McClelland No. 22

This is a really flavorful flake. Very clear raisin/fig notes with a little sweetness and a touch of spice. A nice tartness as well. It's been so humid here that I haven't been able to dry any out, but it smokes just fine straight from the tin. A little stubborn on the light. Might take a few matches. This is well rounded in flavor and is very nice by itself. I think it has a future as a blender too.

Mild to medium in body. Medium in flavor. If you like straight Virginias give this one a try.

McC #22 Virginia … A tasty, somewhat rubbed out Virginia flake blend of the best of America's Virginias. The moisture level is about ideal, but I aired my tin out some, maybe just from habit, but the result was a real decent smoke. There was some sweetness and a good measure of that milder smooth Virginia tang. Due to the coarser texture, I found bowl packing can be a little tricky unless rubbed out some, but overall IMO #22 is a real keeper. I found this tobacco bite free, with only a bit of the typical Va. tongue tingle, but overall a easy going smoke. For those reasons this tobacco (IMO) could be candidate for as all day smoke, but I save this blend (and others) for my evening smokes, when I have time to get into my sip and taste mode. For those that enjoy the taste of a straight aged Virginia, I sure would recommend you try this one.

P.S. This blend is not without use as a blender.

This one is good if you are looking for straight va taste without much else but good high end flavor. I like the flavor. I do find it more enjoyable outdoors. I agree with another reviewer it needs drying as do all the tobaccos in this series. When properly rubbed and dried it lights and burns ok but harder to light than average.

Not as memorable as #27 but a good smoke for those prefering the high clean end of va flavor spectrum. A good one for those new to the flakes I think. It is nowhere near as touchy as #27 but it has nowhere the flavor or kick either.

Not for me too often but it is good for those liking this sort of flake.

Room note was commented to me to smell good, something like pastry in the oven or toaster. This was said by someone who is sensitive to stinky blends.

Update: I am turning to this and #24 much more often lately. I love #27 but I disagree with the tin label that #27 is a great all day smoke. This blend is much more tameable and less quick to hurt your tongue. #27 is so good but it requires too much pampering to get a great smoke.

I got sent a savinelli 804 canadian instead of the pipe I ordered from the store and that by chance was one of the best mistakes ever made. That pipe is proving itself to be a great smoker- one of the best ever up there with my ardors. This blend and other va's are sublime out of this pipe. In fact it is one of those that I think would smoke anything well. My point- this blend shines in a pipe that suits it.

Second update: This lost it's 4th star after I found the wonderful world of Greg Pease tobacco's.

I was lucky I got granted a sweet little sample of this by a fellow pipe smokers. All US-blends are unavailable over here in Germany so I was craving to test one of the "famous McClelland Virginias".

Anyways, when opening the sample-bag I got greeted by the typical vinegar scent of McClelland. This seems to be quite natural pipe tobacco, as the "sample-bag note" is very mild and inconspicuous. When sticking my nose real close to the flakes I get scents of vinegar, hay-ish grass, and very little citrus & sweetness.

As I only have a sample I can't comment on moisture level, mine came in perfect smoking condition. The bright brown flakes with yellow speckles are only coarsely rubbed out and there are some half flake slices in there, that I could also fold&stuff if I wanted to. Yet i rubbed it out until I had a coarse ribbon-like cut.

After first light (which is pretty easy to do when at good moisture level) I was surprised by a rather spicy and "dark" toned Virginia. Intense (dark/whole-rye-)bread aroma is the soul and body of this blend, that's underscored by a mild citrusy-sweet undertone. Decently spicy and very tobacco-y. A mild toast note is also there. It's a piquant Virginia blend, and only has very little sweetness to round this to a unique melange. Only hints of stoved-fruits (mainly figs and plums) in the background.

Definetly full-bodied for a straight Virginia, this blend is far from being flat! Rich in aroma, not overly complex, yet it has a few nuances to explore if you take your time and mind on it. Honest, zesty, flavorful! Doesn't bite, even if pushed a bit.

I got a sample of this in the mail and found fairly dense broken flakes. I rubbed them out and smoked it in the Kirsten I am smoking Wessex Gold Brick in these days.

This is a mellow, full red Virginia flavor. It is a little "heavy" tasting, with just a little tart and sweet. I don't detect any topping at all, and there is no subtle latakia or izmir lurking in the background. I liked this as a straight Virginia smoke, and it is in the same class of tobacco as Wessex Gold Brick and McClelland 5100.

