McClelland Virginia Woods

Opening the tin took me back to younger days as a child around Thanksgiving or Christams time when homemade Minced meat pies were comming out of the oven. A tad bit of sweet & spicey and the tang of currant raisins , fruit and all those wonderful things they put in that pie came out of this tin and into my nose without McClelland intetntion to do so.

As you can imagine that Minced meat is a very complex old fashioned pie so this smoke may seem complex but its not. Its sweet and mildly acidic (when compared to the acid of #27) at the same time and the two blend very well together to become one. Then theirs this nice mellow smokey quality to it that wraps this well bodied toby up nicely.

Its definately worth trying to see if its for you.

The appearance of Virginia Woods in the tin, and the tin note, reminded me of the blend, "Reserve 1928," which is private-label produced by McClelland for the Tinder Box stores (and retails for slightly less). The leaf and cut appear to be identical. I cannot quite describe what the scent is (caramel-like?), but it is very unique and not as pronounced in Virginia Woods as in 1928, but I'll bet it is the identical chemical, cure, or topping. And, it comes through in the smoke as well. You can still taste it in your mouth the next day, although it is a pleasant aftertaste.

Although Virginia Woods does not require more than minimal relighting, the blend out of the tin is decidedly too moist. It starts out tasting sweet. No bite. But then started burning hot, and even when I was not puffing, the stuff made a "snap, crackle, pop" hissing sound in the bowl. I never was able to smoke it all the way to the end, as the last fifth of the bowl was soggy - not the fine grey ash associated with typical gourmet English blends.

The batch of Virginia Woods I tried did not have that smooth, sweet taste I have enjoyed from other English blends, which I attribute to whatever flavoring or aroma has been infused in the curing process. It's not bad, mind you, just not the greatest. It's an okay smoke - way better than any drugstore blend. But, I would not go out of my way to order some again. Two-stars.

UPDATE 04/09/2010: Put the snap-on plastic lid on the tin and let it sit for a few months on a bookshelf. The contents dried out a little. It made a big difference. Smokes much better. Whatever flavoring was added seemed to have disappeared. Mostly just tobacco taste/aroma. 06/09/2011: Sat in the tin for another year. Smoked clean, cool and dry to the bottom of the bowl. Not bad at all. I have to agree with Bob Smith: "It ages wonderfully." Very good with a cup of coffee. I might actually buy another tin if the price is right. Bump to three stars.

This tobacco is great for a late fall day. It has the aroma of smoke and woodiness without having the overwhelming taste of latakia. I wish that the blend did not have that ketchup smell when opening the tin. A day or so on a newspaper takes care of it. You do have to be a bit careful when smoking it can get a bit hot. The tobacco does have a bit of sweetness to it and does blend well with MacBaren Honey and Chocolate.

I recently opened a tin of this that had been cellared for 3 years. I was expecting something similar to Hal o' the Wynd, but was suprised and pleased. This tobacco doesn't have the sweet taste that I normally associate with matured Virginias, but rather a deep, layered flavour. I didn't see any stems in the blend as mentioned in a review below, but it does smoke hot, hotter than most VA blends I have encountered.

I have been blessed with a 10 year aged sample of this weed. It makes for a truly smooth, quiet and "woodsy" smoke. Perhaps due to age, this comes off as being one of the nicest straight VA smoke experiences I have had. There is sweet and sour notes through the entire first 3rd of the bowl. After that the tobacco flavor kicks up and a hint of spice (very perique like) enters the smoke. At points I agree with those who list this blend as mildly topped, at other points I think I am tasting just the trademark McClelland aging process. By the end of the bowl a bit of refinement is lost and the taste is very cigar like - musky woodsy and spicey. While I still rarely reach for straight VA tobacco - this one is certainly at the top of the heap.

This is a good virginia blend that does not realy stand out to me but does not realy lack in a bad way either. I feel it is a good middle of the road virginia blend. I will say that this does get alot better with aging. Worth a try.

This is another foray into the unchartered territory of Virginia blends for me and I have to say that this is another pleasant surprise. Upon opening the tin, yes there is that famous "catsup" odor which I find pleasant. Medium to long red, lemon, and brown leaf abounds. packing is easy, lighting is easy. The name "Virgina Woods" is appropiate because that is exactly what I think of when smoking this blend. It is deliciously woodsy with those sweet virginia undertones. All in all this is a good medium to full strength blend that you can smoke all day. I did find that it works better for me in smaller pipes. Enjoy... 4 out of 5 points.

Not a bad tobacco, the tin aroma is the usual McClelland aroma, the cut is rather coarse with some stem.

I found when packing the pipe I had to remove some of the tree limbs, other than that it packed very well. The tobacco was not too hard to lite which did surprize me it was such a coarse cut of tobacco.

This was not a harsh tongue biting tobacco and somked very smoothly. I dected no wheezing or gurgling and the tobacco did take on a sweetness as it neared the bottom of the bowl.

This will join my occasional tobacco shelf.

Smoke it slow, enjoy it longer

It's both smooth and rich as stated in the decription. I enjoy the flavor and aroma. Virginia Woods tastes a little like 5100, but I taste a stoved VA as well. There is a another tobacco besides VA in this blend, maybe an unflavored cavendish. Whatever it is, it's a nice touch. There is lots of high sugar content VA present, but it doesn't burn the tongue; that might be due to the cavendish.

I recommend this blend, but I also recommend that you let it dry quite a bit before smoking. For some reason, Virginia Woods comes loaded with PG. I pour out all of the 100g tin on a magazine and let it dry for 36 hours. After that, it's really a nice blend.