McClelland Bulks

[Peter-B]

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 The whole point of bulks is to save money and I only save about 3 bucks between a GLP tin and McC bulks.[/quote]

The OTHER reason for buying bulk is also that some blend/mixtures are NOT available in a tinned version!!  :twisted:[/quote]

What bulks do you feel are worth buying above some of the tinned options? I did get a good amount of LBF which I enjoy in bulk. I just had the understanding that the bulk blends tend to not be as complex or finished.

 

[Thomas Tkach]

Many blenders offer the same blends in bulk and tins. Try C&D or H&H--the bulk options are cheaper when you start buying 8 oz quantities

 

[Crookshanks]

the GL Pease blends I've gone through have been a revelation (as well as Penzance, but I sort of ration that). Quiet Nights, Westminster, Gaslight, have all been great. Maltese Falcon was nothing to write home about.

Yeah! Your feelings mirror mine. Honestly, pipe smoking for me is one thin g
I refuse to save a few dimes on. Given that GLP is per oz, as opposed to 50g, it's already a good value, but that I simply enjoy it more is why I stick with it.

I have lots of 8oz tins of my favorites. That's bulk enough for me.

 

[monbla256]

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 The whole point of bulks is to save money and I only save about 3 bucks between a GLP tin and McC bulks.

The OTHER reason for buying bulk is also that some blend/mixtures are NOT available in a tinned version!!  :twisted:[/quote]

What bulks do you feel are worth buying above some of the tinned options?  I did get a good amount of LBF which I enjoy in bulk.  I just had the understanding that the bulk blends tend to not be as complex or finished.[/quote]

As far as bulk blends not being "finished", tinning a blend/mixture adds some time and pressure ( from vacuum when tinned) to it which do add some flavor aspects that bulks do not have as they are blended, then stored in large polypropelene bags (usually in 5 # quantities) and divided further by retailers into the quantities ordered. I only smoke 4 bulk blend/mixtures, ALL McClelland's and none of the above. ALL are heavy on the Va and I LIKE how McC does Va's over other blenders. It's the ketchup ya know  :twisted:   :twisted: 

 

[Thomas Tkach]

That's why I buy bulk then put it in mason jars--same effect and a non vacuum sealed tin (C&D, PEASE, McC)--and you can age it for years. Besides flakes, kakes, and plugs, I've found an 8oz jar holds about 2 oz by weight, so I don't have to open all of a bulk package at once.

 

[Zeno Marx]

'Cause I'm nosy, I'm wondering where some of us have gone since McClelland walked away. Did you look for something analogous and have stuck with it? Gone with something completely different? Tried your hand at blending to match your favorite(s)?

I talked about it here a bit before the end. Could have just been coincidence or prophetic. Or just my tastes wavering. Who knows? But in the final 12-18 months, I found that #2015 lost its earthy and grassy components, which were key reasons I so enjoyed it. I didn't have near the enthusiasm, so when they closed the doors, luckily for me, I wasn't in a frenzy to stockpile. Of course, since then, I've tried a blend or two that have caused regrets, but that isn't quite the same as wishing for a stockpile of a favorite. I bloviate.

As my enthusiasm for #2015 was dwindling, my passion for Night Train was ramping up, so it unwittingly worked out well in the end. Though I'm still not getting those earthy or grassy elements, I consider it a rather lateral move. Speaking here entirely about flavors, not necessarily tobacco components. I've hardly missed #2015. Night Train has filled that spot.

If a McClelland was your cornerstone, and assuming you don't still have jars packed away, what has become your new go-to?

 

[Brewdude]

Last I got in 2015 was back in '13 so never had any of the subsequent releases to compare it to Zeno. However, it seems to me that there was a tinned version under a different name that escapes me at the moment. I'm pretty sure I got some of this at some point but have no memory of the details.

All I can tell you is that fortuitously, I stocked up on 2015 as well as 2015 before McC went out. Just a stroke of luck really. And it'll certainly see me out. I have no intentions of selling any, but will share with other pipe brothers as and when the occasion arises.



Cheers,

RR

 

[user 2027]

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[Ozark Wizard]

I've got a couple of home blends that have filled some gaps, otherwise Astley's 44, several Rattrays, Stonehaven, RDF and Gawith stuff have me covered.

 

[ftrplt]

I was never a rabid McClelland-head, but as I enjoy latweeds, I stocked up on The Frogs, The Oriental series (green tins), and the various Syrian/Balkan blends. Also, as I eased into Ginnyweeds, I picked up the Christmas Cheers as an afterthought! By nothing but blind-assed luck ('cause at the time I didn't know McClelland made them!), I acquired a slew of PCCA ( the original from Bob Hamlin and the later McC made), McCranies Ginnyweeds, CPCC, and Buchannan's, etc. The vast majority of this stuff is 10-20 years old as I have so much jarred "baccy that I tend to favor. As to the other question, I remain extremely disappointed in all the McClelland "wanna be's" I've tried. Not even close as far as I'm concerned!!! FWIW, JMHO!! :cheers FTRPLT

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Never got too heavy into McClelland bulk VA's unfortunately. I think I have 4 ounces of Red Cake and maybe the same amount of Classic VA. I have tins of Blackwoods Flake, Matured VA 24, Tudor Castle, CC and the blue labelled 40th Anniversary to see me through in measured amounts as long as I pace myself.

Since McClelland's closure, I have mostly been buying/smoking blends from G&H, Sam G, C&D, & Watch City Cigar.

I don't smoke much latakia anymore and most of McClelland's Englishes were too subtle for my tastes, so no loss in not stocking up on Frogs, green labels, etc.

 

[SteveMKentucky]

Really missing Blackwoods Flake.