McClelland Bulks

[Peter-B]

Hey all, This is my first real post/thread; I've been reading for about a year now. It's been really cool to read all of your accumulated experience on pipes and tobacco. I've been smoking pipes for about three years now (27 years old). I'm trying to find bulks that are going to scratch my itch from a quality standpoint. So my question this evening follows - I'm looking at 2030 - No. 1 Grade Balkan, 2040 - Cyprian Mixture, 2045 - Oriental Mixture, and 5110 - Dark English Full bulk blends. Does anyone have any input or recommendations on this? Right now I have a tin of Penzance, Westminster, Quiet Nights and Frog Morton open. I'm looking to stock some bulk options and just need some help with comparable flavors and such.

PS - I don't neglect the VA's and VaPer's. Have a jar of bulk PS - LBF and a tin of Blackwood open. Just favoring the darker flavors, english blends more and more.

 

[PozzSka]

I have a bit of the 2045 Oriental Mixture and I like it a lot.

It's a sweeter smoke, easy on the campfire. Definitely worth a try.

 

[SteveS]

I enjoy McClelland 2015 ... which is a bulk tobacco, though not one of those on your list ... no quality problems at all ...

 

[Kelhammer]

I smoke the 5110 and 2030.  I like them both.  5110 is likely to remind you of Frog Morton. I have some I would be willing to send you. While I enjoy a bowl, I personally get bored with it after a few bowls. 2030 is the way to go between these two for my taste buds. The first time I tried it I was still smoking way to fast.  All I tasted was asphalt. I tried it again a few months after some "light bulb" moments with my pipe. This time I enjoyed it so much I bought a pound of the stuff. The fella at my local pipe store calls this Pipe Makers Choice. He told me nearly every flavor to be found in tobacco is in this smoke. I am yet to totally agree with him but I understand his meaning.  I personally find little to no pepper taste in 2030 but it has all my other favorites. It is sweet, sour, and spicy in an incense way. It also makes a very full, heavy smoke which I like as well. I have some cellared as well as a open jar I smoke out of. This is a tobacco that has with out doubt given direction to my smoking journey. Again PM your address and I can send you a sample.

 

[docwatson]

Welcome to the forum, after a year of lurking I'm glad to see you finally post a message. You'll get plenty of sound advice from the Brothers here for sure. As for Bulk English mixtures I'll leave the recommendations to others because I'm enjoying Balkan, Virginia and Burley's much more at present. Cheers.

 

[Peter-B]

I smoke the 5110 and 2030.  I like them both.  5110 is likely to remind you of Frog Morton. I have some I would be willing to send you. While I enjoy a bowl, I personally get bored with it after a few bowls. 2030 is the way to go between these two for my taste buds. The first time I tried it I was still smoking way to fast.  All I tasted was asphalt. I tried it again a few months after some "light bulb" moments with my pipe. This time I enjoyed it so much I bought a pound of the stuff. The fella at my local pipe store calls this Pipe Makers Choice. He told me nearly every flavor to be found in tobacco is in this smoke. I am yet to totally agree with him but I understand his meaning.  I personally find little to no pepper taste in 2030 but it has all my other favorites. It is sweet, sour, and spicy in an incense way. It also makes a very full, heavy smoke which I like as well. I have some cellared as well as a open jar I smoke out of. This is a tobacco that has with out doubt given direction to my smoking journey. Again PM your address and I can send you a sample.

Thanks for this - helps a lot. I have a tin of Frog open mostly because i still had it. It's good but not that interesting to me. the heavier flavors and smoke I get out of some of other things I've had (Gaslight, Old Dog, Penzance, Westminster) are just much more interesting to me. That 2030 is definitely worth looking at based on your description. The other thing I'd like to know is whether its worth saving three bucks on price model wise. It's listed at 27 bucks for 8 oz vs 30-31 for some of the GLP 8oz tins. As they say, its a good problem to have.

 

[Peter-B]

Welcome to the forum, after a year of lurking I'm glad to see you finally post a message. You'll get plenty of sound advice from the Brothers here for sure. As for Bulk English mixtures I'll leave the recommendations to others because I'm enjoying Balkan, Virginia and Burley's much more at present. Cheers.

Thanks for the welcome. I haven't been brave enough to venture towards burleys but I feel really good about the VA's in my stash. Blackwood's flake (VA) and LBF (probably not the best but I have a pound of it) for VaPer. I've also been sitting on a 100g tin of 2012 Xmas Cheer and Dark Star (about 2 years old).

I don't smoke enough VA's to stock up beyond what I have yet..

 

[monbla256]

Welcome to the forum, after a year of lurking I'm glad to see you finally post a message. You'll get plenty of sound advice from the Brothers here for sure. As for Bulk English mixtures I'll leave the recommendations to others because I'm enjoying Balkan, Virginia and Burley's much more at present. Cheers.

Thanks for the welcome.  I haven't been brave enough to venture towards burleys but I feel really good about the VA's in my stash.  Blackwood's flake (VA) and LBF (probably not the best but I have a pound of it) for VaPer.  I've also been sitting on a 100g tin of 2012 Xmas Cheer and Dark Star (about 2 years old).  

I don't smoke enough VA's to stock up beyond what I have yet..

Might I ask WHERE did you find Blackwoods Flake in BULK?? In the decade+ I've been smoking it. I've NEVER seen it sold in BULK!!
Another VERY GOOD VaPer that is not much smoked around here, it's relatively new, is Comoy's Cask #4 sold in bulk by smokingpipes. A nicely nuanced, smooth Vaper that can smoke strongly peppery or lightly based on how you prep and load it. Give some a try, you might like it. I do.  :twisted:

 

[Peter-B]

Welcome to the forum, after a year of lurking I'm glad to see you finally post a message. You'll get plenty of sound advice from the Brothers here for sure. As for Bulk English mixtures I'll leave the recommendations to others because I'm enjoying Balkan, Virginia and Burley's much more at present. Cheers.

