McClelland Frog Morton's Cellar

I'm finally through my first full tin of this blend, and good- googly-moogly, I'm loving it.

Appearance: Mostly ribbons, with a view larger, broken pieces of Latakia. The colors range from tan to pure black.

Tin Aroma: Sweet. Very sweet. Hints of whiskey and fruit and a little leather and smokiness.

Flavor: I would not classify this as an all-day smoke for most people, as the sweetness of an American English most be too overpowering. For one or two bowls, though, the sweetness of the whiskey plays beautifully with the smoky Latakia, creating complex flavor that never gets boring and always offers a little bit more. I would say this is a good dessert smoke or any time you are craving an English around people who are picky about room notes.

I've got the pantry stocked with Frog Morton Cellar. It is in my regular rotation, and currently my #3 pipe tobacco.

Initial thoughts: Wonderful tin aroma. Perfect moisture level. Lights easily, and just cruises effortlessly thereafter.

Taste? At first, the Latakia spiciness is front and center. The first third of the bowl produces a stinging nose exhale. No Virgina sweetness noted.

Middle of bowl: the Latakia takes a step back and assumes a supporting note. The Virginia sweetness steps up to the plate. Milder. Can be nose exhaled now with no burn.

Lots of flavor throughout the bowl. Medium strength. Needs almost no relights. Doesn't bite. No noticeable nicotene buzz.

Frog Morton Cellar is tasty! Pairs well with bourbon, rum, or coffee. 3.5 stars. Highly recommended.

Mortgage your house; sell your firstborn; do whatever you have to do to stock up on this blend. The expression "hit it out of the ballpark" is an understatement for Frog Morton's Cellar! It's more like the shot in "The Natural" where the ball keeps going and going and going.

Tin Aroma: Upon opening you are met with the scent of the whiskey. However, it is not overwhelming as some blends are. Mild latakia follows giving the blend a needed "umph" factor. It should be noted that this blend is quite moist. That said, it's moisture did not pose a problem when lighting up.

Taste: As good as it gets. This blend rests easily on the tongue.The latakia balances everything out. Some smokers say that latakia is too strong,but I disagree. In the right amounts latakia is a spectacular leaf. In this case McClelland uses just that perfect balance of latakia.

Frog Morton's Cellar is a rare treat indeed. It is one of those "if I could only have one blend" types. I'll definately have many tins on hand 🙂 I just couldn't fit the stave in any of my pipes.

I am honored and pleased to be the first reviewer for this amazing blend. Mike and Mary from McClelland's came by our monthly meeting for the GCKPC last week and brought us samples of both this blend and Stave Aged Virginia. I spent Thursday and Saturday with this blend and have smoked 10 bowls out of 3 different pipes.

Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of any of the other Frog Morton Blends. I know many love them, but for me I'm more of a Syrian Star kind of man and love my Syrian latakia and tend to shy away from Cyprian blends. I was also very skeptical about this blend because of the "wood insert" in the tin. I wasn't sure how it would work, and as these tins have only had 2 weeks to age it's still pretty new. So with that in mind, here's the review.

I started at pipe club packing my Bruce Weaver lovat (a great english smoker) with a bowl full of the fragrant Whiskey touched leaves. Taking a whiff out of the tin you get a sense of the Latakia, but not overwhelmingly so like some of the other Morton's. This seems to just tease you. You also get a light sense of the whiskey but only when your nose is near the stave.

Once the bowl was packed I performed my pre light ritual of 4 big inhales through the pipe to clear the chamber and test the draw. On inhale one the flavor hit me. A delicious taste of of an almost sweet liquor hit my mouth. I sniffed the tobacco again but got no smell to match what I was tasting. The next 3 inhales all felt the same. So I decided to apply heat. Upon the Charring light I was now greeted with a stronger taste but now with that creamy smoothness of the tobacco joining it. I got a good char and then moved to the relight. Now here is where it gets impressive. Keep in mind this is non-dried tobacco straight out of the tin. I smoked the bowl for 1 hour and 5 minutes straight with no relight. The tobacco burned smooth and even and the flavor profile was delicious. After about 20 puffs I passed my pipe to club president John Cermack (a Morton Lover of all flavors) and told him he had to take a puff. His reaction was as surprised as mine and I had to pry the pipe out of his hands so I could resume my smoke.

