I'm sure most of you are familiar with McCranie's, it's a Charlotte, North Carolina institution and for a long time carried some fantastic blends made just for the shop by McClelland. Most famous of which was Red Ribbon. They also made many of their in-house bulk blends and, like everyone else, struggled to find replacements when the whale went away.
Recently the third generation of the McCranie family, Matthew, has taken up the helm of creating a series of exclusive blends for the shop. Over the past year they've been coming out sporadically. McCranie's is my hometown shop and I was excited to try these, so far I've been lucky enough to try two: Churchill Downs a Kentucky, Virginia, Burley blend and Mount Mitchell a straight Virginia blend using Red, Orange and Gold rare Virginias.
All of these are sold in mason jars with special colored one piece lids. For reference I switch the lids with two piece Ball jar tops for storage.
I've smoked a good deal of Churchill Downs and I really like it despite not being an especially big DFK/Kentucky fan. It's a very savory smoke that reminds me of rich vinegar/ketchup/barbecue. It's got that Kentucky "pepper" thing going on but it's not in your face and settles down a bit past the first third of the bowl. It came a little dry in the jar, I think this was one of the first sold, and while it may be a bit drier than some would like it's about perfect for me right out of the jar. For comparison I typically dry most blends about 30 minutes but Churchill Downs I just load up.
I'm trying Mount Mitchell, the straight Virginia blend, for the first time as I write this post. My straight Virginia palate is rusty but I do get kind of the savory feel I expect from Churchill Downs with some sweetness as well. Especially as the bowl has gone along. It's a really nice blend of salty, tangy and sweet that I don't usually find in a straight Virginia. It's very good and I think I'll be dipping into this as much as I have Churchill. It didn't come especially dry and as such I dried this about 25 minutes.
There's currently two more blends that have been released: Catawba River which is described as a "Lakeland style aromatic" with notes of honey and berries. It's comprised of Cavendish, Burley and a bit of Perique. And most recently released is a Virginia Perique called Roanoke. I was lucky enough to grab some Roanoke and will be trying it soon, I'll update the thread with my initial thoughts when I do. I haven't been so lucky with Catawba but I'm a big time Lakeland fan so I'm really on the lookout for that one.
All in all I've been really impressed with these blends so far. Matthew's a young guy and as far as I know this is his first real foray into doing his own commercial blends but he's knocking it out of the park. They sell these on their online store but I've only ever seen them and bought them in the shop. From experience they're not readily available and have been hard to come by even for a local. I'm not surpised, they're handmade and from what I can gather use hard to source leaf.
Have any of you fellas had a chance to try them yet?
Recently the third generation of the McCranie family, Matthew, has taken up the helm of creating a series of exclusive blends for the shop. Over the past year they've been coming out sporadically. McCranie's is my hometown shop and I was excited to try these, so far I've been lucky enough to try two: Churchill Downs a Kentucky, Virginia, Burley blend and Mount Mitchell a straight Virginia blend using Red, Orange and Gold rare Virginias.
All of these are sold in mason jars with special colored one piece lids. For reference I switch the lids with two piece Ball jar tops for storage.
I've smoked a good deal of Churchill Downs and I really like it despite not being an especially big DFK/Kentucky fan. It's a very savory smoke that reminds me of rich vinegar/ketchup/barbecue. It's got that Kentucky "pepper" thing going on but it's not in your face and settles down a bit past the first third of the bowl. It came a little dry in the jar, I think this was one of the first sold, and while it may be a bit drier than some would like it's about perfect for me right out of the jar. For comparison I typically dry most blends about 30 minutes but Churchill Downs I just load up.
I'm trying Mount Mitchell, the straight Virginia blend, for the first time as I write this post. My straight Virginia palate is rusty but I do get kind of the savory feel I expect from Churchill Downs with some sweetness as well. Especially as the bowl has gone along. It's a really nice blend of salty, tangy and sweet that I don't usually find in a straight Virginia. It's very good and I think I'll be dipping into this as much as I have Churchill. It didn't come especially dry and as such I dried this about 25 minutes.
There's currently two more blends that have been released: Catawba River which is described as a "Lakeland style aromatic" with notes of honey and berries. It's comprised of Cavendish, Burley and a bit of Perique. And most recently released is a Virginia Perique called Roanoke. I was lucky enough to grab some Roanoke and will be trying it soon, I'll update the thread with my initial thoughts when I do. I haven't been so lucky with Catawba but I'm a big time Lakeland fan so I'm really on the lookout for that one.
All in all I've been really impressed with these blends so far. Matthew's a young guy and as far as I know this is his first real foray into doing his own commercial blends but he's knocking it out of the park. They sell these on their online store but I've only ever seen them and bought them in the shop. From experience they're not readily available and have been hard to come by even for a local. I'm not surpised, they're handmade and from what I can gather use hard to source leaf.
Have any of you fellas had a chance to try them yet?
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