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..

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 ...

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?)

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.

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!

I believe the Navy Flake we're talking about, or at least the one I am, is MacBaren.

I really enjoy Mac Barens Vanilla flake. MIKE