McClelland Beacon Extra

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!!

A good friend was kind enough to let me a try a bowl of this from his tin. It is wonderful stuff! Rich, dark, fruity, sweet, spicy but well balanced and not harsh. Delicious from the first puff to the last. I regret that I probably won't be able to get any more. If you get the chance to try it, don't pass it up!

This is a great blend! Delicious, rich, very sweet, deep, complex but not so much as to overwhelm the palate. I wish I had more of it.

What does one say about a tobacco that is so transcendent, so incomparable, so delicious, and so... unavailable now.

I could wax on for paragraphs about the loss of blends like this, but I'll try to stay focused...

Beacon Extra is sublime. I've been smoking it for many a year now, and have never gotten around to posting a review on this site. Mostly, that is due to the fact that when I am smoking it, it demands my complete attention.

Some of the deepest, richest tobacco flavor I have ever experienced is available here. Its hard to describe... very very dark/deep notes lend to a richness and smoothness that is just uncommon. The tin scent is heavenly, and upon lighting the soft, fragrant smoke will embrace you like an old friend. After smoking, the lingering flavor on the tongue reminds you of recently eaten pancakes with rich syrup near a campfire.

I spoke to Mike McNiel at the Chicago Show some years back about the blend and its differences to the standard Beacon (which is good, but nothing like this). He could not tell me in good faith how much perique was added in this version as he hadn't blended it in a while, but said that they added it until the blend seemed right, and different enough to engage the smoker with an entirely new flavor profile (paraphrasing).

Ultimately, as VaPers go, this is/was one of the best. The only detractor I can find is the lack of punch (nicotine), though this blend is comparatively stronger in that category that all but a few McClelland blends I've tried.

4/4 stars. If you happen to come across a tin, grab it. Thankfully I've loaded up quite a few into my cellar, but I suspect that at some point I will have wished I had bought more, as I can't see myself keeping my hands off what I do have for any extended periods of time.

I've been smoking a pipe now for about 2 years. I've only smoked aromatics and english blends and thought it might be time to venture to the straight virginia and VaPer side. So when I read the reviews about Beacon Extra, I knew this was the one to try first. I also bought Viprati, which is a ribbon cut. Venturing to VaPer's and flakes...I'm a rebel!

So I smoked Viprati first. I enjoyed the peppery taste of the perique, but didn't get anything sweet like I thought I would from the virginia's. It was enjoyable, but I needed something to compare Beacon Extra with (since I knew this was the one I really wanted to like).

So here I go...I pack my first pipe full of broken flake using the fold method that I've watched about 100 times on youtube. I light it....now maybe it's the novice flake packer in me, but I swear it took me 15 minutes to get a char light. But once I did, WOW! I was initially greeted with pepper, but a tangy pepper. Much more pleasant than that of Viprati. I was able to keep the bowl lit for a good 5-10 minutes and just in that short time, the flavors changed to that sweet, bread flavor that I've read virginia's give. Now, let me say this is where it gets interesting...I went to relight my pipe, and when I did, the tobacco got sweeter. At that moment, I didn't know if I wanted keep letting my pipe go out and relighting to get that flavor or if I just wanted to continue to smoke and see what the flavors changed to next!

So as I sit here enjoying the masterpiece that McClelland calls Beacon Extra, I type this review with a pipe that wants to go out again just to relight that sweet flavor, but continues to get puffed on because I'm so intrigued by the changing flavors. I give this 4 full stars and two thumbs up! I say if you have never tried VaPer's, you have to try Beacon Extra!

In its tin it gives off an intense smell of vinegar, so that it pleasantly stings the nose when inhaling its aroma. It comes slightly damp, it should be dried for about 20 minutes. Once the pipe is lit, it has similarities with St. James Flake, also from McClelland, but there are some different nuances, among which I would say that Beacon Extra is somewhat sweeter. Fruity flavors, fresh, somewhat balsamic, sometimes slightly toasty and with various degrees of sweetness during the smoke, depending on the rate of inhalation. It's all I ask of a va/per. Very high quality.

To be honest, I was really wary of the word "extra" in this tobacco blend, as I do like my Perique to be well integrated and can't stand too much perique. Some more backup info. I really came to VaPer blends slowly, not liking them at all at first. Gradually, they grew on me and one of my go to VaPer tobaccos is Samuel Gawith's St. James Flake. Let me tell you folks, there was no reason to be afraid of the "extra" in this particular offering, as I find the perique here to be exceedingly well integrated and just adding layers and layers of richness to the already delicious base of McClelland VA.

I will keep this review short as this blend is unfortunately no longer available. Beacon Extra is nuanced, full, complex, perfect! It leaves a great aftertaste in your mouth that just lingers. There is a fruitlike aspect of tropical fruits rather than plums that I have not come across in another VaPer.

Still, there is one huge "but" here. The but being that I am quite consoled with having found a great alternative in St. James Flake and St. James Plug that leaves me every bit as satisfied and that really is on par with this blend even if it has a completely different flavor profile. Unfortunately I can't say that of McClelland #22/24 and McC Arcadia and Bombay Court, which were one of a kind and will some day leave a blank space in my cellar that other blends will never live up to.

Still, Beacon Extra definitely deserves the 4 out of 4 possible stars.

This is the Holy Grail of Virginia-Perique flakes and I have tried many. It's a 5 Star blend that will not disappoint. I just discovered this blend and have been enjoying it fresh out of tin, without aging. I can only imagine what time might do for this stuff.

I find that as much as I love to puff away on this stuff, I have to just hold the pipe for awhile at times and then the next sips are wonderful. I prefer it fully rubbed out and even dried a little. I also often strain my tobacco and put the smalls on top, like kindling under a stack of firewood, except upsidedown. Pipe lights easily and stays lit.

EDIT: March 17, 2018

As much as I like Beacon Extra, I do love another of McClelland's blends much more, and that is their 50g tinned Aurora. If anyone here has some Aurora they would like to straight across swap for Beacon Extra please contact me at [email protected]. I have more B.E. than I do Aurora.