McClelland Oriental Mixture No. 14

Having been a pipe/cigar smoker since 1969 a lot of smoke from many blends has passed over my tongue and this one has become one of my favorites. About 10 years ago I put the pipes away and went solely with cigars and this is a review of one of 5 tins of this I put away with several tins of Dunhill I had bought 12 years earlier. The aroma of the freshly opened tin was one of very full spicy dark Virginia's and Orientals. No "ketchup" smell some have talked about ( but I never smelled it back when I smoked fresh tins of this before) just a nice spicy full tobacco aroma. The color of the belnd had darkened to where there was not as much varigation as I recall in a fresh tin. It packs easily and when the match is put to it, you are rewarded with a nice full blue smooth smoke which continues thru the whole bowl. Because of the predominence of the Virginias it does burn a bit warm if smoked to hard. Take your time and be gentile and it is a wonderful, full,rich, spicy and flaverfull smoke all the way to the bottom. The Orientals do lend a nice spicy tone to it and after aging for 10 years, the Latakia is very nice and smokey without intruding into the overall smoothness of the blend. I originally bought this blend as an alternative to my daily smoked 965 at that time and I'd have to say I could smoke this one all day with no regrets! Keep in mind, I'm reviewing a 10 year old tin of this and I have 4 more to go before I would have to open a new one so I will buy some more and let it age before I get to it. All in all, one of the best blends of McClellands I have smoked. I HIGHLY recomend it!

This has become a solid all day smoke for me. It's balanced between all three components. I would like a bit more Orientals to enhance the butteriness of the background flavors, but, never the less this is a very good mixture. It has the standard moisture of most McClelland blends and could be dried a tad to enhance packing and lighting, but it's not an issue for me. I don't consider this a "sweet" blend as others have indicated. It does have some sweetness due to the natural properties of the tobaccos themselves, but I wouldn't call this sweet by any means. This blend falls in the same flavor category as Frog Morton's "On The Bayou", or "On The Town", without the Perique. Also this is the medium version of Pease "Westminster" in terms of flavor. It gets spicier further down the bowl. The cut is relatively the same as the above blends as well.

This is a go to blend and will be in my rotation always.

Of the 5 or 6 blends that I tried from McClelland, this is my favorite! Whoever at McClelland created that blend is a genius!

Yes, no 14 is dark, but it smokes well, it doesn't take hours to smoke a medium pipe full- know what I mean, those pipe fulls you get tired of because they take forever?. The taste is outstanding, the black VAs sort of neutralizes the Latakia which adds in richness. This is rich and strong, but not in an unplesant way. In an extremely positive way. Think of ex-tre-me-ly satisfying taste.

Upon opening of the tin, a rich and very pleasant oriental smell welcomes your nose. Dark, dark with nice medium brown loose leaf compose this blend. Small broken black flakes identify the black VAs. Even my wife likes both the smell in the tin and the room note,which is extraordinary for an oriental blend- she makes faces everytime I buy English/Oriental blends, and everytime she smells the tin and the room note. She can't stand English blends, but tried really hard to tolerate them,so I had to compromise. I guess it's the Latakia. Anyway, I was talking about no 14! Whenever I feel like English/Oriental blends, here comes no 14.

No 14 is a great alternative to traditional English blends. Actually, McClelland says it's a classic full Scottish mixture. The adding of the black VA is just outstandingly well thought, because it gives an extra richness, smoothness and sweetness to the general taste. No overwhelmness of nicotine whatsoever. And this baby smokes dry all the way down.

Extremely highly recommended. Now that I reviewed this tobacco, I have a crazy rage to smoke it!

Update Friday FEB 16th

Boys! I just received a couple tins yesterday from my favorite tobaconnist - Blatter & Blatter, in Montréal- and let me tell you, this tobacco is a big time winner!

It smokes smooth like silk, yet consistent and very tasty, and it doesn't bite your tongue; there is an alternance between smokey rich oriental taste and sweeter taste when the blck VA is kicking in.

Any pipe smoker respecting himself must try this blend; like another reviewer said, this one doesn't smell or taste like ketchup...

