McC 5100 Red Cake

[planetary]

It's a common recommendation, but I'd first point 5100 fans toward McCrainie's Red Ribbon, even before selected vintages of CC. It's way more expensive ($112/pound), but red VA lovers should give RR a try at least once. For a treat, don't pop the tin until it's got 2 years of age on it!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

+1Planetary, except for the two years part. The current selection of Red Ribbon is from 2008, so you can pop a tin as soon as it arrives. It will be 7 years old.

I think of RR as the fine wine of pipe tobaccos. Red Cake is in there too. There are also a ton of single crop Virginias in the McClelland arsenal also. Red Cake is just the bulk batch.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I bought a Red Cake from Rich's Cigar store in Portland, OR and asked the guy if it was McClellands 5100 Red Cake. He assured me that it was their own blend. Well from what I can see and taste it appears to be the same thing. Oh well, so I paid a few extra bucks for it but its all good. I need to buy more 5100 so I can make a real comparison other than just trying to remember. Its darn good stuff though.

 

[planetary]

cosmicfolklore - In my experience, there's a difference between tobacco stock aging in bales sitting in warehouses, and what happens in the tin. This effect is accentuated in mixtures of different families of leaf, because in addition to aging, you get what I've heard referred to as "melding" in the tin, as flavors from those different leaf types marry in complex ways. But what we're talking about here is a single-leaf tobacco offering, so the melding effect is likely far less pronounced.
I've not done a direct vertical taste test on tinned RR with a couple/few years of age on it, vs. freshly tinned RR, both from the same vintage. ...But I would expect a bit of a difference, given the anaerobic reactions which occur in the tin after a time. But I've not verified this, it's just an expectation on my part. Sounds like an interesting experiment!

 

[seadogontheland]

1/2 perique?
Hell....100% perique!!
Freaking Iron constitution...titanium...adamantium!!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Hmm, I assumed it was all produced and tinned in 2008, since that's the date on this production run. 2000, 1996, and 1983 were the other production runs. I am curious now, especially since they have gone up in price slightly every year the 2008 has been sold. I've bought and set back 20 tons in 5 at a time increments these last couple of years. I will send them an email. I'd like to know whether I should have been labeling them by the date received, instead of relying on the date on the package.
I too have detected slight differences, but seeing how I have openned them at different times, I assumed it was because of differences in age.
With as little as a run would sell to our microcosm of the pipe hobby, tinning a single crop at different times doesn't seem economical. But, that's just my guess.

 

[newbroom]

and what do you get? 5 less tons and deeper in debt.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Ummm, I meant tins not tons,, ha ha. However, my girlfriend seems to think its way over a ton, ha ha.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My reply from McCrannies on this
I was wrong, but in checking the dates on all of my tins, they were all from 2010. So, I stand corrected, but I'm still happy with my new but old tins.
Thanks for inspiring me to send that email. I love this forum.