McClelland St. James Woods

The St. James Woods that I tried was aged 5 years. The ketchup aroma was present, but somewhat muted. There was also a bit more of a spicy element to the tin aroma.

The ketchup is present in the taste at first, but quickly goes away leaving a very mild Virginia taste. The flavor builds gradually and by the 1/3 point it seems to be at its peak and maintains this level for the remainder of the bowl. The flavor is pleasant, not overly sweet. The finish was smooth without any harshness. Nothing remained in the bowl but some fine white to gray ash. The Perique is understated and enhances the overall flavor nicely.

A blend I just had the good fortune of trying gratis. A very dark, rich caramel like VA flavor which was a pleasure. The perique yields a spiced fruit undertone that I found very pleasant and never harsh. My sample is good and dry, which probably accounts for the smoothness and lack of bite. I never once experienced a sting outside the tart tang of the perique leaf.

This is a blend I am giving an overall high rating despite the fact I may not smoke it regularly (but will gladly finish off the sample). I tend to like my perique of the pinching jalapeno variety (Bayou Morning, Haddo's), where I would characterize this spice as closer to rich cayenne.

If you like a sweeter, more heavily stoved VA/P - this one could be for you.

05/30/04 SJW is a nice blend composed of red, and black stoved Virginias, with a moderate dose of perique. This week I popped a tin I've been aging for 5 years; I was excited about the possibilities. Unfortunetly, the experience didn't live up to the expectations. The deep notes are outstanding, but I crave the citrus tang I get from other McClelland VAs; here is where SJW is lacking for me. It seems the black stoved VAs mask the tangy red VAs as well as the fruity taste of the perique. Still it's a quality blend and others will surely enjoy the depth and subtle sweetness.

08/09/09 I just finished a 10 year old tin. The stoved Virginia no longer dominated the taste. Time melded the leaf and a more uniform flavor came forward. The perique seemed to get slightly more peppery and replace the fig and raisin in my prior review. I would have to say there was a nice improvement with the extra years, other than the effect of the perique because I'm partial to the fig and raisin flavor. I have an 18 year old tin stashed away. On its 20th birthday I'll report back.

While I dont like this as much as blackwoods flake, I do like this as least as much as dark star or better. This is good and reminds me somewhat of blackwoods flake except not quite as flavorful and complex as bwf. This is somewhat of a mystery in that perique normally brings out more complexity in virginia blends and I believe that bwf is very similar or the same but without the perique. At any rate I still enjoy this and would recomend this for virginia lovers.

St James Woods, another of the "woods" blends from McC., apparently named after the parish where the inestimable leaf perique originates.

Unlike others, I found that about 3 h drying spread out on a cookie sheet was adequate drying time. (Also, the Mc.C trademark vinegar nose seemed to have evaporated). The consistency is just right for consuming as is. I find that leaving the broken flakes intact is an important thing to do with McC Virgs. to avoid the dreaded tongue bite. About a year of cellaring may have mellowed it a bit as well...

While still moist enough to be "flexible" rather than crumbly, I found this tobacco to remain lit surprisingly well. I use relatively small bowl (of which I have many) for Va/P blends, since they tend to be rather high in nicotine content. Typically a couple of lights on the front end, and one to finish things off is all that is required.

This is a quality Va/P blend, but I prefer McC #2015 as the virginias are a bit sweeter IMO and I love that sweet/perique juxtaposition. I will always keep some SJW around for variety's sake. THis stuff just keeps getting better w/ age.

I am actually trying my fifth bowl as we speak. Initially after opening it was very moist. The tin smell was very damp and the perique was pronounced. Being the compulsive person that I am, I of course immediately rubbed out and packed a bowl. Very hard to get going as to the moisture, and as a result, it burned hot. The perique overpowered the Virginia, and though not a terrible smoke, certainly nothing to write home about. I took the advice of the previous reviews and left the tin open to the air for about 2 days. The wait was worth it!!!! It required virtually no rubbing out, packed well, and burned cool and long. The Perique was just enough to give it a nice bite, but the Virginias were certainly the star. Defiantly a keeper, however those of us on the impatient side need to get over the initial bowl, let it dry out a bit and enjoy. (One day perhaps I?ll learn from those much wiser than me ).

When you open a tin of St. James Woods you're greeted with a pleasant but pungent vinegary aroma. Right away you know this stuff has some body to it. The mottled flakes were leathery like Blackwoods Flake and rightly so since this is Blackwoods w/a good helping of Perique. It rubs out fairly easy, packs and lights well but a little time drying helps. Spicy and tangy on the first puffs, the smoke is full, thick and creamy as you progress down the bowl, becoming rich and smoky after about the 1/2way point and losing a bit of the sweetness. The red & black stoved VAs dominate but the zesty, peppery taste of the Perique is most assuredly present. The tobacco does smoke a tad moist, but not enough to put one off or ruin the enjoyment of the smoke. That spicy taste remains present and reminds me of a lightly sweetened, mild salsa. There is a bit more "bite" here than w/Blackwoods but not overly so. The heavy smoke can nail ya, but relaxed puffing will keep the strength from being to "in yer face". This is a good blend that has a darker taste than say Three Nuns, Escudo or maybe Bengal Slices, all three of which I like, it's just heavier in body and taste and I would suggest this tobak for evenings after dinner or when taking a late fall afternoon/early evening walk. Burns clean to a fluffy ash. IMHO, ya gotta really like Perique to smoke this.

I enjoyed this blend, although I probably won't include it in my rotation. I find it a bit too strong to smoke on a regular basis.

The right combination of Virginas and Perique make this spicey blend a pleasure to smoke. It smokes smoothly, but can be a bit harsh to the inexperienced smoker.

The rough cut of the tobacco allows the smoker to break the chunks it into a desired size and consistancy, a plus for those who take their pipe smoking seriously. For those new to this style, it quickly becomes an inconvenience.

As with all McClelland blends, SJW is quite moist out of the can, but not as bad some of their other blends (e.g. Deep Hollow, Gray Havens, Frog, etc.). After initially opening the can, expose it to the open air for a day or two. This should dry it out a bit.

Otherwise, you'll get a lot of condensation, which spoils the smoking experience and ruins the unique taste of this blend.

Nice va/perique blend. It's in flake form, but the flakes in my tin were sliced quite thin, are were fairly small (roughly dime-sized), so this tobacco needed no rubbing out. It's a little harsh when new, but smooths out within a few weeks of being opened. My current tin has been in the humidor for several years (obviously this isn't my daily smoke!) and my most recent pipe a few days ago was really quite nice, with the plum/dark cherry flavor of the virginias nicely balanced by the sour spiciness of the perique. You do have to be careful of the nicotine -- if you smoke too quickly or inhale a bit this tobacco will flatten you with its punch.



The room aroma from this aged tin is nondescript, the best description I could get from my wife was "pipey", but she didn't find it terribly objectionable. However, when this tin was new I heard the aroma described most charitably as "burning gym socks", so YMMV.