Just opened a tin of Oriental #14 from 2002 (11 years of age). This blend has aged fantastically!
The appearance is very dark, an almost completely black tobacco, with the occasional strands of dark brown Virginia (McClelland calls it "Black Virginia"). Surprisingly, upon opening the tin I was NOT greeted with the typical McClelland vinegar smell. That's a first! The tin smells very earthy, woody - you know, where blends like Shortcut to Mushrooms or Penzance have this musky, wet-earth kind of note, Oriental #14 has a flowery, fragrant, woodsy earth note. Like wet moss on a tree in spring.
The cut is almost a very fine pebble cut. I have never seen anything like it before, and am quite at a loss how to work with it. Finally, I decided to pack it into my Peterson 1309 using the gravity fill method, with no pressing down at all. Because of the unique cut this fills the bowl nicely, and still gives the Virginias some room to expand later on.
I need about 2-3 charring lights before I get an even light across the bowl - I'd attribute this to the pebble cut: the chunks ("pebbles") of curled, hard leaves take a while to take a flame. The first puffs are dominated by an intense flavor of toasted Virginia. Very sweet and breadsy. Where is the Latakia?
As the pipe progresses, I notice that the blend burns down extremely slowly and fantastically cool. I really do start to love the way McClelland prepared and cut the tobacco - this should become a new benchmark for preparing English and Oriental blends!
I have to say: this is one fantastic Oriental blend! Buttery, nutty, toasty, very earthy, still a bit floral. Usually I prefer Oriental tobacco that has an incense like quality (Yenidje, Xhanti, Syrian Latakia), which Oriental #14 does not have at all. But this taste of buttery, creamy earthiness is so delicious a composition that I do not miss the herbal note at all.
Most strikingly, even though there must be a substantial amount of Latakia in this blend, judging from the appearance of the tobacco, the Latakia is almost unnoticeable (think Frog Morton) in the smoke! Not even the slightest hint of burnt rubber throughout the entire bowl. Chapeau! to McClelland's master blenders for balancing this composition so perfectly!
The blend stays delicious until the bottom of the bowl. I'm really glad that there is none of the usual bitterness or harshness that English blends tend to develop in the last third. With only two re-lights the tobacco burns down to coarse medium grey ash.
The room-note of this blend is quite musky and sour, and most probably nothing your War Department is likely to appreciate. Nicotine is on the light side of things.
Overall, this come very close to the perfect Oriental. Delicious, complex, interesting, no-fuss, no-bite, flavorful. I'd just wish it had a bit more fullness and body - the smoke is quite light - so that this buttery, creamy smoke would really get some volume and presence in your mouth. But I'm nitpicking here. As fast as Orientals go, it's in my Top 3, right after Dunhill Durbar, but above 3 Oaks Syrian.
The perfect blend for a rainy summer/fall morning. Very enjoyable with a black coffee. Rating: 9/10.
