McClelland Mellow Mack

Tin Aroma: The tin aroma of this blend is incredibly pleasing. Instead of being an unidentifiable sweet smell, there is actual character to the aroma. Upon first opening a tin, the smell is one of sugar cookies, very sugary sugar cookies, but after the tin has been allowed to breath for a day or two, the aroma takes on the unmistakable scent of hot pecan pie, a delicacy I have a particular weakness for. I could sit for some long while with my nose in a tin of this, content not to smoke it, but merely to inhale it's sweet aroma.

Physical Characteristics: An even mixture of light and dark pieces make up this ribbon cut. I will hazard a guess that the lighter strands are Burley and the darker are Cavendish. The pack is easy, but the bowl does tend to puff up a good bit during the charring light. Once tamped back down, a fully packed bowl becomes more like 5/8th bowl.

Notes: I must say, this quickly became my favorite aromatic ever. The smell of this while it is being smoked reminds me of pecan pie, or cookies being baked, and the taste is identical to that of one of my favorite blends, Burley and Black, a bulk from the CVS Pharmacy. Now, some people might take this comparison with a drugstore bulk to be a negative thing, but not I. I rather enjoy Burley/Cavendish blends, especially straightforward honest ones, and, regardless of the aromatic casing this blend has received, it falls right into that category. As with any Burley blend, this produces giant volumes of thick white smoke, which is visually very satisfying.

Verdict: As far as aromatics go, this is most definately my favorite of the ones I have smoked. It manages to avoid the main problem I have had with other aromatics, which is a strange sugary flavoring to the tobacco, regardless of what the scent is. For anyone who likes Cavendish or Burley blends, and needs something to please a crowd, this is it.

Indeed, this is a mellow tobacco. But I can't think of any McClellan blends that are not mellow. Mellow Mack has a truly wonderful and alluring smell. Pecans and honey? Maybe that's it. Smells kind of fruity too. Regardless, the casing is very heavy. This tobacco is all about the flavoring added. Another true crowd pleaser from McClellan. Young and old alike simply love it. A perfect tobacco to smoke at summer birthday parties, and other happy events. Myself? I usually smoke this tobacco while watching fireworks at a Fourth of July picnic. Year after year I find myself looking forward to that tradition. I only have a couple cans of this stuff, but that should last me the rest of my life.

This is an easy to smoke blend with no bite and a great taste. It's light flavour and very pleasant room note makes it a staple in my rotation.

This is a very wet, tasteful yet cloying aromatic blend. It is far too wet upon opening and does mot dry very fast thus it produces a hot and goopy smoke in the pipe. It is a ribbon cut, dark brown in color and once packed requires many relight to keep lit. It is the type of aromatic that gives aros a bad name. While the flavor is not bad, kind of a syrupy flavor it just burns too hot. It does have a heavenly cotton candy smelling room note though. If it would ever dry out it might mot be a bad blend for when one has a sweet tooth, but so far I think it will stay moist into the next century.

Billed as mild, smooth and rich. Delivered very mild, somewhat smooth, and less than rich. Initial puffs delivering sweet toasted pecans, matching the tin note, were fleeting. After getting into this, the pecan faded to a distant memory, replaced predominantly with a decent (but not the smoothest) burley/woody flavor. Stayed lit well, and burned down to a fine ash. In this case, a high 2 that doesn't reach the 3 mark.

I'm a relatively new pipe smoker at about a year and a half. I tried a number of blends starting out and almost gave up on the hobby until I tried this blend. As a new smoker I was looking for something with low nicotine, pleasant aroma while smoking, mild with no bite and didn't leave my pipe smelling like a skanky ash tray. This did it for me. I found it easy to pack, easy to light and keep lit and smokes dry to the bottom without gooping up my pipe. (At times it will smoke wet and gurgle a bit, but I've seen that as more related to me learning to pack my pipe and sip patiently rather the chuff it like a locomotive.) Occasionally a tin will be a bit moister and harder to light. I've found in those cases that letting my pipe sit out for 5-10 minutes after loading solves that. I've tried a few other blends, but keep coming back to Mellow Mack, so I guess it presently rates as my favorite. Many reviews refer to this blend as too mild. I find it a pleasure every time I light up. Perhaps my tastes will change over time, but at present this is my go-to blend that I always make sure to have available.

Very low on nicotine, but this is the tastiest tobacco I've smoked. A bit nutty, a bit honeyish, smells good enough to eat. Moist in the tin, but burns ok. Leaves a nice smell in my pipe. Buy more.

It's what you want to smoke when you don't want to smoke. It's mild, it's tasty, it smells awesome and nobody should have time to complain about second-hand smoke for since they will eagerly inhale while drooling incessantly.

Mellow Mack... Another in my search for that ultimate aromatic, were all looking for. I picked this blend, because more times than not, I end up with a Mc Cllelland blend as my top choice anyway, so for me, it's always a good place to start. The tin says, mild and smooth. No argument there, in fact its so mild and smooth, that it is no longer a consideration in my search. I find it lacking in both strength and flavor, at least for my beat-up palet. From what I can see, this is a very well crafted blend. Totally without harshness or tongue bite, and a must try, for most aromatic lovers. But be warned, if you prefer more of a “in your-face blend” this one may not be it. For what it is 2.5 stars. My personal rating 1.5 / 5