Mac Baren - Dark Twist Roll Cake pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
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Pipe4ever	01/15/2009	Strong	Medium	Medium	Pleasant
This is a grand classic from Mac Baren. Semi aromatic, dark Virginia/perique roll cake with deep, semi sweet and honeyed/toasty flavor, mild and tasty, overall excellent dark Virginia spun cake, also available in bulk. Solid stuff, worth your time and your money!
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jankoez	01/11/2009	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This blend is one of the best Mac Baren's mixtures. It is easy to smoke, decent, although not light. So it is not for empty stomach. Even for beginners preparing cake for smoking would not be problem.
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Duke	01/07/2009	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
I smoked this often twenty (20) years ago, and recently picked up a tin based on memories past. Currently I have been turning to Virginians (see Dunhill Lt. Flake Rev). I've re-discovered how much I like this blend. Yes it's sweet and light on nicotine, but as the smoke progresses nice caramel and tobacco notes develop. I smoked it in an old Sasieni Pot. The medallions nearly fit into the bowl whole, and mostly intact. This tobacco smokes best when given some elbowroom in the bowl. In fact, I have been enjoying my Virginians in Pots too. Check it out yourself. I tend to dry my tobacco prior to ignition, so you may want to find your preference. After the last tin emptied I've grabbed another. To call it an aromatic, for me, risks turning people away from sampling a really fine tobacco.
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IHT	01/07/2009	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
If you like other MacBaren light Aromatics, you would most likely find this pleasurable as well. It didn't bite me like most other MacBarens have in the past. Burn and Packing were very easy, even when more moist than I prefer, and the smoke produced was ample (I'd prefer tobacs that produce more than only whisps of smoke). Flavor was sweet, with the obvious cased cavendish flavors mixed with a nice VA base. By obvious cased cavendish, I am referring to aromatic blends like Capt Black. This is a lot better than Capt Black, IMO, but the always present backdrop of flavor is that sweetened cavendish taste. I gave it 3 stars with the stipulation that THIS is what you're looking for to smoke. If you're not after a VA+Cav sweetened blend, you won't like this one.
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Gunnar	01/03/2009	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Yeah, leather! That's it! This is one of my favourite blends for more than 20 years now, but I never could explain the taste. Yes, it reminds me to leather, to my horses! I use to rub the cakes and almost "gravitiy fill" a bowl with a relatively large diameter. Puff slow and cool, and you'll get a very pleasant smoke without tongue bite. As most MB blends, it will bite you when smoked too hot and/or in the wrong pipe!
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wtipct	12/19/2008	Mild	None detected	Mild	Overwhelming
I found the this tasted like shoe leather that was dragged though my dog kennel after the dags ate beans. I was shocked be cause of the recommendations. So, I tried some more.... same result... I bought from a different dealer same result.... Not impressed at all.
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PfeifenRaucher	09/23/2008	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
After a pretty awful experience with one of MB's other "rollcake" tobaccos (Latakia Blend) I was wary of this one being equally tasteless. Luckily, this was not so. What most everyone here says is true - it is mild, slightly sweet and has that typical MacBaren taste. It has a slightly spicy note as one gets down the bowl - kinda reminded me of a VERY light VAPER. I took the advice of others reviews on this site and dried it out considerably before smoking. This seemed to eliminate any of the dreaded tongue-bite so often attributed to this brand. Not the most earth-shattering taste, but good when you are looking for something that won't offend others and doesn't require a lot of your attention Dark Twist is a good choice.
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marosi	09/21/2008	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is similar to other Mac Baren roll cake tobaccos, but seemed slightly drier from the tin than other varieties that I have tried. As with all Mac Baren blends, the quality of both the tobacco and processing is very high. I always rub these blends out, and this one seemed to possess slightly longer ribbons when rubbed out. They required some shredding to work with a gravity method of loading the pipe. This took a moderate amount of effort to get going, but burned well, and was moderately cool throughout the bowl. What was lacking was any particular flavor which elevated this above the ordinary. The three stars is for the overall quality of the product and its fine smoking qualities. For flavor, however, there are many VA blends which offer a more well-rounded smoke with a richer flavor. Davidoff makes a similar blend which contains perique along with the cavendish, and offers much more bang for the buck in the flavor department.
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BriarChef	09/10/2008	Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Well aged, quality Virginia seasoned deftly with cavendish and spun perfectly. Handled with even rookie Va technique, this one sings! Burns cool, dry and evenly all the way to the bottom of the bowl and develops some very tasty variations on the theme as it wends its way south.
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Laudante	07/18/2008	Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I´ve tried about 5 Mac Barens, and finally found one that completely satisfied me. It didn´t burn my tongue at all, except a little bit in the beginning. The flavor is very good, and the casing very elegantly and discretely added. The presentation is very appealing and nicotine content perfect for a regular all-day smoke.
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Dubinthedam	04/13/2008	Medium	Strong	Medium to Full	Very Pleasant
I do enjoy a few MacB's for many reasons. Widely available, good quality and fairly priced. I go to my MacB's when I want a sweet cased smoke. DT is added to my MacB list, Vanilla Cream, Navy Flake, Plumcake and Mixture. I find it a little milder in strength than Navy Flake, also a little less artificial tasting in it's casing. I would put this along side Mixture in the sense that it is a solid MacB blend that is well known and proven and should not offend anyone. Spicey, sweet, mild with enough punch, not too much bite, a good value navy blend. Edit: up to four stars, it does bite, but dried and sipped this really is a winner, a great sweet navy, not as musty and earthy as some but for the price it earns full rank.
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j4nier38	04/08/2008	Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Excellent stuff. I decided to try this based on the reviews I have read on this site and had pretty high hopes for it and it has definately lived up to those hopes. A very good looking tobacco that has a tangy taste with maybe a bit of molasses. It will bite if it is not dry enough but if it is then it is excellent. It has become my favorite tobacco for a while now.
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Davetopay	03/05/2008	Medium	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant
Having really enjoyed the tin of Plum Cake I picked up a while back, I figured I would try the Dark Twist . I have been very impressed so far...but I will have to come back to update this as I have only had a couple of bowls in a new Savinelli, but even though the pipe is still breaking in, this mixture has smoked cool and smooth with an intoxicatingly tangy aroma. As I learn more about what this blend has to reveal to me, I will return to post more! In the mean time get out there and try some! 1/18/08 I may have lost my "touch" with this. I am going to have to experiment with different packing methods. I have tried stacking coins(sometimes good), folding the coins vertically like slices(less good), and rubbing it out. So far rubbing it out seems best, but I think it might need a little more time to dry out. As I have delved deeper into the tin the tobacco seems more moist, and therefore a little more tempermental in the pipe. I have also found I only like it in filtered pipes, or it just makes my whole mouth sting. I won't give up on though! 3/4/08 LOL, I "found" my touch again! As many have stated the secret to a good consistent smoke from Mac B is to make sure the tobacco has had a chance to dry some. I have also had much success with rubbing out a larger portion and then letting it rest in the tin. Now it is like having a very unique tin of ready rubbed. It's biting nature has been greatly reduced, and mor e of the sublte flavors of malt, maple, molasses, and even a few citrus notes come alive on the palate.
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SmokeKing David	02/23/2008	Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Another beautiful-looking MacBaren tobacco, Dark Twist Roll Cake seems to burn too hot for me. Once in a while, this blend does not seem volcanic. But more often than not, it's just too much trouble for what infrequent pleasure it delivers. Other MacBarens offer a better smoking experience for me. UPDATE: As mentioned in a different review, I read where drying out MacBaren tobacco greatly improves the smoke. Well, I did that with Dark Twist and found a huge improvement. Drying this out lead to a richer, molasses-like quality combined with natural Virginia sweetness. And far less tongue bite, too! I really like this now. I revise my rating to 3 stars. Govern Yourself Accordingly! SmokeKing David
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Sasquatch	01/23/2008	Medium	Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant
The best MB and one of the best tobaccos I have ever smoked. Not a flavor bomb, but a subtle, intoxicating smoke... molasses sweetness balancing citrus virginias.... and the room note is perfectly pleasant. As with all Mac, you must dry it and smoke slow.
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Big bad Jon	12/06/2007	Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
I was pleasantly surprised by look of this tobacco. I love the quarter-sized rolls this comes in. The tobacco is fairly mild and has a great VA taste. It is a lot like their Navy Flake in taste, but is a bit stronger. I will enjoy this early Christmas present as a true surprise. On a slightly sour note be careful this one will bite if not smoked carefully.
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Alouette	11/26/2007	Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
After eight or nine bowls of this stuff I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that Dark Twist will work best for me as compost in the back yard. Despite its fabulous coin presentation, it scorches my mouth every time. I get a nice lemony Virginia flavour in there, but the perique or perique-like sting slows me down so much that the pipe constantly goes out while I recover. Not worth the effort in my books.
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Pipers	11/15/2007	Mild to Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Yes, this is an excellent tobacco. I took the advise and let it dry out a little. If you like navy flake then this is well worth a try. Packed in small coins and with a rich taste. Enjoy...a real winner. This does have a tendency to nip, but if dry out a little it makes all the difference.
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DownSouth	10/29/2007	Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Well, I have to say that I really wanted to like this one. It's presentation is great, nice little discs of tobacco. The tin aroma is outstanding! The only problem comes with the smoking... I prefer to set fire to my tobacco, but this tobacco sets fire to my tongue! Prehaps it is my background as a cigarette smoker, maybe I'm just greedy and puff too hard or fast, but this stuff roasted my mouth good! Now if you are a light puffer, you might well enjoy this blend, as I said the aroma and presentation are great, but this one is just not for me...
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cell biologist	09/09/2007	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
I think Dark Twist is improving with age. Last time I tried it it smoked a bit wet, so I put some on a piece of paper on our firebox for 5 min until it got somewhat crumbly, as opposed to staying in a ball when rolled up. This helps the tobacco stay lit, although slower smoking is required as with any dry tobacco where it is easy to overshoot the optimum burn rate. The smoke was mellow and comforting, with a flavor that I couldn't put my finger on at first. It's fun to try to identify words that describe the sensations. Finally, this morning, I realized what it was: oatmeal-raison cookies. Hence the "comfort" factor. This and MacB?s Navy Flake are my favorite of this kind of highly-processed Danish- style tobacco. The tin smell is marvelous, but the smoke from this style is often not as good as the tin aroma, and not as nice as the room note. This, however, is high quality tobacco. I can see that MacBaren puts a lot of effort into this one, and I enjoy it, although it doesn?t knock me out with flavor as do some other tobaccos.
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