Tobaccos Robert McConnell - Scottish Blend

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	FP Stew (25)	2014-03-06		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

McConnell got this blend Scottish Blend right! Tin note is a mix of smoky hay, earth floral and slight sweet raisin/fig.

Charring Light is slightly sweet with faint raisin and well balanced blend of Virginia and Latakia. While the tin description calls this a “Robust Classic”, I would agree with Classic but my tin had nearly two years on it and I found this blend to be medium in strength with a smoothness and good interplay between the Virginia, Latakia, and Turkish well through mid-bowl. The Perique is also light but adds a nice peppery taste as you reach the bottom third and continues through the end of the bowl leaving a light gray ash..

Moisture content is perfect from the tin and only required a relight after the Charring Light. I found this blend to have no bite and I smoked it slow and allowed it to briefly rest occasionally, allowing the harmonious flavors to ebb and flow throughout the bowl.

While I prefer English, V-Flake, MV and VaPer, this is the Best Scottish Blend I have tried to date and I will purchase more to cellar. I would give it a 3.5 of 4.

Pipe Used: Stanwell HCA Callabash (w/ short stem)

Age When Smoked: 1 yr 8 months

Purchased From: EBay

Similar Blends: Mac Baren Mixture only Much Better!.

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Strichetto (21)	2015-04-06		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Bought in Switzerland at average price for quality tobaccoes, at opening is pleasant, correctly moisted, with a quite delicate smell. Quite little latakious, as we usually expect from a scottish.

Aroma: light and quite complex, pleasant

Taste: good, smooth, elegant, complex and hard to find a definition, but lacks in something, maybe a typical recognizable trait... is much more STRONG than you can imagine, after 3 or 4 bowls in an afternoon you can go knocked for the kick...

Room note: not invasive or too persistent

Burning: good, correctly slow, if you puff only a bit too much it can easily overheat the pipe

Best Briars: EM & co. dedicated, gives its best in small pipes

Well, it's a good and elegant but shifty, difficult to understand, mixture: escapes to a clear definition and is a bit inadvertently too strong, by me.

Pipe Used: many...

Age When Smoked: 6 months

Purchased From: Dubini, Switzerland

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Greekpipesmoker (201)	2017-01-23		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is a medium aroma and nic blend.when you open it the spicyness fights the woodyness in a confusing way.packs easy needs a little effort to light.burns from cool to medium hot with a bit moist.the flavours are more spicy and earthy with a decent dose of woodyness in a sweet base.for sure not a strong scottish like the dunhill blends.you can start your afternoon with it in a decent but not exciting way.if you want to try a scottish blend without strong flavours and taste but also not flat experience that's your blend

Age When Smoked: When opened!

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2002-04-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Virginia, Latakia and perique combine to make a soft yet firm presentation. And the leaf that McConnell's was famous for (the Virginias), are rich, dark and tasty. A special blend that has never quite been duplicated by K&K, although they certainly are giving it a good effort.

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	runswithdogs (41)	2018-03-13		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Well.....you will just have to salivate over the fact I broke open a tin nearing 30 years of age on it, courtesy of a pipe dealer in Sweden, who has been cellaring this for a very long time. The Virginias take the forefront due to their aging, and this blend presents itself as a delightful, mild, smoke. The room note is wonderful, the nic hit is mild, and the Orientals blend perfectly. Simply awesome. I shall mourn when I finish this tin, which should serve as an ode to cellaring fine pipe tobacco.

Pipe Used: Dunhill Shell billiard

Age When Smoked: 30 years

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DenizBeck (323)	2017-12-23		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The new 100g tin is now pale-green, reminiscent of moss. Great tin-art, like virtually all McConnell blends. Two shepherds with their dog. Funny enough the description on the label doesn't mention the Kentucky, whilst the sticker on the bottom of the tin does. It also says "full proportion of Leaf Latakia" which I contradict.

Cracking the tin you'll be greeted by lots of black ribbons, interlaced with red and brown ribbons and very few bright ones. Still the Latakia is rather smooth and not obtrusive. Wonderful tin-note of Latakia smokiness, sour and woody Orientals and some nuttiness. There's also a somewhat alcohol-ish and fruity note to it. The tin-note truly reminds me of scottish Highlands, a field of green and a shepherd smoking his pipe in the rough landscape. Great!

In the smoke Scottish Blend is delicious, delicious, delicious! The componenes create a smoking experience with depth, and the Latakia does what it's suppoed to do: season a tobacco blend, not dominate! Buttery, creamy, smoky, earthy and woodsy and with some sour and peppery tones to it. Pleasantly mild sweetness, with a fermented character.

I plead for there being some Perique present, that sports the sour-peppery notes I know and love about the Perique. In fact the K&K website description says there's some Perique in it: "B. Cavendish with bright Virginias and various spicy tobaccos like Latakia, Orient and Perique" it says. The typical Kohlhase & Kopp dilemma... 4-5 various blend descriptions floating around, each one contrary to the others... I'd go on a limb to sa there's B.Cav/Virginias/Perique,/Kentucky/Oriental in this blend, I definetly get a Kentucky nuttiness, and the Periues piquancy. Don't even mind to contact K&K for clearification, they won't tell you whats in the blend, that's my experience with it.

There's also a very, very mild flavoring and Dextrose added, which I guess contributes the fruitiness and sweetness as well. How do I know? Easy...you can find all of McConells (as well as other brands additives) on this website: https://service.bmel.de/tabakerzeugnisse/index2.php?detail_id=104486&site_key=153&stichw_suche=scottish+blend&zeilenzahl_zaehler=2

Scottish Blend is - aptly named - a blend with a good amount of not too sweet, unflavoured Cavendish and a moderate amount of Latakia whilst having a tolerable, almost pleasant roomnote and a broad variety of ingridients. Great aroma! Sour, sweet, smoky, hearthy, leathery, nutty...it has it all!

