McClelland - Bombay Court pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 27 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
AbeCox	05/09/2010	Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable
A delicious blend. The VA's really come to be a great starter, when the blend then meanders into the Turkish and sparks the Latakia. The blend was a perfect balance in my opinion, and I can't imagine it will last very long unsmoked. The tin is from 2003, and it has been aged to perfection. It has the potential to be an all day, as its mildness doesn't leave the pallate wanting rest while it has enough flavor and depth to stay fresh and with depth. Yummy.
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RMBittner	11/04/2009	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
My review is based on a 2005 tin, opened and smoked (very quickly) in 2009. I'll keep this brief. As others have noted, this is a delicious English blend with a decided emphasis on the Turkish. The McClelland Virginias provide a rich and flavorful foundation, and there's just the right balance of latakia in the blend. This is an excellent smoke that comes very close to being "highly recommended." I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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mel51us	06/13/2009	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
This is a very flavorful English blend. Good moisture content from the tin, was easy to load and light. Only needed a minimum of attention while smoking. Left a salt and pepper ash and a dry pipe. The Latakia is very noticeable in the tin aroma, but none of the components dominate the flavor. Could easily be an all day smoke. Possibly too intense for a new pipester but the aromatic smoker and the seasoned pipester of "non-flavored" blends just may enjoy this, even if only on an occasion.
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Rusty	09/13/2008	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
These notes are based on a tin of Bombay Court originally packed in 1999. If I had written a review based on the first few pipefuls after opening the tin, I would have rated this blend as "ho-hum". But I put the tin away and actually forgot about it for about six months. When I rediscovered it, and loaded a pipe...Wow! The idle time made a world of difference. It was a little drier in the tin, and the flavors of the virginias, turkish and latakia now seemed to be in perfect balance. A classic recipe, beautifully executed. This has quickly become a favorite of mine.
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WillardFan	06/08/2008	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
Move over you Frogs. Now this stuff is, oh so yummy, it's almost too hard to describe. I've tried this in three different pipes, the last one being a Ceramic Bowled Calabash. Being a glazed bowl and kept quite clean, it doesn't have the ghosts' of a 100 different tobaccos. The flavors of Bombay Court came through in waves, and it only got better down to the last snippet of tobacco. The Virginias IMHO were the most predominant, with the remaining tobaccos appearing in the background where they added some very tasty additions to this amazing smoke. This is my first venture into a McClelland Tobacco, and I wasn't disapointed. 4 Stars and a Plus! Randy W...
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renaissance man	07/13/2007	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is one of my first ventures out of the aromatic category so keep that in mind while reading my review. I found the Latakia to be a dominant flavor in the first half of the bowl which I like but not quite as strong as is in this blend. Several of the other reviews say that the Latakia is very much on the back burner so that tells you that I don't mix much of it in my home blends. I do enjoy the last half of the bowl more than the first half as the sweetness marries with the other flavors more. I find this blend a little harder to light than other tobaccos I am used to smoking but I did purchase the tin and haven't allowed it to sit uncovered for any length of time. I smoke this blend in a Danish Freehand that I made myself out of plateau briar. I can tell you that even after saying what I didn't prefer in this tobacco that it is extremely clean tasting, even and cool burning and that it does not bite. I have also smoked it exclusively since I purchased it 4 days ago which says a lot for it's ability to please the smoker. I will surely be looking into more of this company's blends. Oh and the wife who is used to a Peter Stokkebye Black Cavendish or Blue Note fragrance said this one could be smoked in the house. WOW!!!
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Desertrat	05/28/2006	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This has become one of my favorite tinned blends. I purchase mostly bulk, so I only keep a half dozen or so tins around at any given time. This has an initial sweetness and somewhat smoky flavored charring light, and after a tamping and another light, burns readily. I like the way the flavors express themselves, one by one as the smoke progresses. The latakia is always present, but stays in the background and the sweetness of the Virginias and orientals sort of ebb and flow thru the bowl. I will always keep this in the rotation, and I really have not found if aging will improve this or not. I enjoy it just like it is, no drying required.
