McClelland Mellow Mack

What is it about McClelland? They are consummate artists, no matter what they try their hand at. They may not always be successful (Royal Cajun Special, eg), but they always produce quality. I finally got around to trying their aromatics, and they've achieved a perfection with this genre like they have with their virgnias and their english (though balkans seem to elude them).

I've been searching for an aromatic I can say I enjoy without qualification, and I have found one with Mellow Mack. They have it just right -- it's not at all goopy and cloying, but dry and delicate and velvety. It's what a creamy Belgian confection is to a Hershey's bar; or what a fine muscat is to a wine cooler. Delicately sweet with a subtle honey and pecan essence as advertised, it's a compellingly elegant flavor with a terrific room note. It's the first aromatic I've tried I would consider a masterpiece. In fact, I don't think I've ever gone through a 50g tin so quickly.

Smells great in the tin, packs beautifully with a delicate hand, stays lit without problem, burns to a fine ash without any dottle, easily fills the mouth with billows of delightful nectar, and will not bite you not matter how hard you puff at it. Highly recommended for the non-aromatic smoker willing to try a gourmet dessert smoke.

I didn't take any notes on this, meaning a detailed review isn't possible, but since I smoke this so often, I remember it well.

This is the tobacco that you will wish drugstore tobacco tasted like. It's got a smooth flavor and it smokes well after you dry it out. It's mild, pleasant for others and it is a well-crafted blend of quality burley and cavendish.

Simply put, if you're an aromatic smoker and you can only afford one tobacco this month, make it Mellow Mack. You'll be able to smoke it without fear of reprisal and you'll be free of tongue bite and nicotine headache.

I also find this tobacco to mix well with certain other aromatics. I take 2 parts Mellow Mack and 1 part Raspberries in Cream and it seems to make the smoke milder and creamier than normal.

As fine an aromatic as I have ever personally smoked. What a surprise -- I expected a gooey aromatic with no flavor. Instead, I puffed on a Burley blend with backbone and subtle sweetness. The combination satisfied my urge for nicotine and my family's urge to whiff something pleasant from my pipes. There is no bite and I can smoke this rapidly and often. This is a great change of pace tobacco.

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.

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.

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.

This is one I will be smoking all throughout this winter! It has an easy going hazelnut coffee with some honey added in for extra zing. Its aroma out of the tin is not overpowering, and I found that the tobacco does not give a lot of goo in the stem. I have some English lat bombs that give off more moisture than this blend. Wow! I am impressed. It would be a great aromatic for when one isn't really in the mood for an aro, if one can get what I mean by that? At any rate, I was ambivalent in my baccy shop as to whether or not I should invest in this tobacco. Hey it's only 50 grams, right? I am glad that I made this purchase, and I recommend this to my fellow pipe smokers out there.

This stuff is just wonderful. It does have the aroma of pecans and honey as the label says. The flavor stays rich all the way down the bowl. There is no tongue bite, and burns fairly dry. If there ever was a all day blend this is it. To me it is better than lanes IQ. If you like rich aromatics try this one, I think it is a little over-priced but nonetheless a great blend.