McClelland Frog Morton on the Bayou

I had originally given this tobacco a lower review. I'm not sure why though as I've smoked more of the tin that has aged a few years (along with an added whiskey stave from F.M.I.T.C.). Maybe it was the age? Maybe it was the stave?

Either way, I think this tobacco is a fine Balkan blend. It looked similar to F.M. but perhaps a bit darker. It doesn't smell as sweet in the tin as F.M. and smells a bit more earthy, musty with a hint (here and there) of plum. Plays nicely in the pipe just as all F.M. tobaccos. I found the taste and aroma to be similar to F.M. but with a hint of spiciness and a bit more rounded, as well as being less sweet. However the sweetness in this blend seems more dark dried fruit. Hints of pine and other exotic woods are present in the flavor bring a nice complexity that I hadn't noticed. I quite like this blend. Though now I'll have to pick up another 100g tin to try out fresh and compare it to the aged tin I have been smoking out of recently. This blend reminded me of G.L. Pease Westminster with more deep sweetness, that typical F.M. flavor that is hard to find in any other blend.

Great job again McClelland!

This is my first review of my first pipe tobacco.

"McClelland Frog Morton" series would be the best blend as a starter tobacco for an occasional cigar smoker. I was originally a cigar smoker but I am not a rich man so I could not enjoy a cigar as regularly as my more affluent friends could. I really enjoy the taste of a good quality cigar, for the subtleties of the taste in a good tobacco.

Meeting my friends at a cigar bar would be kind of strange if I was the only one on the table not smoking. The other night at the cigar bar, I took out my Peterson Silver Mounted Army Pipe 69 (my very first pipe) and started filling it while my friends lit up their cigars. I got some curious enquiries from my cigar smoking buddies, but none were insulting or derogatory just because I produced a pipe instead of a cigar. They were more interested in the tobacco than anything else. They complimented me on the tobacco smell of Frog Morton on the Bayou.

I initially learned about "Frog Morton" series when I visited my local tobacco/cigar shop and the owner introduced me to pipe smoking. I told the owner that I like smoking cigars and enjoy the spicy taste of a good cigar tobacco when smoking. He gave me some pipe tobacco samples to try and recommended me on a Peterson or a Stanwell pipe for my first. I chose the Peterson as my first.

I enjoyed the Frog Mortons more than the other types, but the "Frog Morton on the Bayou" tasted the best for me and it reminded me most of the type of cigars that I enjoy smoking. As a cigar smoker, I would say that this blend is quite mild in nicotine strength. I did not detect any chemical flavoring, which is a very good thing for my very first pipe tobacco. It tastes spicy which I love and it smokes cool. The woody, cinnamon like taste is the subtle undertone of the tobacco as latakia hits the high notes of my tastebuds. The spicy woody taste comes mainly from the perique tobacco which is true to the tin's description.

Because I started smoking my first pipe on the "Frog Morton" series, I think I got hooked as a new pipe smoker. I am still an occasional cigar smoker too. I enjoyed all the "Frog Morton" series, but of all the "Frog Morton" series, my favorite is "...On the Bayou". I can smoke this tobacco for an hour it leaves a nice taste in your mouth.

I recommend all the "Frog Morton" series for cigar smokers as their first leap to pipe smoking tobacco.

The tin aroma here is mouthwatering. Orientals and tasty Perique hanging heavy on the sweet & sour backbone of nicely aged Virginia. Fresh grain, green hay, aged cheese, dried fruit, ketchup, hints of Latakia smokiness, savory herbs, fresh salty notes, citrus and graham crackers.

Mixture of rubbed flake and ribbon cut tobaccos. Packs OK - Lights OK - Burns well.

In the smoke, a beautiful balance of Perique, Virginia, Orientals. More subtle than expected - soft spoken - rich but a bit underpowered. Complex, sweet, spicy and delicious. Mellow but satisfying despite the mild character. Quality tobaccos - well blended.

I find myself really liking this stuff. Mild but tasty, this blend goes on the favorites list for a light change of pace.

My second venture with the Frogs, and as much as I enjoy Frog Morton, FMOTB is even better. It's my first Perique blend and if others are this good I'll have to keep my eye open for more.

