El Clan Aromatic es como el Éxeter aquí, no por que se parezcan sino por que es un tabaco popular que todos fuman en Europa sin importar cuan excelso sea el paladar de cada uno o con que pipa costosa lo hagan.
También, se lo conoce como Clan verde porque hay uno colorado o algo rosado y un tercero que no recuerdo.
Conviene fumarlo despacio por que es mordedor dejando la boca casacada. El resto leer el review que mejor lo explica:
Black Cavendish, Burley, Cavendish, Kentucky, Maryland, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring Alcohol / Liquor, Other / Misc
Cut Shag
Packaging 50g Pouch
Country DK
Production Currently available
Product Image
Strength
Mild
Flavoring
Mild to Medium
Taste
Mild to Medium
Room Note
Pleasant
Favorite Of 5 Users
2.0
132 reviews Reviews
4 star: 10
3 star: 32
2 star: 36
1 star: 54
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
DrDyson (120) 2009-09-19
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Mild Medium to Strong Mild to Medium Strong
Clan was a kind of gimmick tobacco back in the 1960s, mainly because of its odd and distinctive room note. In those days, no one had ever come across anything like it, and (along with Holland House) it enjoyed considerable popularity for a while, if only as an oddity. My then girlfriend loved it, and virtually insisted that I smoke it. In a certain sense it was (I think, looking back) a young man's tobacco: you smoked it if you wanted to smoke a pipe but wanted also to distance yourself from the St Bruno-smoking old codgers.
Clan still has its devotees, even in a world so full of exotic tastes and smells. It's cheap and cheerful, at any rate (once upon a time it was relatively pricey). It certainly isn't 'cool and slow burning', though. Even smoked slowly it's very hot and quickly gone, and it will certainly barbecue the beginner's tongue. You either like the room note or you don't (it isn't as pronounced these days as it used to be). I don't, and I find Clan far too hot to be enjoyable. It would be interesting to know what the '14 different tobaccos' are. The name and packet design seem intended to suggest that Clan has a Scottish character of some kind. I wonder why?
Worth a try, I guess, like everything else; but not recommended: too dry, too hot, too odd and bland in flavour. It's a tobacco that, to my mind, is all negatives and no positives, and I can't imagine why anybody likes it; I'd rather bite off one of my own fingers than smoke it again. To my taste, at least, Clan is horrible stuff.
Why, I wonder, do supermarket brands like this, mediocre or worse, become and stay popular enough to BE supermarket brands, available everywhere, whereas first-rate tobaccos are so hard to come by outside specialist tobacconists, and so often cease production? A deep question of economics, this.
Purchased From: Available more or less anywhere
Similar Blends: Similar to Holland House; but HH is far superior..
17 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Causeway (4) 2013-06-14
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Very Mild Very Mild Mild Tolerable
The horrors of Clan are well-documented on this site. To repeat what is often said: it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. It is a tobacco dreamed up by a cigarette smoker who is making a bad guess at the pipe-smoking experience. If you're reading, it's not even close, my friend.
It is often said that over-the-counter brands rely heavily on casings for effect and flavour. In Clan the casing is napalm, and the flavour is fire. It will burn your pipe, your fingers, your tongue; and it will probably toast the roof of your mouth if you're foolish enough to persist in smoking it.
Smoked in a pipe it is not really possible to differentiate between the different types of tobacco blended to make Clan; mainly because the pipe quickly becomes a fire tunnel. By rolling Clan in a cigarette it becomes possible to taste a variety of flavours. However, they do not mix well together - there's no subtlety or art in the blending; and the tobacco does not have a defining moment. Another major problem is that Clan appears to have no discernible nicotine hit, so as both pipe and cigarette tobacco it fails... it fails in every way.
It is mild enough because it tastes of nothing; its room note appears non-existent. I smoked it in three pipes - a 1980s Dunhill Bruyere, a 19th century Mahogany Meerschaum, and a no-name pipe. The Meerschaum gave me the best experience because I was able to sip. It didn't improve much, but at least I was aware I was smoking something other than the napalm casing.
Clan is still sold in supermarkets in the UK - it is almost always dried out because it has been sitting on the shelf for so long. I felt I wasn't giving the tobacco a fair chance without attempting to re-hydrate it; unfortunately any attempt to re-hydrate it results in it tasting even worse. I'm sure there is a way of reviving this tobacco by adding something innocuous - a slice of orange peel, or a potato peeling. Unfortunately I don't have the money to throw away on experimenting.
I've seen this tobacco referred to as cheap. In the UK, because of taxes, there is no such thing as a cheap tobacco - a bad pouch of Clan will cost you as much as a beautiful pouch of St Bruno. In such a situation you would think Clan would have been withdrawn a long time ago; yet it persists; staring sullenly at me across the tobacco counter, and every so often I answer its gaze by buying it, thinking I might be rewarded for my audacity. But every time it disappoints.
Not at all recommended. Not at all. Still, I feel reluctant to be so honest - if only because I fear Clan will be withdrawn from supermarkets and we'll find out afterwards, too late, that if only we'd crumbled some essence of cobweb into the pouch it would have become a world-class smoke. But I doubt it.
