McClelland British Woods

Looking through the cellar tonight I came across this tin of BW with seven years of age on it. Well I have never smoked this before so the age may slant my review some.

Upon opening the tin I got a pleasent whiff of orientals, probably latakia mostly. I did not get any of the mcclelland ketchup smell. It was maybe a tad moist for smoking but I said what the hell and went for it. It took to the match nicely. I only had to relight a couple of times. Initially I was greeted with a thick cloud of deliciously smooth latakia flavour. This to me is the smoothest latakia mxture I have smoked to date. It's very delicious and produces thick smoke with a very pleasent mouth feel. I do have to be honest and say that this smoke doesn't change all that much from initial light to dottle. I also will say that there is no nicotine to be found for me.

So do I like it? Yes will I buy more? Maybe. I would like to try this without age for a comparisions but that would probably be the only reason to buy more. Although it is very smooth there just isn't enough strength for me. I like my english smokes to kick me in the balls a bit.

If you were perhaps new to english blends or don't require much punch than this could be "the" blend for you.

This one seems to have a lot of reviewing activity recently. Must be the season (autumn).

This is for those that like a little bit of oriental with their latakia. This is a heavily pungent full English mixture that smells sweet in the tin and tastes both sweet and smoky in the bowl. A mostly all black tobacco with a few strands of chocolate brown matured virginia, said virginia doesn't seem to play a role I can discern in this one unless it's simply to tone it down a hair. The taste of BW is robust, yet sweet and mellow. Latakia predominates, with the various orientals peeking through the haze from time to time - a refined and occasionally elegant flavor. Somehow this doesn't beat the smoker about the head with latakia, however, and I'm not sure how they did that (perhaps the inclusion of matured red VA).

If you love latakia but prefer not to be overwhelmed by it, give this one a try.

This is a very good straightforward English Blend with great mellowness and nice flavor. I found that, from charring light to finish, it was cool, smooth and easy to smoke with absolutely No Bite even when pushed. Upon opening the tin it seemed a bit moist so I let the tin stand open for about 4 hours before I gave it a try.

British Woods would be a really good all-day smoke or one to turn to when you need to focus on other things and still enjoy a nice balanced English Blend. Personally, I tend to like the more complex blends that have variations coming and going as I work my way through the bowl. That being said I must give this blend 3 out of 4. If smoothness and coolness is what you are looking for … you will find it here and you will call it a 4.

Happy Smoke Trails! FP Stew

This is from my tobacco log that I started in 1985 when I first started pipe smoking and I wanted to keep a history of what I liked and disliked..This if from 2001 when I decided to start expanding my horizons and try things new and not just stay with aromatics and Frog Morton. I have found that feelings on this tobacco have not changed and maybe I have become more fond of this blend.

This was another gift from Dick my tobacconist and I must say it is a keeper! At first I was going to dump out my pipe after I lit it because of that damn ketchup thing I tasted. Fortunately I was driving and couldn't empty my pipe right away and boy am I glad I didn't! The condiment taste soon left and smokey goodness came to the rescue! It was not a harsh smoke but a smokiness one would find on the first cool day and the neighbor just started a fire in the fireplace. This was the first time I knowingly smoked a non aromatic blend with Virginia tobacco and enjoyed it. I have been very put off from smoking a straight VA flake and the what I consider the terrible mouth burn and ketchup taste that I stayed away from any tobacco with VA except for Frog Morton. This is a great tobacco and one I plan on buying once this gifted tin is gone!

Smooth & Mild. A very nice early morning, or "mindless" activity smoke that can't bite. Just enough sweetness and smokiness to make it interesting and without any hot spice. It comes a little damper than I like and I also like to give it an additional rub, I find this gives a more consistent burn without relights. I also find myself reaching for this at anytime that I'm in that , " I don't know what I want" mood. Not a smoke you have to concentrate on, but also not boring. I find it to be similar in boldness and strength to S.G.'s Squadron Leader, but more McClellend like, maybe a little Frog Mortonish.

