McClelland Oriental Mixture No. 6
(2.74)
A balanced, old style medium mixture, its robust flavor due to liberal use of Middle and Eastern Belt Orange Virginias. This invigorating all day or outdoor tobacco is both satisfying and refreshing.
Details
| Brand | McClelland |
| Blended By | McClelland Tobacco Company |
| Manufactured By | |
| Blend Type | Oriental |
| Contents | Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia |
| Flavoring | |
| Cut | Ribbon |
| Packaging | 50g Tin, 100g Tin |
| Country | United States |
| Production | No longer in production |
Profile
Strength
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
2.74 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 08, 2010 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Mild to Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
This review is based on a 2002 tin, opened 3/30/2010, so it may not be a wholly accurate reflection of what you'd find in a brand-new tin.
This is an oriental-forward Oriental/Virginia blend, augmented with what I suspect is just the tiniest touch of latakia. The Virginias are of McClelland's typical high quality, and the Orientals are rich and pungent and always at the forefront. With only a label change, this blend would fit very well in the company's great "Grand Orientals" line.
Again, I can't comment on what's currently being sold as Oriental #6. But I can say that this version of the blend is well-made and delicious, if you like pungent Orientals. There is little or no latakia -- I'm smoking it in pipes well-seasoned with latakia, so I can't honestly say one way or the other -- so this is much more in the line of Red Rapparee and Presbyterian Mixture (although I find it smoother than either of those blends, which can occasionally tend toward harsh, if you're not careful), and McClelland's own Grand Orientals: Yenidje Supreme.
If you like rich Virginias and beautifully handled, pungent Orientals, then I think you'll like this one very much. Just come prepared to experience it for what it is. (Some reviewers seem to be disappointed that the blend isn't something it was never intended to be: a balkan, an English, a latakia blend, etc., etc.)
Note: One early reviewer noted that aging had increased the presence of the Orientals in the blend. That might explain why so many other reviewers comment on the Orientals being too far in the background while others -- myself included -- found it to be quite Oriental-forward in character. (My tin had eight years of age on it.)
This is an oriental-forward Oriental/Virginia blend, augmented with what I suspect is just the tiniest touch of latakia. The Virginias are of McClelland's typical high quality, and the Orientals are rich and pungent and always at the forefront. With only a label change, this blend would fit very well in the company's great "Grand Orientals" line.
Again, I can't comment on what's currently being sold as Oriental #6. But I can say that this version of the blend is well-made and delicious, if you like pungent Orientals. There is little or no latakia -- I'm smoking it in pipes well-seasoned with latakia, so I can't honestly say one way or the other -- so this is much more in the line of Red Rapparee and Presbyterian Mixture (although I find it smoother than either of those blends, which can occasionally tend toward harsh, if you're not careful), and McClelland's own Grand Orientals: Yenidje Supreme.
If you like rich Virginias and beautifully handled, pungent Orientals, then I think you'll like this one very much. Just come prepared to experience it for what it is. (Some reviewers seem to be disappointed that the blend isn't something it was never intended to be: a balkan, an English, a latakia blend, etc., etc.)
Note: One early reviewer noted that aging had increased the presence of the Orientals in the blend. That might explain why so many other reviewers comment on the Orientals being too far in the background while others -- myself included -- found it to be quite Oriental-forward in character. (My tin had eight years of age on it.)
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 01, 2014 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
As I'm working towards the bottom of this tin, I have to say that I really like it but I wish there was just a bit more Latakia. I am currently chugging through a pound of #2020 that has an unusually high Latakia note and I love it. I really just want a ribbon version of #2020 and although #6 is not it, it is still one I enjoy.
Original review 6/1/14: Has similarites to Bulk #2020 only no lemon viginias and ready rubbed. I like it less than 2020 but it is good for when you don't want to mess around with broken flakes. Perfect moisture level out of the tin and burns beautifully without the need for relights. Also it doesn't seem to be very popular so the chance you get a tin with soom age is very good.
Original review 6/1/14: Has similarites to Bulk #2020 only no lemon viginias and ready rubbed. I like it less than 2020 but it is good for when you don't want to mess around with broken flakes. Perfect moisture level out of the tin and burns beautifully without the need for relights. Also it doesn't seem to be very popular so the chance you get a tin with soom age is very good.
Pipe Used:
various
Age When Smoked:
6 years
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 21, 2017 | Mild | None Detected | Mild to Medium | Tolerable |
I snagged an old tin of this off ebay for a song without knowing much about the tin. It was right around 9 yrs old when I popped the 100 g tin. I jarred up half and just finished the other half at deer camp last week.
