McClelland 3 Oaks Syrian

The scent coming out of the newly opened tin is soft and sublime. Latakia is subdued but delicious. Orientals lay heavy on the warm, sweet Virginia aroma. Complex and immensely enjoyable. Scents of creosote, sharp, tangy, sea salt, okra, raw sweet peppers, and aged hard cheeses. All imbedded in a the tasty aroma of a top-notch Oriental blend.

Coarse ribbons pack well. Lights and burns nicely.

In the mouth the smoke is soft but flavorful, creamy and smooth. Sweet Virginia sweetness and subdued smokiness and oily, leathery notes from the tasty Latakia. But the Orientals dominate here - they really shine, fresh and peppery sweet. On the mild side, but delivers an amazing smoke. If this blend had a little more OOMPH to it, it would be perfect. Still, this stuff is subtle, warm, and delicious. Goes in the favorites list.

4 stars.

This is the second Latakia blend I ever smoked, and I took to it immediately. I then spent six months building a modest frame of reference by smoking every Lat blend I could get my hands on, and 3 Oaks still holds up.

This is a delicious, balanced tobacco. The quality of this McClelland vintage Syrian Latakia is amazing and so different from what you're used to from your Latakia. The components of 3 Oaks Syrian are so perfectly married that it is rare to have any one of them rise above the others during a bowl. There is the wonderful Latakia, an obvious creamy tang from the Orientals, and the whole works is bound in superlative McClelland Virginia tobacco.

On the downside, this tobacco isn't terribly full, in strength or flavor. That aside, it's damn near perfect.

I am surprised this isn't gone already. It's that good. Let's keep this our little secret, ok? I am still trying to put enough of this away that I won't miss it too bad when it's finally gone for good.

Three Oaks Syrian is a wonderful offering of Syrian Latakia, generally unavailable in American-blended tobaccos. To my taste, the Latakia dominates with it's smokey richness; it's a little smoother, more plum-like and less spicy than its Cyprian counterpart. 3OS comes a bit wet from the tin, and as I experienced with other McClelland English/Balkan blends, takes some patience in drying out to a proper smoking moisture.

I've always appreciated Tad Gage's astute tobacco reviews in P&T and he has created an interesting, tasty offering.

This tobccos has great smell and taste. Let it sit for a while after you open it though, gets better after about 1 month.

What a great smoke! Wow! This is an English latakia blend at it's best! I was really surprised as my first experience with this blend came in a baggie in a trade and in the baggie, it was mostly light in color, a ribbon cut, with a few dark bits of leaf mingled in. I was expecting to be honest it to be a VaPer and thus loaded it into a Pete Bulldog and proceeded to light up. The pouch aroma did not have the traditional English aroma but more of a sweet peaty aroma. But upon first light up, my mouth was filled with the most fragrant, sweet, and smokey flavor of latakia that was surrounded by a great sweet VA and the exotic flavor of orientals! I liked it first off and by the time I finished the bowl, I loved it! I smoked the rest of the small baggie and proceeded to order a tin of this blend. I am going through it like crazy, it is wonderful to smoke with coffee in the morning or with a good wine or bourbon on the rocks before bed. It does take a few relights during the process of smoking the bowl, but some of that is my just slowly sipping the wonderful smoke and relaxing with it. It burns down to a medium grey ash with no dottle left in the pipe and leaves one with a fine aftertaste in the mouth. I never did get the scent of ketchup or vinegar common with McClelland blends. I highly recommend this blend to all pipers as it really is an experience more than just a smoke.

Absolutely lovely English mixture, wonderfuly balanced with a slight lean on Latakia. If this is really Syrian Latakia, it's certainly not the one I've tried long ago, and not the same that can be found in Ashton Artisan's Blend or Brebbia Balkan. I don't know, and I don't care. Syrian Latakia or not, this English mixture is definitely one of the bests I've every smoked.

The tin aroma is smoky, moisture level is almost dry and just how I like it, so all is well right off. The packing is easy and the tobacco lights right up. The first taste is nice but reserved. There is the latakia flavor with a smoky (that word again)quality that I often miss with many latakia blends. This quality is surely the Syrian at work. As the pipe is smoked down to mid bowl the flavor is building to a medium strength. Right down to the bottom it is smooth and never harsh. There is no burnt tongue or smoking fatigue . Once the bowl is finished it could easily be followed by another. This is one of the finest English blends around and I highly recommend it.

Three Oaks Syrian is well worth a try if you like lighter blends. My experence is that it burns a lot better with a little less moisture than straight from the tin. I dry it until when pinched together hard it doesn't want to stick together (and good luck with that). That all said, I do not feel it is near as strong in the Lat. taste dept. as Artisans Blend. It is a good, smooth smoke, but the Lat. is not really up front. There is a smokeyness there for sure, just not leaping out, think light and mild. Flavor did increase as the bowl approached the 3/4 done mark, but not a lot. I did find that I enjoyed it more in a larger gauge bowl. Leaf quality is good, no harshness as associated with some of the "younger" blends. I've not tried the "original" blend as yet - but will soon. I have high hopes for it. How it ages - have to ask the Nobel folks - ha. If you want a Lat. blast look else where. For me, I need a little more flavor. I enjoy Syrian but there needs to be enough of it to count.

I began to smoke the original 3 Oaks blend as soon as it hit the market in 1989 and continued, on and off, into the nineties. I remember the original as a darker and pungent Latakia blend with a kind of "English perfume" about it. This perfumey Englishness, in an always too moist presentation, was my only complaint about the blend. All that was resolved in the revival edition. Opening showed an English mixture, at one and the same time, both slightly lighter in overall color than the original and not nearly as damp; almost immediately somkeable. The smoking profile is somewhat lighter and less "smokey" than the original and I found it easy to smoke in any size chamber. The first half of each bowl was a solid medium English. This English emphasis declined as I reached the crossover from the middle third to the bottom third and, from there on, it was an Oriental-dominated smoke of quality. I used it as a blending ingredient and that was positive. So, all in all, I can recommend 3 Oaks Syrian and give it three stars and agree with reviewer point9 2014-12-15 that it is more of a 3 and 1/2 star blend.