McClelland Frog Morton on the Bayou

I was keeping this blend in my cellar for almost 2 years waiting to try it.finally the time has come!the tin appearance prepares you for a smooth and satisfying Balkan blend.when the can opens a smokey smell accompanied from vinegar notes and spices comes out.the mostly dark blend is a little moist and some drying time might help with the lighting and the packing wich are no easy.while smoking from the first puffs you realize that the orientals are the strongest compoment(as they should) offering lots of woodsy ,earthy and ispicy notes.latakias come second giving mostly smokey and sweet notes.virginias are grassy and sweet being the less noticeable compoment.as for the perique it makes the taste very pleasant giving plums,figs and vinegar notes from the first till the last puff.generally i found the taste very pleasant and rich and all these in a natural result.burns cool and slow to ash without moisture and a clean filter.nicotine level is low and this is a bad thing to me because a rich taste like this should have at least a medium nic hit.aftertaste is rich and the room note unpleasant.no chance of tongue bite.not an all day smoke.generally i liked this tobacco and i recommend it.

As an introduction let me say that I don't know the originlal Frog Morton blend or any other of its permutations (FM on the Town, FM Across the Pond, FM's Cellar).

When I first opened the tin I was supprised how dark this beautiful mixture of a medium ribbon cut and little pieces of ready rubbed flake appeared. I don't think it's all Latakia and Perique, but there's neither Black Cavendish. The tin note is rich and smoky with a fruity acidity, hints of incense, and a sweet undertone. Unless you would rate the contained Perique as a cased tobacco (which it basically is), there's no flavoring in the strictest sense.

Filling your pipe is quite easy, in doing so I prefer the Frank or air pocket method. Even though the tobacco seems a little moist, lighting comes just as uncomplicated: most of the time a single charring and true light will do.

Tastewise I'd considder Frog Morton on the Bayou a smooth, medium strength Balkan blend with an added peppery twist from the Perique. Right from the start, there's a tangy sweetness that seems to become more pronounced mid bowl. This mixes nicely with the floral, incense like notes from the Orientals and the peat fire smokiness from the Latakia. But in the background there's a distinct fruity, but also dark and spicy acidity with hints of rasins or dried figs that probably comes from the Perique. This is a complex, relaxing, satisfying smoke. It burns down evenly and slowly to some dry, light grey ash.

The room note is sweetish and spicy.

This blend for me stands somewhere between G.L. Pease Blackpoint and the Original Frog Morton, both of which I thoroughly enjoy. I popped a tin of this and Blackpoint at near the same time. They were my first two balkans a couple of years back. While I enjoyed them both very much, I found that this one stood in the shadow of the bold and exquisite interplay of flavors that I found in Blackpoint. All that to say that this is a very good blend and I quite enjoyed it, at the time these sort of Balkan blends dominated my attention and so it was nice to switch back and forth between the two and compare the flavors. This blend is deep and rich, steeped in Latakia but with a gentle sweetness coming from the orientals and a nice spice from the perique, I really liked the interplay of perique and latakia in this blend. It had a pleasant smell, I loved smoking it as a nightcap right before bed and drifting off with this nice spicy and yet smooth flavor of leather and pepper on my pallet! A truly enjoyable smoke, best enjoyed IMO on a late summer night outside while listening to the crickets chirp and looking at the stars!

Gadzooks! I may be the first reviewer here because my web tobbaconist,Tim, secured a lot of this new blend from the recent RTDA show. Tim of http://www.paylesspipes.com gave me a full tin of this to sample. Tim has all the latest pipes (Dunhills to Petersons) and a vast array of tinned and bulked tobaccos, at a discount. I feel sort of like a "Willie Wonka in the Tobacco Factory" while visiting him. This is by far one of the best new blends I've sampled from him.

I like this best of the now three Frog Mortons. The original FM tastes mostly like a toasted virginia blend to me. A good all day smoke. FM "On the Town" is more in the English category with the added turkish leaf. The turkish helps it along; gives it more body. But this one , "On the Bayou", has it all.

The tin contents is aged, moist and fresh with mostly dark leaf -- latakia, perique and, yes, a good stoved virginia element (not just another black cavendish). The 10-20% blond leaf is the turkish element, with gives it some body but does not affect the taste greatly. A dark, brooding, semi-sweet flavor is the main note. At least a medium but not quite a full. It is not monotonous at all due to the slight kick from the added peridue and the high quality stoved virginia.

