Mac Baren - Latakia Blend pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 41 through 60 of 60 reviews of this tobacco
BriarLaw	01/21/2005	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
Another fine entry from our Danish friends at MacBaren. Please don't me mislead by the term "Latakia" in the title. This is not an English blend by any stretch. Instead, it is a fresh and zesty tasting blend of VAs and Danish Cavendish (i.e., light honey top dressing)in a wafer-thin rollcake presentation. The Latakia is like adding salt to food. Just enough to bring out the flavor, but not enough to notice. I enjoy this tobacco very much and suggest you try it if you are a VA smoker looking for a change of pace or an aromatic smoker looking for something more natural. Don't bother if you are an English diehard looking for a traditional English blend. Yes it will nip if pressed, but virtually all Danish tobaccos do. So I don't consider this a negative, per se, but just another element of the tobacco genre. UPDATE: I have read some tips from my pipe smoking friends here at Tobacco Reviews about loading a bowl of MacBaren (or other nippy Danish) tobacs via the "plug" method. Well . . . I tried it and I love it. Just take a large pinch from the tin, the amount you want to smoke, and just stick it in the bowl with minimal "meddling" . . . . and then just light and go. I very much think it helps with reducing the nip and increases the flavor. Try it!
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The Keeper	01/13/2005	Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Very much as already described: a burley/cavendish blend with natural VA sweetness, a light honey like flavor - and barely any noticeable latakia. Of course if truly used as a "condimental" tobacco - the latakia should remain as a flavor enhancer to the other elements. There is a hint of smokey spice through out the bowl - but not even the latakia predominance of any true English or Balkan blend. While not the first thing I'll reach for - if I had to choose between this blend and many others - Latakia Blend is far from the worst option. It is a pleasant, lightly flavored and friendly smoke. But as with most Mac Baren - there is a slight tendency to nip...
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Briarabbit	12/15/2004	Extremely Mild	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant
What a cruel joke! A touch of latakia? This tobacco was touched with a piece of latakia, then the latakia was put aside. Well, this is one of those Danish type blends where most of the tobacco has syrup all over it,and the tobacco used is Burley and some Virginia. Like most of Mac Baren's pipe tobaccos blends,(except for Burley ,and Golden extra),they bite like a snapping turtle. This tobacco however is mild,very mild,with yes, a tiny tiny amount of Latikia spun into the disks. It has a nautral tobacco-y room note. However,you may like this blend and that's fine,I think this tobacco sucks.
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Effluvinator	11/15/2004	Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Okay, they should have named this something else. Nevertheless, I do like this tobacco. If one thinks of it as a predominately Virginia blend with some Cavendish and a tiny bit of latakia and treat it accordingly it will not disappoint. It must be smoked slowly or it will get hot and the VA will bite. Sometimes I can taste the latakia and sometimes not, depending on my particular sesitivity to it on a given day as well as the particular pipe used. It has a degree of sharpness or sourness to it that I like and I find it to be a satisfying tobacco, latakia or not.
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OSR	10/31/2004	Extremely Mild	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable
Where's the latakia? This is mundane tobacco that will put a hurtin' on the tongue. In a pinch I'd try it again but never will I buy another tin. You've been warned!
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Esoxhunter	09/04/2004	Extremely Mild	None detected	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
I couldn't really taste the Latakia, nor anything else for that matter. I'll go elsewhere to satisfy my Latakia cravings.
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Spike	08/06/2004	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
This one is a puzzler. My first few bowls were underwhelming. Why bother with this one. My last attempt at this blend was downright awful. I'm putting this away for another, later attempt maybe with a new corncob pipe. Or maybe as trading stock for someone who actually likes this blend. The best I can say is it comes in a good looking tin! Update: Still along ways to go. So far the only dud from Mac Baren.
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Scottish Soldier	04/24/2004	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I was first introduced to Mac Baren's Latakia Blend over 35 years ago by Julius Vesz. Over the years either my taste buds have changed or this blend has changed somewhat - probably a combination of both. I still find the mixture a very pleasant all day smoke. The Latakia certainly is not overpowering as in other mixtures but it is inclined to leave somewhat of an aftertaste for a few hours. The room note is pleasant to tolerable if one listens to the comments of other non smokers. After a good rubbing out this blend packs easily and lights with ease. It burns to a grayish ash. Its taste is very pleasant. Over the years I have smoked this blend in Vesz, Nording and Stanwell pipes - all bents. Never have I had an "unpleasant" smoke. This blend is getting more and more difficult to find in Canada and because of this, I have recently cellared a half dozen tins. For many years now, this blend has been one of my favorites and I am seldom without a "supply".
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ruffinogold	02/20/2004	Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This is my favorite blend!They should have named it something else but oh well.I break the disks up just a little.This blend smokes very well ..cool,dry in most of my pipes and will smoke slow.I can taste the components of the blend which are twisted virgina,cavendish,perique and latakia...probably in that order.So the latakia flavor is small.I dont care ... the blend itself is " off the map ".My wife says it has a little incense aroma[whatever that is] which she likes.Its taste is medium in flavor and the perique is there in a mild spicy way.If youre a virgina smoker and or like perique [not heavy] or just want to try some twisted virgina ... go for it.
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Tantric	01/28/2004	Very Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Tolerable
I have smoked this one only once. I was looking for a Latakia blend that could be safely smoked in public. That it can, but at the expense of the true Latakia flavour. It has more of that slightly bitter-sweet Cavendish taste, with a peculiar dryness that makes it spicy and a bit piquant, but also bite-prone. If puffed too hard it can also burn hot. All in all, not a bad blend and it might be considered as an introduction to both Cavendished and Latakia tobaccos. However, it would be misleading to present this as a mild English or Oriental style blend.
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Scottish	01/27/2004	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Had to give the 'other' side review of this blend. I'll admit that the name 'Latakia' is wholly misleading. If you're expecting to taste a FM or other strong latakia blend you'll be sorely disappointed. I'm strongly biased towards most MacBaren blends. Almost all their blends have a light top coat of 'honey' or other flavoring. I'm not an aromatic fan by any means, but the MB blends just hit-the-spot so-to-speak. Latakia is mild. I find it a great all day smoke. Never any tongue bite or hot pipe. Nice, smooth and sometimes creamy. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but that's O.K as it leaves that much more for me!
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Big Guy	11/20/2003	Mild to Medium	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable
The disks of tobacco look beautiful, but latakia, what latakia. Nuff said!!!
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mesacactus	08/06/2003	Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable
This tobacco's name has the word Latakia in it. Well, maybe there is, and maybe there's not. I had a hard time noticing any when smoked. This must be the most "light" Latakia blend ever made. When you use the word "Latakia" as the prominent bases for your product's name, then by God, there better be some Latakia in the blend. I mean alot of Latakia. When I bought the tin, I expected to be rewarded with a full Latakia blend. This is an aromatic, Latakia blend. It is a good overall tobacco, and if I had bought it expecting an aromatic, with a little Latakia, I might even have enjoyed it. However, I felt let down, and just could not get into this blend. To be fair, if you are looking for a good cavendish based tobacco, with a little Latakia added for spice, then you might want to give this a go. Just don't expect what the name suggests, Latakia.
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ilDominante	06/25/2003	Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I was looking for a substitute for the St. Louis, MO, based F&K premium blend of Latakia, Turkish and Virginia (the best orental I have found so far), which bites a tad too much for all day smoke. I saw this tin; it was McBarren, it read "Latakia blend" and I was curious about the "spun cut" label. Well, when opening the tin the tobacco has a very sweet aroma, it reminded me of dry prunes or dry sweet fruit. The smell is inviting, don't get me wrong. I like flake tobaccos, thus the disks in which this tobacco is presented, were a pleasant surprise. I needed to rub the disks quite a bit to pack it well and be able to light without problems. The tobacco presents the sweet notes of Virginia and Cavendish, but as far as the Latakia I had a really hard time noticing it. Given its nature, this pipeweed is quite moist, so the deeper in the bowl it burns the harsher it gets. Roomnote is pleasant, but not really noticeble. It reminds me of some Scottish bulk tobacco I bought in Edimburgh; quite a pleasant blend, but nothing particular. Too harsh for the first pipe of the day, but ok for mid-day and afternoon. I don't plan on having it around but I might try it again in the future.
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RCUSElder	05/06/2003	Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
This is one of those blends that you really have to read every label on the tin to know what you are getting. On the top of the 50mg. tinn the word "latakia" is in the biggest letters, but on the bottom of the tin, there is a sticker that states " a touch of latakia". That is precisely what you get. This is a typical danish virginia blend. The appearance is that like "escudo" with little coins of tobacco that rub out easily into your pipe. This lights fairly easily and is best smoked slowly to get flavor and to keep from toasting your tongue. The flavor is of a medium virginia with a little sweetness from the cavendish and a slight, slight, smokiness from the latakia. It is a smooth monochromatic smoke but with not much overall flavor. It kept me wanting more flavor but never developed more down the bowl. So, I may try this for a change of pace from time to time, but that is about it. When I finish my tin, I doubt that I'll buy another one.
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Willy	12/06/2002	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I kinda like this blend. When I bought it I found that it was what I thought it might be. When opening the tin you find nice curly discs of a gold/brown color w/a black center which I would say was the Latakia and Cavendish, as well as an appealing mild English aroma. I chose to rub the discs out and as I filled the bowl I alternated browns and blacks to the top. Moisture level was OK, at least for me. Lights easy enough, tamp and relight and you're going good. Bit tart & sharp @first w/some sweetness too (well, it is Danish), but I didn't feel it was as sharp as some Danish tobaccos can be. Smokes fairly cool and smooth. The VA flavor is there, and the Latakia was on the light side, but I was glad that it was because I was hoping for a milder English kinda blend for different times of the day and different situations. Sometimes you want to really taste the Latakia, sometimes not so much. I found any casing that was there to be subtle and not at all dominant. Did get some gurgle about 1/3 of the way, but it was no real problem, one cleaner. Farther down the bowl some smokiness kicks in w/a more pronounced flavor than before, and near the end it was a tad harsh but not unpleasant. Smoked all the way down to a mottled ash w/maybe a smidgeon of dottle. Rather agreeable room aroma if I may say so. Not a bitey tobacco either if smoked in moderate fashion. Don't think I'll stock up on this one like it's going out of style, but I wouldn't object to keeping a tin of this around. Pretty good offering from McB., and a pleasant enough smoke IMHO. Works for me.
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mailman 5000	08/06/2002	Mild	Mild	Mild	Unnoticeable
Upon opening the tin I found some really great looking tobacco Escudo style coins. Great I thought nice looking tobacco with the magic ingredient LATAKIA .I stuffed the pipe and lit up, after a few puffs I felt something was wrong, Perhaps it takes a while to get going. After 5 Minutes a checked the tin Yeap in said latakia blend in big letters. In practice it seems an insult to call this such because anyone buying this and expecting a latakia blend is in for a surprise , in fact Latakia Surprise would be a better name for this muck if not Latakia Sham. You have been Warned.
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Nimrod	08/02/2002	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
I bought this one day when my favored tobacconist was closed and I was hoping for something similar to the english blends that I had bought from him in the past. This seemed to be the only thing that the local discount cigarette place had which said "Latakia" on it, so I figured what the hell. As one German reviewer commented, when you open the tin this tobacco smells like brown bread. Once I lit it up I found it interesting, but a bit too mild for my taste. I tended to smoke this in my cheap corn cobb pipes because I had a hard time keeping it from gurgling in any of my others. Either it's too moist or I just smoke too fast. Anyway, while in some objective way I can see this as being a reasonably good quality example of this particular style of blend, it certainly isn't an English Latakia blend and it didn't do anything special for me.
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Pipestud	04/21/2002	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is a typical Danish latakia blend. If you bought the tin thinking you were going to get a real "English" hit of tobacco, then you were disappointed, weren't you? This latakia blend is in highly unusual (for latakia mixtures) roll cake form. After a good rubbing out and packing, it is ready to get lit up. The only down side is that you won't get lit up over this one. The latakia is faintly present. The smoke is pleasant, but bland. If I am not in the mood for big flavor, this is a good change of pace. But no, I don't leave any unopened tins in my cellar.
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Noorrmm	02/01/2002	Medium	Medium	Medium	Tolerable
Beautifully cut disks, showing a full range of colors. Very litle Latakia evident in the aroma, mostly Danish Cavendish. Needs to be broken up quite a bit before it will light. Smokes like a typical Danish product, sort of sweet and not much else. If you want Latakia, best look elsewhere. Very disappointing, IMHO.
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