McClelland St. James Woods

Some of you may not like this review and call it ‘nitpicking’:

-1 star for smell: The tin smells like ketchup. The tobacco smells like ketchup. When you cellar the tobacco into a glass jar it still smells like ketchup. If I wanted to smell ketchup while smoking, I’d dump a load of ketchup into my pipe and start dipping French fries into it while I am puffing away.

I don’t care if all of McClelland tins smell like this; I want to smell fresh tobacco, not a stale ketchup stench. In my opinion, the scent of tobacco is just as important as the taste, and nothing ruins this more than an unpleasant smelling tobacco.

Aside from the scent, it is a quality, upper-tier 3-4 star VaPer. The natural sweetness of the Virginia tobacco blends well with the Perique that has an above-average level of spiciness. St. James Woods has a darker, sweeter dried fruit taste that merges with the spicy Perique exquisitely. Overall, it is a very smooth, satisfying smoking experience. Burns rather hot, so smoke it slowly and use the ‘breath method’ throughout. Certainly an all-day smoke and I finished my 50 ounce in about 2 week. A really nice blend, but the aroma hinders the overall smoking experience.

What a tasty blend! There is not much more to say. I found this to be a blend that held interest to the bottom of the bowl.

Excellent as any Mc Clelland´s Va.Very mild,I think,due to the black stoved Va.Not a lot of Perique.Depending my mood and kind of pipe I prefer this or another VaPer of the brand,everyone of them fantastical.This one is very soft and I can smoke it in a briar,for the rest I need cobs or meers.St James Woods is the softer but no means the less flavourful of the range.It worths a try,just as all theVaPers of the brand.It´s truly a hard task to choose what is the better.Of course you will find the well known typical acidic smell at opening the tin,no problem,rub out,let breathing for a while and enjoy.

A good but not outstanding blend in my opinion. It is nice & peppery, but I got a pretty bad tongue bite that no other McC blend has given me. That aside, it has good flavor & a nice consistency thru the bowl. Light in Va sweetness & flavor.

Tin Date 2/2007

St. James Woods is by far my favorite of the Personal Reserve Series. As stated many times before, McClelland flakes need to be dried out blah blah blah, but once that optimum moisture level is reached, SJW is pleasing. Sweet and subtly sharp at the same time, tangy, elegant and in true McClelland's fashion, never too much. SJW fits neatly into my mild-medium slot in my spectrum of Va/Pers. It has a PERFECT amount of perique for my tastes for that range. When I want something stronger in the cajun weed, I reach for Escudo or even Haddo's.

Ok, I am a novice here. I have only smoked one bowl of this and it is my first perique experience. I had previously smoked some blackwoods flake, which I believe is the same as this without the perique. I rubbed the flakes and let dry for 15 minutes, after having had trouble with re-lighting I discover I need a method to dry my tobaccos out. I did not enjoy this smoke as much as I would have liked while I was smoking, but I do like the lingering flavor on my pallett. I was not ready for the pepper and spice of the perique. I am going to give this one a few more chances and maybe it will grow on me, or maybe perique isn't my thing. I did greatly enjoy a latakia blend recently. Agree with other reviews about the aroma coming out of the tin, and have heard that Mclelland is known for having a vinegary scent.

Second bowl update: I rubbed out the whole tin and gave it some drying time. The result was a more well rounded smoke, that stayed lit very well after 3-4 charring lights. It is one you can play with a bit, the slower you smoke the less pepper/spice you perceive, and vice versa. I still found that towards the end, the smoke didn't smooth out, and the pepper/spice still overpowered a bit. If you like that, you will like this smoke. I was looking for more balance.

Third bowl: Over time it is getting better. Perhaps mellowing out a bit with time now that its been opened and rubbed. I liked the level of spice and pepper, and there was some nice background flavor but still not enough. I'm sticking with two stars.

Ongoing: This really improves with time. I have a tough go with Va/pers, but this one is growing on me. I smoked it in a brigham with the rock maple insert filter and enjoyed it more than any other va/per I have smoked before. Moved to 3 stars.

My review is based on some five bowls received from a friend. He has the nice habit to label the lid with the date of purchase, this tin is dated DEC '09.

The tobacco is a medium rubbed out flake, almost very dark brown with few lighter specs, delivering a quite strong spicy/vinegarish aroma, stiff to the touch.

A bit laborious to light, SJW then burns very cool and steady and doesn't needs relightings.

Perique is here but not in spades. I find nice and interesting the pairing with dark stoved Virginia and this one makes me think to Dark Fragrant (Rattray) and Maduro (McConnell).

The first half of the bowl consists of a mild bodied smoke with faint notes of grapes and coffee. Barely sweet & sour and almost non piquant, the smoke is refreshing but bit monotonous. The second half is much rewarding, instead. The smokes grows stronger, creamier and slightly musty. The flavour is dark and woody, with some raisins still on the back and occasional peppery notes.

Not the tobacco of my life, but a pleasant diversion

Tin aroma is Delicious McClelland aged Virginia, With more than a little Perique. That mixture of the cured sweet and sour grain of the Virginia and funky ripe cheese odor of the Perique. Makes some interesting complexities, Ketchup of course, lemon, hard cheese, buckwheat, Smells like a fine VaPer blend.

Rub out to taste, lights and burns slow. If you don't rush the Virginia it smokes quite coolly. This flake's smoke is filled with delicious McClelland aged Virginia, warm, sweet and complex. But adding the Perique - adds a dimension of depth and earthiness. Really great stuff, may play second or third fiddle to some other Virginias in the McClelland Personal Reserve series - say “Blackwoods Flake” or “Dark Star“, but I found it very satisfying - and found it very easy to smoke. Goes on the favorites list.

St. James Woods is, in my opinion, one of McClelland's better offerings, and McClelland knows how to do Virginias. This tobacco is a mix of red Virginia, dark stoved Virginia, and perique, presented as a broken flake. In appearance, the flake first appears quite dark, but with a closer inspection, mottles of golds and browns are revealed; the tin aroma, while somewhat acetic as is typical of a McClelland blend, beckons the smoker with the sweetness of the fine Virginia tobaccos and the rainin-like fruitiness of perique. The flakes are a bit moist, and I'd recommend removing enough for a bowl, drying it a bit, and then rubbing it out. Doing so, the flakes easily rub fairly fine. The charring light brings mostly Virginia flavor, but once the bowl is lit the perique's darker nature is a presence. Those not familiar with perique might wonder if they are smoking a real biter, but I found that I could puff fairly heavily on the blend without risking damage. Rather, the perique mellows the normal bite of McClelland Virginias while adding a delightful not of fruit. The initial light is slightly difficult, but once the tobacco is lit it seems to stay so with little effort. By mid-bowl, St. James Woods becomes a fairly special smoke. The Virginias are darker in nature, less sweet than some, but with a complexity often absent from Virginias. It is creamy, with a slight hint of vanilla (though it is NOT topped), with a rich, dark and strong flavor. The perique's effect on the tongue has drastically lessened at this point, but the fruity taste of raisins, or even figs, remains, and even slightly strengthens. The flavor at the end of the bowl seems to fall off slightly, but remains good. I was particularly impressed by how fresh the flavor remained at this point. Overall, I'd call St. James Woods one of the better blends available from McClelland. It offers excellent Virginias mixed and balanced, with just enough perique to mellow the Virginias and add a fine flavor. Contrast this to their bulk 2015 Virginia Flake, which, no matter how well aged, leaves me feeling like I need Theraflu to cure my throat. If you like a good Virginia, I think you'll be pleased by St. James Woods, as you will be if you enjoy a Virginia/perique blend.