McClelland Classic Samsun

My next stop with the Grand Oriental Express is Classic Samsun. There are beautiful mostly red-brown and some black ribbons of quality tobacco flecked with some bright ones. Given some air the tin smell is chocolate with exotic spices and a dash of cane sugar (or rum if you prefer), plus rosehip and hibiscus.

Like the smell, the flavours are also mild and requires attention and effort to explore. It's a delicate bled which mainly features cocoa powder cardamom (both green and black), vanilla, sandal wood, peanut, roasted almond and raisins notes on the palate. It is like Mediterranean breeze that blows the smell of the salty sea (and even fish to some extent) but then it turns and blows the spices of the land like thyme, sage and bay leaves.

This tobacco burns easily without tongue bite into a fine grey ash. The nicotine content is mild but it is a little bit stronger than the other Grand Orients I've tried so far.

Classic Samsun while being a delicate blend is more focused than Yenidje Highlander and Drama Reserve. It is an advantage against Yenidje Highlander which is somehow less than the sum of its ingredients. But Drama Reserve dwarfs Classic Samsun by delivering an ever changing but consistent tale of the Mediterranean. Classic Samsun is sailing around the Mediterranean Sea while Drama Reserve also involves getting off the ship and meeting the locals.

Classic Samsun is a great quality blend of subtle smoking experience. It is like a special dark chocolate that not only has vanilla and raisins in it but also cardamom, sage and a pinch of some top secret ingredients -- something I would surely love to try.

The Samsun is very woody, earthy, floral, smoky, a little vegatative, dry and tartly sour, nutty, mildly buttery sweet with a little spice and a touch of stewed fruit and incense. The strength and taste levels fall a step or two short of medium. The nic-hit is a rung below them. Won’t bite, but fast puffing with grant you a harsh note. Has a few rough edges. Burns cool, clean and slightly slow with a very consistent, lightly sweet and more savory flavor that translates to the lightly lingering after taste. Leaves little moisture in the bowl, and needs just above an average number of relights. Not quite an all day smoke. Makes a better mixer.

-JimInks

Along with Drama Reserve, my favorite from the Grand Orientals collection. Low on vinegar casing, this is the more "burleish" of all Orientals, with an earthy, almost nutty taste and excellent burning properties. And the only one I can smoke twice in a row without getting bored.

A must try.

The coarse ribbon cut packs and lights well. The smell has the classic McClelland vinegar with some celery salt and curry (seriously). Very spicy, but not overpowering. Very unique.

The flavours come across as nutty, musty, and toasty, with a little sweetness. As you work your way down the bowl, the spice and nuttiness grows, while the sweetness steps back. The bottom of the bowl is much earthier and carries some marshmallow-like sweetness. The flavours are gentle, but not disappointing.

Just right on the nicotine. I'd call it medium strength.

Though it did tend to smoke a little wet for me, it burned to the bottom cleanly. Don't ask me how.

It's a nice blend, but were it still in production, I probably wouldn't buy it again--there are just too many blends to try!

I’ve traveled throughout Asia and have a thing for orientals. Lol.

In the tin, this blend had a nutty and faintly dried prune/raisin smell. It was easy to pack and after a couple of charring lights we were smoking. The flavor was mildly smoky and sweet. I was unable detect plums/raisins. It was a pleasant smoke and stayed lit almost to the end, but I had to relight once. I hit it pretty hard, but it didn’t over heat the bowl or bite me. The nicotine was mild, too. I’ll continue smoking it to see if my opinion changes, but right now I have to say it wasn’t special, but it was good.

A curious tobacco. If you're wanting to refine your pallet and get to know the taste of different orientals, this will definitely fit the bill. If you're not... its still ok, but certainly not an every day smoke

Tin note is of that old McClelland vinegar which I find a bit offputting but evaporates fairly quickly after being lit. The Samsun is very forward in this blend with the Virginias really existing to provide some balance. I like it and I'm really glad I tried it, but it can be a bit monochromatic. Nice for something a little different and perhaps a good one for people who are playing with mixing different blends (I personally found it came to life a bit more when a touch of prelip was added).

Tin note has a faint vinegary smell, but generally I find it quite similar to other tobaccos in the Grand Orientals line. I also detect something like vanilla custard pudding for babies note in all the tobaccos in the series I’ve tasted which makes me think of a very mild flavoring.

It comes in coarse cut ribbons of perfect moisture, it packs and lights easily and stays lit.

It is a very mellow smoke with a delicate nutty (nutmeg/muscat) and a faint vanilla-like aroma which is either completely natural or mildly enhanced by some topping. In any case it feels like a very mellow natural-tasting tobacco. Absolutely no harshness and no tongue bite here. Nicotine level is lowish as well and this might deter some from using this as an all day tobacco or exactly the opposite depending on one’s need and tolerance of nicotine. For myself I use this tobacco as a delicacy just once in a while savouring it’s subtle nuances.

I stress the fact that it is a very delicately aromatic tobacco. So much so, that if you do not know what to expect the subtleties of the Samsun leaf might be lost on you. Not that it would be an unpleasant smoke, on the contrary, it would be an enjoyable mild and mellow pure-tobacco tasting smoke with a very pleasant aromatic nutty sweetness. But, what I am trying to say is that if you are trying to figure out what the Oriental leafs taste like, it’s not the best place to start. Even within the McClellands Grand Orientals line, the two other tobaccos I’ve tasted (Smyrna and Yenidje Supreme), I think are more ‘robust’ and therefore better starting points. (By the way, one of the best Oriental blends available in my opinion is 4noggins’ El Rincon de la Pipa showcasing the Izmir leaf.)

I think I prefer Classic Samsun less than the other two Grand Orientals I’ ve already had, but I did not taste them together, so I can draw no definite conclusion.

Update: I mentioned above that it stays lit, however there were a few chunks of broken flakes which were really hard and very dry with no elasticity at all. I do not know if they were meant to be this way or otherwise it was the result of considerable ageing but I found they did not help the burn of the tobacco so I picked these pieces, I ground them to almost powder and mixed them with the rest which I let get some air and jarred it again. I found it not only smokes better but is also more flavorful after this 'treatment'.

Strange blend indeed.You can fell the typical Mc Clelland Va,not very much,the Samsun leaf,with a touch of fine Havanna cigar and last but not least a background of burley or something like.The sum of all these is a soft but not sweet intriguing smoke.Worth to try but I prefer other Grand Orientals like Yenidje,Drama and Agonya.Beware if you are a declared enemy of Burley,because the presence in this blend ,IMHO,is obvious.

This is a 2-year tin that I open, and the oriental/Turkish is the main role of this blend as McC described. I assume there should be some buley to provide the body. Exotic, smoky with slightly sourness is the flavor, but lack complexity. I think it would blend well with some VA or Vaper, even with a pinch of latakia. I only smoke this maybe once a month for pace change.