Robert McConnell - Scottish Blend pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 21 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
Kovacs	02/27/2011	Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium	Strong
In the tin it smells something like smoked meat, which I found surprising, and nice (however some of my mates said it smelled horrible). When lit, it delivers the nice smoky taste. All in all a good tobacco.
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pipesmoker87	10/15/2010	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
I bought a 1oo grams tin of Scottish Blend because I wanted to experience a traditional, old- time blend. I must say that I was quite satisfied. The tin smell is great, but you will directly notice a strong adding of Latakia. In general, Latakia is not my cup of tea (thats why I normally avoid english blends), but here, it matches the blend beautifully. Packing my pipe was absolutely easy. Even though the tobacco was quite moist, it lit very fast and stayed so. No relighting was necessary. I found it quite strong, but with an elegant, relaxing taste to it, noticing the in my opinion high amount af Latakia again. It has a pleasant room note, being quite spicy and not too nasty to your non- smoking family or friends. But, you really have to be a freind of blends like this one. They have an own, unique taste and character that made them famous. But thats nothing for everybody! It was a fine trip into the world of the traditional blends, but I think I wont smoke it regularly. UPDATE 23rd of October, 2010 Since I turn to prefer english blends, this one has become one of my favourites. It has grown on me since I firstly smoked it. It's a great pleasure smoking it and I can smoke it anytime of the day. It's a high-quality, steady and balanced english mixture but somehow doesn't get boring. Excellent smoking qualities. Even though I was a little doubtful about it at first, I learned to love it in the meantime. Highly recommended.
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Claudius Stradivarius	07/25/2010	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong
I acquired 4 tins and noted serious inconsistencies from one to the other. One tin would prove to be divine and the other harsh and unpleasant. I will stay away. there are a lot of consistent good English mixtures available.
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Vaiani	05/06/2010	Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I have to say that, being accustomed to stronger and more tasty mixtures (Balkan Mixture, Elephant Dung, Schürch 128 and 146, to name names), by now this one seems to me quite unremarkable. But (someone said that, here) this could be due to some balancedness of the mixture - a very steady one, too. So I'll stick with this for some time and see how the relation develops. Last thing, I noticed that drink some glasses of just milked milk (is this a proper or at least decent expression in English?) and the smoke some of our blend, well, that fits very well. A milky mixture, I'll say. *UPDATE* I have finished some time ago my first 50 g of S.M. Initial mistrust developed into honest tolerance and again changed into warm liking... and there I ran out of the stuff. But "you can't hurry love" (sang the Supremes). Also, the S.M. is the only thing I like to smoke in the morning (I mean, to smoke "just like that" and apart from special occasions). Waiter, one more star, please! *UPDATE #2* Now I really like it.
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Porch Smoke	04/12/2010	Mild	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This blend reminds very much of MacBaren's Mixture Scottish Blend. I like this take on Scottish blends better, however, as the flavors seem to be easier to discern and appreciate than MacBaren's tendency to leave a mottled, confusing impression on the smoker. Not so easy to pack as the broken flake is pretty stringy and moist but burns great once you get past the first tamp. The room note is somewhat cigarette-ish but with a slight sweetness that makes it pleasing. Flavors I got were of honey, buttered toast, and almonds. Taste gets a little flat near the end of the bowl but worth trying.
