McClelland British Woods

An Americanised English blend. Not overly complex, a Steady-Eddie type of blend. It's very consistent smoke from first light to bowl bottom. Cool burning and slow it lasts quite a long time, which I like. Nice mouth-feel and the Latakia is tempered down a bit, by some Propylene Glycol. Somewhat of an all day blend.

After tin opening, it needed to dry-out for about 72 hours, which helped immensely.

Would I buy it again? No, there are other ones in my view which offer more depth and complexity. All said quite good, not great.

McClelland calls British Woods "full, rich and dark." What? While, admittedly, the contents are 90% darkened, broad cut leaf, I find this blend bland and weak, and I'm a bit curious how so many people can agree with the tin description. Maybe I've upped my nicotine consumption so much that I can't appreciate the subtlety, I don't know, but my opinion of British Woods closely mirrors my other experiences with McClelland English's, particularly from the the Frog Morton line. Where's the strength?

The ingredients are exceptional, but they are lost on me...I can't find myself able to pick out the Macedonian leaf or any other of the fine Orientals employed in various McClelland blends. That's not a knock on McClelland, but rather my own shoddy palate--no one should doubt the quality of any McClelland mixture. British Woods is unfortunately destined to the back of my smoking drawer, which is a shame because I spent nearly twenty dollars on this tin (my misguided attempt to support the local brick and mortar). I suppose if I were to change this blend up, I would go for a stronger Virginia component, though as is, far too light for my tastes.

Two of five.

I came back to this blend after several years of not having smoked it, and my tin has a few years age on it, so bear that in mind. My recollection is that it was one of the blends that really turned me on to English-style blends in general, but I have smoked a lot more Rattray, Sam Gawith and Dunhill since then.

It has a pleasant tin odor, though it didn't let me forget that it was from McClelland (ahh, that old funky ketchup/BBQ sauce smell still lingers), and was almost disturbingly moist after a few years unattended in the cellar. As I made my way through the bowl, it brought me back to days of pipe smoking gone by, which is to say that I had to relight more than I have in recent memory.

While this is a good stab at an English, there is an underlying sweetness and vinegary tang that I am now unaccustomed to in such a blend. It was actually a little cloying by the time I got to the last third of the bowl, and the whole experience left me desperately craving a nice, dry, burley-based Camel when finished, owing both to the lingering tang and the relative lack of nicotine. I don't get a lot of complexity from this tobacco, either. Maybe it lacks Orientals, or maybe the sweet Virginia component just tramples them underfoot.

Perhaps this blend has served it's purpose for me, as a signpost on the road to English/Balkan bliss. I can't say it's a bad tobacco, because it isn't, and I can appreciate it for what it is, but my tastes have changed such that I prefer something dryer these days. Maybe it would be helped by a nice strong cup of black coffee on the side. I may give it another spin, but I won't be going out of my way to buy any more.

I was really looking forward to trying this blend that enjoys so many positive reviews. The description fits the bill as to what I am looking for in an English. This is a quality tobacco, but not for me. The first word that comes to mind is "flat."I found the flavors to be very mundane. The tobacco is slightly sweet, but in a world loaded with English blends, it falls far short of others. I was waiting for the flavors to develop thoughout the several bowls that I smoked and it just didn't happen.I am now using BW to mix with other tobaccos as I find that it mixes well in creating my own blends. Two stars because the fine folks at McClelland don't skimp on good leaf, but only one star for my personal taste.

Having smoked everything from "Old Dublin", Dunhill "London Mix", "Skiff" and my absolute favorite "H.H. Vintage Syrian" I thought that I would give an American blender a shot...

Upon opening the tin I was greeted by the McClelland ketchup/barbeque sauce aroma that I've oft read about but after a moment or two it did seem to calm down... Nice cut, packs easily but...this one just didn't do it for me and it could possibly be that I just received a bad batch, not sure.

The depth is lacking and it seems to be monochromatic. The smoke is quite heavy and rich; nice room note for an "english" blend but the taste is flat. I've smoked the blend in several pipes (Savinelli squat, BC and Charatan dublins, Sasieni bull dog and a very large meer)with much the same result; though the squat seemed to bring more of the flavor.

I will let it age a bit and see what happens.

Recommended as a entry level "English" but not for someone looking for a full-bodied smoke.

2 out of 4 stars.

Typical McClelland from the smell onwards, not very far from the Frog Mortons or Bombay Court. No cavendish, so less aromatic, but not as tasty and smoky as some more classic EMs. Ashton Old Dog is much better.

5 WORDS:...Large Pipe,Smoke it Slow...**6.5/10** :^}

If this is English tobacco I guess it would be located in the Channel just off the coast. To me this tastes like Frog Morton with just a little sweetened black Cavendish tossed in the pot. Don?t think it is a bad blend, even with the Froggy curse, just nothing I prefer to smoke. 2.5 stars.

I think I got a really bad quality tin. I have noticed that McClelland has some inconsistant quality issues fom tin to tin time to time. The tobacco was overly moist and had an alcoholic tin aroma as if it had been cased in vodka. There seemed to be almost entirely dark stoved leaf with just a smidgen of lighter. In the smoke I was not sure if there was any Latikia at all or oriental. All there seemed to be was dark stoved leaf with almost nothing else. This has got to have been a mistake.

- Cautiously not recomended, may work up enough nerve to try it again