Dark, slightly sweet, and even a bit spicy, the perique brings new depth to the Frog Morton series. It packs easy, burns steady, has no bite, and it's a cool smoke. At most you'll need one or two dabs from a pipe cleaner to keep it dry smoking. The finish is slightly stronger than the rest of the smoke, but otherwise the flavor is consistent yet more complex than the original FM. It's also deeper than "On the Town".

To me it is more Scottish (with stoved virginias) than Balkan, although balkan is noted on the tin. It is not near as heavy as Pease's Odyssey or CAO's Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend. But it is also not quite as strong as some other fuller scottish blends, such as McConnell's. It is a little closer to the straight Scottish/English blends of McCranie's Murdock's Pipe or Connoisseur's Pickwick, but sweeter.

The room aroma is light, vapor-like, I'm told. I went though a full tin of this in a little over a week, smoking it mainly in a Mastro de Paja medium briar billiard but a few times in a old calabash meerschaum for contast. I will secure more tins for my rotation with darker blends. Quite recommended.

Now solidly in the post-McC Froggy era in 2020, I've been going through my jars from 2017 to give the blends a fresh try.

Since 2017 I have gained an appreciation of Perique through my ventures into VaPers and I generally enjoy what it brings to the table. I liked Frog on the Town so I was expecting this to be Town + Perique, which is basically seems to be.

While VaPers seem to really shine is adding the pepper or dark fruit notes countering the sweet hay/grass. Here it is adding pepper to a Balkan and is going up against the smoky/sour that I enjoy in Town. I'm think that is maybe 75% successful. Out of the series, I think this one tries to do a little too much. In addition, for whatever reason this one seems to really leave an aftertaste and dry out my mouth.

The tobacco is high quality that we expected from McC. The cut is like the other Frogs a chunky ribbon cut. Packing and lighting is a breeze and it smokes without any trouble.

I'll enjoy my jar, but this isn't one that I'd go out of my way to secure again.

This is an interesting blend.

I like the Frog Morton Series, it is a fine line. On the bayou seems to be a much more gentle touch than the others in this line.

The latakia is there, but somewhat toned down. The virginias are present, proof is in that wonderful McClelland ketchup smell on opening the tin.

The perique is there but..... meh. I was expecting a more perique forward blend. It is nicely done, but not one that perique junkies might seek out.

Overall, a great blend, but nothing really pops for me.

I purchased a tin of this tobacco at least 10 years ago. About a month ago, I opened that tin and dumped it into a mason jar. Since then, I've been having a bowl here and a bowl there, but nothing too frequent.

This is a good tobacco. The smell coming off the mason jar has a hint of leather and a little fermentation (some say vinegar... but for me, it's not that strong). It is very smokable. A solid tobacco.

I did something the other night, however, that turned this tobacco from a good smoke to a "Holy Smokes!" After dinner, I packed a bowl into my stout, rough-cut dublin (some czech pipe purchased out of a discount bin in London about 15 years ago). Along with that bowl, I poured myself a glass of Madeira wine. I lit the pipe, then I took a slow sip of the Madeira, then I took a puff. Holy Smokes! It tasted just like apple pie. Yup... Apple Pie. Jackpot!

The pairing of Frog Morton on the Bayou to Madeira was such an unexpected surprise. Pure pleasure. What's the old saying...? "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while."

I will never smoke this stuff again without a bottle of Madeira handy.

Having liked the Frog morton On the town so much, i decided to try this one with the added perique. It was very similar to On the town for me but with a slight hint of the perique spiciness. I did enjoy this tobacco, but not as much as the on the town which I found slightly smoother. Definitely a good tobacco, and nice little introduction to perique.

This frog smelled a bit more musty and sour than the original Frog Morton when I opened the tin, yet everything else was still in place. Both had those dark tangy rough cut pieces of Perique and a spicy bouquet.

Once lit, this one was slightly less dynamic than the original, relying more on the burly flavor of the leaf. Still, it felt right at home within this Craftsbury Series.

If I was hankering for something to take my buds on a ride, and the store only had Bayou, I would be happy to pick it up, but if you had the choice and never smoked the Frog, stick with the original, it offers a bit more bang.