Gettingready for my first taste of Blackwoods Flake

[Ozark Wizard]

Dedicated pipe, drying a flake in the fish......

Waiting.......

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Excellent. Enjoy.

 

[monbla256]

I like to rub it out thoroughly when letting it dry out and smoke it in a nice wide bowled pipe like a Pot to let sll the marvelous nuances it has come out !! Get ready for some wonderful smoking !! :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Ozark Wizard]

Round one was great!

Going with Monbla's idea, round two in a short wide bowl.........

MAN, these Missouri guys have a way with Ginny weed..............

 

[juanmedusa]

Yes they do, enjoy.

 

[Dutch]

My guess is the cellaring quest will commence shortly! :lol:

 

[Puff Daddy]

I like to rub it out thoroughly when letting it dry out and smoke it in a nice wide bowled pipe like a Pot  

This.

As far as Mcclelland straight virginias go, Blackwoods is the best I've tried, imho.

If you find you like this stuff, there are a couple of other Mcclelland flakes in bulk definitely worth trying. FMC2000 is a solid virginia broken flake cased with maple. It doesn't come off as topped with sweet goop, the casing melds perfectly with the ginnyweed to produce a sum greater than it's parts. 2025 is a broken flake of virgina with xanthi. The smoke starts off zesty and fragrant, the perfume of the oriental is excellent, and as the bowl progresses it becomes a very simple round tasting virginia smoke. No fancy bells and whistles, but damned good. Somehow adding just a bit of oriental to a simple virginia creates an umami effect, you get a completeness on the palate. I've tried a bunch of the fancier tinned va/oriental blends and in the end this bulk offering is all I need in this category of tobacco. I find the artisinal blends interesting in small doses, but, usually, simple is better.

 

[juanmedusa]

Hey Puff, have you compared the 2025 to Mature Virginia #24. The latter is one of my favorites. Just curious, never had that bulk.

 

[Puff Daddy]

Hey Puff, have you compared the 2025 to Mature Virginia #24. The latter is one of my favorites. Just curious, never had that bulk.

The difference is in the variety of the oriental used. 24 has Drama in it and 2025 has Xanthi. For me, Drama comes off as giving a rather ashy and cigarette-like note whereas Xanthi has a more incense-like presence. The Drama you will notice more in the taste, the Xanthi more in the aroma. The main taste characteristic with Xanthi is that it gives the virginia a fuller, more round and more complete taste. You don't notice it so much as a separate flavor (tasting the oriental and ginnyweed separately in the smoke) but as a building flavor supporting the virginia. If you exhale some of the 2025 smoke through the nose (as I always do), this is where you really taste and appreciate the incense-like quality Xanthi contributes.

All of this in my own quirky experience and opinion, of course.

 

[Ozark Wizard]

I had acquired some 2025 from a B&M a while back, and it was bone dry. Crispy in fact. I guessed they don't sell a lot of McClellands there, as there were other bulks I picked up from them in the same condition. I liked the way they scaled out though, big honkin' piles of flakes without the extra water weight....

I enjoy Virginias with oriental influences, and tend to smoke my stuff pretty dry, but it bit me the way it was. After rehydration though it sang sweet high notes, like Amy Grant in my pipe......

After my experiences with the Blackwoods flake and Dark Star, I see myself getting the rest of the Personal Reserve series. It's a nice line so far, and I am impressed with McClelland's consistency....

 

[juanmedusa]

Thanks Puff. Great comments.

 

[monbla256]

As you are finding out, the boys up in KC are THE MASTERS with Va's.!! :twisted: :twisted: I've smoked and enjoyed ALL of these blends/mixtures but they ALL really are not up to the level McC's has now produced with their R&B blend/mixture !! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: I smoke FM 2000 on a daily basis and just find it has only the taste of straight Red Va., no topping . But that's my palate!! :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Blackhorse]

PD...should those who prefer #24 proclaim themselves to be a 'Drama Queen'? And for the 2025 lover...maybe 'Xanthi Boy' might be right? But then, I hate labels.

 

[juanmedusa]

PD...should those who prefer #24 proclaim themselves to be a 'Drama Queen'?  And for the 2025 lover...maybe 'Xanthi Boy' might be right?  But then, I hate labels.

As of now I'm 100% Drama Queen. The only thing better than #24 is the rare #24 ribbon that occasionally pops up on the secondhand market. Though the #24 ribbon might just be so delicious because of the age since they haven't made it for some time.

 

[Ozark Wizard]

OK...............

As per Monbla's recommendations, the wide shallow bowl is much better for the flavor profile....

DAMMIT JIM.........

I'll be in tribble for stocking up on this one.......

Here we go!

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

OK...............

As per Monbla's recommendations, the wide shallow bowl is much better for the flavor profile....

DAMMIT JIM.........

I'll be in tribble for stocking up on this one.......

Here we go!

One word for you OW - Pot.

I am a convert...

 

[Natch]

OK...............

As per Monbla's recommendations, the wide shallow bowl is much better for the flavor profile....

I've read it more than once that Virginias are best in taller, narrower bowls, but wide and short work best for me.  Especially with flakes that are cubed a bit.  I'll make a game of getting just one or two chunks to glow, and slowly get the adjoining to fire up just before the first ones ash out.  

Natch

 

[juanmedusa]

I barely own any pots so by consequence I smoke most of my Virginias in non pot pipes and still manage to enjoy them. I am fond of Virginias in a Dublin or narrow billiard. With all this chatter about pots I've started to try them in broader bowls recently and have had good results so I'm not dismissing those claims but I'm comfortable selecting other pipes that have proven to be compatible for me.