Help selecting a "Prototypical" McClelland & Mac Baren

Brothers of Briar

Help Support Brothers of Briar:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Fight'n Hampsters

Fight'n Hampsters

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 28, 2011
Messages
781
Reaction score
3
There is a B&M near me that happens to sell McClelland and Mac Baren tins and I would like to try one of each. My problem is that there are so many blends that I do not know which one(s) would be the "standard bearer" for each brand.

Another way of asking it would perhaps be "what is the most popular McClelland & Mac Baren tobacs?" This does not necessarily mean your particular favorite but the ones that the pipe community at large tend to like.

I want to try one that is medium to mild and not spicy but it does not have to be syrupy sweet either. Just something middle of the road would be nice.
 
I won't offer a MacBaren response as I've yet to try those as well but McClelland makes Frog Morton On The Town which is a FANTASTIC toby..complex but mild IMHO and something every new smoker should try..
 
mike_68":qymybf0u said:
I won't offer a MacBaren response as I've yet to try those as well but McClelland makes Frog Morton On The Town which is a FANTASTIC toby..complex but mild IMHO and something every new smoker should try..
Click to expand...
Ooops! I forgot to mention that I have purchased a tin of Frog Morton (plain, no bayou or town) and look forward to trying it. I forgot that McClelland makes that. :oops:

Most of the other McClellands I have seen have been in brown round tins and have names like "mixture no. 14" and the like which is not very helpful in making a decision.
 
I'm not much of a MacBarens fan. I've never found a single blend that blew me away. Having said that, Dark Twist is well thought of.

McClelland is awesome, and I can recommend a number of blends to try:

Blackwood Flake (VA)
Dark Star (VA)
Bombay Court (oriental)
3 Oaks Syrian (latakia)
St James Woods (VaPer)
Navy Flake (VA with rum)
Town Topic (aromatic)
Pal 'o Mine aromatic)
Christmas Cheer (VA)
Drama Reserve (oriental)

That's a good selection of VA's with one VaPer and one lat blend in there. Also included is a navy, a couple oriental leaf blends, and a couple aromatics.

The only things missing is a cigar leaf blend, but the ones from McClelland don't do anything for me, and burley, which McClelland really isn't known for.



 
The McClellands mentioned are some good samplings of their offerings. Though some are bulks in StormCrow's list. The Navy Flake is only available in bulk.

I'll add Beacon and the Matured Virginias Series to the tin recommendations. My favorite McClellands are the bulks which aren't sold in tins. The ever popular 2015 is one of those.

As for MacBaren, their most "popular" stuff (by sales standards) are the aromatics. Scottish Blend, Vanilla, Plumcake, Symphony, etc. Their webpage has a full listing.

http://www.mac-baren.com/BundMenu/Products-3.aspx

My favorites of the bunch are (none of which are aromatics):

HH Acadian Perique
HH Vintage Syrian
HH Mature Va
Navy Flake

As a matter of fact, I'm puffing some Acadian Perique as I take a practice break here ... :cat:
 
Mac Baren's Navy Flake is a great benchmark blend, as is Club. Those are the MB flavor profile, to my tastes.

+1 to the HH series, too.

(Virginia #1 is a mystery to me... supposedly very popular worldwide, but a notorious tongue-scorcher by many accounts. Maybe it's a favorite in places where filtered pipes are more beloved?)
 
Doc Manhattan":w1ta6wq1 said:
Mac Baren's Navy Flake is a great benchmark blend, as is Club. Those are the MB flavor profile, to my tastes.

+1 to the HH series, too.

(Virginia #1 is a mystery to me... supposedly very popular worldwide, but a notorious tongue-scorcher by many accounts. Maybe it's a favorite in places where filtered pipes are more beloved?)
Click to expand...
Dude, I don't know either! I got a pound of the Va No. 1 a few years ago and the is really finicky stuff. :evil: Id say I had about a 25% success ratio smoking it.

The closest thing I've tried to it that gives the same flavor without the bite is the Dan Tordenskjold Virginia Slices. I suspect that it is what Va. No. 1 was meant to be, lol.
 
I do not like the rum in Navy Flake any more than I liked it in Edgeworth ready rubbed. My recommendation would be Burley London Blend instead.
 
