McClelland Arcadia

I lean towards history and tradition when it comes to many things, including pipes and tobacco; that is the main reason I wanted to try this tobacco (i.e. because of its literary notoriety and its late 1800s/early 1900s history).

I found it to be very similar to Balkan Sobranie (well, in some of its current forms such as Blue Mountain or Black House since I don't believe I ever tried the original version), but a "lighter" version of it. Back in the day this was probably heads above the rest and so I can see why J. M. Barrie was crazy for it. However, since we are lucky to have an amazing array of amazing tobaccos to choose from these days, I would say this one is very good but not great.

Cellared this tobacco in Mason jar for 2 years. It has that ketchupy barbecuey smell to it in the tin, but as I stated earlier - I don't really mind that at all. Perfect moisture level right from the tin. Packs very easily. Lights and stays lit without problems. Very rarely had to relight. The taste is an interesting one. I can definitely taste sweetness from VAs but at the same time some sour notes come through. I have to say that I like the taste very much. Could bite if pushed too hard. This tobacco is a medium strength but it gets a bit stronger at the end of the bowl and the taste gets a bit peppery. The room note is not unpleasant at all. Been smoking this tobacco indoors without much complaint. This is one of the first oriental tobaccos for me. So take this review with a grain of salt. Will definitely keep this tobacco in my rotation. Highly recommended.

Arcadia is a very good English blend rich with smoky-spicy flavors. Having purposely avoided ascertaining what its components were, it took me a little time to get used to, mistaking the smokiness of its flavoring to be a result of liberal seasoning with Latakia. While there is obviously Latakia in Arcadia, the more I smoked it the more I found its flavors more on the spicy and complex side, which would naturally result from greater use of oriental tobaccos.

Overall, Arcadia is very pleasant and nicely traditional. Passers-by wrinkled their noses at the room note several times, but more so found it "smoky" or "strong" rather than actually unpleasant. This is a tobacco that I can recommend without hesitation.

Let me preface this review by noting that I am not an English fan. I smoked this in 2001 when it first came out. The room aroma was akin to a campfire and the taste was horrible. Having said that, I have come to realize that's how most English blends smell. If you lean towards English blends, you'll probably enjoy this. Aromatic lovers need to stay away.

Its the strongest English blend I have ever tried and could only smoke a few bowls. However, I kept the tin for a while as sniffing the tobacco was useful in clearing out my sinuses.

Great blend of Virginias and orientals, this is my go to smoke. It's the first tobacco I've tried that's stuck with me (with exception to Sutliff's Molto Dolce). This is as others have said "a tobacco for an aro smoker looking for something more."

The tin note is strong of barbecue sauce and ketchup, but the smoke is amazing.

The room note isn't the best, I usually smoke it outside.

I'd recommend this to any one new to the pipe and wanting to move over from aro's. As it is what I would consider a gateway blend.

As an avid McClelland fan I was really looking forward to trying this blend, especially as I was able to obtain a tin from 2002.

I guess "delicacy" was a good word chosen by the company to describe Arcadia, but I found it far too delicate.

For me this blend was all Virginia with only the slightest hint of Oriental interplay. I found the experience to be boring and completely unsatisfying.

I guess I've been spoiled by McClelland's genius Grand Oriental Series which are truly the "rich oriental mixture" that was promised on the label of this blend.

It's a pity Dr. Watson wasn't around to savor Drama Reserve or Smyrna No.1. Now those are blends that will "stop all conversations"

This blend is a mystery to me...it seems not to improve over time and actually becomes less pleasent after being open for a few days. McClelland is one of my favorite brands and having read several positive reviews was a little dissapointed. The Frog series still continues to please me though. 221b is perhaps just not my cup of tea but there again I am not a fan of other "dry" blends. I was using this blend in two Ashton pipes both XL models.

The variety of opinion on the more subtle recipes really comes to to fore with blends such as Arcadia. Controversy over how other kinds of leaf besides latakia can produce that Lapsong Souchong aroma abounds. Problem with always choosing the most in your face "flavor" is that it most often ceases to be our favorite one year later. After too many decades of playing this game, I would say that Arcadia may not be many experts favorite, yet it is often returned to year after year for possessing a classic taste and subtle balance. Perhaps special versions of this kind of "thinking" will supplement or reverse the trend of nameing blends after singular oriental leaf of past fame . Not being able to satisfy our ever glorifying memory is the real game at play.

A very nice, shag cut mixture of VAs, Stoved VAs and OR, easy to smoke and which leaves a nice, sweet roomnote thanks to the stoved VAs. I had not ordered Arcadia in years and, smoking it again, regret not having reordered before. I don't know if it is the real Arcadia mentonned in Sherlock Holmes, but it sure is really good.