McClelland Grey Havens

This is a very nice compilation with the famous McClelland's ripe and rich Virginia combining with soft white center cut leaf Burley and a dash of Perique. It is lighter rather than strong and will not overwhelm the palate.

This is HADDO'S DELIGHT LIGHT!!! A McClelland version of the same weed. Very Ketchupy aroma in the tin, but not in the bowl. This is how folks should be introduced to McClelland Virginias. They are present ,but not the backbone of the blend. The "Essence" used is very similar to that of Deep Hollow. An extremely pleasant smoke. Very light and enjoyable in the summer. It is a little tingly on the tongue for the first 5 minutes, then settles nicely into a natural aromatic smoke. A great diversion for every pipe afficianado. The room note is not however Aromatic! It is quite smoky. A solid 3 stars, and hats off to McClelland for their successful foray into the world of Burley!

While McClelland has always been my favorite pipe tobacco company, I am sad to only have tried this blend in the wake of them exiting the business. While scrambling to grab up any remaining tins after they announced they were indeed closing their doors, I came across this blend I has not heard of, but I took a chance on based on knowing McClelland, their ingredients, and anything they make with a Tolkien reference. I was NOT disappointed, and if you can find yourself a tin, you should send it to me 😉

I hate to admit I like the balance of light, white burley and a pinch of cool smoking Perique so much, I want to use this tasty but mild beauty to break-in new pipes. My only worry, of course, is I only have what I have - they aren't making anymore #cry

I therefore embark on an aging journey - this is one of the select few McClelland Virginia blends with only a faint whiff of the vinegary smell their aged Virginias are famous for. The Perique & burley have clearly been portioned to offset the bold matured Virginias. As the tin suggests, there is some kind of light casing, sugar water perhaps, which makes the blend smell a bit sweeter than a straight Virginia. Similar to Mac Baren's Virginia No. 1 in this regard, and no other, Grey Havens has every quality suitable for aging, but only time will tell. I've shoved a few tins in the back row of my tobacco cabinets, and I can't wait for the day I remember they are there and crack one open - hopefully many years from now and as a nod to the McClelland legacy.

A final note on flavor & flavoring in this blend: it is truly a naturally fragrant mixture with only the slightest hint of (likely natural) topping. I would by no means register this as an Aromatic (even for McClelland), because any sweet notes which may come across as artificial in the tin are nowhere to be found once lit. The smoke is white as can be, and the flavors are tried & true Virginia with natural vanilla notes, hints of light lemony citrus, a slight apple pie spice, etc. It all smokes cool & even, with little need to relight once it gets going. As with all Virginias, I let it dry out just a bit before lighting (maybe 10 minutes), and I am never disappointed with the bouquet I identify. The name Grey Havens elicits pastoral & ocean front views with crashing waves & rustling leaves. Smoking McClelland's Grey Havens is equally tranquilizing as studying any notable artwork of the Gulf of Lhun itself.

I would like to give Grey Havens a 4 Star/Highly Recommended designation, but I feel it would be a bit cruel to entice anyone reading this further given the difficulty one will find trying to procure even one ounce of this mesmerizing mixture.

Admittedly, I wasn't looking forward to this one. I've not tried many McClelland blends, so I don't really have any expectations about the blender...but a mild VaPer with a little burley sounded rather boring to me. Assuming this was going to be a mostly Virginia mix, I grabbed my large Savinelli Capri, which seems to be the best straight Va pipe in my humble collection.

The tin note took me by surprise - a sharp sort of vinegary scent, heavy perique smell, and something else that I can't place....maybe a topping??? It's a little moist in the tin, and does benefit from a little drying time, but it's not overly wet. After jarring for a week or so, the vinegar smell has subsided substantially, but I still notice it. It's not unpleasant....just a little unusual.

