McClelland 5100 Officially Discontinued

jabomano · Jan 4, 2018

It's official. Mike McNeil, the mastermind behind McClelland Tobacco, told Smokingpipes.com that they will no longer be producing 5100 Red Cake. He didn't elaborate on the particular ingredient that is no longer available but that component is the reason they're shutting production down. I spoke to the sales staff of Smokingpipes.com about 1 hour ago and they verified this for me.
Doggone it!
Ray

philobeddoe · Jan 4, 2018

Fuuudddddggggge!

georged · Jan 4, 2018

It's a quality of leaf issue. Mike's standards are sky high, and he refuses to sell a product he's not satisfied with.
(Info source: Mike himself. He's in the KC club and I see him regularly.)

cosmicfolklore · Jan 4, 2018

I would rather them have just come up with a new Loose cut Virginia and sold it as 5100 than to have killed their only bulk. Maybe they know something we don't about the FDA laws, and they will release something similar to replace it.

We can only hope. It will be missed, but there are other companies...

brightleaf · Jan 4, 2018

We got word that it wouldn't be available for the near term due to quality standards, does anyone know for how long it will be discontinued?

jabomano · Jan 4, 2018

The way it was presented to me production is over for good.

jabomano · Jan 4, 2018

The way it was presented to me production is over for good.

saltedplug · Jan 4, 2018

MC has 122 blends on smokingpipes, so it's hardly the case that losing 5100 and CC is a big financial loss. But can you imagine the revenue loss for 5100 that probably sold in 1000s of pounds a year? And although CC was probably a much smaller source of revenue, they always sold out, eventually, so also a solid money maker.
I read somewhere that the red VA of the quality of the 40th used to be readily available but that now that is hardly the case. But if growing such used to be profitable, why is it that no longer the case? Could it be that deeming bears down on what can be sold and that some other pressure makes tobacco not profitable for the grower? Could also be soil depletion and that it is getting a long needed rest. Could be that agribusiness has bought the farmers out and that the land is now producing something else.
Don't know, but the hand of the antis is powerful and strong.

jabomano · Jan 4, 2018

I think it's going to be a bit of a pinch in the pocketbook. Smokingpipes told me today that 5100 is the biggest selling bulk blend ever. I don't know if they meant just for them or nationwide.

brightleaf · Jan 4, 2018

5100 is used as a component in many blends made at B&Ms. It is more of a loss in that respect than as something to smoke by the average consumer.

renfield · Jan 4, 2018

I’ve got plenty stashed away but it’s still a bummer that my desert island blend is going away.
Parting is such sweet sorrow.

sablebrush52 · Jan 4, 2018

I read somewhere that the red VA of the quality of the 40th used to be readily available but that now that is hardly the case. But if growing such used to be profitable, why is it that no longer the case?

From what I've read and been told, growers are getting squeezed as consolidation in the tobacco product manufacturing marketplace has left them with fewer options for selling their crops.

cosmicfolklore · Jan 4, 2018

Yeh, along with 1Q, 5100 is a big bulk blend for a lot of B&M's. And, there really isn't another bulk Virginia like it, especially for those of us who prefer the ribbon cut over those chunky flakes McC makes.
I like their flakes, but just not as much as I do a good ribbon cut. So, if I have to, :::sigh::: I'll just rub out a few pounds of their flakes.

woodsroad · Jan 4, 2018

I think that Jesse is on the right path here. Most tobacco is grown under contract. That is, the tobacco is sold (or owned outright) before it is planted. I know that there is still an open market for Dark Fired, but even there, much of the crop is contracted.
I hate supposition, but perhaps 5100 leaf was a byproduct of the cigarette or small cigar industry, and something changed.
Only Mike can answer these questions.

cosmicfolklore · Jan 4, 2018

I really wish we could get the story directly from McClelland. Maybe we can get PipeMagazine's reporters over there to scoop this story.

saltedplug · Jan 4, 2018

First news chowhound I've seen clenching a pipe. I like it!

metalheadycigarguy · Jan 4, 2018

Well that officially stinks. It's one of my favorite tobacco's.

gnarlybriar · Jan 4, 2018

Gentlemen

This has to do with the state of the tobacco industry, the way that leaf is being grown and harvested, the ability to obtain particular leaf, and quality of leaf. Leaf is no longer pulled as individual leaves ripen. The entire plant is mechanically taken, ready leaves and not ready. It is then "cured" Unlike the flue curing that produced the great virginia we've been blessed with for the past 40 years (in McClellands case). If there were small farmers producing the way Mike wants he isn't finding it. Therefore, the integrity that is the reputation of McClelland won't allow them to produce this blend.

Similar and other circumstances have impacted our tobacco world - Rattray's (McConnell), Sobranie - these houses stop for various reasons and acquiring leaf and cured leaf is one of them.

Unfortunately these reasons will impact other blends, many customers, retailers and the trickle down to many people.

We've been blessed with the finest leaf and blending by McClelland tobacco. Thank you McClelland.

philobeddoe · Jan 4, 2018

By that logic, McClellands will be closing their doors entirely soon. If the industry cannot sustain the leaf for 5100, how can they possibly sustain the leaf for the higher end flakes? :crying:

cosmicfolklore · Jan 4, 2018

Gnarleybriar, you've posted this almost exactly before on another thread about another tobacco. Virginias have pretty much always been harvest all at once and then flue-cured. Yes, cigar leaf and a few others are hand picked, but Virginias have to be processed so extensively that it just wouldn't be practical or necessary to hand pick. You'd have to run a flue all season, and I have never heard of that happening. I've grown up watching them do this on my family's tobacco farm, and what you're saying just doesn't make any sense. You can also check up on this in any tobacco grower's book. Respectfully, I think you're confusing tobacco types.

Unless you are talking about techniques from more than 50 years ago, but then... what would that have to do with anything?

McClelland 5100 Officially Discontinued

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