I have got my mail call today, some stuff I ordered from "the dude" I know, before Christmas, and finally having it here I couldn't resist the temptation to open the McClelland after a bit of mental debate. I had a pretty rough day today, especially for a first day at the office after the break, so I wasn't much in the mood for anything when I god home. I open the can finally, not before inspecting it; when I notice the stamp on the bottom reading "220715". So I am thinking "Great, if that's the packaging date this has some age to it, so my day is about to get better". Well ... I open the can, and it pops with a loud noise, and I stick my nose in it ... it smells like ... ketchup, some vinegar, perhaps a wiff of something in between clove and ginger. Not very encouraging, but non the less I am determined to get past the first impression - although from past experience if it smells nasty, it tastes nasty. I pick up a a couple jerky looking flakes, rub them on my pipe plate, and fill a bowl. It takes a bit to light, but finally I have a full draw, and it's simply amazing. All the repulsion dissipated, as I was puffing smoke after smoke. I used a Denicote pipe for this, with a 9 mm carbon filter, and I puffed at it for a bit over an hour. Very pleasant smoke - throughout the first half of the smoke it keeps its taste constant: smooth, slow burning, virginia with a unique sweetness to it. The taste reminds me of exactly one thing, yesterday's cut moist grass that has been sitting in the sun for a warm early summer morning. I did not leave it out to dry, since it didn't feel overly moist. As a term of comparison, as far as moisture goes in flake my last experience was Samuel Gawith Navy Flake, which felt considerably wetter. It took me only two relights, which is ok in my flake book. Shortly within the second half of the bowl, this blend kindly reminded me to slow down - the pipe got a tad warm and it was threatening to bite. After I turned off the locomotive I was rewarded with a slightly more intense taste, still grassy like, but resembling a lightly sweet dark chocolate. I was quite impressed by this smoke, and I need to take my hat of in front of this great American blender. I will refrain from a x/5 star rating, as I need to experiment more with this. It will surely be held in high esteem by my standards, but I am not sure what to rate it just now.
