February /08: McClelland Virginia No. 22

Unlike some amongst us, I had resisted the temptation - until 06h00 this morning. I loaded up a bowlful in a pretty Butz. My first impression on opening the tin was (you guessed it) ketchup. And I must confess that I'm starting to turn blase about the Mc tobaccos because just about all their Va's come with tomato sauce. Right now I'm drying the living daylights out of a pound of 2015, until it yields its odour. Somewhere down there was a waft of lemon though. It lit like any other flaked Va - with some persuasion & the bowl settled down about a quarter through. It was good but not remarkable. Better than 2010. I think it needs to dry a little, if that's the way to rid it of its hum. I bought 3 tins, & I don't think it was a mistake. I sense this one gets better with time. It was my first bowl of the day - I normally kick off with something more English. It goes well with coffee.

Just opened the tin. It's pretty damp, but not bad. Rubbed out easily. On smoking it, I haven't gotten a strong impression one way or another, but I'll wait for a more detailed review after a few bowls...

I haven't been able to resist, so I dipped into the can early. Despite my best efforts I have only managed to get through half the can so far. Never the less, it has been an adventure and this VA has revealed several good qualities.

To avoid cross contamination (the legal mumbo jumbo I use to give myself an excuse to buy a new pipe), I have been smoking this in a virgin Stanwell. The first few bowls weren't all that interesting as the Stanwell wasn't ready to allow me to enjoy what I had put in. I am sticking to the same pipe for the duration. A pipe seasoned with just one blend has done me well in the past, so my decision has been easy.

Eventually everything settled down and I was let in on the world of McClelland tobaccos. I have tasted many a VAs in the short time that I have been picking briar over new PC games, but this one had me wondering for a good long while. Almost 5 bowls of this came out boring. It felt like this thick haylike aroma and no detectable sweetness.

Obviously I was not ready to accept this (which is why 100g of a blend will come in quite handy) so I kept truckin'. Nearing the halfway point (in reference to the can) I have picked up a lot more nuances to this blend, including the VA sweetness, a very subtle note of chocolate and even coffee. While I find all these flavors very agreeable, I find they bob in and out with varying degrees of intensity. This might be nice for some, but I find it slightly annoying. Oh well, you can't win them all.

As the moisture level goes down as a result of replacing the lid time after time, the burn improves dramatically. I am not used to tobacco this moist, so it has been a learning experience. The flavors are coming out more clearly as there is less moisture to create steam that probably has been doing a good job of numbing my palate.

My final verdict on this blend will be in, once I have poured the dusty remnants from the bottom of the can into my Stanwell.

can be extreamly difficult to light and if the moisture level is a bit off on the bulk I am not bothered by it. Tinned varities I have also removed enough for a bowl and let it sit, from anywhere from 15 minutes, to one or two hours and sometimes (Darkstar) the entire day while at work.

While I know it is benificial, I am not very consistant about it as it is a pain in the @$$.

Currently I am just staring at a tin I purchased in September 07'. The bottom code has the last two digits of 06, so I know that this tin is at least 1 year old. It would be so nice if all tins were coded in some manner to establish the age.

I must have been very lucky...because I purchaced around the same time that a lot of you did...and do you know what is stamped on the bottom of my tin?...04...that means this stuff has been aging for 4 years...I have had this before...so I knew how I liked it...but the basic idea is that I rub out completely and pack a pipe in the morning...then in the evening when the top is dry so I can light it, but the rest is still moist...I smoke it...and oh what a wonderful smoke it is. Sweet and dry...though it can bite if I rush...always down to a fluffy gray/white ash...mmmm

and like Lars...I am starting a new pipe with this blend...so far it has performed well...a stanwell #53 billiard with a saddle bit...and this one has a tri-band on the stem too...two of silver and one of amber colored acrylic in between...a very handsome pipe with a surprising amount of nice flame grain

Cheers,

Josh

When I noticed that I could see the bottom of the tin, I decided I had better go back and read this thread and see if there is anything I could add to my previous review.

Not a lot. The sweet notes are slightly more pronounced than 15 bowls ago, but I attribute this more to the seasoning of the pipe, rather than my palate. The leaf has remained moist thus far. I have kept it in the tin/can with the plastic lid, and even though I have been dipping into this for over 2 weeks, the moisture level does not seem to have gone down the least.

It will most likely be another week before I finally empty the tin, and I suspect that I will have to leave the last bowl out for drying as well.

Before this one, I have not come across a blend that would require this much work, just to get a decent smoke out of it. Maybe I'm just making a fuss about it (plausible), but I will probably skip most of the McClellands line of tobaccos if this is the rule of thumb. Obviously, I will give some of the highest recommended blends a go and see how they fare.

As far as McClelland Virginia No. 22 goes, I will state the following: It is a nice clean VA smoke with little or no surprises to the pipe smoker. Once dried and rubbed out properly this leaf will burn like a champion. The room note is acceptable to most (all) people and the flavour will not overwhelm the smoker. Subtleties of Chocolate and Coffee can be detected amidst the earthy hay stack which makes up the majority of this stuff. It will do nicely as an all day smoke, but if you want something with a little "pow" to it, there are other and better VAs out there to explore.

I've been giving this a good chance to sing to me the way my first tin did. The first tin was dated 2004 if I remember correctly. I had three tins of #22 in the cellar: 1999, 2004, 2006 vintage. For this sampling I chose the 2004 to keep some continuity from my previous experience.

So far ... Its not as good as I remember. Oh, its a fine VA but I find I'm somewhat annoyed with the cut of the broken flake. I generally like flakes cut about the same thickness as MacBaren Navy Flake because they're easy to rub out (which I almost always do). The extra thick #22 flake doesn't rub out as easilly and also goes out more often than the thinner cut tobacco does. This is a bother. Frankly, its putting me off a little regarding this blend.

Flavor: lucious VA heaven. Can't knock that. At the 4 year old mark there is not much ketchup in this tin. Also the moisture content is not overly moist at all. About what I'd call perfect from a tin - not so wet that I can't smoke it right away and not so dry that I can't dry it out if I so desire.

I think one of the main reasons I'm not so overwhelmed with this tobac this time around is that I've found McClelland 5100 and that stuff just wows me every time. Perhaps the comparrisson is the problem. Anyway ... I'm glad I have more tins on the shelf and have no intention of opening them until they hit the 10 year old mark. Will I buy more #22 in the interm? No, I don't think so. Its that darn thickness. I'll surely finish off this tin with relish, but no I don't need to stockpile it.

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Addendum ... oh damn, that 1999 tin is nearly 10 years old now ... maybe I'll hold out for 15-20 years on that one ... heh, heh, heh ... and then sell it on ebay for a mint! Nah. I'll smoke it for sure, but I am serious about letting it age for a good long time more than it already has.