McCranie's Old Master

Smooth, really. If this is not cased then it must be some Deertongue but just enough to sweeten in the background. Way less than C & D's Crooner. This is by far the best uncomplicated burley I have tried. I'm not an all day smoker but I can do a bowl in the am and more later. If you like burley this is a gimme. Happy camper here.

Update:11/20/10 okokok enough with the deertongue. Still like but less frequent.

In a word, pleasant. There's the obvious nuttiness of the burley but also just the right hint of vanilla or deertongue in the background. It can be enjoyed as an all-day smoke while going about your business, but also has enough subtlety to be quietly savored on the back porch. Nice room note, easy to keep lit, little to no bite. Use it either as a mainstay or for when you want to a change- up from English or aromatic blends.

Another gift from Clarkus. Indeed an exquisite tobacco offering to the nose the typical dark chocolate note of the Burley (underlined with a light cocoa/vanilla flavoring) and delighting the mouth with an unbelievable mellowness and a pleasant nuttiness. Besides it smokes quite cool leaving a pleasant room note.

Thanks to Clarkus and applause to the blender of Mc Cranie's.

Drink suggestion: a chestnut beer.

I tend to choose which tobacco to smoke based on the pipe and the mood I may be in at the time. Sometimes, I want a stronger taste or maybe a bit of "pepper" from a blend with perique in it. What had been missing for me was a blend that was relatively mild, had little casing, but had taste and good room note. Based on the reviews read here, I decided to try Old Master, and found that it was a perfect fit. Unlike some fairly mild blends, OM has sufficient taste to keep things interesting. It is neither sweet or sour, but has a distinctive taste that is unlike the other blends I smoke. It seems perfect for a beginning smoker due to a lack of tongue bite, easy loading into any pipe, and good burning qualities. A person might get bored with OM after a while, but I now find myself smoking Old Master about 50% of the time. More experienced pipe smokers will likely enjoy OM whenever they want a smoke that isn't overpowering or highly aromatic.

McCranie?s Old Master Review

I don't review many...a kindness I've decided to bestow on the good readers here. But I wanted to do this review as a favor to Todd McCranie for being kind to me when I didn't really deserve it...and because I wanted to see this excellent product called up when others did a search here based on 4-star rating (which takes five reviews). So then:

But before I do...I DID order a pound of this...at the same time (though from different shops) that I ordered a pound of Nut Brown Burley...thanks pipestud! OK - onward...

I'd been skulking along the backroads and often dismal alleyways of Burley and mostly Burley blends...grilling a number of "most likely suspects"...finally rounding up MacBaren's Burley London Blend and Wilke's Nut Brown Burley as those that I thought had the best physical smoking characteristics and richness of flavor...without the fizzle and sourness or bite I sought to avoid. And although there are many other fine entries into this catagory the exploration ultimately led me to McCranie's Old Master - as in many times past following the guideposts set by erstwhile reviewers here that have gone before me.

What a find! Pouch aroma is divine! Smokes smooth and cool all the way, consistant of flavor, eager of burn, thick clouds, friendly to pipe after pipe (each of my two identical inexpensive Stanwell "freehands" and the little Bjarne pot...all of which seem to smoke everything well...love this blend). I'm smoking it now in a deep antique microrusticated Brackner Danish Ax and it's holding it's own, if not perfectly, at least rather well. Frequent mild tamping seem to help it stay cool in this bowl - but I'm thinking a bowl of less volume is the answer. Next will be the obvious Cob - I've a fairly new bent Country Gentleman that awaits. There seems to be some conversation that this might be cased, though McCranie's literature says not. Whatever. If so, it must be with the same pixie dust that the god's have blessed onto Bob's Chocolate Flake - for without a true side by side my oral and olefactory flavor neurons seem to tickle the same receptor cells in what remains of my brain. This is praise, as Bob's is considered a guilty pleasure around here. I'm thinking that this will be a marvelous Summer standard...though it never turns truely hot or humid in our end of the world. I can huff and puff and try to melt my pipe with the gusto of my cadence - and the stuff just chugs away providing it's steady cocoa-bacco flavor. I don't think others have mentioned...that a light sipping/side-streaming really allows the flavor to bloom. Lovely. Let's see...the price is right (it's bulk), moisture level at delivery is fine, packs and lights very easily...gosh folks, to me it's a major winner! 5 out of 5

Well, Mr. Pipestud above called this one right on target. Holy Toledo this stuff is good! I really, really like McBaren's Burley London Blend but it has just been moved to 2nd place. McCranie's "Old Master" is way, way above anything I ever thought Burley could be!!!

Tiger

This is one great burley blend! Don?t look for complex flavors here but do look forward to a straightforward pleasingly sweet and very flavorful smoke from beginning to end. For you fast puffers, puff away, there is no bite. McCrainie?s claims this is a natural tobacco without added flavorings but I?m not so sure. I found Old Master to be a very flavorful blend. Maybe it's just me but I think it has a modicum of topping so McCrainie?s claim leaves me puzzled. Regardless, this is an all day smoke for sure! If you are like me and have several tobaccos open, you may find yourself reaching for this blend more often than your other open blends. I thought I liked Wilke Nut Brown burley and I do but, and this may be sacrilegious to say, I like Old Master burley more. I actually find Old Master more similar to the fruity topped Country Doctor by HOW, but better as well. I rate this tobacco 9.95 out of 10

this blend was just a throw in a few orders ago from mccranies, it's a bulk blend doesn't look all that great, palish looking burley and lemon colored virginia, which i hate the color of. smell in the baggy was, well, nothing, it didn't have a sweet smell or a hay smell that i get from other burley blends. now maybe you can understand why i didn;t bother trying it for a few months. for whatever the reason i decided to try this last week. i'll keep it short and sweet, this is simply the best burley blend i've tried... looks aside this blend get's A's across the board from packing, lighting, smoke volume you name it. cool smoking, thats not a throw in line, it smokes extremely cool and fresh and has a nice room note. you get that typical nutty burley taste but with the addition of virginia you get an added sweetness thats not found in most burley blends i've tried, thats a big reason on why i like this blend so much. give it a try fellas, it's a can't miss blend.

Simple, flavorful, sweet, smooth burning with great nose, no glop, bite or goo found in the bag, bowl, stem or mouth.

Well worth getting yourself a sample bag and relaxing after lunch with a pleasant and pleasing smoke.