This is a standard VLO Balkan type blend with the orientals out front. I really wish I knew what orientals were used in this blend. My overall impression is that this is a nice, but quite mild blend. I would put this in the camp of EMP or villiger early day and somewhere between the two in preference. All this to say that it is a fine morning smoke with a cup of coffee.
The Virginia is nice and sweet as to be expected coming from McClelland with 9 yrs of age on it. The latakia is very light, but its presence can still be sensed. This blend is nice, but it is far from earth shattering and can get a little boring in its inoffensiveness. One thing for sure is it won't bite and it smokes cool and for some odd reason I am looking forward to finishing the jarred remainder of it. Maybe I liked it more than I thought. Three stars.
This is a standard VLO Balkan type blend with the orientals out front. I really wish I knew what orientals were used in this blend. My overall impression is that this is a nice, but quite mild blend. I would put this in the camp of EMP or villiger early day and somewhere between the two in preference. All this to say that it is a fine morning smoke with a cup of coffee.
The Virginia is nice and sweet as to be expected coming from McClelland with 9 yrs of age on it. The latakia is very light, but its presence can still be sensed. This blend is nice, but it is far from earth shattering and can get a little boring in its inoffensiveness. One thing for sure is it won't bite and it smokes cool and for some odd reason I am looking forward to finishing the jarred remainder of it. Maybe I liked it more than I thought. Three stars.
PurchasedFrom:
ebay
Age When Smoked:
9yrs
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Feb 04, 2007 | Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant |
I'm not a huge fan of McClelland blends, but have managed to find a few that really do it for me. I believe that this one may become one of the few McClellands that I keep around, if even only for an occasional smoke.
Popping the top on this six year old tin elicited no ketchup aroma; good deal. The smell was of mature va.s, delicately laced with oriental and latakia. Rather than the smokiness of a heavy latakia blend, this stuff is faintly perfumey. But not in the way that lakeland flakes are perfumey. It just smelled very pleasant in the tin, and it was also the perfect humidity for smoking right out of the tin. Guess six years is the mark for McClellands (actually, Mike says five years aging is optimum).
Lighting was accomplished with ease, and once it was going it stayed lit. I would describe the room aroma as 'gentle' rather than pleasant. There was a tiny bit of virginia acridity, but it was very subdued. Everything else about the aroma was full bodied but pleasant; gentle.
I found the flavor to be just like the tobacco smelled. It was lightly perfumed (naturally from the orientals), mildly tangy, and just a remenisce of sweetness. Again, as with the smell, the latakia that I know must be in there, remained so unobtrusive as to be unnoticable.
This mixture is really well executed. McClellands managed to strike a really good balance with the virginias and the orientals, providing a smoke that is surprisingly invigorating on the palate without being "in your face" full of flavor. It's mild disposition means that the smoker will not experience tongue bite, and it is not so heavily laced with latakia that it will grow tiring as a daily smoke.
Popping the top on this six year old tin elicited no ketchup aroma; good deal. The smell was of mature va.s, delicately laced with oriental and latakia. Rather than the smokiness of a heavy latakia blend, this stuff is faintly perfumey. But not in the way that lakeland flakes are perfumey. It just smelled very pleasant in the tin, and it was also the perfect humidity for smoking right out of the tin. Guess six years is the mark for McClellands (actually, Mike says five years aging is optimum).
Lighting was accomplished with ease, and once it was going it stayed lit. I would describe the room aroma as 'gentle' rather than pleasant. There was a tiny bit of virginia acridity, but it was very subdued. Everything else about the aroma was full bodied but pleasant; gentle.
I found the flavor to be just like the tobacco smelled. It was lightly perfumed (naturally from the orientals), mildly tangy, and just a remenisce of sweetness. Again, as with the smell, the latakia that I know must be in there, remained so unobtrusive as to be unnoticable.
This mixture is really well executed. McClellands managed to strike a really good balance with the virginias and the orientals, providing a smoke that is surprisingly invigorating on the palate without being "in your face" full of flavor. It's mild disposition means that the smoker will not experience tongue bite, and it is not so heavily laced with latakia that it will grow tiring as a daily smoke.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 2022 | Mild | None Detected | Mild | Tolerable |
The reviews is on a 2017 tin of #6 which gives it 5 years of aging.
I've found #6 to be a great blend when I'm not looking for Latakia and want to enjoy the oriental notes in the lead. The McC Virginias give a nice compliment of sweetness. It burns really cool if not pushes and I enjoy the sweet/slightly sour notes which last through the bowl. Very little moisture and easy to smoke with minimal or no relights.