I doubt Clan very much.
10 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
dugistheking (1) 2013-01-04
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Medium Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
Hello All, I am new to pipe smoking - 28 years old. Being smoking lightly for 6 months now. First of all I love the smell of CLAN due to my father smoking it for over 40 years. That's all he ever smokes. From the moment you open the well dressed packing, you are to enjoy a lovely aromatic mild smell. The very fact it has 14 different tobaccos I find rather exciting. Im no experienced pipe smoker but I find clan easy to pack my pipe. Just 3 pinches , gently pressed and im ready to light. The tobacco seems light and comes apart easily. The smell in the packet is lovely but the real joy comes when you smoke it. I find clan lights easily (only requiring one light after the first "false light"). I can often smoke a whole bowl without relighting - about 15-20 minutes. Clan is also good for relighting a bowl over a period of 2-3 times in a day for example. The biggest issue I find is clan burns very quickly and hot compared to other tobaccos I have tried (only 2-3 others ). My advise is to enjoy slowly otherwise you will get a sharp tongue bite. When I smoke clan I get lovely childhood memories of summers days, cold winters, all with the smell of clan reminding me of those occasions. All in all, I think CLAN is a lovely , mild aromatic smoke, to be enjoyed by both new and old pipe smokers. I hope this review was helpful! One trick my dad taught me the other week (first time we smoked together!) was when your pipe is getting dim, put two fingers over the bowl briefly and puff a few times. This act like when you put a fold of paper over a fire place - the air is dragged through and ignites the tobacco - a perfectly lit pipe again!
6 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Terrigar (5) 2013-06-26
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Mild to Medium Medium Medium Pleasant
Okay, I'm gonna get caned for this but I kinda like this stuff. Every now and again it's nice to smoke an aromatic. I usually don't but what the heck. I get fruity kind of soft boozy flavours from this and a kinda coconutty finish. Plenty of smoke and smokes all the way down, very little dottle. I don't get any tongue burn even if I lean on it a little, if you really puff it'll probably bite but most stuff does. All in all, something I like now and again.
5 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Granny Smith (23) 2014-11-09
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Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Mild Very Pleasant
This tobacco is not as bad as people make out, though it's certainly not my fravourite blend. But it is available in most UK shops - my OTC tobacco of choice is Condor followed by St. Bruno though I will pick up clan from time to time. It is distinctive for its aroma which leaves an enjoyable room note and when smoked carefully it releaes a lot of flavour - whiskey being one of the flavours I detect. Though Clan can bite of smoked too quickly which is perhaps why it gets so many negative reviews. I couldn't smoke this full time as I tend to enjoy more earthy tobaccos like the excellent Old Dark Fired or Virginnia Flake but I'll certainly puff on Clan from time to time. As an aromatic I think it's quite good and doesn't deserve all the negative reviews. As a young inexperienced pipe smoker this was my brand of choice but these days, having explored the range of better tobaccos out there, I tend to indulge in Clan very rarely. It's still far from shit though and offers a reasonable fix of Vitamin N.
Pipe Used: Falcon limited edition white tip
Age When Smoked: three months old
Purchased From: Tesco
Similar Blends: Holland House Aromatic.
4 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Lord Clam (5) 2013-05-02
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Mild Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
It may be unfashionable to like mild, light, wife friendly blends but I am really enjoying Clan. It smells like sherry or whisky in the pouch, more accurately like sherry casked whisky.
It is very dry, and smokes like a furnace, but has wonderful floral notes with a hint of alcohol and spice. Steady nicotine hit and a pleasant room note. It is a nice accompaniment to food, booze or coffe/tea because it doesn't drown everything else out like stronger tobaccos.
A nice, all - round everyday smoke with enough to please the expert or the novice. A pleasant surprise and well worth the money!
4 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
ROMMER (17) 2007-09-03
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Medium to Strong Medium to Strong Very Full Pleasant
Okay folks, here I am again updating my opinion of Clan and not only giving it 4 stars but also letting you all know why this underrated beauty is now my holy grain of all smokes.
Reason 1: Clans flavor is unlike any other pipe tobacco out there, it is utterly unique. Unlike Condor / St Bruno and most other English blends it misses out on the soapy overtones and instead tastes a lot like burnt toast with a herbal undertone...
Reason 2: However it is what Clan does to the pipe that overshadows the taste. Smoke Clan in any pipe and it immediately becomes a CLAN pipe. This stuff literally clings to the pipe and flavors it. Here is a true story. My grandfather (g.r.h.s) passed away over 10 years ago and I inherited his old pipe. Nothing grand, just an old Alco system pipe. I had not seen him smoke that pipe for at least 10 years prior to his death and yes, even after 20 years the pipe smelt of Clan. Not many tobaccos are that individual. Clan however is one of them. If you become a Clan smoker so do your pipes and after many bowls the taste just gets stronger and stronger. But how about the burn...
