Tobaccos McClelland - Oriental Mixture No. 1

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30116)	2009-10-12		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

The McClelland Oriental (green) series is now complete, and has definitely taught me that I prefer stronger latakia blends, if the blend is going to contain that leaf. The mild ones just don't work for me.

I found this one overly bland. The virginias were of high quality but the inclusion of orientals and latakia dulled the VA sweetness. The taste was somewhat ashy, as opposed to the "clean" taste of #6 and #8. The condiment leaf was more of a teaser, but it didn't make me want to continue. They became just a touch more apparent down the bowl but again, they actually subtracted from the blend.

Perhaps a good starter tobacco for the VA smoker that wants to dip his toes into oriental and latakia. I found this preferable to Dunhill EMP but not as fulfilling as Rattrays 7 Reserve (neither of which I'll probably ever smoke again - same with this one!). I'm sticking with fuller latakia mixtures when I go that route but if you're dabbling with latakia or you simply prefer a slight spice with your virginias, definitely give this one a try.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2010-08-13		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Very Pleasant

One of McClelland's oldest blends, Oriental #1 is soft on the palate with a whisper of Latakia and overtones of mild Orientals with a little Virginia leaf tossed in to provide backbone.

My tin was 14-years old and the presentation at the match was lightly spicy. The smoke settled down as the Orientals faded and the Virginia leaf and Latakia were more pronounced from mid-bowl on down.

I admit it took me awhile to get through the 100g tin as I prefer a little more muscle in my smokes.

8 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PipeCat (13)	2010-09-06		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

This is an interesting tobacco to my taste buds, and has helped me appreciate the gentle yet flavorful nature of Oriental tobacco better.

My tin from 1996 resembled the typical McClelland scent for the most part. It was covered in crystals. Very nice to look at. The smell was slightly different from those average McC blends.

I taste the VA and Oriental tobacs clearly, but for the life of me, I cannot taste the Latakia. The tin of tobac I have states that McClelland tobacs are make with VAs, Orientals and Latakia, but doesn't specifically state what is in No. 1.

In any case, I like this tobacco. It's a nice pipe for the early morning that sings of more floral notes and less smokiness one would get from an English or Balkan mixture.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Gentleman Zombie (729)	2015-05-19		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

The Latakia is light lending a whisper of smoke that is always present. The Orientals and Virginias contrast nicely with a sweet & sour interplay. The Virginias have a nice fruity note that, at times, reminds me of Kool-Aid. Not sure if that note is natural or not, but I'll say no flavoring detected. A nice blend.

Mild in body. Mild to medium in flavor. Burn is decent. Needs a few relights.

Pipe Used: MM Country Gentleman, Diplomat Apple, Mark Twain

Age When Smoked: fresh

Purchased From: smokingpipes.com

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	LannarkGent (145)	2016-12-18		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant

I recently smoked my way through a 13 year old vacuum sealed t3.5 oz. Tin. The tobacco had signs of fermentation and was absolutely sublime. It had an endless procession of vivacious virginias, teamed with tasty orientals mingled in the most delightful fashion with some lustful latakias and pixie peri questions being delightfully coy. The mixture of the demure and the rich and robust was delightful A very fine blend I have tins aging.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fred T (67)	2015-06-13		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

This is the first of McClelland's Oriental series that I have tried. It's really an excellent, mild smoke. Very tasty with a balance of Virginias, Orientals and Latakia. I'm debating whether to include it in my regular rotation. Almost, but I don't think so. Certainly worth trying. I give it a 3.

Pipe Used: Dunhill

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30116)	2009-05-23		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

Just for reference, I'm smoking a tin from 2007. While it hasn't aged much, it may have made a bit of difference.

I'm still relatively new to pipe smoking, and this was one of my first good experience with orientals. One of my go-to tobaccos up to this point has been McClellend's Red Cake bulk #5100, and I do get hints of that in this tobacco. The description given for this tobacco is pretty spot on. I love the flavor of the McClelland virginias because of their sweet, mild taste. The orientals just make it a bit more interesting that 5100 in my opinion.

Similarly to McClelland's Frog Morton Across the Pond, this tobacco is pretty smooth in flavor. I like this style english much better than some of the heavier latakia blends because of its milder flavor . In fact, the orientals give off a smell/taste of incense (although very mild.)

Lastly, when I first smoked this tobacco I was sampling a tin from 03 and I definitesly think the orientals came out more in that smoke (although it could have just been that particular tin). I would highly recommend this tobacco to any Virginia smoker, or even perhaps someone who smokes mostly latakia based english blends who is looking for a change of pace. 4 stars!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Noorrmm (192)	2002-01-28		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Appearance: Ribbon cut, average length. Predominantly orange reddish, with small amounts of ligher and darker leaf.

Aroma: Smells like a Virginia of medium strenght and maturity. I cannot find Oriental or Latakia with my nose. Some vinegar smell.

