McClelland Beacon Extra

Smells more like good ol GA BBQ than anything else, but I attempted to smoke on anyway. Yummeh! About the fifth puff I knew I had a winner! Flavors of rich VA just kept on coming with the perique perfectly, almost harmoniously, swirling about. An amazing blend with a bit of the vitamin N. Spicy foods will not overpower this blend and the room/porch note is deep, rich, and quite enjoyable. Almost 4 stars. Dang near perfect!

This tobacco came tinned and had 139 09 stamped on the bottom , leading me to believe this was from the original club release. I have had this stuff since 2011 when I purchased it from iwan ries in Chicago.

The tin aroma is deep and fermented, like many McVirginias. The typical vinegary ketchup aroma graces these dark chocolate brown broken flakes of various sizes. The heterogeneity of size in flakes helps in either packing or rubbing out the perfect amount. This stuff rubbed out easily in my opinion, and dries out well enough to smoke within several hours. This stuff does get better and better the longer the tin is open. The aroma is light tobacco, and is very faint and inoffensive to others.

This stuff is a bit difficult to light, but rewards the palate with rich mature VA flavor. There are toasty bread like notes that swirl with dry hay. The VA is quite sweet on the tip of the tongue with each puff, and is quite pleasant, leaning toward fruity at times. The perique adds little to the fruitiness IMO but does add to some notable pepperiness in the nose on the retrohale. This definitely is quality tobacco, and I can easily appreciate the high marks this one gets. Much better than many other VAPers on the market, and quite approachable with regards to strength and nicotine.

Opening the tin provides just a hint of the McC ketchup but it fades pretty quickly. The flakes are dark brown to black and rather moist. This and their thickness made the initial light a bit difficult since I don't rub out my flakes. However, minimal relights were needed. Smoked cool and smooth with a rich taste. It's pretty heavy with perique and about @ my limit. Even got a + on the room aroma from my wife and that doesn't happen often. An enjoyable smoke for those that like perique blends.

I'm all about variety, I'm all about quality and my palate is wider than many. Tobacco moisture, tongue bite, mood, smoking circumstances and other controllable variables won't be covered. This review is based on multiple bowls over time.

I can't beat the high praise that precedes this. I wanted a full Perique blend that really let me know it was there. This blend does that, but with a soft hand.

Wonderful leaf; this is an excellent tobacco.

A very potent Perique /Virginia blend. Maybe the most perique heavy of any Va/per on the market. So if you like Perique, this is for you. Now I quite liked Beacon but Beacon Extra is pretty much a superior blend. It reminded me of C&D's Bayou Morning Flake...but without any harshness that the latter can have and with a lot more natural sweetness. This is smooth start to finish. The virginias are not absent in the taste department, though. Stoved...pretty much like several other McClelland flakes (Blackwoods, Dark Star...not quite that much, or Pebblecut). The nic hit is a touch past medium, but always smokes cool. Its a very habituating blend. And maybe of all straight-up Vapers, this has the most natural sweet undertones. I cant think of another Vaper that is this good. Others....say Reiners Long Golden Flake...might be as tasty, but they are lighter in character (and Reiners has a bit of burley I believe). Think St James Flake on steroids.

I find Beacon Extra (BE) to be one of the top VaPers. It is Medium on the Perique but allows the Virginias to play a major roll. I really like McClelland Virginias as they get a zing from their "Vinegar" processing , I call it McVV, a sweet & sour taste. This has the same McVV taste but with very high quality, mature Virginias used. This has no bite, is smooth, high "N" and is very similar to "St. James Woods", so much so I had to try a side by side taste test. Even side by side, it was almost impossible to distinguish any difference except maybe a touch more Perique in the BE and a touch smoother . I would rate SJW=8 and BE=10, I would buy BE again except that the SJW comes in a 100gram tin that I can get a price break over the 50 gram tin of BE. Price wins !

Outstanding VaPer for those who enjoy more than just a condimental pinch of Perique. As with pretty much every McClelland blend I've tried, the Virginias are of excellent quality. Deep, rich and naturally sweet. Notes of rasins/figs with just the right amount of spice from the Perique. Dispite being more Perique-forward, this blend is remarkably well balanced. Fantastic smoke right off the bat but ages beautifully!

Had to try this if for no other reason then to compare to Beacon, which is a top-flight VaPer by McC that combined Vas with "...a healthy dose of seven-year-old La Perique." This blend was 3 years old when I opened it, with the same familiar dark flue and rich almost figgy scent. Somewhat difficult to keep lit but once fired up it burned very quickly ( I often will puff away for 20 or so minutes on other blends only to realize later I had half a bowl remaining) to bowls' end. Of course no tongue bite, after all this is McC and their Va's are impeccable! I wouldn't have said this even a year back, but IMHO this is where Beacon Extra maybe goes a lil too far...cant believe I am stating this as I truly love VaPers ( visit St. James Parish often as I reside in SE Louisiana), but here I think its a bit over the top with the Perique. I only state this because I have learned to appreciate the harmony that exceptional blends exhibit, especially when done deftly. In the original Beacon its spot on perfect, the relationship between Va and Perique throughout the entirety of said bowl, bowl after bowl. Here its a bit heavy on the perique where the sweetness I keep reading about in reviews for me is replaced with spiciness, to the point where it mutes the Virginias somewhat. Again, still 4 star ( burned through the entire tin to the expense of several other opened blends very quickly)... but for a VaPer I prefer Beacon. Try em both if your into VaPers, can't go wrong either way.

Delicious! The tobacco is a little young and a little too moist, but in years to come this will develop wonderfully. It is very good now but i have a feeling this will be 5 stars with age. I taste all sorts of things in this. It is very complex and delicious.Strong perique at first, then once your palate settles down all sorts of tastes come out, lavender, sunflower seed, corn oil, pepper. I think I am in love!! Thank you McClelland!!