Reason 3: Some time ago now I gave up pipe smoking, yes prior to finding Clan I became utterly fed up with badly burning tobaccos, tobaccos that were wet and nasty, tobaccos that were expensive and useless. Clan however saved the day because imo it burns with the greatest ease of any tobacco in the world. It is never to wet when purchased and if you have any trouble at all just let it stand in the air for a few hours. It nearly always smokes away to a fine dust and is neither hot or fast burning. With Clan in the pipe you can smoke those pipes that you though were poor smokers, the stuff is made for the pipe.But again...
Reason 4: Smoking Clan is rebellious because most people try it once and give up, they never allow time to understand the tobaccos complexities. Those of us that smoke Clan are in a way the monority and thats a good poition to be in. Who wants to be just another St Bruno nut when he can be a Clan compadre!
Reason 5:The roots of Scandinavian Tobacco Group stretch to more than 200 years ago, when the three Danish tobacco dynasties, Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker, Copenhagen (founded 1750), C.W. Obel, Aalborg (1787) and R. Færchs Fabrikker, Holstebro (1869), launched their first products.
Say no more. Clan goes back donkeys years. I love it and I hope you will. If you dont then you can always send me your unwated tins and I will put them to good use
Thanks for reading.
4 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
ilDominante (11) 2004-02-01
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Medium Medium to Strong Full Very Pleasant
I think there is a big misconception about both Clan and Flying Dutchman. Both blends, in their pure and fresh state are very pleasant, especially if you prefer aromatic tobaccos. The problem is that recently bad batches of both pipeweeds ended up on the shelves of European tobacconists (these blends don't make it overseas in the US for conventions of some sort). Bad batches meaning that the tobaccos are dry like hay, and thus when smoked not only lose their fragrances and complexities, but often burn one's tongue. I just bought a pack of each in Venice, and rediscovered the old Clan and Flying Dutchman which I used to smoke about 10 years ago. The tobacco was moist as it is supposed to be and lent itself for a very pleasant smoke. Indeed one can enjoy the oriental notes that Niemeyer cites in the description of both weeds. The Cavendish is very evident. Those bad batches must have been mishandled or let dry on the shelves, for finally I have been able to taste again the true form of these tobaccos which are indeed very pleasant even to the discerning smoker.
4 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
artielon (6) 2014-05-22
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Mild to Medium Medium Medium Pleasant
I wet a couple of pipe cleaners and seal them in the pouch for 12 hours (and whenever it gets too dry) because it´s usually too dry and biting otherwise. It improves the characteristics (coolness, burning) and overall taste considerably. I find no big difference to more expensive brands and its availability is a plus.
Pipe Used: Falcon Coolway with filter
Age When Smoked: relatively fresh
Purchased From: R-kioski, Finland
Similar Blends: Ashton Rainy Day.
3 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
BowHunter (12) 2010-05-05
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Medium Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
First: I love EM, but..today, after years (I think more than 10) I bought again this tobacco. Clan. Most because it was my granfather and father tobacco, and also because I tried years before and I like the smell it leaves on pipes (of course pipes dedicated to aromatics).
I tried to smoke it very quietly, in relax and without strange worries. Kinda like "who cares about keeping lit, if it becomes too hot I'll let it go and cold down and then I'll re-lit"
wow! What a fresh and cool smoke! Not a single drop of wet, it smokes really dry, really nice aroma and good force.
Of course, be careful in filling the bowl and how do you smoke. If you are a hot smoker, bad taste is waiting for you.
In the end, very nice bowl, more than other famous aromatics and with a mildness grater than other "suggested" mixture, english or not.
Good.
For sure I'll smoke it again. It's a tobacco that wrote pipe history.
3 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Eulenburg (193) 2002-08-11
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Mild Mild to Medium Mild Pleasant
While the Dutch introduced tobacco cultivation to Java and Sumatra, what they grew there was essentially Virginia leaf, because only succulent, large-leafed tobacco can be grown in such a humid climate. The small-leafed tobacco from the Caucasus needs a more arid, more high-mountain kind of environment. It would rot under the Monsoon rain.
We call small-leafed tobacco "Oriental" because it comes from the Near East?not the Far East. The British call it "Turkish", because many of the lands where "Oriental/Turkish" tobaccos are grown were once part of the Turkish ["Ottoman"] Empire, even though the principal grower of these tobaccos nowadays tends to be Greece, which conquered its independence from the Ottoman sultans as long ago as the 1820s.
Clan is a typical Dutch-style Cavendish-processed blend: a wide variety of Virginia tobaccos pressed, steamed to open its pores, topped with a mild sweetening agent. It may then be blended with cased burley, to make it less biting, and because burley is much more receptive to flavouring sauces than Virginia. If any "Turkish" condimental tobacco is added, this is done with the object of avoiding a treacly feeling. A few leaves of Latakia or fire-cured Kentucky burley may be added to provide some body?not much, because mildness is the ideal in Dutch blending.
I swear I cannot tell the difference between CLAN and FLYING DUTCHMAN. There may not be any. In this category of classic aromatics, I prefer SAIL Yellow and AMPHORA Red. But there is a certain air de famille to all these Holland House Cavendish confections. They are beloved of mild-mannered patresfamilias all over Northern Europe.
(Because Americans tend to start their smoking careers with cheap, supermarket-sold, savagely-cased burley blends, they thereafter cast a prejudiced eye on all aromatic blends, once they feel they have "progressed" into "natural" blends. No such prejudice exists in Continental Europe, where quality aromatics are thought of as luxurious.)
Finally, one word of warning to believers in "aged" tobacco: beware of old aromatic tobacco. It does not age well at all. The casing agents go stale, and taste awful. Any "mediciny" taste in a Dutch blend probably means that the casing agents are beginning to go.
Like a stale lady's perfume, it is best avoided.
3 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Pipestud (1453) 2002-08-07
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Mild to Medium Very Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
Seeing tantric's listing of this blend in the New Reviews section reminded me that I have never reviewed this blend although I smoked a pouch about a year ago. I scrambled for my diary to get out my notes (I have been keeping a personal tobacco review diary for about 25 years). Anyway, tantric's review pretty much sums up my feelings about this blend, except that I see no comparison at all between Clan and St. Bruno Flake.
Clan is indeed a finely shag cut tobacco. And boy, is it dry in the pouch -- indeed very similar to Flying Dutchman. It packs and burns well, and is a spicy son of a gun! I may be wrong, but I even detected a smidgen of latakia flavor in the smoke.
It can get steamy, so, have an ample supply of pipe cleaners. It can also be puffed up into the hot zone if not handled with care. All in all, an okay smoke, but I shall not ever smoke the stuff again.
3 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Dogglebird (1) 2016-01-24
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Mild to Medium Medium Mild Very Pleasant
I am neither young nor a beginner as a pipe smoker, but I have become accustomed to Clan. This is not a great classic for the connoisseur and it's not a tobacco I would want to smoke every day, but it does have a couple of big plusses for me. The first is that my missus loves the smell rather than complains about it(I'm banned from some of the stronger ones like Navy Rolls). The second is that it's gentle on the palate - you can light up at any time and enjoy a quick pipe while having a cup of tea, or while doing something else. I mostly smoke Dunhill Standard Mixture or Squadron leader, and this is a nice change - now and again.
Pipe Used: GBD - briar with Meerschaum lining
Age When Smoked: 58
Purchased From: Online
Similar Blends: Holland House.
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
natibo (128) 2015-10-18
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Medium Medium Medium Tolerable
I tried this before reading the reviews and I was thinking to myself, I bet this is a beloved old European OTC blend. I found it had an unusual but pleasant taste and was quite satisfying.
Then I read the reviews! Boy to folks have this stuff. I must be in the minority. I am used to that as I am smarter and better looking than most people. Ha ha. I think it's a 2.5 start blend but am giving it three just to bump up its total score. Such haters.
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
ruraldean (3) 2014-05-29
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Mild Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
Well, I've read the reviews, which reflect entirely that one man's meat is another man's poison. I've not smoked Clan before, so this is based on about five bowls.
Yes, it can bite. It can really bite, but only if you suck on your pipe like a McDonald's milkshake. A gentle sipping releases far more than most have revealed in other reviews. There's a big vanilla hit, and the stuff does smell like Bird's Custard Powder in the bag, however, a little TLC coaxes a nice, buttery flavour, if a little thin, from the easily packed tobacco. This is a one light bowl. I don't even bother with a charring light, but slightly under fill the bowl , spark up and puff down to a wonderful fine white ash. I use an air-pocket method of packing, which definitely helps.
Overall, this doesn't scare me, it's inoffensive, and it's easy to get hold of. Somewhat recommended with a caution about over-drawing, unless pain is your friend.
Pipe Used: MM Cob
Age When Smoked: 58
Purchased From: Tesco
Similar Blends: Scotty's Butternut Burley (but with bite).
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
silvatorres (5) 2013-02-20
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Medium Mild Mild to Medium Pleasant
This has been the first acceptable pipe tobacco i have bought since i got back to smoking pipe last month.
Since i'm new here and this is my very first review, and yes i have a rather short experience with pipe smoking. Nevertheless i shall share with everyone my experience, so you can take it in consideration if you are a starter, just like me.
I must confess that my first contact with Clan was at a local convenience store where i went looking for some tobacco to get back to pipe smoking. The owner told me Clan aromatic was one of his best selling brands - I must say it's package really got me for it's good looks.
I've been smoking Clan frequently now. At first it felt very strong and i got some tong bite, because of my lack of experience. It burns hot in my opinion, but as you smoke it regularly you start to understand how to best do it.
I've smoked it indoor and outdoor and feel quite pleased with it, making a good companion for reading.
I was hopping it would taste just like it smells, but it doesn't. Nevertheless today i can start to distinguish some of its flavors in the taste and aroma it releases.
Note: 23/02/2013 - Smoked after cleaning the pipe with some portuguese liquor called "Licor Beirão", tasted really sweet, and proved to be very tasty smoked that way.
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
hamiltoncallum (3) 2013-02-15
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Strong Medium Medium Pleasant
I am a fan of St. Bruno, but not of Condor. If you recognise either of these, you may find familiar flavours in this brand.
It does smoke rather hot, which is cured with frequent sipping.
Nicotine is noticable, typical of such 'over-the-counter blends here in the UK.
In light of the extreme number of tobaccos used to produce this blend, on top of the added flavourings, this tobacco produces subtle, complex flavours.
You will not taste ALL, or even most of the tobaccos listed, but you will not be dissapointed nonetheless, particularly if you smoke aromatics.
On a personal note, I will not smoke this often, but have a (cheap) pipe dedicated to it.
I usually smoke Virginia flakes, St. Bruno, Irish XX(Black Bogey), Coniston Cut Plug, and various Balkan/English blends.
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
TheGalwegian (3) 2012-12-27
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Mild Strong Mild to Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Viewers will no doubt agree with my ratings up to the point of 'recommendation', where I deviate from the common opinion. Don't worry, I too find clan to smoke way too hot, to be a confused muddle of flavours and to bite like the devil's pet terrier, but I have just had a eureka moment (pipe smokers may say an 'epiphany').
Before Christmas I bought a pouch of the stuff, had all the old problems, but before leaving to visit my family I put two drops of peppermint oil in with it and left it back in the drawer. Upon returning (five days have passed) I found a completely reformed character!
The pouch smelled almost exactly like Murray mints, still lit nicely, but most importantly was an absolute JOY to smoke. Cool as you like, no bite, and the clusterfuck of flavours had transformed into beautiful complexity to be teased out a few at a time the whole way down the bowl.
This commonly available, dirt cheap blend I now hold up there with Samuel Gawith and Dunhill's aro's.
I've occasionally come across mention of peppermint used (in minute quantities) to 'cool' tobacco and reduce bite (one reviewer here went as far as to accuse SG's Squadron leader of being surreptitiously doped with the stuff on account of its mildness, as if it's a bad thing!), but the results here were astounding.
Try Clan, if you find the same problems as I did, consider the couple of drops. It may be the difference between a binned pouch and a fine smoke
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Stewiebob69 (7) 2010-11-04
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Mild Mild to Medium Mild to Medium Pleasant
I've been on another forum, and many people don't like Clan, but I find it very pleasurable if you smoke it right. I smoke it with my Mr Brog no47. This pipe has great, smooth air flow through the pipe (with it's 9mm filter), and as long as you lightly sip @ the pipe, the Clan tobacco burns slowly enough to release the flavours & taste to the bottom of the bowl. Just allow the smoke slowly roll over your tongue & into the olfactory senses in the nasal cavity to appreciate the delicate but cool flavours. As Clan is a fine cut tobacco, it needs a slow flow of air to burn, otherwise if you draw on the pipe too strongly it will burn too quickly and turn to ash straight away and give that harsh, bitter back bite. You know when the smoke is over as you taste the ash.
Packet smell: aromatic heathery, herby with touch of pine forest.
Taste & flavour: similar to it's fragrance, aromatic, heathery, herby, touch of resinous pine trees with a hint of liquorice at the end. Can be a bit sickly, so smoke in moderation. Mr Brog no47 has a small bowl size, so no problem there.
Room note: Pleasurable and fragrant.
A dessert smoke as opposed to something like St Bruno, which is more meaty and savoury in nature.
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Carrot (13) 2010-10-13
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Medium Medium Medium Pleasant
I have avoided buying supermarket tobacco for years after an unpleasant experience with Craven Ready Rubbed. Recently I found I'd run out of tobacco and was faced with Clan as my only option. When I bought it I thought that I would not like it. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I think this stuff is good. There are so many different tobaccos in this mix it's imposible to pick one out. I don't normally like aromatics but I liked Clan. The other good thing about this stuff is that it's readily available and It's cheap. I'll be smoking Clan on a regular basis from now on.
I see that this tobacco has had a lot of negative reviews. But I like it and I have not once had tongue bite, not one bit. After reading all the bad reviews I can't be sure we're smoking the same tobacco because I think it's really good. Oh well, try it because like me you may enjoy it. But many people don't like it.
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Moçambicano (13) 2009-02-22
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Medium Mild Medium Tolerable
I began pipe smoking around 1992, when I entered college. It was a time when tobacco wasn't considered a weapon of mass destruction, smoking was still considered to be a somewhat glamourous activity, and "Big-Cigarette-Tobacco" multinational companies hadn't started to buy and debase smaller blenders of pipe mixtures.
My parents then offered me a small pipe smoker's kit, which included an affordable "Amphora Milos" dutch filter pipe, and a huge 250 gr tin of Clan tobacco, which was by that time produced by Theodorus Niemeyer (nowadays the Clan brand belongs to British-American Tobacco Company and is blended by Orlik in Denmark).
