Easy to pack and it seems it was aged with perfection, the flake was easy to light but kind of hard to keep lit, I tamped and lit about 3 times to get it going, and it needs constant attention to keep smoking.

In my honest opinion it smells like a forest fire, yep. I just remember my days in Arizona and the smell the forest fire gives off, slightly earthy, robust, burning wood chip scent.

Taste is mildly sweet/whiskey/bourbon with damn near no tongue bite. Does tend to cause some extra drippage in my pipes and had a nice light buzz after I was done. Great stuff.

Perfect amount of latakia for me. One tastes it in the background, as a delightful accent to the base of fine Virginias.

Gwladys has never complained of the aroma. So this is true artistry and skill in blending.

Packed loosely the pinched disks yield an excellent burn. Take slow shallow puffs for maximum flavour and aroma.

At first I thought my inexperience with "coin" tobacco was to blame for what was missing in this blend. I discovered that was not the case. I figured my inexperience with pipe tobaccos was to blame, and that was partially true. Ater trying numerous other tobaccos, hating some and liking some, I decided to go back to this. All of my expectations were gone. Alas, I discovered why this tobacco was unimpressive to me at first--I had prejudices about what it was. Thanks to MacBaren's leaving out the key word "Virginia" from the name of this blend, I expected something entirely different.

What I have found different from this blend compared to so many others is that it requires being in the moment. Yes, I can smoke some Balkan blends or Syrian blends while doing just about anything and still be left with a strong taste of it during and afterwards. The beauty of this blend is that it is so subtle yet so delicious if I smoke it slowly, then faster, than slowly, savoring the sweet honey Virginia and Cavendish, and finding hints of something else. It is the most relaxing tobacco I have ever smoked. I couldn't think about my problems, my stresses, my hurry and worry of the rat race; I had to chill out and be in the moment. I don't care for pure Virginias (unless it's mature Viginia), can't stand pure cavendish, and I love Latakia. I think that is why this is named as such. It's a bit of a paradox--it's named for the ingredient that can't be sensed too well, but it's what brings out the best of the other tobaccos.I'll keep for the occasional smoke when I need to just slow down and relax.

This tobacco is badly misnamed. It's a virginia with condimental latakia, and anyone hoping for a latakia-laden blend is going to be vastly disappointed.

It's sweet, woody in the same way that some McClelland blends are (Virginia Woods for example) and just incredibly deep.

Sometimes it's so sweet and so rich it's overpowering.

All this occurs if you smoke slow. I mean Sllooowwwwww. Like most Mac B blends. Master it and you will SEE.

Upon opening the tin, one can see a well packed, quite moist, curly cut tobacco. One is also greeted with an extremely sweet aroma. I’m unsure whether this is part of the casing, or topping (not sure if this is the case as nothing was ever mentioned in any of their ads), or simply what one may perceive as the Virginia and Cavendish present in this blend.

As it is a Virginia based blend, I made it a point to bring the moisture level way down. To me, drying out the tobacco to a certain moisture level prevents gurgling and bites. It did require a bit of time to dry and bring it to a more acceptable smoking state, as moisture level was a bit high. When properly dried, the weed gave out a good amount of smoke. It packed well and smoked well. Very little bite was detected when smoking this blend. The tobacco did have a hint of sweetness to it. Again I’m not sure if this tobacco is cased or topped, or if the sweetness in taste is due to the Virginia and Cavendish. I leave that up to the reviewers to decide. Latakia is almost non-existent. One must have a nose of a blood hound to smell it, and/or a “well tuned” palate to be able to savor it. This observation was well echoed by a few friends and associates as well.

However, this is as far as this blend goes. Other than the fact that it was sweet and had insignificant amount of Latakia, nothing memorable or exciting can be said about this blend. Perhaps adding an ounce (maybe more) of Latakia will improve its taste. That will be reserved for future discussion.

Overall, to me it’s just one of those “nothing to write home about” blends. It is neither good nor bad – it’s just a plain uneventful blend. Will I smoke it [again]? Maybe, who knows? Will I buy it or include it as part of my regular rotation? Definitely NOT! Sad to say, this is one blend that is going to be "somewhat recommended" in my book. 8-(

You smell right away once you open the tin.

No, the issue is the same as the other roll cakes: they are too mild in taste.

It will definitively suit beginners' needs, but a salty dog like myself, unfortunately not.

40 years ago a college classmate let me sample a bowl full. It was one of the first blends I ever tried and I although I liked it, I couldn't afford a tin of MacBarens at the time. After I graduated and was financially able to buy some I couldn't find a tobacco shop that had it in stock. Finally, last week I was able to buy a tin and it was as good as I remembered it. If I had to summarize the taste in one word it would be "rich". This is a very satisfying smoke and I am going to stock my cellar with it in the event I can't find another source for it in 40 years.

Update: This is a fine tobacco. I have mixed this into other latakia blends with wonderful results as well as appreciate it for what it is, a very sweet smoke indeed, and will continue to buy a couple of ounces from time to time. I've also discovered that smoking this blend in my pipes dedicated to my Latakia blends not only adds to the smoke but also seasons the pipe.

A rather mild Virginia with a little nutty cavendish. I like the "roll cake" coins with the dot of cavendish in the middle. Smokes well.

However, it's perfectly clear that the "Latakia" description on the brand is a blatant misnomer. I am not an experienced smoker but my father is and I have great memories from some of the tobaccos he used to smoke - I being too young to even be able to hold one in my jaw - so I usually asked my father to let me smell the tins and feel the tobacco in my hand. I distinctly remember this blend as I still have a stack of old 1980s tins with me and the latakia was so pure and strong on that mixture that I get more scent of latakia from an empty 25-year-old tin than I get from a freshly open one today.

I've discussed this matter with my father upon stating my disappointment over the current blend being sold under this name: indeed there are dozens of reasons why this blend has suffered immensely from the passage of time. Had we known then that this once delicious and outstanding tobacco would become a mere shadow of itself, we would have stocked a thousand tins.

(http://thedailypuffer.tumblr.com/)

I certainly did. The tin aroma is the least leathery of all the Mac Baren cut plugs, quite a bit more bright and VA-ish than Club Blend or Dark Twist. The presentation in the tin is, of course, similar. I can't make out the topping (well, I just barely can make out that there is one, just can't define what it is).

This one, like all the other coin cuts, needs to be rubbed out a little and needs a lot of space in the bowl. Lighting is actually somewhat easier than with the manufacturer's other cut plugs, and yes, the leaf does try to escape the bowl at first. After that, the smoke starts out sweet and bright, very much VA with a little spice. The toastiness and and even a little pepperiness build up throughout the bowl, while the VA never lets off and develops a sugary taste towards the end - beautiful.

The room note also develops throughout, from fragrant pure VA to something a little more subdued but still quite acceptable. The Latakia is unnoticeable to me in the room note, but the taste gets a gentle kick out of it, especially towards the end.

Overall, this is a very nice (and I think, misunderstood) blend, less old-fashioned in its characteristics than the manufacturer's other rolled offerings and with more variety throughout the smoke. No nicotine hammer, but satisfying; no strong-arm English Latakia cornucopia, but nevertheless very honest tobacco which I find well worth enjoying.