McClelland Oriental Mixture No. 12

I can't give this tobacco a bad review. I've broken into a 5-year-old tin of this blend and have found it completely enjoyable, even though I don't consider Oriental blends to be McClelland's forte.

In the tin, this is a mixture of dark brown matured Virginia and Turkish in a long ribbon cut, and even darker Latakia which has been applied with a generous hand. The aroma is dark and rich, with the Latakia in the fore, and the subtle, ripe sweetness of the VA in the background.

This is a bit moist in the tin. I let a bowlful sit out for a while before loading it into a pipe. Just before the tobacco ribbons get "crunchy" seems to be the optimal moisture level. I would imagine smoking it moister would lead to nipping at the tongue.

The flavor is solid English. The Latakia is assertive and resinous, but not overwhelming. The Virginias add a toasty, over-ripe fruit flavor in the base note. The combination is well balanced. The blend doesn't really evolve much except to increase in intensity as it's smoked. However, I don't consider that a bad thing really, as the flavors are good ones.

This is a good, reliable Latakia blend of medium to full body and medium strength. It's a good late-evening tobacco - something to settle into with a good book. If you're disappointed with a fresh tin, seal it up and put it away for a while. Come back later and you're sure to be rewarded with a much mellower, pleasant experience.

This has all the hallmarks of a McClelland blend. Heavy on Va., and light on everything else. It seems to be the way with this company. I have tried literally dozens of their tobaccos and have found precisely 4 of them that have hit the mark that they advertise.

So light are the amounts, that you are left wondering if they left out the condiment leaf entirely.

This may be pleasing to the more timid smoker, one that does not want a full tobacco flavor. But, if you actually like to taste all of the components in a blend, this is not recommended.

Very little flavor. Once in a great while the VA would show up, but otherwise very bland. This is from a tin dated 2004.

I am reminded of sticking my head over a pot of boiling water and tasting the steam. I have no idea what they do to the tobacco that goes into this blend, but it must be akin to the cellular maceration that turns normal tobacco into cigarette filler. I fail to see how a blend with Virginias (McClelland being known for good, serviceable Va's), Latakia (Most pungent of all varieties) and oriental (the king of flavor) can come together and create a blend 100% less than the sum of it's parts. After a thorough drying out, serves well as tinder for lighting campfires.

I tried to like this one, but I encountered some problems. At first the bowl starts out smooth and flavorful, but at the second half I was tongue bitten.The tin containing the tobacco was from '02. I just was not able to capture any flavor from the smoke.

However, if someone can enjoy and capture the flavors in this blend, there are plenty of aged tins available.

The first half of the bowl smoked nice and cool, with just a little taste of the latakia and good overall flavor. Second half was a little warmer, and the taste seemed a little bit stronger, which was good. Love the smell of the tobacco and the smoke. Looking forward to another bowl tonight.

This blend is fairly similar to the #14, but on a much smaller scale. It is not as much in your face as its bigger brother. I think it can still be considered a Scottish mixture but it is much toned down in the Latakia and Turkish department. It is exceptionally mild at the top of the bowl. Towards mid bowl is where this blend gets a bit interesting, the VA tobaccos really fill out with mild sweetness, and well balanced earthy tone. The Latakia that is present also shows up at this point. It is slightly smoky and barely salty. There is only a slight hint of Turkish spice at this point. All in all this blend is a nice mild blend that is a nice change of pace. Do your self the favor of concentrating on this smoke, if you do not it can bite you. One other thing to note, the tin that I purchased was stamped '99, what a lucky find.

It is my opinion that the label note on this tobacco is only partially complete. This is a fine tobacco and from the tin description I wouldn't have bought it unless I had sampled it.

This is another magnificent Oriental blend from a company that has produced many winners for my tastes. Its one of those blends that I can take solo when traveling and not regret it. On many occassions I have lit up consecutive bowls of No. 12 and never sorry. Once again, I have smoked different aged tins, from 6 or more years to 2 years and have been equally pleased. Don't get me wrong, McClelland makes plenty of stuff that is not my cup of tea, but there are at least 5 Blends of theirs that I have grown to adore. This is another one of them.

The VA's are present from start to finish without a bite yet nice sweetness while the orientals share the stage and bring a wonderful interestingly spicy pleasure. It's middle of the road as far as strength and it's never boring.

*Update: for the above Aug 06 - After finishing a few tins of varying age, I have discovered that there is a consistency issue with this blend and I have removed it from my rotation. I have replaced it with a blend or two from other blenders.

Cheers, VC

Not a bad English mixture but nothing to remember: it packs and burns well, but warms the pipe a little more than usual. I haven't found it very flavourful, but enough tasty to be an all-day blend. There's a lot better tobaccos out there.