McClelland Frog Morton

A strange mixture. Apparently a Latakia beginners mixture. I wouldn't be sure about that. I am a mixtures smoker since the 70s and cannot see any similarity to FM. And despise aromatic tobaccos. Said that FM can be a very good change of pace. Not to strong, no bite some "natural (?)" sweetness, a good aroma burns well needs few relighting only. A very pleasant tobacco indeed. If I can dare a comparison is with Penzance with a good a spoon of honey added. I favor Penzance but do not despise FM. Recommendation? yes but not for classic mixture beginners.I will certainly buy more tins. Will I smoke them all? Don't know yet.

After just one tin (not finished):i strongly doubt that will open a second. Too much flavoring, leaves the pipe really dirty and stinky. I had to clean a good Chono with bowls of Belgian Vieux Semois (highly recomended for this purpose) after having smoked Frog Morton and the base-note of FM is still there. I must change my recommendation to not recommended. For your info I prefer GL Pease Westminster, Penzance, Pirate Cake and similar. For a change of pace Bed & Breakfast of Cornell&Diehl.

I just don't get it. Either you like English blends, or you don't. I have heard this blend called a "cross over blend" for those who want to try Latakia. I'm not one to avoid a blend that uses Latakia to spice things up a bit. But, when you take it, and place a casing on it, and try to pass yourself off as an English blend, then I have a problem. I know that McClellend itself does not call it an English blend, but it seems that many people who come into my local tobacconist ask for it as an English blend. I think that whoever first blended Frog Morton, did so in an attempt to have the best of both worlds. Aromatic, and English. However as with all compromises, you get something that just does not work. This tobacco does not work. Because of the heavy use of Latakia, and flavor casing, you get two tastes competing for your pallet. I love English blends, and I like aromatics, just don't mix em. I think I could get better results by mixing Captain Black, with Old Ironsides, but why would I want too?

Frog Morton is a good choice for the smoker just starting with English blends because it just can't seem to bite, is nice and mild, has a bit of sweetness to it. I suspect most smokers won't stay with it in the long run, though, as they find blends with more interesting flavors and complexity. I have never been able to get this stuff to dry out, so even though it never bites, it is always goopy and prone to gurgle. This blend is also so mild that I often smoke a bowl and think OK, that was good, now I want to smoke some pipe tobacco. There may not even be any nicotine in this stuff, I don't know. In summary, good as a first English, but not any kind of benchmark.

I'd read so much about Frog Morton and McClelland that I decided to splurge and bought a tin from 2017. I regret it. I can't rightly give a review on how it tastes, because it made my tongue numb and everything taste salty for hours.

Evidently, I'm not the only person who has had this problem.

I want to like Frog Morton. Smells wonderful in the tin, and I'm told the sidestream smell is nice. But ultimately FM fails to deliver the goods. Very dull, uninteresting flavor. The latakia doesn't have the dense, pungent fragrance that you find in other English mixtures, and unfortunately this substandard lat flavor is all there is. You don't taste anything else. No orientals to lend it breadth or spice, no rich Virginias for balance and sweetness. Might as well suck on a charcoal bricquet.

try to compare this tobacco with almost same kind of GL Westminster, C&D Da Vinci or SG Esquadro Lieder and you will understand how bad is it.

I recently came upon a two year old tin of this tobacco. Having heard such great things about it, I hopped on the chance to buy it.

Upon opening the tin, I was greeted with a smell that was far too reminiscent of cheap ketchup-based barbeque sauce for my liking. Being that this is a McClelland blend I was expecting a ketchup smell due to whatever preservative they use (Google “McClelland Tobacco Ketchup Smell” if you are unfamiliar with this), but the scent was a bit overpowering for me. I simply smelled no tobacco at all.

The cut was a good ribbon, the moisture level perfect, and it lit easy enough. It also smoked well, never burning too hot or needing too many relights. The problem, however, was that the blend (1) was extremely mono-dimensional, not having any interplay between the different types of tobaccos and (2) was tainted by the taste of the preservative used to keep the tobacco from drying out. It tasted like a mild English blend that had been accidentally soaked in cheap ketchup-based barbeque sauce. And I hate ketchup-based barbeque sauce.

Maybe if the preservative was not present, I would have liked Frog Morton. Maybe it would have been a good, mild English blend with subtle nuances as a good mild blend should have. Maybe… but at least for me, all that could have made this blend delightful was covered up with the taste and scent of the preservative that McClelland Tobacco Company famously uses. And honestly, that ruined this blend for me.

Smoking a bowl now. Like On the Town, I can't get any flavor from this smoke. Overall, it has a mild sweetness, but is just flat out wimpy. I like a nice full, rich, English blend. This is not it. Actually, after trying On The Town, and now this, I actually feel a little sick, not from the strength (I've smoked Nightcap, thank you very much) but just from the cheap, syrupy smell and taste. I think this bowl is going in the bowl, the toilet bowl that is. Gross. I need to remind myself to stick with a quality English like Peterson Old Dublin, at least since Dunhills are gone. I miss my Early Morning Pipe real bad now after smoking this.

A sweetened dark concoction that will not bite, no matter how you smoke it. This is definitely not a Va. flake, that certainly must have been a typo. The only recommendation I can think of is that it will burn in a pipe, and doesn't bite. It just doesn't suit me.