Those where the days of pipe smoking. Me and my colleagues would spend whole evenings discussing philosophy and reciting poetry ? enacting our own version of the "Dead Poets' Society". Clan, or better said that old version of it, will always be part of my nostalgic remembrance of such happy times. It seemed such an honest blend, so tasteful, so trustworthy ? even after I discovered a truly high-quality favorite, Dunhill's London Mixture.
After more than a decade without puffing any pipe at all, I stumbled upon the old Amphora pipe. Trying to exorcise the sadness of fleeting years, I polished the briar, bought a pouch of Clan, disappointed to know that London Mixture had been meanwhile discontinued. I filled the bowl full of enthusiasm and nostalgia?
And then I got a second disappointment. This is not the Clan I knew. This is not even a decent tobacco, however cheap it might be priced. Clan has become a meaningless name in a label placed upon pouches containing dry grass, chloride and god-knows-what. It scorches the tongue as if it had been cased with napalm, then paves it with second-grade asphalt. So many expectations of reviving a bliss, such an anti-climax.
2 people found this review helpful.
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Chimney1966 (5) 2008-01-16
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Medium to Strong Medium Medium Pleasant
First of all, have to say, this tobacco is such that, either you like it, or you hate it. This tobacco would actually deserve grading "seven and half out of ten" (3 stars, when 4 is max). BUT, when asked "additionally" two questions: 1. Is this tobacco worth of the money? (Yes, it aint expensive, its about the cheapest one available here, and easiest to get from almost all kiosks and supermarkets) 2. Does it do what it is intended to do? (Yes, it certainly satisfies the basic need, nothing really fancy, but it certainly does it job even better than some more expensive "fancy blends") As conclusion, it earned all the stars.
Now, to the detailed assessment... Like so many others, I remeber this tobacco from my early childhood, my grandfather used to smoke this blend between 1967 and 1969 (he shifted from cigarettes to be a pipesmoker in 1967 and gave up smoking entirely 1969), and naturally there were lots of fond memories related to this. Even during time I was kid, I liked Clans tobacco pouch aroma, as as it was similar to strong liquorice ("salmiak") due ammonium chloride. I also noticed already then how well its packs in the bowl (as three years old, during late 1969 I sometimes had proviledge to "load" the pipe for my grandfather, and quickly learned how easy it was to pack properly) When I bought my first pipe (Dunhill, during 1992) I used first this blend as the tobacco to form the cake into the new bowl. And Clan was the tobacco which was to set the standards of being "the basic" pipe tobacco.
Regarding the CUT: The cut of Clan is a PROPER pipe tobacco cut, and is far superior than those unfortunate Scandinavian thin shag cuts (due their "roll your own" uses) which have in Scandinavian market "spoiled" Borkums Riff and Amphora tobaccos (and which really can damage the bowl of your pipe while burning excessively hot, and when too moist, are really prone to cause tongue bite). So, if visiting Scandinavia, and need to get a re-supply of pipe tobacco, Clan is fairly safe choice.
The distinctive "chemical smell" mentioned earlier by few reviewers (poupehan, Eldrich) is, no doubt, ammonium chloride which has been sprinkled over the blend. And just like Eldrich mentioned, I have heard similar stories that opening the pouch will cause this particular tobacco to loose its strength really fast (and relatively strong becames "extra mild"). Only way to secure that this tobacco will hold its slight moist and aroma is to pack it immediately after opening the pouch into a glass jar with airtight rubber seal and wire locked lid (this particular tobacco really needs "gastight" storage) So, as cheap as this tobacco might be, it is fairly demanding regarding proper storage. Also if this has been in shop shelf for long time, it might have lost some its strength. On the other hand.., if first bowl is too strong for you, store some of the tobacco (for bowl or two) in tiny metal box (without airtight seal) for a day...
Proper spicy flavor prevents beginners from buffing too hard, so actually this is suitable belnd for beginners (and then they can find something better smokes as "pleasant discoveries"). there are 14 different and it can be noticed while in pouch and while smoke. No doubt, there is Latakia, than can be tasted as well as Virginia and Burley. No wonder, so many cigarette smokers changed to this, as "a natural continuation". I have seen that there are additional variants of Clan such as Mild and Malt Whisky but never tried neither of them (even I would like to try Clan Malt Whisky sometime). Mild is available from local tobacco shop, but the another not...
Talking about room note of this tobacco is bit under-estimated in "size scale". As I was visiting one fairly small town (with not much traffic) as I walked along the street, I suddenly noticed clear aroma of Clan, and as I looked around, fellow (whom I knew) was standing across the street (in range of about 30 yards) and smoked his pipe...(so, in scale, almost "a street note") Distinctive (almost territorial) room note of Clan is fairly individualistic nowdays. Long time ago it was quite common, but nowdays relatively rare, but although fairly distinctive, most find it pleasant (and possibly due relatively rare encounter).
And just as ROMMER mentioned in earlier review, this tobacco really enters your system... After 20 minutes you can feel it, and its effect will last about 4 hours... Old folks used to say that this stuff enchances the blood circulation for quite a while, so, during a cold and rainy November day while feet and hands feel really cold, bowlful of Clan certainly "corrects" that (at least did that to me), during hot day (or in hot climate) might make someone to sweat. This might be reason why most loyal Clan smokers were old men...
