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Episode 239: Life After McClelland

Welcome & Housekeeping: Jon David and Beau huddle safely in the Country Squire during a torrential downpour and tornado watch. God bless their dedication! Jon David’s wedding is coming up and the bachelor party is this weekend! Pay attention to Beau’s twitter handle for streaming announcements. You might just catch Jon David blending. We wish them a safe and fun weekend! Sadly, Jon David will have to bring the cigars himself. Beau discusses briefly his secret plans for the CSR show whilst Jon David is away on his honeymoon. CSR Club Members have the skinny. Randall Morgan shows up at the shop to attend the live show and brought gifts! Ashton’s Brindle Flake from 1999 for JD and a Jar Jar Binks action figure for Beau. Okay maybe a waterproof pouch for Beau too. And some whiskey! Man, what a guy! Thanks to Randall!
Next on the docket. Mark Fresa (sp?) notified JD that at Gulf Stream Park in Ft. Lauderdale Florida on Saturday March 3rd, a horse named The Country Squire came in 10th in the 11th race of the day. We need to all come together, and rally around this special horse. Send your good vibes. We need to keep him out of the glue factory! Triple Crown buddy! Triple Crown!
One last thing, last week I missed one new CSR Pipe Club member and we have one this week too. So I’ll mention both this week! Jace Wilkinson and Adam Larkin! Lastly, Benjamin Snell joins on as a Patron. Thanks gentlemen!

Topic: As we still reel from the loss of McClelland as a company we know and love, we pivot this week to a brighter future and visit some tobaccos that might be worth trying again, or perhaps trying for the first time, in our individual quests to find new favorites. It’ll be good to explore the world of tobaccos outside of McClelland. There will be no perfect matches or direct translations, but these will be some tobaccos that we might keep in mind as we try to find comparable substitutes.
McClelland was the King of Virginia tobaccos. 5100. Christmas Cheer. 40th Anniversary. Hard to match. Let’s take Cornell & Diehl as a starting example. Red Virginia Ribbon. Not aged the same way, but nice ribbons. Mellow. Toasty. Red Virginia Cavendish. Semi-sweet, nutty, toasty flavor. Chunky cut, kind of like 5100. Also makes good blending tobacco. Might be a good substitute for that purpose. Another example is Lane Bright Virginia. Inexpensive. Tasty. Medium bodied. Buttery. Bit of nicotine. Slow smoker. Dark Star is another venerated McClelland VA. Sam Gawith Full Virginia Flake might be worth checking out as a replacement. 40th Anniversary, similar to Christmas Cheer, is another tough one to match in recommendations, but one that might be worth trying is Mac Baren Navy Flake. While it might not be VA-forward, its body and strength might remind you of 40th. Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake is something that might be worth trying as well, especially since it’s inexpensive and sold in bulk. Maybe you’d like to try some different cigar leaf blends to try something comparable to Dominican Glory? James Fox The Banker’s Mixture might be a good replacement for that.
For heavy Balkan and English mixtures, a nice recommendation that is still available despite it having Syrian Latakia, is Balkan by Brebbia. High percentage of Latakia... maybe 40 or 50%. Smooth, silky, soft, rich. Delectable if you are a Latakia fan. Balkan Sasieni. Relatively easy to get. Intended to be a nice substitute for Balkan Sobranie. What about Frog Morton?! No real substitute here, but recommendations for the croaked frogs to follow! Rattray’s Black Mallory. Black Cav, Latakia, Turkish, VA. Cornell & Diehl Mississippi Mud. This has Cavendish, Latakia, and Perique. Frog Morton Cellar is going to be a tough blend to replace, but it might be worth it to you to hunt down some Es