Category: Smoking Pipe Tobacco

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I like my pipe tobacco a little on the dry side, but there are those times the balance tips and a little dry becomes too dry. In this video I demonstrate what works well for me when bringing a little life back to tobacco in its way to becoming dust.

Cellaring Pipe Tobacco – Why and how to age or store tobacco
Cellaring pipe tobacco for the purposes of storage, aging, and insurance against blends going out of production, inflation in prices, and legislative restrictions on tobacco purchases is an important part of the hobby for me.
In this video I briefly discuss this aspect of enjoying [...]

One of the oldest Wilke recipes. Virginia and Burleys are mixed with a non-aromatic Black Cavendish tobacco and topped with a generous amount of superior Latakia creating a traditional medium strength English blend. A rich mellow blend in the true British tradition

There is something special about what burley and just the right amount of Latakia do together. Here they make a round, smooth, slightly rich presentation. The Virginia and Cavendish fill the blend out, adding sweetness, just a smidgin of tang, and some body. All in all its a well balanced medium blend I could smoke all day.

A fantastic English, deep in Latakia and just a touch of Perique for interesting zing. Well balanced and rich.

Buying pipes online can be daunting. Here are some ideas on how to reduce a lot of the unknowns to make purchasing a pipe online more comfortable.

Greg Pease will be introducing a new blend to the Fog City Selection. This one is a straight VA sliced cake named Union Square. No condiment leaf, no added sugar or flavoring, just plain ol’ VA goodness. This will be available at the Chicago show.

More good news: Later in the year, he plans to release an entire new line, an “interesting new series” as Greg Pease puts it. Of course, way too early for details. He has three prototypes and working on a fourth.

This is a blend that makes me glad I don’t limit myself to one type of pipe tobacco blend or another.

Tin description:

A spicy aroma along with a subtle Oriental flavor. Orientals (other than Latakia) and a rich Virginia base along with two Cavendish tobaccos make up this special blend. Lightly aromatic!

I try a lot of pipe tobaccos and usually a new blend is a variation on a theme – another English, another Virginia/Perique, another aromatic, etc. Once in a while something entirely different comes along – this time its Gotham Court.

Video Review …this is a blend I reserve for times I can focus my attention and enjoy it. I find Abingdon abundantly satisfying in every way – especially for the richness of flavor. This is a benchmark Balkan blend. Great pipe tobacco that shouldn’t be lost among Greg’s more recent achievements.

All of these blends were originally created exclusively for the PCCA (Pipe Collectors Club of America.) These blends are now available as a regular product line through all of McClelland’s retailers – those who choose to carry them anyway.

Judging from the tin descriptions, it appears they are all light on the Latakia or they omit it altogether. Those with Latakia feature Syrian Latakia. Another thing that strikes me is nearly all of them mention aging. In my experience, McClelland tobaccos almost universally benefit greatly from even a year or two of aging so believe them. If something looks especially good, I usually order one tin to try and a couple more to cellar.

Following are the tin descriptions: