The colour of the flakes are on the lighter side of brown and have no shortage of birds eye, further more they are quite broad and uniform in appearance - which is very common with Mac Baren, I'd be more surprised to pop a Mac Baren tin and not finding a perfect presentation. In short, it's as good as can be expected from people who are in the tobacco business for a reason.

The flake was folded and gently rubbed, which is how I usually pack flakes, into a bent Mastro da Paja, which serves as my primary aromatic pipe. It takes light easilly enough and is very well behaved in the pipe - another testament to the crafstmanship behind the flakes, I'd say. Tastewise we're dealing with a dominant burley force, which I had anticipated. The mouthfeel I get from this reminds me a bit of cognac backed up by the drier burley notes, with a bit of that Mac Baren honey signature wafting in and out. I had expected the honey character to play a larger role, but it did not, which I find is a good thing. Overall it stays pretty much the same for the duration of the smoke, only becoming a little harsh towards the end, which is a sign for me to let the pipe go out and move on with other things. All in all, not a bad smoke at all. Surprisingly flavoursome for a Mac Baren in my opinion. The room note is unobtrusive and dissipates rather quickly, and isn't likely to cause any trouble.

Drawbacks then - too mild, way too mild. This is not really a fault of the blend itself, as it doesn't tout itself as being strong (quite the opposite in fact). So this drawback becomes a case of preference on my part. But this review business is of course a subjective matter at the core. Some like it mild, some like it strong. I fall into the category of those who like it strong. But I'm sure there are many in the other camp, and there's no reason why we all can't get along.

In conclusion I would recommend this to people looking for a tobacco that is mild in taste and nicotine, but doesn't become bland or boring. Even though I have smoked quite a few pouches of the regular ready rubbed Mixture, and I definately wouldn't call myself an expert in the matter, but to me this is worlds apart from its supposed scottish sibling, I'm not sure why, if it is in fact the same apart from the pressing, but I know I prefer this over the ready rubbed any day. The only thing that comes to mind that is similar between the two is the tin aroma. But even there I'm actually not quite sure, memory may not serve since it was a few years since I had the RR around.

I found it to have manageable bite tendencies. Nowhere near as extreme as its counterpart, or many other Mac Baren's that I've tried (Hell hath no fury like a Mac Baren overpuffed, isn't that the way the saying goes?). Here I find no such fatigue on the palate, which chalks it up to one more reason to come back to this blend some time in the future, when pace requires changing.

Like most Mac Baren's (as I hear) it burns hotter than pig on fire in a really hot place. But other than that is quite pleasant. Very mild, so if you're hoping for a flavor that will knock you off your feet or kick you in the rear, this aint it.

That said, if you like a mild blend, this tastes fantastic, leaves a nice taste in the mouth etc... I'm a fan.

Unfortunately, not for me. Way too mild. It barely has any taste.

Same shape as the Navy Flake, both the tin and the flakes. Right moisture, ready to smoke by the fold and plug method. Lights easily and smokes cool, dry and almost biteless.

The aroma: I place it between Mixture and Navy Flake. I would say it's much more close to NF, just milder and gentler, very balanced and creamy, a true pleasure. A nice interplay between Virginias and Burleys, the spicy notes of the famous original Cavendish are in & out. It does not deteriorate after several relights.

The strength sticks around the mild notch, even milder than the RR version. Oh, I just would it a wee-bit stronger, this is the only complaint.

No bite whatsoever in my case. But then again I haven’t been puffing on it like a freight train in a vain effort to bring out a strength that is not there and was never meant to be. If you're looking for a powerhouse smokestack nic hit, you're advised to look elsewhere. I had been smoking some Sillems Black that left me with a bit of a blanket tongue, but MF did not exacerbate it and, mirabile dictu, it may have even ameliorated it.

A Bur/Va it definitely is, however the "Danish Cavendish" that is so typical of MacBaren and the slight honey afternote will not be ignored. I certainly would not classify it as an aromatic, but would caveat that statement by reiterating the aforementioned particularities of this blend. It seems to me very similar to Navy Flake, but with more tobaccoey and less honey taste. The flakes are packed ideally in the tin and are very easy to fill in the bowl. But I recommend that you air them for a day or two, because even though the flakes seem ideally dry right out of the tin, this tobacco will taste even better with some air time on it. Trust me on that one.

Boy, was I wrong, this time.

I picked up a 100 g tin (smallest size I could get locally) to restock my tobacco cabinet. A few days later, I tried it. The tin aroma was very much alike to Mixture (aka Scottish Blend), the slices more like Navy Flake (which I happen to like a lot), and the strength and taste are much more like Mixture than Navy Flake. They are different from Mixture, though; I think the blend is slightly different. Delicious, though, and the room note is every bit as good as the namesake's.