Pipe Used: Clays, Cobs, Briars

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	StevieB (2076)	2017-09-29		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Robert McConnell - Scottish Blend.

One of my first reviews that I didn't think much to so have decided to re-post.

A mid-size ribbon, with an equal quantity of brown, yellow, and black pieces. I usually find the moisture good.

Scottish' has lots of flavour. The Kentucky adds a definite character, but doesn't rule the smoke. This is prevented by its counterparts. The Turkish and Latakia form a buttery, woody, support, with the Cavendish and Virginia sweetening the smoke. The smoke has a fairly thick texture, and is of medium a temperature. I've never had a bite from it.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: pleasant.

I can see why this has been around for over a century. Highly recommended:

Four stars.

Pipe Used: Various

Age When Smoked: Various

Purchased From: Various

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	L'Italiano (231)	2017-09-03		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Scottish Blend, this is the only real Scottish mixture from Robert McConnell. The other two, Scottish Cake and Scottish Flake, are not Scottish at all. Both don’t have Latakia and both don’t have unflavored Black Cavendish. Scottish Cake is a Virginia/Kentucky mixture and Scottish Flake is a Virginia/Perique mixture. That said, Scottish Blend is a good and tasty mixture, even if a typical Scottish mixture contains a little bit of Latakia and in Scottish Blend there is a lot of it. Black Cavendish is correctly unflavored and Virginia is of good quality. Kentucky and Turkish feel less but they blend (mix) the mixture very well. In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 8 and three stars.

UPDATE: 2017 – 11 – 05: At the moment I think this is the best Scottish blend you can find in the market. For this reason I add a star. 4 complete stars.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Brandr ODS (15)	2015-11-27		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The Kentucky gives a little boost in terms both of body and spiciness to the smoke, that goes very well with the Latakia and the other Orientals.

Although this blend is really pleasant as it is, I would, for my taste, have added a little bit more of Kentucky and subtracted some Cavendish or Virginias, in order to reduce its sweetness and increase the overall strength.

There are fuller blends on the market considering the content of Latakia, sure. I myself am going to look for something stronger and deeper in such terms. Therefore, I’d consider this blend being of medium strength.

Quite enjoyable through the all afternoon indeed, but lacking that share of strength you may look for in a late evening smoke.

The plus of this blend is that it is never flat or boring : there are a few main flavours that constantly interplay with a higher number of nuances that will keep your palate quite awake and interested in the evolution through the bowl.

A tin was well enough for me, but honestly I’m not considering any further purchasing.

Cheers Everyone, Brandr ODS

Age When Smoked: Fresh and 2yo

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pre Republic Peterson (13)	2014-08-29		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Curious… I bought this from a shop in Edinburgh in rode rot try Scottish from Scotland (whatever that means :)

Spicy smoke. And under notes of rose and strawberry jam.

Hard to keep lit.

Not as moist as people suggest on opening tin.

Its ok… Ive had better. I will finish it up and try other blends.

UPDATE: 2nd go…. much nicer. Dried fruits and spirits flavors. Smoother and still moist in can 2 weeks after opening as the can has super tight seal.

UPDATED AGAIN!! :P Smokey, yummy, delicious. Acacia honey, BBQ, brandy, dried fruits. Its goooood! Will buy more

Growing on me.. Enjoyable.

Pipe Used: Ferdnown Lovat

Age When Smoked: 6 months old

Purchased From: Edinburgh UK

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Eulenburg (193)	2001-09-04		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

While the older format allowed the reviewer several degrees of recommendation, the newer format only allows one to say that I smoke this regularly, or occasionally, etc. But since I just tried it for the first time, old-familiarity terms do not really apply. I liked it. I recommend it. I cannot predict whether I will smoke it regularly, or occasionally, or seldom.

I am not sure what makes this "Scottish". When I think Scottish, I think Scottish cake, i.e., broken, instead of fully-rubbed, flake. I get the impression that modern Continental blenders use the term for a mild English blend, often with Cavendish-processed leaf.

That is precisely what this is. The smell in the tin is absolutely scrumptious, rich, mildly yeasty, a Latakia-blend smell. Truly mouth-watering.

Taste-wise, think a lighter My Mixture 965. The Latakia is applied with the most expert light hand; the orientals give a silkiness that caresses the tongue, and the virginia/cavendish base makes the whole thing as round and savoury as nutmeggy, cinnamonny bread pudding. Very good.

I smoked it in a Stanwell poker and then a Larsen prince. It burned cool, dry and tasty every time.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Bruche (17)	2019-01-20		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I recently decided to get back into English Blends after a 10 year hiatus, having switched to smoking only pure VA's, VA /Burley and VaPer's.

At this stage I'm looking for lighter to medium English blends; not the Latakia forward tobaccos I formerly smoked such as Charles Fairmorn Lancer's Slices, Esoterica Margate & Penzance, etc. So I ordered various tins based on some reviews here.

My goals above have been met, and my take on this tobacco is pretty much in synch with DenizBeck below. However I do not detect any Dextrose or flavoring.

This is a very, very nice English blend, with nice balance, restrained Latakia, and the VA, Orientals and Cavendish are well balanced and all contribute with no one leaf dominating the experience. It is complex, smooth, very easy to smoke and stays lit really well.

Honestly, other than not being a strong mixture, the back tin label description summarizes it well. The contents on my tin's back label states "a rather strong mixture in the English style, made of full Bodied Black Cavendish, naturally sweet Virginia, smoky Latakia, exotic flowery Orient Turkish and a pinch of spicy Perique, which is very balanced and rich in aroma".

Highly recommended from my perspective.

