McClelland No. 27

This is a straight Virginia, pure, natural, but not excellent. Good yes, but not really good. In my opinion a little bit disappointing. There are a lot of straight Virginia in the market and this one does not stand out. McClelland can do much better. The taste is pure Virginia, but I believe it has an extremely mild flavoring, almost imperceptible. In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 7 and two and a half stars.

This review pertains to a ten-year-old tin, so it represents a well-aged tobacco.

The tin aroma is slightly tart, sweet, and acetic (vinegar). It's like a delicious barbecue sauce, with a bit of fermented character. The flakes sparkle with sugar crystals. If you smoke a lot of McClelland Virginias, it is instantly recognizable in every way.

I usually rub out pressed tobaccos completely, but this one seemed more conducive to smoking rolled up, balled up, or just stuffed in the bowl. It comes in the tin fairly stringy, not neat flakes or barely broken ones. It smoked easily and deliciously whatever the preparation method.

The flavor of the bowl is delicious and complex. Sometimes I felt like this blend was more savory than I expected, and sometimes it was sweet. It was always a bit tangy. Like all Virginias, it is a balancing act to keep the ember as small and the bowl as cool as possible to maximize the flavors and aromas, without letting it go out too much to be annoying.

I found this blend easier than most to find that balance and keep it going. Probably related, I also found this blend to smoke dry as a bone, even on humid summer days. The body was heavier than expected for a straight Virginia.

Overall this is a fantastic tobacco, and and excellent example of what McClelland does with Virginia tobacco.

Bowl starts out sweet and tangy with a good touch of McVinegar and a lot of high notes. After about 1/4 bowl, the high notes fade and the darker flavors develop , more in the style of " Sammy's" "FVF". Less tangy, richer, but still a subtle sweetness. No real bite, but some spice and something that says , "This could be even better with a few more years of age" , ( although, tin indicted it was 2 years old). The last 1/4, you get the burnt marshmallow with some slight bitterness . All in all, I find this keeps my interest.

I feel the blend is much closer to an English style Virginia ( Samuel Gawith, FVF, Best Brown) vs. a MacBarens that says, grass, honey and hay. A word about the cut, it's a very fine delicate flake. I like to give it the minimum of rubbing, or you'll turn this to dust, allow it to dry for a half hour, and "ball and stuff" the loading. The tin description says," an all day, indoor smoke", I agree with that and can see where the fine cut would turn into a "blast furnace" with an outdoor breeze.

I can't disagree with any reviewers that give this 4 stars, but I like other Virginias just as much, at bulk prices and cuts I like better. So, this gets 3 stars

Wow look at all these 4 star reviews on not one person commented on the effervesant of the open tin.

What nobody else has noted is this is no ordinary Virginia. Its a matured virginian as per McClellands own claim. My Tin was produce in 06 so its been aging for 5 years now. I'd say thats enuff time for a tobacco. We're not talking wine here. We're talking about a weed. Matured Virginias are typically acidic to a degree. This bland goes over that degree to the point of being rude about it.

Tin effervesant was wild. From what many have observed The Acidic tone is strong from the can and normal for this Brand Name. That being said I also took this tin to 3 other people to get the nose opions as well because I thought mine had failed me.

a total of 4 people agreed this aroma from the tin immediatly reminded them of old wet hay in a barn knowing full well they were' sampling a pipe tobacco. Add a bunch of animals peeing all over that hay and you add the acidic aroma to this element and you have a pretty accurate description of the tin aroma. It will come close to giving your nose a good tang!

Doesn't light up well so air it out for a few hours after rubbing it out. Then it lights fine and doesn't burn hot at all. In fact it burns very light and gives you a nice cool smoke. I wish a few of my fav's would burn this way so I wouldn't have to be so carefull with them.

The room note is tolerable at best. But not strong. It's intensity is a mild one. There's nothing pleasant about it but it's not terrable. In public you might get a few discouraging looks.

After getting half way through the bowl I dedected the acid taste from the tin. But its ever so slight enough and yet reminds you thats its there. You have to actually look for it.

ON the tongue the flavoring is deep and mellow and very very mild. Almost undiscernable at first and builds itself up to a mild range. It has a nutty burl feel to it and a mild smokey side as well.

