The overall effect is mild, and it is well suited to a morning smoke.

When openig the tin there is a nice sweet small to it. After lighting it in the pipe, the honey flavor jumps right out. I started salivating. I really love honey and this is quite delicious to me. Interestigly, I started crave for sweet snack after smoking my pipe.

Best result "i think" is having it after a heavy denner, or to unwind.

Burns evenly and cool. Little or soft draw to bring up the flavor.

After having smoked Mixture, Navy Mixture, Golden Blend and Norwood, I can say that this offering is more on the style of the last two of them. The honey/chocolate flavoring is very subtle, and sweetness is moderate. It tastes natural, with good honest tobacco flavours. Quite mild, soft and well-mannered, extremely well balanced. Of course, to my taste it lacks some punch or extra sparkle: Mixture is sweeter, more fragrant and complex; Navy Mixture has much more body and some more sweetness; Golden Blend is nuttier, more intense and Burley-oriented. Probably the one it comes closer to is Norwood, the only difference here is the Cavendish and I don't much feel its contribution as the taste alternates between nutty, grassy, slightly sweet and smoky.

As usual with Mac Baren tobaccos, it packs easily and burns great. If smoked sensibly, it doesn't bite at all (contrarily to what some say).

Overall good, but I prefer Mixture and Navy Mixture.

This blend is particularly enjoyed by Mac Baren fans (and I am one of them) who are very familiar with the famous Mac honey casing.

I like to smoke this blend when I am in mood for nothing.

One of the best tinned Virgina & burley blends. This is simple and dose not smoke hot unles puffed fast. This is a Slow and Soft mellow with honey note to it. A little tricky packing this is actually a german cut tobacco blends like this. You will get more on the floor then in the bowl.Somkes dry and will need to relight it from time to time. Definetly more Virgina then Burley but the burley is definetly there. A good blend to keep around from time to time. You can get away with smoking it in doors with out to much bother to others. Slow puff is best.

Drying it out considerably and rubbing it out to almost powder helped significantly, but it was still too full of bite for me to really enjoy it, particularly given the flat taste it offered.

EDIT MAY 2010: Tried a tin from my cellar. Had to dry it for a long, long time to keep the bite from killing my tongue, but was still severe. Once dried out to almost brittle, the taste was much more appreciated than the last time I tried a tin. I still don't know how people can say this doesn't bite, but with a well aged tin left open for a long time, the flavor comes out and can be appreciated. Smoke with a cold drink nearby.

2/3/08 I've changed my mind about this Mac Baren Symphony. After giving it some time to dry out a bit, I have to say that this has turned into a very pleasant smoke. I find it hard to believe that a wee bit of aging, once the tin was opened, would result in so different a tobacco flavor, but indeed this is the result. A nice flavor and a nice room note will have me buying another tin of Symphony for sure!

The tin aroma immediately triggered pleasant memories. But, alas, it's no longer a "marvelous" blend to me. While the aroma is rich and enjoyable -- both in the tin and in the smoke -- and this smokes very cool (especially for a MacBaren blend), there was virtually no flavor here. To my palate, it was so light as to be nearly tasteless. And, unfortunately, that's not what I'm looking for in a tobacco.

But, oh, did that aroma bring back memories!

This ready rubbed tobacco is very pleasantly cased with the standard MacBaren honey-like flavoring, but it is applied with a light touch. The tobacco smells sweet, but not syrupy, in the tin. The medium brown pieces rub out very easily for the pipe, and the moisture level was perfect upon opening the tin. It lit right away, and after a couple tamps and a relight, it burned all the way down with no trouble. It wasn't 100% bite free, but it required far less attention than other MacBaren blends.

The flavor has been described as 'nutty'. I'm not sure that is how I would describe it, but I see what others are talking about. I found the flavor to be straightforward and simple, but at the same time, not completely one dimensional. The surface layers of flavor are earthy and 'toasty'. The va. plays a minor role in lending natural seetness, while the cavendish kind of holds everything together.

Symphony would never become my favorite smoke. But it's very smokable and very affordable at two bucks an ounce, and for that alone it earns at least one star. I do smoke a couple bowls of it every few days or so. It's not the kind of tobacco that is going to bowl you over, but there is nothing to not like about it. It's simple, fairly tasty, inexpensive, and you can probably get it anywhere (in the world). I guess if it was the only tobacco I could get hold of, I wouldn't be unhappy.

I experienced the best of all three main components (Burley, VA, Cav). This tobacco is aptly called "Symphony" as the components complemented each other quite harmoniously. It wasn't a mish-mash of different tobaccos fighting for dominance. And it also had a subtly simple aspect to it. The very light top-coat was expertly applied in the right amount, as it never distracted but instead added a little something extra.

It required only a charring light, then one more touch of Colibri...and it required no more maintenance after that. This really allowed me to settle back with a good book and relax with my pipe, which really fit the bill.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed this smoke.

I smoke a lot of MacBaren blends, and this one ranks up there with the best of them.

On the downside, the drugstore Burleys will no longer be considered for my "simple" tobacco fix. The room aroma was pleasing and I generally have nothing but good things to say about this smooth and tasty blend.