Yenidje:What Is It & What Does It Taste Like?

[fitzy]

McClelland blends smell so icky

I think it smells amazing and makes me start to drool.
Yenidje Highlander that Duane mentioned is one of my favorites. I think it has sort of a sweet/sour taste. IMO The amount of latakia in it is really negligible so don't let that turn you off on an amazing blend.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Words don't do either of the McC blends justice... in fact , they are downright deceitful. They both taste like badass from the first light, and then they get even better from there, tasting like a kaleidoscope of ever revolving favors that range from awesome to kick ass. If I had to find exact words, I would say that they both taste like dreams of flying monkeys, but the Highlander has a more smokey pagoda flavor to it.
Writing about the flavors of tobacco is a lot like dancing to architecture.

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

How come Pease and C&D blends smell so sublime.

It's the mold spores. :twisted:

 

[fitzy]

It's the mold spores. :twisted:

That's a knock out punch to the nads. :|

 

[mawnansmiff]

Well to be honest, the Tudor Castle did pick up come mid bowl but I think experimenting with different pipes might improve matters overall. I have to say the yenidje passed me by
Now the Beacon (I appreciate not a blend containing Yenidje leaf) I tried was much nicer, in fact it was extremely nice though still stinking of ketchup in the tin. That was a cracking smoke from start to finish which bodes well for the Beacon Extra which I shall smoke in the morning.
So why the ketchup in McClelland's blends? Is it some kind of anti fungal treatment perchance? I have read about an American blender who is allegedly known for having some mouldy tobacco products returned to them but I cannot recall who it was. Perhaps this is a safeguard against such?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

So why the ketchup in McClelland's blends?

In my own experience in growing and preparing my Virginias, as I push off the ammonia from the leaf, it gets a natural vinegary smell.

McClellands claims that the smell in their product is all natural as well, from the aging process.

I get that smell from several other bl;ends not made by McClellands, so...
Why does it not exist in all Virginias? I think that commercially, some blends have to add a casing to give their product a consistent flavor, year after year, crop after crop. plus, each company has to do what they have to do to make the Virginias palatable.
To me, it's not a top quality Virginia unless I get a faint whiff of that vinegary smell in the tin. Sure, there are some good smokes that don't have it, but the aroma sets a blend apart in a higher quality for me when it does.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"McClellands claims that the smell in their product is all natural as well, from the aging process."
Well Michael, I have to say I have never smelled that particular 'aroma' in any other manufacturer's blends of any type. Sam Gawith's FVF is supposedly all natural but smells nothing like ketchup to me.
It was interesting to hear however that you got it in your own home grown leaf which makes me wonder if most blenders somehow 'cleanse' their leaf of any offending smells during processing and McClelland choose not to?
Also, the two Beacon blends both being VaPers didn't have that lovely Perique aroma, just more ketchup :roll:
Regards,
Jay.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Most manufacturers rush the process, and case their products to provide consistency between differences in crops year to year. I have seen the list of chemicals used by Samuel Gawith as submitted for government reasons, and they do heavily case their products as well. Woods had posted the list. Most European producers all put things that are surprising. Almost all used licorice, but probably in such small quantities... Plus, they don't age their Virginias the same way McClelland does. But, I have smelled that smell in other company's Virginias from time to time.
Offending or not, it is the smell of quality, and to me, it means the smoke is going to taste very naturally sweet.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

But, regardless, there are always going to be some who prefer blends without that taste. I am not going to talk someone into liking something that I hope never sells out. So, if you don't like it, more for me. ::

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Offending or not, it is the smell of quality, and to me, it means the smoke is going to taste very naturally sweet."
I don't for one minute doubt the quality of the tobacco used, both Beacon blends tasted perfectly good to me and the Tudor Castle, though not so much (only one bowl thus far) I reckon holds promise.
In none of the three blends did I taste the 'ketchup' which is precisely what I was told to expect.
Onwards and upwards ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[fitzy]

I'm with Cosmic on this one. Ketchup smell = Quality.
Have you tried any other McC blends yet?

 

[mawnansmiff]

Well, two months have passed and I am again trying out my Tudor Castle. This time in a newish pipe (Blakemar bent bulldog) and having dried it a little more than in my first trial.
I have to say it really is rather nice, especially when gently sipped. Pleasantly sweet with a slightly floral (NOT in the Lakeland sense) taste that could well be the Yenidje coming through. I believe I read a review where someone picked up honeysuckle and that is pretty much what I am tasting...very nice!
I decanted from the can enough for about four or five smokes and after filling the pipe I am now smoking shall be leaving the rest to air a little longer afore trying another bowl tonight ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[lightmybriar]

I loved Beacon Extra immediately, but Tudor Castle took me a few months. I still get a bit of a soft cinnamon taste from it. It's a shame McClelland isn't readily available on your side of the pond.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"It's a shame McClelland isn't readily available on your side of the pond."
Hi, it's a shame many American blends are not readily available over here. Those that I have had the pleasure of sampling were due to the kindness of forum member Andrew (aka Drennan) selling me the few tins that I have.
I suspect there are many blends that myself and fellow Brits would love to try and likely buy on a regular basis, however p+p costs make this nigh impossible.
What I do find particularly galling (and I don't blame the American smoker for this) is that many Brit blends, particularly Samuel Gawith and Gawith & Hoggarth blends are actually cheaper in the States than they are here :crazy:
Bloody madness and all down to our punitive tax system.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[jpmcwjr]

True enough, Jay, but Canada is right with you on that, and we Yanks are rapidly catching up in what the taxman, yea-ah, the taxman, confiscates. Damn!

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

I have opened made by Charles Rattray in Perth pop top tins and got the same aroma as I do from McClelland. Also some of the pre Murray's Dunhill blends. Cosmic has it right IMO.

 

[jefff]

I recently opened a 10 year old tin of GLP Fillmore .... it smelled like an McC blend.