McClelland Christmas Cheer 2005

Christmas Cheer 2005 is the 2005 release of the series in which McClelland presented a single Virginia harvest as a separate tin each year. Select, matured orange-red flue-cured Virginia leaves are pressed into cake, aged, sliced, and partly broken up before going into the tin as broken flake; this form eases packing. The blend is unflavored; taste comes from the leaf's own sugar and maturation. The sharp tang in the tin note is a known trait of the brand's Virginias. Since each year's crop differs, character shifts between releases, and tins continue to change as they're cellared. The maker ceased operations in 2018.