Life After McClelland.. Any Suggestions?

[cohibajoe]

I was always overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of tobaccos to choose from. I found McClelland.

Nothing will be McClelland...But this from King Smoking Pipes is close...and the aroma is right.
http://www.kingsmokingpipesandcigars.com/product-page/king-s-frog-morton-pipe-tobacco

 

[balkisobrains]

In general, try some RO Gold. Different flavor profile but has some flavor characteristics & reminds me most of Dark Star/Dark Navy Flake if I were to compare to McClelland VAs. ::

 

[briarbuck]

Add Sutliff Red Virginia Crumble Kake to your list. I think it's solid right now. Looking forward to the future.

 

[donjgiles]

I find Marlin Flake reminds me a bit of McClelland 2015.

 

[sablebrush52]

The rapturous adoration of McClelland is interesting. Before they shut their doors, there wasn't much discussion of their blends on this forum. What little occurred mostly pertained to either the Cheers or the Frogs and the occasional mention of Dark Star. Once their closing became news there was much rending of sack cloth, gnashing of teeth, and flowing of tears. A lot of their stuff sat on shelves for years. The Tawny Flake that I picked up last year was from 2012.

 

[mso489]

Nothing so enhances blends like being unavailable. The memories of their excellent taste profiles soar into the heavens.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The rapturous adoration of McClelland is interesting.

No kidding, people used to give me grief for cellaring ketchup. Now I've got a lifetime supply of it. :rofl:

 

[stevuke79]

Fair enough. Perhaps my title was overly dramatic. I was being cute.
Tbh I started smoking a pipe only a few years ago... McClelland was one of my first, it was great, and I stopped there. Perhaps less because McClelland was great (bc I'm no expert) and more a combination of being both contented and lazy. Lol.

 

[stevuke79]

In any case it may be a good thing. I have a literal butt-load of tobacco en-route to me now, and I'm kind of looking forward to that. I'm sure they won't all be winners but im sure to like most of them.

 

[sunriseboy]

I've got no real skill with leaf appraisal, but you ought to have a crack at Ernie Q's gear. Personally, I can't fault his products. I've just got some Four Nuns and had a crack at it, and it is sublime, imo.
As far as I'm concerned all tobacco blenders could learn a hell of a lot from him. A lot of his stuff puts most blends in the shade. Does great service too.
Besides, he's a funny bugger!

 

[sablebrush52]

For those of you who don't know who Ernie Q is, he's the proprietor of Watch City Cigar Co and the blender of some of the best tasting blends I've smoked. Deluxe Crumb Cut and Watch City Slices are just two of many that are worth trying.

 

[sittingbear]

I've found Sutliff Red Virginia 515 RC-1 is close to McClelland 5100 Red Cake and makes a good mixer also.

+1
I really like Sutliff 507C Virginia Flake. It's closer to Dunhill Flake than McClelland's VAs, but still a top notch VA.
I also really love the natural flavor you find in dark fired tobaccos, such as ODF, Bold Kentucky, and Peterson's Irish Flake (on backorder at the moment). Although they're nothing like McC's, I find I like them for the same reasons I liked McC.
Other high-quality VAs that are very affordable are Stokkebye's Luxury series. Navy Flake, Bullseye Flake, and Twist Flake, all great tobaccos!

 

[chuckyeageronlsd]

The local tobacconist told me he heard a rumor at the pipe expo that sutliff or someone was toying around with buying the rights to MC. Obviously there's no way of actually knowing right now, but one can hope right?

 

[ashdigger]

I heartily recommend Watch City Slices as a KyVaBur.

 

[donjgiles]

I also recommend Watch City blends. The two I enjoy are Old Dominion and Flake 558 for delicious Va/Per and a Va/Per/Bur.
Don

 

[litup]

The power of this forum . . . I had never heard of Watch City until I read JimInks' review of their Simply Red. Then I read the glowing recommendations in this thread. And now I've made my first purchase from them. I am trying the Watch City Slices, Old Dominion, and Flake #558.

 

[xingpao]

Having onky smoked a pipe for a few years, I understand the OP's question. McClelland seemed like sort of the basline for overall quality and now that is gone. Obviously, many blends exceed McClelland, but across the line, they seemed like a good benchmark to me. Seems the SG and GL Pease are bound to take that baseline role now.
Being of limited experience comparatively, I would certainly say start buying some SG with this drop and get yourself a new baseline.

 

[sablebrush52]

The local tobacconist told me he heard a rumor at the pipe expo that sutliff or someone was toying around with buying the rights to MC. Obviously there's no way of actually knowing right now, but one can hope right?

The rights to what, exactly? The McNeils could have sold the business, but chose not to. They didn't trust anyone else to make their blends their way. So I would imagine that they would not be interested in someone buying their recipes. But even if they were, the kind of tobaccos that they used are not being produced in the manner they felt was necessary and Mike McNeil isn't overseeing every step of the processing, which means that the recipes are kind of worthless.
McClelland is gone, gone, gone. And it isn't coming back. They had a great run. Plenty of other great choices in the world.

 

[cigrmaster]

McClelland is gone, gone, gone. And it isn't coming back.

Says you. What if someone was to offer Mike 20 million for just the name? No one needs the recipes as the flippers will buy everything no matter what is in the tin. He can sell the name, go on pipestuds blog and tell the world he has nothing to do with the new company and ride off into the sunset with a cool 20 mill. Just think of the fun we could have with that scenario.

 

[sablebrush52]

What if someone was to offer Mike 20 million for just the name?

I'd go for it. I have a left handed coffee cup that I'd let go of for a mere $20,000,000. My understanding is that they got a couple of very good offers to sell and turned them down flat.