McClelland No. 5110 Dark English Full

I tried this based on a friend's recommendation. I'm a one pipe to one particular tobacco person if it's something I'm going to keep on hand. That being stated, I started with a freshly cleaned estate pipe. A Dr. Grabow Golden Duke. I kind of liked the first half bowl so I decided to build up a cake. After two ounces I have decided to purchase more and keep the pipe designated. My take is as such....

Room note: Reminded me of incense in a catholic church. Took me back to my youngest years at Our Lady of Peace. Not the best smell, but not bad at all. It's not an aromatic so what would I expect anyhow.

Burn: It burned nice in the smaller bowl of this pipe. Yeah I could have picked a better pipe to use. But hey, so many factors play a part in enjoying tobacco I decided to grab the first clean pipe and run from there.

Texture: It's a relatively budget conscious bulk tobacco. Don't set your expectations for a fine tin type. Pick the stems and such and get on with it.

Moisture: If you bought this at your local shop as I did, your at their mercy. They don't keep it where you want. They keep it where they want. Mine happened to be a little too moist. I dried it up a bit, just a bit.

Taste: I didn't get alot of complexity. What I did get was a smooth, nice lasting taste. Since this wasn't billed to me as a power house, I didn't expect one. It delivered enough for me to be pleased. It was consistent.

Final note: Yes I'm buying it again. Try this for yourself. Give it a fair shake. Don't compare it to things it's not supposed to be. I do believe that switching tobaccos in a single pipe is not the best way to enjoy anything. You don't after all use your bowl from the mornings cereal for chicken noodle soup without washing it.

Don't know why anyone wants to relate this to Frog Morton. If you want Frog Morton smoke Frog Morton. This is an English more in line with Boswell's Northwoods (although in my opinion the latter is quite a bit better), or other dark English Latakia blends.

This is not an overly complex smoke. I have latakia blends I like a lot better when I want to sit and really process something. But I find this to be a nice dark (probably because of the stoved nature of the virgnias) Latakia forward blend. Lovers of latakia may find it not full enough.

Where this tobacco shines is not as your mind-blowing latakia blend, but as your go-to all-day smoke if you're a latakia smoker.

No bite for me (and I'm quite prone), a bit moist for my taste, but perfectly smokable out of the tin.

Well this is not any of the Frog family products that's for sure. It's not sweet enough (flavored dark cavendish) to meet that criteria. To me it's not a Latakia bomb either, it's there but not in huge doses. It burns clean has a good flavor on the relight, I get a taste of the Orientals and Virginia's for most of the smoke. It may be the Stoved Va. but I think it may have a small amount of Perique although the label doesn't mention it. It may be part of the exotic tobacco's the label does mention. It's a fast burning tobacco so I pack it a little tighter than usual. It burns to the bottom with ease, to a dry gray ash without any work at all. The flavor tends to fade as you get closer to the bottom, it doesn't have an ashy taste just flat. Had it maintained it's flavor I would have given it a 4 star instead of a 3 star rating. Overall it's a very good tobacco one of the best bulk's I've had and a good value, give it a try you won't be disappointed!

I loved this blend. The dark, smokey note from the Latakia, punctuated by the copious sweetness from the Virginias, and mellowed by the orientals were in perfect harmony, making a pleasant English blend that I could smoke all day long (if my wife could stand the smell). If you're looking for a strong, deep, complex English, you might want to look elsewhere, but if you enjoy a lighter, sweeter blend, or are just looking for a change of pace, I don't think you can go wrong here!

I was sent this as a sample. I am mainly a Virginia smoker, but smoke Englishes from time to time as a change-up. When I smoke Latakia, I usually like either a whole lot, or just a touch. I am a bit more wishy-washy on medium Latakia blends, and this is one of them. I can't put it down, though. I can taste the oriental (Turkish?) and probably some stoved Virginia, and it is nice. Nothing bad I can say about it. I could puff it from time to time. Will I buy any more? Probably not. So what? Others might love it, and this is what makes our hobby so interesting! I am enjoying this bowl, as I enjoyed the 3-4 others I smoked before typing up this little review. I just can't think of any particulars: this blend doesn't move me like a pure aged Virginia. Each to his own.

