommended.

The tin aroma of these medium-cut, partially broken flakes is of lemon, grain, and cooked fruit, along with the typical McClelland tang.

Rich and pointed light VAs take center stage with a supporting background of perique strengthening their presence and ratcheting up the richness a notch.

A vaper composed of primarily golden virginias, this spryly pointed and meandering blend fills a long-vacant hole in the McClelland portfolio. SImultaneously rich and youthful, Beacon is simply a gem.

Chamber Gauge: Narrow

Heinz participates in this mixture too. Especially when you open the tin, finding dark black colored flakes, with some brown and golden shades among them. It is most fortunate that gradually this aroma fades away, and all that remains is the natural taste of Virginia. It is a strong tobacco that tastes real good, and the Perique just adds a spicy note, without bothering me at all, as I am not a big fan of it. A big disadvantage of this mixture though is how it lights up. It is very difficult, and equally hard is to keep it lit for long, especially if you fill the bowl with whole pieces that you haven't rubbed or cut into cubes. I will keep the second tin, that my good friend “Hetfield” brought me, and smoke it after 2-3 years. I'm sure that the results will be more than impressive.

I recently opened a tin from 2009 and stoked a bowl after drying & rubbing it out some. I didn't think I was going to like this but I persevered. It was a little sharp initially but quickly faded. After a little burns off, you're left with pure tobacco flavor.

This is a good VA/Per blend that burns fairly slow and stays lit really well. The Virginias in this blend are very sweet and my overall impression was...a blend that anyone would enjoy, regardless of preference.

For me, this mix became a little bland & lite after mid-bowl. I like VA/Pers & this is a good one. Therefore, IMHO, Beacon merits three stars.

PCCA Beacon, from Bob Hamlin and McClelland, is the ultimate Bright Yellow Virginia/Perique blend ever.

This blend is for long term aging, and smoking anytime!

Just hoping McC keeps the good thing going.

Tin: This is a partially broken flake with a familiar McClelland sweet oats and raisins smell, chestnut to brown, mottled with blonde. Supple and somewhat moist. Tin date is 2009.

Handling: Needs to be rubbed out like any flake. Difficult to get lit and burns slowly. With the tobacco very well rubbed out, a much more savory smoke is had.

Smoking: Similar to other offerings in this genre: Aurora, McCranie's My Reserve II; sweet VA, but with a terse edge to it.

With the tobacco very well rubbed out, Beacon is a more complex smoke.

Nicotine: mild to medium, closer to medium

Room Note: tolerable

Overall: In that there are similar offerings in ribbon form, two stars; well rubbed out, 2.9 stars.

Beacon is part of the 6-member Collector Blends produced by, and labeled as, McClelland. McClelland originally made it available for the Pipe Collector's but McClelland no longer puts PCCA on the label.

This tobacco is very rich and flavorful.It smokes like a well aged Virginia right out of the tin and in my opinion doesn't require aging to experience a wonderful sweet Virginia smoke.The perique is in perfect proportions, and must cool this blend on the palate.Because with heavy puffing I couldn't detect any bite.

This is by far in twenty plus years of pipe smoking the best Virginia flake that I have smoked.

It is best fully rubbed out.

Treat yourself to this blend,you want be disappointed.

The blend to me has no topping flavoring I can distinguish. The natural taste of the tobac is unadulterated by this giving the smoker only the pure taste of the tobacs, especially the Perique. The flavor of the Perique is pure; it's quite delicious. Upon opening the tins I smelled a lovely plum aroma , no topping smell noticeable to me. The tobac is presented in small flakes which are fairly broken up. I rub out the tobac and then grind it a bit in a manual grinder. This allows for me to smoke the slightly moist tobac easily having more edges to burn, thus giving me more flavor (from the moisture level of the tobac). Easy to light, easy to burn, this blend leaves no bite on my tongue, but a big flavor hit in my taste buds! I recommend this tobac to anyone who is a fan of vaper blends. Yummy!