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!)

I smoked from a 3-year old tin.

Although this is a quality tobacco, there's nothing much to get excited about. Very basic Virginia flavors, more hay and grass than dark sweetness. The dark rum casing doesn't impart much in terms of flavor, but it may account for the subtle sweetness in the tobacco.

Overall this tobacco is pretty bland, even with careful smoking technique. McClelland's Matured Virginias series offer better alternatives. Again, not a bad tobacco, but with so many better ones out there, I don't recommend it.

Old smoker but relatively new to VA flakes I ventured a tin of NC. Lit direct from the can my tongue cried for spare parts. Essence of roof tiles, I dialed up the Review to see if I had missed something. Reviewer DK hit it on the head. Four days later drying out on a paper it transformed itself to something resembling pipe tobacco. Still the initial light harkens to the urinary tract infection dance, on my toes wincing. It does settle down, I didn't get any rum hit at all. FYI, I do smoke blends with VA, even beefy Stonehaven. I need to live to be very old before I forget this one. (I'm working on it...)

I love this stuff, ketchup and all....makes a nice change from other' more sugary and cased Navy's. My favorite McCle so far, the other being C.Cheer which was not so great for me. I think a spray of Rum would do this no harm.....my tins are from 1994....so maybe I'm just spoilt....lovely stuff.

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.

I have never met a flake I didn't like until now. It looks the part in the tin but aroma and tastes are just not there. Very flat and boring not at all like McClellands other fine products. There are just too many flakes that are much more enjoyable and complex than this one. Just my thoughts maybe it will do something for you.

Another nicely prepared flake from McClelland that has a more pleasant tin and room aroma than some of their other 'vinegar' blends. Easy to keep lit and a cool smoker when not rubbed out. However, I didn't taste the rum and found the initial 1/3 of the smoke rather rough. Overall, this rather uninteresting cavendish blend is no match for McClelland's true flakes in either bulk or the Personal Reserve series that I've reviewed and found more complex and enjoyable.

This blend has turned into one of my favorites. The tin aroma is delighfully complex. There is a note of sourness, not unlike acetic acid, along with the rich smell of the cavendish itself.

The tobacco is anything but sour though. It comes in broken flake form and requires some rubbing before it is ready to go. Packing was no problem.

Light up went fine. Despite being very moist, it almost never needs a relight---maybe just one for the bottom third of the bowl. The ash was nice and powdery all the way to the end.

"Festina lente" on the smoke ("hasten slowly"). This mixture can turn nasty if you smoke it too quickly. I should know.

It has a yummy flavor. There is some sweetness present, but it doesn't cloy. If you like Virginias but haven't tried a Navy blend lately, you are in for a real treat.

It certainly isn't an all day smoke, but keep some on your shelf. Once a day will offer you some real enjoyment.

After opening the tin, I find tobacco cut into broken flakes, with a very dark hue that makes the shine of the crystallized sugar stand out more. Once the pipe is lit, the flavor of the Virginias is very rich, and the nuance that the addition of rum gives it is very light, perhaps due to the aging of the tin that I am smoking, but it gives it a nice and different flavor. If you're a little careless, you can suffer from the pipe heating up and a slight bite of the tongue in the first days after opening the tin, but after a while and after having aerated it, it works perfectly. The smoke is very pleasant and it is very rich in flavor.

To date this is my favorite rum flavored tobacco and in my opinion one of McClelland's best. The quality of this brand's tobaccos is undeniable, but I find that many resemble each other. Maybe that's why this one surprised me so pleasantly.