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BrocS	02/07/2009	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild	Pleasant
I was rummaging through my local cigar store's tinned tobacco and I happened across a tin of Scottish Blend. Interesting (I thought to myself). I know I have heard of it, but can't remember if what I heard was good or bad. I read the back of the tin: "Robust classic blend of virginia, latakia, turkish and perique." Kind of pricy (but then again everything at this cigar store is over priced), but it looked like it had been there a while; maybe it has some age on it. So I bought it. 15 bucks!@#$% This better be good. First impression: I cracked the tin in the parking lot: Ketchup. That is a good sign. Very wet though. Surprisingly wet. This is going to take some drying time. I noticed that the blend has a sparing amount of latakia, but enough. When I pulled a pinch out of the tin to dry out, I noticed a little bit of glittery-sparkly stuff on the virginias. I wonder if that is because of the age of the tin? I have heard that that is a good thing, the sugar from the virginias, right? Light up: I smoked it in my Dunhill Tanshell group 4, (It really seemed to like this particular pipe). I can definitely taste the Latakia, as this seems to be the flavor I always taste in the first charring light, but not very heavy. It only took two lights (which is normal for me) and then it stayed lit pretty well. The first half of the bowl was very interesting. Very dynamic, as hints of sweetness, along with smooth, buttery, and sage-like notes billowed out of my mouth. You can taste the virginias, but they are sometimes drowned out by the other tobaccos. There is a healthy amount of perique as well (which probably gives it that mean nicotine punch). The second half of the bowl really flattened out. I was surprised because initially it seemed so promising. I thought for sure that this was going to make its way into my regular rotation, but the longer I smoked it, the less impressed i became. Not that it was bad, it was just sort of, well, flat. Overall: I have to give this one 2 1/2-2 3/4 stars. There isn't anything really spectacular about Scottish Blend, yet it has potential. It is a tobacco that I imagine will get much better with age. It may be a good blend to cellar for a few years and try again. I think if I had to compare it with something it would probably be close to Presbyterian, but it has been a while since I have had it. But don't take my word for it, try it for yourself. You may find Scottish Blend to be a very good tobacco. Cheers! *UPDATE* I finished this tin over a couple weeks on my way home from work. I am starting to really like Scottish Blend. I am not one to have too many cans cracked at the same time, so I was committed to finishing this one until I could crack another. My tastes have been shifting towards the Va/per's in the morning, and English in the evening. As this was my only somewhat english blend for a little while, I was really satisfied with it. And the more that I smoked it, the more I realized that it is pretty nuanced. There are a lot of good flavors there, and I really like the roomnote. It kind of reminds me of emp. I have to bump this one up to a full 3 stars. But there are probably much better Scottish blends out there for the same price (which I can't wait to try). Note: Crack the tin, and give it some time. It got better.
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Jimbo724	12/24/2008	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
In general, I dislike Latakia. In most blends, I find it overpowering and medicinal- tasting. However, I gave this tobacco a try because it is called "Scottish" and has some perique, which I love in my pipe. The first sniff of the tin was great. I am close to finishing my first bowl as I write this. On the whole, I find this to be a tolerable tobacco that I can smoke again and will not give away. I won't go searching for a pound of this in bulk, but it is a tobacco that I will smoke infrequently when I am in the mood for something like Dunhill Early Morning, which is more than simply tolerable for me. I just finished the first bowl. There was no dottle whatsoever, even though the weed was quite moist in the tin. Although I could not actually taste the perique as a distinct ingredient, I had the odd sense that I did experience it on my tongue. For my second bowl, I think I might add a smidgen of perique and maybe a smidgen of blending Virginia or burley to "cut" the Latakia a little more. This blend will not entice me away from smoking mostly perique blends, but if I find myself in a strange land surrounded by aromatics and Latakias and see a tin of this in a local shop, it will be like seeing a B List friend in a strange crowd and I will snatch it up, satisfied that I found something that I can be reasonably content to smoke, at least until I find another tobacco shop tomorrow. I would prefer a tin of Davidoff Scottish Mixture, but this would do under those circumstances. Not exactly a glowing review, to put it mildly, but I feel that I am more positive than negative about this blend because I normally do not like Latakia blends. If this is all I could ever smoke again, it would not be the end of the world; I would continue to smoke a pipe.
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Dubinthedam	10/06/2008	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable
This is the kind of English blend I love...Scottish......not too heavy on the Latakia, a little Cavendish to sweeten things up, nice and creamy...another great blend from K+K in Germany. A little too moist in the tin but that's no major fault. This goes along with Solani's Eng Lux Mix as a great middle of the road English. That said it's sometimes closer to an oriental than a English Latkia, and also a bit too peaty to be called a true Scottish. A great subltle, creamy and sweet oriental/latakia blend.