I'm glad I have a couple of tins left in the cellar as I really enjoy this one and will be sad once I'm out.
I've found #6 to be a great blend when I'm not looking for Latakia and want to enjoy the oriental notes in the lead. The McC Virginias give a nice compliment of sweetness. It burns really cool if not pushes and I enjoy the sweet/slightly sour notes which last through the bowl. Very little moisture and easy to smoke with minimal or no relights.
I'm glad I have a couple of tins left in the cellar as I really enjoy this one and will be sad once I'm out.
Pipe Used:
various
PurchasedFrom:
JR Cigar
Age When Smoked:
2017
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 09, 2007 | Medium | None Detected | Full | Tolerable |
I bought this because I was visiting Phoenix and Ye Olde Pipe and Tobacco Shoppe had an 11-year old tin. This tin was my first experience with latakia ? my first oriental blend. On opening the tin I saw evidence for plume or bloom on the hard, dark smoky flakes, a fine whitish powder that is thought to be oils rising to the surface and precipitating. The tin smell was rich and smoky, and the latakia smoky flavor comes through on the first light. The smoky flavor diminishes, or saturates, and by the halfway mark the tobacco flavor predominates. The oriental notes remind me of strolling through a middle-eastern spice bazaar. The blend indeed ?stout? ? the oriental flavors are intense, and yet the Virginia flavor comes through, especially in the second half of the bowl. In my first experiences, sometimes I really liked this blend, at other times it seemed slightly off balance. I think this could in part be due to my ability to calibrate the rate of combustion throughout the journey from the top to the bottom of the bowl. ? I have since sampled a few other oriental mixtures, and the more I sample, the more I appreciate Oriental #6. I find that I enjoy the complexity, the intensity of flavor, and especially the virginia finish. I really like the way virginia tobacco flavors build to their peak flavor in the last part of the bowl. A spicy tobacco with a McClelland virginia finish - this is a good thing.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 08, 2005 | Medium | Extremely Mild | Mild to Medium | Tolerable |
The green label of blends from McClelland I think are quite unique and excellent. These are scotish/english orietal blends that are differnt from traditional ones like Rattray's. They are sweeter, more round in flavor with a distictive aroma that is characteristicly "McClelland." As for this blend there is a trace of that vinegary tang with a distinctive tin aroma I think is largely derrived from their propietary black/stoved cavendish common throughout the green label line and others. Predominately a base of viginia ribbon followed by the black stoved/cavendish with a smidgen of oriental and latikia. This is a rich and satisfying blend due to the large proportion of it's virgina base which translate to an appreciable amount of nicotine similarly found in VA flakes. For the smoker who wants a variation on traditional scottish blends with condimental leaf in the back seat.
-Recomended
-Recomended
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jul 12, 2003 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
#6 seems like a decent daily smoke. Is quite smooth despite a strong orange VA sugary zest to it which sometimes reminds me of 2015, A bit of an oily spiciness I detect as the orientals & a background leatheriness from the latakia which as mentioned is used sparingly, for me a good thing. ALL In all A tasty oriental blend which is farely VA-feisty, with a trace of their trademark bite ( the McClelland residual tongue tenderness- usually from too casual a smoke )despite the smoothness. the tin I received was from circa 1997 & covered in resin crystals, great tin aroma, I'll probably buy more.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 07, 2004 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Medium | Very Pleasant |
I purchased this from my local Tobacconist who had it on a shelf for probaly five years. The tin was covered in smoke residue,and I noted the bottom of the tin was marked 1997. I figured the tobacco would probaly be most deliteful,and it was. Opening the tin I liked the wide ribbon cut,and big broad cut,of the leaves. The smell was big Virginia, musty, sweet, kinda tangy.I could not pick the latakia smell out at all, but the mellow smell was the tobacco as a whole,all instruments playing a mellow tune. It packed very well,and made fire with two lights. The first few draws were an opening of tender mellow soft Virginia with that faint echo of the Latakia.The backy smoked slow,and was lightly smokey creamy,and very fragrant.I was convinced I had found a jewel in this tin.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 07, 2003 | Medium | None Detected | Mild to Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
I have been smoking this blend off and on for years now. I liken it to a low-key conversation with an old friend. I recently opened a tin of this blend from 95' and noted subtle differences from the usual one to two year old tins of this blend that I normally smoke. The additional aging seems to have brought the orientals up to almost the level of the Virginians. The overall effect seems to one of increased smoothness with an increase in strength of flavor, (especially in the Virginians). After smoking this older tin I will definitely buy more to celler for a longer term then usual.
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