McClelland No. 24

It comes in thick broken dark brown flakes which are quite moist but with a loose packing can be smoked directly at a sipping pace.

Tin aroma has the vinegary quality which I personally enjoy, combined with nutty and sweet spicy notes.

Produces a full bodied, rich and concentrated smoke with earthy and nutty tones and full flavor and I enjoyed it very much at the slow sipping pace its moisture level dictated. Rounded, creamy and smooth, it produces no bite and has no rough edges. No hay-like aromas, it’s more on the mature, sweet yeasty side of the Virginia flavor spectrum. I suppose the Drama leaf lends some sweet spiciness but I did experience a homogeneous smoke and not scattered nuances here and there. It also becomes more interesting as the bowl progresses: the sweet spiciness increases halfway through the bowl, so it’s not a one dimensional smoke. It constantly delivers a beautiful mellow sweetness and though not all bowls were the same - but that has probably more to do with body chemistry - some were heavenly. It needs a few relights but then after each one you get an increased mellowness and a toasted bready sweetness. Draw with a loose packing is unproblematic. It leaves a powdery grey ash and burns dry.

Even though it’s a robust tobacco, I enjoyed it very much as a first tobacco in the morning with coffee. Yet, I consider this tobacco a luxury which I like to contemplate and savour, so although I will be buying again, I won’t use as an all day tobacco. In a few words this is a regal Virginia which is highly recommended.

I'm sure glad I recently ordered a 100 gram tin of this wonderful weed from Smokingpipes. Not having had it since sometime around 1990, I hadn't remembered just how damn good this is. Beautiful golden brown and vari-colored short cut flakes in the tin emit fine fragrances of fermenting Virginia at its best. Smokes sugar sweet and smooth to the ash. The inclusion of Drama leaf really adds to the freakin' fine taste. Going to be stocking piles of cans of it in the cellar. McClellands, I think, put together the best Virginias on planet Earth and this one is at the top of that list.

I find McClelland's VAs a bit hit-and-miss, and as far as I'm concerned No. 24 is one of their big hits. Rich, creamy, spicy, sweet and sour all at the same time - it's definitely one of the more distinctive VA-based blends on the market.

I found the Oriental component more prominent than the tin description suggests. About 90% of my smoking involves straight VAs these days, so this blend probably won't be a frequent smoke for me. Nevertheless, it's a very well-made tobacco and deserves a full recommendation.

I got a tin of this to try along with Scottish Woods and Tudor Castle. I'm primarily a VA and VA Per smoker. I wanted to try some oriental blends. I didn't think this one would be the best out of those three but it might be. They are all fantastic but this deceptively complex blend has a lot to offer. This is a great virginia flake with a little sour taste and depth from the Drama leaf. It's rich and also sweet. I was very surprised by how sweet this is. I've read in reviews about orientals that they can be sweet.

24 is very well balanced. It's simple but I can see smoking tons of this and not tiring of it. It's an excellent smoke and I will buy some to cellar

My first two attempts to smoke this tobacco ended up in me dumping the bowl before it was fully smoked. I decided to try it a third time and filled my Dunhill Tan Shell estate pipe and lit her up. It started out bland as I remembered it and then...... 1/4 of the way down the bowl the tobacco came alive. Very complex with a sweet earthiness. Just a little spice in the background to enliven my taste buds. Once lit, I did not have to relite and she smoked all the way to the bottom. It left me wanting more.

I am a fan of the McClelland line but I would like this tobacco no matter who made it. Highly recommended.

2017 Additional Notes. For two years I accumulated 50 large tins of #24 for aging, they are now 10-12 years old. This tobacco becomes amazing with some time in the closet.

McClelland #24 is my favorite in Virginias. I have two pipes that have had nothing but #24. One of the pipes is an average sized group 4 and the other is a much larger, heavy walled system pipe. Both pipes do a good job with #24 although I do prefer the larger for the longer smoke. Opening the tin you will find a gorgeous leaf, chestnut brown as noted, there will be about one inch flakes and some that are falling apart. Older tins will generally have some sugar crystals. You can find some light, almost white, strands mixed in the flake, which I?m guessing, is the Drama. Is this technically an Oriental blend? I find the tin aroma to be a little vegetal, citrus, and sweet. In the larger pipe I stuff in #24 in whole flake and then top off with the fine-rubbed. In the smaller pipe I rub out the flake and top off with the fine stuff. This tobacco comes moist and needs aired out. I dry it to near crunchy.

