Mac Baren - Virginia Flake pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 72 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
GlSal	04/03/2013	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant

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Gus Tation	02/15/2013	Mild	Medium	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant
Many tins in the MB line seem to taste similar to me, and they smoke in the same fashion as well. They taste bland...are HOT/Tongue-Biters...and smell like potpourri. I cannot recommend this product. Love all, as Christ would, and peace to my brothers and sisters of the leaf.
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iipepeii	12/14/2012	Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Tolerable
Hi! I'm a newbie pipe smoker. I tried only 4 different tobacco, but the MBVF was my first flake. I've finished a box, but I think that was my first and last. It hasn't got real taste, just something extreme light aroma, which i can't identify. There was only one occasion when i felt a bit honey. I can't remember what I ate or drank before this. I have some medium bowl-sized pipe and always packed my pipe a half or thirds of a sheet, and sometimes didn't cut, just folding it into my pipe, like in in this step by step guide: http://www.mac-baren.com/TopMenu/Expert-Knowledge/Flake-Tobacco/How-to-fill-a-pipe-1.aspx . There wasn't real different. I'm a bit dissapointed in this mixture. Now I will trying Virginia No 1. I hope somebody will find this honey savor, which I felt for one night. :))
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SmokeKing David	10/29/2012	Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
If you're looking for an ultra-light smoke, this may be for you. I disagree with the description of a "full" taste. It is definitely not full. Despite this, I think it achieves what it likely tries to; namely a very light Virginia flake that has a light coating. For these reasons, I give it three stars even though I personally find it too light. I vastly prefer Virginia No 1 by the same blending house. Govern Yourself Accordingly.
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Padro89	08/22/2012	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

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JustOneforMe	04/26/2012	Very Mild	Medium	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant
I have now smoked several Mac Baren offerings and will not review them any further since they are extremely not to my liking. If interested in my thoughts about their line of tobaccos then just see my review on Burley London, it pretty much sums up this vapid weed give or take a slight aromatic difference (vanilla, cherry etc...).
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Zose	03/06/2012	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
I am a new pipesmoker, so take this all with a grain of salt. However, I am a long time cigar smoker and no stranger to good tobacco or full-bodied tobacco. This flake is not full-bodied, but it's certainly good. The first third of the bowl was very mild indeed, but the flavor built nicely and by the halfway point was very enjoyable. Though Mac Baren says this is slightly flavored, I didn't notice it; I just tasted mild tobacco. The best thing I can compare this to is a high quality Dominican cigar with a Connecticut wrapper: mild, but worth your time. The second half of the bowl was especially good with nice natural sweetness and just a hint of nuttiness. I had some trouble getting it lit, but only in the first third of the bowl; after that I think I relit once for the rest of the bowl. I also experienced a little gurgle. I'll chalk up both of those issues to user error. The gurgle might very well have been me slobbering down the pipe. I experienced no tongue bite, even when I was getting a little greedy with the puffs. I smoke outside, but I popped my head in and blew a few puffs at my wife. She said the room note was "like a cigar, but nicer." All in all a nice simple mild smoke that, within its mild range, had plenty of very nice flavor.
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vaporcrow	12/21/2011	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
Really one of THE best virginia flakes in my opinion! This flake is totally underated I feel. Such a sweet mild flaver, I even get a slight hint of a lemony flaver. It loads great right out of the tin, easy to light and it stays lit. I give this one 3.5 stars! Check out my new youtube video series called "Adventures in Pipe Smoking" It's a fun video series for pipe smokers! I will be featuring this flake soon!
