As noted below, it definitely benefits from some drying time.

Kudos to Mac Baren for extending their range. As the reviews show, they've landed a hit! Although HH Matured Virgina is definitely not for this smoker, it's a heck of a lot better in the pipe than in the tin, and, judging by its popularity, this may be just the one for you.

Tongue taste (the taste you feel on your tongue when you first get the smoke into your mouth): subtle, slightly sweet, not over powerful but rather mild.

Snork taste (the taste when you roll the smoke around in your mouth and out of your nostrils): semi-sweet, perhaps a bit of autumn forest... but still with a clear and natural tobacco taste.

All together: thoroughly enjoyable, but still not at the same level as MacB Mixture (it kind of tastes like a less sweet, somewhat milder or rounder version of that one).

I have now bought and smoked maybe 10 or 12 different tobaccos and this is still my favorite. The flavor of this tobacco is subtle at first but gets sweeter as the bowl gets to the bottom. Thankfully this smokes nothing like it smells in the tin. There are many different subtle flavors going on throughout a bowl, and I have found this tobacco to be great whether smoked quickly like a former cigarette smoker would smoke it; or slowly as I would while reading a book or relaxing.

I have discovered many other blends that I really like and look forward to smoking many, many more. This stuff is still my favorite, perhaps because it's what initially hooked me on piping, or because it is just a good smoke.

Good God, I'm going on forever here. Just go out and buy a tin of it (100g tin is also very reasonable BTW). You won't regret it.

Where I think Mac Baren is really hitting it out of the park with these is the balance of flavor and smoking characteristics. We can all think of any number of blends which taste good or offer a singular experience, but extract some price in the smoking area in return. Maybe they are hard to light and keep lit, or they burn hot and scorch your tongue. Not here. Each one of these blends, and this one is no exception, is blended to ensure that the smoking process is going to be as hassle and tongue bit free as possible. Now, as with any blend, if you puff like a steam engine and relight every 2 minutes you can get these burning hot, but setting aside that type of abuse, you are not going to find this or the other HH blends to bite or be difficult to keep burning.

This has a pleasant ripe matured virginia odor from the tin, and you can detect the orientals in there as well. It is in a nice ribbon or shag cut, and packs easily into a bowl. It accepts a char quickly, and once lit burns easily with some tamping at regular intervals. These are very natural tobaccos, and dry quickly if left out of the tin, which is nice for having a quick smoke. It is frustrating to decide what you want to smoke and then have to wait two hours for it to dry out. The flavor is rich and tasty. I would agree that it is not as complex as something like Best Brown or Full Virginia Flake, but it is not monotone either. The virginias are up front, but the oriental offers a backbone that gives this a totally different and richer flavor profile than many other VA blends, without moving fully into English/Scottish blend territory.

This, along with the nicotine strength, which I would peg at moderate, make this a very nice well rounded smoke. You can pack a larger size bowl of this and read a book for an hour without fear of having visions from the strength, and it is tasty without being overwhelming. Finally, Mac Baren is pricing these very fairly right now, which makes all of the HH blends just about the best deals going.

PS - One reviewer described this as a goopy mess and an over the top aromatic. I am not directing this at the reviewer personally, but I cannot imagine what tobacco he could have been talking about. This is in no way, shape, or form an aromatic, has no flavored casing or topping, and is not goopy in the least. It is hard to imagine that he was even reviewing the same blend, but I wanted to specifically address this in the event that anyone would read that review and take it at face value, leaving with the impression that this is some sort of Danish style aromatic ( and I do not think "goopy mess" is a fair assessment of the quality offerings in that style either). This blend could not be farther from that style of tobacco. The HH line is a total departure from the other Mac Baren offerings, and have become not only my favorites from them, but some of my favorite blends overall.

I found a vendor that sold it in bulk and when I removed the plastic rimmed lid of those familiar glass tobacco jars for a whiff of H.H. Matured Virginia, I was greeted by the oddest smell... Tabasco sauce... This from a blender famous for their napalm on a stick blends - how poetic is that? I was assured that it didn't smoke like it smelled, (they rarely do), and purchased a single ounce knowing that it was probably a circular file blend. I was wrong...

Purists will argue for a number of reasons that such a small quantity is probably not enough to fully gauge the quality of a particular blend but putting match to leaf on this one was a complete revelation and I would argue that a fraction of this amount was more than enough for me. In fact, I didn't finish the first bowl before I ordered 2lbs. of the stuff! An absolute sublime experience...

