Amazing McClelland news!!

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shadrack

shadrack

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Hot off the presses from Smokers Forum. I can't tell you how excited I am for these blends to be coming back! :cheers:

"McClelland Tobacco has just announced it's club series. They are bringing back 18 old favorites to support the Chicago, Richmond and Kansas City clubs the the pipe shows they put on. See more info here http://www.pipeshowonline.net/McClelland_ClubBlends.php
In addition to the club blends they are also bringing back the Ashton blends! A full announcenent should be made soon from the Chicago show."

Looks like there are two new Collector series blends also. Legends and Wilderness. So psyched!
 
I don't know what but somethings wrong. .......


They could have cornered the pipe world news for almost 2 years with this amount of tobacco by releasing them 1 a month... They have to know that if Pease and/or C&D puts out a blend or two they steal the spotlight right back... In a largely 'what's hot today' market this seems like an overzealous move OR (and I aint starting rumors) something is going on we don't know about...
 
It is a bit strange how they bombed us with 26 blends in one fell swoop where as C&D/GLP release blends one at a time. Could be because not all of them are really new per se, just reissues of some classics with a few new sprinkled in between. In any case I'm ecstatic that I can now stock up on Quantum, Boston 1776, Epitome aka Avatar etc. without having to pay through the nose on the collector's market for the old PCCA issues. :lol:
 
Some of the comments on GLP Name-the-New-Blend-Not-a-Contest implied that Lord P knew about this, as he slyly mentioned that he couldn't name his upcoming blend "Nocturne."

PB, I share your suspicious nature... or at least that's how I'll justify a hefty purchase of the new blends.
 
Doc Manhattan":wz978t3s said:
Some of the comments on GLP Name-the-New-Blend-Not-a-Contest implied that Lord P knew about this, as he slyly mentioned that he couldn't name his upcoming blend "Nocturne."
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Ah very true Doc. I was wondering why he went cold on Nocture all of a sudden that sly devil.
 
These are awesome news! I'm particularly excited about the resurgence of Ashton blends. Thank you for posting.
 
Here comes a rant. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it. And go!..............

I'm actually in the "not so damn excited about this camp". I have tons of the original Levin blends cellared away and they just went waaaaaay down in value. :x

Look. If I'm being 100% honest there are far better tobacco producers in the world than McClelland's. Every one of their VA flakes taste exactly the same. I defy ANYONE to discern the difference between Christmas Cheer 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, ect. It's all so bland and predictible. Rudiger Will's VA's blow the &*^% off of anything that comes out of the doors of McClelland's. Their blends could'nt even win a face off between plain, old and inexpesive FVF! ^&* Damned vinegar tasting crap. I hate it! There. I feel better now. :lol:

For me ,these re releases are a bunch of white noise and hype. To quote Garfield Cat, "Big Fat Hairy Deal"...
 
Whoa Dock that was a doozy! :D To each their own man. Everyone has different tastes which is why we have so many great blends/blenders to choose from currently. Personally, I think any blender putting out more blends in the current anti-tobacco climate is a good thing, let alone 26 in one shot. Plus part of the proceeds go to support some of the major pipe clubs stay active in the pipe community, both good things in my book.

Now about the taste. I have had VA's from most all of the popular blenders out there and stand firmly in the camp that McClelland makes the best. I'm not going to argue the merits of McClellands over other blenders because, last time I checked anyway, I'm no tobacco judge. But just for the record, I can discern large differences between every Christmas Cheer I've tried and have never experienced a VA with more natural sweetness than PCCA Millennium, but that's just my perspective. I also don't give a squat if McClelland blends smell like "vinegar" in the tin, I don't use them as air fresheners and I have yet to have it come across in a smoke.

