McClelland Navy Cavendish

I had the good fortune to enjoy a sample of 1995 McClelland Navy Cavendish recently. I was surprised at how good it was. I don't generally like "cavendish" blends or blends with rum added, but I found this to be a smooth smoking well behaved nicely integrated Virginia with lots of body and good flavor.

(The only reason it's not getting four stars is that I can't vouch for the regular non aged version, and I didn't get that many bowls of the aged, so I can't provide a definitive opinion... except that I enjoyed what I smoked!)

1 April 2010: I smoked several bowls of this again. The acetic acid (Ketchup smell) has not lessened, but once past that and well rubbed out and settled down in the pipe, it is a very tasty smoke. With several bowls I thought I caught just a hint of Latakia toward the bottom of the bowl. In any event, this is very old tobacco, well aged. I am upping my original assessment.

Well, believe it or not, I have a tin of Navy Cavendish that is 27 years old, almost to the day I am writing this review. I can say this for certain because I still have the receipt - #2216 -dated Feb 19, 1981 from McClelland Tobacco Company. I purchased it direct for $4.50 a 4 ounce tin. I am less certain how the receipt managed to survive, but know how the tobacco did. Shortly after getting this tin I quit smoking my pipes, but kept my tobaccos in a large floor to ceiling humidor that I have in my house. There they've aged away (I also have tins of #1, #14, #24). Last year I picked my pipe up again and started rummaging around in the humidor (mostly filled with cigars). When I found the receipt tucked away in my desk, my eyes nearly fell out. Where does time go besides quickly!

I had opened the tin, but smoked little of it in 1981. It was in great shape. However, the noted "ketchup smell" was still present. It is acidic and sharp and still bites my nose when I smell the tobacco deeply. It was perfect in moisture content; I would say on the slightly dry side. So I loaded up a large bent bulldog.

I am not sure how helpful this review, other than having some interest given the age of the tobacco, can possible be. I have to guess there are not too many 27 year old cans of McClelland Navy Cavendish rolling around out there. Furthermore, I don't have a modern day can to compare it against, nor can I remember what my initial experience was back in 1981. And, I don't want to order another tin unless I like it (call me cheap). So I closely read all the reviews herein to see how my experience compared, and there are some interesting similarities between old and new. In fact there are so many I doubt I will order another can, nor can I recommend to you long term aging. Given the quantity I have left, it will easily hit 35 years of age.

The tobacco, as noted in the reviews, has some sharpness, tongue bite if you will, upon lighting. As it settles down it became a basic Cavendish smoke from top to bottom with the ash varying from white to gray. Some describe this as "one-dimensional", and it was basic, good old tobacco flavor. It was not unpleasant, just basic. However, it would with regularity bite me on the sides and tip of my tongue with that tangy, acidic sweetness that you can smell in the can. Puffed slowly it was rather one-dimensional with its flavor tending toward Virginia "high notes". If I had to guess, there is Turkish and Perique tobacco in this blend. The Perique was slightly present as a "lower" or plumy/nutty note. Now I like Perique and its interplay with Virginia leaf, but in this blend it is too faint, or it has mellowed too much in 27 years.

I'd like to say that after such a lengthy cellering the smoke was sublime. It was good, but not as good as the one year old bowl of University Flake I smoked afterward. Both are similar, but University Flake doesn't bite me and it has more lower notes to balance the Virginia/Turkish highs.

This one has grown on me over time. I agree with many of the other reviews in that the first few puffs leave you wanting a bit more than what it delivers, but if you can stick it out it gets better. Much of what I found out was user error on my part. To fully enjoy this blend I find that I have to somewhat kiss my pipe 6-8 times with small gentle draws then after 6-8 kisses one long even draw. This, for me, seems to really help bring the full flavor of the rum out and dramatically changed my impression of it. If you are looking for a knock your socks off rum flavor, this probably isn't your blend. But if you enjoy a good virginia with a smooth sweet rum in the back this will be for you. Be sure you rub it out well, i've noticed it can be a bit tricky to keep lit well if it isn't rubbed out enough.

Something different for me. At first I was not too thrilled, but this one is growing on me. I think anyone who tries this has to give it a chance. A bit hard to light (two matches at once solves that)and it definately needs some finger work to loosten it up really good before packing. But all well worth it. Burns nice and slow. Good flavor. In fact, a very complex flavor. becoming a favorite of mine.