I received my bulk order and found the aroma in the 1lb. bag is much more palatable, more like apricot than spicy, which carried over to the smoking experience as well… wow, even more impressive... I won’t say that this is the best tobacco on the planet but as far as I’m concerned and for my taste, it’s one of my desert island smokes and a further testament that tobacco sitting in a bulk jar is not always representative of the original intent.

The charring light presented me with quality, slightly sweet aged Virginia's expertly tamed and showed me that the MacBaren blenders brought their considerable knowledge and blending experience to bear on this tobacco. The aroma was figgy, fruity and musty with citrus notes that force you to stop whatever it was you were doing and pay attention to this wonderful smoke. As the bowl progresses it settles into a solid deepening Virginia experience accented by an Oriental component with spicy top notes mingling with that fragrant bouquet that remains until the end of the bowl where you will find a fine grey ash with very little unspent sprigs leftover. The subsequent pipe cleaner was damp but not wet, the buzz while not overpowering was quietly evident. As The German said below, it makes me smile.

Virginia purists will find this enjoyable but may find it lacking in complexity and overall strength, English and Balkan enthusiasts will find a delightful change of pace sans Latakia and much like my beloved Presbyterian and Plumcake, hard to classify in any one genre. The description from MacBaren say's "without bite" but I disagree and if pushed will nip you, nowhere as severe as Plumcake or Virginia #1 mind you, In fact, this blend has brought life back to some of my non "P Lip" pipes.

With all the qualities that H.H. Matured Virginia posses I tried to make it my all day smoke without success simply because once lit I can’t think of anything but the smoke, hence, nothing gets done. But once the day is over and it's time to relax with a well deserved cup of tea and a pipe full... just go away and leave me alone for an hour and a half and let me enjoy my smoke... Taking the exceptional price point for the 1lb. bag and its availability into consideration it's now at the tippy top of my go to blends and Highly Recommended!

the description is correct when it says, "the sweet Virginia tobaccos will greet you and slowly the dark Virginia will enter the taste." And I really like the smokiness of the blend; at first I thought I was detecting a bit of latakia in the blend, but I think it is just the dark stoved Virginia making an appearance.

Highly recommended!

Heavily aged red and black virginias (perhaps lightly seasoned with gold VAs) are, according to the blend notes, touched with a bit of turkish-types. The flavors are so well integrated that the turkish is difficult to descry, although there were occasional flashes where the spicily herbal, turkish notes evanescently manifested. There is a penetrating, apricot-like sweetness which raised the suspicion of a slight sugar or fruit juice casing, though chewing the leaf revealed no overt evidence which could point to such.

HH Mature Virginia is an absurdly complex and unified blend, perhaps the most overwhelmingly opulent VA-blend on the market and is a blend that no virginia lover should miss, though it should be noted that the absurdly coarse cut does require a bit of extra preparation time. This went best in a narrow to medium gauge chamber.

January 2012: Having aged this blend for close to a year, I find that it improves nicely and if I could, I would give this blend 5 stars.

Updated one hour later: I just read the other reviews for the first time and yes I agree with those that say this could grow on you and I agree with "Jazzmoke", Olive brine.

But enough sarcasm. The tin aroma of this blend really does remind me, like another reviewer noted, of a certain brand of hot pepper sauce. With a few other things in there, though: there is VA in the tin aroma, both aged and young, and some smokiness.

The leaf is rather atypical for Mac Baren; a long ribbon cut, with some bright, lots of red and brown, and some black. Far from being soggy, it still benefits from a little drying time from a fresh tin. Stuffing and maintenance are easy enough.

The smoke starts out nicely sweet, and after only a short time, some toast and the sour notes of aged, red VA join the experience, with a little pepper from the BC. The toastiness becomes deeper until the end of the smoke; a little dottle and a fine grey ash are left over. Slow sipping is the ticket here.

A fine smoke, enjoyable for VA lovers. There are better VA blends out there, but not too many.

*addendum, 2011-08-27* The more I smoke this blend, the more I prefer to do so using the bowls that I normally reserve for flakes; tall and narrow. That seems to get more sweetness out of HHMV than wider bowls or even corn cobs do. Seriously considering adding it to my regular rotation at this time.

*update, 2011-10-12* This stuff makes me smile. Up-rating to four stars.