For mc c, pick a virginia forward blend and age it. Christmas cheer would be my choice if they got it, but others are good as well. For mcb pick a burley blend and dont worry about aging, such as navy flake or burley london blend. Those are what those two blenders do best in my opinion, although admittedly there are many blends from each that i have not tried.
 
MisterE":bawun96j said:
The McClellands mentioned are some good samplings of their offerings. Though some are bulks in StormCrow's list. The Navy Flake is only available in bulk.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure I mentioned all tinned blends. I have a tin of Navy Flake sitting at home on my counter as we speak. :D
 
Storm_Crow":adzff9uq said:
MisterE":adzff9uq said:
The McClellands mentioned are some good samplings of their offerings. Though some are bulks in StormCrow's list. The Navy Flake is only available in bulk.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure I mentioned all tinned blends. I have a tin of Navy Flake sitting at home on my counter as we speak. :D
Click to expand...
Well then I'm wrong, lol! Ain't the first time, and won't be the last. I've never seen it in a tin so I'm only familiar with the bulk.

There was an experiment Natch did a few years ago with the theory that Dark Star and Navy Flake bulk are the same thing. He sent out blind samples of each and the results were all over the map. One guy even got two samples of the same tobacco and was able to find differences, LOL!

Anyhow, thanks for pointing that out StormCrow! :cheers:

Carry on...
 
Funny, my Tinder Box hailed me today when I went into the store and said, "Hey, you like funky, aromatic stuff, try this!" and tossed me a just-opened tin of McClelland's "Town Topic" (as mentioned above) and I tried it. Needless to say, it was their last tin on hand at the time, and for a few bucks off because it was opened, I took it home with me! For a smooth aromatic, I like it. Not cloyingly sweet with a hint of orange/cherry, on the sour side. There was also some loose McClelland Oriental Cavendish that smelled nice, too.

They're a new one to me, but the prices are great and so are the varieties, as well as the quality!
 
MisterE":c9mvqryd said:
Storm_Crow":c9mvqryd said:
MisterE":c9mvqryd said:
The McClellands mentioned are some good samplings of their offerings. Though some are bulks in StormCrow's list. The Navy Flake is only available in bulk.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure I mentioned all tinned blends. I have a tin of Navy Flake sitting at home on my counter as we speak. :D
Click to expand...
Well then I'm wrong, lol! Ain't the first time, and won't be the last. I've never seen it in a tin so I'm only familiar with the bulk.

There was an experiment Natch did a few years ago with the theory that Dark Star and Navy Flake bulk are the same thing. He sent out blind samples of each and the results were all over the map. One guy even got two samples of the same tobacco and was able to find differences, LOL!

Anyhow, thanks for pointing that out StormCrow! :cheers:

Carry on...
Click to expand...
Actually I was thinking of Navy Cavendish which is also a flake, but probably completely different from the bulk Navy Flake.
 
Just as an update, while I'm thrilled to have Town Topic on hand, I'm having a tough time pairing it with drinks because of the sour notes to it. Might go better with beer rather than whiskey.
 
I'm not a huge fan of either McC's or McB's blends so I can't be of much help. Although I will echo what others have said: Dark Star, 2015 and the Matured VA series are the McClellands blends I prefer.

For Mac Baren, try Mixture flake and Navy flake.
 
I'm another one that mostly delves into the bulk tobacco world. About the only tins I have are what either can't be gotten in bulk (Royal Yacht's on my list from that standpoint), or when I just want to try something or see it in my stops at JR's.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned McClelland's 2035 - Dark Navy Flake. As I've said elsewhere on this forum, it's darn good fresh, and many consider the aged version to be Dark Star in bulk.

(Hmmm, did I mention I just happened to have some of that for sale in the Trading Post. Honestly, that's not why I mentioned it :!: )

Seriously though, 2035 is one of my goto's, and I think it's fairly popular. Smokingpipes.com lists it as the 39th highest in their sales for bulk tobacco. As a reference 2015 is at 35, while 5110 - Dark English Full (the highest selling McClelland bulk) is at 5. I might add that Dark English Full might in some ways be thought of as bulk Frog Morton, though I prefer the Frog Morton (original blend, not Town or Bayou, etc.).
 
Top