Robert McConnell Blends - Your Opinion?

[Lumbridge]

I've been looking to branch out from my mostly OTC/codger blend diet. I'm particularly interested in VAs and blends containing DFK and/or Orientals as leading components. Been smoking Newminster Navy Flake and enjoying it quite a bit. I occasionally like a good English/Balkan as well.

Several of the McConnell blends have piqued my interest, particularly the Red Virginia, Rich Dark Virginia, Scottish Cake, and Oriental.

I don't see much on here about Robert McConnell blends, though the ratings on Tobacco Reviews look generally favorable. What's your general opinion of this brand?

 

[camaguey]

Not a good opinion. Back in the late 90's i bought oriental (old favorite in the 70's) and it was disappointing. I also bought in the same period of thr 90's a tin of something called maduro and another tin of Syrian latakia. So bad , that i do not buy anything with that name anymore. The old McConnell name from the 70's , like many other English brands , have nothing to do with the actual name.

 

[alaskanpiper]

McConnell makes some fantastic blends. The ones you mentioned are all quite good.

 

[sasquatch]

The Oriental is a little softer than some, I steer people to "Skiff" or "Kensington" for a perkier experience that way, but Scottish Cake and Scottish Flake are both lovely, top shelf stuff, and the red va is nice too. Typical high-quality german-made tobacco.

 

[Lumbridge]

The Oriental is a little softer than some, I steer people to "Skiff" or "Kensington" for a perkier experience that way, but Scottish Cake and Scottish Flake are both lovely, top shelf stuff, and the red va is nice too. Typical high-quality german-made tobacco.

I'm looking for that "buttery" and "musty" flavor that I've heard used to describe some orientals. I'm not very familiar with the different oriental tobacco varieties besides Latakia and, to a lesser extent, Smyrna.
I'll look into those too!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Never tried one.

 

[vosBghos]

I'm looking for that "buttery" and "musty" flavor that I've heard used to describe some orientals. I'm not very familiar with the different oriental tobacco varieties besides Latakia and, to a lesser extent, Smyrna.
I'll look into those too!

They ( Robert McConnell) made a Dunhill clone line up all yellow tins, they have one called Oriental Square that is a clone of Dunhill's Durbar , might want to try that heavy on the Oriental, My go-too for musty Orientals is Presbyterian Mixture, heavy on the other Orientals light on the Latakia...

 

[MCJ]

I have had good luck with the 3 Robert McConnell blends I've tried, those being: Highgate (VaPer with black cavendish), Flake (straight Virginia; their clone of Dunhill Flake), and Oriental Square (Oriental/VA/Latakia blend; their clone of Dunhill Durbar as previously mentioned by @vosBghos above). All three of these are in my core rotation and I highly recommend them.

 

[rmbittner]

I’ve only tried two, so far:

Oriental is one of my favorites and something I try to always keep on hand.

Latakia Flake was far too nicotine-rich for me—couldn’t even get past the first few puffs.

 

[Davy]

I have enjoyed Scottish Cake, Scottish Flake and Mature (green tin). Sadly, Mature is really hard to get.

 

[AJL67]

I stocked up on the Red Virginia awhile back as i was really into it, if you'd like to try some shoot me an address and i'll send you out a sample.

 

[vosBghos]

I stocked up on the Red Virginia awhile back as i was really into it, if you'd like to try some shoot me an address and i'll send you out a sample.

I have a tin of the red , trying to have a battle between it , Sutliff's Crumble Kake and Wessex this spring , I know you loaded up a bit on the Crumble Kake , how do they compare?

 

[AJL67]

I have a tin of the red , trying to have a battle between it , Sutliff's Crumble Kake and Wessex this spring , I know you loaded up a bit on the Crumble Kake , how do they compare?

As i recall, completely different. In the words of River Song "spoilers darling".

 

[sablebrush52]

Robert McConnell was one of the great old British blenders, considered at the pinnacle for quality. Dunhill turned some of its production over to McConnell, and of course McConnell blended for Rattray's. Once they were bought by K&K they became just another conquest on K&K's belt. If you can find any McConnells or McConnell blended Rattrays from the 1980's or earlier you're going to experience something entirely different than what you're being offered today. The K&K version of McConnell Scottish Cake is very popular, as are several of the other listings, and K&K did indeed us the McConnell IP for their line of Dunhill clones after STG stopped making them. I haven't smoked any of the McConnell branded blends in years, so I can't comment on what they are today.

 

[sasquatch]

I thought the "Oriental Square" was basically not very close to Durbar - lacking in both the Dunhill mouthfeel and the sort of perfumey edges that Durbar has. Not a bad blend, but not really Durbar-esque to my palate.

 

[NomadOrb]

I'm a big fan of Scottish Flake, it's a delicious VaPer with some Dark Fired. I haven't tried the cake version, but I'm sure it's tasty.

 

[sasquatch]

The Cake is totally differnt, a va/per with maybe a little burley depending on who you ask.

 

[Architeuthis]

Big fan of Scottish Cake. At least what they were putting out in the early 20-teens. Don't know if current production has changed since then...

 

[Ahi Ka]

The only McConnell blend I have tried is PH res Crüe 6. Ok so not technically a McConnell blend but is supposedly the plug version of the old recipe for Scottish flake. I love it

 

[shanez]

I'm a big fan of Black Flake. Not sure how much I have collared but it's probably not enough.