Mac Baren - Navy Flake pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
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SMOKETSES	12/08/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
When I traveled to Israel, I got this tin from the Duty Free, just to make sure I’ll buy something on that trip too. Burley, Cavendish, Virginia are its contents.The bowl is filled very effortlessly, and as easily it lights up. Like all Mac Baren, it causes tongue bite, especially if you smoke it with bulimia. I wouldn’t mind having a tin with me and smoke it once in a while, especially is places where my beloved Latakia may be irritating to others. Medium to high its nicotine dose.
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jpbass	11/15/2011	Medium to Strong	None detected	Extra Full	Tolerable to Strong
This was a little too spicy for my taste, but someone really into VA blends might appreciate that type of thing. I got some as a sample, and wound up mixing most of it to spice up another blend. I doubt I'll revisit this one.
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Steden	11/14/2011	Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Mac Baren’s rendition of Navy Flake category is a decent and uncomplicated stuff, the tin smell portends a good amount of sweetness from both the topping and the tobacco, in effect there’s a good sweetness but the blend is mild and well balanced, with nutty-honey-molasses notes (typical Mac Baren’s mark) and traces of liquor (maybe Rum?). It smokes smooth and cool without bites and gurgles, very friendly. Personally I prefer a fully rubbing but even folded it’s a classic “two matches“ tobacco.
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zdalekacelny	11/14/2011	Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
It's OK but rather boring actually; nothing to elaborate about.
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Käpt`n Cook	09/27/2011	Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
The Mac Baren Navy Flake is really a classical Blend. I know and love them for many years. The tobacco slices looks very nice and the tobacco is easy to handle. The flavour is maybe a mix between the typical Mac Baren honey note and a bit fruity like mandarins or oranges. In combination with the nice Virgina/Burley base get the taste a really interesting side. It´s a little bit like a summerday :-) Now you know I like this flake very much and the Navy Flake is my favourite Mac Baren Blend. I smoke it not the whole time, but when I opend a new tin I´m looking forward to pack my pipe, because the Navy Flake brings no surprise. You know what you get - an easy and relaxing smoke Recommended
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Bobz	09/26/2011	Very Strong	Medium to Strong	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
On a 6-point scale: Humidity (when openned): 3.5 Flavor: 3.5 Burning: 4 (6=cool) Strenght: 4 (6: very) Aroma: 5
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
furious	09/17/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Great introduction to the Navy Flake concept of a stout blend that was supposedly smoked by old-time mariners exploring the seven seas. MacBaren's has good flavor and light honey casing that does not interfere with the blend. Burley is evident in room note which can be a little harsh to non-smokers--my wife included. I like this about once a week when I am doing something that requires mild concentration. Nice taste and a great smoke that doesn't demand your undivided attention.
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Blue Bayou	09/01/2011	Medium to Strong	None detected	Full	Pleasant
Super nice blend that reminds me of old weathered teak planks on a Schooner with slight leather notes....
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spidermonkey	07/15/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
Rather new to pipes, I have made the usual progression through syrupy aromatics and wanted something with a reasonable aroma, while giving me a greater tobacco experience. When first opened, the smell of honey is quite strong, but pleasant. After letting a flake or two dry out for an hour or so, they seemed ready to go. The first half bowl or so was strong on honey, which faded to a mild flavoring as the nuttiness came through. I put this tin aside for about a month and have since come back to it with no special attention paid to cellaring. The honey casing is now quite mild. The smoke has changed dramatically. It curiously leaves a grassy, almost fruity scent in my nose and the smoke has mellowed somewhat when breathed through the nose. The room note, while nice enough, tends to be a little heavy and lingers for a while. The Mrs. doesn't protest too much, but it's not her favorite. I will buy this again, but will pay greater attention to cellaring to see how it properly ages.
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ASKJDOG	07/13/2011	Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
This is one of my favorites, and I always have a tin on hand. It can bite if it's too moist or smoked aggressively. Tin aroma is honey.. I love it! For about the first half of the bowl the sweetness of the topping comes though, then it levels out to a a robust burley flavor.
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fireball	05/03/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Tolerable
This is OK. It's quite a sweet flake, a bit MacB-bitey (ie it has the same sharp edges as Plumcake, Navy, Va No.1), quite one dimensional after a while, but not a bad straight Va (with added sweetness). Nicely presented, handly little tin and not expensive.
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aadelma	05/02/2011	Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong
Of all the tobaccos in the MacBaren line I have tried, this is the best. It has a very high-quality appearance and presentation. It has the classic Danish aroma and taste which many other Danish tobaccos have, but it is a bit more gutsy due to it's flake format. It's easy to pack, just fold a flake and loosely stuff it in the bowl. The flavor is very nice with the cavendish, Va, and burley seamlessly blended together. It is pretty mono-dimensional, so if you like a dynamic blend, you wouldn't like this, but for idle puffing, it is very satisfying. There are 2 negatives, however, which make this only an occasional smoke for me. First, it can bite at times, though not as much as the other MacBaren products I have tried. Second, while it smells nice while burning, it leaves an after-smoking aroma of a stale ashtray which lingers in the room for an astonishingly long time.
