McClelland Brindle Flake

(3.58)
Flue curing captures the natural sweetness of the fine Virginia tobaccos in this flavorful blend. Aging in cakes softens them into elegance. This partially rubbed flake hearkens back to English days of old. It burns with regal restraint to a mottled white ash. It is a friend with strong character and considerable charm.
Notes: "Ashton Revival" introduced at Chicagoland Pipe Show in May, 2010.

Details

Brand McClelland
Series Ashton Revival
Blended By McClelland Tobacco Company
Manufactured By McClelland Tobacco Company
Blend Type Straight Virginia
Contents Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Flake
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.58 / 4
14

10

0

0

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 11 of 24 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 19, 2016 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
I opened a 4-yer-old tin and discover loosely composed broken virginia flakes with mainly bright and light brown color tobac. Very easy to prepare and similar to C&D or GLP's flakes. The McC vinegar was less evident than their other Va/Vaper offers. The taste is grassy, citrus, dry, with less sweat and tangy I usually prefer. Very easy to light and keep lit, but it gets hot and spicy if push. A good straight Va, but not one of the bests. Somehow I think of C&D's opening night, may be due to the flake presentation, but I like the latter much more.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 05, 2012 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
Nice looking mottled mahogany-to-bright virginia blend with less of the McClellands fermented virginia scent in the tin as is usual. Thick broken flake. I smoked a tin of the original many years ago but apparently wasn't impressed enough to buy more.

This is a fine smoking virginia blend with the emphasis on "tang" as opposed to sweet. Some mild sweetness, however, but more earthy and zesty. Burns clean and takes the match fairly easily after appropriate drying out. But I preferred this closer to tin moisture than most McC virginias. Mellow smoking and lighter in nicotine, but I guess my earliest impressions were accurate. This is a good blend but I didn't experience anything that would indicate greatness. I have no doubt this will age very well, but it doesn't have enough coming out of the gate to warrant cellar space. Certainly worth a try for VA lovers, though.
13 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 13, 2011 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
While not as deep in flavor as the original, McClelland's has again done justice to an old classic. This broken flake Virginia is not too sweet, and doesn't give you the tangy eye watering splash of many lighter flue cured pipe blends.

A very long smoking tobacco compared to others in its class, and certainly tasty, although not destined for greatness.
11 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 03, 2014 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
Nicely prepared flakes that are thick than most; some were rubbed out or had separated in the tin during shipment. The tin aroma has much less of the McClelland ketchup aroma and that's a +. Packs easily right from the tin due to an ideal moisture content, lights easily and burns uniformly without relights or condensation. Mildly sweet from start to the bottom of the bowl. If I could get it in bulk, I'd add it to my rotation.
PurchasedFrom: pipes & cigars.com
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dec 15, 2012 Mild to Medium Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Not surprisingly coming from McClelland, one of the best I've smoked, on par with Blackwoods Flake or any of the Christmas Cheer series. The dark/light leaf ratio is somewhere in between those two, and the typical McClelland's scent is considerably less noticeable. I will stash more teen in the near future.
7 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 01, 2018 Mild to Medium None Detected Mild to Medium Pleasant
McClelland - Brindle Flake (Ashton Revival).

For the past month or so my morning smoke's been St. Bruno Flake but today I fancied something a little 'plainer', something without the St Bruno floral addition. Brindle Flake: a blend where the majority of reviews mark 'no added flavour', I thought that seemed like a good choice.

The tin contains quite dark flakes, which aren't very broken. The moistness? It's one of the better hydrated flake blend's I've come across. This makes rubbing, my preferred way of loading, easy. The aroma from it's the usual McClelland ketchup one.

The moment I lit my first bowl four stars jumped to mind. Several bowls later I still won't go any lower! For starters the moisture makes igniting a doddle. And then the smoke's fabulous. It emanates sweet and tangy flavours. The sweetness comes through stronger for the initial part of a bowl, getting overtaken by the more piquant, and tangy, side, after a little while. I don't get much of a grassy, hay, flavour, or much of a freshness, it tastes more matured. The temperature's nice and cool, and I get no bite.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: nice.

Easy to rate. Highly recommended:

Four stars.
Pipe Used: Peterson Founders Edition
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: Just over a year
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 01, 2017 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium to Full Very Pleasant
I just decided to try this one based on a whim and I really like the design on the tin. My expectations for this one were pretty low because you hardly ever hear this one come up in the forums or inner circles of the community. This one swoops in low under the radar... I'm kind of hoping it stays that way. This is a delicious, sweet flue cured VA flake that is up there with the best I've ever had. It's tangy but that fermented character (most refer to as catsup) does not translate to taste, it's got a bread-like character with hints of citrus, the nicotine is mild but when a blend like this tastes so good I don't really mind that it's not laced with a good amount of nicotine. It just means that I can load up bowl after bowl without overdoing it, I am overly joyed with this find. I'm not a big fan of McClelland's ribbon cut or "English" mixtures but there is no doubt that they have mastered Virginia Flakes and with such a huge and successful line up it's no surprise to find a sleeper such as this.

Essential (for VA Flake lovers).
Pipe Used: P. Jeppesen, Stanwell, Gamboni
Age When Smoked: Fresh
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jul 11, 2014 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
comparing between different McClelland Virginia blends, I find, is like splitting hairs. I like them all and the differences between them are minor. I would say this was one of my favorites of the bunch. A lot of natural sweetness is in this flake. It is a great putz around and work smoke as well as a great sit and contemplate smoke.

It is not one that will bowl you over with a lot of complexity, just good sweet Virginias on the lighter side in color than many of the other McClelland. This, like all the other MCC Va's has that scent that many refer to as ketchup. If you don't like this scent, then you are probably not even reading this review. I love it and this is one of the better ones I have had.
5 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 19, 2016 Mild to Medium None Detected Medium Tolerable
I never had the original so here goes. A very broken flake that is composed of thick brown chunks of tobacco. The preservative smell is light and dissipates a lot after a week. Packs easily and burns to a white ash.

The first puff is zesty and slightly sweet, afterwards it develops into a mellow smoke with dried fig undertones and a slight brioche-like accent. If puffed fast, the Virginia predictably becomes tasteless hot air which is a good thing because it means that the casing or topping is either nonexistent or barely applied.

Not a legend in the making but a solid choice for a Virginia smoker! The more I smoke McClelland Virginias, the more I get hooked on them notwithstanding the preservative smell.

Virginia lover
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 16, 2014 Mild Mild Medium Pleasant
This is a nice and earthy blend. I found it to have a bit of a bite. It is possible I smoked it too fast, but I could not shake it. Despite that, it was a sweet and mellow blend. Packs very well, burns to a nice ash. It had a hay or grain like flavor in the beginning. It sweetened up to more of a maple like taste. I'm not sure if these were the product of a casing, but they were very smooth and natural like. The Virginias are not as acidic as some other blends. All around nice smoke. Recommend.
Pipe Used: MM Mizzou, MM Legend, MM Emperor
PurchasedFrom: Gift
Age When Smoked: N/A
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 15, 2012 Medium Extremely Mild Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
My first impressions were that I was extremely put off by the awful ketchup scent coming out of the tin. So i rubbed it out and immediately stuffed it in my pipe. It was awful, and I could still taste the ketchup whatever that is. So some time went by and I finally wanted to try it again, I did spend money on it after all. So I rubbed it out and let it dry, this was key to such an amazing smoke. The best english blend I have smoked to date!
4 people found this review helpful.
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