Admittedly, we’re a little bit old-fashioned and nostalgic in some ways, but that’s not why we chose McClelland’s Christmas Cheer as December’s Pipe Guys’ Pick. In fact, we chose it because Christmas or not, Christmas Cheer is one of the best Virginia flakes around. It’s an annual holiday tradition at the house of McClelland, no doubt, but more and more smokers are finding that this tobacco blend in all of it’s renditions tends to be one worth coming back to even when the needles have fallen off the tree.
Hunting Down the Worthy Virginias
Each year McClelland searches for several of the best available Virginias, with distinct characteristics that produce a blend that ages exceptionally well, and offers a magnificent smoke with all the mild sweetness and balanced complexity that you expect from well-cultivated Virginia leaf. This year’s Cheer is made from orange flue-cured Virginias, taken from the 2009 crop of the fields near Rocky Mount, North Carolina. These leaves are noted to be high in oil and sugar contents, making for an intense mouthfeel and flavor, all presented in a broken flake cut.
Made for the Cellar
As with most renditions of McClelland’s Christmas Cheer, we recommend you set some aside for years to come. As years pass, the intensity of the blend will mellow, and the natural oils present in the tobacco will change their aroma. What once offered a piquant, tangy, and refreshing smoke will be more mature, smoothly spicy, and deeper in character. If impatience gets the better of you, it happens to be perfectly enjoyable even in it’s youth, especially for those who appreciate the natural qualities of the beloved Virginia tobacco.
From now till the 31st you can pick up a tin of this consistently stellar Virginia blend for just $13.90 and enjoy it well into the New Year!
All of this Year's Picks
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La Brumeuse
Pipe Tobacco, Tabac Manil$18.75Vincent Manil's La Brumeuse pipe tobacco is a very special pipe tobacco grown and processed only in the Ardennes region of Belgium. Bold and earthy, it presents flavors of toasted cedar and nuts, underpinned by definite floral notes. A phenomenal smoking experience, with flavors that don’t so much change as they do deepen, it’s a refreshingly natural smoke. It’s rustic minerality makes it a must-try for the lover of cigars.
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