McCranie's - Old Master pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
< PREVIOUS Showing reviews 21 through 29 of 29 reviews of this tobacco
Taste Buds	10/21/2005	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I'm slowly working my way through my second 7oz. bag of Old Master in two years. So it's obvious that burley blends are not a regular smoke for me. This mixture arrives very wet and needs a few days to dry out. Once dried, it is a very pleasant nutty mixture of fine burley with a touch of virginia. There is definitely a sweetener added, which does not distract from the taste and seems to smooth it out. This blend burns cool and dry to a white ash and there is no harshness. It smokes well in both briars and cobs, although cobs and burley seem to go together. The room aroma is pleasant and light. This is a very straightforward one dimensional blend which I'll smoke more of during the summer months. Update: October 21/05 I'm downgrading this blend to 2 stars from 3. I've lost my taste for this tobacco. If you check out my reviews, you'll see that I've found a burley replacement that's substantially better.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
ENThomsen	07/11/2005	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
This blend is possibly THE choice for the unaltered burley smoker. Perhaps HOW is the master of burlies, but they would do well to research how the McCranies came up with this one. I alternated smoking OM with (HOW's) "Union Leader" and detected no flavorings with OM while UL's light honey topping became more apparent. Granted, OM could have less moisture, but, this is far from a "problem". OM is definitely worth whatever effort it takes to get it: start driving to Charlotte or place your order now.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
DUPE.1512	06/09/2005	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant
Now here is an absolutely fantastic Burley blend. Creamy and nutty with just a hint of vanilla. Yummy stuff!
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Blackie	05/08/2005	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This is a fantastic Burley blend. As others have noted, it is creamy, nutty and has the most vague whisper of vanilla. At the proper humidity, this burns extrodinarily mild and all the way down the bowl. So far, I've smoked this in three different pipes, and it really did not matter, I could not force this to be bad in any way. After about half the pipe, I noticed that I was enjoying the tobacco so much, that I was really heating the whole works up by aggressive puffing. Not a hint of a bite or change in flavor, however. This really behaves. In a world of tobacco complexities, O.M. is like a ice cold glass of milk or iced tea. It is just a pure, refreshing, honest flavor. Whether you smoke VA, English, or topped blends, I highly recommend Old Master. This is obviously an outstanding grade of Burley and is, in my opinion, the benchmark of Burley tobacco.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Blackhorse	03/07/2005	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
McCranie?s Old Master Review I don't review many...a kindness I've decided to bestow on the good readers here. But I wanted to do this review as a favor to Todd McCranie for being kind to me when I didn't really deserve it...and because I wanted to see this excellent product called up when others did a search here based on 4-star rating (which takes five reviews). So then: But before I do...I DID order a pound of this...at the same time (though from different shops) that I ordered a pound of Nut Brown Burley...thanks pipestud! OK - onward... I'd been skulking along the backroads and often dismal alleyways of Burley and mostly Burley blends...grilling a number of "most likely suspects"...finally rounding up MacBaren's Burley London Blend and Wilke's Nut Brown Burley as those that I thought had the best physical smoking characteristics and richness of flavor...without the fizzle and sourness or bite I sought to avoid. And although there are many other fine entries into this catagory the exploration ultimately led me to McCranie's Old Master - as in many times past following the guideposts set by erstwhile reviewers here that have gone before me. What a find! Pouch aroma is divine! Smokes smooth and cool all the way, consistant of flavor, eager of burn, thick clouds, friendly to pipe after pipe (each of my two identical inexpensive Stanwell "freehands" and the little Bjarne pot...all of which seem to smoke everything well...love this blend). I'm smoking it now in a deep antique microrusticated Brackner Danish Ax and it's holding it's own, if not perfectly, at least rather well. Frequent mild tamping seem to help it stay cool in this bowl - but I'm thinking a bowl of less volume is the answer. Next will be the obvious Cob - I've a fairly new bent Country Gentleman that awaits. There seems to be some conversation that this might be cased, though McCranie's literature says not. Whatever. If so, it must be with the same pixie dust that the god's have blessed onto Bob's Chocolate Flake - for without a true side by side my oral and olefactory flavor neurons seem to tickle the same receptor cells in what remains of my brain. This is praise, as Bob's is considered a guilty pleasure around here. I'm thinking that this will be a marvelous Summer standard...though it never turns truely hot or humid in our end of the world. I can huff and puff and try to melt my pipe with the gusto of my cadence - and the stuff just chugs away providing it's steady cocoa-bacco flavor. I don't think others have mentioned...that a light sipping/side-streaming really allows the flavor to bloom. Lovely. Let's see...the price is right (it's bulk), moisture level at delivery is fine, packs and lights very easily...gosh folks, to me it's a major winner! 5 out of 5
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Tiger	01/06/2005	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant
Well, Mr. Pipestud above called this one right on target. Holy Toledo this stuff is good! I really, really like McBaren's Burley London Blend but it has just been moved to 2nd place. McCranie's "Old Master" is way, way above anything I ever thought Burley could be!!! Tiger
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Spike	10/02/2004	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
I don't know how to fully describe this concoction except to say this is very tasty and a cool smoke as well. Rich enough to hold ones' interest but mild enough to smoke most of the day. And, it smells much better than most blends with this much flavor. Update: Downgraded to three plus due to mild taste.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Mr. Dottle	06/22/2004	Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant
This is one great burley blend! Don?t look for complex flavors here but do look forward to a straightforward pleasingly sweet and very flavorful smoke from beginning to end. For you fast puffers, puff away, there is no bite. McCrainie?s claims this is a natural tobacco without added flavorings but I?m not so sure. I found Old Master to be a very flavorful blend. Maybe it's just me but I think it has a modicum of topping so McCrainie?s claim leaves me puzzled. Regardless, this is an all day smoke for sure! If you are like me and have several tobaccos open, you may find yourself reaching for this blend more often than your other open blends. I thought I liked Wilke Nut Brown burley and I do but, and this may be sacrilegious to say, I like Old Master burley more. I actually find Old Master more similar to the fruity topped Country Doctor by HOW, but better as well. I rate this tobacco 9.95 out of 10
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Pipestud	04/23/2002	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Very Pleasant
This, my friends, is one of the smoothest, delightful burley blends I have ever had the pleasure of putting into my pipe. When my palate screams for burley, Old Master is the ticket! This burley does not bite, does not turn sour as you move down the bowl, and leaves a fresh, clean taste in your mouth once you have completed a pipeful. The taste buds clammer for more almost immediately. Seriously, if you have not experience Old Master's flavor and you enjoy burley, call the McCranie boys and order a pound of this stuff. You can thank me later.
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