McClelland Smyrna No.1

This is one of the outright smoothest, creamiest and delicious tobaccos I have ever had the pleasure to smoke. It smells so wonderful in the can that you almost think you could eat it with a spoon. Ketchup and vinegar? I think NOT! For those of you who have smelled the fragrance of fresh-ground 100 percent Kona Coffee..... then add the aroma of a fine Oriental tobacco.... That is what wafts its way past this set of nostrils, in my humble opinion. So what's not to like? By the way, this tobacco goes exceptionally well WITH a cup of 100 percent dark roast Kona made espresso style.

Needless to say, I am impressed with this one. So much so that I have dedicated two of my finer meerschaum pipes to it. Well, ok, I use them for the Samsun, too, but you get my point. My wife wants me to smoke it on a fairly regular basis...... she likes the aroma that much! Finally, one my wife enjoys almost as much as I do.

Call me easily amused, but I think it's way cool to pop a tin of tobacco and find two full leaves on top! I found this to be a mild, spicy blend with delicate but noticeable flavor. I did not find this to be full flavored at all, as many of the reviewers did. Instead I found it subtle, with nuance upon nuance, and very complex. I liked the roasted nuts comparison, and I agree.

Again, this McClellands Grand Oriental is worth trying but I did not find enough here to bring me back to it. Still, I think it's a marvelous achievement for McClellands and I suspect it will have its share of devotees. The Classic Samsum is probably the only one of the series I will smoke regularly.

Short review this time.

When compared to GL Peases's Embarcadero, which is also a Virginia/Izmir blend, this blend fails miserably.

The Izmir/Smyrna is extrmely muted in this blend and doesn't come to the forefront the whole time. It's there sporatically but not enough for my tastes.

Do yourself a favor and get the Embarcadero instead. It is usually cheaper and burns a lot better.

Is there anyone else tired of hearing that McClelland's blends smell like "catsup" or "vinegar" in the tin? As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter what a tobacco smells like in the tin: what matters is how it tastes and smells in the pipe.

The first time I tried Smyrna No. 1 was in a churchwarden outside in my backyard in a slight breeze with a dark Greek coffee. That was a mistake (not the coffee). The tobacco burned fast, slightly hot and tasteless. I figured it was much too light for my taste.

Shortly thereafter, I wanted to give this tobacco another chance; but this time indoors. I tried this fine blend in an old, small GBD pipe from the far end of my pipe rack. I made some Greek coffee again, which I love to smoke with any tobacco, and lit this tobacco in my basement.

The flavors are there but subtle. I can understand why I missed out on the cool, slightly sweet, spicy, peppery taste outdoors. I especially liked the taste on my tongue at the end of drawing on the smoke. The smoke was creamy, full and the oriental taste light. The smoke dissipates quickly. There is absolutely no bad aftertaste. The tobacco packs easy and smokes dry all the way to the bottom of the bowl to a fine grey ash.

I think it an ideal blend in a small pipe, indoors and should be smoked early in the day. I don't know yet if it will be part of my regular rotation, but when I'm looking for something subtle and exotic early in the day I may turn to this blend more often than not. I will always keep a tin around.

well, I like this whole line by McClelland but this is the best I think. Smyrna is a very easily recognizable taste, and as pipestud mentioned it was popular back when John Cotton made the famous blend of the same name. It might not be for everyone, and like this entire line the nic hit is toward the mild end. Still, the flavor is just wonderful....if you like Smyrna. Smoking this takes me back....way back...to the old John Cotton days. It is redolent of exotic places and just has that quality of mystery that some tobaccos have. Give it a try. high quality as is the case, always, with mcClelland.

There is nothing to compare to this either. Not embarcadero....which is fine but nothing in this class, nor do even other oriental blends like Sam'sFlake come close.

I’ve been enjoying Smyrna No. 1 every time, but this evening was different and better. I loaded a smaller bowl to take outside and watch the stars come out with my son and we shared a bowl. What was interesting about this bowl was that by trading back and forth, I forced myself to enjoy the SN1 at an even slower pace that I would normally have taken and it was amazing how much more variation in flavor I was able to find.

This is a very smooth smoking oriental with some natural sweetness and hints of spice notes that are well balanced and trading off back and forth depending on the heat of combustion. My son commented on how enjoyable he found SN1 telling me that he likes this one right from the start; he called it a “no bite with a non-aromatic sweetness that has a creamy quality to it”.

A slow pace with brief interruptions will really make this one sing for you. Happy Smoke Trails!

A friend sent me a generous sample of Smyrna No. 1 and I have enjoyed the chance to smoke this.

It is a mild, sweet and slightly spicy blend. For me, it is one of those smokes like Embarcadero that is a little delicate and benefits from a dedicated pipe to really "get" it.

if you like orientals, this is a great one to try.

Light, smooth, complex. There are sweet notes and occasionally a dark sugary quality comes through fleetingly. Spicy cinnamon pepper present but not overstated. Gentle, subtle, intriguing. A most elegant smoke.

I support the idea of the Grand Orientals series so that we can get an idea of what individual leaves taste like. This is the only one I've had and I'm reviewing it from memory, but with a full tin under my belt I felt like I could say some nice things about it.

The presentation is impeccable with the two leaves atop the ribbon. Such a nice touch. I found this stuff a bit hard to keep to lit, but then I smoked my tin pretty fresh and didn't let it dry out at all. It left my pipes a bit moist in the bottom, which was no big deal, but worth noting.

The flavor itself was really ... rich and exotic, I guess. It wasn't a very deep blend in my experience, but while it was a bit one-dimensional it was a good dimension.

In short, I bought this mainly out of academic interest in the Smyrna leaf but ended up enjoying the smoke itself well enough to consider buying another tin eventually. Worth a try if you're interested in orientals at all.