McClelland Blue Mountain/Balkan Blue

Theodore Moore's review below nails this one. Blue Mountain is a smooth, rich, tasty balkan that is a bit lat-heavy, is not at all harsh or bitter, and is expertly crafted. It contains the trademark tangy, tasty McClelland McVinegar virginias and oily orientals that easily distinguish it as such. It is not overly complex or nuanced, which for me, costs it one star. It is not so similar to Sobraine, either, for these and other reasons, yet stands on its own merit as a great smoke, nonetheless. It IS exceedingly smooth, and the orientals do not dry the throat. Though it arrives too wet in the tin, once dried out properly it is easy to smoke to a fine white ash.

Not meaning to take away from this excellent blend, but for my personal tastes I'd rather smoke McClelland's more unique creations such as Three Oaks Syrian, Wilderness and Legends, which are all distinct and fantastic in their own right, using those tangy, vinegary McVirginias to generate savory new flavors and complexities, rather than trying to mask them to match aged unobtainium weed from one's cellar.

If you like your balkan smoother, slightly less oriental-forward, and with more latakia than Fred Hanna's blends, without any bitterness, sourness or harshness, and you don't seem to get along with the chemistry of Pease's blends, then this and the even tastier Black House may very well be your go-to balkans. Recommended!! Three stars.

I smoked a few bowls of this at a pipe club meeting soon after it came out and liked it well enough to order a few tins. But I'm not sure I still like it quite so much, especially when compared with the legion of fine Latakia blends that have arrived on the market over the past few years.

The Sobranie 759 connection probably doesn't do Blue Mountain any favors. I haven't smoked a lot of vintage 759 (just a few bowls) but like most, I don't think Blue Mountain tastes very much like it. But Blue Mountain does taste like a whole lot of other McClelland Latakia blends. That connection to the McClelland house style is both the weakness and the strength of this tobacco.

McClelland's tendency—exemplified by the various Frogs—is to present a sweet (and perhaps sweetened) style of Latakia blend. There are exceptions to this, of course, such as Legends and Wilderness (both superior blends to Blue Mountain, I think) but generally speaking the McClelland style is on the sweet side. There is nothing wrong with that but, speaking personally, I don't favor the style. I find it tiring to smoke. I also think that all this sweetness tends to mask some of the issues with Blue Mountain that other people have described—particularly the monochromatic and monotonous quality of the blend.

All of this sounds negative, but I don't mean it to be. Blue Mountain is good stuff. It's ribbon cut and mostly black in the tin with a little brown and golden ribbon in the mix. The tin aroma is smoky with a hint of the “plum pudding” scents that the British often ascribe to such mixtures. It doesn't light very easily, and I agree with all those who complain that Blue Mountain is surprisingly difficult to keep lit. It smokes quite nicely—lots of bluish smoke, and a pretty straightforward sweetened Latakia and Virginia quality. I would love to find more depth and complexity in Blue Mountain, but I don't. I would also love to find more strength. Blue Mountain is very light in the nicotine department.

Blue Mountain is worth smoking. I won't do that very often, but when I'm in the mood for a sweet, smoky Latakia mixture without a whole lot of complexity, I'll reach for it. It certainly works well on this cold night alongside the Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout I'm drinking as I write this.

Yes it's the throwdown blend to 759 and Blue Mountain tastes IMHO nothing like it. A bad thing? No, not at all as it should be viewed on it's own merits. BM shares that common taste of McClelland English blends dare I say it tastes "McClellandy" and I and not speaking of the vinegar taste. It also shares the same wet on arrival and forever to dry quality of McClelland. With that all said, there is a nice smokiness with some sweetness to the blend. It appears quite rich in the tin and in flavor. BM lacks the strength I prefer and for that reason I prefer the other winner in the throwdown. I think fans of McClelland English blends will find this to be a full four star blend and should stock up on some tins. For me, it's recommended.

A very nice Latakia forward English with a wonderful sweet note. The Orientals sit between the two and hold it all together. My tin was a bit dry, but that's how I would have smoked it anyway. Lights easily and burns well. There was only a faint trace of McBBQ smell in the tin note and in the flavor. Just below medium in body. Medium to full in flavor. A nice relaxing and enjoyable smoke. 3+

Being a fan of Black House, I felt it was important to sample Balkan Blue and compare them for myself. In short, to my palate this is the inferior blend of the two.

I do find the McClelland tin note to be offputting. In BB its mixed with the Latakia campfire but its still there and although it quickly dissipates, it is present in the first few puffs and I personally find it offputting.

This is not to besmirch the tobacco entirely however. It is rich in flavour, burns well and deserves to be sampled by fans of balkan blends. My tin was fairly damp but smokeable fresh from the tin. Nicotine was fairly standard for this type of blend and was on the milder side of the spectrum.

I wouldnt discourage anyone from buying this, particularly if you like McClelland blends and you like Balkan blends. But I do feel there is better out there and would personally reach for a tin of Black House over this.