I've been hunting down PCCA blends like a mad man this past year and my cellar no doubt took a huge hit in value with the reemergence of a number of these blends under the McClelland label so I feel your pain in that dept. That being said, I'm still happy to have them back as I wasn't in it for investment purposes but rather for the enjoyment of the tobaccos. I guess the vintage blend market can be volatile just like any other. Just imagine if Dunhill blends ever get US distribution again, doh! ;)
 
I agree with shadrack a 100%, by the time all this blend were around either: I was underage to buy them or I was still a cigar smoker, I consider pipe smoking and tobacco collecting a hobby not a business enterprise, I'm very thankful to McClelland for rereleasing all this blends that I have read about on tobacco reviews but always thought that I was not going ever to have the chance to try them.
 
It is really quite hard to get bored with this hobby; and I thought my TAD was in remission, oh well...
 
shadrack":b5mpvd1f said:
Whoa Dock that was a doozy! :D To each their own man. Everyone has different tastes which is why we have so many great blends/blenders to choose from currently. Personally, I think any blender putting out more blends in the current anti-tobacco climate is a good thing, let alone 26 in one shot. Plus part of the proceeds go to support some of the major pipe clubs stay active in the pipe community, both good things in my book.

Now about the taste. I have had VA's from most all of the popular blenders out there and stand firmly in the camp that McClelland makes the best. I'm not going to argue the merits of McClellands over other blenders because, last time I checked anyway, I'm no tobacco judge. But just for the record, I can discern large differences between every Christmas Cheer I've tried and have never experienced a VA with more natural sweetness than PCCA Millennium, but that's just my perspective. I also don't give a squat if McClelland blends smell like "vinegar" in the tin, I don't use them as air fresheners and I have yet to have it come across in a smoke.

I've been hunting down PCCA blends like a mad man this past year and my cellar no doubt took a huge hit in value with the reemergence of a number of these blends under the McClelland label so I feel your pain in that dept. That being said, I'm still happy to have them back as I wasn't in it for investment purposes but rather for the enjoyment of the tobaccos. I guess the vintage blend market can be volatile just like any other. Just imagine if Dunhill blends ever get US distribution again, doh! ;)
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Half of it was totally tongue in cheek. Though I was serious about x-mas cheer. I really can't tell any difference between any of them except '96' which I found to be very sour.
 
I have to disagree with you DPG, I'm remiss to do so, but I think your wrong on the percieved value...

I've seen the aged Pease weeds go for the same price as the long gone Syrian blends...

Murreys Dunhills were already climbing in value while Orlik was producing their versions...

An aged and rare tin is going to be valuable regardless of what's on the market. And we are assuming they haven't monkey'd up all those blends.. Which they did with several blends when they labeled the PCCA stuff under their name.. If they've monkey'd them up the old tins might actually climb higher in value.
 
I couldn't care less about future value, for me tobacco isn't a financial investment, it's an investment in my pleasure. McClelland, IMO, makes the finest pipe tobaccos in the world. I've yet to find better VAs and 3 Oaks Syrian is the ultimate English blend. This news just made my day! Sure, they could of released these blends slowly to create hype, but McClelland isn't about hype; they are about producing the best tobacco blends at very fair prices, their consistency is what I love about them.
 
I was going to bust ya chops about knowing nothing about business.. But your right.. McClellands has no clue when it comes to marketing..

As far as setting the standards I have to disagree... Personally I think they have a few great blends, a bunch of ok blends that I'm neither for or against, and then some truly nasty crap. But hey that's what makes the pipe tobacco world great.. We don't all have to like the same crap, my favorite could be your least liked and vise versa and its still all good...
 
DPG is on my list for sending some of my 5115 when it hits 10 years :)

Some McClelland's that my life would be darker without?

5115,Frog Morton, Frog Morton on the Bayou, Drama Reserve, Classic Samsun, Blakeney's Best Latakia Flake, Blackwoods Flake, Dark Star - and the list goes on :)

DGP is right in part, as I do notice that there are few of their virginias I find exciting, and the ones I do like couldn't touch the Dark Lord's Montgomery with a 10 foot pole, but they do fill an important part of the flavor field...
 
For what it is worth, I am very excited that McClelland is re-releasing these blends. I think they make the best Virginia blends (English blends, on the other hand, are not their strength IMHO), and I used to love the Ashton series when I was in college (mid 1990s).
 
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