McClelland Bombay Extra

Hello to my fellow tobacco lovers. I recently picked up a tin of this just to try something different. I love Latakia and heavy English blends, and the heavier or stronger the better but I thought that I'd try what I thought would have more of an Oriental experience.I really love this stuff. The more my mouth waters from a blend,the better I like it. This blend really does the trick. What a great surprise.It has a sweet,smooth,mouth watering flavor with no bite and if I was told there was opium in the mix I wouldn't be surprised. This is a nice change of pace from my usual mainstays of Penzance,Pirate kake, Old Ironsides and the other usual suspects.It was easy to keep lit and best enjoyed in a large bowl. The Latakia stays in the background and if your looking for a Latakia type blend this is not for you. I'll be replacing my Frog Morton blends with this in the future. I hope this review will help others.

I'm not sure why the reviews on this have been so poor. Imagine Frog Morton, but rich and with guts, or NighCap without the nausea and miserable aftertaste. I was looking for something along these lines, and was led to this by my local tobacconist. I was not all all disappointed. The tin is labeled 1999 and I bought it in July 2006 and found it to be strong but flavorful, rich and lovely. I don't know if the age would have that much of an impact, but I'm sure it helps. I don't think I would smoke this blend indoors, but others even enjoyed the aroma (despite the Latakia!) on the back porch.

Aromatic-only fans will probably hate it, but for a palette slightly more experienced and ready for English as in my case, this was a great step "up" and an extremely enjoyable after-dinner smoke that left me quite satisfied.

Unlike others, I find Bombay Extra is a step in the right direction from Bombay Court. Sure it has a rather nasty room note to non-latakia types, but that is a good sign, not a bad one!

I really enjoy the sweetness of the Virginia component, and find this adds to the balance of the blend. I would not characterize this as a really heavy lifter in the latakia territory, but it IS a good lat. fix. The perique is not a major player, but provides a bit of a zip that Bombay Court is lacking.

I also take exception to the comment that this tobacco is one-dimensional. The VA-latakia interplay is IMO rich and dark, just like the color. But then, why should we all like the same blends? I do find that I take to this tobacco more on some occasions than others, so would not give it great marks in the consistency category.

This is not one of the great english blends, but one of the good ones. It deserves an occasional pipe when the mood is right for a little perique in the latakia stew. Just don't expect Nightcap.

I should probably start off by saying that my review is based on an 11 year old tin of this blend. Upon opening I was greeted by a rich, full scent of mainly dark tobacco's with only an odd lighter piece to be seen. The tobacco packs easily and burns to a nice gray/white ash. The primary taste is the Latakia and Virginia's, with the Orientals taking a back-seat in this mixture; Perique to me is definitely a background flavor after- thought here. The farther down the bowl I smoke, the more the Latakia dominates. This is not a blend I would smoke throughout the day, rather an end of day, or after dinner smoke. I enjoy this in one of my older, Extra Large Charatan Free Hand Reliefs, with a cup of black Kenyan coffee. Final note: I still prefer Bombay Court over this blend for complexity of taste.

Tin Aroma: While this does display the deep smoky aroma of Latakia, the most striking aspect of this blends tin aroma is the overt sweetness of the Virginias, which I feel are more noticeable for being thrown into such stark relief against the ponderance of Latakia in this blend.

Physical Characteristics: Not very many light strands in this average length ribbon cut, and a bit too moist for my taste, but that doesn't mean anything, as most commercial tobacco is too moist for my taste. As with every other McClelland blend I have smoked, it packs easily and burns evenly, leaving a powdery, white ash.

Notes: This blend seems to be a fugue on Bombay Court, somewhat inverting the proportions of Latakia and Orientals. Whereas Bombay Court is, as I wrote in my review of it, is heavier on the Orientals with the Latakia playing a mostly supporting role, this is Latakia, Latakia, Latakia, with just enough Virginia and Oriental to be able to call it a 'blend'. The Latakia used is high grade, very flavorful and full, but the absolutely gigantic percentage of it quickly dulls my tastebuds to any subtlety the blend might have to offer.

Verdict: While this is an interesting aside to Bombay Court, it really isn't my thing, being just a tad too one-dimensional.

I'm rather fond of Bombay Court, so I decided to give this one a try. At least for me, this was a serious dissapointment. The well balanced and modulated blending in Bombay Court seems to be seriously disrupted, at least in my opinion, by the over preponderance of Latakia in Bombay Extra.

Interestingly, the tin aroma does not suggest the enormity of the latakia that comes out in the smoking. I'm not a huge latakia fan, so when I do feel like an English blend, I usually lean towards blends with lower latakia content. Some blends that feature considerable portions of latakia, but are well modulated and balanced (Renaissance and Caravan from GLP and Astley's #99 come to mind), I find very pleasant. However, with this blend, I find that the latakia content wholly overwhelms the virginias and perique (a triumverate of tobaccos that I'm partial to most of the time).

Though perhaps for the lover of strong latakia mixtures, this one just ain't for me.

I recently picked up a tin of Bombay Extra in a trade and popped it as it was not one I had tried before.

The tobaccos are nice and dark and the tin note has smoky campfire written all over it. At first, I was afraid it was going to be too latakia forward for my liking, but I decided to give it a try.

It's easy to pack and light. Like the other McC orientals I've tried it has a rich creamy smoke. Throughout the bowl, the lat stays in the lead to my taste. The perique adds some pepper and the Virginias some dark sweetness. They work well together to make a blend which for me is perfect for an after-dinner smoke.

As a growing fan of English blends, I was excited to try this.

Smelled wonderful out of the Ball jar it was cellared in back in April 2015.

What I noticed in the first third is a mild Latakia flavor that, at times, morphed into a seawater flavor as the smoke entered my mouth and exited as a light, almost caramelly Latakia perfume.

Because of the latakia influence, it's definitely more aromatic than the other English and Balkan blends I smoke (Saiseni, Nightcap, Old Dublin). As I entered into the final two-thirds of the smoke, the latakia really started to shine.

In my opinion this is an excellent tabacco whose latakia flavor and aroma ins't too overwhelming. It has multiple layers of flavors and nuances. I find it more interesting that Saiseni, Nightcap and Old Dublin and am going to pick up some tins and make it a regular smoker.

There is indeed a certain richness to this from the perique, and I like it. Still, the bass notes on this one kinda drown out the zesty herbal quality of the orientals that you get when smoking Bombay Court.

I'm conflicted. I wouldn't reach for this when in the mood for a VaPer, nor would I reach for it over other options when in the mood for a Latakia or Balkan blend with perique. Altogether, its a nice blend that may hit just the right notes for some smokers, and I wouldn't say I can't recommend trying it.