Pipe Used: Karl Erik freehand

Age When Smoked: Recent

Purchased From: Mars Tobacco

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3025)	2022-11-02		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This review pertains to the 2022 version, and not the previous incarnations, which were different. The bright Virginias produce plenty of tart and tangy citrus, grass, bread, sugar, floralness, some vegetation, sour lemon, light spice, honey, and a touch of acidity as a team player. The spicy, woody, earthy, floral, herbal, vegetative, mildly creamy sweet and sour Orientals lead more often than not. The Cyprian Latakia offers some smoke, earth, wood, floralness, musty sweetness, and a little spice. It’s in the third slot most of the time. The spicy perique produces moderately sweet plums, figs, earth and wood. Overall, it’s a notch or so below the Latakia, but here and there equals it in effect. The sugary, toasty, mildly spicy fire cured black cavendish plays back up below its percentage in the mix. The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the medium threshold. The taste is a rung past that mark. Mildly moist, it burns cool and clean at a reasonable rate with a deeply rich, very inconsistent sweet and spicy, floral, smoky, savory flavor that extends to the pleasantly lingering after taste. The room note is a little more potent. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a couple more than an average number of relights. Can be an all day smoke for the veteran piper, and repeatable for the rest. Three stars for the taste rounded down to two due to the constant changeability of flavors.

-JimInks

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Warwick (37)	2016-11-05		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Musty. That is the recurring theme I get, from first light to the end of the bowl. Earthy, modestly dark, a bit smoky and intermingled with occasional notes of spice and pepper. Musty.

But in the right setting, like New England autumn and winter, this is a most agreeable blend. It does not demand much attention, is not very strong, but is a fine accompaniment for contemplation on crisp, grey days alongside a cup of coffee. It provides enough slight variations and body to satisfy and stay interesting in the background of one's thoughts. It required little to no drying, burns at an easy pace and leaves a fine ash.

That said, I can see where Latakia fans will be potentially underwhelmed, as will those looking for bolder spice or intensity of flavor. Indeed, the mustiness I enjoy may come across to some as flatness.

For me, this blend works much, much better in a tall pipe than a low, wide one. The former seems to lend more concentration of flavor, whereas the latter dissipates most of the nuances.

UPDATE: I keep being drawn to this, and enjoying it, so I am upgrading from Recommended to Highly Recommended. Also, I notice that one of nice things about this blend is that unlike many Latakia blends, this one leaves a toasty nutty spice flavor on my tongue, rather than a heavy Latakia coating.

Pipe Used: Ben Wade tall billiard, Stanwell Rook

Age When Smoked: 1 month

Purchased From: Mars Cigars

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2016-06-23		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Typical tan-to-black ribbons with some choppier cut. Smell of hay and latakia in the tin nose, with some pleasant if not terribly rich oriental presence. I have no idea how old this tin was but the tobacco was not only still moist but the paper cover had discolored greatly from moisture. I found this one was better with just a bit of extra drying. Too moist and it tasted steamy and bland, too dry and it produced richer flavor but it burned too hot.

This is not my idea of a traditional Scottish mixture, as it contained Kentucky. Burley or its kin is just not part of what I view Scottish as, which is simply Virginia, orientals, a smidge of latakia and perhaps some unflavored Cavendish. Consequently, I found this one too robust and not sweet enough, as the Cavendish did not make up for the lack of character in the Virginias. Without viewing this as an actual Scottish blend, it still suffered from a lack of real development and a resistance of the various tobaccos to meld. The latakia was light, which was good, but the Virginias didn't play the lead role. The orientals were more dominant in the tin and room aromas but didn't shine in the taste. The Kentucky was probably the lead flavor but it too was subdued by the "too balanced" leanings of this blend. And I could swear that at times I tasted perique, and wondered what perique was doing in a Scottish blend. Some of the old Rattray Virginia recipes added perique once they got to K&K to better replicate the Virginias of old, so perhaps they did so here. Snorking did not elevate its presence so I may be incorrect. As Robert McConnell is one of my favorite blenders, this blend makes me wonder what K&K did to it that made it so forgettable. There are much better examples of Scottish mixtures out there (look no further than K&K's own Rattray line) and while I didn't dislike this one, it failed to excite.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	krg1000 (183)	2015-06-21		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I picked this up at my local B&M. The components come together to make a fine blend with no one leaf really beating away the others for center stage. The moisture level is spot on at the cracking open of the tin. The tin note is quite nice and the room note even better. The nicotine level is about middle of the road, all the better to smoke 2 bowls back to back. This produced a decent amount of smoke and burned down to a nice ash at the bottom of the bowl. Definitely recommended.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jallen49 (25)	2013-08-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

For me, this blend was not so inspiring, but it was a unique experience.

The latakia is well mixed in with the virginias and orientals, and I would say it does not stand out in the forefront at all. On the forefront of the palate are the Virginias, but not pure virginias... virginias mixed with something,,, the perique! The perique is also not at the forefront by any means, but it is detectable, with that peppery quality. This blend was hard to pin down for me... leathery, light smokiness, grassy.

I really either like stronger lat blends or straight virginias, so this just wasn't my my alley. However, the quality is there, it burns well, burns cool, and really can't knock the quality of the product. It just wasn't for me. Still, a good blend for what it is.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-05-06		Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I have to say that, being accustomed to stronger and more tasty mixtures (Balkan Mixture, Elephant Dung, Schürch 128 and 146, to name names), by now this one seems to me quite unremarkable. But (someone said that, here) this could be due to some balancedness of the mixture - a very steady one, too. So I'll stick with this for some time and see how the relation develops. Last thing, I noticed that drink some glasses of just milked milk (is this a proper or at least decent expression in English?) and the smoke some of our blend, well, that fits very well. A milky mixture, I'll say.

