Tobaccos McClelland - Christmas Cheer 2007

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-12-01		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

I was able to procure the last tin/tub of this wonderful tobacco from my local tobacconist, and for a reasonable price. To begin with, I knew what I was getting into with the aged VA's, but some newbs might be confused as to why this is called "Christmas Cheer," and isn't positively laced with cinnamon, cranberry, clove, nutmeg topping and pine-cone essence. Well, for starters, that'd likely be disgusting. Second, this tobacco is more to showcase some absolutely top quality aged Virginia tobacco in limited quantity around the holidays.

Upon opening, the first thing you notice beyond the small-ish flakes of dark virginia is the distinct fermented smell. Indeed there is a noticeable vinegar/ketchup aroma floating on top of that natural tobacco smell. But with all great tobacco's, every time you sniff, you get something different and there's many layers here. There's that really great VA, earthy, autumn leaves aroma going on and I know I said it wasn't "christmas-y" but is that clove I detect in the background? Tiniest hint of vanilla?

Even after aging for a year, there's still a good amount of moisture in the flakes, so after rubbing these somewhat thick flakes out, I recommend giving them a moment to dry. Char-light, tamp, relight, tamp, then final light and you should be good to go. You'll notice instantly that the vinegar-y smell is virtually gone once it's lit. Man oh man, this tobacco has turned me into a VA fan. Smokes nice and cool, though stronger in taste and nic than what I'm used to. The spicey/sweetness is subtle but distinct and the cleanliness of the aftertaste is about as perfect as you could hope for. About midway through the bowl, this tobaco took on a bit of an espresso note, amazing stuff. Hardcore aromatic fans may likely not enjoy this, but I find it to be a truly great, natural VA tobacco. Glad I bought this!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2008-02-01		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I knew I should have waited..... But, since I've smoked every vintage of Christmas Cheer except this one, I figured I'd give it a try. Rough around the edges, but certainly has the potential to age well. The tobacco arrived very chunky in the tin and was certainly not yet in smokeable form the way I like to work the leaf.

I have read where some reviewers do not appreciate the difficulty in rubbing 2007 CC out. Try taking a pipeful or two out of the tin and place it on a paper towel or napkin for an hour or two. Then rub it out with ease. The moisture content should have dissipated substantially and keeping it lit will not be a problem.

This vintage tasted a bit stronger and was more odorous than the most recent offerings. Perhaps I'm being an optimist, but I really do believe this one could develop into a bellringer with 5 or more years of age to it. My other two tins are now in my "cellar."

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2015-03-09		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

A bit on the darker side of the CC's I've smoked, with McClellands typically pungent fermented tin aroma. Thicker flakes than previous versions I've smoked, and came wetter than I like. In fact, it took an overnight out on a paper towel to get this dry enough to fully enjoy. Comments are based on 2 oz, as I want to save the other 2 since this is my only tin.

Very balanced blend, with a total harmony of grassiness, sweetness, spiciness and tang. Rarely did any of these come to the fore except for the very end of the bowl, when the spiciness took over just a bit. Balanced... and that was I think what kept it from a 4th star. This had none of the brashness of 2005 (and '06 to a degree) and little of it's spicy roundness. This was flat in comparison, but still a tasty blend. I think I would have liked it more if one of those four attributes took over and lead the parade. But there is a place for blends like this in my rotation, for when I don't want to pay close attention to the flavors as they build in other blends. As with all the CC's, this is unfritzed-with Virginia tobacco - very natural. And all the different years I've smoked taste at least somewhat different. This one is mellow and inoffensive. For my taste it could have been a bit bolder. But it's a nice blend as it is, and I can't expect them all to be as incredible as the '05. Recommended for VA lovers that prefer balance.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3022)	2014-12-20		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

This one was a little stronger than some of the other CCs. Hardly any grass notes, more earthy, not quite as tangy as I expected or savored in other years. Still had the familiar "vinegar" smell, though I didn't notice it much at all, not even in the first few puffs. The flake was thicker than usual, too. It was still sweet with dark fruit notes, and a very bare hint of spice here and there. Has a mild nic-hit, and won't bite or get harsh. Burned slow, need a number of relights and left some dottle even with some dry time, though I did not completely dry it out. Has a pleasant after taste and room note. An all day smoke.

-JimInks

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-04-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Update: Just to put some emphasis on what I think this tobacco is and what I think it will be in the years to come, I put 18 tins away for storage (#1 by tins for me). This also blends wonderfully. I wish McClelland would sell bulk bags of this vintage. YMMV and that means more for me!

