I happened to be poking around the ‘interwebs’ the other day, and stumbled upon a thread in the old ASP pages speaking to the question of that faint “ketchup” or “catsup” smell that emanates from McClelland tins.

Here is the original question:

I’ve noticed that a lot of McClelland’s Virginas have a pronounced “ketchup” or “vinegar” odor to them. Does anyone know what the source of this is? I find it to be most vexing, as I can smell it while I’m smoking and it leaves the stench on my pipe for awhile as well. Is it a casing? It must be something they add or a byproduct of their process as I don’t know of any other brand that has this issue. It really limits my enjoyment of what would otherwise be splendid tobaccos. Does this bother anyone else?

Patrick A Bizon (Elminster)

It seems to be a pretty fair question. Now, not too many of us are regularly cracking into a fresh tin of McClelland tobaccos these days – unless we had the prescient gift of foresight to stash away voluminous amounts of this sacred leaf before they went extinct.

Here is Dave Windsor, the blender of Bufflehead Tobaccos, tackling a response:

Does The ketchup ruin the blend?

This is a rather belated response to an earlier posting that I just could not find the time to respond to. Having just returned from a two-week vacation that was quite enjoyable, there were many things to do.

Went I visited ASP for the first time, upon my return, there were +1500 postings to browse through. I think I have it figured out, but does OT mean On Topic or Off Topic. There seem to be more OT’s, but that might be another topic.

The posting “Does the ketchup ruin the blend” just jumped out at me. One is entitled to express their viewpoint be it a question or a statement, this is good. However, this one is just misinformed and I feel that it should be addressed.

I picked up the phone and suggested to the McClelland folks that we address this Posting. It did not take much encouragement. If you prefer bottom lines, there is no ketchup used in any of their blends what so ever.

McClelland buys and ages their leaf in their storage building in the state of North Carolina for three to five years. During this period of time there occurs a natural “sweating” of the high sugar content leaf.

The next step is to ship the aged leaf to their factory in Kansas City where it is pressed and further aged in cake form for a period of time. Then it is further aged, in their tins, for one to two years before shipping to retailers.

The aroma, or imagined taste, is in reality a natural fermentation that takes place during this entire ageing process. Their tobaccos are of the best of high grade and quality with a very high sugar content, which enables this “natural” process to occur.

Having smoked, selling and enjoying their tobaccos since their inception as a tobacco company, I would find it hard to believe after selecting and buying the best of tobacco leaf available each year, then aging, storing, pressing and packaging that they would use
“ketchup” or any other flavoring. Thus my call for clarification and enlightenment for myself and hopefully for the reader of this posting.

If the smell of ketchup is still there when you open a new tin and sniff, what you are detecting is natural fermentation.

David Windsor/ The Bufflehead Shop
Aug 6, 2001, 2:27:11 PM

G.L. Pease, also speaking on this issue of a “ketchup” smell responded to this comment from Bob Clair:

The smell is from cider vinegar. It is added to inhibit the growth of mold while allowing the tobacco to remain moist. The smell doesn’t come from natural fermentation.

Bob Clair (Dugoutdog)
Jan 9, 2003, 12:20:27 PM

Two things. First, vinegar does not inhibit mold. This is some sort of urban legend amongst pipe smokers. I don’t know where it started, but it’s simply not true. There are molds that happen to thrive in acidic environments, so if a substrate, loaded with tasty food stuffs for fungi, and dotted with a few spores, is saturated with vinegar, the fungi will have everything they need for a grand romp on the town. Try it. Take some tobacco, soak it with vinegar, leave it out, and watch your science project spring to life.

Further, the tablespoon per gallon or some such thing I’ve read about in this group wouldn’t alter the pH of the water sufficiently to do anything. Vinegar simply is not a fungistatic agent.

Second, while it’s possible they may add acetic acid (I doubt it, but it’s possible) the only thing that would support this theory would be to hear this directly from Mike or Mary, or spend the money on lab analysis, which would still not be conclusive, for a variety of reasons. If anyone has heard this directly from Mike or Mary, I’ll retract my statement
immediately.

There are many byproducts of the fermentation and aging processes, some of which may well be acetate. I’ve experienced similar aromas in plenty of tobaccos aged under certain conditions that were known to me NOT to be amended in any way.

Finally, if someone were to say it smells like Branston Pickle, or something else, I might go along with it. But ketchup? I’ve got a tin of 5100 in front of me right now. I smell a lot of things in it, most of which are very pleasant, some of which bear some resemblance to pickled fruit. I’ve smelled black tea, green tea, dried apricot, figs, cocoa, the list goes on, in McClelland’s tobaccos. Not ketchup. And, this has nothing at all to do with my willingness to admit it or not to.

-glp
G. L. Pease
Jan 10, 2003, 3:35:00 AM

I love these old archives to go back and revisit many of the discussions around pipes and tobaccos. Smatterings of current events or other such things taking place around the time of the post are also pleasant to revisit and remember.

I hope that you will now have a better appreciation and understanding not only of how great and unique McClelland tobacco was when it was being made, but also some of the processes, consideration, and planning that have to go in to a blend from concept, to execution, and ultimately enjoyment.