McClelland CPCC Samovar

What a superior blend! I have yet to work my way through all McClelland's blends containing Syrian Latakia but this one is outstanding. This is better than their Syrian Full Balkan and their Syrian Super Balkan. In appearance it resembles the Syrian Full Balkan (which I gave 2 stars long ago) but the flavor is more like the Syrian Super Balkan - but better. It is far better balanced. Silkier, smoother, more velvety.

As with most true Latakia based blends, do not expect a nicotine onslaught. I don't miss that anyway. It's that good.

In short the flavor profile is more robust than either other. I don't know about Russian black tea but this is the aged Merlot of the pipe tobacco world. A daily bowl is a treat, especially in the evening which one can savor its smoky delicacy at leisure, and yes, with some good hot tea. This is not a beer and chips blend - it is a celebration smoke.

As to comparing it to Ashton Artisan's Blend - remove the perique in that, soften the Virginias, up the other Orientals a tad: there you go. As to comparing it to the C&D Cordial - I only do that from a taste similarity in that the black cavendish there softens its Cyprian Latakia into a more Syrian-like experience, add more oriental varieties than just Ismir: There you go.

But it is most like C&D Star of the East - just much, much smoother and without the sneaky nicotine kick SOTE can give by bowl's end.

My favorite blend is still C&D Engine 99. If I was on our desert island and had a large supply of it that would be my choice. But if I were restricted to only a small stash of pipe tobacco on that island and could only smoke a bowl a week, or a month, or worse, this one might get the call.

Extremely pleasurable tobacco experience. Great blending with great tobacco. Multi-dimensional and complex, yet balanced. Delivers spice and floral notes on the retrohale. Burns clean on one light, post char. 4*.

This ribbom-cut blend immediately makes itself known as you pop open the lid with the smokey Syrian Latakia predominating. As is usual for me, I immediately took out a pinch to play with. While not wet, it is somewhat on the damp side, so I took out a bowlful and spread it out to dry. After about 15-20 minutes I judged it ready to smoke, and decided on a pipe with a deep, but not too wide bowl. The pipe that fit off the top of my head was my Bjarne. I packed it slightly tight at the bottom and worked my way to a looser pack up to the top. It takes a small bit of work but after going through a standard pipe-lighting routine, it caught and burned nicely.

In a word - WOW!

As with the tin, the first thing that makes itself known is the Latakia. Is delicate an adjective you can use for Latakia? Well, thats how it tasted to me. Right behind it though was the unmistakeable sweetness of the Virginia, with the spicyness of the Orientals bringing up the rear. I have no idea which Oriental vatietals were used in this blend, but they add a smooth spicyness (if that makes any sense) without that perfumy, soapy harshness I've encountered with some other Orientals.

That said, Samovar must be sipped, as the Virginia will bite if you're not careful. A slow, smoldering bowl is best. This will, in most likelyhood require some relights along the way, but so what?

All in all, in some ways, and I'll probably catch hell for saying this, something in the back of my head whispered something "Bohemien" at me. Now it's been a long time since I smoked anything "Bohemien", so I won't insist on this, but for me, the impression was there.

Incidentally, I unintentionally got to sample the DGT potential of Samovar and I must say it's great! Somehow, the sweetness of the Virginias remains, but the bite seems to have attenuated a great deal, allowing for a bit more vigorous puffing.

Another item - room note. Had a friend drop in and I offered him a bowl of Samovar. As I was smoking cigarettes at the time, which temporarily ruins the palate for pipe tobacco, I got to sit back and enjoy the aroma. Now, keep in mind that I love this stuff, so my opinion may be skewed, but I thought the room note was great. The general aroma was soft with the Latakia definitely present but in no way overwhelming.

I can't speak to what age will bring to the table with this blend, since I've not had the oportunity to sample any but the current offering, but I'm keeping my eye out for either the original production, or the current one with age on it, and should I luck out, I'll try to add my impressions to this review.

In conclusion, if you want to try a really great English blend that gives balanced satisfaction without overwhelming, you must give this a try. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I really LOVE this blend.

In the West, you smoke your pipe. In Soviet Russia, the pipe smokes you.

I've been to Soviet Russia several times so I have a first-hand experience regarding the "soothing rich Russian tea" mentioned in tin description. It's nothing like the smoky Russian Caravan Tea we believe the Ruskies drink. Up there, they don't even know what Russian Caravan is. Each and every cup of tea I have been offered there (and I've been offered a plenty of it) was nothing more than a lightly coloured solution barely retaining any tea flavour. It's because Russian conception of Tea Drinking much differs from ours. What we call "Ready-To-Drink Tea" they call "Sawarka" that means "Highly Concentrated Tea That Still Needs To Be Diluted 1:7 With Hot Water". The real Russian tea is a very thin solution, nothing like rich or full.

