Tobaccos McClelland - Royal Cajun Ebony (Royal Cajun Series)

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2009-08-31		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I appreciate the previous reviewer's analogy to a chocolate stout very much! That's exactly the feeling I had. This blend looks like Lane's BCA in the tin. Dark, dark black and so finely cut that smoking it in a cob might require a screen! Glorious sweet fermented tin aroma with a background of chocolate and coffee.

The flavor is remarkably complex and interesting. It doesn't change much down the bowl until the last 1/3rd, where the light sweetness gives way a bit to a more heavy-bodied, fuller taste. I think the "explosion of flavor" in the description is a bit over the top but I do appreciate blends that smoke mild but are full flavored. This is 5100 Red Cake's dark-hearted brother. Where Red Cake is soft and sweet, RCE is deep and mellow, both being extremely enjoyable. Burns to a clean light-gray ash and needed few relights.

I'm not sure what this "new tobacco" thing is all about but I approve boisterously! This is an exciting product. Certainly the best stoved VA I've ever smoked and I am stocking my cellar with more of this, as well as sampling the other two blends in the line. This is something everyone should try at least once.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2015-02-27		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Virginia, Perique and Kentucky processed in the McClelland's special way for their Royal Cajun series. A very impressive compilation that burns cool, has some strength and will give the VaPer crowd a unique smoking experience.

Pipestud

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sinister Topiary (84)	2009-08-04		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Another wonderfully dark, smooth, chocolate stout of a blend using McClelland's great new cajun black. This variation explores the same territory as RCD, though RCE is a little sweeter, less spicy and peppery, and slightly more monochromatic than its sibling RCD, but it still has lots of wonderful subtlety. If you like one you'll like the other.

This is a very nice blend that's almost as good as RCD, but it's missing just that touch of magic to make this one as extraordinary as its sibling.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Calamiti (86)	2018-02-17		Mild	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

My conclusion is that this almost-politically-correctly-named blend is more of a curiosity than of a smoking delight.

The weird combination of high sweetness and smell of burning rubber is so contradictory it could even be interesting to try. Try this. It's not bad. It's just weird. What if you liked it?

Well, I tried. It was fun to try a bowl. Now I'm thinking what to do with the rest of the tin. I have no slightest intention to smoke this again. And I never throw any tobacco away.

UPD after half a year:

OK, I didn't throw my "Ebony" away. After sitting for 6 months in a non-sealed tin the tobacco has dried up a bit and improved. The unpleasant "burnt rubber" tone has mostly gone while the remarkable sweetness remains. It's much more palatable now and I will finish the tin but it's still too much of a weird concoction to buy this ever again.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	FP Stew (25)	2016-03-15		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This tobacco behaves nice and is smooth with richness yet I found it to be lacking in some dimensional depth. The Charring Light and first 2/3 of the bowl is good and the last 1/3 is better and if it had another name I would be more content. The Dark Fired Kentucky was mild in strength and the “wow factor” just isn’t there for me ... But I do like this tobacco.

I think I will blend in a little bit of perique and press it for a while to see if it adjusts this blend to the “Royal” image that I have in my mind when I read the label.

Pipe Used: Stanwell 241

Age When Smoked: 11 years old tin

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Alhaji (33)	2015-10-05		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This tobacco is one of the best I've ever smoked, if not the best. First the tin note is amazing - like brandy flavoured chocolate, not to speak of the nice charcoal looking coarse appearance. It has a tangy sweetness and a buttery creaminess that descends on the palate towards mid-bowl. This does not taste like tobacco at all. I have tasted several brands of tobacco - Aromatics, Virginias, Burleys, Orientals, those with Latakia, Perique, what have you in the tobacco world, from the highly acclaimed brand names around, but I must confess that this is really good. It actually tastes like food, bread and butter. No matter how you load your pipe, nothing 'expected' sneaks up on you, like some bite or bitterness or after-taste that you occasionally get from most other tobaccos however 'eminent'. This is a mild-medium exciting smoke that can be enjoyed all day. Indeed, if not for the fact that I have a collection of other tobaccos that I smoke and want to savour, including some cellared ones that I expect to improve with age, this one can be smoked exclusively. I have not tried the Royal Cajun Dark nor the Royal Cajan Special but will do so soon. If they are anything like the Ebony, then McClelland would have made, arguably, one of the best triad-tobacco blends in the world. Besides, this is a newly purchased tobacco made in June of this year (2015); if it tastes this good one wonders what it will taste like if allowed to age (presuming it improves with age). This is highly recommended. I will surely obtain more tins and try the other two (Dark and Special) blends out asap.

