McClelland Mellow Mack

(2.80)
The mildest and smoothed of pipe tobaccos. This is a mild, smooth, rich pipe tobacco that improves throughout the smoke, owing to the slow release of the flavors inherent in the top quality leaf used in the blend. The aroma tends toward wild honey and, perhaps, pecan.

Details

Brand McClelland
Series Premium Aromatic
Blended By McClelland Tobacco Company
Manufactured By McClelland Tobacco Company
Blend Type Aromatic
Contents Black Cavendish, Burley, Cavendish
Flavoring Honey, Pecan
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 50 grams tin
Country United States
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Very Pleasant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

2.80 / 4
14

12

15

4

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 45 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 01, 2015 Very Mild Mild Mild Very Pleasant
The burley is nutty sweet with a minor earth note, while the Virginia cavendish is slightly grassy with a touch of citrus. The black cavendish offers only a hint of vanilla, so it must be unsweetened. The honey and pecan toppings are mild, and only slightly flash off toward the finish. The toppings do sublimate the tobaccos. Has very little nicotine. Doesn't bite. Needs some dry time, and will still leave moisture in the bottom of the bowl. Needs some relights. Burns cool with no harshness, but the flavor just doesn't seem as good in the last quarter. The after taste is rather plain. An all day smoke.

-JimInks
4 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 21, 2014 Very Mild Very Mild Mild Pleasant
I tell you what....this Mellow Mack delivers on what it promises on the label. A mild and smooth smoke. It'll smack you with its mellowness. Personally i find the blend too bland because i prefer something with stronger in taste and a gentle nicotine kick..something that Mellow Mack won't do for me. But i just love the quality and texture of the smoke it gives. So i found a way to get the best out of it when i mix it with a little Irish flake and...i got the best out of it. Now....Mellow mack has become my base tobacco in which i do my own mix with other tobaccos according to my own feel on that particular day...I'd recommend Mellow Mack but not on its own....Enjoy...!
Pipe Used: Charles Rattray's Glory Day Poker
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 13, 2010 Very Mild Mild Mild Pleasant
I'm french so don't look at my english!! So, in france, the tobacco choice is very poor... Thank you internet wich allows to find and buy some good tobacco like MELLOW MACK!! It's very good: this is the first aromatic wich don't bit the tongue, very light, very easy to smoke. The taste is very good during and after smoke. I higly recommand it!!
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 19, 2005 Mild Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
Every once in a while, I enjoy a dessert tobacco after a nice dinner, and sometimes even after a lousy one. McClelland aromatics fill the bill. Mellow Mack is a loose mixed shag/ribbon cut of Virginias, probably some burley with a rich pecan and honey casing. Though most definitely a sugary cased tobacco, unlike Nat Sherman 314, this does not smoke wet and it doesn?t gurgle my pipe. It has all the hallmarks of McClelland quality. I prefer the nougat chewiness of Best of Show, but the Mack is also noteworthy. I also plan on giving the maple nut Town Topic a try. It?s a mellow smoke, wonderful in room aroma and a pleasant diversion for those who enjoy sugar in the evening, though not necessarily at suppertime. Outside of Wilke?s magnificent Bohemian, McClelland offers a quality alternative in aromatic tobacco smoking.

Three and a half of five stars


4/19 - What was I thinking when I wrote the above? I know I wasn't drinking. I guess tastes change, and this is another one I'm downgrading, especially after trying so many other finer blends and luscious aromatics. This is McC's bad seed. It's hot, acrid and syrupy. Lots of wet dottle and muck on the bottom of the pipe. This is little more than a refined Captain Black. I've had the tin open for about 4 months, and it's still wet and gloppy. This stuff won't dry out. I think there's linseed oil in it. Burns the mouth and tongue. I've got about 3/4 of the tin left. Anyone want it?

One of five stars
3 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 29, 2018 Mild Mild Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
The tin I just cracked is 13yrs old that I bought at a local B&M after the word that McClelland was closing the doors.

I've had a fresh tin a while back. I remember that being a bit wetter in the can. The top dressing was more pronounced and the leaf flavor was in the background to it. I don't recall it getting bitey or anything like that.

This tin with 13yrs age is definitely a different animal. The leaf is a tad drier. The top note has faded off a bit and the Burley + Virginia made Cavendish are definitely more to the forefront than they were in a fresh tin. The nuttiness of the Burley is more evident than the pecan flavoring.

I would say this is a good aromatic fresh, but as McClelland has closed if you come across a tin down the road it won't be a disappointing smoke. If you prefer a more natural tobacco taste then it could work out great for you.
Pipe Used: Don Warren Acorn Maplewood
PurchasedFrom: Local BM
Age When Smoked: 13yrs
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 03, 2016 Very Mild Mild Mild Very Pleasant
Well..........hmmm.......im not sure how i can put this without sounds like a pipe snob. But i dig a good aro, or a good cheap OTC aro, so i cant be too stuck up.

