Mac Baren HH Acadian Perique

(3.23)
This blend includes Virginia, burley, original cavendish, dark fired Kentucky, Oriental and of course a fair amount of perique. The HH Acadian Perique has no top flavor at all which means that you will only enjoy the tobacco taste. When smoked you will experience no tongue bite and this blend will smoke to the bottom, leaving only dry ashes. It is a rich, flavorful and very satisfying smoke.
Notes: Natural with about 5% or more perique; strong body for MacBaren. Minimum casing to retain some moisture in the tobacco.

Details

Brand Mac Baren
Blended By Per Jensen
Manufactured By Mac Baren
Blend Type Virginia/Perique
Contents Burley, Cavendish, Kentucky, Oriental/Turkish, Perique, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Ribbon
Packaging 100 grams tin weight
Country Denmark
Production No longer in production

Profile

Strength
Medium
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant to Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.23 / 4
50

35

14

6

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 105 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 20, 2014 Medium Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
The name of this mixture may imply to some that it's heavy in perique, but actually, it's a moderate amount. You will taste it all through the smoke. It doesn't dominate. Its stewed plum, mild raisins, figs, earth and mild spice are intertwined with familial notes from the woody, dry, earthy, floral, spicy dark fired Kentucky, along with a little dry Turkish (which is also woody, earthy, floral, herbal, lightly spicy and sour). There is a pleasant, gentle sweetness from the honey flavored cavendish, contrasted with a very mild nuttiness, earthy, woody, and a sweet note from the burley. They tend to be in the background. The Virginias are lightly tart and tangy citrusy with a little grass, dark fruit and wood, but mainly provides some earthy body to the proceedings. The strength and taste levels are medium. The nic-hit is just past the center of mild to medium. Won't bite or get harsh, but it does sport a few rough edges. Burns cool and clean at a moderate pace with a very consistent, rich flavor from start to finish. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, lightly lingering after taste. The room note is a slot stronger. Not far from being an all day smoke, and experienced VaPer smokers might look at it as such, although I would list this as a VaKyPer.

-JimInks
83 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 24, 2013 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
Perhaps the best unflavored Va/Bur/Per out there today, and certainly among the best values. A complex blend with layerings of unflavored , unadulterated tobacco flavors. An excellent blend for the true lover of tobacco (rather than casings). Don't let the Cavendish in the list above fool you: this is not a sweet blend. Firm Virginias with a more Perique-forward taste than the blend notes (5%) suggest. The Kentucky and orientals add to the complexity and make shoe-horning this one into a category more difficult. The best I could do as a comparison is to GL Pease's Cairo without the light top-noting. Think an English/Perique blend without the Latakia. Love this one, a regular in my rotation, and highly recommended to VaPer smokers.
54 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 13, 2015 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Very Pleasant
Dark and strong Virginia and Burley dark fired combine with a minimal but noticeable amount of Perique to provide a smoke for the ages! No artificial sweetness added or tasted in this one. Just a bold and highly flavorful compilation that makes it hard to keep stocked on the tobacconist's shelves. One of Mac Baren's finest-ever blends as far as I am concerned. I have many tins stockpiled for aging and future enjoyment.

Pipestud
50 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 28, 2009 Strong Extremely Mild Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
This is one that I was really wanting to like, and I think kudos are due to Mac Baren's for creating a blend so far from the Mac B "stable signature" that I can hardly believe it's from the same blender that gives us Dark Twist, Plumcake and Scottish Mixture. This does not share the bland quality of those three, I assure you.

Unfortunately, this has too much flavor for me. I found it strong and the tobaccos overly combative with one another. This blend has everything but the kitchen sink in it, and I think it comes out the worse for wear. The dominant flavor is perique, and perhaps they should have used a bit more of a conservative hand with it. Even though I love perique, I prefer a more skillful blending of it; it is, after all, a condiment tobacco. There is also too much body to this blend, if there is such a thing. The base tobaccos then become condiments to the perique by offsetting each others basic taste and creating a mish-mash of flavors that don't necessarily belong in a pipe bowl. Each bowl left a chalky, cigarette ash taste in my mouth upon its finish. It was not a pleasant experience.

That said, I think this is a blend that every perique lover should try. C&D's Old Joe Krantz has its followers, even though I found this tobacco as difficult to smoke as OJK. Others obviously enjoy this more than I, so if hugely complex and supremely perique-y is your thing, you should definitely grab a tin of this.
22 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 06, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
Why do some (many) folks get so violently antagonistic towards MacB products? It's just freakin' tobacco after all. In any event, I really love a few of these HH offerings, with this great blend being among them. The tin note is in your face but pleasant to me -- reeks of fermentation and perique but, together with undertones of fruit/wood, it is a bouquet that I very much enjoy. Great moisture (4 tins of experience thusfar), color, cut and overall texture. Packs, lights and smokes like a Bentley. Name aside, this is a well-conceived VaPer beautifully accented with Orientals (personal favorite) and some Burley, Cavendish and a kitchen sink I suspect. A top-shelf product. Again, the name is misleading -- the perique is judiciously used and the orientals and other tobaccos make it almost a Bayou English. But it's to me a great VaPer made even better with the oriental component. Very cool product.
Pipe Used: Larger Billiards and Rhodesians
PurchasedFrom: pipesandcigars; smokingpipes
Age When Smoked: 18 months
19 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 29, 2015 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Pleasant
Mac Baren - HH Arcadian Perique.