Pipe Used: Stanwell 15 Gilt-Edged Black

Age When Smoked: New

Purchased From: pipesandcigars.com

Similar Blends: None other. Unique.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (633)	2017-01-10		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Black, smooth, sweet, smokey and absolutely rich. This blend of Virginias and Kentucky leaf demonstrates the magic that occurs when flue-curing, stoving, fire-curing and Perique-style processing meet in a gloriously complex explosion of flavor.

Yes, this tin descriptions pretty much nails it. I enjoyed this blend. When I first opened the tin, which happened to be 9 years old thanks to my good fortune at a B&M one day, I really expected something like Dark Star. And to be true, it kind of is, but more earthy and more spicy, whereas dark star is more about that preserved fruity sweetness.

this was a real pleasure to smoke, but almost too unusual to be a mainstay in my rotation. The tin lasted a long time as it just kind of got passed over a lot. For my perique needs I prefer that leaf to be paired with more grassy/lemony type Virginias and for my stoved Virginia sweet tooth needs I would rather smoke Dark Star. That said, I have nothing bad to say bout this blend.

One thing I did note though is the ingredients led me to believe that I would finally be smoking a McClelland blend high in Nicotine. While RCE is heavier than the average McClelland blend, it was no nic powerhouse. In any case, McClelland is so tasty I tend to overlook nicotine content when enjoying their blends. They are also amongst the most innovative blenders out there and this is a prime example of that. Good stuff that is worth a try.

Age When Smoked: 9 years

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2015-04-28		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The Virginias are mildly toasty, mildly fruity, and mildly sweet. The "Periqued" Kentucky is deeply earthy, mildly spicy and very smooth. It's a really nice tasting blend whose key feature, for me, is the smoothness. Looking forward to trying the others in the series.

Mild in body. Mild to medium in flavor. Burns well.

Pipe Used: MM Country Gentleman, Diplomat Apple, Mark Twain

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kyrob (41)	2011-03-28		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Opening this 5 year old tin of Royal Cajun Ebony revealed loose, coarse cut ribbons of tobaccos that were mostly rich black in color with a fleck of brown here and there. It was just slightly moist and the tin smelled of hickory smoked barbecue sauce and subtle spices. An unlit sip gave me a smoky taste that reminded me of Latakia.

My first few draws after lighting produced a light chocolate taste, but as the bowl progressed things got a bit livelier even though I never experienced a "complex explosion of flavor." At I progressed down the bowl the chocolate taste remained constant, but a spicy sweetness like cinnamon and a Latakia like smokiness became noticeable at various times. The room note was toasty and slightly sweet which seemed very pleasant to me.

I really like this tobacco, the strength is about right for me, and the tastes were pretty enjoyable, if unremarkable. I did not care for another tobacco in this line, the Royal Cajun Dark, as much as this one. Ebony was a little stronger and tastier to me, and I will most likely be buying more of this.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PhillyB (70)	2015-12-08		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I received this tobacco as a part of the YTPC Secret Santa in 2015. The description intrigued me, so I immediately opened it up and smoked a bowl's worth.

I was quite pleased with the smoke. The flavors are not terribly complex, but offer enough enjoyable variety to keep me entertained. The main two flavors I get are a rich sweetness and a savory smokiness. Other flavors come in and out, but for the most part that's what I get.

Even when straight out of the tin after opening the mildly wet tobacco didn't bite and managed to stay lit for most of the smoke. No complaints in that department.

The room note leaves a little to be desired. Not overwhelming, but it is quite 'campfire stinky' as my family describes it.

This seems to be McClelland's showcase for their Cajun Black tobacco, and it does that very well. What it lacks in complexity it makes up for with being very well made and predictable tastiness. I can see adding this as a condiment to another blend, much like the Perique it draws inspiration from. Not quite a four star rating, but a darn fine baccy.

Pipe Used: Missouri Meerschaum Country Gentleman

Age When Smoked: 2 years

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2013-11-14		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Updated 1/30/14- Corrected review, I had mistakenly switched reviews for the Dark and Ebony.

I like it ! Groundbreaking processing , the "Perique" style "pressure/stewing" processing of the Kentucky/Virginia leaf gives a whole new Tobacco. I am not a Burley lover, but this is special,... Buttery, sweet, without the normal Burley bite, smoother. Interesting through the whole bowl, I almost hate to see a bowl end.

The flavor is a cocoa/burnt marshmallows with maple syrup, but in a natural way, dark sweet burley without ever being bitter. I don't find this as mild as most of the earlier Reviewers indicate and I would not recommend this as the first pipe of the day, it is just too much of an explosion of "dark" flavors.