I found the moisture level of the blend about spot on and have felt no need to dry it further. The tin note is a pleasant combination of leather, soil and slightly astringent and subtle aromas of dried fruit. There's also just a bit of an almost chocolatey smell, unexpected but nice. I don't detect any of the infamous McClelland steak sauce/vinegary/ketchup aroma, not that it particularly bugs me. It's very noticeable in Three Oaks Syrian but doesn't harm the taste a bit.

FMOTB is easy to pack, having just enough stickiness to facilitate a fill, and burns consistently slow and evenly after a couple of false lights and gentle tamping. Packing method doesn't seem to matter much, it's been low maintenance with simple stuffing, 3-step and air pocket methods. Given the slight stickiness I'd think you'd want to avoid packing too tightly lest you end up with a solid mass and bad draw, but I'm not going to waste a fill just to confirm that.

The flavor of the basic Balkan blend is quite nice, and the Perique adds its own personality well...sometimes stronger, sometimes more subtle depending on several factors like the progression of the burn, quality of packing and so on, but always there and a happy thing.

I originally thought folks were letting their imaginations get to them when discussing Perique, it's from Louisiana so of COURSE it has to be peppery to accord with the cliche that everything from Cajun country's spicy, right? I expected perhaps a DIFFERENT quality, but not genuinely reminiscent of peppers.

Nope, this IS peppery in a very nice way, almost as if it actually had a bit of capsaicin in it, like chili peppers rather than black pepper. This quality for me is more of a sensation than a flavor, but whatever the reason, I like it. The spiciness doesn't really have a flavor, though if pressed I would indeed have to say it's closer to a poblano or habanero with just a touch of astringency more than the dry taste that black pepper has. If I puff too enthusiastically it even tickles my nose!

It's the flavor of the Perique tobacco that's really grabbing me. Some have described it as earthy, I'll be more specific: it tastes like beach sand smells, a lovely and nostalgic aroma that brings back evenings I spent as a kid on the beaches of Cape Cod.

That flavor goes with the Balkan components beautifully, and puts FMOTB up in the category of my very favorites. I wouldn't want to smoke it exclusively, but then what luxury item would you want to consume every day lest it should pall?

Frog Morton on the Bayou is a real class act from McClelland. I'm looking forward to the two I have yet to try!

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!

Whatever curious Alchemical-designs went into this, It came out successful. Now I wasn't standing up the front of the line jumping up & down when the Lord created Latakia either. Nevertheless Bayou seems tasty to me, A VA-smoker foremost. It's mostly dark with traces of blond ( probably orientals) Tin aroma hasn't got that bitter-black 'Latakia at the Helm' smell of some English blends, it's more balanced - spicey , smokey & somewhat sweet. That is a fair estimation of the taste as well, The splash of Louisiana's finest adds a sliver of power & weight & is quite harmonious in this mixture. Strangely, the smoke is kinda 'misty' or something- it is very light & profuse but disappears quicker than most others.

I must say that the fine folks at McClelland appear to be on to something with the Craftsbury Frog Morton series. Bayou is a fine mixture that tones down the Latakia dominance of Frog Morton and turns up the Turkish and Perique.

It is lighter in colour than FM, with more flecks of light and medium brown in the same ribbon cut. The tin aroma is delicious, I want to eat this stuff. It is low and smokey like Frog Morton, but with the spice of Perique on the nose.

Upon lighting the flavours burst fourth. Again the Latakia is more subdued here, as is that slightly chocolatey hint noted by some in Frog Morton. Bayou still has the deliciousness of FM, but with more nuances added by the fine Perique. It reminds me of a good Rum Cake, that has some fresh rum added after baking for a little spice on the tounge.

The only drawback I see is that like FM, and like some other reviewers, I find that the actual smoke itself lacks some body. I don't know why but I like to feel the smoke. With Bayou it just isn't there as much. Overall though, that is a small price to pay for such a delightful blend. Absolutely recommeded.

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.

There’s something bittersweet revisiting this blend over the holidays. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Frog Morton line, and they all bring back great memories. I only have 2oz left that I bought in 2013 from Harry’s smoke shop in Philadelphia on a snowy day in December. I only smoke this during the holidays, so I waited to review this one until now. If this was still in production, it would have a solid place in my rotation. It’s a fantastically mild Balkan blend that’s more oriental forward and the Latakia acting as a background player. Beautiful stuff.