McClelland No. 2015 Virginia Perique Flake

I finished the last bowl of a 2 oz. sample of McClelland 2015 watching the sun rise, it was pleasant enough. But weird. This blend is weird.

I'm not sure that my choice for Virginia accompaniment to a fairly substantial dose of Perique would be an almost straight red flake. The flavors I associate with good red VA are kind of delicate and muted, something you have to pay attention to ... but this blend has got all that Perique yelling "WOOO SPRING BREAK" and flashing people for beads while the red is trying to watch Masterpiece Theater.

Maybe it's McClelland trying to differentiate between their bulk and tin blends, but I don't know why 2015 is not blended for more balance. It's still smokeable, although it took me a good 6 months to get through 2 ounces. Just nothing to write home about. There are definitely blends that have more aggressive Perique, if that's what you're after, and there are blends that do a much better job of integrating the VA and the Per. And if I'm going to make my own blend, I'm going to want to add the blending Perique myself so ... I'm not sure where this one fits.

Two stars, smokeable but not special in any way.

This flake smoked very evenly and lit easily. It was a pleasant Virginia perique . While pleasant, and certainly a smoke I would I would accept if offered, I do not find it to be unique enough to justify buying anymore.

The tin note is full of McC's notorious ketchup smell, but fortunately the smoke is nothing like that. A spicy vaper with right amount of perique. A little too spicy for my taste and can bite you if pushing hard. I give the rating only on personal liking, but with the bulk price, it's reasonable to get all the popularity.

This is a light VAPER which seems to be well balanced, but due to a lesser than assertive flavor this begs comparison to other more robust fulfilling blends in my mind. This is a so-so one for me, but not unpleasant to smoke. I finished my portion, though won't purchase this again. Body is medium, smokes well once lit, few relights and a light clean flavor once finished. This just didn't fill me up, didn't quite satisfy, left me longing for another bowl, unfortunately not a bowl of the same. 2 stars..sorry 2015. TCJLY

I'm still a rather novice VA smoker. Less than one year, of thirty plus, smoking pipe. I've found some excellent ones, awful ones & not awful but ONE-TIME trials. I always smoke ( or try to ) about 2oz before forming an opinion. Since I'm truly not a Perique fan, I didn't make it through all 2 ozs, as this was way too peppery for my 'buds'. I'll say it packs well, lights very well, and smells pretty good in the pouch/jar. But, I'll not deprive others and move on.

The "tin note" on this blend is spot-on with aroma of the corn silage produced by my family's dairy farm. It's not ketchup you're smelling folks, just the scent of fermented vegetable matter.

I have no luck smoking this stuff folded and stuff, I have to rub it out first. Once I do though it's moderately easy to smoke; stays lit and isn't too gurgly. It's on the wet side when fresh so a bit of drying is recommended.

To me the flavor is overall on the light/mild side. I taste sweet alfalfa/plums with a light tang from the perique.

I would smoke this again, but I probably won't buy it again.

2015 is packaged in extremely dense flakes. I usually pack a bowl without doing much to the flakes, but I found I had to rub out 2015, or I would hit air gaps which made for an inferior smoke.

It seemed to smoke much wetter than what I'm used to.

The taste while I was smoking it was okay. It seemed to pick up an ashy taste very easily, and I would make sure and dump any ash before a relight, and would not try to smoke to the absolute end.

However, the aftertaste is exceptional, one of the best I've had! Even after brushing my teeth, the next morning my mouth tastes wonderful.

I can't say this is a cool smoke by any means, but it is a flavorful one -- fairly slow burning, naturally sweet. If this site had a 5 star scale it would be a 3, but right now I have to keep this at 2+ for me. I look forward to trying it again a few months.

We have all had this experience one time or another... the one where you really want to like a blend and can taste the potential in it.. but something just doesn't do it for you. For those who do like this tobacco - I am jealous because it is a va/per at a great price.. I found the mccleland treatment of an otherwise quality tobacco just a little too off putting.. It isn't just the ketchup thing.. there is something else almost a soapy thing going on and not a pleasant soap. Whatever treatment mccleland gives their virginias is preventing me from appreciating their tobacco.. So if you don't mind the mccleland treatment you are sure to love 2015.. if you don't - avoid it.