I find this improves with a little breathing and drying time. I think this would be a good choice for public smoking as it has a very pleasant aroma. It's got that Aromatic kind of scent , but not cloying and without a topped taste.

I have to give this 3 stars only because I'm not a burley smoker, but if you are, this is 4 stars .

Pipe Used: cob

Age When Smoked: 3 months

Similar Blends: Butera's Royal Vintage Blended flake, and the McC Royal Cajun Dark.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2012-02-25		Very Mild	None Detected	Very Mild	Pleasant

This is a very nice blend from McClelland's. The Kentucky leaf is in the background but it helps keep the blend interesting. This blend is very mild to me, but if you have a sensitive taste then this would be a great smoke. If you smoke it slow it is light and simple, but good. If you smoke it like a fright train then it gets spicy and it gets a latakia flavor coming out. No tongue bite at all. I can see how people may not just love this blend the first time, it is not a complex blend that will knock your socks off. But if you have time to just enjoy it for what it is you will find there is more to it than what you first thought. If you are looking for strong flavor or taste get another blend, you want a very well made simple and mild smoke look no further.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JohnnyMcPiperson (119)	2011-01-28		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This was a very smooth smoke, I felt much smoother than what I could remember of the "Dark" version. It had a very interesting flavor, much different from other VA's I've had. I liked it, but I probably wouldn't buy another tin. Even though it's quite mild on the pallet, it has a scent very similar to Latakia IMO. Very interesting blend though not really one of my favorites. I look forward to trying the last of the three blends in the series.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NEWMAN (305)	2010-07-25		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A nicely prepared flake that I found a bit to moist from the tin and therefore let dry for several days. It was worth the wait since relights were greatly reduced. Easily packed, it smoked cool and dry without any bite. The fire curing and stoving is not the same as a tobacco that acutally contains perique but the resulting taste was both rich and sweet. Give it a try.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dubinthedam (133)	2010-03-10		Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I found this to be a very unique blend, full on flavor while still mild on strength. A slight taste of turkish and oriental creeps in, slightly salty and rustic. Worth trying.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-10-05		Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

Tin: Made a clinking noise in the unopened tin. Coarse, chunky cut. Ebony or coal black. Standard McClelland sweet raisin aroma lacking the strong tone of RCS. Perhaps a tad sticky. Didn't feel overly moist.

This tobacco seemed to be two different tobaccos. One week after opening the tin, it changed, for the better. Airing out must have helped.

Burn: Took a little effort to get it lit and keep it that way, with puffing. Generally burned all the way down to ash. Consecutive bowls sometimes leave a significant dottle.

Taste: Initially, sweet fruit fragrance. Mid-bowl: Seemed to be an admixture of sorts, none strong enough to be single out, woodsy, chocolate, cloying, sometimes unnatural, or what. Bottom: Sometimes woodsy.

If puffed lightly, it does smoke cool, a menthol cool; zesty, if puffed hard. No tongue bite.

An odd thing happened halfway through the tin. Three bowls gave a strong sweet caramel, marshmellow, and cotton candy taste, maybe due to incomplete blending.

Perique: The only association to Perique is a light pepper feel when the smoke is directed straight onto the tongue.

Moisture: Significant gurgle persists, leaving a small bit of wetness in the heel.

Nicotine: essentially none

Overall: Liked somewhat; decent, in that it is mild. RCE would be easy to smoke all day.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	cell biologist (21)	2007-09-09		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant

I wanted to open my first tin of this after it aged two years, but I couldn?t wait, and opened tin # 960206, which I think means that the tin is almost a year old. In my two years of pipe smoking, I have sampled almost all the different types of tobacco (virginia, burley, oriental, perique, cigar leaf, Nicotiana rustica, and Cyprian latakia - Syrian is still in the queue) to get a good feel for their characteristics and flavor before I tried this. Virginia is my home base, smoking that is; I live in Montana.

Cajun Black is different from all other tobaccos that I have tasted. It?s marvelous! Cajun Black quintessentially illustrates why right now is the pinnacle period of pipe smoking: The art of tobacco has evolved to its greatest height in history. With so many pipe tobaccos available on the worldwide market, one could ask, why invent a new kind of tobacco? Smoking this I see the answer: for the pleasure!