=UPDATE= I have finished some time ago my first 50 g of S.M. Initial mistrust developed into honest tolerance and again changed into warm liking... and there I ran out of the stuff. But "you can't hurry love" (sang the Supremes). Also, the S.M. is the only thing I like to smoke in the morning (I mean, to smoke "just like that" and apart from special occasions). Waiter, one more star, please!

=UPDATE #2= Now I really like it.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-08-13		Medium	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

Contrary to some other reviewers, I didn't have the chance to smoke any of the McConnel's blends of the pre-Kohlhase & Kopp era. So I wouldn't be able to compare.

What I can say is that this blend is definitely English/Oriental, without a doubt. Certainly not a heavy one, but I can make out easily the Orientals, a bit of Latakia, VAs. I can't detect the Périque nor the Black Cavendish by tin aroma, but I can detect them when I'm smoking the blend.

This Bakkie is a long cut, with leaves of golden, orangy, red, green and black colours. The tin aroma is somehow reminiscent of Dunhill's Standard Mixture medium, so it is to say the amnount of Latakia is not high, because Standard Mixture Medium has no- or barely none- Latakia.

The filling is quite easy, due to the cut of the Bakkie. I like shortening the length of the bakkie to make the filling even easier. The moisture level was a bit high, but still smokable, despite the fact that it required more religthnings than usual.

The Orientals and Vas sure shine through right from the start, and they will remain consistent throughout the smoke. This is tasty, not really strong, but not light either; it's a proper balance, and the nicotine level is satisfactory. Think of a Rattray's no 7 on steroids. As you smoke your way through, some distinct hints of Latakia will emerge, but what comes back more often, but still on an irregular frequency, is the sweet black cavanedish which, frankly, is a nice addition as it cools off a bit the kick of the smoke and blends in well with the rest. It offers a nice contrast which I appreciate. Contrary to other reviewers, I think that those tobaccos blend well together and will benefit from some aging.

After all, more English blends than we think contain some black cavendish, sweetened or not, to smooth out the global taste.

The smoke gets stronger past half bowl, and I can't say I've detected with certainty any substantial amount of Périque in there. So, if it's there, it's in very small proportion. What I can say is this, though: make sure the bowl is not too loosely packed on the bottom, or the smoke will bite and irritate your taste bubs!

The ending is rather dry, but I've discovered that I prefer to finish off my pipefuls the next day rather than the same, for my ending of bowls have a tendency to be wet and alter the tobacco taste a lot when I smoke the whole thing at once. Maybe I smoke too fast, I don't know yet. But it's a diferent issue.

I must say, I like this Bakkie, and will order more. This is a different Latakia/Oriental and, thanks to the addition of the sweetened black cavendish and the low content of Latakia, the wife has no problem with it and I can enjoy it at home. And that is priceless!

Recommended!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Exedwardsguy (11)	2004-06-04		Mild	Mild	Mild	Tolerable

Scottish Blend: An English blend with Cavendish, a light English blend, an English blend with burley, an English blend with peat, an English blend made from floor sweepings of various English blends, or wha?eers thrufty. Take it from me, even though it is farmed out to Sassenach, McConnell?s IS Scottish Blend - hey, there?s a thistle right on the tin, for Peat?s sake. If the pipe world let this blend settle the confusion, it could do no better.

Scottish Blend is a beautiful mix of thin ribbon cut reds, blacks, and cream colored tobaccos packed neatly in its oil stained paper doily inside a somewhat compact 50G tin (I hate the sickly avocado green pseudo-toile label). The aroma that emerges on opening the tin is intoxicating. If you like Latakia and Turkish, you are in for a treat, my brother. Moisture content: ideal. Almost packs itself.

The charring light releases a glorious mix of oriental tang, soft mesquite campfire, and, surprise! sweet black Cavendish, (which just occasionally pops up once or twice early during a bowl). By mid-bowl it has settled into a wonderfully smooth, balanced groove of lataturkish with the Virginia starting to work.

By the home stretch the sweet is gone. The Turkish and Cavendish have left the party, and your old pals the Virginian, the Cajun, and the Cypriot stay to finish the last few drams with you? cool, mellow, smoky, joy.

This tobacco probably won?t satisfy the true ?Balkan Vampires? as one genius reviewer put it, or the diehard clubmen who regularly bathe themselves in Nightcap and wake up every morning to a bowl of Early Morning, but it is a great walk on the wild side for just about anybody else. In fact, if you don?t really crave Latakia, but occasionally enjoy Early Morning, Aperitif, or Presbyterian Mixture, give Scottish Blend a try. Certainly one of the best of the mild Latakia blends.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Tantric (321)	2003-01-15		Medium to Strong	Very Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is an intriguing, almost disconcerting blend, with some sweetness to it, and IMO very tasty. This should be on the full strength side. It contains enough Latakia to make it noticeable, but not to the typical English extent. The deep smokiness of this leaf is present as a background note, giving it a certain earthy nuttiness to remind the smoker this is something of an English (well, make it a Scottish) blend. The Perique, on the other hand, is barely manifest, to the point that were it not for the blender?s description I don?t think I would have noticed it.

It is the sweet element that disconcerts. Whereas the use of Cavendish processed leaf can also be found in English style blends,like Dunhill?s 965, in Scottish Blend it seems to be overly present. Maybe this is due to the fact that Dunhill?s mixture contains unsweetened brown Cavendish, while McConnell?s rendering uses the sweet, steamed black variety. This seems to establish, IMO, a kind of taste and aroma contradiction. Even though SB is a rich tobacco, a bit over the medium strength line, the Black Cavendish seems to mellow it and provide a syrupy backdrop that just seems at odds with the Latakia element (kind of mixing a bit of Captain Black white label with an English. Some may even think of this as a Frog Morton type of blend). And yet, somehow, the concoction pulls through and achieves quite a palatable structure.