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student	01/26/2008	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
This is not a first bowl, "I Love It!" mixture. In fact, it seems almost unremarkable. Stick with it. It took me almost half a 50g. can before I began really appreciating this blend. The mixture of VA, PER, LAT and other Turkish is such that none overpower the others but produce a harmonious, albeit undistinguished smoke. There doesn't exist (IMO) a singular highpoint, instead there is just a good steady and enjoyable smoke. Althought the virginias, turkish and cyrian latakia make themselves known from time to time, I never found the perique. I enjoyed the blend in several different pipes and the thought that kept coming to mind was, "This isn't a bad blend." Well, it isn't a bad blend, far from it but it isn't a blend I would go running out to purchase again if I was getting low on it. I have another tin which is going to stay in my tobacco cellar for a year or so until I re-visit this blend. Maybe then I can say more glowingly positive things.
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Lochinvar	07/07/2007	Mild	None detected	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
While there was nothing particularly wrong with my current tin of SB, it is significantly different from what it used to be. Before it was a moist (some say overly so) wonderfull Scottish blend, on par with Rattray Black Mallory and the various Cotton Scottish styles. No it is a very nice English with some Black Cavendish. IT has none of the depth and nuance it used to. The only thing I noticed that was different was that K&K had taken over production. I generally like their product, and hope they will get this back to its former glory. OK English, not so good Scottish.
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Skando	03/30/2007	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
I passed through SM in the late '90, when I was luck to receive an imported 50grms small size round tin. I don't know if it was still RMcC's original manufacturing. Sure it was a full english/scottish or whatever else You would call. Maybe there was also some Havana leaf in the mix, sure I remember that was not an all-day smoke for empty stomach... The current production by K&K, in a standard round tin of the same green, is far milder, and I'm smoking it as the first pipeful in the morning while I drive to my office, and the one when I drive back to home for dinner. Like all the K&K's it comes very moist and need time to dry out for a correct smoke. I like it much because it's sweet - yes, Black Cavendish, but in the british fashion - and liqueurish, and this could be the some topping. Sorry, I don't detect any Perique, but will try to better concentrate on this aspect the next. It seems like a better - read stronger and with a significant load of Lattakia - version of Plumcake. It smokes a bit fast, but I haven't faced any kind of bite. Very good product: 3 stars
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Nonpareil	02/24/2007	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I have to agree with Exedwardsguy in most every particular. Let me just add, that I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the tin and discovered exactly what I had expected. The tin I had was perhaps 5 years old, and the tobaccos had melded together wonderfully. I have tried a number of variations of what are called Scottish blends, but this is what the term means to me. The tin aroma is rich but not overpowering and the flavor is full, but without tiring the palate. The tobacco burned well and required minimal relights.
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sasha	01/13/2006	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
A difficult tobacco to understand completely, too many tobaccos that don't mix in a definite way. The result is a pretty confused smoke with nods of everything here and there but without a precise plot to follow; it doesn't set that hook you can remember. On the contrary I can clearly remember the dampness upon opening the tin, which was quite awesome: it's mandatory to leave it open for a while. Not a bad tobacco, satisfying nicotine-wise, but really too confused for me. Here in Europe it's manufactured by Kohlhase & Kopp, so the USA version might be different.
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CaptnDan	08/14/2004	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
A fairly middle-of-the-road English style blend. Scottish has a nice balance, and a bit of subtle nuance as the Latakia and Oriental mingle with the Black Cavendish around the ever-present Virginia. No particular leaf jumps out at you, they are all pretty muted. Like the overall blend, nothing really stands out. This is a nice smoke that doesn?t have an overpowering room note. One reviewer suggested that it could be compared to My Mixture 965, and I have to agree. Turn the flavor and fullness knobs down a few notches, add a hint of Perique and you have it. You could smoke this all day. You can ? I won?t.
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Inquisitor	06/23/2004	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
What Exedwardguy said, but with the addition of the notion that the difference here is the presence of some SWEEET McClelland Virginia, which makes this a really nicely balanced, Virginia-based blend. Tasty stuff, even for someone who doesn't love LAt-blends.
