McClelland Bayou Slice

This tobacco was passed out as a freebie at the recent 2005 Kansas City Pipe Show. I've just gone through three bowls in two days and it's solid.

The broken flake breaks up easily. It lights and stays lit easily. It is easy to detect the various leaf, including the Perique which doesn't wallop the palate. Instead, I received just a gentle kiss of that Louisiana product which was added in masterful and delicate pinches.

A little light for me to consume regularly, but still powerful enough to demand some attention every now and then.

McClelland - Bayou Slice (Blakeney's Best).

The majority of the blend has a similar appearance to McC' No. 24 Matured Virginias. It has the stereotypical McClelland smell, and a brilliant moisture content for immediate smoking.

It tastes a little different to many VaPers. The Virginia couldn't be any easier to identify, it's not just Perique spice-alone. The Virginia tastes very fresh, citrusy/lemony, and a little sweet; I'll mark 'none' for the flavour rating as these taste 100% natural. To my palate the Perique is easily subordinate to the Va: spicy, tangy, and still lively, but not 'the boss'; nowhere near. The burn is even and cool, but slightly quick. I get no tongue bite, even if I choose to smoke a few bowls in succession.

The nicotine: medium. Room-note: quite pleasant.

McClelland Bayou Slice? A very well made blend, but if I'm honest I want a bit more spice to my VaPers. Three stars:

Recommended.

After reading the many reviews on Bayou Slice I had to give it a go. My first perique blend. I have been a tad disappointed with it so far but im not giving up. The tin that I have needs plenty of drying out right off the bat. I have had some trouble keeping my bowl glowing and there is plenty of gurgle. However the subtle sweetness to this blend is wonderful!!! And I personally love the room note this gives off. Im going to switch to a corncob to see what results I get. To be continued.......

UPDATE..... Ive let this dry out for almost a month. My last go at this was somewhat of a disappointment but what a diffrence even minimal aging does. I also switched to a narrow Bueshers corncob after a suggestion from down below and it has made all the diffrence. No bite to speak of and no gurgle. A complete 180! The spiciness of the perique is very evident and a very welcome addition to my rotation. Also the vinegar smell is all but gone. Ive actually been somking more of this after some dry time than my other tobaccos as of late.

What I received in the tin was more of a broken flake than the true, well formed flake that I prefer but this may have been unusual. The ketchup tin aroma, typical of many McClelland blends, was evident although not overpowering. Lighting and packing were easy and a smoke without relights, condensation or bite resulted. I think that there was a nice balance between the Perique and the VAs. However, compared to some of their bulk offerings, I don't see see that much difference to warrant smoking this blend and find 2015 just as enjoyable.

A friend of mine at the pipe club let me babysit a tin of this the other day. I in turn let him babysit one of mine. This is a McClelland blend without the name. I tried looking this brand name on the web to see if it was maybe a resurrected blend but could find no trace of it. Maybe it is just made up for fun. The tin code on this is 732017 which makes it about 4 years old and probably some of the last batches of McClelland as they shut their doors around Feb 2018 if I am correct. They also produced this as a ribbon which through me off as I spend some time reading up on the wrong blend. Never heard of this one until the other day. The first few puffs I knew automatically that I would like this one. It is a nice broken flake with the faint vinegar smell that McClelland is (was) known for. This is a full rich smoke, not full in nicotine but full in taste and the way it smokes. If this was a desert it would be a rich dark chocolate cake. The first bowl I had was in my Meerschaum Poker and I just stuffed some into the bowl. It lit up easily and the taste stayed consistent until the end. For some that might be considered one dimensional but consistency is nice at times. You know what you are getting. The second bowl I crumbled and let it air out about 5-10 minutes but honestly could not tell much difference. The third bowl was in a Missouri Meerschaum Patriot Corn Cob and the taste was noticeably different but really not something I can put into words. As I have had 3 fairly medium size bowls I will stop as I will need to return the child back to the parent no worse for wear. It is always a pleasure to smoke any McClelland that I can get my hands on. How I would rate this compared to another McClelland’s is hard to say. I will say that though I am not an all-day smoker this one due to its richness would probably be appreciated more in the evenings rather than an all dayer. I wish I had had some Café del Mundo coffee from New Orleans to pair this one with. To recap, not the fullest tasting smoke I have had but there is a richness that would have me pull this one out of inventory on certain evenings where you can relax and puff on this one slowly.

The tin smells tart, winey, and just slightly acetic.

The smoke is tangy and "spicy" with Perique. I once smoked a bowl of this back-to-back with a bowl of Aged Burley Flake, and the tanginess was quite pronounced. This has McCelland's VA house flavor, which for me is a great thing.

I liked this best when it was fully rubbed out, because I found it to be an easy, tasty smoke in this form. I'm sure there are excellent, deep flavors to be had when smoked as a straight broken flake, but I didn't have much luck keeping a cool smoldering ember without breaking it up.

A pretty good McClelland Va/Per. And not too much different than 2015, maybe a little sweeter. Distinguishing between McClelland Vapers is as difficult as distinguishing between the different straight Virginias. As usual, if you don't like the scent you will want to take a pass on this one and if, like me, you enjoy that scent then you will not be disappointed in this one.

I would say that in terms of the MC vapers, I would put St. James Woods ahead of this and 2015 for the fact that it is in bulk and a better bargain than this one.

Update 4-7-2022

So I ended up winning two tins of this in a large lot in an estate auction a few years back. They were both aged. this one aged 16 yrs and 7 months before I opened it. All this to say that also open in my cellar was some beacon Extra that was about 5 years aged and it wasn't even a close contest as to what McClelland VaPer was better.

Granted Beacon Extra is a four star blend. (IMO) This just confirms my earlier review that this is just not that great a VaPer. If McClelland was still available I would probably drop a star on this to two stars, but I will leave it at three since some McClelland is better than none, even if it is not one of their best efforts. I just wouldn't pay alot for it.

This subtle VaPer is a bit sweeter than St. James Woods and with less Perique. It also has less from the "vinegar" taste so common in McClelland's tobaccos. Both are great, and are a must try for any Vaper fan.

Boy, this stuff smells good. Can is from '06, but stills maintains enough moisture to be smoked right away, or store away for another 6 months or more. Typical MClelland sweet Virginia smell (some say ketchup, I say aged Virginias) with a good dose of Perique for adventure. Flakes are definitely broken, and easy to pack as is or rub out a little. This is a typical "Bayou" type presentation, with the toasting taking the burn tongue thing off, if smoked (as all tobacco should be) slowly to enjoy the flavor. Recommended for the Va/Per crossover or an occasional departure for the English/Balkan crowd. All in all, a good smoke.