Robert McConnell Original Oriental

This is a quality light Balkan. The Orientals are rich and the Virginias are nice and sweet. The Latakia is not too light and not too heavy. It's just right. I've been unable to detect the Black Cav. This is my second McConnell blend and both have been impressive. Mild to medium in body. Medium in flavor. 3+

The tin description mentions Orientals, Virginia, Syrian Latakia and Perique as well as dark Cavandish. I bought this tin only resently. And I suspect that Kohlase sadly again changed yet another recipe of a Robert McConnell blend.

While smoking, the Orientals are indeed a major player in the orchestra. A sweet start gives then room for a Ping Pong game between olivy-oily and oleoresinous aromas, sometimes with a hint of saltyness. A subtle and nice background of the Virginias are permanetly part of the music. The Latakia (which is definetely NOT Syrian) is only barely noticible. I could not detect any Perique. The dark Cavendish is a normal (English) Black Cavendish (I would say, it is Rattray's Black Virgina) which adds some fruity sweetness.

Overall this blend is round, good and enjoyable, surely something that one can recommment. But in comparison to e.g. the Dunhill Durbar, this one is merely a mid range tobacco, which is of course reflected in the much lower price.

Considering the price and the lack of Durbar, I think this one still will be a sporadic recurring guest in my cellar.

I've been looking forward to taste this mixture after reading good comments about it and..well.. Tin note is very nice and promising,tobacco is good to be smoked out of the tin but I give it a 10 min dry before filling the bowl. Lighting is easy and it doesn't need many relights,tobacco burns in to a fine ash. Smoke is cool and it doesn't bite you.Taste is semi-full yet satisfying enough. The mix is quite good but I would appreciate a bit more latakia,but I take it for what it is,a mild oriental. Recommended as a everyday smoke or when you don't feel a need for full english.

McConnell’s Oriental is a highly complex, Oriental-forward blend that offers a unique experience every time you smoke. This is the real deal when it comes to Oriental blends. With 5 different tobaccos, all the components are very well-balanced, with the Orientals being the most notable and prominent. The spicy Perique, followed by the Latakia play a well-crafted supporting role. It can easily be an all-day smoke, the room note kind of smells up your room, and has a medium to low nicotine content.

Ashton’s Artisanal Blend can only dream of being this good and is more of a 2nd rate blend when compared to McConnell’s Oriental. Now don’t get me wrong: Ashton has some excellent, premium tobaccos blended into Artisanal Blend. However, McConnell’s blending is far superior: artfully utilizing all the components, allowing the smoker to slowly discover the distinct taste of all five different tobaccos in the blend. Aston attempted something similar, but resulted in a bland, tasteless, uninspired murky mess of blend. Smoke these two blends side by side and tell me I am wrong. The difference is night and day.

If you are a fan of Oriental blends, this is easily a 4-star tobacco. However, I am not really an Oriental-forward kind of guy and I am just trying to ‘broaden my horizons’ instead of smoking English and VaPers all day. It is still a nice blend, I just personally needed more of a Latakia presence; felt a bit lacking in the Latakia department and wasn't as fulfilling as other blends.

Tin note Latakia muskiness greats you first with some lite sweetness and sour. a bit moist when first opened but settles out after a bit of drying time or jarred time. The first thing I notice on initial light is the Latakia's muskiness this is enhanced with the Orientals and the Turkish. It has a very lite touch of sweetness. Smokes better in a Mer. No detectable toppings. No bite even when puffed hard, but if puffed hard it can be a bit harsh. The flavors are much better with a lite cadence. Nic hit is medium . Burns clean. Smoking outside is recommended as the room note is quite musky. Not an all day smoke but a welcome change of pace.

December 22nd, 2020

The cut of this tobacco is a slightly rough ribbon cut. There were some standard ribbons mixed in with a bulk of shorter ribbons. The tobacco is slightly damp, but nothing that couldn’t be smoked out of the tin. I dried mine for about half an hour and it was perfect. In the blend you'll find a lot of black latakia and chestnut Orientals with a few brighter leaves throughout. It’s interesting seeing so much black though since the latakia takes a back seat overall in the blend.

The tin note is a sweet, smoky barbeque. It reminds me of bbq sauce dippers you’d get from a fast food restaurant. Makes me want chicken nuggets! The tobacco took to a light very well. One charring light, and it kept a light very well. The smoke was cool to warm, and I didn’t feel any tongue bite throughout, even during relights. I didn’t try to rip on it to see if I could get it to bite, but I’d imagine it’d take quite a bit to try to get it to nip at you.

The initial light gave me equal parts soapy, leathery latakia and toffee flavors from the Orientals. It reminds me a lot of a Balkan blend, which left me with question marks considering it’s supposed to be an oriental blend. In the first third, the latakia quickly takes a back seat, and my question marks are taken away. The latakia is a nice smoky support to the sweet toffee flavors I get from Orientals. The taste danced between the toffee flavors, and toasted bread. Sometimes the toffee would lead, sometimes the bread would lead. In the second third of the bowl, things started to settle in. There was a lingering sweet, toasty flavor that stayed consistent. Nothing super complex, just a very pleasant ride. The last third of the bowl saw the sweet toasty flavors staying consistent, but I noticed a slightly floral flavor sneak in from time to time when I would take a puff. I found the bottom of the bowl about 60 minutes in. The flavors kept the consistent sweet toast, but instead of floral, I was finding very subtle semisweet chocolate in some of the puffs. The last part of the bowl definitely left me pleasantly surprised with those flavors sneaking in after such a consistent middle of the bowl. As I’m writing this review, the smoke has left a smoky aftertaste that is accompanied by a sweet floral flavor akin to Violet candy.

I gave this a mild strength. I might go mild to slightly medium, but I didn’t really feel much of any nic hit, and it was on an empty stomach

The flavor profile is a nice medium. Nothing super overpowering, but it had some nuances in it that left me smiling at the surprises I’d find along the way. There wasn’t any topping that I detected, just a consistently smoky sweet that gave way to toffees and bread for the most part. The nuances are small enough that I’d be interested to see if someone caught the same things as I did.

I smoke outside, so the room note is difficult to really comment on, but when I put my mask on after smoking, it smelled like lightly toasted bread in contrast to the darker toast I was getting in the flavor notes.

At the time of this review, this tobacco is just over a month old, and has been stored in a canning jar.

This is a prevalently stocked blend, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding it online, and if your local BnM carries McConnell blends, you’re likely to find this one amongst them.

I gave it a 3.5 of 4. I’ll definitely be putting a tin in the cellar and seeing how it develops after a few years

This review is from a small 2 year old sample, and acts as a reminder for the next time I'm tempted to open my tin of it.

Te ribbon cut is extremely easy to use but being used to flakes, I thought it burnt a little too fast. The color of the blend is very nice, full of contrast, from light yellow to jet black.

The latakia is present but mostly in the background, supporting the orientals. It tends to make itself more discrete as the bowl burns down. The orientals really are the star. This blend is a great showcase for them. The virginias are nice but by no means is this their show. I find their sweetness to be confusing. There is a definite sweetness, quite pleasant, but it seems just too sweet for coming only from them. It says here there's added black cavendish. If so, this is definitely the culprit. Otherwise, this could be a sweet casing.

I really liked this kind of light "English". The Lat and Or working well together but giving precedent to the Or. The added sweetness ties it all together really nicely. I'll be glad to com to my tin.

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.