McClelland No. 2000 Fragrant Matured Cake

It took a while and then struck me. .. Tastewise this is simply a stronger and much fuller version of the famous 1Q/BCA mixture. Virginias with a light dressing of coconut, vanilla and caramel. Unfortunately, like for some others here, it bit me so badly (roof of mouth) that I had to give it away. I suspect this is due to individual mouth chemistry, so by all means give it a try!

Amazing aroma in the bag but as with many aromatics the flavor doesn't hold up when smoked - it has a pleasant maple/vanilla sweetness but none of the intensity of the aroma.

The flakes came a bit too wet but after some drying they smoke fine. As with most flakes I rub them out beforehand.

This is a good quality tobacco that has been strongly sweetened. It serves it's purpose of introducing strong-aromatic smokers to the flavor of good tobacco. From here I'd suggest you try their 5100 Red Cake, which is a sweet, dark Virginia which will give you more tobacco flavor.

This review is based on fairly limited tasting.

I don't find this blend cloyingly sweet, but it is definitely sweeter than most Virginias, it doesn't have that crisp light flavor of a blonde VA, or the darker spicy flavors of a red VA.

It burns reasonably well, and the cut is nice and easy to work with. I didn't get any goop, and tossed out a fairly normal amount of dottle at the end of the bowl for a broken flake.

I do get some bite from this -- tongue, roof of mouth and behind my bottom front teeth.

I prefer more natural tasting Virginias, and the bite is a turn off too.

I'm sure there are people out there who like this blend, there's a nice gingerbread type of thing going on part way down the bowl, but overall I just find the blend a bit too harsh and sweet for my tastes. There are certainly other blends from McClelland that I like better, in the bulk realm, 5115 and 2010 are both better choices.

Update 04/24/11: I am changing my review of this tobacco to two stars. The flavour and aroma remain top-notch; however, the tongue bite is simply too much to bear.

Original Review: I had considered (and always postponed) ordering this tobacco due to a fear of having my hopes dashed after trying it. However, I finally bit the bullet and purchased a small 2 oz sample to try.

I found the tobacco to be a mildly sweet and fragrant broken flake composed of dark and some lighter Virginias. I packed a small MM Legend (my favourite pipe for these types of blends) and lit up. My surprise was double-sided: I was rewarded with what my mouth and nose told me was the nearest thing to a bulk equivalent of McClelland's Deep Hollow that I had yet come across; however, the tongue bite was ferocious! I had never experienced tongue bite of this magnitude with anything McClelland produces. However, after a period of allowing the sample to dry somewhat, the tobacco smoked much smoother and sweeter. I plan to order much more of this tobacco and cellar it to find out if perhaps aging it will blunt the blistering effects of the tobacco.

Were it not for the horrible tongue bite, I would without hesitation give this tobacco four stars. I'm really hoping that it mellows and softens a bit with age.

Oddly enough, I detected no hint of McClelland's trademark ketchup or vinegar aroma at all.

An aromatic tobacco that smells good in the bag,smells good in the smoke,and tastes like...an aromatic. This is good at first light,but mid way down becomes bland, bitter,and loses it's aroma. The tobacco which makes up this blend is tobacco,but thats all I can tell you. What kind? Not sure,the aromatic agent covers it up. I would really like to love this but cannot.

This blend is extremely pleasant, in a vanilla ice cream sort of way. Most of the time I want some toppings and nuts on my sundae, but once in awhile a scoop of plain old vanilla ice cream is just the ticket. This tobacco is much the same way. It is a nice Va with a discrete "old-timey" sort of casing that makes me think of the old men smoking pipes over coffee down at the grain elevator when I was a kid. On the other hand, after about one bowl worth of reminiscing, I get very bored. It can nip a tad too. This would make a very traditional all dayer.

This is McClelland's bulk Virginia 2010 with the addition of a light aromatic flavoring. I smoke McClelland #5100 and #2035 regularly; I smoke a lot of #2015 and #2010. But in this case the flavoring spoils the Virginia flavor. You can taste the Virginia, but the additive gets in the way. McClelland recommends the blend as a crossover from aromatics to Virginias, and this might be just the ticket for the aromatic lover. I can enjoy it as a change of pace, but it will not be in my regular rotation. Paddy.

File under "AROMATIC". This may be an unpopular review, because some people really enjoy #2000. I really wanted to love this, since there are so many other tobaccos in the McClelland 2000 series that are regular favorites. This tobacco arrives wet and sticky from the manufacturer, probably because it is meant to be sold from the bulk jars at tobacco shops. I gradually increased the drying times until I reached 48 hours, when I decided that the PG content wouldn't allow it to dry further no matter how long I left it out. The bag aroma is nice, vanilla and other flavors are evident, and the blend is obviously sweetened,. Although there are some casings here, I'd have to agree with McClelland that this is somewhere between an aromatic and a Virginia blend, but closer to an aromatic. It is easy to pack, burned well, and was surprisingly cool. Slight bite on lighting. There is no immediate rush of flavors, just a sweet, mild smokiness in a blah, middle-of-the-road kind of way. Completely lacks a top range, bass range is indistinct and faint, but okay. The main activity is in the mid-range, with a butterscotch-like creamy tone and sweetness. In conclusion, I don't dislike this tobacco, I am merely indifferent to it. It smokes mildly, consistently and easily, but there is no complexity or strong "pro" factors. My recc is "possibly recommended" because people who are seeking this type of tobacco would probably enjoy this. For me, though, I'll put this in my blending cabinet, where it might someday serve to calm a hot, biting blend.