McClelland Frog Morton on the Bayou

While FM is an all day delight, with its subtle smokiness, FMOTB is notched up in strength, probably due to the obvious Perique. And, FMOTB is inherently more complex than FM though it still manages to be very near monochromatic.

Besides the noticeable casing of both of these blends, FMOTB has less of the smokey latakia smell one expects in a Balkan blend. Even FM doesn't really have the aroma profile typically associated with latakia-heavy blends.

I am pleased that my 100 gram tin did not have the typical McClelland-Moisture inherent in many of their other worthy blends (update: though I do use a few more pipe cleaners than is normal for me when smoking FMOTB).

Overall, not a mind blower, nor offensive, but unlikely to replace FM in the weekly rotation. If you want to try Perique without the typical zap it provides in blends like Escudo or Haddo's Delight, give FMOTB a try.

A very light and sweet blend of some sort. Definitely not in the same family with English/Balkans of other manufacturers. I don't think the listed ingredients are giving us the full story. There is definitely a cased element in this blend, I think. Has a little more punch than the original FM, but not much. Good tobacco for a new piper as an alternative to the drug store stuff.

i just recently tried this frog,i really like it.it packs well,stays lite and tastes really good.my favorite frog is "on the town" but this frog is a close second.the smell after opening the tin was great.i will keep this frog on hand.

This is a good English blend. I am not a big fan of Latakia, but this blend doesn't have a large amount of Latakia so it suits me fine. Had a couple of bowls of this with a couple of large pints of stout under the car port on a cool breezy night while looking at the Christmas lights in the old neighborhood and was very happy with them both. They went together very nicely! Nice aroma and not too heavy, but heavy enough for the cool night and the stout. May have to put some of this away for when it really gets cold.

September 2004

These Frog Morton tobaccos are terrific, and Frog Morton on the Bayou is no exception. The Latiakias are smooth and silky, with just a touch of Perique--not much, mind you--to keep things interesting. The burn is great as well--two lights and it burned to a nice white ash almost to the bottom of the bowl in my circa. 1980s Nording freehand. This didn't get four stars from me only because it is slightly too mild for my trashed-out palate. My biggest problem was deciding which pipe to use, as I had not yet designated one for Latakia-Perique blends. As it turned out, this was not a substantial concern given the lightness of the Perique in this blend.

Perhaps slightly tastier and darker than the previous two Frogs, but still very mild and delicate... not a Balkan at all! The Perique is sparingly applied, and sometimes intangible. As usual, it's a nice light EM with the typical McClelland black cavendish overtones. As FM and FM On the Town, smokable but there's better stuff out there...

I?ve been smoking this since it came out ? I really like it and its brothers FMOT and FM. The first week I had it, I burned a whole 100g tin. Since, I?ve slowed my pace. I still love the stuff. If you want a sweet, non-hot blend, that won?t dry out in the can, then this is for you. I must say that it needs to be air dried before loading a bowl or it gets just a bit too goopy for me. (No surprise here, I think all McC tobaccos are like that.) I find laying it spread out on a paper towel, or paper plate out for 30 minutes to an hour before loading is just right. The perique the McClelland uses is always excellent in quality, but it always dries out my throat, so be warned that this may happen to you as well. Also, I have found through my tasting adventures that McClelland?s choice in latakia is a bit ?softer? than what is used by other companies.

I tried this one while on a search for a "rest blend" to smoke as an offset to the usual heavier Balkan/Perique types I prefer. My first impression was that the blend was too moist and thus got too much of the "steam" taste, but after a few days of letting it sit, tried it again. It tastes very light to me, which I imagine would be like a medium to someone not accustomed to an Latakia type mix. It stayed light in different conditions (such as outdoors, porch, living room, different pipes) and I had to admit an admiration for the consistent character.

The taste and body is light, and if smoked too fast, it will bite, but not much, you'd have to be smoking with some other condition affecting it (like my bad habit of smoking in moving cars). The smoke starts off sweet, with a bit of spice, and as it progresses, the perique and latakia begin to assert, which for me is how I prefer it. However, in some pipes, the perique isn't quite in quite high enough proportion and thus I get that more sour or wet raggy taste instead.

It's nice enough that I've asked my tobacconist to keep it in stock, and it's in my rotation as an afternooon/rest smoke and works very well for me in that context. It's among the coolest smoking smoking of the light naturals that I've smoked, which sounds like like faint praise, but this would be a great intro the the latakia type blends for those who aren't familiar with that kind. I'll never love this type of blend, but I always do need to have one around as a lighter alternative that is truly light without bite and has good burning qualities.

This was a one off for me as my online order was mistakenly bungled and I ended up with a 50g tin of FMOTB. Glad I did. A very nice smoking tobacco that smells and tastes like tobacco. Nothing really aromatic about this blend. In fact it reminded me of my old favorite straight Camels or Lucky Strikes (which I've given up) in the fact it was a good quality, honest smoke. Lit well, burned clean and left me satisfied. A good change of pace if you want a non-aromatic smoke. As many noted, the tin aroma is a bit 'funky'. Doen't seem to carry over to the taste.