There is no added casing or chemical toppings to this. The flavor comes from the curing process to the age of the cure. I swear they basted the toby in its own juices while the toasted the leaf. and pressed it into the cake and aged it. A byproduct of slow state of decomposition would be the acidic amonia event you'll find when opening the tin. Some refer to this aroma as beeing very vinegar like. Same thing. Its an acid produced from a cause in the curing process.

Take a small chunk and put it in yer mouth and there will be a flavor explosion that will tell you exactly what the mild version of the smoke will be like. Even if 50 percent of smell is taste then your in for a shocker. It tastes just like it smells.

And it tastes just like it came off the floor of the barn after 50 cows walked through it.

Having doubts I repeated this process. 3 days 3 bowls same results. Very dissapointing indeed.

My apollogies to fans of this. I'm sure you like it. I think you're being overly ecclectic though. McClelland can do better that this. They did in fact.

I cannot reccomend the Mature #27 at this time. Instead pass it up for whats in the tin marked Virginia Woods.

*Note* effervesant= tingles and tickles

a good VA blend, quite full flavored but mild in strength. Still too much vinegar though and not quite sweet enough.

Tin: Abundant, tangy, sweet, fragrant apricot/currant and bread aroma. Black-brown to medium brown striated with a small amount of blonde. Broken flake.

Incredibly soft and supple for a flake and has a clean feel to it.

Six-digit code on bottom: 272206, meaning product 27, batch 22 tinned in 2006.

Packing & Lighting: Very readily rubs out into small ribbons. One of the easiest to deal with flakes. The suppleness of No. 27 makes for a delight to pack. Unlike many flakes, this one can be, should be, moderately tightly packed. Right out of the tin, it does take a couple of matches to burn a small bowl.

Taste & Aroma: Top of bowl: Bland, No. 27 takes a little while for the flavor to develop and concentrate.

Mid bowl: This is where the soft, subtle taste becomes accentuated, a nice bread and fruit taste and aroma; from time to time, getting varying hints of orange peel, cinnamon or allspice, and bayleaf or clove.

Letting the tobacco dry for 30 minutes helps the flavor. Al1's comments on drying seem to make a difference, there being less moisture to compete with the subtle flavor.

Nicotine: At least medium

Room Note: About as pleasant as it gets for a VA-based blend.

Overall: No. 27 could be an all-day smoke, if you want a moderate amount of nicotine. I really like everything about it, but it's too lightweight in flavor. For this, No. 27 deserves 3 stars, but it is so easy to work with, it should get 4. I really wanted to give this 4 stars, but the taste and aroma are just too subtle.

Compare this to C&D Briar Fox, most any Wessex blend, or Orliks Golden Sliced. Some of the VA-based GLP Fog City Selections will satisfy a VA craving.

This blend lacks nicotine; it tastes light; it burns cool. That are its positive qualities. I am smoking this blend frequently. I have held off on it. I thought, it would be just another virginia. It fits so well into my present life style so well.

My work does not allow me to smoke all day long. The nicotine in this blend is low, that I am getting a nicotine level that is just a little elevated. If I go without smoking all day, I do not get the jitters and mood swings.

This a great light sweet flavorful blend, when my palate is absolutely clean. Right now the other virginias are tasting dirty and burnt for me. This blend does not bite my tongue, because I can taste what I am smoking. I have already stocked up on this blend.

I recently recieved a 4 year old tin from a good friend in the states. When cracking open the tin the smell that came from it was delightful. I have to say that the smell of McClellald tobaccos really annoys me, in this case it had settled down significantly and was most pleasant.

I find the taste to be very subtle. I honestly did not appreciate this tobacco until I sat quietly in my garage one night with a beautiful Design Berlin staight grain billiard, filled to the brim with this tobacco. The experience was wonderful. Slighly sweet, little savoury, nice volume of smoke, this is certainly not tiring as some blends can be and developes very discretely.

I only gave this blend 3 stars for 1 reason and that is that 4 year old tins are not freely available.

Red orange tobacco with a very nice honey ? not excessively - sweet flavor.

Tobacco is generally dry, but keeps enough of humidity in order to keep him perfect for smoking, right after opening the box. It burned clean and cool, till the lowest part of the bowl, leaving only a clear white ash.

It has, in my opinion, the smallest ?ketchuppy? flavor from all the other McClelland which I have tasted. Nice tobacco for all day.

Another tobacco which I would like to keep in a box, in my cellar, and smoke it after 1-2 years