Original: Just about as delicious a red Virginia you can find. Medium-plus taste quotient, but not really bordering full. Once I opened the tin, I could not stop smoking it, and it kept getting better as it aired. I am rubbing the flakes out somewhat for a better burn. Tongue bite is not an issue. Any size and configured pipe works just fine.

Sweet, rich, and refined, tasting exactly like, well, Virginia leaf! Not cased nor artifically flavored in my sampling, I do not know how this gets an average rating of "Extremely mild" for flavoring on TB.

Wonderful now and likely even better in years to come.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-12-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

CC '07 comes in the familiar and welcome red wrapped tin and when opening it, you are greeted by the familiar McClelland ketchup/acid-like aroma (something I have grown to look forward to). Has familiarity bred contempt for this new edition of Christmas Cheer? To make a long story short, no. Absolutely no.

CC '07 comes in smallish flakes of medium thickness that are quite dark in color. Immediately upon opening the tin I realized that I would need to dry it out a bit, so I left the tin open for a couple of hours before smoking any. I did my usual fold, twist and stuff and then hit it with flame from my Ohio Blue tip (extra-long kitchen size) and it was "Lucy, I'm Home!" Sweet, musty, pungent and spicy smoke greeted my palate with a sensation that made me ask, is there perique in this? That perique-like sensation lasted throughout the bowl and every bowl since.

CC '07 is very good. VERY good. I am glad I bought a few tins, because I look forward to trying this again with some age on it.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-10-31		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Nothing bad can be said about any of the Christmas Cheer blends. They have never tinned anything but tobaccos of the highest of quality for this once a year release. The popularity of some years over others thus becomes a question of taste more than quality. This said, to my taste Christmas Cheer 2007 is the best release of the decade- - so far.

CC 2007 is a mellower blend than many previous ones, exhibiting a rounded sweetness which balances extraordinarily well against the reediness that many, including me, seek in smoking Virginia tobaccos. The bowl starts round and sweet, does not lose its roundness as it moves to reedy, meanwhile a "non-aromatic", "non-soapy", completely natural floral top note teases the palate. This is a great one.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (250)	2013-04-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I always have trouble reviewing Christmas Cheer. They are all great for lovers of pure Virginias (like me), but even though the Virginias come from different growing areas, the taste differences are so subtle (at least to me) that it is difficult to compare and contrast them. The only one that I think I could identify blindfolded among the ones I've tried is the 2002, which seems to take the idea of single-crop purity found in this series to the level of outright austerity...

The 2007 is just what one expects from the CC series: pure, American Virginia served up in the McClelland way.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-11-17		Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

UPDATE** I aged this tin from September 2007 until today. It is amazing!! It is aging wonderfully. The Virgina is at its peak. The taste has sweetened. I wish I would have bought more than one...

ORIGINAL*

It is smooth and creamy with a vinegar/clove smell that does in fact invoke a holiday air and feeling. It does have a calming effect just smoking a pipe full whilst warming yourself by a fire with a brightly lit Christmas tree and your favorite Christmas shows on the tube.

The Virginians are brilliant in taste. It has an aromatic taste but is easily better than any aromatic. Well done. 4 stars.

Can burn quite hot but with a little care is a smokers delight.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Latakia (70)	2008-01-12		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I am usually a fan of latakia in some degree or another. I am also a cigar aficionado and have switched to pipes after a long hiatus...20 years or so...and am now coming back with a vengence and love getting back to briar and the diversity of pipe tobacco. I decided to try McClelland upon a recommendation from my tobacconist and loved the can (that's right, I did judge a book by the cover). It was also two days before Christmas and thought I would try a Christmas Blend for a bit of a change. Upon opening the can, it did smell like ketchup. The first pipe was OK and before I was completed with that first bowel, I was thinking I wasted my time and wanted a taste of latakia. My second bowl a few days later was surprisingly better and after a few more bowls, I was sold that this was a blend I would keep as a regular.

I think this will age nicely and will buy a few tins to stash away. Am now going to venture out to Virginans which are not blended with latakia. Any recommendations anyone? The room note is very pleasant and one test that gives any tobacco that I smoke is the comments from my wife. She loved it. I also feel it leaves a nice cake on the bowls. I do not detect any tongue bite. Really a tobacco I can smoke everyday.

