McClelland Grey Havens

Light-to-mild, natural tasting tobacco. I could smoke this all day.

I bought a 50g tin today at a small tobacco shop near my house. I asked for something with virginias and burleys, was shown this grey haven tin, liked the way it looked and bought it. I hadn't asked how long it had been sitting but by seeing the dryness of the tobacco when I opened the seal, and the reviews here claiming alot of moisture in a fresh tin my guess is that it has been sitting on that shelf for quite awhile, 3 years maybe.

First whiff, sweet smelling tobacco, with a hint of fruit cake, or plum cake smell, emanating from the tin, very pleasant.

First light was full of natural flavor, billows of smoke, something nutty, and a hint of something like a fruity dark chocolate but with a spice accent( perique ?). The first few draws after the relight remained this way, but afterwards died down only to reappear occasionally.

The remainder of the smoke was consistent to what you would expect from virginias and burley. I smoked it down to near mostly ash where relighting was more trouble than it was worth. It didn't smoke hot. It burned quite nice. I was very relaxed by the end of this smoke.

Unfortunately I smoked outside, which while soothing, as it was beautiful out, I did not get to experience a full room note. However I was told it smelt nice by the few who were around. I will have to disagree with the reviews saying this tobacco is flavorless. It does not punch you in the face, but it is quite tasty. The cherry wood accented this tobacco to perfection, I wont be smoking it any other way.

It was pleasing to later find out about the Tolkien reference.

This is a mild smoke - it's not one that will bowl you over, but it something that can be enjoyed all day. It is slightly sweet, in a natural sense, but nothing approaching cloying (no topping or casing...this is from the natural VA sugars).

It does have moments of blandness - the use of perique is very light-handed which, while it makes the smoke pleasant and airy sometimes leaves it a bit short on flavor and depth. But then, just when you think the flavor has died, you come across those great VAs and a remarkable perique spiciness that is the hallmark of McClelland VaPers.

An earlier reviewer noted that this is best smoked in a large bowl. I couldn't agree more. Once the VA and perique start to shine through, they don't go away until the bowl expires...but it takes a good 10-15 minutes of puffing to get there, regardless of bowl shape or size (at least in my experience). This is not to say that the first part of the smoke is unpleasant - it's just uneventful...all the same, best to load up a large bowl and get as much bag for your buck as possible.

One other point to consider: breaking in a new pipe with the blend is something of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it's flavors and nuances don't seem to respond as well to an unseasoned pipe; yet, on the other hand it is neutral enough, burns consistently enough, and is a reliable enough blend to make the break-in process a breeze. YMMV.

This seems to be a love it or hate it kind of blend. I'm in the "love it" camp. It's a light, airy, burley with just a bit of perique.

The tin note is nutty, semi-sweet, and the usual hint of McClelland "twang." It's an attractive cut, with both cube cut burleys and ribbon cut Virginias. Fresh from the tin, I've found it to be at the perfect moisture level for immediate smoking, with no drying time required. I see that this is classified here as an "aromatic," although I can't figure out why. If there's a topping, I can't pick it out in either the tin or in the smoke; I'd call it a classic BurPer with a bit of Virginia that came along for the ride.

This is a very burley-forward blend. It surprises me that I enjoy it as much as I do - while I do appreciate it as something to add body and variety to VA based blends, I don't usually go crazy for predominately burley mixtures. The perique is definitely there, too. It doesn't add much in the way of darkening the flavor, but it certainly adds that bit of spice that registers in the sinuses (in a very pleasing way, at least to me). The Virgina doesn't add a whole lot to the blend, and it seems like it's purpose is probably just to boost the burley forward and give it a platform to stand on. It shines through just the tiniest bit in the last quarter of the bowl, but even then it's rather muted.

There isn't a lot of complexity here, and the smoke is more or less the same throughout the bowl - nutty, straightforward burley with a bit of perique spice. It isn't overwhelmingly flavorful, and I could understand why some reviewers might see this as being bland. If I'm judging this against my usual preferences of Virginias, VaPers, and Latakia blends, I'd agree...but considering for what it is and what it's trying to be, I think it gets the job done.

I think the biggest draw back is that it does like to burn hot. Setting aside the unpleasantness of tongue bite/burn, the higher burning temperature all but obliterates the flavor of the aroma and turns the perique very acrid. The only way to do Grey Havens justice is to make devote time to it, and smoke very cool and very slow.