Once lit the aroma does not seem to bother those around, and the density of the processed blend allows for a long, leisurely smoke. I don?t think I would smoke this one constantly, but every now and then this is a worthwhile experience. Not for the beginner, this tobacco can be an interesting change of pace for English style smokers, or a transitional tobacco for those seeking to switch from aromatics to English style mixtures.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipesolitude (23)	2022-11-28		Medium to Strong	Mild to Medium	Full	Tolerable

I bought my tin in 2018, and it has been aged 4 years now in a jar. Well, perhaps time for a review. I was led to this one because someone said it was similar to Old Gowrie which I enjoyed at the time. So I bought a tin, but did not care much for it so I put it away. This is a perculiar blend. Ok, I will try to break it down, what it tastes like IMO.

Taste: Sweeeeet and stout, that is what you get in this blend. Perhaps sweet from cavendish used. But it is not at all sweet in a natural way, more like sickly sweet and I would say the sweet profile that I get tastes a bit like apple (some topping I believe). But the sweetness is then also integrated with the perique which gives it a kind of dark prune note together with spice. What stands out for me is this strange combination of too sweet and too much perique. But then add kentucky into the mix, and you also get a very robust taste. Virginia and orientals I don't taste so much, they are minor players, even if I do get some natural sweetness from virginias too i the background, and some woody notes and sour that probably are a hint of latakia and orientals. Latakia is almost hard to detect IMO. Sure, the sweet profile in this blend can be enjoyable, but as you smoke it just builds up a bit too much. Imagine you have some kind of sickly sweet sirup-apple taste and then you pour over peppar on it. Then add the very full and robust character of kentucky and some sour woody note. What a weird combo, no? The second half of the bowl kind of mellows out a bit, and the taste caramelizes into something slightly better that I can appreciate more, mostly because the perique turns into something less peppary and more mellow-sweet. This is when SB presents itself as its finest, IMO. At times it almost wins me over. But just almost, because I still feel that the taste builts up in a slighty overwhelming way. Even when it mellows out and performs at its best in the pipe, it still is kind of too sickly sweet for me. But maybe if you had a sturdy meal and you feel like a dessert-like tobacco, this could do the trick.

It burns well, not too hot, produces a creamy smoke, but you do not want to smoke it too fast. I get the impression that if packed tighter the perique tends to dominate even more. Personally, I wished they had skipped the perique all together, I think it would have made it better (the kentucky is already strong enough). It is a very stout smoke, but dessert sweet at the same time. I can kind of see how aging has brought forth the sweetness of the perique, integrating it with the other tobaccos used. And sure, it is stout yet still very mellow, I can give it that. But still too weird for me.

Age When Smoked: 4 years

Similar Blends: Nothing I've ever tried..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	willie b (37)	2022-09-09		Medium to Strong	Medium to Strong	Full	Strong

not a favorite or even close. note is good but burns harsh and too hot for me. I let this age in the tin for a year and it may be better when fresh. I puff a lot of Balken/English and this one gave me no pleasure. taste is subjective so are my reviews.

Pipe Used: Savinelli dry system

Age When Smoked: over a year

Purchased From: don't remember

Similar Blends: homegrown blended in the root cellar next to the outhouse..

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nuvoleazzurre (36)	2022-01-25		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Parliano di una miscela originale, preparata dal 1848, rivista più volte ma sempre grande prodotto.

Apriamo la latta dall'inconfondibile colore verde e saremo accolti dall'affumicato del Latakia, ma non spaventiamoci, ad annusare bene sentiamo sentori terrosi del Virginia e il cuoio del Kentucky. Il ribbon è ben preparato, solo occhio a qualche occasionale costola della foglia. I colori hanno una bella tavolozza varia dei toni del marrone. Il tabacco è però umido, non da rendersi infumabile, ma questo è un tabacco che va sedotto, mettiamolo ad arieggiare un oretta o due, bello aperto, portemo poi apprezzarlo al massimo. Personalmente lo preferisco quasi secco, ma andiamo nel personale e fuori dalla degustazione.

La pipa migliore deve essere bella profonda, ampia; non deve essere una fumata breve. Accesa alla maniera antica: fiammifero lungo, osserveremo la vita propria del tabacco che si gonfia alla fiamma, si muove e crepita. Questo essere dinamico, mi affascina sempre, il nostro amico tabacco è un qualche cosa di vivo, dinamico che si agita, vive al repiro del fumatore e col respiro del fumatore regala aromi diversi, appaganti e diversi.

Il Kenticky appare subito, domina, carattere virile, maschio e deciso, ma questo sa essere controbilanciato dalle altre componenti, il Virginia subito addolcisce questa tonalità, un Viginia quasi mai fruttato, terroso ed erbaceo, gli Orientali fanno da contrappunto un contrappunto molto strutturato, corposo alcuni lo chiamano burroso da come l'amaricante avvolge la miscela, Il Cavendish è la parte dolce che sa fare il giro di danza giusto nel costruire una voluttuà unica, diverse da altre EM (si sempre nella famiglia delle EM siamo).

Il fumo, nonostante le componemti non è mai troppo caldo e respirato a fil di fumo riesce a donare ua fumata intensa, mai volgare. Occhio a non forzare il fumo la miscela si scompone e diventa aspra, volgare e non più piacevole. Va meditata, fumata per il gusto della fumata, non per compulsività, anche perchè non perdona e la botta ti arriva quando meno te l'aspetti.

Un tabacco invernale per antonomasia, non necessita per forza il pasto lauto per essere fumato, lo fumi per meditare, accompagnato o da un buon distillato secco (quello che ti piace di più) oppure un tea scuro.

Se si ha avuta la fortuna di assaggiare la Scottish di Davidoff, si nota un carattere più marcato, più English.