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The Piper at the Gates of Dawn	08/26/2011	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Unnoticeable
It's a Virginia. Other reviewers mention tasting the possibility of some Burley. I don't. Yes, it is sweet tasting but not overwhelmingly so. Yes it will tingle the tongue a little as all Virginias will if not smoked properly. so smoke it properly -- that is to say-- slow and easy. Some reviewers say it is no Full Virginia Flake from Sam Gawith.Tha's true it isn't but then again what is? I like Full Virginia Flake a lot but factoring in the price of Full Virginia Flake and its scarcity and spotty distribution (when there is any around) this is definitely not a bad smoke even if it is not the substitute it doesn't pretend to be.It's a simple sweetened Danish Virginia. It smokes well,with enough nicotine and good burning qualites.It does not knock your socks off nor is it bland as some have claimed. Through the years I have smoked most if not all of the MacBarens and Sam Gawith and many many others and still do. This one fits right in my lineup as far as I am concerned. With the boutique tobaccos and other much touted ones being what they are this will find a place in my inventory. Simple reccomendation --- smoke it and enjoy it for what it is. Don't expect Nirvana and conversly don't expect a visit from the I.R.S. with an audit letter either. Smoked a 50 gram tin and then ordered a pound package and then another one after that one. Do i reccomend it? Sure do.
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Lazy Mango Jalfreizi	07/10/2011	Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Tolerable
After Samuel Gawiths FVF, this tobacco is a disaster. It was bone dry in the tin, and needed a lot of rehydration. The flakes break up into incredibly thin stringy strands, and remind me of cheap cigarette rolling tobacco. It drys out almost immediately once rubbed out, and has a slightly bitter smell to it. As with all the Mac Baren tobacco I've tried, there is instant tongue bite which no matter how delicately sipped intensifies as it is smoked. It burns extremely hot and fast, and after only a few seconds, my pipe is very hot to the touch. No matter the moisture level I've tried, this characteristic is impossible to avoid. An unpleasant bitter flavour (once again, comparable to all the MB I've tried) is all that awaits, and it is a truly disappointing smoke. I picked it up as I am so fond of Sam Gawith's Full Virginia Flake, and hoped that this might prove to be on a par with that, perhaps playing a slightly different tune. Different it is, but for me, a dischordant cacophany. Any pipe I smoke it in is tainted with this bitter tongue bitey experience after several bowls of better tobacco. One to avoid.
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bence	06/09/2011	Mild	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I like it better than VA no1., less flavoring, more natural taste.
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Doctor Max	05/13/2011	Mild	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Like the other Mac Baren flakes, Virginia flake comes packed in a very nice little metal tin, in a slightly eccentric yellow this time. The flakes are wrapped in a nice golden coloured wrapper. Undoing this reveals a very nice, hay- to golden brown neatly cut densly packed stack of flakes of perfect size to roll and stuff in a corn cob. Tin aroma is a light, sweet grassy hayey smell with decided lemon peel notes. Smoking reveals a very sweet flavour with notes of hay and lemon, and when correctly treated and allowed to burn cool, almost of lemonade. Room note is surprisingly smokey and dry, with notes of oak, and not altogether easy to accept by non- smokers in the room. While this is a fairly mild tobacco, calling it cigarette tobacco is more than unfair. While it can get a bit ashy and harsh when smoked too hot, as well as towards the end of the bowl, the quality of this tobacco should be undisputed. Careful smoking does bring out very nice, unique bright and summery flavours, but as with many Mac Baren offerings, you just wish that they were more present. A recommended hot weather tobacco.
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dustyz	03/26/2011	Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
this is my first review. i've been trolling this site for a few months now getting great tips from smokers so i thought it time to leave some comments of my own. and i seem to have picked a tobacco that only comes 'somewhat recommended' but i'm going to leave it a higher mark than that. as soon as i saw this tobacco and smelled it in the tin, i had a good feeling. right from the tin i got hints of honey, grass and licorice. i pulled out a couple of flakes, let them rest and dry for about 10 minutes, then folded them into my pipe, topped it with a bit of broken flake and struck a match. i sipped at it as i've heard there might be some tongue bite but like vinnie799 found none. just a pleasant smoking tobacco with an attractive natural sweetness. it burned very well. and i never got tired of the taste from start to finish. and even now as i write this (about 20 minutes since finished the bowl) i am still left with the pleasant flavours. my guess that lovers of big, bold VF won't enjoy this and likely find it too mild but i thought this to be a quality tobacco, with a natural sweetness that burns very well. i will be keeping this VF in my rotation and recommend it to smokers looking for a clean, naturally sweet VF.