But.

This isnt good. Plain and simple.

It smells fantastic from the tin. Sticky. With a beautiful cut and color. Super easy to pack a bowl. But make sure you let this dry some.

It burns hot. Some gurgle in the stem, and will bite if you puff too fast. And by that, i mean more then a puff and the thought of another puff. Captain black doesnt bite this much!!!!

Once in awhile you get a sweet flavor out of this. But dont count on it.

Room note is great!!!! I just wish it tasted as good..........
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
May 16, 2009 Very Mild Mild to Medium Medium Very Pleasant
What is it about McClelland? They are consummate artists, no matter what they try their hand at. They may not always be successful (Royal Cajun Special, eg), but they always produce quality. I finally got around to trying their aromatics, and they've achieved a perfection with this genre like they have with their virgnias and their english (though balkans seem to elude them).

I've been searching for an aromatic I can say I enjoy without qualification, and I have found one with Mellow Mack. They have it just right -- it's not at all goopy and cloying, but dry and delicate and velvety. It's what a creamy Belgian confection is to a Hershey's bar; or what a fine muscat is to a wine cooler. Delicately sweet with a subtle honey and pecan essence as advertised, it's a compellingly elegant flavor with a terrific room note. It's the first aromatic I've tried I would consider a masterpiece. In fact, I don't think I've ever gone through a 50g tin so quickly.

Smells great in the tin, packs beautifully with a delicate hand, stays lit without problem, burns to a fine ash without any dottle, easily fills the mouth with billows of delightful nectar, and will not bite you not matter how hard you puff at it. Highly recommended for the non-aromatic smoker willing to try a gourmet dessert smoke.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 22, 2006 Mild Mild Mild Very Pleasant
This is a top quality American style aromatic. The tin aroma is very much like a pecan brownie.

The tin I purchased was three years old. There was no vinegar smell, and the moisture level was perfect.

Packs, lights, and smokes quite easily. Not too wet. There are hints of licorice weaving between the chocolate and pecan. The tobacco taste is nearly absent.

Afterwards, I had a pleasant aftertaste, so the tobacco is of good quality. I would recommend this as a step up from Lane or Altadis aromatics. If you like all natural tobacco, you should of course skip this. I doubt I will purchase any more, but it isn't bad.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 20, 2003 Mild Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
In Central Texas, in June, both the humidity levels and the temperature hover around 90. Every summer, about this time, two things happen. First I begin to wonder who in the hell decided to stop and settle this steamy little stretch of hell--weird fish-people who need to breathe pure steam, future deoderant magnates, ordinary masochists, families of dry cleaners? The second thing is I lose all taste for Latakia and lose some, not all, of my patience regarding Virginias. This is the time when a man smokes some kind of burley, or just gives it up and smokes cigars until October, when the first waftings of cooler air begin to make us consider turning our A/Cs off SUPER MAX.

Mellow Mack, despite the goofy name, is a quality Burley mix. It looks to be about half Burley and half Black Cavendish and there is a bit of some kind of nut-flavored top note. The effect in the pipe is a soft, mild, nutty smoke with a good tobacco flavor. The flavor is not really sweet, and has none of that weird taste and aftertaste the sweeter aromatics have. Trial pinches laid out in the open air do seem to dry out some, so the humectant level in this stuff is not overwhelming. It also smokes to a nice grey ash, and I don't seem to have any problems with wetness, gurgle, or dottle. All in all, this is a good choice for the steamier climes and I'm adding this to Mac Baren Navy Flake as one of the few aromatic Burleys I'm willing to smoke (at any time of the year). It won't replace Marlin Flake, and no one will ever mistake this blend for a great tobacco, but it's pretty damn good, and pretty unbeatable for the mission at hand.

I have smoked this tobacco in a variety of briar and meerschuam pipes, and even a cob. It goes well in all, but really shines in a well-smoked meerschaum.

Later note: Aptness for steamy Dallas summers notwithstanding, I find this tobacco uninteresting in better weather. It also seems, like many aromatics, to lose flavor after it's been opened awhile. I'll smoke it again next summer, I'm sure, but in the meantime, I'm downgrading my recommendation.
1 person found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 14, 2003 Mild Mild Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
I didn't take any notes on this, meaning a detailed review isn't possible, but since I smoke this so often, I remember it well.

This is the tobacco that you will wish drugstore tobacco tasted like. It's got a smooth flavor and it smokes well after you dry it out. It's mild, pleasant for others and it is a well-crafted blend of quality burley and cavendish.

Simply put, if you're an aromatic smoker and you can only afford one tobacco this month, make it Mellow Mack. You'll be able to smoke it without fear of reprisal and you'll be free of tongue bite and nicotine headache.

I also find this tobacco to mix well with certain other aromatics. I take 2 parts Mellow Mack and 1 part Raspberries in Cream and it seems to make the smoke milder and creamier than normal.
1 person found this review helpful.
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