McCranie's St. Alban's Best

St. Albans Best has been compared to ?Frog Morton On The Town? by several reviewers, and with good reason. Is this possibly the bulk version of FMOTT? If it isn?t, I would have to say that the good Saint Alban definitely plays with frogs.

I am going to continue under the premise that this is indeed FMOTT bulk. There?s too much similarity not to. Is this a bad thing? Not at all. This is a very enjoyable tobacco.

The bag aroma lacks the scent of topping that one notices upon opening a tin of FMOTT. The moisture content was right on, so no drying was necessary. Once lit, a simple task, it stayed lit with a minimum of fuss.

I didn?t find the casing I half-expected, but what I did find was a nice smooth blend, rich in Oriental, well-supported by a smoky Latakia. The Oriental is spicy and full of flavor.

Not overly complex, but very tasty. A nice all-day smoke.

This blend packs and burns nice; if left out to dry bit. I have enjoyed SAB for it's leather smokey flavor!Quit rich in the latakia flavor but not heavy or stout as a full english. A med. weight smoke, but keeps my attention. I happend to agree with Le Pipe on this blends smokeyness and very leathery! The Vir.'s are sweet. If aired out a bit this does not burn hot. SAB does have a bit of aromatic or cavendish to the blend. Great for a cross blend. I may not be that "educated" but this is worth a try.

St.Alban's is what I would consider to be an entry-level latakia blend. It may not be your cup o'tea if you're a hell bent "English blend only" fiend. However,If you've smoked Dunhills Aperitif or something similar and wanted to kick it up a notch this could be a good choice. No doubt that this is a variation on an english blend,but the variation is a plus here. The stoved virginian adds a nice flavorful twist in this mixture that sets it apart from most latakia blends. The aromatic topping is not an issue for me because it still burns rather cool. It does have a slightly more pleasing aroma than most english blends. That is to say ,my wife doesn't mind if I smoke this inside ocassionally. I have smoked as many as 3 bowls in a day,and never grew tired of it. I usually reach for this when a want that pungent leathery flavor that I've come to love.

I agree that St. Alban's Best is close to #5110 as #5110 is close to good ol' Frog Morton. There IS an aromatic quality to SAB just as w/FM, and to me they smoke nearly the same, but the Frog seems to have a bit more smokey flavor than SAB as well as somewhat cooler & creamier smoking properties. That's not saying that SAB is a hot smoking tobak, simply that FM seems somewhat cooler. The VA's in SAB are noticeable and that subtle tang mixes well w/a slight sweetness during a good part of the bowl. The woodsy, earthy flavors seem a bit muted but were still very much present, and I noticed a sharpness that surfaced here and there but it was minimal. Coulda been puffing a bit too fast. Little bit of moisture, but no big deal, one cleaner. There was practically no bite, and the blend burned to a grayish ash w/a wee bit o' dottle. All-in-all a very good VA/Latakia mixture, IMHO, just maybe not quite as refined as others. Also, the fact that this is a bulk blend could be an attractive asset to those who are cost-concious but want something similar to higher grade medium English blends. For all-I-know, maybe this is #5110. I enjoy it, and the "dark stoved VA make-up" may be just what pops yer' cork. Works for me.