Though the differences between the various roll cakes are not all that pronounced at this venerable age, I do like the cavendish element of this one quite a bit, and with most bowls find that the only aged roll cake I might like better is Latakia Blend (though I don't taste any Latakia in it).

Very nice, and my only problem with this or any of the roll cakes at this age is that they tend to burn a bit fast and hot, but I just compensate for this by resting the pipe frequently, and trying to find pipes that work for them the best.

I highly recommend picking up an old tin if you see one, and at least in my experience, Mac Baren in general is a brand that ages quite a bit better than it is given credit for.

Im going to work my way through all the mac barens, this isn't a stand out smoke, but it's still pretty damn good. Maybe buy more, maybe.

Now to the tobacco. It certainly looks as described, which is as a blend of virginias and cavendish. It is their typical Mac Baren sliced roll cake - long ribbon cut tobacco spin which appear to be pressed into a tube shape, and then sliced into thin discs.

The tin moisture is significant, and the blend itself benefits greatly from significant drying prior to smoking. Most Mac blends can bite if not smoked with respect. This is no exception. When dried to the touch (but not wholly crisp) the bite all but disappears unless smoked fast and furious, and it burns slowly and evenly. The flavor is rich and sweet, and consistent from start to finish. It is not complex, but offers a satisfying mouthful of smoke which is sweet but offers natural virginia flavor. Yummy.

"Oh this? Why, it's something called 'Club Blend', made by MacBaren's I do believe. Rather nice baccy, actually --mild, fruity. I'd certainly recommend it to you, old chap. Nice bit of a change from the English blends, if you know what I mean. Four clubs, old boy."

( To the waiter...) "Henderson, be a good chap and run us up a couple more of these gin and tonics, will you? There's a good lad. 'Club Blend' you called it there, Chumley? Smells awfully good indeed; must give it a try"

"Yes, do."

I think I should have rubbed them out completely though as it did bite the tongue a bit. That might have more to do with me than the tobacco as the pipe is rather new but its an overall enjoyable tobacco.

The tin smell is so very intriguing.....what is that exactly? Its like a nice mature smoky sweet feed. Not sure what it is.....but very appealing.

Will let it continue to age.

It lacks taste and strength. it still remains a high quality product despite everything.

But more suited for the beginner than the experienced smoker.

This was my first try of a tobacco in the cake style. Took me a while to get the hang of loading loosly enough. I tried rubbing it out completly and loading and on the next bowl I just stuffed the discs in the bowl. It seems that a mixture of those methods works best for me. It does burn evenly and cooly and leaves very little dottle. I found it better to smoke slowly and keep it cool. I had to tamp it down a little more often than my normal MB Burley. The taste is sweet and full and somewhat spicy. The room note is what I would call old-fashioned - reminded me of my Grandfather although I do not know what he smoked. Slighly caramel taste with woodsy smell. Seemed to get a more "nutty" smell as I went along.

I was interruped several times during my first couple of bowls and found it easy to relight - did not seem to diminish the taste at all. Another good MB and I will most likely keep some of this in my rotation.

its not a cheap tobacco but seeing all this stems inside it could be offered at a much cheaper price I guess.

It has been noted that most of McBaren's spun tobaccos are somewhat similar, but I must disagree with those who claim they are practically all the same. The tin aroma is similar to, say, Dark Twist or Royal Twist (nowadays called Roll Cake), but in the pipe... ah, in the pipe...

On opening the tin, the aroma is indeed quite similar to the Dark Twist, though a bit darker and less VA-ish. Dark, old-fashioned aromatic tones rule, while bright VA lurks in the background. Optically speaking, there seems to be a relatively large amount of bird's-eyes in the blend. The only flavour added seems to be a bit of sugar to sweeten things a little.

Folding the tobacco into a pipe is a no-brainer, lighting it takes a little patience, but once it burns, it'll keep on burning quietly and coolly until there is nothing left to incinerate. As with all VA blends, keep it cool and you shall enjoy; take care to tamp down regularly and you won't run into trouble. The taste is sweet and full and spicy in a nice way, with a little less push than DT and RT (or Stockton, for that matter). The room note is what I call conservative - an old-times sort of feel that seems to be generally welcome even among non-smokers with notes of leather and caramel, with a hint of wood.

As the tobacco burns down, the sweet and spicy taste builds up, gathering a little hint of caramel and nuttiness. The room note continues largely unchanged. And if you need to take a break for whatever reason, you can relight this blend without having to fear negative repercussions: it just starts up again right where it left off in terms of taste and aroma. Beautiful!

It's a very typical MacBaren recipe: dark fermented Cavendish is used instead of Perique for spicing up the bright/red Virginias. The result is less spicy and sour than Perique, but interesting nonetheless.

It's a complex, dark, autumnal tobacco with little Virginia sweetness. What dominates the blend is a leathery and woody taste. The dark Cavendish gives a great contribution, resulting in a taste which reminds of a very fermented black tea (without sugar or milk). Something like a classic English Breakfast blend of tea from Kenya or Sri Lanka. Even slightly smoky, at times!

As usual with Danish tobaccos, anyway, the taste is very subtle and requires slow sipping for full appreciation. It's not an intense tobacco, and while body and moutfheel have a good consistency, the flavours are quite subdued. By the way, it feels very natural: MacBaren says that they simply added a little water and sugar, and I believe them. It's not biscuity like some other blends from this brand, not at all.

The coins can be very easily loaded into the pipe, with very little crumbling: little care is required for an excellent burn... simply stack up some coins, press a bit, and fire it away. It burns regularly, neither fast nor slow, with no tongue bite and very few relights. Very consistent in flavour from start to finish (it just gests slightly more intense towards the middle of the bowl).

I would love some more flavour intensity from this tobacco (and this is why it only reaches a "recommended" for me), but it's a good and balanced blend. If you dry it a little bit, anyway, the taste gets more intense.