Il Kentucky fa la differenza, rende sicuramente un tocco in più che è quel sentore ci concia che fa maschia la miscela. A chi dedicarla? A quel fumature maturo che cerca la fumata meditativa, da estraniarsi dal mondo, dagli stress e poter essere accompagnato ed avvolto da una dolce compagna che sa sedurti, abbracciarti e avvolgerti in un amplesso sensoriale inebriante. Non è arrogantem ma è seducente.

Una nota negativa? Il prezzo, al solito che in questa nostra bella penisola il fumatore è un esssre da speremere.

Il voto? 4,8/5

Pipe Used: Ulrik, Chacom, Dunhill,Savinelli

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	MangoLegs (72)	2020-02-13		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Tasty orientals. It is a well balanced blend, with no flavor dominating the others. I recommend it for anyone who wants a full English. Quite floral. Not something I would smoke frequently however.

Age When Smoked: Fresh from a new tin

Purchased From: SmokingPipes

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Demetri (113)	2015-02-24		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Like some here, my tin was lousy with moisture when I opened it. So much so that the paper disk covering the tobacco was wet and when i peeled it away nearly one half the contents were matted to it. Not an auspicious start. It was so wet that even packing the pipe and letting it sit for hours still only yielded me a steam bath-in-a-pipe. I could not attempt an assessment of it in that state.

Six weeks later, smoking, or trying to, a bowl a week, the blend began to show itself off although still too wet. I do not think this was from any PG treatment, just faulty packaging control. As time wore on and the blend finally reached smoke ready moisture I could begin to taste what is a pretty good Scottish (indeed!) blend made sweet from the mature Red Virginia and well seasoned with good Latakia. I did not taste any Kentucky but that does not mean it is not in there. It did sort of muddle together after mid-bowl but all in all, not a bad blend at all.

It reminded me very much of Cornell and Diehl's Star of the East although component-wise one would not expect so.

As far as ratings go from me: it started at 0 and worked its way up to just under three as it dried. Its price was a bit heavy especially when I can get bulk blends yielding similar experiences. But not all smokers have those options.

Pipe Used: Various briars of all shapes and sizes

Age When Smoked: unknown

Purchased From: Allegheny Smokeworks, Blawnox, PA

Similar Blends: Cornell and Diehl Star of the East.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-02-07		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

I was rummaging through my local cigar store's tinned tobacco and I happened across a tin of Scottish Blend. Interesting (I thought to myself). I know I have heard of it, but can't remember if what I heard was good or bad. I read the back of the tin: "Robust classic blend of virginia, latakia, turkish and perique." Kind of pricy (but then again everything at this cigar store is over priced), but it looked like it had been there a while; maybe it has some age on it. So I bought it. 15 bucks!@#$% This better be good.

First impression: I cracked the tin in the parking lot: Ketchup. That is a good sign. Very wet though. Surprisingly wet. This is going to take some drying time. I noticed that the blend has a sparing amount of latakia, but enough. When I pulled a pinch out of the tin to dry out, I noticed a little bit of glittery-sparkly stuff on the virginias. I wonder if that is because of the age of the tin? I have heard that that is a good thing, the sugar from the virginias, right?

Light up: I smoked it in my Dunhill Tanshell group 4, (It really seemed to like this particular pipe). I can definitely taste the Latakia, as this seems to be the flavor I always taste in the first charring light, but not very heavy. It only took two lights (which is normal for me) and then it stayed lit pretty well.

The first half of the bowl was very interesting. Very dynamic, as hints of sweetness, along with smooth, buttery, and sage-like notes billowed out of my mouth. You can taste the virginias, but they are sometimes drowned out by the other tobaccos. There is a healthy amount of perique as well (which probably gives it that mean nicotine punch).

The second half of the bowl really flattened out. I was surprised because initially it seemed so promising. I thought for sure that this was going to make its way into my regular rotation, but the longer I smoked it, the less impressed i became. Not that it was bad, it was just sort of, well, flat.

Overall: I have to give this one 2 1/2-2 3/4 stars. There isn't anything really spectacular about Scottish Blend, yet it has potential. It is a tobacco that I imagine will get much better with age. It may be a good blend to cellar for a few years and try again. I think if I had to compare it with something it would probably be close to Presbyterian, but it has been a while since I have had it. But don't take my word for it, try it for yourself. You may find Scottish Blend to be a very good tobacco.

Cheers!

=UPDATE=

I finished this tin over a couple weeks on my way home from work. I am starting to really like Scottish Blend. I am not one to have too many cans cracked at the same time, so I was committed to finishing this one until I could crack another. My tastes have been shifting towards the Va/per's in the morning, and English in the evening. As this was my only somewhat english blend for a little while, I was really satisfied with it. And the more that I smoked it, the more I realized that it is pretty nuanced. There are a lot of good flavors there, and I really like the roomnote. It kind of reminds me of emp. I have to bump this one up to a full 3 stars. But there are probably much better Scottish blends out there for the same price (which I can't wait to try).

Note: Crack the tin, and give it some time. It got better.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dubinthedam (133)	2008-10-06		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Tolerable

This is the kind of English blend I love...Scottish......not too heavy on the Latakia, a little Cavendish to sweeten things up, nice and creamy...another great blend from K+K in Germany. A little too moist in the tin but that's no major fault. This goes along with Solani's Eng Lux Mix as a great middle of the road English. That said it's sometimes closer to an oriental than a English Latkia, and also a bit too peaty to be called a true Scottish. A great subltle, creamy and sweet oriental/latakia blend.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-04-06		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Tolerable

Update

By God, this tobacco can sometimes be disappointing! There exists, unfortunately, a lack of consistence from one tin to the other.

