McClelland Red and Black

Large broken flakes with the red and the black (stoved) separate but intertwined. Interesting concept of allowing the smoker to blend the components to their liking. Tin nose was subdued and I was a bit disappointed at the lack of that beautiful McClellands fermented Virginia aroma. But there are other blends that take care of that need.

I first smoked a bowl of the red, then a bowl of the black. The fallback position is that the red is a flake version of 5100, but it isn't... at least it doesn't taste much like it. It's less sweet and more rich and overall tastier than 5100. The black looks a lot like Dark Star and indeed is about as pliable (not much) but doesn't really taste like DS. In this tin it's more subdued, less overtly tangy and more balanced. Perhaps what has happened is that each flake has taken on some of the characteristics of the other while simmering in the tin. That would make sense, I suppose.

Burned together, this was a mildly spicy, rich tasting, mellow Virginia blend, with no emphasis on the usual Virginia descriptors. It's sweet but not citrusy, with a wonderfully light coffee essence lurking way to the rear. It's not overly grassy - too much personality. There was even some sweet nut flavors. My only problem with this is that it took over half of each bowlful to find the zone that I'm used to with Virginia flakes. In the first 60% or so, it danced around that zone, would land on it for a moment or two and then dance away. Finally it locked in and when it did it was everything I wanted in a Virginia tobacco. Very tasty, very compliant, not overdoing anything but covering every base. I smoked this in smaller pipes (Group 5) to see if it did this consistently (it did) and I preferred it in larger pipes. The last 40% or so continued to improve down the bowl with the flavors becoming slightly more apparent as I progressed. That smacks of high quality Virginia to me. Just to pick one of my favorite McClelland Virginias broken flakes for comparison, Boston 1776 locks in almost immediately and goes from sublimely excellent to near-perfect by the time the bowl is over. Red and Black is a bit lazier, preferring to play around for awhile. 3.5 stars for this one, but not a 4 star blend in my book. However, I plan to buy more and experiment further. This is still an excellent blend and the one issue I had with it may be more me than tobacco.

The flakes are somewhat broken and of mostly leathery consistency. The stoved Virginia is almost black and the red Virginia is fairly dark as well, but the tobacco can be told apart easily enough. The Red smells like vinegar. The Black smells like dried fruits.

This is a review of the two types of flakes smoked together 50/50.

This is a mild, sweet and somewhat spicy tobacco. It burns fine with a little care and is very gentle. There is a soapy/musty character to this as the bowl progresses that I did not find pleasant but is unobtrusive enough not to mar the experience for me. Still, it was enough for me to think something was not quite right with this tobacco for me. I also thought the room note was somewhat cigarette like.

Really, somewhere between a 2 and 3 stars, but points to McC for thinking outside the square with this one.

Beautiful tin note, sweet and intensely acetic, tell-tale McClelland’s with both red and stoved Virginias making their presence felt to the nose. Flakes are broken. The blacks are thicker and less pliable than the reds. They need some drying time and some effort to rub out.

Once mixed the Red and Black produce a very civilized Virginia of medium strength with rather light nicotine content and medium body, very smooth but somewhat lacking in taste and I also sense a slight metallic flavor which I do not very much appreciate. Somehow for me it’s like the smoke lacks a backbone, a fuller, sweeter base upon which it could shine. Also in the beginning I can sense the acetic flavor much more than in any other McClelland blend.

Smoked on their own, I find the Black to be more satisfying. Extremely smooth, considerably sweet and quintessentially McClelland, it also has a higher nicotine content to make it more appealing than the Red. The Red on its own is juicier but nowehere near as flavorful as 5100 let’s say. Now, one can play with differing proportions but one tin was not enough for me to experiment sufficiently.

While the concept and presentation is very enticing, I cannot say that I enjoyed Red & Black as much as I thought I would. It’s a glossy tobacco but I feel it is overprocessed and the edges which have thereby been trimmed take away much of the naturalness and some of the complexity and flavor. I have no idea how it will age, nor will I find out…