McClelland No. 2015 Virginia Perique Flake

McClelland 2015 is a Virginia-Perique blend. It is not part of my regular rotation; but I have enjoyed it from time to time, as a change of pace, over the last year.

Basics: This a basic, somewhat simple smoke. The taste is sweet and modestly bright (but not very complex) with the Virginias, and there is a noteworthy amount of Perique for spiciness. There is no casing or topping. It is also a bulk tobacco. Tobacconists sometimes sell it under house labels. Online, it can be had at Smokingpipes.com for about $9 for two ounces or for about $52 for a pound. It comes in flakes, which can be rubbed out (which diminishes the flavor slightly) or which can be simply folded over and inserted into a pipe's bowl (which takes a little care to keep it burning). The strength is medium to strong, depending on whether you are used to smoking Perique. 🙂 Likewise is true for the nicotine.

Good: This is a good, basic Virginia-Perique blend. If you enjoy Virginia tobaccos, and if Perique is something that you do not usually smoke, this will be a nice treat or change of pace.

Bad: This is a good, basic Virginia-Perique blend. If you smoke a lot of Virginia-Perique blends, you might find it a tad unremarkable. Also, at $9 for two ounces, it is not inexpensive....but it is not pricey, either.

Conclusion: I give McClellend 2015 4 stars out of 4. It is good for what it is: a basic Virginia-Perique. It is worth trying, especially if you are curious about Virginia-Perique blends.

I just bought a few oz of this fantastic flake in bulk from 4noggins. It is a broken flake, but my bag also contained a few full rectangular flakes. The tin note has the typical McClelland ketchup/vinegar smell, but not to the same extent as their tinned blends. The moisture is just right, smokeable right out of the bag, albeit with a few re-lights, which is to be expected from a flake. The taste is superb... Deep, earthy and grassy, with bright peppery notes from the perique. This is a top notch vaper, which I will be adding to my rotation and cellaring for the future. If you enjoy vapers, do yourself a favor and give 2015 a try.

What can I say about this that hasn't been said already? I LOVE this stuff. The Perique is perfectly balanced with the Virginias to deliver a nice sweet creamy smoke with a hint of some kind of rich spiciness. I would say this is the American version of Orlik Golden Sliced. The first quarter is nice but as you get down to mid bowl the flavor and sweetness really pick up. Highly enjoyable and highly recommended for Virginia lovers.

I just bought this yesterday evening in west Austin, Texas, where the local tobacconist marketed it under the name "Acadian Legend." I'm always careful to ask what they are "really" selling me, but I could tell by the look of the flake in the jar that it was going to be pretty good, and I was right. I smoked some last night and again today.

Not surprisingly, the reviews to date bear out my experience. An overwhelming forty-nine out of 85 reviews (that's 58%) give this blend a 4-star rating! An additional twenty-nine reviews (34%) give it a 3-star rating. That means that 92% of the reviews to date give this 3 or 4 stars. So what's the complaint from the seven other reviews? Let's have a look.

First off, one reviewer said that he was giving it "three stars," but then gave it two stars, apparently by accident. Another reviewer had virtually nothing bad to say about this blend, but gave it only two stars anyway. That's okay. Everybody's got an opinion.

That leaves only five negative reviews out of eighty-five. Two complained that it was too moist, and that a "moistening agent" kept it that way. (The sample I bought yesterday was a bit too dry for me, but it came back very well over night.) One complained that it didn't "rub out well." Another complained that it was "too bland." And an admitted "novice" pipe-smoker said that it gave him tongue-bite.

There you have it. By correcting the accidental 2-star rating to a 3-star, the overall score on this blend to date is 297 total stars which, divided by 85 reviews, gives an average of 3.49 stars. One of the top-rated blends!

McClelland 2015 is turning into the tobacco I reach for most often. It has the fruity, citrus tang of a good Virginia. The perique is like adding a shot of Tabasco sauce to the smoke -- and I love Tabasco sauce. The tastes are both present from the start, and both of them continue through the entire smoke. There is some change, though; the perique fades a little and the Virginia gets stronger and less tangy toward the end of the bowl. It is pleasant at all stages. I recommend it. The key to enjoying this tobacco is to learn how to smoke flakes properly. It took me a long time to find a way that works. I tried drying it, rubbing it out to different degrees, packing it tighter or looser. None of these satisfied me, and often produced a hot, wet smoke. My pipe would gurgle, the taste of the Virginia tobaccos would disappear when the pipe got too hot, and I would get a burned tongue. Now, I take a big pinch of this straight from the bag and slide it into my pipe so that the chunks of flake are standing on end. I rub a little bit out and press it lightly into the top of the bowl for tinder, and then light it. The chunks of flake burn slowly and quite cool, rather like logs instead of a pile of dry grass. The smoke stays cool, my pipe stays dry, there is no tongue bite, and I am very happy. Also, a pipeful packed this way smokes for a long time -- I regularly get a normal-sized pipe of this to last from 75 to 90 minutes.

