School Me On McClellands Grand Orientals

[vosBghos]

I have checked out tobacco reviews but it seems I don't know how to navigate the site to get ALL the results.
I'm wondering which of the blends has the most Orientals without Latakia.

I have a tin of Smyrna #1 coming in the mail.

I would like to get the ones that star each of the following so that I know what the taste profile of each type is and what they look like for my own blending.

Yenidje
Samsun
Izmir
Cavalla
Basma

These last two are found in the C&D Awakened Elder series, would you consider them Orientals, are there other blends that feature them in an Oriental mix?

Katerini
Kasturi

Finally are there any major ones I am missing, is there a major in-depth article that goes deeper than the here-and-there paragraph or two articles on the subject?

Thanks in advance

 

[rmbittner]

Only one of the Grand Orientals series contains latakia: Yenidje Highlander.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

If you're going to try to copy or match something, try something that was really good. The McClelland Grand Orientals were rather mediocre, at least IMHO.

 

[rmbittner]

BTW, the series included:

Black Sea Sokhoum
Classic Samsun
Drama Reserve
Katerina Classic
Yenidje Agana
Yenidje Highlander
Yenidje Supreme

And perhaps others. These are just the ones I have left in the cellar.

 

[vosBghos]

Only one of the Grand Orientals series contains latakia: Yenidje Highlander.

good to know thanks

 

[vosBghos]

BTW, the series included:

Black Sea Sokhoum
Classic Samsun
Drama Reserve
Katerina Classic
Yenidje Agana
Yenidje Highlander
Yenidje Supreme

And perhaps others. These are just the ones I have left in the cellar.

Nice list thanks,
Are there corresponding numbers to the ones you listed? I seem to recall a bunch of numbers as if there were a ton of different blends.

 

[vosBghos]

If you're going to try to copy or match something, try something that was really good. The McClelland Grand Orientals were rather mediocre, at least IMHO.

I want to be able to smoke blends that feature different Orientals so I can find out what each leaf tastes like on its own actually by picking through and smoking it straight and of course smoking the leftovers too. But this would be so that I can experiment with maybe making my own purely Oriental blend.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

There really aren't many. I've searched. Not like McClelland did it anyway.

Sutliff Makes a pretty good bulk mix of orientals called Blended Turkish Ribbon TS24. It has yenidje, basma and samsun.
Sutliff also sells Katerini bulk.

I forget the name but there's a company that sells whole leaf. They usually have various oriental varietals for sale. Someone will surely know..

 

[Carol]

There really aren't many. I've searched. Not like McClelland did it anyway.

Sutliff Makes a pretty good bulk mix of orientals called Blended Turkish Ribbon TS24. It has yenidje, basma and samsun.
Sutliff also sells Katerini bulk.

I forget the name but there's a company that sells whole leaf. They usually have various oriental varietals for sale. Someone will surely know..

wholeleaftobacco.com

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I want to be able to smoke blends that feature different Orientals so I can find out what each leaf tastes like on its own actually by picking through and smoking it straight and of course smoking the leftovers too. But this would be so that I can experiment with maybe making my own purely Oriental blend.

I understand. I'm just suggesting you choose one of the best Orientals to evaluate. Also, since you'll be unable to recreate the McClelland Virginia content, it will be more difficult to evaluate the other components. Have fun.

 

[Val]

I understand. I'm just suggesting you choose one of the best Orientals to evaluate. Also, since you'll be unable to recreate the McClelland Virginia content, it will be more difficult to evaluate the other components. Have fun.

What would you recommend Hoosier?

 

[mortonbriar]

I recommend getting a sample of all the oriental varieties available from any of the whole leaf sites. This way you can try them individually and know what specific leaf you are looking for in commercial blends. It also allows you to make up your own blends that you can mix with your favourite virginia and/or burley base.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

What would you recommend Hoosier?

I personally like C&D Bijou, Dan Tobacco Ascanian No 1, HU Joschi's Oriental Sunrise and C&D Sunday Picnic. There are a lot of really good Oriental blends, depends on personal preference.

 

[rmpeeps]

McClelland 2025 utilizes Xanthi.
Good stuff, but can’t seem to find anybody letting loose of any.
The list from @hoosierpipeguy is a great place to start.

 

[Worknman]

Mclelland Tudor Castle is amazing if you can get a hold of it. I can pick out the "soda" note from the yenidje. Or maybe I'm imagining things, who knows

 

[kcghost]

McClelland's is really hard to come since they closed up. Look at pipestud's stuff that is for sale every Saturday morning at 10AM CST.

 

[rmbittner]

Nice list thanks,
Are there corresponding numbers to the ones you listed? I seem to recall a bunch of numbers as if there were a ton of different blends.

To my knowledge, there are no numbers associated with the Grand Orientals series. In my experience, McClelland used numbers primarily for its bulk offerings; these were tinned Virginia/Oriental blends.

I could be wrong, but I believe that if the above list is not complete, it’s missing only one blend. I think the series was complete at eight. Since Basma isn’t represented above, I’m thinking that that might be the missing one. However, since we’re talking about OOP blends anyway, I’ll just note that Frog Morton on the Town was a McClelland blend that included a pronounced quantity of Basma (along with latakia), if you’d like to add that one to your list.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I still have a few of the McClellands from this line, but they were blends that (sort of) highlighted the named Oriental, not really just the pure leaf.

There are Orientals that just haven't made their way into pipe tobaccos here. Japan8 is one of my favorites. If it is used in pipe tobaccos, it is never named. But, it is very smooth with a natural anise flavor which is very subtle. But, when blended into a dark Virginia, it really brings out a natural sweetness. I add them to some of my my twists.
I only know it from growing it. Jitterbugdude used to be a member here, and he first turned me onto it in a few homegrown swaps. Then I grew it a few years ago. There is a another, which the name escapes me at the moment, but it was like smoking a cologne, very good and sweet on the tongue, but it had an aroma which if they made into a cologne, I would wear it. I tried to grow it before I knew that Orientals have to be grown in very poor soil. Mine just turned out like a regular burley. In fact, most tobaccos do much better in what many would consider to be very poor soils.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

McClelland 2025 utilizes Xanthi.
Good stuff, but can’t seem to find anybody letting loose of any.
The list from @hoosierpipeguy is a great place to start.

I wish bigger current blenders like C&D, K&K would try to do something similar. Even if it had to be a limited blend. Oriental heavy without latakia (and without perique).
Seems like more and more people are becoming interested in what those leaves have to offer.

 

[vosBghos]

McClelland's is really hard to come since they closed up. Look at pipestud's stuff that is for sale every Saturday morning at 10AM CST.

yep that's where I got my Smyrna#1 , I liked his podcast interview and we share a lot of the same taste , I started getting into him because of his top 5 burley list , Five Brothers For Life