McClelland Frog Morton's Cellar

I'm finding it difficult to classify this as a true English style tobacco- it's more of an aromatic or dare I say "American English"? Far too sweet and goopy to be called an English tobacco and it never seems to dry out on the mat- But alas I've enjoyed this tobacco very much- my wife says it has a pleasant roomnote- the Virginias are cased very sweet as well as the Latakia which is underlying and more of a smoky sweet. Mid bowl the casings are dwindling and they reveal a blend that is somewhat lacking- muted and mild. My tastes for an English blend are not satisfied with this one. This would be a great blend for an aromatic smoker looking to branch out.

After smoking tins of GLP's Sextant and Navigator and discovering that booze and latakia in the same blend don't work for me, I told myself to stay away from this one - no need to try it. However, a well-meaning pipe buddy was bound and determined to send me an ounce to sample, which I did... and since I record my tasting notes via this site on everything I smoke, here they are. Please disregard this "review" if you enjoy this kind of thing.

I like the idea of this, and I think it's well done. The latakia is well to the rear and provides its usual smoke. The whiskey flavor is a bit too pronounced for me, but as I hinted at above, this is a personal bias. The cube is a nice touch and I loved McC's Stave-Aged virginia blend very much. But as with the other booze/latakia blends, the mixing of the two threw the flavor into cloudiness, almost as if the two offset each other but also became less than the sum of their parts. Crossover blends are conceptually nice, but I find that most of them fail to excite my taste buds. Add at least one star to my rating if you like the concept because I think McClellands made this blend into exactly what they were shooting for. In fact, if you think you might like this, you should definitely give it a try. If you're pretty sure you won't, as I was, try it only if it's free!

Well, as a tobacco with such reputation, I expected more. And here lies the problem. This is good tobacco, but it lacks a lot of depth and personality.. I tried Frog Morton on the town before this from Frog Morton line, and it delivers well on all aspects. But Cellar doesn't.. From the tin note, the very strong note, you'd expect a very strong, flavourful tobacco. With promising whiskey and latakia flavour and aroma. But when you pack it and smoke, You get a faint rum taste or an after taste to be exact, and a very faint sweet latakia, a trademark of McClelland. And speaking of packing, the cut is all over the place, from small ribbons, to large ones, with a lot of unkempt leaves and a considerable amount of twigs. Which is a bit annoying, but since it requires a considerable amount of drying time, I could pick up the twigs. Once packs and lights it's a nice, light, all day smoke. With medium body and faint flavour. I will enjoy the tin, but won't order another

I initially bought this on recommendation from someone, as a good introduction to English style blends, but with the condimental tobaccos(oriental, latakia) dialed back. Interestingly enough, I had also ordered some Samuel Gawith Skiff and Squadron Leader, Dunhill 965 and Early Morning Pipe along with it, but back to that later..

Tin note - Smells OK, if not perhaps a tad sweeter than I'd hoped. I am not a fan of aromatic blends, and this stuff smells like Captain Black white mixed with cheap bourbon and camp fire ashes to those not used to latakia. Even still, I find the latakia in this mix to be of somewhat lesser quality, or perhaps a completely different variety to every other blend I've tried with it. It smells(and tastes) more sooty and charred to me, however this could also have been the topping interacting with the latakia smokiness in a bad way.

The tobacco in the tin - as many others have said - is of an irregular cut and consistency. Some leaf is cut wide, some narrow, some ribbon, and some almost looks cube cut. I am not sure if my tin got a rough ride somewhere between McClelland and delivery to me, but there appears to be a LOT of fine tobacco dust in the bottom. This became such a nuisance for me that I had to pour the whole tin into a sieve and shake it out. I also found that due to the inconsistent leaf cut, this blend didn't burn evenly and I had a lot of trouble keeping it lit(especially in smaller bowls). Which leads me to the other problem with this tobacco and virtually every other McClelland tin I've bought - this stuff has a familiar dampness that I can again liken to Captain Black and other OTC aromatics. A type of sticky moistness that I suspect only comes from an application of humectant. I left both FM Cellar, and a new tin of Old Dog open for a full 24 hours and they were still somewhat tacky.

All that said, drying the tobacco out did improve the taste a lot. I could actually taste a nice tang from the oriental, perhaps a slight smokey(although somewhat ash-like) taste, all very light and mostly unoffensive. Despite being dry, I still find the smoke a bit steamy, and it leaves an odd taste in my mouth that persists. Wife likes the room note, and said it smells like someone is brewing some kind of spicy tea next to a campfire.