The tin smells slightly sweet, earthy, tangy, and slightly smokey. It is slightly moist in the tin, which is typical of most tobaccos. It burns as well as any tobacco I have smoked. The first light tastes like virginia tobacco plus a clean earthiness, sweet, complex, and very pleasing. I can go fairly quickly into the mouth-to-sinus back- feed mode, which I reserve for my favorite virginias, but usually not until the last third of the bowl. The tobacco smoke is richly flavorful, yet mild on the palate. And the flavor is unique. I?ve been experimenting with different blends, and making my own blends of blends, and this is something new altogether. It?s a flavor that tobacco should be, somehow; it?s like discovering a new place that feels immediately like home. It?s at home in all the pipes I have sampled it in, including a large briar with a tall, narrow bowl, a meerschaum, and several pipes with graphite bowls. The flavor is a combination of raisons, ponderosa pine, earthy smokiness (we all struggle for words here), and just good old tobacco.

Some reviewers comment on the level of nicotine. I get a nicotine buzz every time I smoke (I smoke every other day) and Cajun Black Ebony is no exception. Despite the large scale corruption of tobacco into a pleasureless vector for an addictive drug (cigarettes), pipe smoking can still be enjoyed for the pure pleasure of it. This tobacco is what pipe smoking is all about. Every time I smoke a bowl of this, I am disappointed when it?s finished. This is not because of a lack of nicotine (I am nicely floating on it), it?s because it tastes so good that I don?t want it to stop!

I seem to be going through this tobacco faster than any others in my drawer. It mixes very well with McClelland 5100. I can?t wait to try some of the other in this series, which other reviewers say are a little smokier in flavor. The tins beckon me from the dark closet...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Satc001 (67)	2007-01-08		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

This is the sweetest of the cajun black series, but it still retains a bit of spiciness and a nice complexity. This blend is very dark, but it lights well and smokes cool and dry. I found this tobacco supplied a nice flavor of raisins with just a hint of cinnamon and pepper. I didn't like it quite as much as the Dark blend in the same series, but I did find it to be very enjoyable. Much like the other two, this blend was also smooth on the palate. I would recommend this one for those looking to try the series who don't like their tobacco to be very spicy. If you do, the Dark blend is for you.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-07-03		Mild	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This rich & pleasingly complex blend creates an immediate appreciation for skillfull blending and excellent curing of components. Flue-curing and stoving of the Virginia and Burley have been accomplished without the usual excessive oils that leaves one needing to wash hands after handeling. Again the Cajun Black brings a sweet, smooth and smoky presence to the blend that would not otherwise be found. Earthy and primal, this blend is not to be missed by pipesters desiring an interwoven experience of both towering influence and counter points of resonance attesting blending skills not easily earned.

Meerschaum Man Smoking a CAO Dunhill Man Pasha

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-05-23		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Unnoticeable

The gentleman who runs McClelland together with his wife (I forget their names), handed me 3 tins of these newest McC creations at the 2006 Chicago Pipe Show. I was trying so many different things at the show, I did not want to further confuse my palate. I simply took the tins, thanked him and waited for the right moment to open. The dithyrambic description on both tin and the round card under the lid would you have you believe that this is one of the most unique, extra special creations to hit tobaccodom, and let me tell you, they're not kidding. This is not mere marketing bravado, as is the case with so many other things I've tried. This really is a great blend of excellent Virginia sweetness and just the right touches of sour and salt to taste, probably eminating from the perique. Taste is everything here, with tin aroma being much more pronounced and McClellandy than the room note. Aroma dissipates quickly. There is great complexity on the tongue and nothing to interfere with the interplay of delicious flavors. This is a conoisseur's blend for the most discriminating and purist of smokers. A friend of mine who is not a great fan of McC even admits that this is one of the finest things he's ever tried. I am eager to pop the lids off the other two Royal Cajuns, but will hold off, allowing those to age for awhile longer. Besides, I picked up so many other things at the show I'm still working through. Congrats to McC for debuting something really grand and different and for not skimping on quality. Now, please don't change the blend!

Five of five stars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jacinto Cupboard (209)	2016-06-30		Mild	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Sinister Topiary's earlier review of this tobacco and where it sits in relation to the two other RC offerings is bang on the money.

While it might be natural to think of a tobacco marked 'ebony' as being richer or fuller, this is decidedly not the case here. The designation seems to indicate that the blend is almost entirely heavily stoved tobacco plus the fire cured 'pseudo' perique. The result is a tobacco that is very sweet with an abundance of fruity flavours, particularly dried fruits. Savoury, peppery notes are not absent by any stretch, but this is a much less complex blend than either the Dark or the Special.

Still, this is a glorious tobacco and well worth it on its own merits. Could well be a 4 star rating from me, but I have kept that for Dark in order to indicate that baccy's 'preferred' status for me.

Burns well, and slowly, is bite free, and like Special, I would suggest this is a pragmatic alternative to stoved tobaccos like Dark Star that can be difficult to manage, or even the very best British ropes.

Pipe Used: Lepeltier

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-07-26		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It wa ok, but certainly not the "explosion of flavours" advertised...

