It took me a bit to figure this one out, as I'm still a noob, but I've smoked it mainly in the same pipe from day one. I tried it in a few others, but noticed this blend is very prone to intrusion from ghosting. As Pipestud said, it also likes to be packed very light. I trickle fill the bowl, then push in just a small pinch to finish.

Overall, I love it. It's a hearty burley, but sweet. The "mocha" flavor I get with other burleys isn't overpowering, and once in a while I get a nice taste of pepper. Just a nice easy smoke, with no worries.

I've been smokin this blend for a year and a half now. It is my go to blend.

The scent when opening the tin is "woodsy" with a scent of nut. I love the scent that it leaves on my fingers after rubbing for the bowl. This tobacco is typical of the rougher cut in that I generally light and then have to tamp down and re-light after the initial start.

1-26-11 Few months ago, got a c.1989 sealed tin on Ebay. Smoked a little, then stuck it in a jar. Had some last night, and it really is good. To be continued...

The tobacco I purchased was from an old 5 pound sack and had some age on it from the look of it. A very faint sugar water scent is apparent when opening the ziplock, and that classic ephemeral chocolate nose and taste that comes with a good burley soon follows.

It's a broken flake, rather dark in color, smells great when burning, but might not be appreciated by everyone, and tastes good too! It may need some drying to prevent tongue bite, but I've adapted to Mac Baren tobacco's burning sugar bite by simply sipping slowly, so that it looses most of its heat in the stem.

Some interesting flavors develop down the bowl - no bitterness here! More of a granny apple and caramel taste (which are solely tobacco developments and not casings, from the fermentation and sugars in the leaf) for lack of better terms, which weaves its way in and out during the last half of the bowl. It's got some complexity and is by no means monochromatic nor bland.

Highly recommended. Try this one with some 12 year old Jameson Irish whisky.

Of course you have to like the taste of Burley: woody, oaky, grassy, earthy slightly astringent, with notes of fresh yeast and black coffee. But this great blend does not turn exceedingly bitter like other Burleys do.

The usual Mac Baren casing is applied sparingly (some honey? some bitter cocoa?), and the result is a tobacco that comes on the dry side, burns great, velvety and with no bite, while maintaining an intense taste from start to finish.

Sure, Burley can be a bit monochromatic on the long run, and I prefer the variations offered by Mac Baren Navy Mixture (which is less Burley oriented and sweeter), but as Burley-dominated blends go, this is one of the best. I might almost be tempted to say that it behaves better than the legendary Edgeworth Sliced...

I really wished to taste some good Burley so I got a couple of 100grms tins of BLB coming from Amsterdam.

Oh yes, BLB is slightly cased. I feel some alcoholic topping (rhum?) and a nice chocolate note (but this may belong to the tobacco itself) in the tin aroma. The cut is a chunky ready rubbed, the weed bit greasy at the touch, the colour a grey-ish medium brown.

No need of particular care in filling the pipe, just light hand and a bit more rubbing on top. Lights good and burns even better, leaving a light grey fluffy ash. Musty, earthy, woodsy, plain smoke with just a hint of chocolate sweetness and occasional peppery notes: IMHO this is tobacco with the slightest correction possible.

Seems to me that BLB is the only true medium smoke produced by McB.

I have overcome the bite issue, but I would make you sure that in no way BLB will bite you.

I truly like it, of course a plain smoke like this need alternation; and would forget the all-day tobacco issue, because simply there is no reason to look for the same tobacco for a lifetime, nor for a whole day. There are several other things we cannot change every day (the wife, just to name one...).

Fortunately we can change pipes and tobaccos.

Reliability, professionalism and consistency are sorely lacking with most tobacco brands - not with Mac Baren -----------------------------------------------

This is the best straight burley from Mac Baren. Top quality white burley leaf slightly cased with Mac Honey, it smokes cool and bite free, not as nutty as Prince Albert but it has more natural tobacco taste without the Prince chemical after taste. However, unless you love burley, this can?t be an all-day smoke because it tastes a bit bland and boring after 2-3 bowls.

What I like about Burley London Blend is that it has a nice, solid tobacco taste throughout the smoke with always a hint of sweetness in the background (probably a combination of the VA present and the light casing). Bulk is less moist than in the tin. I do, however, store even the bulk for about a month before smoking it. This greatly reduces the risk of any tongue-bite. All the Macs bit me like a pit bull when I first fancied on them many years ago. The fresh bulk bag aroma reminds me of raisins and a touch of honey. I don't get that same aroma from the tinned version, but the smoking characteristics are indistinguishable from one another. I get a nice chocolate, raisin-like note with slow smoking. I find it best in a Dublin or narrow billiard. The flavors are more pronounced with the last third of the bowl and without the Burley bitters.

If you dry the Mac Baren products a bit, take care in packing, and sip at your pipe, there shouldn't be any issues with tongue bite. The room note is pleasant - even for non-smokers in my experience. When I first started smoking, I thought sweetness (aromatics, heavily cased) was the way to go. Not anymore for me. Burley London Blend has a background sweetness, which for me, is just right. Although the tin description lists it, I do not detect the said Virginia presence, but I am sure it does contribute to the very subtle sweetness here (and perhaps that's where the occasional tongue-nips come from). The least astringent/sour of the Mac Baren's Burleys and for me, the best.

Pouch or tin aroma is one thing, but taste is what it's all about for me. True tobacco taste is inseparable from a good room note in my opinion. After all, you want to taste and smell the blend you're smoking. It has that "pipey" smell about it that I enjoy upon re-entering the room where it was being smoked - old school and comforting. Doesn't happen with many blends, but with Mac's BLB, it happens for me. A solid Burley smoke!

