McClelland Christmas Cheer 2010

This is my second McClelland that Iv tried. I can tell this is a very high quality leaf but it is on the lighter side. I prefer Virginia Woods (the only other Mcclelland iv tried so far) because it is a notch stronger and a bit more flavor than cc 2010. With that being said there really isnt anything wrong with CC 2010. Iv experience no bite, it burns evenly and cool. It is very nice. I went ahead and put half of the tin up to age because I had heard all of these age nicely. I would definatly recommend this to someone who started out smoking aromatics and wanted to try a light virginia or needs a break from the ordinary.

This is the first of the Christmas Cheer series I have tried out. I was impressed with the smoke. The much noted ketchup smell is predominant when opening the tin and the tobacco can be a little hard to get going if you don't give it a little air time before loading the pipe. It did not strike me as being as sweet as some Virginia tobacco but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I found it to be a very pleasant smoke that looks like it will age well over time. This is not a smoke that changes in taste througout the bowl, but that wasn't the intent. Finding a tobacco made from one particular year and location gives you a good starting point of comparison with other Virginia tobaccos and adds to the experience. I don't plan to buy more than my one tin a year but could see this becoming a fall tradition.

Very nice of McClelland product again. Those people know how to make good tobaccos. Very nice aroma is coming inside of virginia. white to gray ash, not hot, normal to cold smoking and usual ketchup smell upon openning the tin 🙂 . Good job indeed!

This is my first Christmas Cheer. I have smoked other McClellands and found them in general to be good but a little pricey. I won this one at my pipe club Christmas raffle.The tin aroma is somewhat fruity, mostly lemony. As I had heard, it helps to rub this one out and let it dry a while before smoking. I found that it held it's flavor steadily throughout the bowl.I have been smoking a lot of different virginia flakes and this is the best so far. I anticipate even better results as it ages.

After reading all the recommendations for all the Christmas Cheers I decided to try some of this. I understand this needs to set a while but I wanted to give it a smoke before putting it up. Tobacco in tin smells of ketchup like everyone says. It looks like beef jerky, it's a bit intimidating for us novice pipe smokers. I rolled it around a bit to make it look more tobacco like and loaded up my MM cob. It is a tuff one to keep lit, really tough. I wasn't too thrilled with the flavor, not very strong but didn't dislike it either. I expected more than I got. This is the first tobacco I have tried that created a "crust" in my pipe of burning tobacco. It was a bit odd, almost like there is so much sugar in the mix that it caramelized over the top of the lit tobacco. IMHO the only thing I could detect was a bit of orange. Not thrilled with this blend but look forward in trying it again in a couple of years. Putting it up to age.

12/14/2011 Well have let it sit for a bit, hoping for something special. All I can say about this is "Eh". It is interesting but nothing to write home about.

This is my first Christmas Cheer, and it's exactly what I was hoping it would be. The tin aroma is just okay, but the smoking experience is great. The red-orange Virginia produces a full, thick, naturally-aromatic taste. For a full Virginia there is very little tongue bite. It burns very well. Simple but very rich. This is what a full Virginia is supposed to be.