McClelland CPCC New Century

I've had this in my cellar for quite awhile and only now have finished my first tin of this mahogany brown-to-black mixture. Just a whiff of McClellands wonderful Virginia scent overlaid with a bit of latakia. A few more stems than I like in my blends, which is not at all indicative of what I've come to expect from this blender.

In the bowl, this was a nicely balanced affair. I always seem to look for the lead voice in every tobacco ensemble, but this one had no leader. All of the tobaccos blended together harmoniously and while no tobacco lead, none followed either. This reminded me a bit of Frog On The Town and I smoked a bowl of that to get my bearings. This was a little drier and less sweet, but the Basma was delectable here as well. Still a sweet blend overall, this was a bit more Virginia tang than FOTT, which focused more on the Middle Eastern Leaf and was less balanced. Snorking brought out this really incredible burnt nutbread flavor. That's the best I can describe it and even though as I read this, burnt nutbread doesn't sound at all enticing, this flavor was. Burnt nutbread with a hint of charred marshmallow. I'm going to pick up several more tins of this. It goes best in an oriental-dedicated pipe and it worked well with the pipes I use to smoke Red Rapparee, although the tobaccos are not similar. Pipes that are used to heavier lat blends dumbed down the subtleties of this blend. This is preferable to FOTT and just bumped that one from my rotation. Obviously this one hasn't curried a lot of favor based on the few reviews here, but it's deserving of a sampling... if there's any left after I stock up! 🙂