McClelland Frog Morton

Others have commented on this being a hybrid aromatic/english blend. Try as I might, I have a hard time placing this in the aromatic camp. Certainly not at all like Cross-Eyed Cricket (thank goodness) or even Mephisto in that regard. It is a bit sweeter than a traditional english, but not terribly so. I do not understand how it offends in that regard. I had smoked a good deal of FM before I heard it was a closet aromatic, and I never would have guessed. As Granma would say, "and Froggie seemed like such a nice boy...".

The cut makes it easy to handle, and once dried out a bit (OK, quite a bit) it packs and smokes well. The virginias, if that is what they are, are of a fairly dark nature and almost look like brown cavendish.

This blend is mild, especially considering the percentage of dark flakes in the sample that would lead one to believe that this was a latakia-laden blend. Not so. A little disappointing in that regard. the smoke is kind of, well, watery. It does gain in strength near the bottom of the bowl, but also gets kind of steamy, too, even when dried out. Why must McC be so heavy-handed with the moisture? And did you ever wonder why this stuff never molds, being so moist? Cigars certainly do. Humectants must be at play here, or maybe even more insidious chemicals... Hey, what IS that McC katsup smell, anyway?

At any rate, I would have to say that overall I prefer Frog on the Town and Frog on the Bayou to the original Frogmorton, in that these last two hold my interest a bit more than FM. Still, I will always keep FM around. It is like a good friend who's conversation can become tiring after while, but who makes a good occasional companion for old times sake.

A dark mixture with a large portion of stoved Virginia. The color of Frog Morton is deceiving and there’s less latakia here than one would think. The flavor is mild, smooth and lightly sweet, and latakia lends a delicate fragrance and a sweet woodsy note to the aroma. Frog Morton should not be confused with traditional English style latakia mixtures; I believe it’s best categorized and judged as a crossover blend. I prefer to think of it as a sugared Virginia gently seasoned with a bit of latakia.

When I smoke it, I treat it like I would an aromatic, going very slow with gentle sips, making a concerted effort to keep it cool. Altogether this is a quality blend that’s pleasant to smoke and it’s easy to understand why it has become so popular. It performs well but does require at least 30 minutes of dry time.

If you fancy a slightly sweeter blend with a touch of spice and a bit more complexity, try Frog Morton on the Town. So far however, when it comes to the Frog blends, I still prefer the mellow, yet smokier subtleties of Frog Morton Across the Pond.

I love Frog Morton the Original because it has that English Taste I love but can be smoked while on the move or doing something else. This blend does not bite or need focusing as it is very forgiving. I have recently been smoking Smokers Haven's Exotique Mixture at night and FM during the day as a 100 gram tin of FM is the same price as a 50 gram tin of Exotique. I love the brown sugar BBQ aroma in the tin and side stream smoke... If you think of this blend as what it is IE: Cavendish and Latakia with a little Virginia and not a Super Balkan or Nightcap then I think you will be happy with FM as an all day English blend that is inexpensive. 🙂

Update: This blend has grown on me tremendously over the past few months. After ditching cigarettes, my taste buds seem to be able to appreciate this blend without furiously puffing on it, which means there is absolutely no tongue bite associated with this blend. Very few mixtures have NO bite in my book (Old Joe Krantz, Gatlin-Burley, Carter Hall are the others), so that's a big plus here. Also, the taste seems to have improved, putting it at the top of my English rotation. It's nowhere near as complex as Odyssey or rich like Westminster or Penzance, but Frog Morton doesn't try to be like any of those. It's just a straightforward English that's easy to smoke and appreciate. As others have noted, this is perfect as an introduction to Latakia, but I'd go further and say this is also excellent for "experienced" smokers who can still appreciate something simple. My one complaint is that it seems to have close to zero nicotine, but others will probably consider that a plus.



Original review: On the one hand, this tobacco has a wonderful flavor and (for a latakia-based blend) a pretty good aroma. On the other, it's FAR too mild for me. Although this blend seems to be "bite free" for many smokers, I've roasted my tongue on it several times because the flavor is so weak that I end up puffing far too hard in the vain hope of actually getting a full-bodied taste from it. Also, there are far too many humectants (or something) on this leaf -- I've had one tin open for more than three months now and it's still overly moist. To be fair, though, I'll again emphasize how pleasant the taste is. The VAs are top-notch and possess a lot of sweetness, and the latakia is quite smooth. I mixed some FM with some burley and the batch is currently aging. Hopefully, the burley will give this tobacco enough "kick" to be satisfying while preserving something of the original taste. This is probably good for those who are just beginning to sample latakia and/or don't like much in the way of nicotine.

This is my first blend from the line.the way the frog smokes in the tin appearance prepares you for an all day english blend and after trying this one out i agree!when the can opens a nice smell combined from smokey and sour notes comes out.the blend is mostly dark with some bright virginias present.the moisture is a bit more than proper so some drying time is needed.packing is easy and lighting needs some effort.several relights are needed.while burning the flavours are clear,natural and pleasing as the description promises.latakia are the main player giving smokey notes,coals,woodsy notes all these in a sweet mix.virginias support the flavours with some dark fruits,grassy and sour notes.the flavours are very balanced and rich.burns cool and slow with some moisture being created at the end of the bowl.the nicotine level is low making it an easy blend to smoke during the day but not a proper one before going to bed.the room note is tolerable for the wifes who can tolerate latakia!no chance of tongue bite.i wanna notice that this is my first Va/latakia blend and the luck of orientals gave a different dimention to the flavours.in conclusion this is an all day blend simple and rich,and a good one to enter the latakia world.the nicotine level could be a bit higher and still it would be an all day blend.

The simplest way to put it for this blend is that it's Frog Morton's Cellar without the "cellar" -- ie. without the whiskey note.

Tin note gives a nice, smokey smell of latakia and that is what you taste when you smoke it. Not harsh at all. Some might find it too mild I suppose, but frankly, as one not looking to be punched in the throat by a blend, while also not wanting the "hot air" feeling that comes with some tobaccos, this one is quite pleasant.

While FMC is "smokey-sweet" this is mainly smokey with some subtle flavours from the other tobaccos in the blend.

Good solid blend. FMC is my top choice, but if anything every happened to that blend, I'd go with this one as a replacement.

Holy hand grenades this was a great smoke. Not sure what gunpowder they use on it, but it was the first time I ever smelled a tobacco and my nose was hit with itchy little pops. Seriously, it was so tangy I almost coughed. This was not a bad thing, this stuff was just begging to be smoked. It was full force Latakia with something tangy on top.

Fired it up and was reminded of a drink I like (made with 1/3 Amaretto, 1/3 Bourbon, and 1/3 Rosie's lime), which tastes a bit like Sour Patch Kids. Now I'm not saying the frog here was that intense and I know it is not an aromatic, but think sweet and sour undertones.

One of my favorite blends to smoke is Sillem's Black which has a very similar palette, this one almost got the 4 stars, but was demoted to 3 as per my edit.

Edit: a few weeks after opening the tin, some of the punch fizzled and was not as fresh or interesting.

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.

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.