Being of the fold-and-drop style of flakes, it's easy to fill, light and enjoy. I need not re-light, nor does it burn hot, and my tongue remains unbitten. Nice, slow burn, and the taste does have a bit more variety than Mixture. Personally, I could use a little more strength, but that goes the other way, too: most flakes I have enjoyed so far are on the stronger end of the scale, relatively speaking. This one could be a great introduction to the World of Flake for the novice smoker.

-- addendum 09-11-15 -- I find I forgot to say that I still prefer Navy Flake over this one; for me it just has more zing and zest.

Having said that, this tin of Mixture Flake is my first return to the Mac Baren brand since those days, as I became an English/Balkan/Oriental fan and didn't deviate from those.

Upon opening this tin, I was pleasantly assaulted by what I remembered as the typical tin aroma from the Scottish Mixture, which brought back pleasant freshman year college memories. My first pipeful was in a Savinelli "Bing's Favorite" without the filter system, packed according to the traditional "fold and stuff" method. I fought to keep the pipe lit, and ended up with one of the worst cases of tongue bite I've had in living memory.

I decided this time, in the same pipe, to pack the tobac in the rubbed out style, and the result is so far very satisfying. I'm having a bit of trouble with gurgling, but I suspect that's because this little pipe hasn't grown it's full-sized adult cake in the bottom. The ash is clean and white with some "bits", and the burn is even.

The smoke itself is truly wonderful. It started with no taste, then began to grow into a gently spicy-sweetness, faintly of cinnamon, and is now developing the honey/biscuity taste some have alluded to. And no bite, so far. Which is a good thing for me because I'm typically a fast puffer. Obviously, slow and steady sipping is better than days of burnt mouth. If it goes out, relight it for heaven's sake! Nobody's watching and keeping score.

I do believe I'm going to purchase a few more tins for cellaring, and will use it as a "go to" blend when nothing else sounds appealing.

What a truly exquisite blend!

It's exactly Mac Baren's Mixture, but the flake format helps tremendously: load your pipe by simply folding the flakes and forming a plug, without rubbing them out, and you'll experience a wonderful hour/hour and a half of smoking.

Like Mixture, it has a wonderful biscuity and slightly honeyed taste which manages to be rather natural too: while cased, it is done rather subtly and elegantly, without chemical goop. It still does taste of true tobacco, only tamed by the artful skill of Danish tradition. Sweet, nutty, slightly earthy: really a masterful blend of Virginia, Burley and Cavendish. The beauty of this blend is that none of the single components shines in itself: it's the overall interplay that captivates.

Being in flake format, it smokes more slowly, drier and cooler, and lasts longer. Taste is much more intense, without being overwhelming. Actually the tin aroma, while still mouth-watering and very biscuity/honeyed, seems to me a little more soapy than the rubbed out Mixture: not a problem, as it still is very pleasant.

Sure, it can still a bit sharp and mouth-drying (especially if you puff a bit too strongly, which can happen since it burns so neatly), but it's an enormously enjoyable, low-maintenance and never tiresome blend.

My wife loves the smell (and she usually is VERY fussy: she hates English, she hates Balkans, she hates pure Virginia, she hates cloyingly sweet aromatics), and that is a bonus.

I'd recommend smoking it in a medium-sized pipe: too small a bowl will not give it enough time to develop and won't fulfill you completely (since it's a very mild/light blend in nicotine), too large a bowl will lead to a slightly monochromatic and watery final part of the smoke (though it still is better than many other tobaccos under this point of view).

Little known, but highly recommended (and please bear in mind that I have always been a lover of strong English/Balkan blends for the past 7 years, and that I used to find most of Mac Baren tobaccos completely uninteresting, lacking of interest and flat up to a couple of months ago!)

These flakes are exquisitely neat, compact and easy to lift from the rectangular tin, fold and stuff whole into your pipe. They smell delicious as sniffed in the container, without any aggressive topping stench.

The unrubbed slice lit easily and burned slowly and cooly most of the time. It only got a trifle hot towards the bottom third, when the amount of tobacco, broken down from poking, responded to re-lighting with a bit of anger.

The taste is not unlike several of the Fribourg & Treyer Virginia flakes I tried a while ago: mild, light indeed, yet still tasty enough. This one has the subtlest semi-sweet (not very sweet at all) character, with a muted smokiness that surprises but stays very much in the background. There is none of the Burley dullness or treacly topping of Mac Baren's Navy Flake.

Too inoquous for me, this superbly produced offering ought to please indeed those who want the lightest Virginia flake, expertly un-fanged by MB's elegant use of Burley and Cavendish-processed leaf.

As hard as I try I just can't seem to connect with any of MacBaren's blends.