The first 10 minutes or so were creamy whiskey goodness which slowly brought forth the latakia flavor. About 20 minutes in I had a good hit of the latakia but the sweetness seemed to go almost buttery. After 40 minutes a nice nutty flavor emerged that really stayed for the rest of the smoke. The smokes since have all followed very similar patterns with a few hitting the buttery flavor earlier in the smoke, but all have been completely wonderful and refreshing. This will most likely become a regular in my rotation. Mike and Mary have truly come up with a new and amazing blend. My applause to you and my thanks for giving us at the Greater Kansas City Pipe Club a chance to be early samplers of the blend.

Dustin "Big D" Babitzke

I gave myself more than 2 weeks to smoke it before I decided to make my review of this tobacco because I really wanted to get everything from it before I express my humble opinion. Firstly this tobacco has very good rating almost everywhere … which was the reason I really wanted to try it. Although it is not available in the UK I got it from online retailer in US … paying through nose UK customs taxes. IT WAS WORTH IT. First of all tin note of this tobacco is AMAZING. It definitely reminds me smell of good quality Christmas Pudding. Brandy, vanilla (lot of it) and all these spices you would normally came across on Christmas table. For those who don’t know what Christmas Pudding is … just imagine Eggnog. Smell is so tasty that You would like to eat it. Very nice aroma of this tobacco comes not from some additives and artificial aromas but from chunks of oak from wooden barrel which was used for maturation of Whiskey… so in fact it is NOT AN AROMATIC tobacco but proper English Latakia blend. Interestingly you will find chunk of that wood in your tin with tobacco also (I’ve got 2 pieces in 100 grams tin). When you lit this tobacco room aroma is fantastic also. Sweet, Christmassy (again), caramelly… sublime. Taste is fantastic, very sweet. Definitely caramel, vanilla and … I would say rather Brandy than Whiskey. You would taste good Latakia and Virginia in a background. After about half of the bowl all that sweet package gently fades away leaving you with very good quality English - Latakia blend and it stays like that to the end. Nice white - greyish fine ash is what is left on the end. This tobacco smokes cool whiteout any bite whatsoever. There is no tobacco that I came across that I could compare to this one regarding room note and aroma, so I can’t say that it is similar to “X’ or “Y”. It is unique to me and as Artisan’s work is brilliant. I only wish that it would be available in UK soon as it is one of my favourites now. My rating: Flavour 10/10, Aroma 10/10, Strenght: 9/10. OVERALL RATING: 9,5/10

This tobacco has a nice smooth smell upon opening . The Latakia is not overpowering. This carries over into the smoke. It has a nice smooth consistency on the palate and is a very enjoyable smoke. I am not going to classify whether it deserves to be classified as a true English or belongs in some other hybrid category. I'll rate it for what it is, is it a good smoke with enough interest and enjoyment to be smoked more than once? This is easily a good smoke. If your new to Latakia it's a great smoke. If you smoke a wide array of tobacco, it's good hands down. The smoke was smooth, enjoyable, not goopy in any way and burned nice to the end. Not too heavy on Latakia with somewhat of a sweet note. Well balanced. Definitely worth a try and fills a gap between the heavier Latakia hitters and the wannabes. Room note - not a fave for those closest to you - they'll definitely let you know your smoking that man tobacco in the house again lol.

Very, very nice. The Latakia is fairly bold, smoky, and woody with a touch of spice. The Virginias are sweet and toasty. The whisky flavor is light, but discernible. I love the interaction of the toasty note from the Virginias with the whisky flavor. This is delicious.

Mild to medium in body and taste. Mild in flavoring. Burns well straight from the tin.

I like FMC quite a bit. I used to avoid aromatics because of the usual tongue bite or soapy flavor that some of them have. I generally like Latakia blends, but the War Department often remarks about "burning camel dung." FMC seems to meet all requirements. It tastes good, no tongue bite, minimal snide comments, and it burns all the way down the bowl.

I've tried it in three different pipes. It performs best in deep narrow bowls.

Mild, sweet latakia and Virginia blend. Mild whiskey flavour from the piece of whiskey barrel that is included in the tin to continue to add flavour to the tobacco - incredibly good smoke. It actually has hints of vanilla or even butterscotch just about throughout the bowl. Good puffs of white smoke too. Smoked really cool and absolutely zero bite. Excellent and my favourite tobacco so far. I finally found my "must have", and ordered 5 100g tins.