McClelland No. 2050 Oriental Cavendish Mix

A pleasant all day smoke, this tobacco may not be for the die hard English lover. However, it is precisely what McClelland's intended it to be. A mildly sweet, and somewhat nutty, all day smoke with a touch of Eastern spice, and complete lack of bite. This is a very forgiving tobacco. There is little or no "cloy" to the component, it lights and burns with ease, and it makes for a marvelously cool and dry option for when one is multi-tasking and cannot attend to one's pipe as readily as if they were in sitting in their leather chair sipping a cup of tea (or scotch if you prefer). There seem to be some who do not like the blend. As for myself, this also is not really my style of preference for tobacco. But remember, we are talking about preference, not blend quality. Also, I believe we all have found that our tastes, over the years, will change. Thankfully we have a great multitude of blends to choose from, and we have what is IMO the best tobacco house in the world, right there in Kansas city. If you don't like this blend, So be it; that is the beauty of McClelland blends. One can always opt for a slightly different angle on the blend, and if you believe a touch of Latakia would add to this blend, then try 2045, or if you want a bit more Latakia, go for the 2040. If you prefer a more traditional English or simply want a lot more Latakia, you could try the 5110, or 5125. And those are just the bulks. There are many tin variations to choose from as well.

McClelland's doesn't miss much. They don't simply blunder along tossing in varied tobaccos and suddenly come up with something by accident. If a smoker had a preference for something different, they offer adjustments to a great many foundations of blends, for the smoker's enjoyment.

This one keeps me hovering between 2 stars and 3. I kinda like it, but it's lacking depth. It has some depth, but not quite enough. It came wet and after sitting out for over 8 hours it was still mildly damp. That's as dry as it gets. The Black Cav imparts a vanilla note that mixes very pleasantly with the spice from the Orientals. I'm not convinced that all of the spice is natural. There seems to be some kind of spice in the casing. The Orientals also add a mild sour note that's contrasted by the sweetness from, I assume, both types of Cavendish. I get very little flavor from the Virginias. It's an odd blend. I've never smoked anything like it. I think due to the lack of depth it's closer to 2 stars than 3. If it had more I could easily give it that 3rd.

Mild in body. Mild to medium in flavor. Burns well in spite of the dampness. No bite, no harshness. A bit of a strange blend, but worth a try. It may suit your taste.

Well.... are you an OTC smoker? Do you like nutty Burley based Cavendish or Prince Albert, Carter Hall style of American tobaccos ? Then I think you will like this blend. I personally find this a mild aromatic with maybe some chocolate, vanilla flavorings that overpower the Orientals but..... done well, no bite or goop. It's pleasant but not really my type. I Don't really want to bash this blend as many smokers would love this and at bulk prices.

I don't like sweetened black Cavendish for the most part, and in this particular blend, it sticks out like a sore thumb. The other components seem nice, but the Cavendish overwhelms them and makes it a sticky vanilla mess. It does not bite, though, and so for that, and the quality of the other components, I'll give it two stars. Tends to be very wet in the bag, takes a long time to dry out, and IMHO isn't smokeable without drying.

Update: Once it (finally) dries out a bit, it isn't as goopy, and the vanilla is still strong without being totally outrageous. Frankly to me, a weird blend, with the spicy nature of the orientals being almost entirely masked by the sweet Cavendish.

You can't hit a home run every time, but this blend is not as bad as described elsewhere. The pouch aroma was a subtle lemony/spicey fragrance. Predominantly black Cavendish and Virgina, the Orientals do make their presence known, although faintly. The blend lights easily, burns evenly and doesn't bite the tongue. Room note was pleasant. In comparison to McClelland's other 2000 series bulk blends, 2050 comes up short, and perhaps its the absence of Latakia that disappoints. In any event, it's worth a try.

I was a little suprised as to what this blend was really like as compared to it's label description. I thought it would be something like the green label line but without the latakia, boy was I wrong. This is more in the class like the China Black blends, a base of moist black generic-like cavendish with some oriental blended in. I was initially disspointed but have found some merit with this. There is some of that vinegary tang in the pouch aroma, characteristically McClelland which may be thier choice of preservative and anti-fungal agent as opposed to something like propylene glycol. This vinegary tang along with it's spicy herbal oriental componet produces an interesting aroma like cedar spice. I have grown to like this the more I smoke this but would be better if the black cavendished was replaced with a all virginia loose leaf stoved/cavendish base perhaps with a slight flavoring similar to the black cav.(light vanilla?) but drier. Captain Black smokers and the like might like this one as a change of pace thats' not to far off thier beaten path.

-Cautiously recommended

It's good. The first bowl wasn't, I was actually disappointed. It smells fresh and zesty and citrusy. I felt it came very moist and got bad tongue bite on the first bowl. I tried it last night after leaving it on my shelf for a few weeks and even added a small pinch of some drier blending Virginia I've had for a while and it seemed to help. I still felt it was too moist even after letting it set out for a while before packing but I didn't get a bite this time and was able to get the zesty citrus flavor and sweet aroma by sipping slowly.

I've had it sitting on my shelf for a few months now and I open the jar to take a sniff every once in a while but it's still very moist in my opinion.

Plenty of things happening with this genre busting mix. The Orientals contribute a pronounced spiciness: cloves and cinnamon and ginger. The flavours of the Va Cav were not so easy for me to understand. There is a faint sweetness, part of which must be natural to the Va and part of which has a vaguely butterscotch note. I don't doubt that other reviewers detected vanilla but I could not, beyond what the power of suggestion put there for me.

These seemingly contradictory notes interact surprisingly well, to me at least, tho clearly some reviewers take a different view. The overall profile is of a light and spicy mix, with a sour bias with some sweetness. There is a mustiness that develops in intensity as the smoke progresses that I am not entirely sold on; it borders on a stale sensation.

Burns easily and is a trouble free baccy.

I had this cellaring for a year or so and got into it today. The smell to me is anise like. The cut is like most of the McClelland Orientals - a little rough cut that needs only a minor rub. The quality of the tobacco is good but the taste is rather monochromatic throughout the bowl. It tastes like it smells. Nothing grand here and if you don't like the smell (again, I think it is anise) you probably won't like the taste.