McClelland St. James Woods

Up until now, I haven't been a Vaper smoker. St. James Woods has changed that for me. It's slightly sweet, bit spicy, peppery, started off on the mild side, then moved to a more of a medium bodied smoke with the spiciness from the Perique building and becoming more prominent through out the bowl until the end. No bite, an overall good smoke. I can easily see this as part of my rotation!

McClelland St. James Woods is indeed one of the more sophisticated and finest VaPers out there. Instead of bright and brown VAs you will find red and black ones. The typical ketchup aroma does not only welcome you when you open the tin, but I found it slightly present throughout the entire smoke as well. Even in the after taste it’s there. If you don’t like the ketchup/vinegar note, this blend is not for you.

When smoked, SJW tastes full, of dank bread, tart and spicy with an interesting deep sweetness. The blend is balanced and complex at the same time, if that makes any sense. What makes no sense is to use a carbon filter on this, it will kill the fine delicacy. It is very soft on the tongue, burns slow, cool, with a little bit of moisture towards the end. Room note and after taste are intense, but pleasant regarding to my wife.

Upon popping the tin I get a nice Virginia tangy noseful and my senses remember it, it's that McClelland tin nose we all love so much... And I mean that, because McClelland Virginia's will always smell like sweet magic to me. St. James Woods comes a little wet, and needs to dry. It does best with a few hours of drying time.

Upon lighting I am immediately greeted with a hearty tobacco flavor, rich in sweetness and spicyness. No joke on the interplay between sweet and spicy, they play off of each other beautifully, while never overtaking that cool hard tobacco wallup. She smokes creamy and long, giving way to that zesty tang. I did have to relight from time to time but this wasn't as bad the longer I had my tin. By the time I had a few remaining bowls it was the perfect dryness for easy prepping and delivered beautiful flavorful smokes. This va/per is sweet, spicy, and incredibly rich on the palate in the perfect sense. The nicotine hit was just right for me, never knocking me off my feet but letting me know it was there. If you want a great example of a Virginia with wonderful full flavored perique, give this one a try. Beautiful blend of Virginia and perique! If you've been on the fence in regards to trying a perique blend, allow yourself the pleasure of St. James Woods, it is balanced, and sure to satisfy!

The best of 3 MC tins I've had so far, and the best Vaper, but for me that's not saying much. I blend using perique, and the presence of that element is not at all strong for me in St. James. It is however likely part of the spice-along with that ketchupy note everyone smells with MC but somehow don't taste. (Pipe tobacco is such weird stuff, and no one would ever smoke a tomato blend regardless of if whether it tastes like tomatoes or not, but they will smoke a chocolate blend which doesn't really taste like chocolate.)

Virginia is what I get from St. James, with the perique further back. That's as it should be, given that the perique is the condiment.

The flake looks like the barky stuff people like to put around the bottom of trees and shrubs. I can't help but thinking there is something quintessentially North American about this tobacco. Redwood. Bacon. It's rustic. There's nicotine here, but it's nothing severe, and not a bit of tongue bite. It does however need to be dried for several hours.

It's true that it's not the easiest thing to keep lit, but that is also perhaps a selling point. The lady in my life (an ex cig-head) has no problem with smoky aromas; rather she dislikes voluminous clouds of smoke. St. James does have a very smoky flavor, but doesn't blast out clouds.

I rub it out because I like a nice pack. Overall, St. James smokes kind of slow and cool- kinda like a peat moss fire. It goes with whiskey and late night hours. I don't turn to it a lot but I do turn to it, and I'm sure I'll order another tin when the time comes. I'm giving it 3.5 stars, even if it's not my go-to. How about this question- should your go-to be your favorite? My go-tos are not- I tend to save my faves for more special occasions.

Someone else here wrote about the other 2 Vapers MC does; I need to go back to that for future reference.

Really, my other two McClelland blends have impressed me little. I have to say that this one grew on me, even if it took it's sweet time to do so. Another thing- the price is really right on this, and the other more expensive MC offerings simply haven't measured up. This is another prime example for me that "you get what you pay for" is often a lie. The amount of money spent on tobacco is absolutely no indication of quality; I know this well from the cigar world.

