McClelland No. 5110 Dark English Full

McClellands' Bulk Dark English Full (No. 5110) is a delightful dense old English style tobacco, composed of Virginias, Latakia and Orientals. In many ways it reminds me of E. Hoffman Company Spilman Mixture. There is a similar taste to both. Dark English Full is available in bulk at around $64/16 oz, which places it in the middle as to cost.

The cut is "rough cut" with ribbons of various diameters, interspersed with larger rough cuts of folded leaf. The overall color is on the very dark side. Some of this is attributed to the Latakia, of course, but some of it is, I imagine, due to the Stoved Virginias. I like this type of rough cut, which is similar to GLP Westminster and to Spilmans as well. It packs by the gravitation method, with a final thumb push-down, very easily, and due to its uneven cut, the various components release or explode their presence unpredictably in the bowl. That is, after charring, the first half of the bowl, one detects Latakia, then the Virginias, then the Orientals in no particular order. I like this quality since its kind of unpredictable and give the smoke some degree of excitement. The second half of the bowl smokes more smoothly, and the three tobaccos blend nicely into a uniform taste.

It smokes very easily, meaning it is a "one-match" smoke. Re- lighting is rare if ever. I have gone through the better part of a pound now, over the past month, and can say that I highly recommend this blend for English lovers. The Virginias really provide a sweet base, such that the Latakia and Orientals do not compete. Here, in Dark English, there is a nice base of stoved virginias, which lends a deep sweetness to the dense smoke. The Latakia is added with a heavy hand, so its presence is palpable in the full. This then is a blend for Latakia lovers, but who also appreciate the presence of Virginias that attenuates somewhat the presence of Latakia. This does not mean it is weak on the Latakia front. Rather, that the Virginias balance, and prevent the Latakia from taking over fully. It is there, but it is reigned in somewhat by the Virginias. The Orientals provide the spiciness reminiscent of a bazzar in Old Jerusalem, with vendors hawking their wares, in the dank alcoves with rugs hanging from the walls, as sweet mint tea is continuously poured to the customers. Really exotic in scope.

Similar blends to McClellands Dark English Full include, as mentioned, Spilmans, but also Gawith Hoggarth & Co. Balkan Mixture Bulk, Balkan Sasieni and Cornell & Diehl Star of the East Bulk. If you like any of these blends, I think you will appreciate McClellands Dark English Full. Highly recommended.

I have found my summertime English smoke! This blend is mellow, flavorful, absolutely refuses to bite, lights and burns easily, and just tastes great. It's very mild, so don't reach for this when you want a big in your face smoke. This one is a hot weather, light English that you could enjoy all day long. I'm going to stash a few pounds of this away for sure!

I have tried other Enlish blends from other companies and have recently tried this one again. Wow! Being a cigar smoker and recently switching back to pipes, (thanks S-CHIP)I was worried about tongue bite. I find it to have a very "round" flavor with absolutely no bite. This is a very big plus for me. It allows you to taste the tobacco blend without any interference. Although is seems to have more moisture content than other tobacco blend from other companies it still does not gurgle and smoke wet. It will definately be a "go-to" smoke for me. The more McClelland blends I try the more impressed I am with this company.

McClelland - No. 5110 Dark English Full.

I wouldn't call it a Ribbon, it's far too coarse a mix: leaves, twigs, ribbons, and a few clumps. The appearance of the blend is mostly very dark with only about a quarter of it being shades of lighter brown. As it's from bulk it's neither too wet nor too dry.

Once lit it makes really thick/heavy smoke! The Virginia and Oriental tobaccos' make up just a small proportion of the flavour, and I mean TINY. To me the Latakia's running the show; it doesn't seem to be the mellow kind (wood and strong cedar), it gives a stout, smoky, and traditional Latakia flavour. The smoke's taste has a decent stability to it; I don't find it fluctuates much; throughout a bowl the Virginia and Oriental/Turkish tobaccos' are virtually absent, and it's mainly the Latakia in there. The nicotine's a little milder than I'd expected; it's not fully mild, but neither is it dead-on medium. Personally, although the room-note's quite heavy, I like it, but it could be considered offensive with its huge plumes!

To me, this is easily worth four stars:

Highly recommended.

Very good blend. Slightly too sweet initially. Enough Latakia but predominately VA, especially towards the middle and bottom of bowl. You can taste the oriental influence. Burns well once dried out, arrived a bit on the moist side. I could smoke this all day. Will buy more to cellar.

I really like this stuff, Its become my regular daily smoke in a Peterson Killarney, Decent flavors, Lotsa smoke, no bites, Highly recommended

Have always enjoyed Latakia with Virginia mixed in and have tryed several blends of this type, however this blend is by far the best I have tasted so far and I can smoke it all day without toung bite because it is not too harsh, which can be a problem with dark English tobaccos. I like to switch over to Aitadis's Flying Dutchman blend while I'm smoking Dark English. I am very, very satisfied with Pipesandcigars.com service, and recommend them.

Started off as most pipe smokers smoking aromatics exclusively. I soon found out that although they had flavor they also had a tendency to bite badly. Don't know if this is due to the casing or blend. After many episodes of tongue bite I wanted to try plain tobacco and ventured into English. I got an eye opener b/c if you are not careful you find most English/Balkans very, very, strong which is just as bad as tongue bite. I have bought and smoked Penzance, Davidoff Royalty, Dan's Independence, Ashton's Consumate Gentleman & Artisans's Blend, Stokkebye's Proper English, Peterson's Sherlock Holmes, Frog Morton series all 3 (very good), Lane's and Altadis (all very bad), and Gawith's Squadron,Skiff,and Dunhill's EMP(no longer available) . I have found that McClelland's 5110 to be for price and smoking the best! My rotation; 5110, Penzance, 2045 and until I finish them Aston's Consumate Gentleman. Try 5110 and you'll fine it to be very, very simular to Frog Morton and you can save money by buying it in bulk. Highly recommended

With the news of McClelland's closing, I was visiting a local B&M looking for any available tinned McClelland to keep in my cellar. They were out, but the local shopkeep encouraged me to try a bulk blend they offered of McClelland 5110. I was hesitant, but went ahead and purchased a few ounces to try. Boy am I glad I did! This was a truly enjoyable English blend. Like many people I was introduced to English tobaccos with Frog Morton blends. Truthfully, I wasn't a fan of anything except FMOTB. 5110 was an entirely different experience. In the first 1/2 of the bowl I could taste the sweetness of the virginias on the draw with a very neat pleasant smoky finish (not overwhelming). It wasn't until the 2nd half of the bowl that I noticed a gentle amount of oriental spice develop and a fuller flavor to the smoky latakia. It stayed lit, but didn't get overly hot. I enjoyed the full bowl for the entire hour I smoked this pipe. The room note was alluring. I stepped out several times and when I returned to my smoking lounge, I was enticed by the lingering room note and could not wait to dive back into this bowl. Very disappointed to see this blend disappear, but thankful for the small sample I've been able to enjoy this week.