Burns pretty cool, and has a decent flavor, however it is a little hard for me to keep lit, but all Mcclelland tobaccos are, so must just be me.

I dont know why but it seems like a smoke for foggy/rainy days.

As for it smoking characteristic's? Very well behaved, gathers some fullness as you get to the bottom of the bowl. I really enjoy this bend in my Ashton Old Church Poker...

Yes, this is in the "classic English" category and well done...

At any rate, I enjoyed the flavor of this one as an all-'rounder, but I especially enjoyed it's layers of complexity. The blend changed from moment to moment. Sometimes it was a sweet virginia with a side of smokiness, sometimes it produced this tart toasted quality, and sometimes it approached a lat bomb. Memories of certain Pease blends constantly came to mind as I smoked this and ultimately I came to the conclusion that it had 90% of the flavor of Odyssey and 90% of the complexity of Abingdon in one blend. It's like someone combined those two but reduced their top strengths somewhat.

This is an excellent blend. I wasn't crazy about all the stems and clumps and that loses one star. I can't call this a modern day classic but it's definitely a blend that someone who is into this traditional recipe should try. It has its own flavor signature that I find quite worthwhile.

I prefer the Syrian version but i make sure to have both on hand

Before I had read his review I, too, thought of Johnnie Black. Whereas Three Oaks Syrian is an excellent example of tobacco blends being like a "single malt" scotch, this can be likened to a top-notch blended scotch. And, to continue the comparison, like a blended scotch this can be enjoyed with more frequency, unlike a single malt which ought to be savored when the time is right.

You can taste the many similarities between these two siblings, and yet they're different enough to be entirely different smokes. To use another analogy: by taking an image and shifting its color lookup table (eg: moving the hue slider in photoshop) the image can have an entirely different feel. This blend feels like the taste-lookup table of Three Oaks Syrian has been shifted from unique, translucent waves of creosotic amber to more opaque waves of a more familiar sweet-smoky ivory creaminess to create a different, though equally exceptional smoking experience.

I don't experience the aftertaste that Demetri does, which causes him to drop his rating to three stars. However, I was reluctant to give this one four stars because I didn't think it would be fair to its sibling Three Oaks Syrian, which is a truly transcendent blend. But it would be wrong to give this any less than four stars since it legitimately deserves it -- it's an exceptional blend in its own right, one which I find I can smoke more regularly than its brother which, to me, is to be more savored. This and its brother have both become desert island blends for me.

But...

First of all, this is my first McClelland blend so far. I read somewhere that the ketchup/vinegar kind of sour tin aroma is they're signature thing, something about preservatives they are using on the tobacco. Might be, but it's not very pleasant. Yes it's cool-smoking from the tin. But, it still gives me some tongue bite. Drying doesn't help. So, I guess it's the virginias they use. I can't say that I like this stuff too much. However, it's never a boring smoke. You get a different dominating component with each puff. And every time I smoke it seems to be a different experience.

2.7 stars

This is such an interesting tobacco! The first third is what you'd expect with a blend including these ingredients - a smooth, smoky, latakia-driven flavor with sweet virginias adding support and an occasional kick from the orientals. After the first third, there is an interplay between the orientals and the latakia, as the virginias always maintain an even-keeled supporting role. At times it tastes just like Lancer's Slices - just VA and lots of LAT smokiness. At other times, especially when the temperature of the smoke rises a little from some more concerted puffing, the orientals kick up and take the lead. You can control which flavor you experience by just changing your cadence.

This blend never burns hot, barely warming the surface of my Nording Signature freehand. Granted, this is a thick-walled pipe but many other blends have heated it up significantly. Three Oaks Original keeps cool, stays rich, never gets sharp or bitter, and smokes to the bottom with a dry, dark-colored ash. No gurgling, just a wonderful, sweet/smoky, oriental-spiced wonder.