Packing: Nice ribbon cut packs easily.

Lighting: Lights easily, sometimes on one match.

Initial flavor: There isn?t any flavor to speak of. I know it?s supposed to be ?lightly seasoned? with Orientals, but I can?t find them. Neither can I find any significant flavor of matured Virginias.

Mid-bowl: Just bland, and can bite if you?re not careful.

Finish: I was just glad to get to the finish, so that I could smoke something more rewarding. If clean ash were reason enough to smoke a blend, then this one would qualify. I can?t find any other reason to smoke it

Summary: Might be a good intro to natural tobaccos for the aromatic smoker.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2020-05-07		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I found a jar of mixture one while organizing my cellar and decided to give it another try.

Moisture was great. Easy to load. Easy to light.

I find myself really enjoying this now. The Latakia is light and the orientals add spice to the underlying sweetness of the base of Virginia. It tends to want to burn a little hot if pushed.

This is really good and I am glad I found the jar to finish but not good enough to pay today's prices for more.

Pipe Used: Various bents

Age When Smoked: 3 years

Purchased From: JR cigars

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kilmarnock Piper (233)	2009-10-04		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Contents: Latakia? Well, there was a little in there. Fine with me, I like just a touch, usually. Someone gave it to me as a sample-actually when I bought my all time favorite example of tin art, C&D Constipated Cockroach, on Ebay. It was mellow and enjoyable, seemed well aged and quite dry in the ziplock bag, and not too much of the orientals for my taste.

Edit 7-11-2012: I cracked a tin of 2006 not too long ago, and have been enjoying it. It is a bit too mellow and one-dimensional to be a go-to smoke, but I smoked almost half the tin pretty fast, so I think it could be one of those tobaccos that I could sometimes really be in the mood for. Lucky for me, I also have a sealed 100g tin from 2000 in reserve. I was right in my original assessment of the Latakia content: it is light, and reminds me somewhat of Rattray's Professional Mixture in that regard, though only in the application of the Latakia. The Rattray's Professional is an entirely different animal!

One last observation for now about the Oriental #1. Most McClellands I have had, especially the typical matured Virginia broken flakes, tend to get very dry and crunchy when I leave a bowl's worth in my drying bowl for a couple hours. This, for some reason, stays at about tin moisture even if I leave it overnight, which is ok, since I have no lighting/burning issues with it.

BTW, I have come to appreciate Latakia more by now, though I don't like typical Medium Englishes so much; now I like either the light touch found here, or a real mainline, such as is found in C&D Pirate Kake! I really like Syrian Latakia, but it is hard to find. I fairly recently reviewed Hermit Antique pressed Syrian Cake, and love the stuff: winey!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30116)	2013-02-01		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant

A very mild - almost too mild - oriental blend. It's not complicated, but it's delicious. The latakia is barely present, but that's not a bad thing at all.

Burn quality is fine, and I rarely need to relight this. It has the McC ketchup smell in the tin; as always, it never transfers to the smoke (it is exclusively a tin smell) and I've actually come to like it now that I'm accustomed to it. The only trouble I have is that, while I love the flavor of the tobacco, it is so soft that I'm inclined to puff too hard and get a touch of bite.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	whitebriar (31)	2011-08-08		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

pouch aroma pretty typical for McClelland--my tin was dated '06 and was perfect right out of the tin--

one char light, probably not needed but did it anyway--next light went almost all the way to the bottom with no problems--

nice light flavor--light on the latakia, but the orientals shone through, as well as the virginias--

i encountered no bite, but i believe it will do so if pushed--smoke this one slowly--

i like #1 as well as oriental #14--both will be stocked in what passes for my cellar

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kerdy (43)	2010-05-29		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Tin Note: Smelled nice.

Packing: Packed very well.

First Impression: Not bad at all really. Not a heavy taste which is good because it was warm out.

Halfway Through Bowl: Started to become difficult to keep going. Smoke ran out too. Must be too much Va for me. Tongue started to get a little sizzlin.

End of Bowl: Dont smoke this one all the way down. Leave a little in the bottom or you get a nasty flavor.

Room Note: Smelled awesome

Likes: Good for a rotation to get away from English on occassion.

Dislikes: Va (or something) was a little warm on the mouth. Kept moving the pipe around to keep the bite to a minimum. I imagine if I smoked this in a larger pipe I wouldnt be able to speak for a day or two.

