Robert McConnell Original Oriental

What else can be said about this tobacco other than everyone should try it! It rare that I get excited about a tobacco but Oriental was something unexpected. It is expertly balanced with no one tobacco playing a dominant role. The Orientals give the tobacco a complexity and wonderful aroma.

Interestingly, the tin note smells more like a medium English tobacco. The latakia is present and forward in the aroma. Lighting it, however, the tobacco is not at all latakia forward. It is much mellower and lighter than the tin note should suggest.

Tin note is musty, sweet and a little smoky. When I first tried this I hated it. Tasted like dirty old socks so I chucked it in the cupboard and forgot about it for near on 3 years. Broke it out recently and I was pleasantly surprised as it's turned into a very smooth, spicy, slightly earthy tasting tobacco. The Virginia's stay pretty well hidden for me until the bottom of the bowl where the sweetness takes over from the spice. I found it better with a pinch of perique added. I know that there's perique in the blend but I needed a tad more. Aftertaste on the palate is quite sweet and very pleasant. I think most pipe smokers from novice to experienced would enjoy this blend. Has a gorgeous, spicy retro hale. Could be good as an all day smoke as the more I smoke it I'm enjoying it more. The orientals have an almost addictive smell rather than taste. Very pleasant indeed.

3rdGuy

This is a really nice Oriental. If you are looking for one, like myself, just for your morning coffee you could stop here and not miss out. It is light overall to start your day yet full in Oriental flavor to keep you interested. It is just a morning smoke for me but I like that. Easy going, nothing surprising and that is just how I like to start my day.

This is an useless tobacco to me. I like natural and honest mixtures, with one or two species at most. I just can’t get a point with 4-5-6 tobaccos blends, they confuse my buds.

I understand that components here are delicate, no flake or cake, no dark leaves, no strong periques or latakias... only the ever-flatting cavendish (which is likecream on pasta: it will just cover all up), and bye bye to the rest. Yes it smells a bit smoky and oriental, but mostly anonymous (reminds me of Clan). Easy to load and smoke, it left me with a “huh, what have I smoked?”

An oriental you can fall in love with on the first bowl. Easily packs and a delicious spicy and smooth taste at the same time blend which probably isn't easy to achieve. definitely not a boring smoke. Aftertaste doesn't last particularly long but is pleasant. A real winner in my book anyways and will definitely be ordering some more.

McConnell Oriental is musty, slightly sour, with hints of sweetness and smokiness. It does not bite, but feels robust and zesty nevertheless. There is not much development here one could call one-dimensional, the other reliable, depending on your preferences. Oriental smokes well and is easy to handle.

What I don’t like with this blend is that it tastes overly bitter and disturbingly sour with coffee and some other drinks. I like my water carbonated, which then feels like throwing my tongue into a deep fryer or so. However, this is by no means a bad blend and I enjoyed it adjusting my habits a little. Just not a regular for the likes of me, who seem to prefer Orientals used as condimental only in small doses. Part of the tin gets air-sealed for aging.

I much prefer C&D Sunset Harbor Flake and HU Dockworker to this one.

My first and last tin that I'll buy since Kohlhase, Kopp und Co. took over the blending, nowhere near the original McConnell and I don't care for it. I was hoping it might be similar albeit a variation.

These large European blending houses use a generic base and tweak before they tin, which may work occasionally but for the likes of Rattray, Astley, JJ Fox and the like it certainly does not work for me.

This blend is topped with something soapy it kind of has that Lakeland essence which I don't really care for, although it's very light and mild; thankfully.

I cannot recommend it on it's own merits nor as an interpretation/adaptation of the original.

I have to agree with some of the other reviewers here, this blend seems to be on the bland side. They must pack this extremely wet, because upon opening the tin, I noticed not only the paper lining but also the thin cardboard cover were a distinct brown color and the lining is still on the damp side several days after opening the tin. Very surprisingly, this is an easy blend to light up right out of the tin. It smokes down to a nice ash at the bottom of the pipe and produces a nice amount of smoke. But it leaves you wanting in the taste and nicotine departments. I would recommend this if you want to give this type of blend a shot, you may just like it. Otherwise, you may be well served to pass on this one.

It's a fine, mild and atypical "scottish blend like" mixture, maybe a little straight for the first part of the tin. No traces of latakia, (also in the catalogue you can read "Oriental Macedonia, Bright Carolina, Red Old Belt Virginia & Black Cavendish"), but, if you like, you can make a very classical EM by adding a 10-25% of Syrian Latakia (McConnell I suggest) to the mixture. Unfortunately the name of the mixture make sense only after about half a tin, before that, the virginias and the black cavendish tends to cover the oriental taste, also, this is more distinct in the final part of the smoking. Personally I really appreciated the last pipe of the tin (so to much late). First you can percieve the virginias tonality followed by the black coffee aftertaste of the black cavendish (always to strong), after you start to discover the honey, grassy, cinnamon, spicy and natural undertones of the Macedonia, but (I repeat) only when It's too late to full enjoy the tobacco in its name. It's a pity, this could be a real good mixture, so I can't give more than 2 or 2 and a half stars.

Type: Scottish/English mixture ; Contents: Bright Carolina, Red Old Belt Virginia, Black Cavendish, Oriental Macedonia (I put this at last for the reasons that I wrote before) ; Cut: Ribbon / Shag (maybe a thin Ribbon type) ; Humidity: Regular, a little wet ; Lighting: No problems, easy ad constant ; Pipe recommended: Thin bowl, tall I suggest, like a Poker or a Dublin, but works fine also with medium and large size.