McClelland Yenidje Highlander

I mostly enjoy the famous ketchup-smell from McClelland's tobaccos, particularly the one found in Virginias. The problem here is that this mixture's taste is pretty subtle, and the vinegar taste makes it difficult to savor the nice Orientals.

The solution is patience: open the tin, close it, and let it rest for a month or so. Then take what you want to smoke, leave it over a piece of paper for a couple of hours, load your pipe, and smoke away. The ketchup taste will be greatly reduced and you will be able to enjoy one fine Oriental mixture.

It didn't blow my mind up, but it was a nice experience.

I bought two tins of Yenidje Highlander; one to smoke immediately and one to cellar. Unfortunately my first several bowls of this have left me wondering what all the excitement is about. On initial opening of the tin, I was captivated by the fantastic smell of the Latakia and was anticipating the creamy smoothness typical to a good Balkan blend. Thus far the smokes have been "bitey", relatively flat and bland in taste and significantly nasty towards the bottom of the bowl. The tobacco packs very well, burns very well and otherwise exhibits respectable behavior in public. It also DGT's exceptionally well, in fact, I noticed with my third or fourth bowl of this that it actually tasted creamier and more Balkan if I let a pipeful sit for a few hours before finishing it off. I'll allow my second tin to age for several months, perhaps even a year, and will revisit it then. Yenidje Highlander has gained the appreciation of too many veteran pipesters for me to believe it is a bland, listless blend.

Today I opened this box. Maybe this is the last McClelland that I smoke.

I?m, honestly, very angry, with this ketchup flavor that is in all the McClelland. Is it still possible in an oriental tobacco with strong dose of Latakia from Cyprus and Syria, the flavor of ketchup Heinz to be stronger? What is this perfume finally?

In a correct humidity, when you open it, it burns your throat enough, it can be set easily in the bowl, it burns well, it makes a relatively calm and soft smoking, BUT at the end, it gets mud. How is it possible for such a dry tobacco with oriental and Latakia to get so mud?

I give him only two stars since I disagree with many of the reviewers, because of this ketchup flavor which bothers me a lot.

Grand, indeed, is the word for this blend! This was my first experience with Yenidje. So I prepared myself to be cautious. Like some of the reviewers on this site, I was never blessed to have tried Balkan Sobranie. So I will not waste your time by guessing with imagination. However, if this blend is even half the blend Balkan Sobranie was in its heyday - what a treat that must have been!!! My pipe smoking, traveling friend used to smoke Balkan Sobranie as his regular blend. So the next time he and I travel, I will invite him to have a pipeful of YH and report back with his reactions. Knowing him, this might be a bit tame for him as presently he blends his own using a 60% latakia mix.

Back to the task at hand. YH, imho, is well worth the extra money. Latakia is definitely present with its campfire- like smell. The Yenidje provides a good scent as well. The intro- duction of Maryland helped to calm down the Yenidje just a tad. Had it not done so, I imagine it could have been what those people on this list describe if one were to smoke a pipeful of only Perique. Do not get me wrong, I love perique! However, I am a bit skiddish about trying it as the main course. After my pipes cooled a bit they had the aroma of finding one of granddad's pipes years after he had last smoked. I tried this blend in two regular-gauge, chambered pipes and it was wonderful. Today, I got out my favorite, large-bowled, rusticated, Savinelli and the tobacco really seemed to sing. All in all, this was a WONDERFUL experience. To be sure, this will be a mainstay in my rotation.

Yenidje Highlander contains syrian and caprian latakia. This blend like Yenidje Supreme smokes cool and dry. Yenidje Highlander burns to a find ash.

I have been smoking the Grand Oriental blends in narrow bowled pipes, but I prefer them in wide bowls. It may be just a personal preference, but I can detect more subleties of flavor. Because the blend contains latakia, Yenidje Highlander is not as subtle as the other Grand Oriental blends, but the Yenidje leaf is still subtle. The effect that latakia has on Yenidje leaf is amazing. It brought out incense like qualities.

The nicotine strength is tad stronger, that Yenidje Supreme, but not by much. Yenidje Highlander is a very nice blend to smoke in the quiet of a evening.

Balkan Sobranie White was my primary blend for years; like many fans I was heartbroken when it was discontinued, and even more crushed a few months later when its fraternal twin Bengal Slices was discontinued. The two tobaccos that have given me some solace since then have been Butera Pelican and Esoterica's Penzance; though neither one makes any claims at Sobraniehood they each have similarities and nearly that level of greatness. I believe Pelican is an attempt at Sullivan's Gentleman's Mixture, a great blend in its own right and which Pelican admirably duplicates.