UPDATE 4-3-12: Down a star. Room note still great, but the taste is not very appealing to me any longer (long on sour and very short on sweetness). Solani's Aged Burley Flake is much better in my opinion and my go-to Burley smoke of choice.

This tobacco has some sort of casing which gives it a bit of a citrus flavor and aroma. Unfortunately it also means that it bites more than, say, Edgeworth Ready Rubbed.

I smoked it on an empty stomach and did not notice any nicotine to speak of.

It did get better through the end of the bowl, but still, if I want to smoke a burley with some citrus notes, I'd definitely choose PS Cube Cut over this, not to mention Carter Hall, and if I wanted a straight burley, I'd choose ERRd or possibly Prince Albert.

Two stars. I'll smoke more, and update if my opinion changes, but for now, I think my favorite MacBaren bulk is probably Mixture aka Scottish Mixture.

UPDATE Jan 21 2010 With the benefit of some experience, I revisited this blend this morning. I was amused to see my opinion hasn't really changed. The casing makes the blend tend to burn hot. It's also too sweet for my tastes. It's possible to smoke it with little bite, but requires a lot of focus and attention. I prefer no fuss burley blends, if I want to smoke something that requires this much care, I'll go for a really awesome Virginia. Still 2 stars, and I may end up giving away the rest of this bag to someone else (only the second blend I've felt that way about).

Opening the tin I was greeted by a strong ketchup scent that was quickly replaced by more earthly odors.

At the match the blend was smooth and mild tasting, but I was unprepared for the strong nicotine kick.

I'm not a real fan of blends that make my head spin, and this is one of those. I like the taste just not the kick.

Like other MacBaren offerings, this smokes hot so slow puffing is the way to go.

I'm looking forward to trying this more in different pipes to see if I like it. Perhaps slow puffing will reduce the nicotine levels. If not I just got some blending latakia to cut it. Updates to follow

**Update** I've found that this blend is good outdoors in bigger pipes as long as I smoke it SLOW. Indoors it's proven to be too heady, too hot with an odd bitter aftertaste.

I still think I need to try it out a little more. But so far it's not a blend that I'll rush out and buy again.

Opening the tin, I am greeted with what I took for an almost raisiny scent, my wife figures theres some vanilla too. The leaf is brown, chunky broken flake, Mac Baren style.

Just about dry enough in the tin. I just wad this and stuff it until the pipe is full. Lighting and keeping lit are no problem.

There is a bit of an acidity, I suppose, but I don't find this a bitey tobacco at all. There is an almost winey note on top of the burley, and the Virginia keeps things sweet. I was really worried that this was going to be another "cardboard and blueberries" like University Flake, but it's much more uniform, and much better tasting.

Room note: Urine. I kid you not.

This is a pleasant smoke - you get what you seek. If you think about the topping, you taste that. If you think more about the tobacco flavors, they come through. I enjoy it. I don't think it's a very "pure" burley, but then, I don't turn to my favorite Danes for pure - I turn to them for yummy.

Smoke it slow, can't miss.

Burley London Blend for me smokes like a purer burley than many of the others on the market. I've heard it has a slight honey casing, but it's barely noticable, much less than the casings of something like Burley Light Without a Bite or Bufflehead Oldsquaw (both sweeter mixtures that I like). There's a toasty nuttiness that sometimes borders on bitterness, but never quite gets there. It's more like the flavor of some of the old classic burleys of the past. Think of a more refined version of Prince Albert. One other very nice characteristic of this tobacco is that it's a great DGT blend. I've left partial bowls overnight and come back to a smoke that was every bit as tasty as the fresh pack.

BLB is a partially rubbed out tobacco that takes just a bit more effort on the initial char and relight. Once you get it going, it burns well and doesn't have a tendency to go out and require several relights. It burns down to a pretty fine ash, sometimes with just a bit of dottle left. BLB doesn't seem to be too picky about pipe sizes or types, I've smoked it in medium and large bowls as well as cobs with equal success.

If forced to pick a favorite burley, I'd still have to give a slight edge to Wilke's Nut Brown Burley, with C&D Morley's Best and Bufflehead's Oldsquaw VERY close behind. That said, BLD has become a staple for me and I recommend it highly. It's a high quality tobacco that gives the smoker another option in the wonderful world of burley.

Update Dec. 2007- I am dropping my rating one star as I have found I no longer enjoy this blend as much as I used to. It also shows a tendency to bite if allowed to dry out too much. Be sure to keep it adequately moist.

Personally, when I reach for this blend, I wish I would have packed Navy Flake or Golden Blend instead and look forward to the bottom of the bowl. I keep giving this blend another chance but have the same opinion each time I try it. This blend just is not sweet enough for me and just does not have the aroma, flavor, or room note that I desire. Tastes like a heavily smoked casing. But given the fact that this burley blend is partially smoke cured, one has to expect this.

I know this is totally a review site but though the following was interesting info. from the Bac Baren site:

Burley tobacco is harvested when the leaves lose their suppleness, so the leaves are green when the harvesting begins. The plants are harvested whole, and hung to dry in barns sheltered from sunlight. No warm air is used, but the amount of fresh air can be adjusted to achieve the perfect drying conditions. The normal drying method used for Burley tobaccos is called air-curing.

There are other methods of drying Burley tobacco, as used on the famous Kentucky tobacco. After air-curing, this Burley is then fire-cured. A fire giving off a thick smoke is built in the barn, and the aromatics in the smoke are absorbed by the leaves.