This is a good tobacco, but not sure its something I would stock up on. I wouldnt mind keeping a little around for every once in awhile, but I am sure there is something out there I would like better.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30116)	2009-09-30		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This is a lovely, mild english/oriental tobacco that will probably be liked by those who are waiting for Dunhill's E.M.P. to return(apparently around Jan 2010). I tried it recently and have re-ordered. It builds in strength as you reach mid-pipe, but the increase in richness isn't overpowering. Other tobaccos in this vein include Rattray's Mixture #7 and Professional mixture, and Red Raparee. Certainly worth trying.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30116)	2005-03-10		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

The tin description given above is exactly correct. I offer this review as one who smokes not very many English blends, and those infrequently. I prefer Latakia to be very gently applied; "Squadron Leader" is as strong as I like it, with "Standard Mixture Mild" being preferred, amongst the tinned blends. Lately, I have been experiencing a bit of throat irritation when I smoke "Early Morning Pipe", and have been looking for something to replace it.

This would seem to fit the bill. When used as the label suggests, I find No.1 to be superb. Gentle Virginia, no bite, the merest hint of Latakia, some times there, sometimes not. I enjoyed every bowl. I admit that I wonder what it would be like with just a touch of Turkish tobacco though.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	BostonPipe (84)	2004-03-28		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

Upon opening, I experienced the "usual" McClelland smell of vinegar, (sometimes ketchup for that matter). Stringy, English cut.

This blend packs and burns easily, leaves little or no moisture in the heel, burns to a grey/white ash.

Nothing of note to cite as far as the taste is concerned, sort-of, ehh?, is it over yet.

Might be a good intro to Orientals if nothing more.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Briar Bro Bryan (1)	2020-11-10		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild	Very Pleasant

I think this blend was a bit misunderstood ... smoking a pipe is so much about mindset. On this warm November evening in TN, this can of 1995 I just opened hit the spot.

Light? Yes. Subtle? Definitely. Able to pick out the VAs, orientals and pinch of camp fire Latakia? Without a doubt.

Go slow. Relax. Don’t push it for more than it offers.

It’s a lot like the space invaders video game — simple and enjoyable as long as you are NOT looking for Madden 2020.

Pipe Used: DunHill Bruyere 61

Age When Smoked: 1995

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	final_id (37)	2009-02-15		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Tolerable

Extremely straightforward oriental English blend. Loved it. A+.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	RCUSElder (244)	2004-09-22		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

09-22-04 Appearance and Tin Aroma: Medium Ribbon, Light brown, mohogany, and red leaf abound. Smells like a typical MC Virginia with light spice.

Packing and Lighting: My tin was a couple of years old, but still was a little moist upon opening, but lit up well with minimal relights.

Initial flavor: Red VA mostly, that is to say Bright!

Mid-Bowl: Orientals do peak their heads a little bit, but VA still dominates.

Bottom of Bowl: A little build up of strength, but nothing really rich, quite a bit of moisture is left at bottom of bowl.

Overall: This blend didn't do much for me, it actually bored me. It has too much of the high flavor notes with a little bit of spice from the orientals. This blend can and will bite if you are not careful! This is the last tin of this blend that was in my "cellar" and I wont be purchasing anymore.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 points.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30116)	2004-08-01		Mild	None Detected	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

I received a generous sample of some 9-year-old Mixture #1. While this is indeed a decent blend, it just didn?t ?do it? for me, as I found it to be far too mild.

It was well-balanced, and the leaf was obviously of good quality. The Va made occasional appearances and treated me to a sweet treat.

If you like your Oriental blends in the Light to Mild range, Mixture #1 may be just what you are looking for. It is very good tobacco in its own right, there is no doubt about that. If light is your bag, fill the bag with #1.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Aurorasofautumn (38)	2022-01-17		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild	Very Pleasant

What I wrote about Oriental Mixture No. 14 also holds true for No. 1 - this definitely wasn't one of McClelland's most extraordinary and mind-boggling offerings but a very reliable and consistently good smoke nevertheless. So much for the objective part - because even though I wouldn't rank No. 1 above No. 14, I still find myself smoking No. 1 so much more. It is one of my very favorite smokes for the first bowl in the morning with a cup of tea. One needs to approach this tobacco from the right angle, though. I for my part can't stand too much nicotine and have never gravitated towards blends that focus a lot on Burley. In a similar vein, I like my Latakia used as a condiment rather than as a main ingredient. I therefore see, why this isn't your cup of tea if you are accustomed to tobaccos that are diametrically opposed to this specific genre. I don't know why but recent batches of my favorite "light" Englishes show very harsh Latakia and I simply can't bear it, so I am smoking more McC Oriental Mixture No. 1 because this is a blend where all the ingredients are integrated in perfection. Smooth, sweet, ever so slightly tangy. It is the "Kabinett" Mosel Riesling of the pipe tobacco world. Extremely enticing, refreshing, offering complexity but never too much and possessing a fairly light body with tremendous transparency. Admitted you don't get the full flavor spectrum of Arcadia or the very dissimilar Bombay Court, but why would you have to if you can go for this simple pleasure.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30116)	2010-07-25		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This seems to have some kind of a casing.

This mixture was wet, thus sticky and unsmokeable. Even after let out to dry, it was still hard to smoke.

Maybe a bad tin?

Nobody has rated this review yet.