A nice variety of fruity flavors with a light spice that gets just a little spicier as the bowl progresses. Has an underlying toasty note. Smokes cool and consistent. It's a little light on Perique for my taste, but I won't hold that against it. A great tasting smoke.

Medium in body and taste. No added flavoring. Burns very well.

A very nice tobacco that needs some drying then it will sip like a dream. I don't know how McClelland does it, but I really like their Virginias. It's hard to describe but it's like "Sweet and Sour", tangy sweetness . The traditional McC Vinegar, gives their Virginias that distinct flavor that I find very tasty. Although, this bulk did not come with a strong McC Vinegar scent, it was still slightly there. Now on to the Perique, very interesting, like a concrete cellar block taste. I know, it doesn't sound good, but it really wasn't bad, a little "French "inhale and you got wet portland cement, interesting. I actually found myself searching for it as I went down the bowl. Just some slight whiffs now and then,watch the spice as you get to the end of the bowl, hot. I will cellar this to see if I can get rid of the bite ,if so, I will buy this again.

Updated 1/21/12 After about 6 months of age and this is still very spicy ( peppery ) ,however it explodes with flavor. I couldn't smoke this all day but a great treat once in a while. I also noticed that this was very hard to light, you need three to four chars before it will take. It also feels like it is going out, just go with it, smoke it at a smolder, don't try to push it or your tongue will suffer. Still 3 stars

Updated 2/17/12- " EUREKA", after 6 months of cellaring I found very little change in the bite I was experiencing from this very flavorful blend. I decided to try some home "stoving". Taking a mason jar, I set my convection oven to 190 degrees , placed the jar with the lid loosely on top and allowed 3 hours to cook. The result was special, 90% of the bite was gone ( Periques always have a little pepper ) and the flavor was not muted to any extent. I basically turned this into a 4 star blend from a 2 1/2.

This tobacco still has a small distraction, it is hard to get a even burn rate. The flake is hard to get uniform when you rub it out. Take a little extra time on those larger flakes and don't try to push it, just go with the burn it gives you. Try it in a smaller bowl as this is a long smoke

Review #6 Date: 25 Oct 2017

I have been smoking pipes for a few months, and cigars for a few years. I am an occasional (2-3 times a week, a bowl or two at a time) smoker.

I ordered this in bulk from Cup O' Joe's (cupojoes.com). It arrived today.

Cut: Somewhat broken flakes, with a lot of whole pieces. Chunks tend to stay together when rubbed. It seems like a good moisture level: not sticky, but not dried out.

Tin note: German pumpernickel (the real stuff, square and dark). I love that stuff so this was a good sign.

Preparation: Gently rubbed and stuffed into a straight billiard. That works well for the other flake (4th Generation 1931) I've smoked, but this one is a bit more substantial (not quite "rubbery," but not as crumbly) and could perhaps benefit from fold-and-stuff or cubing.

Lighting: Not hard to light, but went out a couple times. I could use more practice with flake, but even then, it wasn't so hard to relight. I got interrupted in the middle of the bowl for a half hour and had to set it down, but it didn't hurt the taste any. Relights returned after a few not-so-awfully-smoky puffs (more quickly than the 1931 mentioned above) to good taste. I didn't pack it quite right so I had some crunchy dottle at the bottom that just wouldn't stay lit, but a better pack should fix that next time.

Taste: Natural Virginia, plus a bit sour and yeasty, a tiny bit peppery, now and then a very tiny bit funky (in a good way -- like mushroom). I liked it better than the very first Virginia-Perique blend I tried, Comoy's Cask #7 (Single Coin Sliced). Cask #7 has more of a stewed fruit taste and is stronger nicotine-wise; No. 2015 is bready and mild. Aroma is sweet, especially sniffed from the bowl.

Room note: Baked bread.

I might go back and revise the rating once I've smoked more blends, but this is good stuff that I would gladly share with friends.

I have very much enjoyed McClelland's St. James Woods tinned Virginia Perique Flake, but this one seems to me to be just as stellar. And a bulk offering, no less. So, I'm letting my tins of St. James Woods, and Tudor Castle age in their cool dark place, and enjoying this. The room note is scrumptious and you'll have everyone following you around. The way one can tell this is choice leaf is in how it "sips." Truly sumptuous, delicious flavors may be extracted by tamping & keeping the ember cool & small.

Before McCl closed shop, on a whim I bought 4 more pounds of 2015 in Jan 2018 to add to what I had on hand, so I have quite a bit of it, along with a good cellar of many favorite tinned blends from them. In Jan 2018 it was not yet known, anywhere, that this would be the end of luscious McClelland tobaccos. RIP McClelland.