McClelland Oriental Mixture No. 1

One of McClelland's oldest blends, Oriental #1 is soft on the palate with a whisper of Latakia and overtones of mild Orientals with a little Virginia leaf tossed in to provide backbone.

My tin was 14-years old and the presentation at the match was lightly spicy. The smoke settled down as the Orientals faded and the Virginia leaf and Latakia were more pronounced from mid-bowl on down.

I admit it took me awhile to get through the 100g tin as I prefer a little more muscle in my smokes.

The McClelland Oriental (green) series is now complete, and has definitely taught me that I prefer stronger latakia blends, if the blend is going to contain that leaf. The mild ones just don't work for me.

I found this one overly bland. The virginias were of high quality but the inclusion of orientals and latakia dulled the VA sweetness. The taste was somewhat ashy, as opposed to the "clean" taste of #6 and #8. The condiment leaf was more of a teaser, but it didn't make me want to continue. They became just a touch more apparent down the bowl but again, they actually subtracted from the blend.

Perhaps a good starter tobacco for the VA smoker that wants to dip his toes into oriental and latakia. I found this preferable to Dunhill EMP but not as fulfilling as Rattrays 7 Reserve (neither of which I'll probably ever smoke again - same with this one!). I'm sticking with fuller latakia mixtures when I go that route but if you're dabbling with latakia or you simply prefer a slight spice with your virginias, definitely give this one a try.

This is an interesting tobacco to my taste buds, and has helped me appreciate the gentle yet flavorful nature of Oriental tobacco better.

My tin from 1996 resembled the typical McClelland scent for the most part. It was covered in crystals. Very nice to look at. The smell was slightly different from those average McC blends.

I taste the VA and Oriental tobacs clearly, but for the life of me, I cannot taste the Latakia. The tin of tobac I have states that McClelland tobacs are make with VAs, Orientals and Latakia, but doesn't specifically state what is in No. 1.

In any case, I like this tobacco. It's a nice pipe for the early morning that sings of more floral notes and less smokiness one would get from an English or Balkan mixture.

The Latakia is light lending a whisper of smoke that is always present. The Orientals and Virginias contrast nicely with a sweet & sour interplay. The Virginias have a nice fruity note that, at times, reminds me of Kool-Aid. Not sure if that note is natural or not, but I'll say no flavoring detected. A nice blend.

Mild in body. Mild to medium in flavor. Burn is decent. Needs a few relights.

I recently smoked my way through a 13 year old vacuum sealed t3.5 oz. Tin. The tobacco had signs of fermentation and was absolutely sublime. It had an endless procession of vivacious virginias, teamed with tasty orientals mingled in the most delightful fashion with some lustful latakias and pixie peri questions being delightfully coy. The mixture of the demure and the rich and robust was delightful A very fine blend I have tins aging.

This is the first of McClelland's Oriental series that I have tried. It's really an excellent, mild smoke. Very tasty with a balance of Virginias, Orientals and Latakia. I'm debating whether to include it in my regular rotation. Almost, but I don't think so. Certainly worth trying. I give it a 3.

Just for reference, I'm smoking a tin from 2007. While it hasn't aged much, it may have made a bit of difference.

I'm still relatively new to pipe smoking, and this was one of my first good experience with orientals. One of my go-to tobaccos up to this point has been McClellend's Red Cake bulk #5100, and I do get hints of that in this tobacco. The description given for this tobacco is pretty spot on. I love the flavor of the McClelland virginias because of their sweet, mild taste. The orientals just make it a bit more interesting that 5100 in my opinion.

Similarly to McClelland's Frog Morton Across the Pond, this tobacco is pretty smooth in flavor. I like this style english much better than some of the heavier latakia blends because of its milder flavor . In fact, the orientals give off a smell/taste of incense (although very mild.)

Lastly, when I first smoked this tobacco I was sampling a tin from 03 and I definitesly think the orientals came out more in that smoke (although it could have just been that particular tin). I would highly recommend this tobacco to any Virginia smoker, or even perhaps someone who smokes mostly latakia based english blends who is looking for a change of pace. 4 stars!

Appearance: Ribbon cut, average length. Predominantly orange reddish, with small amounts of ligher and darker leaf.

Aroma: Smells like a Virginia of medium strenght and maturity. I cannot find Oriental or Latakia with my nose. Some vinegar smell.

Packing: Nice ribbon cut packs easily.

Lighting: Lights easily, sometimes on one match.

Initial flavor: There isn?t any flavor to speak of. I know it?s supposed to be ?lightly seasoned? with Orientals, but I can?t find them. Neither can I find any significant flavor of matured Virginias.

Mid-bowl: Just bland, and can bite if you?re not careful.

Finish: I was just glad to get to the finish, so that I could smoke something more rewarding. If clean ash were reason enough to smoke a blend, then this one would qualify. I can?t find any other reason to smoke it

Summary: Might be a good intro to natural tobaccos for the aromatic smoker.

I found a jar of mixture one while organizing my cellar and decided to give it another try.

Moisture was great. Easy to load. Easy to light.

I find myself really enjoying this now. The Latakia is light and the orientals add spice to the underlying sweetness of the base of Virginia. It tends to want to burn a little hot if pushed.

This is really good and I am glad I found the jar to finish but not good enough to pay today's prices for more.

Contents: Latakia? Well, there was a little in there. Fine with me, I like just a touch, usually. Someone gave it to me as a sample-actually when I bought my all time favorite example of tin art, C&D Constipated Cockroach, on Ebay. It was mellow and enjoyable, seemed well aged and quite dry in the ziplock bag, and not too much of the orientals for my taste.

Edit 7-11-2012: I cracked a tin of 2006 not too long ago, and have been enjoying it. It is a bit too mellow and one-dimensional to be a go-to smoke, but I smoked almost half the tin pretty fast, so I think it could be one of those tobaccos that I could sometimes really be in the mood for. Lucky for me, I also have a sealed 100g tin from 2000 in reserve. I was right in my original assessment of the Latakia content: it is light, and reminds me somewhat of Rattray's Professional Mixture in that regard, though only in the application of the Latakia. The Rattray's Professional is an entirely different animal!

One last observation for now about the Oriental #1. Most McClellands I have had, especially the typical matured Virginia broken flakes, tend to get very dry and crunchy when I leave a bowl's worth in my drying bowl for a couple hours. This, for some reason, stays at about tin moisture even if I leave it overnight, which is ok, since I have no lighting/burning issues with it.

BTW, I have come to appreciate Latakia more by now, though I don't like typical Medium Englishes so much; now I like either the light touch found here, or a real mainline, such as is found in C&D Pirate Kake! I really like Syrian Latakia, but it is hard to find. I fairly recently reviewed Hermit Antique pressed Syrian Cake, and love the stuff: winey!