McClelland Frog Morton

Famous as it is, I must say it is not my cup o f tea. This reminded me somewhat of a very toned down Red Rapparee, the difference being, of course, that in Rattray's the sweetness comes from the natural sugars in the red Virginias, whereas in the Frog the sweetness comes from the artificially flavored Black Cavendish (Burleys, Iguess). If you fancy combining Captain Black (white) withe Latakia, well, there it is.

Woodsy notes on the retro-hale.

Raisin sweetness in taste mixed with latakia.

More latakia based than the other blends in the series.

No nicotine hit!

Summary: very, very good mild-medium English.

We'll I have to say this is one of the best blends I've had. To me a perfect blend of Latakia when I'm not looking for a lat bomb but a well balanced English. It's been quite humid here (75%) and I was foreseeing a hot biting smoke but was pleasantly surprised. Despite the high humidity FM burnt cool, slow, and smooth. The end was a delicious mix of smokey Latakia with a sweetness from the Virginias. To me this is almost my perfect English blend as I am a huge fan of Latakia, yet love the sweetness of Virginias. I will be educating myself on more blends from mclelland and looking to try more.

*10/4/2014* Still love this blend but still wonder where the big sweetness is coming from. Maybe highly sweetened black cavendish? I dunno. There is no claim of casing on the label... But to me seems sweet for any sugar added please comment...

This tobacco is simple and delicious. Full yet mild is what it says on the tin. That's true in that it's pleasantly mild, not harsh, yet it's full enough that you feel satisfied from the smoke. The latakia comes through very nice. I get some acidity and something else my taste buds can't quite pinpoint. Some people complain it's one- dimensional, but I think that's the point. FM is meant to be enjoyed without having to think about it. Let your mind wander while FM relaxes you for the journey. Easily an all day smoke.

My first foray into English blends (along with Pease’s Mephisto) around 2002. The Latakia content of the Frog was more pronounced, and I wound up sticking with this blend till my last can about a year ago. Was considered a mild English sort of aromatic crossover. Like Mephisto, a victim of the warehouse fire some years back. Mclelland itself is now gone also.... very much missed.

Today I had the occasion to taste something really special. An aged Frog Morton, which is almost impossible to get nowadays in Romania, except if you’re really rich.

Upon opening the tin, the smell didn’t give any signs of Latakia, it seemed like a weird smell. But after reading the reviews here I figured out what it’s all about. It is indeed Worcestershire sauce and Barbeque sauce! Seriously, it smells like sauce. I personally didn’t like the smell at first.

I was very anxious to taste it, so I put it to dry up for about 30 minutes, because it was still very wet/sticky.

All said and done, after it dried enough I put it in my Stanwell Army Mount 185. It only needed two lights and everything went perfect. It burns excellent, you don’t need to relight and doesn’t bite at all.

Since the first draws I felt a strong, pleasant taste, like a burnt wood, but sweet. It definitely has a lot of topping, but I can’t figure out what it is, because it only taste a bit of latakia, which is hidden by that topping or casing. It tastes a bit like an irish wisky, a James but smokier towards a scotch. The balance between the virginia and latakia isi very good, they complete each other great. The taste is great, it is different, it’s delicious, sweet, soft, with a cool pleasant smoke. You feel like tasting it even after you draw from the pipe, like tasting a wine. And this taste lasts enough after you’re finished smoking.

The room note is pleasant, but not great. After all, it’s not really an aromatic.

It’s clearly a special and distinct tobacco, which you can combine with a whisky/scotch, not with a frappe or limonade. And being so hard to get nowadays, it should be for special occasions.

The shuttering of McClelland occurred during a very busy and hectic time in my life, and as such, I was totally blindsided by it. Thankfully, I had secured a tin of each of the Frog Morton blends before the fateful news struck. They were all amongst the first English and Balkan blends that I had tried and helped me down the road to becoming an (almost) exclusive English/Balkan smoker. They are all sorely missed.

RIP McClelland.

Last Sunday, I stopped by a Cigar and Pipe store, one of very few left where I live at. I was talking to the guy behind the counter and I was mentioning about Dunhill and he said ‘did you know McClelland closed’? I literally yelled ‘NO’ in the store, it was kind of embarrassing that is how loud I was. I was in a state of shock! February 28 2018, they closed. If I had known months ago I would have stocked up. Vintage Syrian gone, (stocked up), Dunhill, (stocked up) but alas it was not to be for McClelland. I bought the Frog last year and I have smoked it before and it is a very excellent tobacco. Smooth, creamy and slightly spicy. I have one open 100-gram tin of this and I will continue to enjoy it but will not buy any from the black marketeers on eBay. But all good things must come to an end.

One of the saddest days in pipe tobacco history-the closing of McClelland. Iconic Frog Morton. How we love thee. I’ve just opened a 2018 100g tin. Wonderful blend. Smooth, with its deep caramel richness, Smokey campfire Latakia, dark sweet stoved and lighter Virginia’s. Subtle Spicy richness. You shall be sorely missed. I will cherish these last 3 tins for as long as possible to savor on special occasions...or maybe not...so hard to resist. Thank you McClelland. One of the best in the world.