No tongue bite whatsoever (unlike many/most other MacBaren blends I've smoked), burns easily but slowly and typically stays lit.

Tastes slightly nutty, slightly sweet, slightly chocolaty, very subtle overall, really good mild-medium tobacco flavor.

Satisfies the craving for nicotine.

Smells like good plain old pipe tobacco in the room which others (including non-smokers) typically don't mind.

I used to be a VA flake fan, and I've smoked and enjoyed plenty of Latakia blends (including Dunhills and some of the recent excellent Pease blends), but Burley London Blend is now my all-time favorite. I can't see myself smoking VA or Latakia blends more than ocasionally any more, but Burley London Blend is definitely on my twice or thrice daily menu.

For the newcomer to all Burley blends, the lack of any taste can be annoying at first. And trigger the "Why are there so many people enjoying all Burley mixtures?"

With some patience and a lot of attention to it, subtle tastes will start shining trough. And reveal a decent level of nicotine.

All Burley blends are not bold in taste. You need to dedicate yourself entirely to your smoke in order to get rewarded.

The tin aroma is delicious and is reflected in the smoking.

This has a superb pouch / bag aroma -- real tobacco smell. It looks like a rubbed out flake, so the pieces are fairly long and thick. I shredded mine before packing.

The taste is real tobacco, with a very slight lemony / honey note. Overall, I would rate the topping as unobtrusive, and in some of my pipes I really didn't notice it. Just a fine tobacco flavour, all the way down.

Surprisingly for Macbaren, no bite with this one. It could be a little darker and rougher, but no complaints. A very good all-day type of blend, and a great price.

The only drawback I've found is towards the end of the bowl, where it sometimes gets a bit bitter, lacking either little more virginias or a sweeter casing. This problem only appears with certain pipes and only in very large bowls. A medium to large pipe will deliver all the flavor of a great tobacco from top to bottom.

There's not much to add, except that it's a solid burley, and if it weren't for that single detriment to an otherwise terrific blend, this would rate 4 stars from me.

As it stands now though, LJ Heart Burley is just as tasty, and it's a much smoother smoke.

That same bitter chocolate is evident in the smoke, to me it was a harshness bodering on bitter. I also found out why Mac Baren is known for biting.

PA over this, but neither on a regular basis. My bane could be your blessing. Not for me, perhaps for thee.

By the way, the tins are cheap and rust out after a while.

The semi-rubbed burley smells great in the tin. It is a real tobacco smell and has a perfect moisture degree. Packs and lights easily. It is burning fast but with a well controled puffing cadence it offers a cool and nutty smoke. The casing is very light so that you can enjoy a pleasent sweetness as well as the burley's characteristic true tobacco taste.

It is a good choice for me between my regular Virginia smokes.

Ordered this in bulk and it arrived, as remarked by others, only partially rubbed out. My initial problem, I believe, was with the seller: the stuff was so dry that when I started rubbing it out, it crumbled into fine grains almost the size of table salt. After re-hydrating it a bit and being more careful, loaded up a bowl and went at it. Man, for a Burley, this stuff was STRONG. Started to get a few nips that felt as if it was going to bite. Went to the computer and reread the reviews and saw Traderbob and Creeper's recommendation to pack this very lightly and tried that with a fresh bowl. Made all the difference in the world. It now offers an extremely satisfying, tasty smoke with no more problems.

When properly hydrated, packs very well, lights easily and gets going with just one light, easily stays lit all the way down and leaves a dark charcoal ash with no dollop. Smokes cool and with no hint of a bite (now), extremely honest and pure tobacco flavor, and leaves no objectionable taste in the mouth or pipe.

Thoroughly enjoyable smoke that never pulls your chain. Don't know that I'd recommend this for a beginner; it certainly does not qualify as an aromatic and is a really serious baccy that IMO only a seasoned, serious pipe smoker would enjoy.

It took me a bit to figure this one out, as I'm still a noob, but I've smoked it mainly in the same pipe from day one. I tried it in a few others, but noticed this blend is very prone to intrusion from ghosting. As Pipestud said, it also likes to be packed very light. I trickle fill the bowl, then push in just a small pinch to finish.

Overall, I love it. It's a hearty burley, but sweet. The "mocha" flavor I get with other burleys isn't overpowering, and once in a while I get a nice taste of pepper. Just a nice easy smoke, with no worries.

I've been smokin this blend for a year and a half now. It is my go to blend.

The scent when opening the tin is "woodsy" with a scent of nut. I love the scent that it leaves on my fingers after rubbing for the bowl. This tobacco is typical of the rougher cut in that I generally light and then have to tamp down and re-light after the initial start.

The tobacco I purchased was from an old 5 pound sack and had some age on it from the look of it. A very faint sugar water scent is apparent when opening the ziplock, and that classic ephemeral chocolate nose and taste that comes with a good burley soon follows.

It's a broken flake, rather dark in color, smells great when burning, but might not be appreciated by everyone, and tastes good too! It may need some drying to prevent tongue bite, but I've adapted to Mac Baren tobacco's burning sugar bite by simply sipping slowly, so that it looses most of its heat in the stem.

Some interesting flavors develop down the bowl - no bitterness here! More of a granny apple and caramel taste (which are solely tobacco developments and not casings, from the fermentation and sugars in the leaf) for lack of better terms, which weaves its way in and out during the last half of the bowl. It's got some complexity and is by no means monochromatic nor bland.

Highly recommended. Try this one with some 12 year old Jameson Irish whisky.

Of course you have to like the taste of Burley: woody, oaky, grassy, earthy slightly astringent, with notes of fresh yeast and black coffee. But this great blend does not turn exceedingly bitter like other Burleys do.

The usual Mac Baren casing is applied sparingly (some honey? some bitter cocoa?), and the result is a tobacco that comes on the dry side, burns great, velvety and with no bite, while maintaining an intense taste from start to finish.

Sure, Burley can be a bit monochromatic on the long run, and I prefer the variations offered by Mac Baren Navy Mixture (which is less Burley oriented and sweeter), but as Burley-dominated blends go, this is one of the best. I might almost be tempted to say that it behaves better than the legendary Edgeworth Sliced...

I really wished to taste some good Burley so I got a couple of 100grms tins of BLB coming from Amsterdam.

Oh yes, BLB is slightly cased. I feel some alcoholic topping (rhum?) and a nice chocolate note (but this may belong to the tobacco itself) in the tin aroma. The cut is a chunky ready rubbed, the weed bit greasy at the touch, the colour a grey-ish medium brown.

No need of particular care in filling the pipe, just light hand and a bit more rubbing on top. Lights good and burns even better, leaving a light grey fluffy ash. Musty, earthy, woodsy, plain smoke with just a hint of chocolate sweetness and occasional peppery notes: IMHO this is tobacco with the slightest correction possible.

Seems to me that BLB is the only true medium smoke produced by McB.

I have overcome the bite issue, but I would make you sure that in no way BLB will bite you.

I truly like it, of course a plain smoke like this need alternation; and would forget the all-day tobacco issue, because simply there is no reason to look for the same tobacco for a lifetime, nor for a whole day. There are several other things we cannot change every day (the wife, just to name one...).

Fortunately we can change pipes and tobaccos.