pipesandcigars.com Starlit Night

Mostly black ribbons with some chestnut brown pieces, and a tin aroma that is very light. Latakia leads the way but not by much. Very subdued in the tin.

McClellands excels at many things and one of them is making a very smooth and lighter-bodied blend that tastes much richer than you'd expect. The tin nose made me think this would be on the light side of the spectrum but it was surprisingly robust in flavor. The latakia was the main player with the Cavendish and orientals to the rear. The Virginias serve as a base so that the whole thing doesn't collapse but adds a slightly sweet and crisp underpinning. I think most of the sweetness comes from the Cavendish, and this reminds me of a more subtle Dunhill 965. And of course it is when I start comparing that things go south. This is smooth and very flavorful but doesn't have the flavor burst of 965. Taken on its own, it's an interesting blend. McClellands lat blends tend to be ruled by those distinctive Virginias. This one does not follow that pattern. It reminds me of Balkan Blue (the closest McC blend to a lat bomb) that has a bit less latakia and more Cavendish sweetness. Two similar blends that are masterfully dissimilar. 🙂 3 stars for this one, which means I enjoyed my time with it but have no desire to cellar. Try this if you like sweetness with your lat blends.

This is a real sleeper and great smoke! Dark and bold well aged Latakia makes its smoky presence known immediately at the match, and the supporting Virginia and Orientals add bundles of rich and spicy flavor. There is also some unflavored black Cavendish in the mix to add body. Nicely done!

I'm smoking this in a huge Greatline Dublin as I write this and I'm really enjoying this tobacco. Firstly I find that it is a little bit moist right out of the tin and really improves with a half hour or so out in the air. To me this one is a more successful " crossover" mixture. Nice smoky notes from the Latakia, but in perfect harmony with the Cavendish, possibly sweeter Orientals and a smooth Virginia. The blend it reminds me most of is the old Blatter Reserve. Shades of the SPC Plumcake here as well. Very easy on the mouth and tongue which is very important to this Trumpetboy. As much as I enjoy this type of mixture occasionly, I tend to prefer a big "straight" Balkan or English in the evenings without the pronounced sweetness. That's just me- your mileage may vary. However this is a smooth finely crafted tobacco-- think of Blue Mountain with the Lat turned down slightly and adding a bit a Cavendish sweetness.

Trumpetboy

Just a nice mild English blend that anyone can enjoy. The opening presents a nice generally mild tobacco note with no particular blend standing out. Lights very easy and burn is easy. Flavor and taste are both very mild with again no particular type of tobacco jumping out front. I guess there is a smoky flavor from the Latakia but it is very mild. There is some hay flavor and this seems to be the dominate flavor with the smoky taste coming and going throughout the smoke. This is a great blend for the beginner pipe smoker wanting to try out an English blend. You could smoke this anytime. The room note is pretty mild and is tolerable. This is just a real nice easy going smoke. It doesn't set the world on fire but anyone can enjoy it.

This improves some, given a week or two to breath. The first 1/3 of the bowl is somewhat flavorful, mild and interesting. The flavor reminds me of Frog Morton ?, Blue Mountian ?, Plum Pudding ? anyway, in that genre, but NOT as flavorful ,but it is smooth. Then the last 2/3s , bad things happen for me, it turns "Muddy" , flavorless , hot. Maybe it's me, puffing too hard to get some flavor ,. I'll finish the tin but it just doesn't have enough flavor for me.

I like reviewer's, "DK (739) 2016-03-06 ", evaluation of this blend . Some might feel it deservers 3 stars, but I can only give it 2, NO Flavor

I found this to be a fantastic surprise, having bumped into it by accident when browsing the PipesandCigars web site. This is a special limited edition blend made by McClelland for PipesandCigars. Being a big McClelland fan, Starlit Night really caught my attention, as it has the same Cavendish/Virginia/Latakia/Oriental make- up of one of my other McClelland favorites -- Ashton Revival: Old Dog. This one is similar to Old Dog but a bit fuller. It is fairly dry right out of the tin, and I find that it doesn't need any drying time. It produces huge amounts of creamy smoke and this has been a one match smoke for me. Easy to stay lit, burns very well down to a fine ash with no bite at all -- even for a heavy puffer like me. There is the definite Latakia smokiness and the Virginias and Cavendish give a nice, slight but noticeable sweetness. Like most McClellands, Nicotine level is pretty low, which is fine for me. If you're looking for a tobacco with these flavors but something that will also make your head swim, this is not it (at least not for me). This one is a real winner for me - - very high quality tobacco skillfully blended, and one of those special blends that - - as soon as I finish a bowl -- I want to fire up another one right away. Really exceptional. Definite 4 stars. Highly recommended.