Robert McConnell Original Oriental

wow what a pleasant surprise from an underrated tobacco! if you like great english blends like black mallory, squadron leader, or penzance I don't see how you could not at least appreciate this fine mixture.. it has that same sweet tanginess i get from the virginias in scottish cake - with an added treat of a fine bouquet of orientals and a tasteful light dose of latakia.. the price on mcconnell tins can be a bit steep but it is worth it for an avid smoker of english blends.. top ratings here..

edit.. i'm going to step down to three stars simply because I don't feel the urge to smoke this as often as I used to.. it is more of an occasional treat than my other englishes and virginias.

I made a pretty harsh transition a few years back when I started smoking a pipe from a newbie smoking soda pop flavored tobaccos to a newbie smoking English blends, going literally from cherry borkum riff to Penzance. Without any of the proper humility I consider my palette fairly sophisticated now, I realized, though, that the English blends I favor are pretty bottom heavy with Latakia and I wasn?t sure if I could pick out Orientals from a line up if I had too. So I tried the closest thing to straight Orientals with the best rating here, a review website I probably put too much faith in but one which has yet to lead me astray.

I understand that flavor now and admire the reviewers on this site even more than I did before. I?m not likely to get another tin of this but it?s not any failing on McConnel?s part, this is quality tobacco, presented well, blended well and interesting, it?s just not my cup of tea, it reminds me of smoking a Turkish cigarette, a novelty from time to time, and something I?d appreciate as a gift, but not something I?d go out of my way to purchase. I understand now why there aren?t a lot of mainly oriental blends out there.

This tin was well worth the lesson for my palette and will help me understand and appreciate the more subtle aspects of English and Balkan blends and I?m sure I will finish the tin eventually, perhaps mixing it in with other things that are too latakia rich and not complex enough or Virginians that burn too hot or something. I just don?t see myself replacing the tin with another one. Just not my cup of tea, but would recommend to the palette curious, anyone who is into Orientals doesn?t need my recommendation and is probably very familiar with this blend. For quality I would give this four stars, for my own personal taste and interest a liberal two stars, so I?ll split the difference and call it three again erring on the liberal side.

Wow. Twelve reviews so far without the standard whine that this blend needs more latakia. Maybe my tongue is overly sensitive (I only smoke a dozen bowls in a week) but this blend has more than adequate flavor and the latakia restraint is appreciated. I've been slowly searching for an oriental blend that tastes mostly oriental and this comes closest so far.

Turkish tobacco is stated to be a component in Camel cigarettes, and a Camel is my first impression in the room note. Oriental tobaccos are the original aromatics and among my favorites to smell burning. They have a sweetness I normally associate with Virginias but without their pinching bite; a nuttiness like burley without burley's cloaking effect. One of my favorite smokes is McClellands Blending Oriental by itself for these reasons. This one has the addition of Virginias to add variety to the sweet taste and just the right amount of latakia for variety and depth.

Well done. Sounds like I need to cellar a few tins. In the meantime, my darling EM remains Squadron Leader.

(From blind tobacco review)

1st smoke is in a ceramic pipe, to avoid any pipe characteristics. Appearance: Standard cut for an English blend; ~50% black, 25% brown and 25% light tobaccos. Arrived at a perfect smoking humidity.

Tin aroma has a strong "smoky barbecue sauce" element to it, a savory feel. I'm guessing this blend will have some sweetness to it.

At first light, I'm struck by the balance of flavors. The Latakia is restrained, more than mere condiment but very harmonious with the other components. I would classify this as a Virginia English, as the Virginias are the heart - very high quality (I'd guess from the US), naturally very sweet and some zestiness (bright or red, maybe stoved Virginia), and extremely satisfying. There is an Oriental leaf element, which really pulls the blend together and lifts it above the ordinary. It is warm, with a caramel/toasted marshmallow tone that is substantial, both in the middle and upper bass ranges. This blend doesn't so much rely on the Latakia for its depth and fullness, but rather integrates the Latakia with the Virginias for a more complex bass range. To its credit, this blend would probably smoke deliciously even without Latakia, although I would miss its significant contribution.

Second and third smokes are in Savinelli Capri Root Briar and Comoy Grand Slam. I notice no appreciable differences from the first smoke. A very consistent blend, and a pleasure. I would give this blend an 87 out of 100. Many similarities to Dunhill EMP.

(Note: since this review, I have tried another 12 - 15 English blends. Relatively speaking, this moved down to "I smoke this on occasion." EMP is still "one of my favorites).

This is my kind of balkan/latakia/english or whatever you care to call it. This blend is virginia heavy and latakia light. The orientals used are more citrus sour than noxious tire fire, and are quite prevalent making this a proper Balkan IMO. Rounding out all the hard edges on this is the right amount of cavendish.

Because of these properties I find this to be both a good warm weather and cold weather smoke. This is more than a theory as I had the chance to test it out under both conditions. It comes at a nice moisture content and the ribbon cut made for easy packing. It burned well with no issues and was easy on the tongue.

I am between three and four stars on this one, but decided to hold it to three as I still prefer a few others to this one, in particular, EMP, Squadron Leader, Cotton 1&2, amongst a few others in this lighter balkan category.

I hold a tin of this with so much expectation... When I opened, It was bone dry. But still smokable, and is still possible to see that this was a great misture.

I can believe I have managed to get a tin of this. Robert McConnell along with Rattrays, F&T have become kind of hard to get ahold of. Knock on wood, I'm surprised Ashton isn't getting that way too since they are all produced by K&K.

I absolutely love to tin aroma. It's a smokey and leathery tin note with fermented dark fruit. Very unique and different. There isn't much complexity to the flavor profile. It's smokey, leathery, and sweet. I don't pick up on the orientals. As I've found with most blends that contain black cavendish, it give a aged quality to the flavor. Not much spice and no noticeable nicotine.

This blend reminds me so much of Boswells Northwoods and most of McCellelands English blends but with a shade or two more of depth. I might stock on more of this but it depends on if availability will allow me.

I have smoked this in the past; at least a decade ago. I recall liking it then.

Whether I've changed or the blend has, I suspect the first, I now find that there's a slight sweetness to this blend, and some other English/Scottish blends from K&K, that just doesn't work for me. I presume from the Cavendish? There's an after-taste that lingers in the same manner as an artificial sweetener.

If you get along well with other K&K blends that include Cavendish, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one.

This is a lovely mixture, to look at, smell and smoke. Contrasting colours, a pleasant aroma and then a mellow combination of flavours come your way: fruit, honey and spice without any hard edges to it. If this is "an old man's smoke" then I must be an old man!

Recommended.