As where my first couple tins proved an agreeable change of pace, and generated a nice room aroma, the second tin brought up an acrid taste and room aroma that almost made my eyes irritated...

For the sake of inconsistence, I must downgrade my original appreciation of this blend to two stars. A proof that even the best can make mistakes...

Original review 03/18/2008

A good english blend, different that the other standard ones. The black cavendish, all depending of its proportion from one tin to another, will bring up a sweeter taste that is welcomed, for it provides a change of pace for a traditional english. The first tin I smoked was heavier on the BL CA that the second one, thus the taste was sweeter.

The perique will let itself known in sporadical cycles, adding a kick to the whole experience.

SB does manage to maintain my interest. Not an all day favorite, but still regular in my favor.

An easy to fill and smoke blend, I would smoke this one in the wardroom while relaxing with a good pint of ale.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-01-26		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This is not a first bowl, "I Love It!" mixture. In fact, it seems almost unremarkable. Stick with it. It took me almost half a 50g. can before I began really appreciating this blend. The mixture of VA, PER, LAT and other Turkish is such that none overpower the others but produce a harmonious, albeit undistinguished smoke. There doesn't exist (IMO) a singular highpoint, instead there is just a good steady and enjoyable smoke. Althought the virginias, turkish and cyrian latakia make themselves known from time to time, I never found the perique. I enjoyed the blend in several different pipes and the thought that kept coming to mind was, "This isn't a bad blend." Well, it isn't a bad blend, far from it but it isn't a blend I would go running out to purchase again if I was getting low on it. I have another tin which is going to stay in my tobacco cellar for a year or so until I re-visit this blend. Maybe then I can say more glowingly positive things.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Lochinvar (78)	2007-07-07		Mild	None Detected	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

While there was nothing particularly wrong with my current tin of SB, it is significantly different from what it used to be. Before it was a moist (some say overly so) wonderfull Scottish blend, on par with Rattray Black Mallory and the various Cotton Scottish styles. No it is a very nice English with some Black Cavendish. IT has none of the depth and nuance it used to. The only thing I noticed that was different was that K&K had taken over production. I generally like their product, and hope they will get this back to its former glory. OK English, not so good Scottish.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Skando (203)	2007-03-30		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I passed through SM in the late '90, when I was luck to receive an imported 50grms small size round tin. I don't know if it was still RMcC's original manufacturing. Sure it was a full english/scottish or whatever else You would call. Maybe there was also some Havana leaf in the mix, sure I remember that was not an all-day smoke for empty stomach... The current production by K&K, in a standard round tin of the same green, is far milder, and I'm smoking it as the first pipeful in the morning while I drive to my office, and the one when I drive back to home for dinner. Like all the K&K's it comes very moist and need time to dry out for a correct smoke. I like it much because it's sweet - yes, Black Cavendish, but in the british fashion - and liqueurish, and this could be the some topping. Sorry, I don't detect any Perique, but will try to better concentrate on this aspect the next. It seems like a better - read stronger and with a significant load of Lattakia - version of Plumcake. It smokes a bit fast, but I haven't faced any kind of bite. Very good product: 3 stars

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-08-14		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A fairly middle-of-the-road English style blend. Scottish has a nice balance, and a bit of subtle nuance as the Latakia and Oriental mingle with the Black Cavendish around the ever-present Virginia.

No particular leaf jumps out at you, they are all pretty muted. Like the overall blend, nothing really stands out. This is a nice smoke that doesn?t have an overpowering room note. One reviewer suggested that it could be compared to My Mixture 965, and I have to agree. Turn the flavor and fullness knobs down a few notches, add a hint of Perique and you have it.

You could smoke this all day. You can ? I won?t.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2004-06-23		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

What Exedwardguy said, but with the addition of the notion that the difference here is the presence of some SWEEET McClelland Virginia, which makes this a really nicely balanced, Virginia-based blend.

Tasty stuff, even for someone who doesn't love LAt-blends.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Hmoya (38)	2022-11-22		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Very pleasant smoke of complex and elegant tobacco, with round flavors, and harmonious notes of Latakia. The moisture of the mixture is correct and very well balanced. You can obtain a nice slow smoke without any bite at all.

Highly recommended as simple and well-balanced tobacco.

Pipe Used: John Aylesbury - Billiard Dunkelbraun

Age When Smoked: 1

Purchased From: Cigarworld

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JohnnyMcPiperson (119)	2016-10-31		Very Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Good stuff, this is a pretty standard milder english to me, very tame, very even smoking and cool burning, no bite. Enjoyable while doing other tasks, I used to smoke this when we would go out and shoot pool, back when you could smoke in a pool hall...

Pipe Used: Wayne Teipen Lovat

Age When Smoked: 6 years old

Purchased From: Mr. John's Tobacco Shop

Similar Blends: Squadron Leader.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	leafy (4)	2013-04-20		Mild to Medium	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

I first smoked this blend 20 years ago and, although I loosely maintained use across two years, didnt really 'get it' at the time. Tiring of a Lakeland mixture (G&H No.25 - a mandingous blend) which I had smoked for ten years I revisited Scottish Flake and immediately realized its character; an intriguing and delightful taste mosaic of virginia, turkish, burley and cigar leaf. As has been noted, this flake is friable on opening and shortly may be found to smoke dry. I hydrated the flakes (no rubbing out) with mineral water on a squeezed out sponge, in the tin, overnight and the result was a quiet delight. I now regard this hydration technique as crucial in my enjoyment of flakes such as this, for example; Germaine's Rich Dark Flake, a loosely related, stronger dark blend. As received, the tobacco may be said to be asleep. Hydration wakes it up and leads to contentment for the smoker. A superior rendition of the palette of the blend is experienced, the erstwhile dryness giving way to a more mellow smoking experience. One must take pains not to over-hydrate and make the tobacco soggy but if this occurs it may, of course, be left to dry some. Aeration of new tobacco is often quoted as desirable but I think one might mistake the apparently moist condition of such as Germaine's RDF. The stickiness and shine denote tar and oil rather than moisture content and only after I hydrated it did I realize what a classic that blend is.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-02-27		Medium to Strong	Mild	Medium	Strong