Appearance: an almost even mix of dark and light ribbons, though leaning to the dar a bit. A fair number of stems.

Tin Aroma: Latakia. It is almost impossible to smell anything but Latakia in the tin.

Physical Charteristics: a very loose blend. the uniformity of the cut seems to work against itself, at least in the cohesion department. Easy to pack using the 'trickle' method, but care must be taken to mix it well before packing, or the lighter colored ribbons will be much underrepresented in the smoke.

First Light: A musty flavor reminiscent of camp fires signals the amount of Latakia here. The charring light is easy, and the top layer burns nicely. The second light is just as easy, and 5110 catches easily with only the smallest puffs to urge it on.

Notes: I really only like smoking this blend in two settings; sitting by the fire during winter, with a good book, and something strong to drink, or during the fall, outside in the woods. Yes, I like smoking Latakia outside, big suprise. The woodsy taste and aroma just seem to beg for it. This is particularly good in a BIG pipe, like those Nording freehands that can be had cheap. Very easy to puff too hard and really heat this one up. A vaguely sour taste under the Latakia. not bad, just an interesting pungency. Burns evenly, requires miniml tamping.I cannot recommend this for all-day smoking, as it begins to wreck the palate completely after three or so bowls, but it does make a nice evening smoke, or a 'treat' tobacco.

Re-reviewed.

Ok, so I've been smoking it for several days now and can give a more refined review.

I bought this to have something in bulk similar to my favorite blends found in the Frog Morton Series. My fave is Across the Pond with Cellar being also very enjoyed.

My take on smoking all of these and comparing them is that it's like having a song you really love with considerable difference in equalizer settings. The Morton's have been dialed in by a professional audio technician to hear just the right frequencies at a particular nuances that result in a highly tuned piece of flavorful art. Though there are differences, there's a lot of the same flavors at different expectant levels.

The 5110 is like all of that same flavor, just not dialed in on each band of the spectrum specifically. Someone just took all the ingredients and said, Low, Medium, and high, done. So, it's all there at a kind of more bulky and less nuanced way.

So, I still taste all the stuff I like, just not in a highly tuned way, so to speak. In some ways, I actually prefer the 5110 because of this. I love that chocolate coffee taste that is considerably more subdued in the Morton's that is ever present in the 5110.

This is my daily English smoke..........I am recommending it highly, but if I could get Frog Morton Cellar, or Across the Pond in bulk, I'd probably take that route.

I came across this stuff in my favorite smokeshop in san Francisco. I was looking for some English blends to try and my twin brother pointed this out to me. It has a very FULL aroma through the pouch which peaked my interests. Opening the pouch it had a very smokey rich aroma to it which had me sold. I purchased the 2oz pouch and another 2oz of English Oriental Supreme for my twin brother.

This has a very nice flavor to it; a bit on the mild side, not as complex and full as Mac Baren vintage Syrian. It has a sweet smokey note to it that has a cleam finish to my palate and has a pretty nice aroma. Many people state how women don't like the smell but I have had no complaint yet(give it time right fellas;LOL!) It packs well, lights well; weather dried out or fresh from the pouch and has a cool dry smoke. Some have complained about tongue bite but I have never had that. It's a refreshing change from the aeromatics my twin brother enjoys and has a very, VERY faint trace of sweet mint; it might just be my palate getting confused.

I would recommend this for seasoned and even new smokers looking for a medium English blend.

This is a fine, easy going American-style English blend, meaning mostly conditioned VAs. The flavor is predominately Latakia and VA (with a Juniper and Cedar incense) this has a very light touch of Orientals adding some spice and filling in around the edges. I find this similar to its cousin, 5125 Coyote Classic. My wife doesn't find this too objectionable as long as we're outside. 7 out of 10 Stars.