If I get any bite from this tobacco it is when I am lighting up or if the tobacco is too moist. With the fine tobacco on the top of the bowl this is an easy lightup. The taste, well it is sweet and woody to me, with an occasional tart note, I get more taste sensation from #24 than any other tobacco I smoke. Frequently I let this go out during a smoke; the smell of the burned tobacco is of a rich charred wood, like a campfire that?s gone out, the room note is pleasant. The last quarter of the smoke is excellent. For a Virginia, surprisingly, this makes a little more smoke than most. As with any pipe tobacco, slow smoking produces the best character of the tobacco. The nicotine hit to me stays steady throughout the smoke and does not become too powerful at the end. This burns down to a powdery gray ash.

Virginia 24 is currently one of my two staple flakes. Unfortunately for me, the 100-gram tin I am smoking dates to 2000, so I don't think I will be able to repeat this smoking experience anytime soon. My well-aged sample is remarkably smooth and creamy with a light sweetness and the wonderful smokiness of the Drama coming and going. I have smoked this blend in small briars (with bore sizes of 3/4" or smaller), larger briars (with bore sizes of up to 7/8"), meerschaums of several sizes, and a clay. The blend smokes well in every pipe I've tried, but goes best for me in a smaller-bored briar. For some reason, it smokes insanely well in a bent Stanwell I picked up for about $20. So well, in fact, that if I could get more of this tobacco aged this long, I'd dedicate the Stanwell to this one blend.

Anyway, I agree with RCUSElder and others--if you can find this tobacco with some age on it, pick it up. I know I will be adding some to my cellar so that a few years from now I can smoke some more of this stuff.

I have **no** experience with unaged Virginia 24. But I will be trying some soon.

McClelland?s Virginia No.24 is a full Virginia flake pipe tobacco spiced sparingly with Drama leaf.

The tin aroma is sharp in a fermented/acidic acid manner. This aroma remains with the tobacco as it diminishes little over time. Virginia No.24 is composed of aged Virginias and a slight amount of Drama, a Macedonian condimental tobacco leaf. The color of Virginia No.24 is of varying shades of chestnut brown with occasional stripes of yellow/orange running through the flakes. The appearance of the flakes is very much like that of tree bark. Sugar crystals were present in healthy amounts, adding a sparkle to the flakes.

The cut of Virgina No.24 is a thick, stout, square flake cut measuring about 1? x 1.25?. The flakes themselves are a bit stubborn to rub out, especially to a finer constancy. The blend also resists packing somewhat. Virginia No.24 burns best when some of the initial moisture is removed. The optimum moisture level seems to be when the flakes become slightly brittle.

Virginia No.24 lights superbly after proper tamping and has the wonderful tendency to burn clean to the walls of the pipe bowl. Although being a thick flake, Virgina No.24 can be smoked to the bottom of the bowl while requiring only one or two lights to do so. The room note is light and somewhat nondescript. The blend has a pleasant, tangy nose off of the bowl.

The flavor of Virginia No.24 is initially tangy and slightly sweet with a decent amount of sharp spiciness that is no doubt due to the added Drama leaf. Midway through the burn, the flakes? take on a pleasant creamy dimension while the initial spiciness subsides somewhat. The overall flavor becomes more balanced as the burn proceeds. The bite can be substantial if this blend is smoked rapidly. Full, steady draws are required to avoid the bite. The bite of Virginia No.24 tends to diminish as the smoke progresses. The smoke given off by the burning of this blend is medium/full and seems to take on a blue/gray tint.

McClelland?s Virginia No.24 is a fantastic Virginia flake variation that only becomes a better smoke with age.

For a while I thought that McC's #24 is king when it comes to the Matured Virginias Series. If you read my other reviews, you might know that it's been dethroned by my all time favorite Virginia tobacco by any producer - McC's #22.

This still makes McC's #24 the second best Virginia of all time in my book. I am considering this a Virginia and not a Va/Or despite the inclusion of the Drama leaf. IMHO the Drama even though it is certainly there, is only so in minute quantities.

As with #22, it is a big plus for me that this blend has been produced using tobacco that has actually been grown on American soil (I know I am Swiss but I still love the U.S.)

This tobacco smells heavenly in the tin (even better than #22), and the taste can be described as an astonishing balance of sweet, tangy, full, herbaceous as well as faint earthy notes. It definitely is a winner and age only improves it. But as with #22, there is something more going on here in terms of taste which I can't seem to pin down and which ultimately constitutes the magic and allure of this blend.

If you manage to still get a few tins of this, don't hesitate a minute. If not, just drop me a line if you ever pass through Switzerland and I'll be happy to share a bowl or two.