McClelland - 25th Anniversarry 2002

[IHT]

McClelland 25th Anniversarry 2002 - this tin had the red wax (original release - only 3000 made like that) and paper wrapper. the date on the bottom was '01.
alright, finally had this tin opened at the KC herf this past weekend. both Cigar_Joel and OogOog had a bowl at the herf. i had one today on my way back to work after lunch.

it's a VA with some Latakia added to spice it up a bit.

not a fan of McCs flakes for the most part, maybe i need to rub them all out as soon as i open the tins (they dry up too fast and get too hard to rub out)? lucky for me, this one is ribbon cut, very nicely done, not too thick, not too thin. dark tobacco with a few strands of brown.

packs very well, lit very easily, smoked terrific.

the flavor, believe it or not, i equated to a not as smooth, and not as heavy in latakia like Balkan Sobranie. yes, that high of praise from me. it's mostly a VA, the latakia is an accent, as it's not super heavy like da vinci or old ironsides, or penzance, or squadron leader... it's very smooth, and i'm sure if it aged another 10 years, it may come close to the smoothness of the few bowls of Sobranie that i've sampled.
there was no tongue bite, no harshness... it was GOOD.

when i won all these tins, i was asking myself "why the hell are you doing this, you are becoming a Va/Per whore? these will waste away in the closet."
i think i was wrong on my thoughts, but right on buying so many tins of these (and then not giving them all away - yet).

so, i do like latakia, not as much as i thought i did, but this amount of it, and the way it's delivered as a complimentary spice, in a such a smooth manner, this is how i want to smoke latakia in blends (or if i had an endless supply of balkan sobranie).

if i were to give it a rating from 1-10... uh... a solid 8 to 8.5. i may boost its stats higher a little later after it has time to dry.

[kheffelf]

Thanks for the review, I have my two tins but I think I will sit on them for a little longer, but I also have this voice in my head that says open it up and try it to see if the other needs to be aged any longer.

[kjd2121]

Very nice review - Enjoy -

[gvarsity]

Thanks for the review.

[ShawnP]

Great review Greg, it helped me out a lot with my decision to try this blend. Most know I think Squadron Leader has WAY TO MUCH Latakia in it for my liking and I thought this would be the same.

You changed my mind and I will now order a tin to try.


Thank you Greg


Shawn

[IHT]

shawn, yep, it's not as heavy in the Latakia dept as squadron leader and a lot of the other fav's that ppl have in the latakia blend list. i'll review it more when i get to PA, as i shipped my open tin up there with out equipment . i'm really glad i opened it, and bought so many tins, it's good stuff. you can still taste the VAs instead of an all out onslaught of latakia.

[ShawnP]

Originally Posted by IHT

shawn, yep, it's not as heavy in the Latakia dept as squadron leader and a lot of the other fav's that ppl have in the latakia blend list. i'll review it more when i get to PA, as i shipped my open tin up there with out equipment . i'm really glad i opened it, and bought so many tins, it's good stuff. you can still taste the VAs instead of an all out onslaught of latakia.

That is just what I wanted to hear, I am looking forward to ordering a tin. How many tins did you buy? LMAO

Green wax is the newer blend correct?


Shawn

[IHT]

Originally Posted by ShawnP

That is just what I wanted to hear, I am looking forward to ordering a tin. How many tins did you buy? LMAO

Green wax is the newer blend correct?


Shawn

i bought 8, all original release with the red wax. have given 2 away (1 in the contest, 1 as long overdue repayment to mr.c for the tampers) and sold another to pistol. that leaves me with five, four of which are still cellared.

new blend is the green wax. never had that, but i've seen it at my local B&M.

[ShawnP]

Originally Posted by IHT

i bought 8, all original release with the red wax. have given 2 away (1 in the contest, 1 as long overdue repayment to mr.c for the tampers) and sold another to pistol. that leaves me with five, four of which are still cellared.

new blend is the green wax. never had that, but i've seen it at my local B&M.

8 Tins, well at least you do things the right way


I wonder how different if at all the Green is from the Red. When I order a tin or 2 of the Green I will be sure to send ya some to compare.

Shawn

Originally Posted by ShawnP

8 Tins, well at least you do things the right way


I wonder how different if at all the Green is from the Red. When I order a tin or 2 of the Green I will be sure to send ya some to compare.

Shawn

Green should be the same as the red, just younger by two years. I've only had the green waxed one and i have found it to be an outstanding virginia highlighted by the latakia. I would have a real hard time calling this an english in any terms, so get ya some before its too late as the production of the 25anny blend is now over. But some good news, if you have been to http://www.pipeshowonline.com/McClelland.aspx latey seems like we are in for a run of a new 30th anny this year. I'm thinking it should be debuted at the Chicago pipe show.

[ShawnP]

Originally Posted by Root

Green should be the same as the red, just younger by two years. I've only had the green waxed one and i have found it to be an outstanding virginia highlighted by the latakia. I would have a real hard time calling this an english in any terms, so get ya some before its too late as the production of the 25anny blend is now over. But some good news, if you have been to http://www.pipeshowonline.com/McClelland.aspx latey seems like we are in for a run of a new 30th anny this year. I'm thinking it should be debuted at the Chicago pipe show.

Ah good to know about the Green waxed tops, I'm not to pressed to find any Red tops. I will just get some Greens and age them.

I also heard about the 30th Anny coming out, can't wait to hear more about it. I really like most McClelland blends.


Shawn