In the tin it smells something like smoked meat, which I found surprising, and nice (however some of my mates said it smelled horrible). When lit, it delivers the nice smoky taste. All in all a good tobacco.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-10-15		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I bought a 1oo grams tin of Scottish Blend because I wanted to experience a traditional, old- time blend. I must say that I was quite satisfied. The tin smell is great, but you will directly notice a strong adding of Latakia. In general, Latakia is not my cup of tea (thats why I normally avoid english blends), but here, it matches the blend beautifully. Packing my pipe was absolutely easy. Even though the tobacco was quite moist, it lit very fast and stayed so. No relighting was necessary. I found it quite strong, but with an elegant, relaxing taste to it, noticing the in my opinion high amount af Latakia again. It has a pleasant room note, being quite spicy and not too nasty to your non- smoking family or friends. But, you really have to be a freind of blends like this one. They have an own, unique taste and character that made them famous. But thats nothing for everybody! It was a fine trip into the world of the traditional blends, but I think I wont smoke it regularly.

UPDATE 23rd of October, 2010

Since I turn to prefer english blends, this one has become one of my favourites. It has grown on me since I firstly smoked it. It's a great pleasure smoking it and I can smoke it anytime of the day. It's a high-quality, steady and balanced english mixture but somehow doesn't get boring. Excellent smoking qualities. Even though I was a little doubtful about it at first, I learned to love it in the meantime. Highly recommended.

Nobody has rated this review yet.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-07-25		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I acquired 4 tins and noted serious inconsistencies from one to the other.

One tin would prove to be divine and the other harsh and unpleasant.

I will stay away. there are a lot of consistent good English mixtures available.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-04-12		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This blend reminds very much of MacBaren's Mixture Scottish Blend. I like this take on Scottish blends better, however, as the flavors seem to be easier to discern and appreciate than MacBaren's tendency to leave a mottled, confusing impression on the smoker. Not so easy to pack as the broken flake is pretty stringy and moist but burns great once you get past the first tamp. The room note is somewhat cigarette-ish but with a slight sweetness that makes it pleasing. Flavors I got were of honey, buttered toast, and almonds. Taste gets a little flat near the end of the bowl but worth trying.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-12-24		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

In general, I dislike Latakia. In most blends, I find it overpowering and medicinal- tasting. However, I gave this tobacco a try because it is called "Scottish" and has some perique, which I love in my pipe.

The first sniff of the tin was great. I am close to finishing my first bowl as I write this. On the whole, I find this to be a tolerable tobacco that I can smoke again and will not give away. I won't go searching for a pound of this in bulk, but it is a tobacco that I will smoke infrequently when I am in the mood for something like Dunhill Early Morning, which is more than simply tolerable for me.

I just finished the first bowl. There was no dottle whatsoever, even though the weed was quite moist in the tin. Although I could not actually taste the perique as a distinct ingredient, I had the odd sense that I did experience it on my tongue. For my second bowl, I think I might add a smidgen of perique and maybe a smidgen of blending Virginia or burley to "cut" the Latakia a little more.

This blend will not entice me away from smoking mostly perique blends, but if I find myself in a strange land surrounded by aromatics and Latakias and see a tin of this in a local shop, it will be like seeing a B List friend in a strange crowd and I will snatch it up, satisfied that I found something that I can be reasonably content to smoke, at least until I find another tobacco shop tomorrow. I would prefer a tin of Davidoff Scottish Mixture, but this would do under those circumstances.

Not exactly a glowing review, to put it mildly, but I feel that I am more positive than negative about this blend because I normally do not like Latakia blends. If this is all I could ever smoke again, it would not be the end of the world; I would continue to smoke a pipe.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Nonpareil (20)	2007-02-24		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I have to agree with Exedwardsguy in most every particular. Let me just add, that I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the tin and discovered exactly what I had expected. The tin I had was perhaps 5 years old, and the tobaccos had melded together wonderfully. I have tried a number of variations of what are called Scottish blends, but this is what the term means to me. The tin aroma is rich but not overpowering and the flavor is full, but without tiring the palate. The tobacco burned well and required minimal relights.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sasha (228)	2006-01-13		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A difficult tobacco to understand completely, too many tobaccos that don't mix in a definite way. The result is a pretty confused smoke with nods of everything here and there but without a precise plot to follow; it doesn't set that hook you can remember. On the contrary I can clearly remember the dampness upon opening the tin, which was quite awesome: it's mandatory to leave it open for a while. Not a bad tobacco, satisfying nicotine-wise, but really too confused for me. Here in Europe it's manufactured by Kohlhase & Kopp, so the USA version might be different.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Albion1956 (42)	2002-06-21		Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Scottish blend, a name which usually evokes a taste of strong tobaccos from varying types. As usual a moist tobacco, easy to pack, and the can did have a pungency of orientals. Charring light, make that two, presented a medium taste, not bad. Further down the bowl, the taste remained the same, as did the strength. This tobacco smoked at a moderate rate, in that, it did not change. I was waitng for the usual nicotine kick at the bottom, no show! I find it hard to condemn this blend, but plaudits would be limited. A nice medium tobacco, that could be smoked all day.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2002-04-02		Mild to Medium	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable

I found this particular blend quite bland in every respect and entirely uneventful from beginning to end. Don't get me wrong: it wasn't bad; but it wasn't good, either. It was just simply bland.

I'd strongly suggest spending your money elsewhere. You could buy Dunhill for the same price!

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