McClelland Tudor Castle

The "ketchup" smell disappears from the taste for the most part after some puffs. The sugary cased bright Virginias dull the grass and citrus notes, but sweetly compliments the dark fruity, tangy, mildly earthy, woody red Virginias, the latter being the most dominant due to the processing of the very sugary, earthy, woody, stewed fruity stoved red Virginia. The yenidje offers a very slight sourness along with some woody, earthy, floral smokiness, and is obvious in virtually every puff as slightly more than a background player. The perique has more plums, figs and raisins than spice, and though it's not a major player, its presence adds some depth and complexity, elevating the taste of this well balanced blend. The nic-hit is just past the the center of mild to medium. The strength and taste levels are medium. No chance of bite here. May need some dry time. Burns very slowly as flake tobaccos often will, and stays cool no matter how much it's pushed with no dullness or harsh spots. It does require some relights. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, but not enough to be a problem. The flavor is very consistent from start to finish as every ingredient makes themselves known with a very sweetly pleasant after taste that lingers. Not quite an all day smoke.

-JimInks

Yenidje! I love this stuff and don't see it in too many blends. Sometimes the blenders overpower us with that condiment but the combination here with the base Virginia and Louisiana Perique produces an exceptional blend that is strong enough to be enjoyed by those who seek a nicotine hit yet mild and flavorful enough to be enjoyed by just about anyone.

The cut of the leaf and moisture content makes for a perfect presentation and easy burn. One of PCCA's best, IMO, of course.

For me, this is a sublime tobacco. It is a close relative of McC's Grand Orientals series, with imo the bar raised even further. The backbone is of the most beautiful sweet and tangy Virginias, over which fragrant Yenidje is flawlessly married. Underneath this is a perfect measure of peppery Perique. Altho this tobacco is intended for aging, I could not fault my sub 1 year tin. Lord knows how good this stuff will be in a decade.

It is a pity there is no blender's name(s) attached to this tobacco, because it is a masterpiece, and whoever is responsible deserves the accolades.

This is a perfectly balanced flake. Medium bodied and flavored. All three components provide an equal amount of flavor and the interplay between them is delightful. This review is from a 2 month old tin. I have more aging and will have more to say in a couple of years. As one reviewer noted, it burns better when fully rubbed out. Rub once, let dry a bit, then rub again. Stuff, light, and enjoy a very pleasurable smoking experience.

I need to request this be moved to the McClellands page as it's sold outside of PCCA now.

This blend has excellent flavor - robust tasting while medium in body. Not overly powerful, it's "just right". The Yenidje adds its usual piquancy and nuance to the virginias and this blend has just enough perique to spice things up but not so much as to make its presence more than a steady murmur. This is a blend in the true spirit of the term, with each individual tobacco creating the overall flavor and none of them calling too much attention to themselves.

This blend was created by master blenders and it's quite obvious that they knew it was being created for the highly discerning audience that is PCCA! I'm buying more for cellaring. I think my favorite blending house has truly outdone themselves on this one.

This is a lovely tobacco. You can see the little crystals of sugar on the flake, and the flake breaks up nicely. I usually break it up, let it sit for a bit and then break it up again. It definitely satisfies my criterion for something in the Virginia realm, with the stoved red adding a deeper, bolder flavour. I had never had Yenidje before, so I didn't know what to look for in the flavouring, but I suspect it somehow complimented and balanced the red. The perique was subtle enough that I wouldn't have known it was there if I hadn't known the contents of the blend. I would describe the flavour as having a bolder, darker version of the Virginia hay/grass quality, something almost more toward a british blend but not quite, with a lovely, very subtle sweetness. The nicotine content was very pleasant... the stoved red and the perique probably helping that. It burned very well, no girgling from moisture, no tongue bite, stayed well lit... which I normally don't mention because that usually has more to do with the smoker, but in this case it definitely had something to do with the tobacco, and not simply good technique or the pipe itself.

First Va/Per I've tried that includes a Turkish. Great stuff, almost an English feel and taste to it, with a subtle sweetness from the Virginias. The Virginia provides a nice round base for the Yenidje and Perique to play on.

The Virginia and perique are understated (the perique especially so). Very unique blend and quite tasty. Woodsy, tastes of cedar and occasional hits of chocolate.

Nicotine level is pretty moderate. This is one to smoke for flavor. The room note can be a bit harsh for non-smokers.

06/02/2014 - In recent bowls (rubbed out and dried more fully), the perique has become more noticeable, with its peppery notes playing an entertaining tug-of-war with the more woodsy Turkish. I've also noticed a flowery lavender note a few times during the smoke. The only other tobacco I've caught that in is Couvert Cordemoy, a Semois (burley).

1/21/2015 - At times, this one can throw off notes that are a bit cigaretty; I assume that's the VA and the Yenidje playing together? I accidentally left a partially smoked bowl to sit out for 3-4 days. Relit it with lowered expectations (but heartened by DK's advice to let your VA blends sit in the bowl for hours to days) and was pleasantly surprised (almost blown away). Give the Yenidje a few days to air out, and the beautiful McClelland VAs get to shine a bit more; lot more of the flowery and woodsy flavors.

In the tin, this tobacco looks fantastic. It smells fruity and sweet, and it sparkles with sugar crystals. My tin was seven years old, and I love to see that sugar bloom on high-quality Virginia-based flakes.

While smoking, I really noticed how great the sidestream smoke smells. The combination of taste and aroma is just delicious. I noted dark and savory notes, sweet and chocolatey notes, and meaty/umami notes at various times. I also noted that this is one of those rare blends that tastes great when smoked hard and fast as well as slow and carefully. Of course, the best results are had when maintaining a barely smoldering ember.

This is top notch tobacco. The tin I bought had no age on it, and it is excellent. There is no doubt that this would be 1,000 times more excellent with age, but even brand new it is one of my favorites. The red Virginias stand out the most to me and create a very rich base for the perique and orientals to play off of. There are some bits of the flakes where the sugar creates a glassy mirror shine. It is naturally sweet, not candy-like, and the spice hints last through the whole smoke. I wish I had more patience and more money so I could put a tin away for a few years. Anyone who likes a dynamic and rich Virginia based blend should give this a try.

Tudor Castle has a wonderful (if not a bit stodgy) taste. The perique doesn't overwhelm, and the Orientals are well blended, providing the framework for a superb blend. I loved sipping this one. I also enjoyed the flakes, though I would have preferred them to have been more consistent in presentation; many of the flakes in my tin had broken apart, so really, this is more of a broken flake (I prefer pressed flakes; as I like the option of breaking the flakes up myself). Tudor Castle fired up well after an initial char and stayed lit and consistent in taste throughout. My only complaint, and I'm sure everyone's tired of hearing me hark upon this, is it's strength (I truly wish for more lighter pipe tobaccos in the market today—Dunhill take note).

McClelland has got to be the most consistent manufacturer of good pipe tobacco around today. I've yet to experience a bad blend.

A solid 3 stars.

Keep on Piping!