McClelland No. M-27 Three Cherry Blend

I have always wanted to find a cherry blend that I could tolerate, this might be it. The blend does not have the syrup taste that most have, but a real nutty cherry taste. There is a fair bit of real tobacco taste too!!! The tobacco is still wet like most aromatics, but not as wet as most. The tobacco can bite a bit if smoked to fast. The tin (bag) and room note are to die for. That is my only reason to smoke this stuff. The wife, family and friends will love this blend which makes up for most of its shortcomings.

McClelland - No. M-27 Three Cherry Blend.

The majority of the blend appears as a well rubbed ribbon, it's the lesser amount of Black Cavendish that has a coarser appearance. The blend looks about 25% Black Cavendish. Moisture's good.

I struggle to differentiate between the three types of cherry, but generically speaking the topping tastes truer to cherries, rather than like cheap sweets. The initial flavour's a lot sweeter than once the burn's settled down. From then on I note a sour/bitter top note; true to cherries. Because the topping isn't heavy it allows the tobaccos to come through: a lot more flavour from the Virginia, than Black Cav'. The temperature creeps above medium if the pipe's chugged, and it needs very few re-lights.

Nicotine: mild. Room-note: lovely.

It's a well made blend, but not one I'd add to my rotation. Somewhat recommended:

Two stars.

A lovely blend of light, thin, red tobacco ribbons beautifully married with dark, thick cut, rich and heavy tobacco. Only a few examples exist of such diverse tobaccos blended and matured together perfectly, and this is one.

Its surprising ready to smoke despite the clear level of care and attention that was paid to blending. The pouch scent is sweet and rich with distinct cherry affluence, almost too sweet for my liking. Darker notes prevail over the lights, a good sign in my mind. A very light hint of liquer lingers on the palate.

The smoke is smooth and provides an exceptional room note that reminds me of times when things were built properly. Easy to enjoy, hard to savour, and of course, very cherry. A christmas winner, i feel. Mild to medium nicotine content.

Happy piping

This is based on a 4 oz bulk sample smoked over the course of a couple of months. That in itself should indicate this has not be a go to blend that I just have to have more of. It is a mild smoke and I got no noticeable Nic hit from it. Despite the light topping, the tobacco flavor is very mild too. The VA's should be a little more dominate in this blend than they are but I can still tell I am smoking tobacco which is a good thing. The casing is light with just a hint of sweet cherry at the match. Soon the Duke cherries, which are tart seem to take over and the tartness plays with the sweetness which is very good. Now, if it had stopped progressing at this point it would be my go to cherry blend. However, about mid-bowl the tartness becomes bitter. It is a bitterness that hits the center of the tongue and runs its length. The smoke begins to bite a little no matter how slow and light I puff. I do still get some sweetness but the bitter after taste lingers. While the blend smokes pretty dry overall some moisture did start to build and the bitterness continued until I toss the last 1/4 of the bowl. The last oz or so I just smoked the first 1/2 and tossed the rest and it was a very enjoyable smoke but I hate tossing 1/2 of a bowl. Overall a blend that if you are looking for cherry should be tried but it is far from ideal for me. I will not revisit personally but it has good points worth checking out if you are into cherry aros.

So, when you buy something called "three cherry blend" you are not searching for any thrill or subtlety, it is a direct in your face cherry puff with no other contours or dynamics. It is a conservative experience. So I guess the creation of blends such as these is like the inner wish of smoking cherries out of the tree, kinda surreal, but that is the more close definition I could handle to substract to exemplarize the experience. It is a monochromatic world with a distant resemble of tobacco in where you will only find all the possible tonalities given by the cherry topings added, that is all the deal, a rollercoaster in cherry land. Some more fruity, some mature, some stronger, some sweeter than others as long as the experience proceeds.

The first puffs allow you to perceive the sweeter taste, mild and fruity, mild room aroma, along the middle it becomes a variant of mature and more acidic cherry taste with notes of fresh berries, in the end there is the more defined taste of tobacco with undertones of cherry and black currant. It burns slow and tends to consume fast, so you have to smoke it slow.

Ideal as an after meal along with your plus cafe in a not so hot day and even if the room note is pleasant, it is as much as everything else one dimensional, apt for kids and children. I guess I still have part of this child like spirit in me if I bought this, but I guess I want something more subtle and polifacetic that this ultra conservative experience. Perfect blend for a novice or a reincarnation of Dali.

Real tobacco with natural cherry flavor, a great aromatic. Burns nicely, subtly sweet. Put some in your cob and head out to the garden. No need for analysis with this one, just enjoy.

6/8/2012 EDIT: Smoke it fast, boys and girls. Even stored in a Mason jar, the cherry flavor in this stuff is fleeting.

Very nice aromatic, not too heavily cased and does taste like cherry all the way through. This blend would be a great change of pace if you are looking for a sweet hit. Unlike many of the aromatics that I have tried, it burns to a nice grey ash and does not bite, though does burn a little hot if you're not careful. Nicotine is minimal. Room note is pleasant. Smoked in a Stanwell Vario 2.5/5 stars

This is as good as any when it comes to cherry blends. I don't normally smoke these but a buddy of mine had some of this and Macbaren coconut and I decided to see how they were. I have to say, in a corn cob this is a great fishing smoke. Cheap and with good burning qualities, I seem to detect a burley heaviness here that is quite pleasant. Much better than the drug store varities.

Once in a Blue Moon a get a craving for some Cherry tobacco. This will suffice until a better Cherry comes along. I would sure hate to have a half pound to get through! Corn cobs only please.