And kind of hard to keep lit...

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2010-04-30		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

McClelland cranks out another stunning hit. This is a rich, smooth, flavorful, velvety smoke that is well-balanced, and a treat to enjoy at length. Real tobacco that smokes up gentle and delicious, almost like a mild chocolate coffee aromatic of some sort, but with none of the downsides of a cased aromatic. Excellent sweet fermented raisinfruit aroma in the tin. Takes a bit to light well, but stays going and burns right down to a light ash easily. Definitely benefits from a week or so of sitting in the tin after opening, and keeps getting better. No tongue bite whatsoever and could not reasonably be provoked to do so when pushed. Albeit rich and pleasing, with great flavor, this is not a sweet dessert smoke. Not a bit of bitterness from beginning to end, either. This is a satisfying and tasty indulgence that is good anytime and anywhere, whenever the mood suits you for a rich chocolatey-smooth coffee type fix. Three and a half stars.

UPDATE: The more I enjoy this, the more I am enjoying it, if you know what I mean. Solidly in my rotation now and I've cellared a healthy stock. Detecting hints of a molasses quality and perhaps a light sweet oatmeal or cream stout character, especially in the pleasant aftersmoke flavor. Get some!

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2008-05-12		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant

With this blend, the processing is key. It's difficult, if not impossible, to tease out any particular Virginia or Kentucky tastes, and I'm simply not up for that kind of teasing.

The first opening of the tine gives you the (by now) familiar smell of a good, dark ketchup, with the second note being a smoking aroma - this is, no doubt, where the barbeque flavoring that some have noted comes in.

There's no barbeque taste when you light up, however. The taste is smoky and complex, very mild and velvety on the tongue. There's not too much moisture, it packs nicely for such a course cut, burns cleanly throughout the whole bowl, and leaves a very nice aftertaste.

I'll make this short and sweet - for a little something out of the ordinary and a nice velvet touch on the tongue this is a one-of-a-kind experience not to be missed.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2007-09-09		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This blend did exibit something special. It is a multi-dimensional smoke, somewhat milder and different from most blends containing standard perique. It contains the newest blending component, which would make me want to purchase it. It packs easy, smokes cool and leaves a bit of dottle in the heel of the pipe. Worth trying and certainly a premium tobacco.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-09-14		Medium	Mild	Very Full	Tolerable to Strong

This tobacco is definitely dark, I would say black with occasional shades of dark brown. It really smells smokey upon opening, with sweetness at the same time, but the smokey is predominant. I like the smell of it, it's different, quite unique, can't compare it to Latakia at all. The tobacco itself is not very long, it kind of reminds me of Dark Fragrant, but flattended, if anybody can visualize that. The tobacco is really a small cut, but it makes sense like this because otherwise it would be too hard and long to smoke.

I believe this tobacco should be smoked in a small bowl, so I chose one of my Danish Sovereign and my Chacom Atlante. Don't pack it too tight because 3 weeks after opening, it still has a good rate of dampness, but not overwheming. It is a bit hard to light up but remains rather steady if you dedicate yourself to the smoking. I don't think anybody would want to smoke this tobacco outside, it might prove a tongue killer if it's just a bit windy.

As you keep smoking, it becomes stronger, the smokey side kicks in a bit more than the sweetness, which remain noticeable but discreet, in order to balance the smokey part. The bowl is dry after I'm finished.

I like this tobacco, it's different, rich but not overwhelming and it smokes surprisingly well when smoked with attention. I will not consider it a daily smoke, but a couple times a week is perfect for me.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	porshcigar (44)	2006-05-23		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

McClelland gave away samples of all 3 Royal Cajun blends at the 2006 Chicago Pipe Show. Ebony is the first that I have smoked. I find this to be a very desireable blend. It lights easily, burns well, and does not get overly hot or wet. It smokes well in all sizes of pipes. I am smoking it now in a very small bowl (for me) and there is no sign of over-heating. This is a blend that can be smoked at any time of day, and indeed all day. The taste is good, but not overpowering. I will buy more of this blend, and store some to see how it ages.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30171)	2006-05-23		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable

IMHO this is McClelland's finest Virginia flake offering. A very heady and complex mixture for the experienced piper. It comes completely rubbed out,which makes for very easy packing and lighting.The flavor is equally sweet and sour. I enjoyed it greatly. I feel the best description of the tobacco and the experience would be the following: A much fuller,richer,and SWEETER STONEHAVEN. That pretty much says it all. I actually enjoyed this more than Stonehaven (Even though there is Perique present)3.5 of 4 stars.

Nobody has rated this review yet.