The blend seems to perform very similarly in both cobs and briars, it might be just a hair nice in a cob - in my experience, cobs usually play very well with burley-based blends, plus it helps just a bit in the effort to keep the burn rate down.

Three stars from me - I see what the blend is trying to do, and I think it goes a long way to doing it. Still, it would benefit if the Virginias were just a little more present and if it didn't require me to spend so much attention on keeping it cool.

I'm not sure this one will click enough with me to add it to my regular smoking list (i.e. rotation), but it is a quality blend. My tin was sealed from 1999, and on opening it and sticking my nose in, I got a whiff of that McClelland vinegar I so love, but just a whiff. The flavor is really nice, but it doesn't have enough of that McClelland Virginia thing going on, being tempered by Burley and what seems to me to be a light topping of...something. There does seem to be some Perique here, but it is not overpowering, not that I mind overpowering Perique! Actually, this blend only needs a bit more Virginia to be four stars for me. The taste is delightful, the room note is pleasant, and this is a great one for moderately heavy puffing, with little resulting bite. In fact, I would tend to puff a bit harder on this blend than I would with some, because to me it seems perhaps a little too rounded. I could stand more sharpness, or more of a kick. In the few bowls I've had so far, there seems to be a tendency for this blend to not stay lit, even though I have dried out all the bowls I smoked thoroughly before indulging. I'm not sure what's causing this, but it is not a serious issue; I just won't choose this tobacco as an outside or driving blend. I need to add to this review as I finish the tin (if I remember) because there is something to this blend that just might grow on me; I just haven't found that something yet. Right now, it is pleasant but leaves me wanting a fuller flavor. The bowl I am smoking as I type this review has really improved halfway through, so that certain special something may be in there somewhere, when I have more time to "learn" this blend.

3-25-12 Year (more) has passed, and I am really liking it now. It has such a McClelland Virginia quality that I'm not sure if I would even detect the Burley if I didn't know it was there. It is just a nice nutty undertone beneath the moderate McClelland "vinegar," which I love. I will keep this jar out for a little while!

Good balance of burley and perique here - very light on perique and that's the way I like it.

Grey Havens is a dependable smoke that performs well with no bite no matter how you puff.

The extremely light topping burns off quickly and serves only to begin the smoke smoothly and quickly transition to the burley supported by perique. Essentially preventing "perique shock" which many of us (especially me) can get from time to time.

If nightcap is your regular (or similar) this blend was not designed for you, save your time and money and move on.

However, this is not what I consider an aromatic tobacco, it is simply a light burley/perique blend, and might appeal to English as well as aromatic folks looking for something on the edge of their normal taste profiles - at least that's what it does for me.

I liked Grey Havens, a good solid blend that can satisfy but likely won't make you turn flips.

Recommended,

3 stars,

Thanks,

Ethan

The first few bowls were hot and steamy. Burned my tongue and I was ready to give up, but I don't like to toss tobacco, especially most of a 100g tin.

I let it dry out a fair amount - a day or two with the lid off the tin. Much better!

Mild, like its sister Deep Hollow, but quite enjoyable.

Try a smaller pipe and smoke it slowly.

I'll keep this short as I haven't done any reviewing in a while, but I feel like putting some notes down tonight.

Of course when freshly opened there is the vinegar and heinz 57, but that has seemed to subside in a few short days. Without getting too wordy, I like this mixture. the moisture is darn near spot on within a day of opening, it loads and packs well, smokes cool and dry. The topping is not so abundant as to overshadow the VA leaf and the maple note is always a great companion for burley. The perique is just a little spice in the back to keep things interesting. The leaf is the star here, like so many McC blends and I almost think the hint of topping is more for those around you.

This really reminds me of some of the "Old-Time" aromatic recreations. I detect (but in the most subtle way) cocoa, for sure. Maybe some rum as well. It reminds me a lot of H&H Classic Burley Kake (which I also love). Very light and airy, lots of smoke but not a flavor kick in the mouth. There is some sort of a food tasting element that I can't put my finger on or describe accurately, it also smells slightly of ketchup in the tin. Overall, I do like this blend, don't know if I would make it a full time regular in the rotation, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

This is some good stuff. Light nutty, fruity, burly flavor with nice sweet virginia undertones. Perique adds a little flavor without the spicy, peppery burn of high perique content blends. It is very far in the back ground. very god and worth a try if you like burly and virginia tobaccos