The flavor in the pipe is unexpected. There's not a huge burley component, but more than I thought there would be. A balanced dose of Virginia. The perique is just enough to season a bit, much less prominent than I expected from the tin note. The Virginias are smooth and somewhat creamy and sweet, and the burley gives it structure and substance. That vinegar scent does carry over to the smoke, particularly for the first quarter of the bowl or so, but it's just a little tang, and actually adds an interesting flavor component.

It's very well behaved in the pipe, requiring fewer than normal relights. It's not smoking hot or biting, even though I'm pushing it harder than I should.

Overall, I like it more than I thought I would! I can't say for sure that I'll be buying more, but I won't have any problem finishing the tin.

I do believe the base Va used in this blend is the same as the base Va used in MC2000, and may even have some 2105 Stoved Va. This smells terrific in the tin, notes of Danish and figs. Packing left a nice spring in the bowl, which I found that I found not fully tamp until I had the char light complete. You can taste the sweetness on the palate, and the Perique in this blend seems very soft. Burley seems muted as well, and to be honest, I never would've thought this blend contained it. This blend was a decent offering, but it didn't grasp my attention as I had hoped. Probably why I don't choose to dissect it any further.

Grey Havens consists of burley ribbon, virginia, and small amount of perique. Some may compare this blend to G L Pease Barbary Coast. In my opinion it is better to compare Grey Havens and G L Pease Haddos Delight. It has more body than Barbary Coast, but less than Haddos Delight. It is lighter in nicotine strength than both G L Pease blends.

At the top of the bowl there is a burley presence, but soon the virginia dominate. Toward the bottom of the bowl there is more of a virinia and perique flavor. The casing is amost undetectable. It does have the McClelland acetic smell in the tin, however it is undetectable in the smoke.

On my tongue it was bitier than Barbary Coast. This very little bite, but this blend can bite if smoked hard. To bring out best flavor this must be smoked as a virginia or virginia and perique blend. I feel there is more virginia in the mix. This is the reason, I feel that it compares to Haddos Delight. As a previous review stated this is "Haddos Delight" lite.

The matured Virginias provide some tangy stewed, sugary dark fruit, earth, wood, bread, mild floralness, light vegetation, tart and tangy citrus, grass, and a small touch of vinegar as the lead components. The earthy, woody, nutty, mildly sour, rough white burley is a supporting player. The earthy, woody, plumy, spicy perique is barely a condiment. The creamy vanilla and caramel toppings moderately tone down the varietals as they also help form a cohesively consistent creamy sweet, fruity, nutty, lightly spicy flavor. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the mild mark. The taste is in the center of mild to medium. There’s no chance of bite or harshness, and has a minute rough note. Burns cool, clean, and a tad slow. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and requires a couple more than an average number of relights. Has a very pleasant, mildly lingering after taste, and room note. An all day, comfortable smoke.

-JimInks

First blend I ever smoked so has a special place in my cellar. Not a big fan of McLelland due to that vinager/ketchup thing they have going on, ph solution etc but this blend isn’t too bad in that department. I’ll smoke it indoors during the winter as it’s not too aggressive and has a nice room note. Easily an all day repeatable Smoke.

I have tried this tobacco side-by-side with Virginia Woods, and Deep Hollow for comparison.

From the tin you can see red, medium brown, and black ribbons intermixed. The smell is sweet with hints of dark chocolate, figs, plum, a bit of tang, bread, and a hint of wood.

Easy to load, but a little difficult to keep lit as it burns a bit wet.

Produces nice amounts of smooth smoke. The flavor/scent of the smoke is richly sweet. Again, not sure if there is a topping but the flavor seems to be nutty, chocolaty, with tones of fruit (plum), hints of bready red virginia, and bits of tang. It seems the burley contributes some sweet nuttiness. The virginias provide a backbone of sweet bread and slight tang. The perique is just slightly apparent with dark fruit tones and later on, down the bowl, it provides a small amount of spice. More enjoyable than I was expecting, since I'm not one who smokes aromatics too often. This is a nicely done aromatic that has the tobacco flavor that many of this type of blend lack.