McClelland No. 5100 Red Cake

This is quite a tasty if monodimensional smoke. As someone who normally smokes flakes and broken flakes, this is a great tobacco to burn in a new pipe. Loads easily and burns very well, if not quite as well as a flake (once you get 'em going!). This also dries out nicely and I found one reviewer's claim of problems there and that this included humectants to be in direct opposition to my own experiences. But I've read enough of his other reviews to believe that he arrives at his conclusions honestly, so I guess it's simply a matter of a difference in opinion. No problem there!

I suspected this might make a good blending tobacco when I first smoked it and I'm tickled to see so many reviewers doing just that. I really like one reviewers idea of this Red Cake, the McClelland Stoved VA and some Perique - sounds like something I oughtta try! By itself this blend is very nice and very smokable, but it's not (for me) one of McClellands best blends. But getting to the top of that mountain would be quite a feat, as McClellands has at least a dozen blends that I find 4 star. Try this if you like straight virginia or if you're an aromatic smoker wondering what all the straight VA hubbub is about. This will start you on your journey.

With McClelland's wide range of superior Virginia ribbon and flake blends, I find my needs for quality and taste satisfied. 5100 is no exception to McClelland's well-earned reputation. It is a nice, middle weight and moderately sweet red Virginia pipe filler. I used 5100 to break in a new pipe as a neutral tobacco with plenty of natural sugar to help build a delicious cake. While I appreciate the subtly of single varietals, I prefer blends of Virginia leaf. I find them more interesting overall.

On another note, I wondered, when reading the reviewers of this tobacco that found some artificial flavoring (which is what you are saying if you indicate anything but 'none detected' on the Flavoring field), if there is not a misunderstanding. The overall rating has the flavoring of 5100 as "extremely mild." This indicates that enough reviewers think this is cased or topped with flavors beyond those fixed naturally in the leaf processing. It would be helpful if those reviewers stated how and with what they perceive this or any blend is so manipulated, for I find nothing but tobacco flavor.

Also, the "Curing Group" is not fire-cured (candela cigar leaf and some Burley tobaccos are cured with open flame; Latakia over smoke) as indicated on this site for this blend. 5100 is flue-cured (meaning controlled, radiated heat providing the temperature to cure/fix the leaf color and prevent decomposition, not open air or flame). If you want to taste fire-cured pipe tobacco, try Orlik's Dark Strong Kentucky, Gawith, Hogarth & Co.'s Brown Flake and Dark Flake, as well as a touch of it in Montgomery by GLPease (which erroneously is categorized on this site in the Air-Cured group!). I am sure there are other examples of blends with fire-cured pipe leaf.

The reason why McClelland IMO has created the gold standard with Red Cake is because of its duel usage potential. 5100 Red Cake is a mild, red Virginia that smokes well enough on its own, but really rings the bell as a great component tobacco for other blends. My stash is from 2009 and at five years old, it is quite sweet, very mild in strength and offers a little bit of tang. It is also forgiving for “puffers” as it doesn’t bite. I generally don’t gravitate toward the McClelland Virginias I have tried because I prefer a little more strength than the McClellands I have smoked. Red Cake is no exception to this for me as it is mild and not very complex. But, boy it is a tasty tobacco all the same and it ages wonderfully. Personally, for the reasons mentioned, it’s a three star tobacco for me, but I can easily see this being a favorite for many looking for a mild straight red Virginia.

The smoke was mellow, medium/mild with a good tobacco flavor. It struck me as a Anniversary Kake without the perique, and it was a very good smoke. There was a mild sweetness that transitioned to a slightly more sour/tart taste as the bowl progressed. This blend grew on me, and I found I liked more and more, as I smoked my way through the 4 oz. I suspect the blend benefits from a dedicated pipe, and this may have explained the liking it more and more. I did not get a lot of complexity or top notes, but this is a solid smoke that is not exotic.

This is my first taste of a McC tobacco and so my first review of one. Just for the record, I did not mention the "K" word.

5100 Red Cake has been in my daily line up for about three years; I have about a pound of it cellared; I'm working through some that's about two and a half years old now.

So, yeah, I like it.

5100 isn't monochromatic -- there's a compact group of flavors here: nutty, woodsy, summer-barbeque-y -- but it's straightforward in the way you want for an all-day standard. The flavor is very full and satisfying, and there's little to no bite.

All that being said, it's not a four-star blend for me. There's a certain roughness -- even coarseness -- to the flavor, especially in the first few minutes of a bowl, that holds it back from that level. And, perhaps because of this, I find that it's hard to fully enjoy other blends for a while after a bowl of 5100.

Yes, it does have that trademark McClelland Heinz/vinegar/ketchup tin aroma in full (you decide if that's a problem; it's not for me).

