McClelland No. 24

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.

Moist broken flakes which are predominantly bleached brown in color streaked with chestnut, chocolate, and light grey to nearly cream-colored veins along with a light dusting of sugar crystals. The visual effect is that of a dull late-winter landscape, something accentuated by the overall grayness of the sugar bloom and the jagged brokenness of the flakes themselves: a tired, abandoned field at the edge of a ratty forest on an overcast, snowless February afternoon. It is presumed that the grayish-white streaks are the Drama.

The tin nose is sharp, with a predominant note of fresh cut grapefruit and just a touch of musty earth. The expected acetic acid aroma is entirely absent, perhaps obscured by the heady citrus smell. Thick and moist, the broken flakes of cut cake rub out with considerable ease as well as having enough pliability to accommodate various fold-and-stuff methods, depending on individual circumstance or preference. Like all such preparations, lighting and maintaining a proper ember requires patience and attention. Topping the bowl with a pinch of finely rubbed crumbs is recommended.

On the thin side of medium bodied, this oriental-seasoned matured Virginia flake is sweet and piquant with notes of citrus, new wood, and light roast coffee. Marked by a peculiar, occasionally smoky spice which can tend towards sourness, it has a refreshing finish which is short and crisp. The grapefruit aroma present in the tin carries forth in the bowl, adding a brightness which is accentuated by the signature natural zest of the McClelland aged Virginias. While this reviewer found bite to be rarely, if ever, an issue, No. 24 can become a bit taxing on the tongue if puffed too aggressively. As a Virginia-Oriental blend, it components are clearly distinct yet sometimes a bit off balance.

The example under review here, coming in the ever fetching McClelland 100g. tumbler, was tinned in 2000 and opened in 2009. An intriguing blend, Matured Virginia No. 24 bears many of the hallmark characteristics of McClelland's unique aged Virginia cut cakes. Among them, however, this particular offering seems the least zesty and rich, although like its brethren there is little reason to believe that it will not fare well with extended cellaring.

This is one weird va blend. It has this nutty almost musty woodsy smell and taste to it to me. Kind of interesting tin aroma. Not offensive but not the typical mclelland aroma for va's. Just Interesting. Will keep you wondering what it smells like for a long time. I find this blend is one of the few that tastes close to the way it smells.

As far as taste this is not your ordinary va. I find it good to mix things up but not a daily smoke. Smooth and nutty. Not bitey at all. Not that flavorful either but a good solid smoke.

I find the tin aroma and taste nothing like #27 as others mentioned. Much more mellow and unpronounced in both smell and taste.

Good, interesting and worth the money. Will smoke it once and a while. Just not as much as the others I smoke everyday in this series. I like the 27 and 22 the most.

update: I am finding myself coming back to this blend more and more often. It is very good and smooth. A little hard to get lit but worth the effort. Fast becoming a regular for me.

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.

This is a weird one. I have had 2 tins of this that I never touched. I finally got around to popping one and after half a tin, I am not sure if I have this one figured out.

Tin note is fruity, reminds me of the Esoterica/Germain Virginia's (Brighton, Medium Flake, Dunbar, etc.). I am not sure if it is the leaf or a topping but it smells to me of apricots mixed with good VA tobacco. The flavor is bready, and spicy. This is unlike any other McClelland VA I have ever had. If I was given this in a baggie I wouldn't think it was McClelland. Kind of like a McConnel VA. There is some nice dry spice from the Drama a bit of wood. Stewed fruits, toast with marmalade. A really nice aftertaste that I cannot define.

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.

McClelland is noted for their Virginia flakes. Everything from the pugent Dark Star to the smooth pleasures of the various Xmas Cheers, to the near perfection of Blackwoods Flake. The matured virginia series is very good, but most smokers I know think #24 is the best. And that's likely the effect of the added oriental leaf. The Drama leaf is a very strong oriental...a little goes a long ways for most people. Its not unlike Deer Tongue in a sense. You either love it or hate it. I pretty much love it, at least here. The Virginias are rich and earthy, a darker sort of flavor, a bit closer to dark star than 22 or 27 in this series. Perhaps it is close to the 1776 blend they make up, but with the added Drama. Now, even if there were no Drama in here it would be a rich earthy Virginia flake. Another flake it resembles (sans the Oriental) is Germain's Brown flake. The same fermented quality. The Germain is, like all english flakes, cased a tiny bit. This isnt as far as I can tell. The dry time is minimal compared to dark star or, really, most McClellands. Rub it out a bit and let it sit ten minutes. A few relights at the start and you should be able to smoke it right to the bottom of the bowl. And boy its a long slow rich smoke. An absolute top flight virginia flake. The Drama is noticable, to be sure, and an occasional puff will really hit you .....pure Drama....but thats part of the experience with this. Id give it more than four stars if I could.