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Tony	03/23/2011	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I've been smoking heavy burleys and English all winter. Yesterday I decided that it was time for a summer smoke, a nice VA flake. I purchased a neat little 1 3/4 oz/50gm tin of MB Virginia Flake. Opening the tin I was greeted with a luxurious looking presentation of gold overleaf and two very nicely packed rows of thin light colored flakes. The tin aroma was appealing too. Maybe honey smell,and or grassy but I'm not sure but it was pleasant. The flakes rubbed out very nicely and since it broke up so easily I thought it'd be nice for a fold and stuff kinda thing. The flakes behaved nicely as I stuffed two flakes in a medium sized bowl and they took a light easily. Now, knowing MacBaren's is known to smoke hot and people say they've been bitten by MB, I started smoking it very slowly from the start, just about breath smoking it. MB VA Flake treated me very kindly. This to me is a straight up VA Flake so I'd suggest one not expect much more than this. If you know VA's then you know not to espect alot. However, I was delighted with this little tin and was a great change up from the rigorous heavy demands of winter/cold weather requirements of pipe smoking in my opinion. Lighter weather lighter tobacco for me. I'm giving this baby THREE stars here. It presents itself very well in its class. I'm still backing up my days with a heavier Nic hit but this stuff's nice.
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pipe row19	03/01/2011	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Nothing speacail just a stright Natural Va. Unlike most mac barens this one has a naturaly sligthly sweet taste, very nice, grassy, hay like aroma. If you like natural simple tasting Va flakes like myself a tin of this will serve you well.
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MisterSmith	02/28/2011	Very Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
After finishing a tin of much beloved Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake and being impatient for the arrival of the next import I thought I would give Macbaren's Virginia Flake a try as it is readily available to me. The quaint little yellow tin, the gold paper inlay implying 'luxury tobacco' awaits, the beautiful way the flakes are presented, the rich summer grass aroma - it all bodes well. Sadly for me, all I got was a very unpleasant saccharin, stale baccy taste in my mouth vividly reminding me just why I packed up cigarette smoking and moved to pipe smoking in the first place. Comparing this with the Gawith FVF is like comparing a two day old, cold Big Mac (found under the sofa) to a three star Michelin restaurant T-bone steak. (UPDATE: I would 'imagine' having never eaten anything from under my sofa, two days old or otherwise - at least not from Macdonalds.)
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Max1a	02/09/2011	Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
Just a straight up Virginia flake. Very grassy, very one dimensional. I suppose that a person could want to smoke this alone, but it is actually a very good blender and makes a fantastic base for the addition of some Red Virginia, Lat, and perique. 2 stars straight, 3 as a blender tobacco.
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WmZiggy	12/31/2010	Mild to Medium	Mild	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant to Tolerable
Grassy, with little or no depth of development of other taste notes as the smoke progresses. Just an unpleasant grassy taste top to bottom. On my MacB world tour, this one is my biggest disappointment, especially given the beautiful presentation of this flake in the tin. This flake may make a good blending tobacco, but by itself it leaves much to be desired.
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grumpyoldprofessor	11/23/2010	Mild	Mild	Mild	Tolerable
I bought my Virginia Flake in the 1lb offering. The presentation of this flake is down right beautiful. It's a one pound hunk of long thinly sliced Virginia right off the ol' chopping block! It has such a sweet grassy smell to it that transfers to the taste nicely. As I said the flakes are thin and quite long as well. At first I thought I would need to cut one in half to smoke in my favorite flake pipe, but due to the thin slice one flake folded in half and gently twisted fit right in. It's very pliable and a good moisture level as well. The charring light got things going nicely and I tamped down the tobacco and lit again and didn't have to mess with after that. It does light easily which is a major plus with any flake. As far as taste goes it does have a nice light taste and mild strength. It's got the typical grassy, hay like, taste and none of the cigarette taste normally associated with VA's. I think it's a good choice for a nice light, sweet and mild VA available in bulk.
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NA Morrison	10/30/2010	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
a very light virgina flake with a mildely sweet taste. burns cool with no bite. great for an early morning smoke. i really like english bleands but this was a plesent change of pace in terms of strength and flavor.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 72 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >