McClelland Deep Hollow

This was a revelation to me and so far its a bit unique. I am an english smoker, as you probably guessed from the name :-), and this tobacco makes such a nice change from almost everything else I smoke. I only came across it because of good old Ebay but I am so glad I went out and grabbed a completely unknown, to me, tobacco. Like others, I regret that its only available in tins and not bulk. Maybe McClelland will reconsider their policy if enough ask. Why do i like this so much? Well, its gentle sweet taste is a perfect change from the eternal english varieties that are everywhere these days...don't get me wrong, I love Westminster, but I need a complete change from time to time and this is what I find myself returning to. Its such an american blend that it's completely different from all the tobacco's I have been used to for years. I think of Mick McQuaid, FVF, 1792, Brown Rope, Westminster, etc etc and Deep Hollow is so far apart from them. I would love to find something similar to it, to be honest, just to give it a fair trial.....but,as it stands, this deserves 4 stars in my book.

Update May 2008 Just got hold of some 1991 Deep Hollow in one of the old style tins. Interestingly this was marketed as one of the Personal Reserve Oriental series! This is so changed from modern Deep Hollow as to be an utterly different tobacco. Maybe they changed the recipe some time? Modern DH contains what looks like 3 individual tobacco's; a mixture of light, medium and dark brown strands. The 1991 has just dark brown and black strands: the sweetness that you can smell in the modern tin has vanished and the aroma is earthy, pungent and strong. By contrast, it smokes smooth with all the high notes of modern DH missing. Its almost smoky, utterly delicious, no tongue bite and absolutely nothing like modern day Deep Hollow. In the spirit of true tobacco geekery I have just cracked open a 1995 tin, the earliest year that I have which has a label similar to, but not exactly the same as, the modern tins. The 1995 version has the same mix of tobacco as the modern tins though obviously with 13 years aging it smokes differently. If you can lay your hands on any well aged Deep Hollow I do strongly recommend you try it even if you think that you are not a fan of DH:-)

UPDATE:

Upgrading to 3 stars, this ages well with oxygen exposure become a little stronger and more flavorful. Also, this is NOT and aromatic. It IS a light straight VA with an almost non-existant topping. This is a great all day smoke for the lighter VA crowd (me:).

If you have this blend and didn't care for it, give it some time I have smoked a LOT worse

ORIGINAL: 3-14-2008

Light carmel notes, maybe imagination or not, but it's very light.

The VAs used here are mild to almost tasteless, but I can't say I didn't like this blend, I liked it more than I disliked it.

It will perform as a dependable, very average smoke. Whips the pants off any drugstore blend that I can think of, just not enough zing for me.

I can imagine that anyone who keeps the McC blending stocks could create something neat and tastey with this mix. I'd say a dash of oriental and latakia might make some magic here.

This is not a heavily cased aromatic, just a lightly topped VA in the mild dept.

Not bad but not great, definitley has potential. I think I just talked myself into buying the full compliment of McC's blending varieties.

🙂

Good Draw to You, Sincerely

Ethan "Glorfindel" Dickey

Very cased and sticky/ goopy, very hard to keep lit. Not to mention the incredible tongue bite. I smoked this blend a few years ago out of a fresh tin. I've found out after buying probably 6 or 7 offerings from mclelland that I don't like them. All have been goopy and have added humectants or something. I feel like they use quality tobacco but ruin it with the adeed chemicals. This stuff is very very sweet and always left my tongue feeling blistered. I don't see tobacco enthusiasts ever buying a second tin of this. NOT RECOMMEND. And how in the actual Fudgicles does mclelland claim there is no flavoring added. That's like drinking the straight syrup for loganberry drink claiming it's just water. If you put this sugar goop in your pipe you will ruin it. Bad stuff mcfaillend.

I wasnt aware of this toby prior to my Mrs. purchasing this blindly as part of.a Christmas YABO ( she has yet to look up the wishlist I've labored hours on end compiling on this site 🙂

So I didnt research this tin prior to opening. Biases have thereby been unintentionally reduced therein. The tin note is superb, strong earthy chocolatey almost Latakia type smells, slightly vanilla and cinnamon lime -with the latter two lingering my mid-tin.

It was perfect moisture- wise, no relights necessary, and I find it smoked best for me in both cob and large billiard Velani. Sweet, smooth, lat-like coolness near to mid-bowl, whereupon a conscious effort was necessary to keep the Virginias from overwhelming my tongue. A natural French Vanilla with a sugary sweetness is what I chase bowl to bowl here.

I really dig this, as I get a qualty Va. and a smooth aromatic in concert with each other. To date my favorite aros all had cavendish as the base toby, except the Vaper La Flake (which still has in my mind a Bobs C flake chocolate derivative)

Aros take me 3x as long to consume as English blends, but I'm thinking not so long with this blend.

Great option for Aro fans, potential Virginia converts...

I've just finished my 2 oz 'can' of this blend. It had some moments. I detected a very light maple casing from time to time, and the Virginia's were pretty up-front. I enjoyed the mild-medium taste profile, nothing was too overwhelming. I smoked cigarettes for many years and this blend of all the other McClelland's that I've smoked is a satisfying blend of flavor, room-note and tobacco taste, though I agree with some others that it has less nicotine than I'd like. Another note, my can was from 06. I'd be willing to wager that most of the negative reviews on this tobacco have been very new cans and the better reviews of this blend have been the older varieties. The tobacco smelled wonderful out of the can, very raisin/fig aroma, no unnatural scents or flavors, i love how this matures in the bowl to an almost 'cigary' strength and complexity at the bottom of my bent. Reccomended for those who are moving in the direction of 'real tobacco' from aro's or cigarettes.

I took a chance on this Tobacco, since it was only in a 100g tin. I decided to go ahead and pick it up, the description on the tin sold me.

"a lightly fragrant blend of rich, red and black stoved Virginias"

I've been told it's lightly cased with Vanilla. I couldn't tell, I thought it wasn't cased at all, it has that natural sweet virginia taste, which is excellent. It reall comes out mid way through the bowl.

I'd reccomend this for VA lovers, It's a really pleasant smoke. It could be an all day smoke for sure.

I sampled some of this on the recommendation of my local tobacconist. The tin from which he drew my sample had been, in his words, "open awhile", and the tobacco was dry, but not to the point of being dusty. This was my first smoke in a new Cavicchi, and I was very impressed. As other reviewers have noted, like most McClelland Virginias, it appears to be good for building a dependable cake (however slowly). This sample from my tobacconist had that nice meaty McClelland character, with a pleasant and light sugary foretaste before the trademark McClelland flavor. It was essentially a straight Virginia with a slight, nearly undetectable, topping.

Excited, I bought a 100g tin and opened it to find...a very heavy aromatic. 'Twas sticky and overpowering and not at all like the sample I had originally had. Cautious, I set down my Cavicchi and reached for a Peterson System, and I am glad I did. This burned well *almost* to the end, but eventually ended up with the inevitable & unlightable aromatic goop at the bottom. The flavoring was pleasant (but nevertheless over the top) if you are expecting an aromatic, but quite a surprise if you intended to taste a straight Virginia.

I have seen two camps of reviewers for this tobacco: those that call it an aromatic and those who proclaim it is a Virginia with no/little topping. I have seen both sides in just two tins.

I have not given up hope in this blend, and have set the tin topless in my bookcase until such time I think it can behave itself. If I can dry or age it long enough to recreate my original experience I will upgrade this review and detail what I had to do. Until then, this is a two star, fairly average, overly cased tobacco. If you are looking for a straight Virginia, get a McClelland flake (Blackwoods, for instance, is an ethereal smoke). If you are actually looking for an aromatic, this might be good right out of the tin, so long as you don't need to taste the Virginias beneath the surface.

Deep Hollow, like all the McClelland Virginias, is an extraordinary tobacco. It is as sweet as honey, and has a bold, spicy flavor. By spicy I don't mean peppery, like Perique, but like the brown spices: cloves, allspice and cinnamon. Its sweetness comes from the natural sugars in the leaf, not from any top flavoring or casing. I like its soft, fluffy texture. It also ages wonderfully.

Besides enjoying it on its own, I use it as a blending tobacco. I like English blends, but I prefer those with a bit of sweetness. If I try a new English blend and I like it, but it isn't at all sweet, I can usually make it more to my liking by adding a little Deep Hollow. I also use it whenever I break in a new pipe. The sugars really season the briar quickly.

The only negative for me about this blend is the same drawback I find with all straight Virginias: they don't have the richness or body of a good English blend. They're like eating sorbet instead of ice cream.

I have posted the identical review for Virginia Woods. To me, Virginia Woods and Deep Hollow taste almost exactly the same. Both are great, but virtually indistinguishable from each other.

I have to start off by saying that I purchased this product by accident, mistakenly thinking it to be something else. I usually enjoy English blends but went to my local Tobacconist looking to try a straight unflavored Virginia blend. Somehow I ended up with this. On arriving home I popped the top of the can (you wouldn't use the term "tin" for this stuff) and found that I had actually pulled the pin on a live noxious vanilla potpourri grenade. Inside the can I found a darkly colored salad of goopy "tobacco". The sickening aroma emanating from the can was like Captain Black on steroids. I quickly replaced the cover extinguishing the emanating fumes. Later feeling braver I decided that I may as well give it a try. I decided to sacrifice an old, worn, seldom used Jobey once purchased on Ebay for this effort. Upon lighting I was transported in something of a time traveling experience to an earlier unenlightened period of immature drug store blend pipe smoking. The taste was bland, somewhat pleasant, without the slightest hint of tobacco flavor. Soon however the evil gnomes that dwell in this blend became angry and began to pour their boiling kettle of sugar syrup and tar on my unprotected tongue. I quickly terminated smoking and placed the now befouled pipe on the table. This is an experience that I do not intend to repeat.