This blend was an exception to past experience and has rekindled my interest in the Macbaren line.

Very nice.

Update: I really like this and have re-ordered. Tin aroma, taste, room note, burn, etc. are all very good. Easy on the pipe as well, with no goop, and good burn / minimal dottle.

Added an extra star as this is now a regular.

Further note: I generally smoke filtered (9 MM) pipes - tried in a Butz-Choquin last evening; some bitterness crept up the stem toward the end of the bowl. Will probably limit to filtered pipe use.

if you like MB Scotish mixture but you cant handle the tongue bite, try this one.

The aroma in the tin is very pleasant but not too strong or over whelming. As will all Mac Baren blends, I start out packing it very loosely on the first fill and lightly tap it down. Then I repeat the process but tap it down a little more firmly each time (only a couple more times). Overall, pack it a little looser than normal and you should be fine.

MM lights very well and stays lit for a good while. Like most everyone, you will need to relight once in a while. If you just smoke it slowly (slower than normal), you shouldn't have to worry about gurgles or bite. When your done, MM leaves a nice ash with very little dottle at the bottom of the bowl.

For those who are looking for a good 'first tobacco', I don't think you can go wrong with Mac Baren's Mixture Modern.

I couldn't finish even a bowl of this. A standard Danish mixture with lots of vanilia and fruity taste. Can be exceptional for a beginner and/or aromatic fan.

In what does this "Modern" version differ? Well, the differences are not subtle. Already from opening the tin, you can see that they added a lot of black cavendish to the recipe of the original version. Not sticky or goopy cavendish, but still it's a cavendish dominated blend compared to the visual balance of the original. The tin smell is also different: I detect a heavier flavoring, especially oriented on vanilla-like sweet aromas. While Mixture has, again, a great balance in aroma (you can smell the Virginias, the Burley, a honeyed sweetness, a grassy freshness... and the result is very appetizing), the Modern version is much more dominated by the sweetness although you can partly detect some familiar notes if you kow the classic Mixture. Sometimes I also get a hint of that weird slightly fermented sweet smell that is so typical of Dunhill's Royal Yacht!

It tends to pack a bit too tight, so use a light hand. At the match, it burns well, regularly and effortlessly. Only in the final part of the bowl it tends to need more relights. Slightly hotter than classic Mixture, though.

The taste... well, it's hard for me to tell exactly what I like and what I don't. Initially it's very sweet, again dominated by honey and vanilla. Then some of the character of the original Mixture also shines through. It's a light smoke, but absolutely not flavorless. At times, I would be tempted to say it has slightly more flavor than Mixture... problem is that it's often a monochromatic flavor, and rather "empty", with no particular depth. None of the complexity and wonderful sweet/sour/smoky alternation of flavors found in classic Mixture. The high presence of Cavendish leads to a slightly dirty taste, that leaves an impression on the palate which is not exactly rough... but also somehow mouth-drying and throat-rasping. Again, somehow I feel something in common to Royal Yacht (although the strength is absolutely not comparable: this is light stuff, while RY is a nicotine demon). At times during the smoke, especially in the second half of the bowl, you get moments in which it tastes very bland and steamy, and then it recovers.

Overall it's a blend which isn't bad at all if you like light and sweet aromatics. It has more taste than many of them, but what puzzles me is the lack of elegance, balance and intrigue that the classic Mixture (which isn't particularly heavier) has to offer. And some if its taste, some of its black cavendish-induced character, tends to bore me on the long run. Pleasant, but not completely satisfactory: I often finish the bowl by still wanting something else to satisfy me, but certainly NOT another bowl of Mixture Modern. Although it wasn't bad while it lasted. Go figure...

In the pouch: a light vanilla/ raisiny smell, very pleasant and not overpowering. The Virginia and Black Cavendish are a fairly coarse ribbon cut, with sprinkles of rubbed out Burley flake added. Moisture is similar to Original Choice, i.e. fairly moist but not overly so.

In the pipe: remembering MacBarens Scottish Blend Mixture I packed this one lightly which works fine. Lights easily, at first the seasoning is prevalent ( not in an unpleasant manner though), after a couple of minutes the Burley/ VA combination starts to come through and the taste gets darker and nuttier, but still on a mild and pleasant level. Smokes nice and dry, almost no tonguebite

All in all a very good attempt at an allround tobacco.

The printed "1" on the front forewarns for the lightness. You choose this only if you wish to smoke something light. Otherwise do not bother.

You chose this if you knowingly wish to smoke an aromatic; although this does not give too much of a tongue bite.

It is quite likely that you will find better aromatics but at least this is a decent choice. Not much to write home about but you easily reach for it again.