McLelland Replacement

[mso489]

It's like a great restaurant closing. You don't go looking for it somewhere else. You visit other well-regarded restaurants to see which you like best among those available. After a period of mourning, you get with the program.

 

[brooklynpiper]

It's like a great restaurant closing. You don't go looking for it somewhere else. You visit other well-regarded restaurants to see which you like best among those available. After a period of mourning, you get with the program.

This. Replacement isn't the most advantageous mindset for finding something to be happy with. It introduces something to a world of preconceptions and expectations. It's a great way to short sell or miss the identity entirely. Try to enjoy each blend of tobacco for what it is, and that alone.

 

[alexnc]

Aey- just found a hidden tin of McC 24 mature Virginia! Never tried it!

 

[logs]

Sutliff Stoved Black Virginia 507-S is lovely and a bit Dark Star-ish.

 

[krizzose]

I’m glad I have a good bit of my McC varieties put away, and I’ll thoroughly enjoy smoking them. But there are a ton of great Virginias out there, and they should be enjoyed for what they are. For example C&D Bijou (which I’m smoking right now) reminds me a little bit of No. 24, but this 3y/o tin is damned good on its own right and is actually lessened by the comparison. McClelland made some great and unique Vas, but other blenders are currently producing their own great and unique blends.

And if anyone is budgeting cash for cellar purposes against an impending tobaccopocalypse, you’re better off buying 6 or 7 tins of something currently available than 1 tin of McClelland on eBay

 

[stogie37]

Aey- just found a hidden tin of McC 24 mature Virginia! Never tried it!

Always a toss up: this or No.27 as my favorite of the MV range. Both are sublime! Enjoy

 

[jpmcwjr]

But as Hoosier and Sable and others have pointed out, there are plenty of great Va's out there that are just as good, not the same but as good or better available right now.

I suspect there's a bit of Van Gogh Syndrome that surrounds McClelland: Good impressionist Artist when alive but a must-have for your collection after his death..

I missed the boat on the Van Goghs! Like the analogy, though.

 

[logs]

I suspect there's a bit of Van Gogh Syndrome that surrounds McClelland.

True, very true. I'm not sure I fully understand the cult of McClelland. They were talented blenders (except for the never-to-be-suffciently-damned ketchup smell). I liked them fine but was always more of a Dunhill guy than a McClelland guy. But now they're both gone and I'm a GLP guy.

 

[mingc]

They were talented blenders (except for the never-to-be-suffciently-damned ketchup smell).

I have some McC DNF from '85. Amazingly, the vinegar is still there. I enjoy some McC's, especially British Woods, but can never get over the vinegar.

 

[alaskanpiper]

I have some McC DNF from '85. Amazingly, the vinegar is still there. I enjoy some McC's, especially British Woods, but can never get over the vinegar.

I have come to love the tin notes. Mostly because it tells me I'm about to smoke some McC VAs. Pavlov was on to something.

Joking aside I do like the unique aroma, and in my experience so far ketchup is nowhere to be found once the leaf is on fire.

 

[mingc]

Joking aside I do like the unique aroma, and in my experience so far ketchup is nowhere to be found once the leaf is on fire.

It's probably just me, and all in my mind, but I can smell/taste it until say, halfway into the bowl.

I do have one McC blend that doesn't have the smell, the CORPS Full Balkan Reserve, but then again, it's full of PPG. I've an open tin from '09 that I've never bothered to jar as it never dries out.

 

[logs]

I wish I could have learned to love the tin aroma. I had the opposite reaction. Back when I was smoking a lot of Dark Star, I hated having to open a new tin. I hated that my whole room smelled of it while drying out the tobacco. At first I found the vinegar smell merely annoying but after a few months I started to find it completely revolting and it pissed me off that I had to deal with it just to smoke the tobacco. I could never figure out why it was even there. Why would they even want a tin aroma that smelled like that?? Nobody else had it. Every other blender made their tin note smell pretty good. I open a tin of Dunhill or a tin of Mac Baren and it smelled amazing. But if I wanted to smoke McClelland, first I'd have to prepare myself for face full of vinegar. In any event, I have really mixed feelings about McClelland. I'm sorry they're gone and I do miss a few of their blends, but I also remember quite well why they were never my favorite.

 

[mingc]

I remember reading somewhere that the vinegar smell is not from anything added but a product of the process itself. So, I guess if anyone wants to "replace" McC successfully, they'd have to get that smell right!

 

[logs]

if anyone wants to "replace" McC sucessfully, they'd have to get that smell right!

I like to think we've learned our lesson. There's no reason to replicate the least pleasant thing about a McClelland blend. Go for the taste, not the aroma. That's what I say.