McClelland Blue Mountain/Balkan Blue

One of my favorite latakia blends. Unfortunately it’s no longer in production and the remaining tins you can find are quite expensive.

I recommend Hearth & Home Magnum Opus for a very similar taste

The mixture of Cyprian Latakia and Oriental tobaccos is absolutely exquisite—with the cedar-like smokiness melding perfectly with the slightly spicy and sour notes. The McClelland Virginias offer an earthy sweetness to the tobacco. Balkan blends do not get much better than Balkan Blue.

Balkan Blue has been one of my favorite blends that I have smoked while making my way through my brother-in-law's cellar while on vacation.

*This review is based on a small sample and limited life experience.

I'm a simple guy and I keep my reviews simple. I'm not a everyday Latakia smoker so I like to use Latakia blends to break things up a bit from my normal rotation. This is perfect for that. Tin note is med/full with a smoky note. But imo this isn't full flavored. McClelland Latakia is always flavorful but on the mild side. As I smoke the Latakia builds, but says mild while the bitter orientals really help keep this blend smooth to the bottom of the bowl. I might call this tobacco medium near the bottom, but probably not. It could be a perfect all day Latakia blend. For me it burned extremely cool and dry, with a low N hit. This might not satisfy me after a long day at work, but it's great with some sweet tea on Sunday morning.

Rich, creamy, leathery, smoky and smooth. Everything that you would want a full lat blend to be is exactly what Blue Mountain is. I have never had the House of Sobranie offering that this was meant to mimic, so I offer no comparison in that way, but it really is irrelevant once you get into a bowl of this.

It is a true escape smoking a bowl of it. I bought this tin on vacation visiting family in Austin, Texas. I did not have my kids, but my brother did. I jumped at an opportunity to drop him and his kids off at a children's museum, so I could hang out at tobacco shop nearby. I walked in and immediately espied the tin of BM and bought it along with a few Pease blends they had for sale.

I took it and my coffee into their lounge and filled my group 5 1985 Dunhill shell 5103 and drifted off immediately marveling at the creaminess of the blend. I picked up a book about cigars and read lightly as I was just really enjoying both what I was puffing and the side stream coming off the lit bowl. As I reached the halfway mark the flavor was really picking up when my damn phone rang. It was my brother relaying to me what I did not want to hear. He said this place is boring come pick us up. Nooooooo. Anyway, I had to end the smoke right there, but every bowl I have had that followed that bowl in Texas carried me away to wonderful places.

This is just a fantastic smoke to get lost in. Four stars all the way.

I held a can of this back for 5 years and just bought a new one to compare what aging might do to this blend. The new was very good. The 5 year can was great. Both are a great buy for your tobacco dollar if your taste leans in the non-aro direction. That said, a great mellow and smooth blend for aro smokers looking to dabble on the not so sweet side. I like many aro's and enjoy them but the blends that are Balkan forward (if there is such a thing) and burley forward are my meat and potatoes. While realizing taste is subjective, I feel the new tin is Frog Morton vacationing for two weeks at a sea side Balkan resort while the 5 year tin is Mr. Froggy winning the lotto, retired and living at said Balkan sea side resort. For you newbies or new McClelland's smokers; here is what everyone else knows - McClelland's tins are McClelland's tins; vinegar smell when you open the tin, leans to the moist side and needs some some playing with on the drying and packing side when you first smoke their blends. The quality of their tobaccos and the care of their blending skills will earn your respect. Will you like all their blends? I doubt it but again, that is because taste is subjective. This one has no bite. For me, pack it medium in a large bowl, and no relights. Will the Mrs. like the smell of this as much as your aros? Err, no but it is not too bad and some wives have even been known to get to where they appreciate the aroma. My Angel Wife really likes this one when we sit outside. She says that is because while she loves the smell of a campfire, she still does not want me to build one in the middle of the living room. This could be an every day smoke if it came in 8 ounce or 14 ounce pound tins. I think the slow maturing in an open tin would serve this blend well. Just MHO.

This tobacco blend is nothing short of addictive. Easy to lite, no bite, stay's lit and taste is the same top to bottom. I find a small to medium bowl suits this tobacco best. I have a 25 year old Stanwell, Vario bent apple entry line of Stanwell that is just right for what ever reason, that I find the most enjoyable smoke. This Balkan can change your mind as it offers cool, relaxing, somewhat intoxicating enjoyment. Please try at least once , but save some for a rainy afternoon

Leaf: A medium ribbon cut, very dark with a small smattering of lighter browns here and there. Good moisture out of the tin.