Replicating Balkan Sobranie White has been a holy grail of the tobacco blenders ever since the great discontinuation, but no one has really succeeded (especially that excrebal Balkan Saseini). Unfortunately, McClelland now joins the list of failures. There are hints of greatness here; it has that clean smokiness, firm spicyiness, and a hint of saltiness that were characteristic of BS White, but unfortunately the McClelland Virginias are jarringly off-note; rather than a clean tart sweetness balancing the smoke, spice, and salt, McClelland gives us stewed-plums-and-ketchup. The result is good, but it's not "great", much less "Sobranie White Great".

Oh well. Maybe one day Esoterica will do a Yenidje version of Penzance.

Bloody fantastic smoke!! It's been a long while since I became so excited after cracking a tin.

A very distinctive smoke for a number of reasons. First, it does not taste like a McClelland, it does not have the distinctive vinegary tin note, nor does it have the aroma of other blends in the Grand Oriental series. Yenidge Higlander seems to me to not have any added aroma at all!! And why do so, when you have top leaf naturaly fragrant Yenidge in generous amounts! Then it's one of the few blends I've tasted where Latakia -although discernible- is only a condiment. Here Latakia complements the Orientals and not the other way round, as is most often the case. Third, Yenidge Highlander is the blend I've tasted, apart from pure Oriental leafs, that showcases the archetypal Oriental leaf taste more than any other! Even the other tobaccos from McClelland's Oriental series taste more like McClelland than Oriental, delectable though they are.

From the first whiff, the thing that comes through is the natural fragrant, sour, loamy taste of the Yenidge. Then a fine chocolaty smokiness from the Latakia adds the deep notes while Virginias lift the smoke whith their hay-like aromas. There are also woodsy notes presumably enhanced by the Maryland. And the smoke is so smooth, so tasty with no bite and can produce plumes of smoke if you like it to. Impressive spectrum of aromas from deep to high.

My tin is from 2014 and the tin note is woodsy and has a wine-like character. The cut is the McClelland ribbond with a few pieces of broken flakes here and there and the moisture is optimal for loading straightaway, even a little dry. Room note is quite strong for smoking among non-smokers.

According to a little research I made, Yenidje Highlander, alongside White Knight, C&D's Odessa, Balkan Sasieni, G.L. Pease's Meridian and Danish Pipe Shop's Hvid Balkan, among others probably are blends which try to emulate the White Balkan Sobranie of old. If it were indeed similar to Yenidge Highlander, I then come to understand the rave. It is really an exceptional tobacco!

This isn't a bad Latakia blend. One gets an idea of the interplay between Yenidje & Latakia. Fairly interesting smoke but not one I intend on purchasing again. It was not a true bell-ringer for me. Maybe I'm just looking for too much Sobranie flavor in these Latakia concoctions. Most leave me disappointed... mainly due to the apportionment of Latakia. Either too much or not enough. Sometimes they get it just right. However, this one seemed to have something other than a dominating Latakia presence. I think a tad more Latakia... just a tad, no Maryland at all (it's a wimpy, bland, tasteless tobacco) and replace it with a variety of Virginias would raise the bar considerably & turn this into a four star blend. But then again, it is intended to be an oriental & not a Balkan. Lastly, this tobacco wasn't blended to please only me & these are just my thoughts. I'm not crying though... just whining a little. I appreciate & respect those who rate it highly, however. Isn't it great we're not all the same? That would mean only one blend available to fight over & there'd be war!

Tin note is mostly McClelland Virginia and Latakia. The Syrian Latakia's wine like scent seems to mute the normally ketchup like smell of the McClelland VA's. I had bought all of the GO series tobacco's to broaden my experience with Oriental leaf and become more in tune with their flavors and this paid off. If any of you are like me and tend to go more to VA's and Burley's in the warmer months but still crave some Latakia every once in awhile this is a great one to smoke in warmer weather. The flavor is very nuanced and layered with the VA's and Orientals being most prominent. The Orientals are spicy, dry and woody. There is a peculiar flavor, somewhere between seltzer water and tonic water that is as much mouth feel as it is a favor. I like it. The VA's are sweet and have a bready and even buttery flavor (may be the interplay of the Orientals and VA's). The lightly applied Latakia's are smokey and sweet and dance in and out during the smoke. This is a great smoke when you are in the mood for nuance and a hint of latakia and of course a spice filled smoke.