I have a dozen or so McClelland blends hanging around that I’ve been meaning to try. I wish I would have gotten to them sooner, so I could have stocked up before they closed their doors.

I really enjoy Blackwoods Flake, and this is similar in both taste and presentation. It has a slightly spicier mouthfeel due to the Perique, but it has the same McClelland broken flake appearance and vinigary McClelland tin note that I sometimes love, sometimes dislike, and will miss forever.

If you like tangy red virginia Vapers without the citrus sweet bright notes, this is perfect. The black Virginia’s add a caramelized suger and toasted spice note that differentiate this blend from the pack. It’s a shame I didn’t pick up a spare tin or two.

McClelland - St. James Woods (Personal Reserve).

The majority of my tin has been well broken, not into ribbons, but 'slithers' of flake. I can only see a few larger whole flakes in there. The aroma from it's the usual McClelland ketchup one. The moisture's good.

The flavour of the smoke just serves to affirm what a shame it is McClelland will no longer be in production. There's sweet, tangy, Virginia, and peppery, plummy, Perique; the Perique has no vinegar-like quality, although it's notable with ease it's somewhat reserved. The burn from St. James' is exemplary, not needing much attention, giving a cool smoke which refrains from biting.

Nicotine: just above medium. Room-note: quite nice.

I've had this in my cellar for about five months, was saving it, but all the talk about McClelland closing heightened the temptation! Glad I opened it this morning, sad that I can buy no more of it, happy to give it four stars:

Highly recommended.

A loss to the pipe world.

Again, it surprises me that isnt a straight 4 star blend. But thats the subjective part I guess. I see things like Macbarens Navy Flake....a sort of sweetish burley and virginia blend.. a high class drug store blend to my mind...get four stars. And then often the same reviewer gives this three. So i mention this because McClelland virginias are the best there is. Not even Gawith are as good IMHO. And that is the base for this blend. Mc C does three Vapers. Bayou Slices, St James Woods and Beacon extra. All are great. Beacon Extra has the most Perique. And if you like a lot of P, then get that. Its a wonderful blend and the virginias are stoved and rich. Bayou Slices is excellent too, balanced and with a good amount of Perique as well, and also well aged. St James Woods has less Perique but still has a pretty fair amount in comparison to many Vapers out there. The Virginias are mostly red, with some black and heavily pressed. Though again, not as much as , say, dark star or even Blackwoods Flake. But still, a goodly amount and it provides a rich background for the Perique spiciness. Like Bayou Slices, this is a masterfully balanced blend. The nic hit is just below medium, but the taste Id rate as full . This is not all that different from the bulk #2015. The difference is in the amount of stoving applied to the virginias (also its not quite the same mixtures of varitals). All told its simply one of the very very very best Vapers on the market.

The tin I opened is dated in 2011, and 5 years of aging may quite change the flavor. The tin note is very McC catchup, but that is not present in the smoke. As they said there are red and dark virginia, that would explain the layered sweetness and tangy flavor. The perique adds moderate spice, quite spicy than fruity. Although the broken flakes are moist and resilient, rubbing out to smaller streak and packing is easy as well as gets lighted. Very smoky for a Vaper. I may like more fruity than spicy perique to my taste, but it is very recommended for Vaper lovers.

Very good blend here. I just finished a healthy sample of this one, but ordered a few more tins right after the first bowl of the sample. It is another great Virginia product from a brand that excels in treatment of that leaf.

It does have the familiar scent that one would associate with a McClelland Virginia, but it is tempered by a goodly, but not overwhelming, amount of Perique. The perique is what differentiates this from 2015 IMO. Where the perique is subtle and, I think hidden, in 2015, the perique stands out in SJW. It gives the already sweet Virginias a nice spicy note that gives it a unigue taste amongst vapers. It also gives this one a decent amount of nic strength which is something that is often criticized in the McClelland blends.

If there is one knock on this one is that it can tend to get a little one note and, perhaps, a little boring in a large bowl. I am giving this one three stars for now until I get a chance to break into one of the new tins I now have in the cellar.