Tin Aroma: The tin note is beautiful on this blend, it is rich, smokey, sweet, the spiciness and sharpness of the orientals is very noticeable too. There is a slight McC vinegar note hanging around but it doesn't interfere with the aroma. It gave the impression for me that there was a good dose of latakia waiting to greet me when I lit it up. A very appetising offering.

Taste: With the first light the Latakia smokiness is there, it is only a little camp-firey though and a little sweeter than I find most lat flavour. The Vinegar from the aroma is there as well, but it seemed to fade out as the smoke went on. The Latakia moved to the rear and the orientals came forward with the Va's in tow, the sweetness developed and the orientals carried a lovely spiciness. It is a very fresh, and 'quality' tasting tobacco. and was very well balanced between the elements. The smoke is exceedingly smooth, retrohale has no chance of burning the nose, the tongue is safe from bite too. I French inhaled regularly and re-inhaled the smoke up my nose before retrohaling, it was super smooth and flavourful. At this point, about halfway, I was still very impressed with this blend. After this, I am not sure why, but I kind of started to lose interest in it, it felt a little one dimensional, personally I found it just wasn't complex enough, or bold enough, almost as if this blend could kick it up a few more notches in the flavour department but felt like playing it safe instead. Towards the end of the bowl I seemed to regularly find a developing sourness, not the kind I sometimes look for,but a slightly soapy or almost chemical/preservative taste I could never quite put my finger on. It was never enough to turn me off, or ruin the bowl, but it just didn't make me light up inside like a really fantastic blend does when it just gets it right.The time I spent pondering over this taste detracted from my enjoyment when it finally hit. I honestly don't know whether it is just me, just my tin, or just the way they intended it to be and it's just not for me. This is where it became hard to judge and review, it is in NO WAY AT ALL a bad blend, on the contrary I enjoyed every bowl and finished my tin very quickly, and I would buy another one if I came across it. I just didn't find that it rocked my world like I expected it to. I did find it tasted a bit better after some time in the Mason Jar, so next time around I will jar up a whole tin and leave it for a few months before I crack into it. Smokeability No complaints here, packs, lights, and burns like a dream. Great moisture from the tin, it always burnt down to white ash for me and stayed cool and dry.

Summary: This is not easy for me. This was a GOOD smoke, but I didn't find it Great, which I think is what I was expecting. As I said in my earlier quick review, it doesn't do anything wrong, it just doesn't get something right, and I can't pinpoint what it is. It is no fuss to pack and smoke, the nic was gentle for me, it was simple enough to be an all day smoke. It is well balanced and smooth, but in my opinion it could be bolder and richer, and more complex. I still feel it was playing it safe. It just felt flat. I will definitely get another tin, and I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, but it won't be knocking anything out of my current rotation. It is definitely worth a try,and I am sure others find it more amazing than I did, it may just be that rare blend that doesn't agree with me. With such a wonderful Aroma, it just didn't deliver the flavour I thought it was promising, it was like smelling a wonderful stout, pouring a glass and taking a sip, and tasting light beer.

The smell in the can/jar is somewhat chocolaty. out in the open you can smell more of the latakia, lots of dark leaf mixed with some yellow, i can see casing on the leaf when i look at it through a magnifying glass. The taste is sweet with the oriental up front pretty much through the whole bowl. I wish there was a little more complexity to this experience, the one sided role the orientals play had me longing for a little more something else. It wasn't all oriental like a pure oriental blend there was some balance to back off the pure strength of the oriental leaf to make it smooth and sweet but that's all you get through the entire bowl. i might mix this with some 3 oaks syrian i have to see what happens. The sweetness nice at first but i would say this is not an all day smoke. i might also try mixing it with some black house. on a scale from 1 - 10 i would rate this as a good solid 7 Edit 2/9/2017 i should have come back to revisit my review. i love this blend and really now that i have learned more about tobaccos its not the oriental that is giving off that subtle flower note its something else. I have moved on to a blend thats very close to this only better, hearths white knight. try it

Since I never had the opportunity to try the original I can't tell you how close of a match this is, but I can say that it does hold true to a Balkan style blend, nice smokey latakia, and some oriental sweetness, but that is about it, I would suspect a bit of aging might be best for this blend , so buy to tins one for now and one for the cellar