Would I recommend this to an aromatic smoker who is looking to try something a bit different? Sure! For that purpose, it certainly has a variety of flavors to offer beyond what you'd typically find in OTC aromatic blends.

Would I recommend this to someone looking to try English or Oriental blends? No. After smoking Dunhill EMP, 965, SG Skiff, Squadron Leader, and a variety of other touted blends, this really isn't a fair representation of what English blends taste like. Skiff or Early Morning Pipe would be a far better and fair introduction to those flavors without being overbearing. Frog Morton Cellar, to me, is a somewhat uninteresting aromatic-ish blend that doesn't really deliver as either aromatic or English, and left me wondering how this blend became so popular and widely recommended.

First, this is an aromatic, that is what I consider it to be and that is what I review it as. Now as such it is a fine one, it burns great and it does not bite. As for the flavour, it is sweet; the whiskey is the main course with any other notes on the side. The latakia is noticeable but discreet and much of the tobacco taste in this blend is masked by the added flavour of whiskey. It maintains it's profile throughout the bowl, no real surprises there, but it is pleasant so no complaints from me.

I do find it a bit weak, no strength at all. I tend to favour bolder blends but if one is looking for a mild, tasty aromatic this one is a sure bet. The rest of us can cut it with some burley to add some extra spice.

Conclusion: Great taste, great burn, had it been stronger I would have added a star. But these are two strong stars!

This isn't a bad tobacco, just not what I expected. I was expecting an English like Squadron Leader with an additional flavor. I got the additional flavor, but wanted the amount of Latakia present in SL. Again, there's nothing too wrong with this - nice, soft flavor of whiskey and no bite at all. Not a lot of tobacco flavor though. I'll keep looking.

JimInks' review pretty much nails it IMO.

I'll add to it to say that I find FMC somewhat sweeter and more flavorful than the original Frog Morton blend - I understand why many people enjoy it, but I think that the legendary status of it somewhat exaggerates how great the blend is. It's pleasant tasting & has a pleasant room note, but it's still a little thin-bodied. I like my tobacco to have a stronger flavor & a higher dose of vitamin-N than what FMC delivers.

I enjoyed my 50g tin of FMC more than I did the tin of original Frog Morton that I smoked, but again - this isn't one that I'm really going to be missing. Glad to have experienced it, but there's a lot of other stuff I enjoy more.

This tobacco mix looks interesting. Mainly black, some brown and bright tobacco in a mix of wide, medium and fine, very irregularly cut ribbon, heading towards a Wild Cut. The dominant tin notes are fresh, fruity tobacco and sweet Whisk(e)y, reminding me of Drambuie® or Southern Comfort®. I call this one a Flavoured English Mixture, not an Aromatic. Base and body of this blend is definitely (soft) English. A cube of a former Whisky barrel in the tin delivers a Whisky aroma (which I find much more difficult to identify in smoking than in smelling, and I am a Whisky enthusiast), plus a note of wood.

FROG MORTON’S CELLAR is a light, easy-going, fruity, tasty and fragrant smoke with a mild aroma range, able to satisfy Scottish, English and Danish pipe smokers. An interesting gate for Aromatic smokers to approach English blends. Good quality tobacco. A short drying time is advised. Good smoking “mechanics” (stuffing, lighting, burning, etc). Consistent taste throughout the bowl. The Whisky flavour is difficult to catch and Latakia is very low but always present. There must be a touch of additional, artificial sweet topping, which I am sensitive for and never appreciate. I favour purely natural tobacco-sweetness and reserved salty tastes. All a matter of individual preferences.

For my personal satisfaction, I miss depth and a determined character in this mixture. Disappointing after-taste. I also miss the aromas of campfire, peat and leather in the added Latakia. FMC might be an occasional light smoke for in-between, mainly to satisfy visitors, as this blend is pleasantly fragrant. A very dark roasted, unsweetened coffee is a matching company.

A recommendable trial mixture for Aromatic, Danish, Scottish and soft English smokers. Not recommended for hard-core English and English-Oriental smokers (too little Latakia, no peat, no Oriental, no spice).

I'm a huge fan of the Frogs, but struggled a bit with this one. Smells terrific, but can be a bit of a challenge to keep lit if smoked fresh (my tin was pretty fresh too).

Seems to smoke best if you pack a bowl one or more days in advance. My last one sat for three days before I lit up, and it smoked like a charm; noticeably cleaner than the more Oriental-heavy versions like On the Town and Across the Pond.

Of course, letting it sit loses much of the rum aroma imparted by the toasted oak stave, but it's still there (faintly) in the background, and some nice vanilla-ish notes come through in the smoke.