I was having no luck with this tobacco until I read Gordy's review, and you know what? Using a coffee grinder I had around the house did the trick. I shredded it to about the consistency of Prince Albert, which worked wonders for this product. The flavor is ketchupy/grassy. The room note was not that remarkable really yet it wasn't unpleasant. That's really the only way I can describe it! It's good. I won't buy it again, but it is nonetheless an exceptional smoke. And it does the trick when I am in the mood for a Virginia. Although I would rather smoke Escudo or perhaps some Wessex Brigade Classic VA.

I wanted to try a traditional navy flake, with the rum and everything, so I bought this one. What a disappointment. It is dark, so I expected a heavier flavor, but no. It is medium at most, but more on the light side and I could not taste or smell the rum. That is not to say that I don't like it. I'm just disappointed that I didn't get what I thought I would get. It has a different flavor and is a little difficult to keep lit.

I first must say I opened my tin of Navy Cavendish over a year ago. My initial reaction was only mediocre, as I had a touch of trouble lighting it; though once lit, it seemed to burn fine with a nice, even ash residue. The flavor was pleasant, but I was a bit put off by the tobacco's moisture, initial bite (possibly my eagerness to get the leaf lit) and pungent tin aroma. It felt too moist and the tin aroma was so dense (Rum? What rum?) I meant to let it sit for a few days -- MY! How time flies when you forget about a thing!

Well, it was September's end, and I found my long-forgotten tin in a box full of other stuff. I attempted to kick myself, thinking I had just found a dessicated version of a promising tobacco. Lo! it not only wasn't desicated, it was in the moisture region I look for as a matter of course in my tobacco choices! Luck? Good packaging? Who knows? The leaf was now easy to rub out, but just moist enough to stay well-packed in my pipe.

I found my favorite bent Barling that often cradles my virginias, and packed a pipeful of the NC. Being of sound memory, I took my time lighting it to avoid a tongue-grabbing initial bite. It worked, and the reduced moisture made lighting a breeze.

My first puffs were of nice, medium-bodied tobaccos. If there was any of the rum left after such a long period, it came through only as a residual sweet note harmonizing with, but not in any way overpowering, the tobacco's own natural sweet tones.

As I progressed through the bowl, the flavor of the smoke became fuller, but only slightly so. I can see why some pipe folks would feel this one-dimensional with little variation. It's simply that the variation is subtle. They suit me in this particular blend, though.

The final third of the bowl became a little hot, but I attribute that to my drawing a bit harder (I was in the middle of an action sequence in a book) and that some moisture had built up at the bottom. The moisture was probably not entirely the tobacco's fault, as I tend to smoke "wetter" than many other pipesmokers with whom I've spoken.

I've gone through 2/3 of the tin since I found it, and I have to put this in my "Keeper" category. There are more complex Navy Cavendish blends out there, but I'll happily keep this one in my "cellar" as a nice, mellow, medium-bodied diversion. Of course, I'll probably open the tins a year in advance of smoking them!

I am not normally a fan of either this blender, or this style of tobacco - but a particularly well aged tin came my way so I decided to open it up and give it a try.

The presentation is a nice pressed leaf - almost cake in appearance. Rubbing it out was easy. Gravity feeding the pipe seemed to be the best method.

It took a bit to get lit in the humid air, but once I got a nice char on top - the rest of the pipe took to the flame fairly easily.

I think this is a good example of what "sailor's blends" such as Captain Black, the various drug store cavendish blends, etc... attempt to be. It is flavorful - with the vanilla and rum essence coming through as a compliment to the tobacco.

Initially it starts out a bit bland - mostly cavendish with faint casing. But by midway through the bowl the spice of the rum and the tobacco shines through. The end of the bowl was remarkably tangy - almost perique like in sharpness.

The taste remained fairly constant but did allow for some variation through out. Not something I'd smoke all the time - but I'd likely fill a pipe with it again.

I've been having trouble finding the right pipe for this blend. When I first tried it in a new pipe, it was sweet and pleasant at the outset, but got harsh in the main smoke. Other mistakes I made were using a pipe that was too large and smoking too fast. My tongue paid dearly for that!

Recently I made the pleasant discovery that Navy Cavendish is wonderful in an olivewood pipe. It's a marriage made in Heaven! It could be, though, that my tin is just hitting its stride, having turned two years old.