McClelland 3 Oaks Syrian

To my mind, there are only two genuinely great Syrian latakia blends on the market today, both from McClellands. One is Wilderness, a delightful oriental-forward blend. The second is this one, Three Oaks Syrian, a mixture that really showcases the subtle incense-like notes of the latakia. Although it's stronger than most of McClelland's offerings, it is mild enough to use as an all-day smoke (although I only smoke it on special occasions). Personally, I prefer Cyprian latakia to Syrian, but I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to experience the few remaining crumbs of this tobacco varietal.

P.S. -- There is no such thing as McClelland's "ketchup casing," as some other reviewers have alleged. This is clearly an unflavored blend. The "ketchup casing" alluded to at length by some smokers is merely the aroma/taste of fermenting virginias. It's not an added flavor, it's not a humectant, it's not an aromatic casing. McClelland sources and process its own leaf from American growers, which leads to a far different product than is sold by other houses. I have personally aged unflavored red virginias from C&D and H&H and ended up with "ketchupy" leaf, especially when aging red vas.

UPDATE 7/10/2017

I am not touching the rating on this one, but will add to the fact that I have now tasted the Cyprian 3 Oaks and I would say, for my tastes, I prefer the Cyprian version, but just slightly. They are both really fantastic lat blends.

ORIGINAL REVIEW 9-23-2014

From my first bowl of this, I boldly declared it my favorite Balkan blend. A steep claim as I have had the luxury of tasting the new Balkan Sobranie, Penzance, Smoker's Haven Krumble Kake, HU Fayyum Kake and Blue Mountain amongst many others.

It is a very creamy smoke that burns cool with a fantastic fragrance that seeps through the side stream. I was beginning to think that I preferred the Cypriot variety of the Latakia Leaf as other blends using Syrian had yet to ring my bells. This one has me reevaluating that thought.

I nearly finished the tin, but gave the rest to a friend that was enjoying it yesterday as I plan to buy several more. I also look forward to testing this against the Cyprian Three Oaks to get a better idea of my Latakia preference.

But for now, Four stars to my favorite Balkan.

Every piper sooner or later meets a blend that despite promising ingredients just never finds a suitable pipe or technique. I hope, for blending purposes, the problem lies with the ingredient ratios, my chief complaint with Abingdon. Two tins had the same result: yuck. I just didn't like the taste.

I still recommend trying it, just don't lay in several tins until you do.

It took the better part of a tin for me to get this blend. I had just been smoking a full flavored balkan for a few months (Peretti's Royal Blend) and this one just seemed so mild that I had to search for the flavor. Around the half bowl mark the flavor kicks in and it's a lovely semi-sweet smoke. There is a hint of spice. The latakia is tame but present. Overall an enjoyable blend but I usually want more forward flavors. I recommend letting it dry for a considerable time before loading a bowl.

Fresh off my second bowl of this. The first one I remember was unremarkable. I gave it a pretty tight pack and it burnt ok. A few relights. It doesn't seem overly moist as some people have said, but maybe just my tin. The smoke starts pretty solid and simple, smooth and smoky latakia up front. That seems to fade away and in the middle of the bowl, when i am wanting a body and character to build it seems lacking. I find myself tasting ashiness with a musty background, like an old basement. Especially on the relights, it reminded me of re-lighting a cigarette that had been sitting. Towards the end there was a small reward of flavor, when I distinctly tasted black licorice and some deep red wine. The flavors were too subtle for me, and I found myself pulling hard to extract them, which led to not quite tongue bite but a dryness, which along with the ashiness left my mouth feeling like an ashtray. Rating: less enjoyable. Worth another shot, has some promise, maybe in a different pipe.

Appearance is a dark brown broken flake or very rough large ribbon. Tin smells of dried fruits and dusty room. Tastes very lightly sweet, ashy, not very smoky for a latakia blend.

I do not see this as an English nor a Balkan. Smells a bit like dried fruit; in fact, it smells like American chewing tobacco. I haven't any idea how to categorise this, but to say it feels waxy and tastes ashy. There's no strength here either. How does this rate a high recommendation? Drying this well improves flavour and reduces bite, but there are certainly better mixtures on the market.

My tin is from 2013. Was purchased at Uptowns smoke shop in Nashville in 2015 (great place to visit if you are in Nashville). I smoked a couple of bowls afterwards but honestly it was boring. Im smoking a bowl of it now as im typing this. Back then the flavors where very mild and had no complexity. Also it gave me a little tongue bite but that was from over doing it to get flavor out of it. As of today, it is still very mild and not complex and its not giving me tongue bite because i know what to expect now. Its just a mild english with Syrian Latakia. I have found im not a fan of Syrian as i am of Cyprian. Mostly because of the age Syrian has. It is too light for my tastes. Still good but light. Its not a bad blend but, im not going to miss it.

McClelland - Three Oaks Syrian

Several years ago, this was my first experience with syrian latakia, at a time when syrian latakia blends seemed hard to find but yet this one was plentiful.

As I found it, this blend was rich and flavorful, but not as powerful as I wished it were, and also very mildly flavored with something (liquoricey tasting) that, although wasn't totally at odds with the rest of the blend, just wasn't really my taste, and left me feeling irritated that the tin descriptive made no explicit mention of this "surprising ingredient you might not expect", although I now realize the phrase "classic Syrian Latakia blends of old" should've been my hint. To me this blend improved as it dried out some in the tin over the course of several months, and the bottom of the tin made a great mixer with some D&R Rimboche SJ.

This blend falls into the catagory of "DFS" for me. That is damn fine smoke. As most of you know Syrian Latakia is no longer available to blenders so whatever they have stocked is all we can enjoy. To me Cyprian Latakia just can't hold the flavor or taste that Syrian can. So I usually know if the tin says Syrian but the blend taste says Cypress. Let me tell you this is The glorious Syrian Latakia in all its wonderful flavors. This stuff right from the tin lights up so smooth and burns so cool and slow. I smoked this in one of my favorite pipes, a Large bowl Boswell that took well over a hour to finish. It was a very enjoyable hour I can tell you. This stuff has that wonderful sweet wood smoke flavor with just a hint of baked bread. I am not a fan of orientals at all (they make my nose tingle when I exhale) so I was hoping they stayed in the background. I certainly don't find them sweet bit more closely the taste of pepper. They did hide for most of the smoke. Finished with a bowl of beautiful white ash. Room note as you would expect was wood smoke but not overwhelming. If you like me love Syrian Latakia grab some of this before it is gone. Oh....there is some nicotine hit but it is very mild and absolutely no bite whatsoever.