Addition #1: Smoked this in one of my meerschums and it was truely a treat. Smoked very cool and was a nice mouth wash after a strong Odessey smoke tonight.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Flyerdog (9)	2013-10-21		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I love this tobacco. As for what it smells like in the tin - I could care less. I often see various CC vintages compared to Ratrays Old Gowrie but that is comparing apples to oranges, or in this case Mature VA to VAPers. A better comparison for OG would be McClelland Beacon - which is one of my favorites behind CC.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-12-22		Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is my first CC, bought back when it first became available and aged since then in my cellar. Typical McClelland vinegar aroma in the tin. It needed some airing-out. In fact, I always found this a bit bitey no matter the moisture level. The only thing that worked was an accident: I left several bowls' worth out to dry for too long, and then had to re-hydrate it. That smoothed it out without sacrificing any of the flavor. Try that if you have the same problem. A pretty pleasant smoke overall, with both sweet and salty notes.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darth Vader (110)	2011-08-05		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Its 4 years old now and while a its enjoyable, it doesnt blow me away. Standing alone, its a little weak for me. Still quality though. If only they could get rid of that god awful ketchup smell from the tin.

Update. The more i smoke of this the more it's subtle flavours come out. It's teaching me to enjoy milder Va's. After 4 months the vinegar smell is all but gone and now smells very nice. Up to 4 stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	don1688 (27)	2010-01-04		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

I am a virginia lover and find the "ketchup" tin smell from McClelland virginia's wonderful. So, you know what I think. Sweet and tangy like citrus with a spicy background. My pallate is not as refined as some, I'm sure, therefore I find each year to taste somewhat similar, but that is fine by me because I love them. No need to concentrate while smoking this one the sweetness comes through easily.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	2PiR (1)	2009-12-24		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Well, I put it off as long as I could. I've been eyeing my tin of Christmas Cheer for two years. So, on Christmas Eve I have decided to open it as a treat and to also break in a new pipe.

Upon opening the tin, I was greeting by McClellands classic virginia aroma. I personally think it smells good and is a sign of high quality. Small, dark broken flakes abound. With closer inspection, I noticed sugar crystals have formed on the flakes. Excellent! Moisture seems just right, definately not on the dry side. I rubbed out a bowl and loaded my new Elliot Lovat. Two lights, a tamp, and I'm greeted with a soft spicey smoke. Reminds me of cloves and apples but not in an aromatic way of course, just high quality aged red virginias.

Treat yourself this holiday to a bowl of Christmas Cheer and make sure to add some to the cellar.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	KinnScience (30)	2009-05-02		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

An excellent example of McC's Christmas Cheer that only gets better with age.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PipenGuitar (15)	2008-12-18		Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Peeling the tin back... peeling the tin back...finally! WHOA!!!! What a smell! It's ok though, because this was my first tinned Virginia. I was expecting that ketchup smell everyone talks about and I sure as hell got it. Having smoked mostly aromatics, I've been growing tired of the same old great smell but no taste effect. I tried some Virginia's and had great tastes, but horrible room note. Here is a tobacco that has the benefits of a good room note and leaves a slightly sweet/spicy after taste. Be sure to dry it out a bit. Puff slow and hold it for a few secs to let that subtle sweetness present itself.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NONSUMDIGNUS (11)	2008-12-14		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Mmmmmm... read all the other 4 star reviews and I concur. Nice!

Add'l Note: The ketchup smell was unreal and interesting. I spread this stuff out and let it dry out for about 12 hours and put it back in the tin. The ketchup smell eventually died out and what was left was a very pleasant spicy smell with hints of cloves. Nice indeed.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipemanuk (76)	2008-06-28		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This isn't one of my favourite McClellands. It smells just fine and it smokes..well just about tolerably, but it doesn't give you what you expect from these masters of the art. I wish it tasted as good as it smells...which is something like Christmas Plum Pudding...but it never delivers anything other than a VA ready to bite you at any second. Shame really. I have one more tin and I'll hide that away for a year or so and hope it matures a bit.

Updated review June 2008

I'm still working through the same tin I reviewed earlier and I must admit that I am enjoying it more now. There's less of the plum pudding and more of a scent of cloves and cinnamon and this is coming through in the smoking as well. I rubbed out the entire contents, not something I normally do and that combined with a few months airing in the tin seems to have improved the smoking qualities really well.

