IHT
02-20-2007, 04:10 PM
McClelland 25th Anniversarry 2002 (http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend_detail.cfm?ALPHA=2&TID=1749) - 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.
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.