McClelland Deep Hollow

A very good blend for McClelland. I personally am a Cornell&Diehl man and am not in love with most McClelland Products,but this is actually quite good. A very good Virginia flavor with some type of casing that lends a slightly sweet note to the blend. Not really a straight Virginia,nor an aromatic. It is what I would call an "in betweener".A good change of pace blend-kind of like "Valle Crucis"My big problem with this was it gets you in the back of the throat.You will need a lot of water to rehydrate after this one. Almost 3 stars.

The question rages, is it an aromatic, or is it not? The Deep Hollow I smoked was six years old at the time. There is nothing semi-aromatic about this stuff ? it is an aromatic all the way. The vanilla topping completely overshadowed the underlying Virginia leaf.

I think it is possible that the Va?s have mellowed with age, and that the topping was not this strong at first. I will let the rest of what I have sit in a baggie for a few months and see if time doesn?t mellow the Vanilla?

Not at all what I expected from a well-aged McClelland blend.

The tin aroma of this nicely prepared mixture of red and dark VAs + Black Cavendish was as inviting as the room aroma. If the taste was only as good, this would be an enjoyable smoke. From the tin, the tobacco was too moist for me and benefited from drying. However, in doing this, some of the casing disappeared and a rather bland taste remained. It was also well rubbed out and I still prefer tobacco in flake or plug form. If I was smoking more to please others with the aroma, this would be an ideal smoke. However, even McClelland has better bulk offerings where the sweetness is from natural tobacco rather than additives. This blend might be enjoyed by new pipe smokers but lacks the flavor and strength of my prefered VA flakes and Va/Perique blends.

This is kind of a cross-over. It has more strength and less flavor to be a straight aromatic. However, there are better blends out there. It is smokeable though.

This is a mild, mostly virginia tobacco. In my mind, it has some virginia sweetness, but it doesn't stand out that much. It smokes easily, it doesn't bite, but it doesn't have enough flavor to really keep my attention or for me to consider returning to it anytime soon. You might consider it a candidate to smoke while going for a walk or while working in the yard, or as an all-day smoke if that's your thing.

Another one that I find I can smoke on any occasion. Compared to say, Frog Morton, or Grey Havens, it is milder and in my opinion, cooler. I like to smoke it from a deep, tall bowl, so I usually pair it with my billiard, even though I tend to have to relight halfway through it seems. Its not a blend for everyone, it might be a great one to keep around for curious friends to try as an entry to the hobby. I acutally married this with a tin of British Woods pretty effectively. It could be used well to mellow out stronger offerings.

Not one I will buy often, but it has its place.

Update, I am lowering the rating, I got tired of too many bowls of this being hard to keep lit, you have to overpuff at times to keep it together, makes for too much work. When right, flavors are good, but its hard to keep together through an entire bowl.

Deep Hollow is just not my cup of tea. I just finished an '03 tin which has been open for about 18 months but the tobacco is still sticky to the touch, which, I have to admit, puts me off. While the tin note is pleasing, DH smokes with a sense of the casing that subtracts from the fine Virginians used. Despite the stickiness, it does burn well and to a clean gray ash. It also does not smoke particularly hot. Despite those positives, for Virginia flavor, I'd go with Christmas Cheer or one of MeCelland's straight Virginias such as #27.

Red and black VAs with a initial smell of cinnamon apples. Although the smell is quite sweet I found with a bit of time, just like with all VA blends, this became mellow and creamy. If you get flare-ups, tongue bite, etc try stopping the process and try again later. If by quarter bowl the pack is roasting hot chances are it will be hard to salvage the experience. Roll slow on this one. I'm tasting apple but the overall impression is a sturdy sweet smoke with out the syrupy build-up on the tongue which usually accompanies aromatics with the same flavor. Just take care not to burn the heck out of it and this one should treat you nice.

Deep Hollow is not a bad blend, although I really can't say it is a good one either. It has a very simple taste -- no real depth and no real "tobacco" taste. However, neither is the casing overwhelming -- it's there, but is simply not accompanied by a good tobacco taste. The flavor is light vanilla with a tangy finish. That aftertaste was very familiar. At first, I thought of an apple spice cake, but then it hit me -- it's a subdued version of that characteristic McClelland "ketchupy" flavor. All in all, this is not too bad of a smoke, but not one I'll purchase a second time.

While smoking Deep Hollow, I can see myself at a company picnic. It is July -- hot, humid -- and the barbecue grill is smoking under the pavilion with hamburgers and hot dogs roasting away. I'm sweating, but not as much as the poor bastards playing in the softball game pitting the second floor workers against the third floor suits. My straight briar billows regularly with the sweet, inoffensive smoke of this McClelland blend.