Upped to 3 stars now:-)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	flaminbill' (57)	2008-01-25		Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable

I really like McClelland Virginias and this is no exception. The key to some of these McClelland flakes to me is the preparation as the broken flakes are rather thick and unruly. I find that if I don't rub these flakes out, I can't keep them burning.

The bottom line is if you have some skills and patience and can get the tobacco to where it smolders, it is excellent. I do prefer smaller gauge pipes for Christmas Cheer of any vintage.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-01-07		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

With these hard-pressed, medium-cut broken flakes have usual McClelland tang in the tin.

The taste is, again, typical for this style of virginia: rich, complex, earthy, nutty, sweet and sour.

As with many McC VAs (particularly the Cheer series), second verse same as the first. If you enjoy those, you'll enjoy this. Congratulations to McClelland for continuing to produce this compelling, and labor intensive, style of virginia. Additional aging is highly advised, as is a narrow gauge chamber.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Eonwe (22)	2007-12-28		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

yes...this tobacco smells like vinegar...and yes..it smells like ketchup...and indeed...it is moist. but, beyond that...I love the 07 offering. It's a smooth, yet rather complex taste of Va's. It rubs out easily. it does need to be dried properly. It burns to the bottom without too much effort. honestly...if you like Virginia blends, then you will love all of McClelland's Christmas Cheer blends. IMO the aroma and taste have no equal. I found the room note to be very pleasing, yet my friends did complain a little. For me, this tobacco is another joy of the Christmas season to look forward too.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-12-26		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

One of the best Christmas Cheers to-date. Have a tin opened and have two more on the way. Like all McClellands, this flake should be left out to dry for a little while. I usually place a two-bowl portion in a dish and let it sit for a couple to several hours. Then I rub it out thoroughly a have a great smoke. I love sticking my nose in the can and smelling that wonderful McClelland aroma!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Slow Triathlete (62)	2007-11-21		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I must echo what has been written prior. This is a great blend. I quite enjoyed the tin aroma as it had a certain citrus sweet aroma to me. I usually dry this for about 2 hours before smoking it. I also bought two extra tins to cellar.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-11-15		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

The aroma from the tin is not very nice. The first thing that comes to my mind is HP sauce, in other words vinegar. The content is rather moist, so you have to dry it ut for some time, but you will be well rewarded. A fine VA with nice sweetness. But you can't push it too hard or you get a cruel tongue bite. I will leave my second tin unopened for a couple o years and see what happens. Recommended

edit 11/15 I move this up to four stars, because it tastes better and better. I am on my second tin now and I just love this stuff.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-11-13		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Tin aroma has the signature McClelland whatever you call it plus something more. A first for me in the CC line. To me it smells of Clove or a "holiday" aroma. Quite nice. I dried a bowl overnight. The Broken flake was rubbed out a little more and loaded into a viking bulldog. Burn was fine aroma of cloves still there as well as in the after taste for me. Quite nice. Probally the best so far for the line but i have only tasted vintages from 1998 on up to current.It will bite if pushed but with minimal care it stays nice. I have 2 tins in the celler and may add a few more of this year as it should age nicely. No nicotene Wallops either.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WayOutWest (1)	2007-10-27		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I love this blend. Be forewarned as this is my first Tinned and especially non-aromatic tobacco.

I love this. Tin aroma is a nice tobacco and fruity smell that entices you from the start. The tobacco is pressed flakes that break easily to be packed. I don't know how or what "rubbing" out is so I just broke apart the flakes and packed it accordingly. It definitely arrives moist, too moist, so I let each bowl full of broken flakes to dry out for 2-4 hours. You need to do this less as the days go by. The flavor is exactly what I want in a pipe tobacco. An honest true all day smoke. The spicy virginias are superb. I really enjoy smoking this and hope to order one more tin before Christmas.

sam

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	huffnpuff (53)	2014-11-26		Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Nice smoke few relights I cut the flakes into smaller chunks . It is a grassy sweet smoke . Ton opening smell like vinegar or ketchup woth a nose tickle of spice.I smoked it down to the bowl . I did puff agressive and got some bite but thays my fault Churchwarden was used. ..