I was torn between all the 4 star reviews and reviewer," zulujerk (134) 2010-06-28", at 2 star, as I felt this blend was a little light on flavor. I think I have many other blends to buy before this again, but there is nothing wrong with this one, 2 1/2 Star

BW seems to be to be the best balanced of the McClelland Latakia blends as the the Macedonians come through nicely. (Being of Macdonian heritage, McClelland got my attention by just mentioning Macedonian on the tin!) I'm not a big fan of the Frog Morton series as being too much of a one note theme but BW satisfies with reasonable complexity. My wife consistently rates BW as the best room note to her...so that's another plus. A solid English that I'll always keep around.

I cannot believe that I have not reviewed this yet. It is probably because I spend too much time actually smoking British Woods blend. It is always aging in my collection. It is in my top five medium English blends category.

There is simply no downside to this tobacco once it has been aged for a year or so and the moisture is reduced for my tastes. It is quintessential medium English in strength and taste, being as substantial and smooth as velvet on polished brass. The flavor is round, supple, complex and clean. Your pipe bowl smells good after the end of a smoke and your taste buds are ready for another bowl immediately following.

British Woods is not very sweet (despite a touch of casing), more rich like dark chocolate and earthy. It does not contain the high-end flavors of bright tobacco. The Orientals are flush with flavor, yet without the sharper notes of other venerable and favorite medium English blends, such as Squadron Leader or London Mixture. It is as sophisticated like Renaissance, but BW is soft at the points where Renaissance would be tangy (the little bit of Syrian Latakia is Pease's offering makes Renaissance nearly a full English for pungency alone). Renaissance has veins of flavor working harmoniously, while BW is round in tension like a droplet of dew.

Where there is something a bit muted about Royal Vintage Latakia #2 and the Frog series (both blended by McC), BW sings just below breaking glass and deeply enough to rumble the rafters. It is restrained and refined, with moments of glory, like the best of Old England herself at times.

Whether you like McClelland's style or not, they are a unique blending house, with few peers and exceeded by none.

This is a fine "crossover" English blend, meaning that it has both a decent hit of latakia as well as the kind of mild sweetness I associate with quality aromatics. The base tobaccos seem to be typical McClellands fare: high quality, sweet, and tangy. The latakia and orientals seem to be in equal proportions, and they combine to provide a very nice incense/pine needle quality (but without much of the campfire flavor I enjoy in latakia mixtures). It's considerably more complex than most other McClelland latakia mixtures (excluding Wilderness and Legends), but still a far cry from the many GL Pease blends available in this range. It's unusually sweet for an English blend, enough in fact for me to wonder if it's been flavored somewhere along the line. In that respect, it is similar to the Frog Morton series. In fact, this blend evokes the Frog series in many ways, only it's a bit stronger. Burning qualities are typical for a McClelland blend -- it takes a few lights to get it going and then burns smoothly to the bottom of the bowl.

Other than the Frogs, the most natural comparison is to Boswell's Northwoods. While the flavor profiles are remarkably similar, British Woods is positively anemic compared to Northwoods. Northwoods is a "full" mixture with a noticeable amount of nicotine and a heavy flavor profile, while British Woods is on the lighter side of medium. I prefer stout blends, so British Woods seems a bit lacking to my tastes. Nonetheless, British Woods is very nice blend that may just hit the spot for those who prefer to avoid "latakia bombs" or are new to the world of English tobaccos.

Revised 04-13-2005

This is by far MC's best English style blend, but my taste buds have wandered toward other blends in this genre of late. This blend is a bit moist upon opening the tin which has the typical "catsup" odor that is unique to this blending house, but lights fairly easily. The problem I have with this blend is that it tends to burn a bit hot when fresh. Two years of aging seems the proper age in order to enjoy this blend. I think that this is too much to ask of the consumer IMO. Other than that, you can not go wrong with this deliciously complex blend.