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Exedwardsguy	06/04/2004	Mild	Mild	Mild	Tolerable
Scottish Blend: An English blend with Cavendish, a light English blend, an English blend with burley, an English blend with peat, an English blend made from floor sweepings of various English blends, or wha?eers thrufty. Take it from me, even though it is farmed out to Sassenach, McConnell?s IS Scottish Blend - hey, there?s a thistle right on the tin, for Peat?s sake. If the pipe world let this blend settle the confusion, it could do no better. Scottish Blend is a beautiful mix of thin ribbon cut reds, blacks, and cream colored tobaccos packed neatly in its oil stained paper doily inside a somewhat compact 50G tin (I hate the sickly avocado green pseudo-toile label). The aroma that emerges on opening the tin is intoxicating. If you like Latakia and Turkish, you are in for a treat, my brother. Moisture content: ideal. Almost packs itself. The charring light releases a glorious mix of oriental tang, soft mesquite campfire, and, surprise! sweet black Cavendish, (which just occasionally pops up once or twice early during a bowl). By mid-bowl it has settled into a wonderfully smooth, balanced groove of lataturkish with the Virginia starting to work. By the home stretch the sweet is gone. The Turkish and Cavendish have left the party, and your old pals the Virginian, the Cajun, and the Cypriot stay to finish the last few drams with you? cool, mellow, smoky, joy. This tobacco probably won?t satisfy the true ?Balkan Vampires? as one genius reviewer put it, or the diehard clubmen who regularly bathe themselves in Nightcap and wake up every morning to a bowl of Early Morning, but it is a great walk on the wild side for just about anybody else. In fact, if you don?t really crave Latakia, but occasionally enjoy Early Morning, Aperitif, or Presbyterian Mixture, give Scottish Blend a try. Certainly one of the best of the mild Latakia blends.
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Tantric	01/15/2003	Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is an intriguing, almost disconcerting blend, with some sweetness to it, and IMO very tasty. This should be on the full strength side. It contains enough Latakia to make it noticeable, but not to the typical English extent. The deep smokiness of this leaf is present as a background note, giving it a certain earthy nuttiness to remind the smoker this is something of an English (well, make it a Scottish) blend. The Perique, on the other hand, is barely manifest, to the point that were it not for the blender?s description I don?t think I would have noticed it. It is the sweet element that disconcerts. Whereas the use of Cavendish processed leaf can also be found in English style blends,like Dunhill?s 965, in Scottish Blend it seems to be overly present. Maybe this is due to the fact that Dunhill?s mixture contains unsweetened brown Cavendish, while McConnell?s rendering uses the sweet, steamed black variety. This seems to establish, IMO, a kind of taste and aroma contradiction. Even though SB is a rich tobacco, a bit over the medium strength line, the Black Cavendish seems to mellow it and provide a syrupy backdrop that just seems at odds with the Latakia element (kind of mixing a bit of Captain Black white label with an English. Some may even think of this as a Frog Morton type of blend). And yet, somehow, the concoction pulls through and achieves quite a palatable structure. Once lit the aroma does not seem to bother those around, and the density of the processed blend allows for a long, leisurely smoke. I don?t think I would smoke this one constantly, but every now and then this is a worthwhile experience. Not for the beginner, this tobacco can be an interesting change of pace for English style smokers, or a transitional tobacco for those seeking to switch from aromatics to English style mixtures.
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Albion 1956	06/21/2002	Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Scottish blend, a name which usually evokes a taste of strong tobaccos from varying types. As usual a moist tobacco, easy to pack, and the can did have a pungency of orientals. Charring light, make that two, presented a medium taste, not bad. Further down the bowl, the taste remained the same, as did the strength. This tobacco smoked at a moderate rate, in that, it did not change. I was waitng for the usual nicotine kick at the bottom, no show! I find it hard to condemn this blend, but plaudits would be limited. A nice medium tobacco, that could be smoked all day.
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Pipestud	04/21/2002	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable
A hodge-podge of tobaccos in a combination that does little to stimulate the palate. Not quite enough English, not quite enough virginia, not quite enough perique. This blend just misses the boat. It is cool and smokes dry, but then, so does an unlit pipe.
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father_brian	04/02/2002	Mild to Medium	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable
I found this particular blend quite bland in every respect and entirely uneventful from beginning to end. Don't get me wrong: it wasn't bad; but it wasn't good, either. It was just simply bland. I'd strongly suggest spending your money elsewhere. You could buy Dunhill for the same price!
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