I keep collection of dirrerent brands and blends of pipe tobacco stored for diffrerent occations, and most are more fancy (and expensive) than Clan, but Clan is "the old reliable" which has earned its place amongst the tobacco stock. When I can not decide which to enjoy a bowlful, then I choose Clan... In case I use my Peterson 303 System (which does not have a filter) I load bottom of the bowl (about 1/4 layer) with W.O.Larsens Old Fashioned, and then 3/4 of Clan. Clan provides the spice and bottom layer of Old Fashioned takes care that fine ash of perfectly combusting Clan does not endup to the bit... And it is fairly perfect smoke... I have enjoyed every bowl, never had tonguebit or irritation... Actually.., one time as I was once again affected by paper dust allergy (after processing old archive files the dust from old papers made my throat sore and nose running and feel really miserable) I loaded the bowl of my pipe (in frustration and miserable feeling condition) really full of Clan and smoked it during 30 minutes time... And after that, my thoroat was no longer dry or sore, and my nose was no longer running.., so, I dare to say Clan worked like anti-histamine and stopped allergic rhinitis... Indeed smells like medicine, but works like one too... Now you know, why Clan is one of my favourites...
Update: Earlier I smoked "original Clan", but latest have been DK made (made by Orlik), and although nicotone kick has somewhat reduced (milder than earlier), I just bought 200 grams tin of this stuff, so, it can not be all that bad as many think...
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Steerpike (60) 2007-03-16
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Mild Mild Medium Very Pleasant
I really enjoy this tobacco. It was always my fathers smoke of choice, so perhaps thats why I like it so much, the aroma seems comfortably familiar. Its a quite natural tasting aromatic in the Dutch tradition, very mild. The aroma is sweetenet with a subtle dose of vanilla, that does not mask the tobacco flavour, as in so many more heavily cased blends, but sweetens and adds to it. The tobacco is cut quite fine, into long even ribbons without too much stemmy bits, and is quite easy to pack evenly, due to the very even cut of the tobacco, although it helps to tease it apart a litle as you fill, rather than just stuffing it in. It lights as easily as it packs, and does not go out. This baccy does seem to vary a little from pouch to pouch in its moisture content, some can be a little damp, and so tend to gurgle, but this can be overcome by leaving it open for a while. Due to the sugars in it it is unlikely to get crispy dry though, so never really dries out in the pouch. A truly excellent aromatic.
---------------Update-------------------------------------------
Not having smoked this in a while, I got a pouch, and immediately wondered why I had been wasting my time trying so many other aromatics. If there is a perfect aromatic this is it. Admittedly there are others that are sweeter, like a vannilla explosion when you light up. But they also burn hotter, wetter and steamier, with far less taste of tobacco. They also represent an olfactory assult on anybody in the room not unlike an overdose of perfume, which is all very well if people like vanilla/cherry/whatever else but some don't. The aroma of clan is indeed unobtrusive, sweet in its own way, but the sweetness is so artfully blended in that it cannot be told apart from the smell of the tobacco as with some sweeter blends. The tobaccos used in this blend are diverse, and the casings include rum, vanilla, and liquorice, in restrained doses. I've not found that anybody dislikes its aroma, but many people have told me that it smells nice, including a number of people with an absolute aversion to tobacco smoke.
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Tantric (284) 2002-08-08
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Mild to Medium Medium Mild to Medium Very Pleasant
Another traditional, readily available, easy to smoke mixture, with a very characteristic Dutch note despite the heavy but agreeable casing. Basically medium brown tobaccos, very fine cut in long thin ribbons (which if scissor-cut could actually be smoked in a cigarette), Clan is perhaps one of the most popular pipe tobaccos in Europe. You can find it almost anywhere, including airports and news stands. If not used to the Dutch processing techniques?which are similar to the French caporal taste (this one, believe it or not, does have some Oriental leaf varieties, probably from the Indonesian regions that were once Dutch colonies)?it may at first taste a little bit harsh. Because of the fine cut it may also produce a severe case of tongue bite. But once you get used to it, and master the skill of puffing slowly, it is a good alternative when stranded in unfamiliar places with no proper tobacconist nearby. It is not a goopy tobacco?in fact it is rather dry?and you have to take care not to overfill the bowl. It burns dry, and the sweetness of the casing, though present throughout the smoke, is not strong enough to obliterate the tobacco flavour underneath. Think of it as an aromatic version of the Flying Dutchman. All in all, not a bad smoke, along the lines of Gold Block and the Amphora range, but with a slightly sharper edge to it. The aroma, by the way, is one of the most appreciated qualities of this blend, and even non smokers seem to be enthusiastic about it.
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NB: I read the esteemed Pipestud's comment regarding the St. Bruno/Clan comparison. I am sure he must be right. I have only tired St. Bruno ready rubbed. It seems the flake version (just like in Erinmore) is less sweet and stronger.