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beaupipe	04/24/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I’ll join the chorus of those who find this a reliable, enjoyable smoke. It’s not especially complicated, it’s far from rare, and it’s a long way from expensive. But there’s really nothing exactly like it either. I’ve been smoking this pleasant, Burley-based tobacco for several years off and on, but in the last couple, it’s become a go-to blend in the heat of summer. And there’s a lot of that where I live. Like all MacBaren flakes, this is beautifully presented — thin(ish) medium brown flakes with fairly low moisture content. Despite the MacBaren website’s lessons on folding and stuffing flakes, I usually prefer to rub this out. I know that many seem to have problems with bite from this flake and I suppose I did in the past, too. But I now reserve the entire MacBaren line for filtered pipes, where they really seem to shine. I’d rather not deny myself access to this fine smoke because of bite issues, considering how easy it is to kick those issues to the curb. Sipped slowly, Navy Flake yields some delightful flavors. Depending on the day and the pipe, I might find a little rum essence, a touch of chocolate, black tea with honey, autumn leaves. Whatever the flavor profile, it’s always pleasant. Nicotine sits somewhere between light and medium, which is probably another reason I tend to smoke this most often on hot days. I doubt Navy Flake will ever sit at the center of my pipe smoking bench, but it’s nice to have it flitting about the edges ready to be called in while the stars are all being treated for hyperthermia.
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nitekrawlr	04/18/2011	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant
IMHO the quintessential Navy Flake. A mild smoke with a full tobacco flavor. Perfect flakes in the tin, and wrapped in a gold signature paper, this blend of tobacco's doesn't disappoint. You can "fold & stuff", as some reviewers note, but I like to rub a single flake, let it dry, then smoke. No bite, just a smooth, clean smoke.
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HokieGeek	04/02/2011	Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Well, this was a decent smoke, although the tin note promised more than it delivered. It had a surprising amount of spiciness but had a pretty good, sweet taste to it. Good room note. Edit 7/27/2012: Downgrading my first score by one star. I can't seem to really get into this guy. I really want to. It really smells great in the tin but it tastes so bland and at its best it's an OK smoke. I guess it's just not for me.
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TheSmokinDragon	03/30/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Good quality leaf, but if you are looking for stronger flavors, you won't find them in this flake, subtle and nice flavors but you must dedicate your attn to it or you will miss it... go for Peterson UF for more of a punch
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Doctor Max	03/27/2011	Mild	Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant
This tobacco I would call mixture's big brother. It has everything I found lacking in the mixture. It is fuller, rounder and a little bit less sweet; very well balanced. It has all the features of Mac Baren tobaccos, from the neat tin and tight slices, to the biscuity notes and malty finish (present here in pleasant quantities!). Tin note is rum-raisin, dried figs, biscuits, hay, slight notes of cocoa and leather. It tastes exactly how you would expect from the tin note, maybe a tad on the drier side (which is not a bad thing). Packs and smokes very will with the fold an stuff method. Smokes cool and nice, I find "Mac Baren Bite" largely a myth. Room note is nutty, rum-raisiny, sweet; quite pleasant. Hard to find any weak points in this tobacco. Pleasant from first light to last puff, very consistent throughout.
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pipe row19	03/05/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
Yea i was disopointed by this blend. The Tin aroma resembles a hay like smell, anf maybe some honey. As for taste this blend lacks alot of flavor, First time is smoked this wow it was bad. second time it got aittle better, It not really natural tasting, it actually kinda artificail, mac baren mixture is much more natural and sweeter then this. Its slowy getting better so expect an update, but as for now all i can give it is 2 stars
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Brown Pipeman 1940	03/02/2011	Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This was the first flake I ever smoked and turned me into a permanent enjoyer of flakes. Previously, I had mainly smoked aromatics, but this blend made me want to explore different types of pipe tobacco and I am very grateful for that. As for the flavor, it is a nutty, natural tobacco flavor with a nice touch of sweetness, which I suspect is from the cavendish. It burns wonderfully slow and cool. I puffed on it steadily and never recall any tongue bite. The nicotine hit was a bit overwhelming for me as a new pipe smoker, but I don't notice it now. A great tobacco for a smoker wanting to explore the delightful world of flakes, as well as for the smoker who already enjoys them. I've never tried any of the Samuel Gawith flakes, so I can't compare this with them. But it is because of this blend that I want to try all the different flakes I come across.
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bikinis	01/26/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

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