McClelland No. 2015 Virginia Perique Flake

I have become quite fan of VaPers and this is another in my quest to try them all. This is a nice blend but not a great blend. It comes in a semi rubbed out state, needs drying as it comes to moist and it is of a pretty uniform dark brown color leaf. The pouch note is slightly sweet, little of the kethchup aroma common with MC blends and a little musky, obviously the perique in it. If loades easy in the pipe after being rubbed out some more and lights very easy. It burns at a nice slow pace and has the semi sweet flavor of VA with a touch of the perique emitting through. It is creamy and non biting to the tongue and while there is no Ah HA moment with it, it really is a pleasant smoke. But I find it is a little light in the perique dept and the VA used could have been a touch sweeter for it to be a regular for me. It does burn down to the bottom at it's slow pace needing few relights and it burns dry to the end with a black and white ash and little dottle. As it is not an inyour face blend, it easily could be an all day blend for some, but for me, it won't make my keep in the cellar list. I recommend trying it but I can't give it a rousing review as it's pretty non dimentionable.

A bulk broken flake with a smell that is not particularly engaging, quite bland and plain to me. It does not have the signature McClelland tin smell at all. Sliced and diced in a small bowl it lit after a few tries. The flavor is on the sweetish side with the perique in the background till at mid bowl it turned spicy (but not as spicy as Blackwoods Flake). Medium smooth but somewhat harsh and cloudy taste though not excessively sharp for a virginia. The side stream I do not care for. Aftertaste is peppery long lasting and hard to erase.

The perique could be a bit more discrete and is a distraction for me. Did not stay lit, burned my tongue and smelled up the place. Wife detests the smell. So - no pouch smell, stinks when it burns, average flavor, bites and not a nice side stream.



Overall fair but I prefer Old Gowrie and will not buy again.

I've been trying for over two years to like this tobacco. I say trying because I have had four ounces that I have been samling off and on for that amount of time. Don't get me wrong, this is quality tobacco, but not to the level that I believe it should be.

The taste is not as full as one would assume from the ingredients used. The virginia is anemic at bet and the perique is MIA. NO mtter what humidity level or age, this is a disappoinment. I really wanted to like it, but it is sadly just another bulk offering that pleases the middle of the road crowd.

Stokkebye has much more impressive offerings in bulk form, as does C&D.

If you like the lighter, less flavorful Vapers, this is your nirvana.

2015 is a decent smoke the virginias aren't great and they aren't bad. There is enough perique to know that it's there which is actually good because the virginias are a bit weak. I wouldn't call this blend complex or deeply satisfying but it'll do in a pinch.

Simply I don?t like the 2015, it did not work with me, I find this Virginia/per tasteless, bland and spicy, doesn?t burn well and doesn?t get dry even when left in my car 1 week in summer time, under the sun, it will remain wet !

I can?t recommend it to anyone.

I cannot seem to get 2015 to rub out well. The little chunks of bark just get smaller. The salsa tang is ok every now and then but I'm still searching for the right combination of aging, pipe and consistency that many seem to find with this weed.

I think I?ll try some of the suggested alternatives in this thread.

Just ordered two oz. of this stuff from smokingpipes.com to give it whirl. I'm a pretty novice smoker but this stuff just wasn't for me. Gave it a great big whiff when I first opened it and it smelled very nice, like fresh hay. Unfortunately that was the best part of my experience with it. It was pretty moist when i got it, so I set aside two bowls worth to dry for the afternoon. That night and went to light it up and was very disappointed. Gave me pretty bad tongue bite trying to get it going.(Note: This could have been from my inexperience with pipe tobacco but I have managed to light up with other pipe tobaccos and receive no tongue bite so who knows.) The tobacco was strong, almost like smoking a cigar, but I found the taste to be very bland. halfway through the bowl I started to detect a hint of spiciness but other than that nothing. I guess I just don't enjoy Virginias very much. I'm more of a Latakia and Oriental guy.

If you enjoy Virginias this may be the tobacco for you, all these reviewers can't be wrong. However, if your on the fence about purchasing this stuff and aren't that big a fan of the Virginias I wouldn't recommend this to you.

Maybe they put the wrong stuff in my two oz. sample but it is clearly marked McClelland # 2015 so here goes.Decided to smoke right out of the bag since the moisture level seemed about right. Bland, mild, almost tasteless with zero aroma. Slight hints of the perique now and then. To me this would be a good quality blending Va.

dunhill grp 3 dedicated to vapers

No doubt #2015 is one of the better Va/Periques to be had. Previous reviews leave little room for anything more than affirmation and am glad to do so. This does require attentive smoking unless one likes being punished but that is "business as usual" for Virginia lovers. To my taste, Bufflehead's "Bufflehead Decoy" is a much better smoke. But because of the quality in #2015 I will stretch just a wee bit and give it three stars.

Tiger