Update 19 JUne 2007

This afternoon, for some reason, I was finding this blend too dark and slow burning, and having a tendency to leave the bottom of the pipe rather wet/oily, I don't know why. And I had smoked, earlier, some Presbyterian, and found it too bright and not enough dark, lacking a bit of flavour and becoming rather tongue - biting. Somehow, something clicked: Guess what I did? Yes, absolutely, I mixed the 2 together, half and half and, until now, the result is quite surprising!

It burns better, and the black VA combined with the Greek Basma grades gives it a pleasant, distinctive, slightly sweet flavor, as where the Latakia and Orientals give it a more silky, smokey taste; and I - for all our Missus out there- find the room aroma to be very discreet and pleasant...

If you do smoke both of these blends, or something similar, and experience the same problems, you might want to give this a try. I guess it will take a couple days before the different tobaccos melt properly together but, until now,it's a delightful surprise, the best of both worlds!

Every time I smoke a McClelland blend it really bums me out, they shuddered their doors before I could go bankrupt and stock up for a life time. I was given some of this probably almost a year ago along with the 50-gram tin, dated 140714. As I had smoked some McClelland at the club last week, I decided to revisit some of their blends that I have. I have about 20 tins on a dedicated shelf with dates ranging from 1998-2014 or so and quite a few are unopened along with some of various degrees of use. I don’t jar tins and I suppose some are getting a little dry but this has never been an issue to me. This has a deep, rich, dark, fantastic, sourish, fermented smell out of the tin. I could wear this one as aftershave if I could. Smokes great with the Latakia in the background and the Oriental/Virginias taking center stage. Produces a lot of creamy white smoke and kept its flavor almost to the very end of the bowl. I have one bowl left and so I will finish it off tomorrow when I get home from work. Another ‘dead soldier’. If you are too young to know what this saying means, Google.:)

Ok as with most tins open it and tuck it away for a few weeks. At least Three with #14. The Lalakia is up front the Black Virginia is there right behind as the bowl goes down the Oriental comes into paly with this mix. Ther is some type of flavoring ever so sublte. Like a butter scotch aroma ever so slight. Actually a good smoke milder then most Latty belnds. Room Note well as with all pipes better to smoke the outside. REDD

There was a reviewer somewhere here that said when you review Oriental blends, you must remember they are not full English blends. That is one piece of advice I would like to pass along.

Perfect moisture out of the tin. My tin is dated 04/08 and I opened it in 02/11. Light on the Latikia, it is blended perfectly with the black VA's and Orientals. This is a great change up blend for those who smoke a lot of English.

I like smoking these Oriental blends to transition from summer into fall, and winter into spring.

Paired well with a Bin 27 Port.

November-2003.Oriental No 14. This is 'definitely the nicest'Oriental I have ever tried!! The taste & flavour is noticeable & delicious from the charring light,& carry's on right through to the bottom of the bowl.This is even nicer,& to me,by far better than Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe.You can definitely taste the Orienatals,Latakia & Dark Virginia's individually & evenly(This is a first) Lights with ease & doesn't bite,leaving no goop or acrid after taste in anyway.A must try,for the Oriental lover. 'Highest Reccomendation'

I am a huge McClelland fanboy and have always loved their oriental mixtures just as much as their Va and VaPer offerings. This particular mixture is no longer available for purchase, so it's probably best to keep my review short. In my humble opinion this wasn't one of McClelland's most extraordinary and mind-boggling offerings but a very reliable and consistently good smoke nevertheless. The body never rises above medium and the smoke is very creamy and shows no rough edges at all. The latakia is clearly there but doesn't steal the show - which is a big plus in my book. The stoved black adds an extra smidgen of sweetness and the smooth yet never overpowering sweet, smoky aromas on the retrohale are a delight. To be honest, it is indeed a 4/4 star tobacco even though I never rave about it as I do about other McC products.

#14 was the right moisture content right out of the tin, no added drying necessary--packed and lit well--burned throughout easily--

smoked relatively cool, although i believe it might bite if you don't approach it with care--

the flavor was a mild oriental, light on latakia, but very tasty--

it will remain stocked on a small supply--