And, while it does respond well to aging (most tobaccos do, I think), you shouldn't expect the miraculous transformation that some of these reviews suggest. It gets notably smoother, but it's the same basic animal after two weeks or two years.

I've gone on at some length about the negatives, though, which may give a skewed impression. 5100 Red Cake is a fine tobacco that fills a certain (important) niche very well: it's a straightforward, satisfying, value-priced blend that you'll reach for often... when you're wanting something to smoke while you're out cleaning up the garage, or driving around, or wanting a full, satisfying, but undemanding smoke at the end of the day.

Oh... and 5100 is *terrific* for breaking in new pipes and rehabilitating musty and/or funky estate pipes.

I am not a fan of McClelland´s processing and blending techniques. My first experience, Deep Hollow, was rather frustrating. I mean, who ever thought of concocting a Vanilla and Vinegar blend? Subsequent samples (Brindle Flake, Old London Pebble Cut and B. Hartwell?s Reserve Blend), though better in taste and depth, still had that unexplainable acidic-BBQ tang which, unlike some of the above reviewers, I find it erodes the essential flavours and resins of natural pipe tobacco. So it was with some trepidation that I opened the 3 Oz pouch of 5100 Red Cake that I received a couple of months ago. What a surprise! There is a certain vinegary note in the pouch that somehow lingers in the initial taste?But then, after a few puffs, the acerbic taste dissipates and gives way to a very nice and well behaved Virginia! Following the sensible advise from my fellow reviewers, I proceeded with extra caution in order to avoid potential tongue bite. But again to my surprise, I encountered none. The natural flavours and sweetness of matured red Virginias (in a certain way reminiscent of McConnell?s) were all there, very subtle and delicate. Though visually not a very attractive tobacco, the crimp short ribbon cut makes it very simple to pack. It has a wonderfully slow burning rate (great for DGT), it smokes rather cool and the room aroma is acceptable.

Personally, I still prefer other Virginias (most recently Stokkebye's Navy Flake--with Perique-- and Curly Cut--straight Va). But this one undoubtedly is a very nice and, shall we say, invigorating experience, highly recommended to any Virginia lover.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 12-27-2016

This blend delivered all I expected of it. Straight Red Virginia in a ribbon cut. The tin note of this is the ketchup type aroma one would expect in a McClelland Virginia. The taste is similar to other McClelland Vas as well, but this one is a little earthier than I expected.

I did mix it with some other blends and had some great results, but on its own, this is incredibly monotone and can get boring in a large bowl. I don't really think the point of this blend is to smoke it straight even though many do. It is good quality leaf and it has many uses.

UPDATE 6-19-2019

Just 2 and a half years since my review of this and wow, how the tobacco landscape has changed for our hobby. This no longer being available with the rest of the McClelland line has seemed to skyrocket this one in popularity and lore. IMO, much more than it deserves.

Shortly after my review of this, I purchased 4 oz with the express purpose of seeing how it ages and/or using it as a blending tobacco. I broke this down into two 2 ounce jars, the first of which, I just finished.

I am happy to report that the tobacco did gain in sweetness in just two years time in slumber, but not to the point where I would change my rating of it. It still is what it is: that being McClelland's blending red Virginia. It is the reason the primary focus of the Virginia lovers when McClelland blends were widely available was on blends like Blackwoods, CC, No. 27, et al....

Those blends brought more to the table than 5100, which remains a monotonous experience that is best done in a smaller bowl. So I will hold this one at three stars, but if you see it reasonably priced somewhere, still available, and you have never tried a McClelland Virginia, then I would highly recommend it to you as McClelland's lowest level red Virginia is still better than any Red Virginia on the market today.

I worked at a cigar shop for a number of years and had access to every McClelland tin and bulk tobacco but unfortunately I did not appreciate it at the time. Luckily I saved whatever I didn't like in mason jars to revisit in the future.

5100 is excellent for what it is, a mild and subtle red Virginia. It doesn't have bold or complex flavors but the few notes it offers are satisfying throughout the entire bowl. Its tart, sweet, and spicy with some mild fruit notes. Drying the tobacco out a touch removes any bite the tobacco might offer. It burns easily, the room note is pleasant for a straight Virginia, and the low nicotine content makes it a great all-day smoke. If i had access to it I would certainly purchase more.

I will start off by saying I will not even consider this a review but a notch in my belt that I have gotten to try another McClelland blend since their closing. This is another one that I thought about buying but just never got around to doing it. I was given about 3 bowls worth of this last week at our pipe club. It is smooth and tasted good, mild mind you but good nevertheless and I smoked it in one of my favorite Meerschaums. I can see why this one is/was very popular. I also had to look up and see what Red Virginia was and read that it is the leaves from the upper portion of the plant. McClelland really knew how to blend their Virginias and this is one of them.