I don't find this as one sided as the name implies. I'd anticipated a smoke consumed by Perique, too sharp, maybe a bit of vinegar, but it's a lot fairer with flavours.

Right from the start the smoke's even-handed with the constituents. I can taste formidable Perique, for sure, but there's a lot more to the smoke: aside from the stronger leaves, Burley, Turkish, Kentucky, I get a soft sweetness from the Cav'. The only negative can be the heat and bite, so I employ a gentle technique to ensure optimum enjoyment.

Nicotine: medium to strong. Room-note: I like it.

The name doesn't fit, it should be called something which doesn't suggest as much Perique. But, it deserves four stars:

Highly recommended.
Pipe Used: Erik Nording
PurchasedFrom: Smoke King
Age When Smoked: New
16 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Mar 26, 2014 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
Upon opening the tin, I was immediately met with the sweet smell of Virginias and a bit of burley. The presence of orientals and perique are in the tin note as well, but not as noticeable. Tobacco is at a good moisture and packs and lights well. The sweetness of the Virginias is prevalent and the bitter burley is noticed in the aftertaste. The spiciness of the orientals and perique are subtle in the initial taste but their presence becomes known when blown through the nose. The taste of perique is more noticeable as the smoking experience continues though and there is definitely more of a nicotine presence than I am used to.

Overall, the strength and intensity of acadian perique is definitely not for the beginner. It's a stronger smoke with a pure tobacco flavor. It burns down to white ash and is easy to keep lit. It has a natural sweet and spicy flavor that is very satisfying and the nicotine is definitely noticeable. Overall, this is a quality blend that is for the smoker with a taste for the bold.
16 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jun 15, 2013 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
I admit to not being a fan of the HH series, while loving other Mac Baren blends. Syrian Latakia has too little Latakia, Matured Virginia has a wierd bitterish vinegary and smoked taste, and Highland Mixture is too thin for me.

This is probably the best in the series, although still not exactly my cup of tea.

Slightly moist in the tin, it needs some drying out. The Perique is well noticeable, and quite dominant during the smoke with its sour and spicy note. However, this tobacco stays quite monochromatic throughout, and with a dirty underlying note probably due to too much Cavendish and Burley. It's good, very tasty... but it fails to excite me or to be particularly refined. I still prefer straight virginias with perique, maybe with a touch of orientals, and preferably in flake format. For me, Ashton/Mc Connell's Old London still is the landmark to beat.

However, if you like stout tasting blends which are not too overpowering in nicotine, and you like Perique, you surely should give this one a try.
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 15, 2011 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
All of the HH blends from Mac Baren are unique and worthwhile. This, however, is my favorite. This I believe is destined to become a classic blend for two reasons. First, there is really nothing else like it that I am aware of on the market. Second, it has very fine smoking characteristics. These two qualities set it apart from the morass of blends available today, and make this something special.

The tobacco, as indicated by the blend description above, is a mixture of a number of different tobaccos. I am not sure why some reviewers gripe about this. It may be an issue of palate, but I do not think this tastes like floor sweepings or any other mishmosh of tobaccos. To my taste it is balanced, nuanced, and interesting. I also think the various condiment tobaccos, The inclusion of more than one being the thing that some find offputting, are actually complimentary of one another and create harmony. This is not, for example, one of those burley/VA blends with a little cavendish or perique thrown in to give it any flavor at all. Here the base of burley and VA's give it a well rounded and sweet flavor which lights and burns readily, and does not bite the tongue. The perique adds spice, and the orientals give it a smoky, complex flavor which is reminiscent, but distinct from, latakia. I am not sure what the dark fired kentucky does - I admit my ignorance in not having taken the time to learn about or familiarize myself with this tobacco, so that is for another day. This tastes good though, so it is ok in my book for now.

The tin aroma of this is incredible. It smells so good that it is hard to believe that it is not an aromatic. I love the cut, which is a chunky shag, and since it is not gooped up with toppings or humectants, it is not too moist, and is ready to smoke with just a little drying out of the tin. It packs easily, and, as noted above, lights up quickly and burns evenly with few relights. The flavor is fantastic, and offers layers of taste. It is spicy, and has one the strongest perique components that I have encountered. it is not overwhelming though, and the va's and oriental's continue to mingle and make themselves known throughout the bowl. It is not without nicotine, and will get to you if you smoke a large pipe's worth in one sitting.

This mixture is singular. You are not going to find a bunch of other blends that taste like this and burn as easily and smoothly. If you like perique, then this is going to blow you away. You have to be open for the addition of the orientals, however, which really do give this an additional flavor component unlike most other perique blends. This is wonderful offering from Mac Baren, and I play to lay up a number of tins for the future.
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 09, 2014 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
With the addition of burley, Kentucky, Cavendish and Orientals this is more an old English blend of pre mid-nineteenth century before Latakia became a popular addition...If you would care to smoke the type of blend that Chas. Dickens smoked, then this is it--and it is fantastic!...I don't know if this is what Mr. Halberg was shooting for, but he sure hit it on the nose.
Pipe Used: Various during testing
PurchasedFrom: Smokingpipes.com
Age When Smoked: Fresh when received
10 people found this review helpful.
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