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drwatson53	04/29/2006	Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
While my tastes in tobacco are wide, usually Oriental blends are not my first choice. But from time to time I find their character exciting and necessary to have in the tobacco bar. Usually the problem I find is they are rich and heavy after awhile. But Bombay Court was like a fine dry gin. Very dry, balanced, nice flavor and pleasant room note. This would be the one Oriental that I could smoke every day for an extended period of time. I smoked it in a Peterson rustic dry system. It packed easily. Lit easily and stayed lit to the bottom of the bowl. Burned down to a fine white ash and left the pipe very clean. Would reccomend it to English blend smokers wanting a break from their usual blends.. This was very balanced and unobtrusive..Will keep a steady supply around.
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Buster Bluth	03/09/2006	Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I hold Latakia in the same esteem I hold Perique. It's a spice/flavoring. I like English/Scottish blends, but want my Latakia in the background. In general, I feel that McClelland tastefully handles Latakia in their blends. A little smokiness to balance out the sweetness of VA's is always the way to do it, IMO. Bombay court is a regular standby that has handled evening Churchwarden service for me, particularly during the colder mos. Here' why. There's always a surprise at the "bottom of the box" Upon lighting, the Turkish and Latakia dominate. Around mid bowl, the torch is passed to the VA's. The smokiness of Latakia stays present but is offset by the sweetness of the Virginias. It's a smooth transition, like a DGT you kept smoking. Non-smokers weren't assaulted by the Latakia. Very dry and white ashes. 4 stars and many cans in the cardboard boxes I call a "cellar" , but I see no need to age, I like "as is"
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Black Seamus	11/27/2005	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
I got a tin of this put up in 1999 from the estate of my departed friend, Luke Lofton, as fine a pipeman as ever to share a bowl with. As such, and being a big fan of the Turkish leaf, I wanted to love it. Sad to say, I don't. Oh, I like it just fine, but I don't love it. The first flavor to come through upon lighting is the trademark McClelland's ketchup-topped Virginia, but that settles down fairly quickly To become a rather delicate and well-mannered flavor. The Turkish really doesn't come into its own until mid-bowl. It plays well with the Virginia. I believe that the Latakia used in this blend is Syrian, providing a sour/salty/smokey thread that weaves throughout the smoke, staying at the edges. If you're a fan of Virginia's in general, or of McClelland's Virginias in particular, you'll probably really enjoy this blend. Likewise if you're a fan of Syrian Latakia. (I prefer the Cyprian.) If you're a fan of Turkish, I believe you'll find a much better experience with Dunhill's London Mixture. In the McClelland line, I much prefer British Woods. I'll finish this tin without complaint, and think about Luke as I do, but I won't be buying Bombay Court again.
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NapaWineLover	09/18/2005	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is a very balanced tobacco and highly pleasurable. It had a enough smoky latakia to be interesting and not too much to be afraid of offending the unenlightened. It reminds me of a blend that I used to buy years ago close by to Wall St at a tobacconist on Maiden Lane, although this is far superior, the balance is what they share. The ash is light and it burns clean to the bottom of the bowl. If you accidently puff on this a little to aggressively and heat it up ... it will forgive you and settle down as you do. (Or as I did, as it were) Very nice stuff! VC
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Wartooth	07/11/2005	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is one of my top 5 all-time favorite blends. The closest thing I have as a "go to" blend. Typical McClelland tangy broken virginia flake with a nice amount of oriental leave to add a bit of sourness and spice. The latakia peeks its head out once in a while but certainly never comes to the forefront. This could be a great intro to oriental blends for those wishing to venture out of the realm of virginia flakes.
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Professor	05/15/2005	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Strong
McClelland's Bombay Court is surprisingly unpleasant. This 'Personal Reserve' looks good and smells great in the tin. Unfortunately, there the positive notes end. This is a 'taste like something smells' weed and in this case it is a mixture of new vinyl and a well-used kitty litter box. However crude that reads, it is truth that is not helped by the fact that this tobacco also burns very hot. The kind people of Mumbai would be insulted by such a namesake and with good reason.