2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Ripp The Jacker (4) 2016-04-18
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Mild Mild Extremely Mild (Flat) Pleasant
From the name and pouch art you may be fooled into thinking this is some kind of Scottish mixture and may even conjure images in your mind of the highlands and whiskey etc - and you would be sadly hoodwinked. This blend is in fact a Dutch style aromatic and all the tartan artwork won't change that a jot.
Once you open up the pouch you are greeted by a most beguiling and enticing aroma of sweet liquor and molasses. That, unfortunately is where the good times end with this blend.
It packs easy enough and takes a flame well...a bit too well in fact, oh mate does this blend burn, even when sipping lightly the tobacco is so incendiary you find yourself at the bottom of the bowl in no time at all, this is where sipping comes in, because if you don't you'll get the worse tongue bite of your life.
The blend boasts 14 different tobaccos contained within but good luck tasting and identifying any of them, the flavour is incredibly flat, even retrohaling won't yield any substantial flavours.
At the end of the bowl you're left with a tingly tongue, a sense of disappointment and buyer's remorse...but hey, at least your room smells faintly nice!
A pleasant room note does not a good tobacco make, it's almost like a non-smoker created a blend that they would enjoy from an audience point of view. You'd be better off buying a much better blend and a cheap candle from Poundland to compensate for the room note. Seriously, give this one a miss, it's really not worth it.
Pipe Used: MM Legend, Brog Churchwarden
Age When Smoked: Fresh
Purchased From: Local Newsagent
Similar Blends: Van Rossems - Troost Aromatic Cavendish.
1 person found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Pipe4ever (202) 2016-04-17
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Mild Medium Medium Pleasant
This new Orlik version of CLAN is much different and much better than the original one, it is a ribbon cut blend, (no more shag), has a good, fresh quality tobacco flavor and it is less aromatic than the old version, mild and uncomplicated all day smoke. one of the best OTC tobacco pouch.
1 person found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
cajun (11) 2015-09-20
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Very Mild Strong Medium Pleasant
I live in the UK so when I first began pipe smoking I just had to try this classic. No matter what I did with it I couldn't take to it at all. The aroma was the only thing that had any appeal, and I found that as a novice I was prone to have difficulty in packing the very long strands into the pipe. A seasoned veteran pipe smoker suggested that I do as he did and mix it 50/50 with Condor ready rubbed. This had the effect of me abandoning it completely as I simply couldn't get the resulting concoction to burn properly.
I would say that, contrary to popular belief, this may be a tobacco for an experienced pipe smoker who knows how to fill and smoke a pipe properly. My early experiences of it were very negative, and I have never smoked it for over 30 years.
It obviously has a lot of appeal as it's still on sale in every other tobacco outlet in the UK. In Scotland the shops aren't allowed to put any tobacco products on display, so I now buy all my tobacco online. Pipe smoking is definitely no longer in fashion in the UK, and standing asking a young shop assistant whether they stock various pipe tobaccos, because you cannot see them on display, is sure to upset the younger element in the queue behind you waiting to buy their favourite cigarette rolling tobacco. Most of them cannot afford "real" cigarettes.
Sorry, went off the topic there. In short, I would say that everybody should try this mixture, and those who can identify 3 of the 14 tobaccos in the mixture should be offered a prize. Air freshener sprays are cheaper in the UK than this aromatic tobacco, and won't burn the bowl out of your pipe.
Pipe Used: various
Age When Smoked: straight from pretty packet
Purchased From: Various pipe shops of olde
Similar Blends: Cannot answer that one.
1 person found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Telling it how it is. (73) 2015-08-07
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Mild Mild Mild to Medium Tolerable
I am trying to come up with a way to describe the pouch aroma, but i fail. It is of undefined sweetness, some alcoholic hint and some spiciness.
Packing and lighting are easy and pretty much the only good thing to say about it, is its excellent and fast burning properties. But as has been said so many times, it burns hot, hot, hot. That becomes better when you do recondition the always dry contents.
Taste is sweet, and spicy, with some slight alcohol note. And believe it or not, you will get plenty of tobacco taste as well.
It does not has as much of a tongue burn but it literally rips your tongue apart. Think brushing your tongue with sandpaper, that is pretty much the experience traditionally offered by Clan. Again, something that gets better if you humidify the tobacco to a proper condition. But it still will just torture you no matter what you do.
If you do not know the history of this blend then all you need to know is that it was made up to get rid of all the scraps that where produced when making other blends. That's no joke either, an ex-employee of Niemeyer confirmed that, so here is your answer to that question. And also the answer as to why its still in production.
Room note is of some heavy sweetness and its gotten better with its current incarnation. But you still either like it or not, there is no middle ground as it seems.
Do i recommend this blend? Well, that depends. I do recommend this blend because in all its inferiority it still is a true need to know tobacco. But for its plain evilness i do not recommend this tobacco to anyone. So, in the end you have to make up your mind on your own ....
Pipe Used: It went trough rotation.
1 person found this review helpful.
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Pipenick (26) 2014-12-16
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Mild Mild to Medium Mild Tolerable
