McClure's Garlic Dill Pickles

I found McClure's Garlic Dill Pickles at Eastern Market in Detroit this past fall. I don't recall the price, but I want to say it was around $6--gourmet rates. The McClure folks have locations in Detroit and Brooklyn, New York. That combination seemed unusual to me, but I figured if it was a good pickle in deli-savvy Brooklyn, New York, there must be something to it. They had a small table set up in the market with samples of their spicy and garlic-dill varieties. The spicy were HOT, but still very tasty. I opted to take home a jar of the garlic-dill and save my taste buds from certain cremation.

The first thing I noticed was all of the fresh dill weed and garlic stuffed into the jar. No mincing or sprinkles here--you're gettin' a whollup of herbs and spices with these babies. These are very crunchy pickles. I loved the crisp crunch in every pickle and in every bite. They also pack them in 1/2 spears for a portion of the jar. I wasn't sure at first, but found out later...

The second "different" thing you'll notice about McClures is that they have a stronger vinegar flavor than you might be used to. The wonderful flavors of the hearty portions of garlic and dill really stand out, and combined with the vinegar, give the pickles a very interesting crisp flavor to match the physical crispness. This pickle is meant to be a condiment, not a side dish or snackin' pickle. If you snack on dills, like I do, about 3/4 of the way through one of these spears, you'll find that you get a vinegar backlash that gives way to a "Whoa!" and a head-shake. This explains why some of the spears are cut in half. But even with the "Whoa!", the derned things taste great, so you shake it off and finish the rest with joy.

In a nutshell, these are pickles with a purpose. They're great with a sandwich, or with something that'll counter the vinegar periodically. They taste great, so they do make a good snacker pickle, but in moderation. The McClure family has done an artful job on these babies, and deserve praise for the Garlic Dill with a punch.

I've since found that Whole Foods carries McClure's pickles!

UPDATE (1/16/10): I've started referring to a Crunch-O-Meter scale of 1 to 10 to measure crunchiness. Its worth noting that the McClure Dill is my crunchy benchmark, the proverbial "10" of crunchiness. I'd almost say it was an "11", but I figure I'll leave the 11 out of 10 number as a guitar amp setting.

UPDATE (3/15/13): McClure's changed their picture, so I had to update it.  I've also found that their vinegar is at the extreme end of things--a BANG! of an after-taste.  Its the first vinegar I've tasted with backlash, and after 3 years, still sets the standard.  Their crunchiness is also my standard bearer.