I should have recalled my Soviet Russian experience when picking a Syrian Latakia blend to stock my cellar. After reading many reviews here I expected MacSamovar to be a Syrian Lat bomb. If it happened to be an opposite, there's no one to blame but myself. I should have more literally understand the tin description, which honestly promised me exactly "a cup of Russian tea". That is, an utterly weak blend where the content of Latakia is faint almost to the point of nonexistence.

I hate to put low marks on tobaccos which don't have any obvious flaws. Samovar is a well made blend, just too mild to my liking. Ultra-mild Latakia lovers might love this blend.

I can only add to the highly accurate review from sinister topiary that I feel a strong part of excellent burley.In fact I can scarcely perceive the Va size.For me is an absolutely different blend unmistakable with any other save,perhaps,Black House.If keeps the level of quality this may be in the future a mythic blend and,of course,if the aging is good.For special moments not an all day smoking.

This is a very special blend. Funny to me how this is typed as an Oriental while Three Oaks Syrian, with the same listed ingredients, is considered a Balkan. I find Samovar very similar to Three Oaks in flavor but with the spice and strength dialed back a couple of notches. Three Oaks is a full-on symphony while Samovar is more like a string quartet: refined, sweet, delicate. I have smoked this both indoors and out and the subtle flavor nuances are much more discernible indoors - soft spice with an almost floral quality. Room note is great too - classic English but soft.

I was worried that the high acclaim and my hopes would have set the bar too high for this blend and I was most happily incorrect. I should preface that I don't believe I've ever had anything with Syrian Latakia in it before nor am I an old hat in the realm of Orientals. I have had Charing Cross but was ignorant of the specifics at the time and just knew it was an English.

On opening the tin, I now understand why some differentiate between campfire and BBQ aroma, this falling dead center of the latter. A sweet smokiness had my nose in the tin longer than normal to fully take in this new characteristic. The leaves were perfect in moisture which was a relief as I had ants in my pants to get a bowl of this smoldering.

Initial light granted nice thick soft white clouds of smoke as others have stated, beautiful to behold. The flavors.... This is unlike anything I've ever had before, there was a smoky latakia tobacco flavor that was neither flat or too sharp (perfect). Tea and the mustiness of my grandparents attic shared the spotlight with the Lat which kept me staring off at nothing while processing this new mix of taste and smell. I haven't smelled that wonderful particular mustiness since I was a kid but flashed immediately back to those days.

Initial retrohale did send a bit of tingle into my nose before the bowl found it's cadence but that did subside into something smoother as I progressed. Never did the bowl get too hot and I only had a relight around the beginning of the 2/3 mark after a light tamp.

I'm only one bowl into this but my experience has me still thinking about that tin sitting at home while I'm imprisoned for "The Man" for the next 8 hours. What spell has this cast on me? I will add some more detail to this when this tin is no more.

Samovar is without question the best of the PCCA blends i have tried to date. I was fortunate enough to purchase a variety of PCCA tins in an estate sale and have had fun going through them.

Samovar is loaded with spicy, smooth, yet dark and strong Oriental leaf. The Orientals made for a unique presentation and the Virginia and Syrian Latakia were both somewhat in the background of this smoke.

If you are a fan of powerful Oriental leaf (hard to find,) Samovar may be worth looking for. I don't know how many tins were produced, but I imagine scoring a tin on Ebay would be worth the added price if this is your cup of tea. I know I'll be hunting for more.

I know I'm writing a review about a long gone tobacco that probably won't be read, but the wow factor compels me to do so anyway. I purchased this tin in 2010 and opened today 8-2-22. You know how the tobacco gods can thump you in the head sometimes for being stupid? That happened to me today. This may be one of the best smokes I've ever had. And of course I only have one tin and it is no longer produced. But on to the smoke. It was still moist coming out of the tin but no dry time needed. It smelled wonderful, smoky sweet and spicy. On first light, the lat made it's presence felt, lots of thick creamy smoke with a smoky flavor. After a few puffs it toned down and began to play nice with the oriental and virginia. Well nuanced, smooth and favorable the whole way. How good do I think it was? I live in Texas. I'm on my front porch at 2 in the afternoon. It's 103 with a feel like temp of 106. I was in no rush. In fact my only thought was to check the temp for 6 AM tomorrow morning so I could plan to get back out here. An hour later I have an aftertaste of hot tea and dry red wine. If you can find it, get it.