Thanks for the welcome.  I haven't been brave enough to venture towards burleys but I feel really good about the VA's in my stash.  Blackwood's flake (VA) and LBF (probably not the best but I have a pound of it) for VaPer.  I've also been sitting on a 100g tin of 2012 Xmas Cheer and Dark Star (about 2 years old).  

I don't smoke enough VA's to stock up beyond what I have yet..

Might I ask WHERE did you find Blackwoods Flake in BULK?? In the decade+ I've been smoking it. I've NEVER seen it sold in BULK!!
Another VERY GOOD VaPer that is not much smoked around here, it's relatively new, is Comoy's Cask #4 sold in bulk by smokingpipes. A nicely nuanced, smooth Vaper that can smoke strongly peppery or lightly based on how you prep and load it. Give some a try, you might like it. I do.  :twisted:

Sorry for the confusion, the Blackwoods was in a standard 100g tin. I just don't smoke enough straight VA's to need to look at bulk options. Blackwood's is lovely though when I'm in the mood. The reason I'm looking at bulk for english type blends is because I probably smoke them 80% of the time, with VA, VaPer being the other 20%.

 

[Kelhammer]

If the 2030 sounded good. Grab a sample of Peter Stokkebye English Oriental Supreme. Very much along the same lines. I may even like this one better.

 

[Peter-B]

If the 2030 sounded good.  Grab a sample of Peter Stokkebye English Oriental Supreme. Very much along the same lines. I may even like this one better.

I had looked at the PS blends quite a bit but they all seem to have a good deal of cavendish in them; which I understand to be a filler tobacco. Do I have the wrong impression here?

 

[docwatson]

If the 2030 sounded good.  Grab a sample of Peter Stokkebye English Oriental Supreme. Very much along the same lines. I may even like this one better.

+1 on that recommendation.
I have a couple pounds of that stored and it's tops in flavor and bargain priced IMO.
And it's not a latakia bomb. For some reason I have fallen out of favor with heavy Latakia blends and Oriental Supreme is more of a Balkan that fits the bill for yours truly.

 

[monbla256]

If the 2030 sounded good.  Grab a sample of Peter Stokkebye English Oriental Supreme. Very much along the same lines. I may even like this one better.

I had looked at the PS blends quite a bit but they all seem to have a good deal of cavendish in them; which I understand to be a filler tobacco.  Do I have the wrong impression here?

YES. Cavendished 'bac is a type of processing of mostly Burleys to add varieties of sweetness to a blend. A classic blend which made FANTASTIC use of Brown Cavendish is Dunhill/STG's 965 which added the famous smokey/sweet smoothness it has. There are many European style aro's which are made in Denmark and the Netherlands which are predominately varieties of Cavendish style of 'bac. Hardly a filler  :twisted: 

 

[Brewdude]

If the 2030 sounded good.  Grab a sample of Peter Stokkebye English Oriental Supreme. Very much along the same lines. I may even like this one better.

I had looked at the PS blends quite a bit but they all seem to have a good deal of cavendish in them; which I understand to be a filler tobacco.  Do I have the wrong impression here?

YES. Cavendished 'bac is a type of processing of mostly Burleys to add varieties of sweetness to a blend. A classic blend which made FANTASTIC use of Brown Cavendish is Dunhill/STG's 965 which added the famous smokey/sweet smoothness it has. There are many European style aro's which are made in Denmark and the Netherlands which are predominately varieties of Cavendish style of 'bac. Hardly a filler   :twisted: 

Yup.

I once associated Cavendish with Danish blends, which always seemed too sweet to me. It turns out there are plenty of Cavendish blends where this is a component and adds to the overall blend without being dominant.

YMMV, of course.


Cheers,

RR




Cheers,

RR

 

[Peter-B]

Alright so I decided to get 8oz 2030 Balkan and 8oz full english 5110. Here's hoping they are decent since they are pretty much same price as GL Pease blends.

 

[Kelhammer]

Sounds like the beginning of a cellar to me. Yet another fly in the web.  8)

 

[Thomas Tkach]

For posterity's sake, here's another vote for PS English Oriental Supreme. Great bulk pricing and a good English blend. I had a small sample that I really liked, and if I didn't have a stockpile of Penzance, Westminster, and other English blends, I'd buy a pound of it to jar up.

 

[Crookshanks]

I see you've already purchased, so it may be moot, but I'd wonder how you prefer the frog Morton vs the quiet nights and Westminster. Could help the decision.

 

[Peter-B]

I see you've already purchased, so it may be moot, but I'd wonder how you prefer the frog Morton vs the quiet nights and Westminster. Could help the decision.

It's ok. I really liked it when I first got smoking, but honestly I have the tin open because it was left over and my younger brother wanted to try smoking a pipe. My favorite english from McC so far has been Old Dog; just a real good honest straightforward blend. Frog is maybe a little too mild for me more than once in a while.

the GL Pease blends I've gone through have been a revelation (as well as Penzance, but I sort of ration that). Quiet Nights, Westminster, Gaslight, have all been great. Maltese Falcon was nothing to write home about.

I'm going to try these McC bulks but I guess the next step is to try some PS blends. The whole point of bulks is to save money and I only save about 3 bucks between a GLP tin and McC bulks.

 

[monbla256]

. [/quote]
 The whole point of bulks is to save money and I only save about 3 bucks between a GLP tin and McC bulks.[/quote]

The OTHER reason for buying bulk is also that some blend/mixtures are NOT available in a tinned version!!  :twisted: