McClelland Deep Hollow

This blend is the best of the crossover blends I have tried. It has all the delicious attributes of VA tobacco, but the black Cavendish adds a cooling effect to the blend. The tin note is very reserved, what you do get is the typical McClelland vinegar smell. I mostly smoke English tobacco and find when I get careless I smoke VA's too hot. This is not a problem with this blend. I would say that the Cavendish does not add much to the blend in the taste department. The Va's are naturally sweet, complex and delicate. What the Cavendish does offer is a safety net to puff without paying as close attention to your speed.

Revision 02/26/2008: This remains a pleasant tobacco, IMO; however, I have apparently exposed myself to too many much more substantial tobaccos which leave me finding Deep Hollow just a bit too light. McCranie's Red Flake gives me the tang and sparkle that I used to enjoy in Deep Hollow whilst also giving me real tobacco flavour.

Original review: I first reviewed this tobacco a few years ago and, although I had smoked many tobaccos before then and have smoked quite a few since, THIS is the blend to which I keep returning. Other favourites have come and gone from my cellar, but this is the only one (aside from Balkan Sasieni and McClelland's 5100) that I keep in constant supply. A slightly sweet, woodsy aroma is left behind in the room, and it burns to a fine grey ash. I have searched unsuccessfully for a reasonable facsimile of this blend that can be purchased in bulk. I have resigned myself to purchasing multiple tins of this blend each month just to make sure that I will never have to go without.

Of what I understand to be "crossover blends", this is my favorite. Not as good as a straight english or vaper, but a nice changeup.

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.

I enjoy this blend, it reminds me of being out in the woods, just like the packaging says. I find little to be more enjoying than smoking this alone at night, outside, just sitting and watching the smoke rise to the tree branches above.

I find this to be moist, but not to the point where it'll fill your bowl with goo, making it hard to draw in the smoke.

I'm a vanilla aromatic guy, but this one's not for me. The flavor was predominantly sweet apple, and alot of it, and any vanilla was overwhelmed by it.

If you have a sweet tooth and like apple, this is for you, as the tobacco is good quality also. Still, too sweet for me!

Deep Hollow is a nice blend to turn to if you want something a little sweet. There is a faint hint of vanilla here and the Virginias mask it well, allowing the creamy vanilla to trickle through ever so slightly. Deep Hollow is a nice and decent smoke. However, I am on a quest to find a few good blends to stick with and DH just doesn't have enough interests for me to keep around...glad I tried it though. I prefer Frog Morton On The Town by same blender. Enjoy!

This is a nice tobacco very similar to Virginia Woods but not quite as good. It will improve a great deal with age. The more age the better. When what I have of this is gone I wont be getting any more just because I'm going over to Virginia Woods for what I keep this around fore.

If you like red and black VA's which are flavorful this is the one. The strength of this weed is it's ability to keep the tastebuds interested and happy while engaged in another activity and in such, are smoking in auto mode. Packs, lights and burns easy with no tounge bite. I wish this came in bulk.