I am new to pipe smoking, and certainly new to reviewing tobacco. My experience to this point is mainly with aromatics, so this is my first real non aromatic tobacco. And I like it!! The tin note is definitely along the lines of roasted tomatoes, vinegar, and ketchup. Not my favorite smells to get out of the tin. However, the smoke seems fairly complex - I do get some roasted tomatoes to taste, but also leather and hay. It burned very well and offered an extremely long and cool smoke. No tongue bite for me. A very nice tobacco that gets 3.5 stars from me. I will absolutely keep some of this on hand.

Vinegar, anyone? This being the first McClelland Virginia I ever tried, I was somewhat surprised at the odor that greeted me when I popped the top of the can. As another reviewer has mentioned, it's an odor that one either loves or hates. Some say it smells like ketchup; have any of you eaten any recently? Exactly what have you been smoking?? Ketchup isn't even close! Oh well, each person's tastes are different; that's what makes life interesting :-). Personally, I like the smell, and it doesn't come through in the tobacco's flavor at all. This blend comes in medium to large flakes, dark brown with veins of lighter, yellowish-brown running through them. They are a little moist, but rub out easily and pack well. Once rubbed out, they light easily, though this blend seems to require more relights then average once into the bowl. I usually smoke this blend in a very large-bowled Savinelli estate billiard, with a tobacco chamber diameter of about 1.5 inches. If I need to stop partway through the bowl due to tongue bite, I can rest and pick up the pipe again with no loss of flavor. The first third of the bowl is sweet, especially if smoked slowly. Actually, slowly is the only way you CAN smoke this tobacco, unless you *enjoy* crisped tongue and mouth. To avoid the bite, I find I need to puff carefully, barely getting anything from the stem at all. This certainly contributes to multiple relights, but it also is where this blend shines. The light puffs deliver a sweet, flavorful smoke that makes the effort worthwhile. As the bowl moves into its second 1/3, the flavor becomes more rich and complex, though the sweetness stays present. Toward the last third, the sweetness and richness merge somewhat, forming a complex and satisfying flavor that has an even greater tendency to bite. Care is needed! Also toward the end, some moisture is present, and it may be necessary to run a pipe cleaner down the stem of the pipe. Unlike Latakia mixes, going back to a bowl later on does not adversely effect the tobacco's taste. This is fortunate, because frequently it will take three sessions to smoke a large bowl of this blend. Overall, this is a pleasant smoke that requires time for careful concentration for full enjoyment. While not my favorite McClelland Virginia, it is nice as a change of pace, when I'm in a sweet Virginia mood. In addition, I believe that leaving the tin open for a couple weeks may help to solve the moisture problem; more results to come.

This is the first Mac Baren tobacco I ever encountered. I go back and forth with it, sometimes liking it and sometimes not. Like most of their tobaccos, Vanilla Crème has a strong tin aroma, especially when freshly opened, of fermenting compost, but in this case it's vanilla fermenting compost. I've said before, though, that you sometimes have to ignore the tin aroma. The tobacco is a broken flake of heavily cased Virginia.

This is a good smoke when others are in the house. My impartial room note judge said that the fragrance is quite nice, kind of like having a vanilla candle burning in the room. Easily lit, the burn is smooth and fairly cool, especially for an aromatic; I suspect that this is due to the quality of the tobacco used. Once burning, the vanilla flavor is accompanied by a nice creaminess. Think of cream soda in a tobacco. There's nothing subtle about Vanilla Crème. I did find, though, that the flavor began to get a bit sour by the bottom of the bowl, and it doesn't DGT very well.

If you want a really good, high quality vanilla blend, go for either this or Sweet Vanilla Honeydew. I personally prefer SVH, but that could be because I smoked it first, and maybe because it has a bit more subtlety about it. Vanilla Crème is a good tobacco to smoke when others are around, especially if those others have a tendency to complain about "stinky" tobaccos.

Nicely cut orange-red flakes, neither too thin nor too heavy. Easy to rub out to any degree. Initial aroma is usual vinegar, but airing it out solves his, and allows thee tobacco to burn cooler and drier. The initial taste is a good sweet basic Va., with not much complexity. As it settles down, there are layers of flavor developing and playing with your palate. An excellent choice for an all-day virginia.