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thedstnguishdgntlmn	02/05/2005	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Truth be told I am not a devout McClelland fan, BUT this is the exception. I have been searching for a virginia flake that does not burn the tongue or make the belly queasy,and I believe I have found it.The dominant flavor of this blend is a rubbed out Virginia flake with just a dab of Latakia and a generous amt of Orientals and Turkish added.The blend defines what must have been an aromatic of yesteryear.It is sweet, mild, and bursting with flavor.My very good friend who loves McClelland said I would not like this blend so naturally I had to try it.Needless to say, a fair amt of his tin was left in my posession.When looking for a change from Latakia blends this is the ultimate in flavor!This is the best non-aromatic i have sampled from this company to date. I will make it part of my rotation. 3.5 0f 4 stars.
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emmbee	02/03/2005	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant
An excellent offering in the Personal Reserve series by McClelland. This is a rich, dark blend of ribbon cut Virginias with Macedonians and a hint of Latakia. It has much of the same McClelland benchmarks: ketchupy tin aroma, thick, sugary cuts of tobacco and attention to quality with an emphasis on top grade stoved Virginia. This has much of the exotic charm of the British Woods with a bit of sweet piquancy ala Frog Morton. But it?s a more reserved version of each. Though it doesn?t rock my world like the two aforementioned, it?s a mixture worthy of merit. This could easily be an all day tobacco, as it doesn?t burn the tongue and no wet dottle is evident. Excellent, though I probably will stick with British Woods or one of the Frogs when I?m in the mood for a tobacco of this style. Three and a half of Five Stars
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RCUSElder	12/07/2004	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong
12-07-2004 A light oriental. Appearance and Tin Aroma: This doesn't smell swampy like Bombay Extra, just a typical light oriental. Very similar to Oriental #8 and #12. Leaf is light brown to dark brown. Packing and Lighting: Easy, but is very moist in the tin. 2-3 lights max. Initial Flavor: Nice burst of the turkish from the get go, some bright VA too. Mid-Bowl: Same round turkish dominated flavor, not too pungent, a little spicyness from the red VA noticable. Latakia is in the background. Bottom of Bowl: A slight build up of strength, gery mottled ash is left with some moisture in the heel and shank, 2-3 pipecleaners worth! Overall: This is a smooth oriental blend, but is just too bland for me. It might be a good intro to Turkish dominated blends though. Rating: 3 out of 5 points
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Beer	08/31/2004	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
Not bad, interestingly sweet/smoky/musty, especially in the first half bowl. Can bite due to the high virginia content. Same "pear" tin aroma of Extra, compared to which it's actually better, tastier and smokier, as Extra drowns orientals with Latakia and Perique.
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Inquisitor	01/17/2004	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
Bombay Court was reviewed by five reviewers in a blind pipe tobacco tasting in 2002 (I think). A Latakia blend that even non-Latakia folks enjoy. Below is the transcript, snipped to fit (mostly non-smoking parts). Terry Freeman: (snip) beautifully warm, nutty and leathery smell that reminds me of saddle leather and early spring air redolent of wood fires and freshly-turned earth.(snip) first touch of flame gives me a naturally sweet mouthful of rich, medium density smoke?smooth, slightly nutty ?barest trace of Latakia smokiness?.The most noticeable?the Virginia base and generous ? Turkish. ? VERY smooth but of light to medium strength? The ?first third ? sweet and nutty. On the tongue it reminds me of lightly smoked roasted cashews, while the smoke ? pure roasting chestnuts! ?reminds me somewhat of Dunhill's EMP. As the bowl burns ?, sweetness ..subsiding into a soft richness as the Virginias take on their usual later-in-the-bowl density and weight. The Story: Down past the halfway point, the sweetness has subsided a bit and there is a distinct pepperiness and an astringency?. Not a trace of bite. ?great light smoke, perfect for a sunny morning like this?.changes flavors in a very subtle way with no obnoxious interludes. Denouement: Beautiful finish, ? sweetness peeking ?out between the full flavors of the Virginia and Turkish tobaccos. The Latakia is still in the background, used as a spice rather than a main course. ? rich biteless flavor and a pleasantly accessible simplicity. A quiet thoughtful experience which requires little attention to keep things burning easily and coolly. Pros: ? no bite, lights and burns well, flavor relatively stable. It's rich but mild, low in nicotine and easy to smoke for extended periods?.Good all-day smoke for lovers of oriental tobaccos [who don?t like Latakia overwhelmed Englishes] yet enjoy the subtle interplay between a solid Virginia base and well-used condiment tobaccos. Cons: None that I could find?.This one's a winner. Dave Haig: (snip) smoky, strong latakia odor was hard to overcome?. small sniff of Virginia and ? perique?amount must be minute. .This tobacco is solid from start to finish...definitely for the latakia fan! Likes: I am not a latakia fan, but ? This blend however wasn't unpleasant at all and I will happily add it to my cellaring blends?Dislikes: Some of you may be turned off by the latakian blends, (snip) but I think there is enough viriginia to appeal to a wide range of smokers. Greg Hampton: (snip) first quarter of the bowl, ? quite unremarkable,...actually smoked nicely without tongue bite?latakia was the dominant flavor, though not heavy, with an underlying (Virginia) sweetness?half bowl ? picked up ? smokiness and sweetness, ?became more balanced. Now, I was interested. The flavors ? smoked meats and something darker, like cocoa or espresso, and the sweetness, like dried fruit. The texture ? smooth and fairly creamy. ?very end ? became a little dark and harsh. ?smoked fairly cool and dry throughout... 2nd smoke: ?tasted a bit fuller?not as much harshness at the end. Overall impression: 7 out of 10. ?good volume of smoke, room aroma ok ?didn't leave a bad aftertaste. ? pretty decent smoke. ?Not everyday smoke, but I will definitely smoke this again. Lars Eriksson: (snip) Initially ?very, very mild ?burns tongue somewhat.. A bit boring, Unpersonal?Pipe ? very hot. I might have been latakia "poisoned" when I smoked this?didn't find any taste at all?nothing I would buy. Don Givens: (snip) the champion of slow-smoking delight. The subtle interplay of Oriental versus Latakia with the occasional ?Virginia? very distinct flavor, ?develops throughout the bowl. ? undoubtedly light but the monumental complexities as the bowl wears on nearly overwhelm the palate. ?hot if puff [at more than smoulder]?though flavor wouldn?t allow?slight acidic taste [at the end if sample too moist but] overall quality more than makes up for the end. Overall Rating 9 of 10
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SlowDraw	07/19/2003	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
Being an admirer of McC VA's & their Orient/English blends that restrain the latakia, it was not hard for me to enjoy this. Like #6, tin aroma is mainly fruity kinda 'oily' with a leathery background Latakia presence. Inthe bowl it tastes smooth, rich & somewhat creamy & without the bitterness towards the end common to more latakia heavy blends. My tongue remains unscathed from BC, though a slight dryness & rawness was noted after a ...well, fairly too casual smoke- faltering technique style smoke we've all had. Though this phenomenom is typical of anything with the powerful, sugar-rich McClelland Va's in it & I can usually avoid their chastisements using a variation of the breath-smoking tech. All in all, primo stuff & I see myself buying more.
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BostonPipe	06/22/2003	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
To begin, I find this to be a more balenced blend than Bombay Extra, (see review). In the tin the tobacco is predominantly dark with an odd lighter ribbon now and then. A little springy on the light it did require a relight and tamp to get it going. I note all the componenets on the first half and during the second half the latakia slightly pokes ahead of the others. I find this blend to be a nice, comforting, English blend with no surprises. I like the fact that it is not a latakia "loaded" blend. The balence is great. This is an English that I could smoke all day long. It burns to a grey/white ash with little dottle left at the end. It does seem to stay dryer if allowed to air out a bit before packing. Nice, smooth, consistent smoke.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 27 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >