Butera Sweet Cavendish

First of all, I enjoy many aromatics. A well done, high-quality blend can be tasty when not overwhelmed by the casing. This particular aromatic, however, is not of the type I generally enjoy. It may very well be based on high-quality tobacco; I don’t know. But if you can’t taste it through the casing, why bother using the good stuff as a base? I'm somewhat surprised, on opening the tin, to note that the aroma is not very strong; I'm used to C&D-style aromatics that you can smell through two concrete walls. Though subdued, I can smell a sweet flavor, perhaps vanilla-like(?), certainly not fruity. I don't notice any tobacco aroma. The tobacco itself appeared very damp, almost translucent in the light, and is somewhat sticky, much more so than Frog Morton. It is a roughly equal mix of black and brown leaf in a medium cut. It does light fairly easily, accompanied by more snapping and sizzling than a bowl of rice crispies. I chose a 1/2 bent Edwards billiard that I often use for aromatics, and that usually smokes on the dry side. For the first 1/3 of the bowl, that flavor is sweet and mild, with little actual tobacco apparent. I also found, from the first puff, that I'd have to be careful with this one: there is some bite if I'm not careful. There's a "sharp" feeling on the tongue, not at all like the bite from Virginias, combined with a burnt-caramel flavor and odor. It also smokes fairly hot at first, and seems to require a larger then average number of relights. Into the second third of the bowl, the burnt-caramel sweetness is still going strong. I don't really notice much tobacco flavor, though the hints that I do catch through the casing are very mild. I believe that some of the sweetness is coming from the Virginias in the blend. The smoke tickles the nose when exhaling through it, though it's not an unpleasant sensation. Moving on to the last third, that biting, burnt taste on the tongue is still there, though minimized by careful puffing. The sweet caramel is still going strong, and shows no signs of burning off. There is a little additional complexity at the very bottom. Surprisingly, at the bottom there is very little moisture; I would have expected to find a puddle. The dampness in the tobacco seems to burn off in smoking. This is not a bad smoke, and the room aroma is pleasant. However, the dull, mild sweetness would get boring very quickly, and it's almost not worth the effort to avoid the bite. Overall, too mild and one-dimensional for me to use regularly, even if there was no bite problem. I would not recommend this blend to new smokers, due to the care required to smoke it. It’s OK, I suppose, as a once-in-a-while change of pace.

I love the aroma this one leaves in my living room. This tobacco is very sweet, and cool. A pleasing, non offensive aroma ensures this to be the perfect blend to smoke after coming home from a nice dinner with the wife, or when having over a lady of interest. If you love aromatics, do try!

This is a perfectly pleasant mostly black cavendish aromatic blend, in the same family as Captain Cool, or Lane's BCA. If you likely strongly cased aromatic blends you'll appreciate it. If not, not. When choosing among American style aromatics of this family I'd say price will be your deciding factor.

Promised a lot in the tin, and when opened the aroma felt great.

Still, didnt keep up the high expectation i had, after lighting. Tobacco came a bit too wet for my taste, causing an excessive number of relights, and a lot of sizzling. Smoked a bit too wet and needed a constant and slow draw, or self i would suffer from tongue bite for hours.

As for the taste and for the smoke itself, an almost fruity, nice sweet taste from the beggining till the end of the bowl, but nothing more than that all the way. Quite like a monocordic song that you hear and repeats itself from time to time, in your head.

Even for a newbie like me, looking for different smokes after a few years on cuban cigars, couldnt help getting a bit disapointed on what promised to be a good trip on the wings of a nice cavendish, but turned out to be a boring trip.

Just going to end this tin, and dont plan to buy it again.

A tobacco very much along the lines of Captain Black white label and Lane Ltd. 1Q, this is a heavily cased, damp aromatic blend, a bit excessive for my tastes. I was presented with a tin of this by sister in law and as I smoked a bowlful she herself became wobbly from the aroma. It is soft and mild, but if smoked hastily it can lead to tongue bite.

A quality product, I don?t think however there is anything special to set it apart from most Viginaia/Black Cavendish blends.

This is the kind of tobacco that you smoke around women when you want to create that special atmosphere for love. Other than that this tobacco is is foul. This may be the gooeyest tobacco I ever tried. So wet that even after leaving the tin open for a week it was still so sticky that it was hard to pack because of the syrup (I hate to call it a casing) poured on it. It is so wet that it was difficult to smoke beyond 2/3's down the bowl. Rejected.

This tobacco seems to be mostly cavendish and dark virginias help it burn through the heavy casing. This blend is remarkably oily (almost soggy) in the tin, and doesn't dry out much. In a briar it tastes excessively sweet and a bit musty.

Butera (who's a real meerschaum freak) designed this blend for coloring Meers, and as oily as it is it really does need the absorbency of a meerschaum. I recently bought a Bekler meershaum, and have discovered that in this pipe it is really a nice smoke. It's quite strong, but the sogginess is gone which lets the tobacco tastes come through nicely. I have seen some meerschaum pipes colored with it, and must say the results are impressive. (Edit 2010 - I should mention that within about 6 months of frequent bowls of Sweet Cavendish, this meerschaum - a Bekler egg/claw - had colored to a rich deep chocolatey purple. I haven't smoked it in years now, but the speed with which it colored was amazing, and the depth and richness of the color are something to behold. Too bad I can't post a photo of it here).

Highly recommended for meerschaum, not recommended for briars.

I enjoy a quality aromatic now and then, and this McClelland blend does not disappoint.

I gave it about 1/2 hour dry time at 70f/42% humidity. There's a nice sweetness on the front end, with some sweet grassy Virginia on the finish. The topping does sublimate the tobaccos in the first half of the bowl, but it's not overpowering, and it's well done, similar to a European aro.

I get a chocolate, vanilla, cherry flavor from the topping which I enjoy. Not quite as pronounced as Cult Blood Red Moon. And it also has a similarity to Sillem's Copenhagen, without the Amaretto flavor.

At the halfway mark the Virginia becomes more prominent. It has a lightly grassy, sweet, biscuit character of a bright Virginia. The topping sort of morphs into more of a caramel flavor.

Average relights, a little dampness in the bowl. I'm sipping Bourbon while I smoke this and it's a great combo.

Obviously this has been out of production for several years, but I bought a bunch of tins on a sale back then.

To recap, It's an Aromatic... with some age on it, it gets better as you smoke down the bowl.

I came across some tins at a local BM and picked it up knowing that it was produced by McClellan.

Tin was dated 2017. Tobacco is 2/3 black and about a third lighter. Tin note is sweet to me a Carmel note. Tobacco is slightly sticky from the casing.

Easy to pack. Takes the flame and seems to burn well in a variety of shapes. When lit I got a little of the traditional McC vinegar in the background. Topnote is sweet and reminds me of Holiday Spirit. It remains through the bowl.

The room note like Holiday Spirit is a crowd pleaser. I actually get compliments from the wife and non smokers at work.

Could be an all day smoke. Alas now out of production and hard to find.