McClelland Christmas Cheer 2007

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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. ..

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.

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!