Pipe Used: Churchwarden pipe

Age When Smoked: aged 7 years

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	CPT/VSG (72)	2013-05-18		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Primarily a smoker of Oriental blends, I smoke Virginias as a change of pace. While it's unlikely that I'll ever convert to the notion that straight Virginias are the most interesting tobaccos to smoke, as MeCelland claims, the Christmas Cheer series offers what is probably some of the best Virginia leaf available in a vintage year format. It took me since 2008 to finish this tin but it was always enjoyable--sweet, rich and complex. I'll move on to the 2008 incarnation next, which should have matured nicely in the tin.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe4ever (204)	2009-02-05		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

This is a very, very good Virginia when aged for 1 year or more, It is also much better few months after opening the tin, this is a Virginia with the typical McClelland ketchup aroma however it is a sublime and memorable Virginia, available from eBay, you must try it at least once!

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-20		Mild	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Strong

Save your money...Rattray's...Old Gowrie...C&D "Opening Night" for the VA beginner.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-04-19		Mild	Medium	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I had to give this one a couple of weeks trial before I could give an honest review. Others have noted the ketchup flavor; some calling it slight others mild. I'd call it sickening; but I really hate ketchup, violently so. It's very appropriate that it's in a red tin. When I read about the ketchup smell I thought it would be how wine snobs comment on oak, chocolate, and other flavors normal people can't perceive... wrong! This really colored my impressions of this stuff the first ten smokes or so. I tried drying it for various periods, but that odor and flavor still lingered.

But over the course of two weeks the tin began to lose the Heinz smell, and the tobacco lost that horrible flavor. I don't know how they get that flavor in in the first place, but I'm glad time cured the problem. What's is left is a fairly honest, smooth VA blend; but nothing to write home about. Will I buy another tin? Probably not. If you can deal with the ketchup smell, or relish it as some of the reviewers obviously do, you may well love this blend. To be honest, I'm now gun shy to buy other McClelland VA blends simply because of the ketchup odor so many of you report.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	smoking-rob (79)	2008-03-02		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

My Christmas Cheer 2007 arrived last week. It is also the first time I tried any of these seasonal tobacco's. I really loved the smell from the freshly opened tin: ripe, fruity and spicy and possibly a Perique smell as well. But this is not stated in the description! I might add some of my own to a few pipefuls soon.. It is a broken flake, dark brown in appearance and I haven't yet decided whether to rub it out or not. For the rest, a quality matured VA, zesty and spicy, sip it!

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Hunter (54)	2008-02-21		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

My first Christmas Cheer. I have started a new tradition! What a wonderful blend. Rubs out easily, a mild and flavorful smoke. A little on the moist side, but well within what I am used to for a pressed cake. Remarkable!

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mo (81)	2007-12-27		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

While I am thiking about ordering a new Virginia, I read the reviews, do some thinking, and ask myself what this new tobacco can bring to my cellar that others before it has not. When I took the plunge, there were no reviews on this one as yet, curiosity got the better of me. I thought to myself that surely, since the other years got such high ratings, this one must be great too, right??? WRONG When I think Virginia tobacco, I think of a 'baked bread' taste, or cookies and milk, I will refer to Rattrays Old Gowrie as the benchmark.

Christmas Cheer 2007 is a very bad Virginia, it reeks of cheap aftershave in the tin, as bad as that is, the taste does not entirely go away while smoking, instead along comes the taste of cloves just to ruin your day.

Save your money, buy something good. The Rattray trio is a good place to start but there are tens of blends that will delight you and give you your moneys worth.

Mo, South Africa

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Irishlefty (22)	2007-12-26		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Unnoticeable

I hate to stand out and dissent but as a person who really thrives on a number of McClelland blends, I can't say I see much to this one.

Forget the smell from the tin - I didn't buy it to sniff. A bit on the moist side, the second and third bowls I tried were improved thanks to some air drying.

Overall, Christmas Cheer 2007 has a slightly sweet, pleasant taste. It is a good tobacco, just not one I go 'whoopie' over. I didn't get a bite from it but I also didn't get any strong flavor or nicotine jolt - I really want one or the other or both.

The room aroma didn't disturb either humans or cats in my household. I much prefer the McClelland Frog Morton series.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-11-24		Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant

When you open the box, you do not get impressed by the perfume. Mmm? Ketchup Heinz with more vinegar.

It is enough liquid and surely it needs a lot of drying. Fine quality of red Virginia with natural sweetness and without any smells. You need to be careful when you fill in the bowl cause if you push it, it will burn your tongue. It is difficult to smoke it and especially if you smoke it nervously, it will bite your tongue immediately.

I cannot compare it with Christmas Cheer of previously years cause I haven?t tried them. I have one more tin which I will keep for next year.

First impression: medium to good.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-11-21		Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Save some for next year another great year for mccelland

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