Red Cake is not Red Ribbon - A Message from the Horses Mouth

I was right and wrong a couple of other threads concerning McCrannies Red Ribbon. So, I sent them an email this morning. I was going to call, as that is how I usually order RR tins, but I wanted to be able to share my reply with you guys.
My email to them

Good morning,

I have a couple of question about the wonderful Red Ribbon 2008. To start, I just want you to know that I sing it's praises. But, after a conversation on the pipesmagazine forums, I wanted to clarify a few rumors. Are all of the 2008 Red Ribbon tinned at the same time, or different times? Meaning, should I be marking dates on the tin when they arrive to tell the difference in age?

And, is this Virginia the same as McClelland's 5100 Red Cake. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Again kudos on this wonderful blend.

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Their reply

Michael,
Good questions. Glad you enjoy Red Ribbon. Depending on the size of the crop and other factors, there may be more than one tinning. However, the date of that tinning is on the bottom of the can already.
Your next question gets to the heart of what makes Red Ribbon unique. Tobacco is influenced by the location, soil, climate, and conditions. Each year produces different characteristics in tobacco. Therefore, McClelland 5100 is a constant blend of several years to keep it consistent year-in year-out. It is a straight Virginia but one that is a mixture of crops over time. Red Ribbon is from a single crop. The result is a deep natural Virginia sweetness that no blend of crops can achieve. Similar to single-malt versus blended Scotch.
Let us know if this raises any other questions.

Thanks

Todd

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Now what does this mean? As a budding tobacco snob, I have been exploring single crop Virginias as of late. Oh, don't misinterpret this. I still like to smoke the other blended stuff also. But, to some of us, the difference is that tobacco companies will usually blend and case tobaccos to give customers a consistent taste over the years, even though (as some of us that grew up growing tobacco know) that from year to year tobacco will vary in taste given environmental conditions. You know how some of us old farts will complain that Escudo just doesn't taste the same as we remember? Well, this is just going to happen on tobaccos with less casings or toppings added. To keep this from happening, companies will add a consistent casing to flavor a blend lightly or have a tobacconist who will blend different crops to do their best to keep flavor consistent over the years. This makes products like FVF, Escudo, Red Cake, etc, no matter how much we want to believe differently, a blended tobacco, as in how cheap wines will blend different grapes and add flavors to keep a product consistent.
Whereas, there are also people who enjoy tasting these minute differences that occur over the years. Connoisseurs, so to speak. Now, don't go thinking I'm a snooty frooty smoke with my pinky out kind of guy. I just happen to enjoy this small faction of the tobacco market. I try my best not to judge others, even if I do tongue in cheek jest a bit about these other Boone's Farm blends, ha ha.
But, McCrannies buys a whole single crop from time to time and tins them in batches. I had originally thought they were all tinned at once, but apparently I wrong about that. At least the tins are dated. I checked my stock, and all twenty of mine were tinned in 2010, so at least mine were all from the same year.
McClellend has a few club and special production runs of single crops also. I don't think any of the other tobacco companies do this. But, usually you can tell a pure, non cased tobacco by its distinctive vinegary ketchup smell, which is the natural smell of microbes doing their magic. My own small homegrown crop of Virginias from last year already has this natural vinegar smell.
While it is just this one company doing this, I do wish more tobacco companies would at least run a small production of these single crop runs for us that enjoy this sort of thing. I do enjoy other blended flakes, but it would be nice to try single crop from other countries. It is interesting and delicious to me to try different single crop Virginias and aged to different years. If I am mistaken and there are other single crop products out there. please list them here.
Anyways, I just wanted to share this with you guys, and maybe you too will want to try a pure leaf single crop also. Just be sure to break out the fine pipes, ha ha. ::

No, It is like Christmas Cheer. Just not exactly like it, ha ha. Different crop, but the same exact concept, a single crop.

Absolutely MSO. I think that demands or expectations of smokers over the years has also been a reason for heavy casings and toppings. Sure, there is a vast majority of the market that likes these things (aros), and some casing really helps the burn of most tobaccos, but when they get heavy in flavorings, it disguises the nuances of the original leaf, but even a little helps disguise the nuances of differences in flavor of the natural leaf.
I think that Virginias are used mostly for these single crop productions, because they can survive well on their own in flavor, because they are a naturally aromatic plant. Whereas Orientals and such need some other leaf to balance out the flavor.

I'm not certain that Mr. Todd McCrannie...

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OK dammit, if another one of my threads gets closed because someone has an issue with a single word in my post, I'm going to... smoke another bowl, ha ha. So, don't go there. ::

Ok, I will do my best to compile a list of what I understand are collector products.
Blakeneys is a process of curing that McC has a whole series of. As I understand it, Tawneys Flake in the series is a single crop. But, the process is marketed more than the crop.
I was also told that Club Rich Virginia Ribbon is a limited run crop. I have no confirmation of this. But, of their natural Virginia products, they will differ from year to year, even if blended or flake. Check out their club blends. Awesome stuff.
But, yes, I wish all of the tobacco companies would do this, and market them by where and when the crop occurred, like wines. Although, I may be missing it if some other companies are doing this.
You used to be able to go to an auction and buy a skid of Virginias, but laws have removed this from the ag market. Now, you have to grow your own.

Like with wines, it is a delicate flavor. The difference isn't going whop you in the head as being repulsive or fantastic, it's "for me" a matter of looking for subtle nuances in the natural sweetness, almost a very very light cologne aroma that rides behind the other flavors. These are the things I look for. Some have it, and some are harder to pull from the other flavors.

For me, a non-drinker of any alcoholic beverages, I imagine it would be hard for me to distinguish between a $100 bottle of wine and a four dollar bottle. So, all of them would probably taste the same to me. But, it is a learned or developed taste. And, the first bowl isn't going to wow you. You'll most likely need to spend some time with a whole tin, going slow, savoring, to pull the flavors out. But, this is what I love about them.

Pitchfork, I would assume that if they were presenting a single crop Virginia as just that, why case it? But, what do I know? While we're on a role, lets send another email, ha ha!!

Yeh, me too. I was 98% certain that they weren't the same, but I've been caught unawares before. And, even the slightest hint that I might have been paying 75% more for freakin' Red Cake in a tin, I was aghast. Even though I love Red cake, I already have 20#s of the stuff in jars, ha ha to buy more just to have it in tins sent sparks up my spine. And, to see all of the marketing saying that it was a special single crop product, if they'd been lying, I would have, would have, ...well, smoked another bowl, ha ha!! ::