Mac Baren Uncle Louie Rum

It was the same situation which brought me to encounter Black Ambrosia: founding myself without any tobacco within reach. BA was a luckier casual meeting, I have to say...

We are still in the territory of the minimal(ist?) variations of the same theme, McB's is famous for. In this case the rhum soaking makes the little difference.

Tobacco is good quality, a mild blend indeed, but the rhum is cloying in the long run. Not bitey but needs the usual care. One of my largest bored Castello (G) gave me the greatest satisfaction with this. Nevertheless, at the middle of the pouch I find myself looking elsewhere (but not to the point that I will not reach its end).

The whole Uncle's line had not that great success, though being OTC products they are quite difficult to find even at specialized tobacconists. I can understand, why: ULR is not fish (regular) nor meat (aromatic). Regarding me, Mixture and Golden Blend better fit the bill. And, whenever my teeth get sweeter, some occasional Black Ambrosia.

I will definately not buy more.

When I saw some pouches of this at my local pipe shop I just had to grab one. I wasted no time in giving it a try as the artwork on the front seemed to beg me to load up.

Uncle Louie (whoever he is), is an aromatic fan for sure. The smell in the pouch was heavenly but it in no way matched the flavor presentation. I thought I smelled gobs of Vanilla and a touch of rum in the pouch, but I never tasted the rum notes at the match (although the Vanilla sure came through).

I did not really get a nicotine hit from this blend and I only wanted a couple of bowls before passing the remains on to an aromatic tobacco loving fellow pipester, but this one will work well for those who enjoy more than just plain tobacco flavor in their leaf.

I was very, very dissapointed in this blend. It is very similar to stokkebye royal guard rum. It is definitley not worth the money in my opinion. I tried it on a few different occasions out of a few different pipes. There is this, and I hate to say it but almost menthol like synthetic smell I detect when I smell the container. I smell it through the rum as kinda of an aftersmell or linger, if thats a good way to describe it. I have a very good sense of smell.

The burn is way too hot no matter how slow you smoke it. I am a serious pipe smoker and was really surprised how quick and bad this stuff could bake the roof of my mouth. I have had on every bowl a long lasting acrid taste in my mouth that nothing but time will remove. Seriously I just smoked another bowl tonight to finalize my opinion and my mouth tastes so bad right now from it. I smoked a couple hours ago! I am starting to wonder what the taste is from because nothing natural lingers like this, not even hot peppers.

If this stuff was 10 bucks a pound I could understand better. Also if this is how Mcbarren tobacco tastes in general I will not ever order or try anymore. There is plenty of tobacco like this available for a fraction of the cost. And at a local drug store.

From me this one gets one of the lowest ratings ever. I seriously want to throw it away! Horrible plain and simple. What a waste of time and money.

Update: I still hate this but I gave it to a good friend who smokes menthol cigs and sometimes a pipe. He agreed it had a menthol like smell and taste/sensation and he is smoking it. He says it is tollerable but not great and is only smoking it since he has it on hand.

I don't know whether ULR is a hybrid of McBaren's Regular Blend or the opposite. But throughout the pouch I had the strong feeling that I was smoking a little bit heavier and bity version of the Regular Blend. The truth is that I've searched the rum in vain, both in flavor and taste of the tobacco. What I've encountered is that same McBaren-ish taste of their modern, caramel syrup, Cavendish, with a hint of something that they must add in the Regular Blend... If you want to keep your tongue safe and sound, for Uncle Louie is a bitter, get the Regular Blend. Me, I'll just ignore it.

ULR has a classic Mac base and a flavouring of sweet Rum liberally splashed making the blend a bit too syrupy, despite this not a bad tobacco specially to smoke outdoor during a walk near the sea where the salty spray makes the flavour of many blends almost briney, this sweet-spicy-rum note is a good shield against saltiness so in this way (at least) it worth a try.

I stumbled across this rare to find 1.5 Oz. of Uncle Louie's Rum Tobacco at the Central Avenue Habanna tobac shop in Albany, NY. It took 15 minutes to cheque out because the clerk couldn't find it in the data base. He claimed the brand was discontinued but I hope not...we need plenty of diversity in Pipe Smoker World. Cost: $5.00. Tobac taxes in old New York State are some of the highest in the nation. Broke this blend in on a straight stemmed virgin briar I bought of the Habanna $24.50 each pipe board. A pleasant smoke, mild and satisfying to the bottom of the bowl. But like the chef Emeril I would have liked it "kicked up" a little more. So I took one of those aluminium covered clay disc pipe moisturizers and soaked it in my favorite Philippine Tanduay Rhum and put it in the bottom of the pouch. A week later it seems the flavour had improved and made the smoke more rhummy. I wonder if anyone else has ever tried such a flavouring approach? Happy hunting!

A good middle of the road Rum blend, I found it somewhat better than the whiskey blend from MacB. Worth a try.

I was just checking out a local B&M to see what they carried. They deal mostly with cigars but they carry several of MacBaren's blends in tins and the usual bulk mostly aromatic types. So I picked up a tin of this on a whim. Well, I like it. You can still taste real tobacco, mostly the burley coming through. The rum enhances the taste somewhat but really bolsters the aroma. The difference here with other rum soaked blends is the obvious quality of the tobaccos used. There is a bit more strength than your standard aromatic, not in the nicotine department but in the general body of the smoke. Unlike some of MacBaren's offerings, you can puff on this as aggressively as you like without fear of tanning your tongue. Will this become part of my regular stock? I doubt it but I am certainly enjoying this tin and would not hesitate to buy it again. I think rum is the most tobacco compatible spirit and this is certainly a good one and worth your consideration.

Not a bad blend by any means, but for me, like Cherry Ambrosia, a "second stringer" as far as a Mac Baren blend goes. I smoked several tins of this stuff. The tin aroma is pleasant but not very rummy in my opinion. It smoked sweet but left my tongue a bit cottony. Room aroma was pleasant and I could taste the tobaccos, but never did I really taste the rum component. I had no problems with moisture either. Occasionally, I got a whiff of that "pipey smell" that I always experience with Mac's Burley London Blend (one of my favorite of the Mac's). You really need to dry this one out and smoke slowly as it tends to burn hot making it hard to hold the briar (even with my usual slow, sip-like smoking). Like Cherry Ambrosia, I lost interest in this one as it just didn't satisfy. As far as aromatics go, I much prefer their Vanilla Cream Loose Cut and Honey & Chocolate, and not this one. From the manufacturer's viewpoint, perhaps it wasn't meant to be considered in the same light. I give it 2 stars out of 4.

I know some have reviewed this blend and not liked it, but I for one really do. The package aroma is just a teaser of what the tobacco is like. I find this blend to be smooth and mild with a very nice amount of sweetness. A nice change for me when I switch from am English blend. I keep this blend on hand always.