Let's get it straight: if this is meant as a replica of 759, it failed big time. It doesn't taste like the rich and voluptuous 759 from the cylindrical tins from the '70s, it doesn't taste like the ultra intense from the flat tins in the '80s, and it doesn't taste like the mellow and less Oriental/Latakia driven pouches of the '90s. Not only that: it also has that very peculiar touch to the Virginias, that sweetish base taste, that it's typically McClelland and nothing else.

That said.... it's an excellent blend! Latakia heavy, not as Oriental-laden and fragrantly subtle as a true Balkan should be, but so far it's my favourite "English" from McClelland, beating even the "crossover" (or heresy, but what a nice heresy) called Frog Morton.

It packs well, in its largish and coarse cut, and burns cool and slow to the end. The first thing you get (also in tin aroma) is that funky sweet note, not much unlike that of some of McClelland's nice aromatics like Pal O'Mine, Captain Cool, etc (which are excellent aromatics, by the way). You know it? That note of coconut, toffee, nuts... Here it's of course subtle, but definitely present. Something in the casing?

Anyway, the sweet note, while something innatural and unexpected in such a blend, is not bad... and it soon goes in the background letting the Latakia sing. And I must say that it's excellent Latakia: smoky, fragrant, leathery. Much more impressive than in many other (disappointing) McC latakia blends, especially the ones boasting the Syrian leaf or the classic "green label" series.

What else to say? It's not exaclty a Balkan, it's not exactly an English, it's not a masterpiece of complexity and nuance like the GLPease tobaccos (Westminster and Lagonda in particular come to mind). It's a simply a very enjoyable, low maintenance and flavorful Latakia blend. And as such, I'll gladly buy it again.

Although I first smoked a pipe in 1958 when I was a sophomore in highschool, I didn't discover english blends until some time around 1962-1963. At that time Balkan Sobranie 759 was on the shelf in razor-cut tins. It was expensive compared to peoples' bulk english blends and, being a poor student, I favored the bulks. Be that as it may, between 1965 and 1970 I was lucky enough to smoke this most venerated of pipeweeds. To many, it is the holy grail of pipe tobaccos - selling today on e-bay at an unbeievable $450/two ounce tin!

I have a very good memory, in general, and remember very well the smoking qualities of every iteration of this blend - from the old razor cuts to the last iteration in plastic roll-up bags. But, this is a review of McClelland Blue Mountain. I want to state up front and emphatically that NO iteration of 759 ever had as rough and coarse a cut as Blue Mountain. This was my immediate reaction to the tin I opened. The aroma was wonderfully reminiscent of older 759, but - the long, broad and krinkled accordian-like strands of this blend are totally foreign to ANY 759 I can recall. I own old tins of 759 and opened one somewhere in the last seven or eight years. It does NOT look like this blend.

This tin was very wet. I have come to expect this with McClelland tins. I followed my normal process and put an ample amount on a sheet of paper to dry out overnight. Hah! The next morning it was just as wet as the day before - too wet to smoke. So, I left it to dry out for a second day and - what? - it was practically as damp as the first morning! I wanted to sample this blend , soooo - I put it in the microwave and gave it 10 seconds. Would you believe it was still slightly too damp to light? So, I gave it ten more seconds and watched white fumes wafting off of it! I posit to every reader that all of this is ALL WRONG! There is no good reason for using propylene glycol as a humectant on pipe tobacco and I have come to limit my use of blends that use it.

Otherwise, I enjoyed smoking this blend. It does have both a tin aroma and a smoking aroma that is reminiscent of older 759 - but, its aroma is actually too strong. The aroma dominates the smoke and, after awhile, I began to realize that older 759 also had a stronger english "nose" underneath all of this aroma that Blue Mountain simply does not have.

So, passing on the coarse cut, abundant dampness and overly fragrant complaint; I give it three stars and reccommend it. However, any blend that I have to struggle with to this extent just to dry it to a smoking consistency can't have four stars.

Going to keep this short and sweet.

Very Latakia forward, a weighty blend.

The obvious comparison will arise, in my books Russ Ouellette's Black House is better, more layers, complex, full and deep; however, Blue Mountain is heavier.

Really you can't go wrong with either one.

Revised review 2015-1-29-- I've been smoking a two year old bulk Blackhouse vs a 3 month old tin of Blue Mountain back to back and personally I like the Blue Mountain better. Not that Blackhouse is bad, but I find the BM smoother but still lacks some N punch and flavor with probably a little more sweetness than the BH. Now if you are looking for a Balkan Sobraine winner, it's been too long ( 1966) for me to compare.

I think reviewer, Marshall Law 2013-03-28 , said it best, if I may quote, "If you like your balkan smoother, slightly less oriental-forward, and with more latakia than Fred Hanna's blends, without any bitterness, sourness or harshness, and you don't seem to get along with the chemistry of Pease's blends, then this and the even tastier Black House may very well be your go-to Balkans."