McClelland Deep Hollow

My first bowl of this was not a great experience. It ended up very wet at the end and was left with quite a bit of dottle. I let the tobacco sit in the can with the plastic lid on for a week or two, and my last two bowls were very pleasant. I am a somewhat wet pipe smoker so take that information accordingly.

I would not call this tobacco an aromatic blend, although it does have a funky vanilla smell in the can. I enjoy Virginia blends and this one is quite mild, probably would be a good break into Virginia blends for someone new to them. I agree that it gets sweeter as you burn down the bowl, and it does have a real pleasant room note. All in all a nice smoke, but not a rock you sock off experience.

The tangy, deep and sugary stewed fruity, earthy, woody stoved Virginias take a little of the lead over the tangy, ripe dark fruity, earthy, woody, red Virginia. The vanilla topping very mildly sublimates the tobaccos. I get a hint of syrup as well. There’s a small amount of “vinegar” when you first light up, but it retreats way into the background rather quickly. The strength is a couple of steps past the mild mark, while the taste is just past the center of mild to medium. The nic-hit is mild. Won’t bite or get harsh. The tobacco needs a light dry time. Burns cool, clean and a little slow with a mostly consistent, very sweet flavor from start to finish. Leaves some moisture in the bowl, and requires some relights as it does burn a little wet. Has a pleasant after taste and room note. Not quite an day smoke.

-JimInks

I did a smoking comparison of Deep Hollow, Virginia Woods, and Grey Havens. This is definitely the most aromatic of all three, and yes that means this one has the most amount of casing/topping.

Opening the tin one can see red and light brown ribbons mixed with sparse black ribbons. It seems hayish with lots of fruit and a bit of vanilla or caramel.

Loads easy, but is difficult to keep lit. A bit of drying time resolves this issue. Light tamping is required here and there. Not much bite for being quite a sweet aromatic.

The flavor of the smoke is very sweet with lots of caramel, vanilla, and some type of tangy fruit. There is some tobacco flavor, that the nice quality virginias provide, on the backbone as well. The flavors seem more natural than most aromatics that I have tried before...quite impressive. The smoke is creamy, light, and cool/smooth. I actually enjoyed it more than I had expected. It actually has a bit of strength as well, at least for an aromatic, which I was not expecting. If I am in the mood for something sweet that will please a crowd, this blend would be it.

I am not sure how helpful a review will be from me as the tin I smoked was 16 years old and presumably, much different than that of a fresh tin. I will list my impressions on this one and will revisit this review once I have a chance to try a newer tin.

I was lucky to secure a tin of this from 1998 on ebay for a good price. I popped the tin as a treat for the 2015 Chicago show. As this is a lightly topped Virginia blend two things should have happened over those 16 years in the tin. The Virginias should have got sweeter and smoother and the topping should have started to lessen. I would say both these things did happen as I was hard pressed to really identify a topping, but knew there was something there giving it a bit of a honey taste.

The Virginias did age well and were a real treat as they smoked easy and the sweetness from fermentation was more than evident. Everyone with whom I shared with gave me a thumbs up and were appreciative to have a bowl full.

So with that said, it is hard for me to give an objective review on what a new tin would be like. Because of this I am giving it three stars now, but have a feeling this will be a two star blend when I try it fresh.

I'm on a McClelland Tolkien kick lately. Frogs, Grey Havens, and this...

This is barely an aromatic. Others have debated the flavor; I get a hint apple. To me it's very pleasant, subtle, and goes beautifully with the Virginias. In fact, sweet Virginia is mostly what you get.

I'd describe this as "unchallenging" in the best sense of the word. Maybe it's not robust enough to cap off a meal with a glass of port. Instead, take a stroll, read a book, take a break when the fish aren't biting. (Speaking of which, it doesn't bite easily but it will if you puff too fast.)

This may be too mild an not complex enough for seasoned smokers. For those like me who like light sweet Viginias, it's a winner. If your are a new smoker I especially recommend this.

I'm fairly new to the hobby and picked this blend up on a recommendation. I was not disappointed. It has burns cool yet has a warm earthy sweetness to it. My only complaint is the after taste can be rather stale. Otherwise, its a lovely smoke indeed.

McClelland's Craftsbury Series is a favorite so keep that in mind.

Sweet and honey like Virginia dominates the flavor. It smokes and tastes like a light Virginia blend. The topping is only somewhat evident in the smoke. It serves more to sweeten the blend than it does to add other flavor. I don't pick up apple in the smoke, carmel flavors are faint and serve to highlight the natural honey notes of the Virginia tobacco.

Room not is not too great. This blend is not too heavily cased. But, while it is hard to judge while I am smoking, I would bet that the room note is better than the almost cigarette smell of straight Virginia blends.

Deep hollow is a great blend. A lot like Gray Havens and Virginia Woods. It has been a couple of years since I have had those blends, but from memory I remember Virginia Woods being my favorite of the three. Deep Hollow is probably the mildest blend in the series, but enjoyable nonetheless.

The

I'm not really going to make a detailed review of this one. I liked it, but it's not one I'd likely get again any time soon. It wasn't "aromatic" enough for me. I thought it was a bit closer to the "English" type tobaccos I've had than other aromatics.

It didn't bite me, and it didn't make me want to throw up, so those are definite positives. It's good if you want a blend that isn't sickly aromatic, nor heavy on the BBQ sauce taste of certain English styles.

Doesn't do anything for the missus during the room note wife test though. "Just smoke." she says when I ask her what it's like.

This blend contains red and black stoved Virginias with possibly a slight casing, it could be just the sweetness of the Virginias but I detect a vanilla sweetness, not enough to overpower the taste just a nice addition. This is one of the few Virginia tobaccos that I could actually enjoy, burned right and very little bite if smoked properly. A good switch from my usual English. Tasty. New pipe smokers should give this a try.