Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia

I will confess that I am a bit biased towards this blend. This blend and the Sav. Brunello Flake that is made by MacBaren are my two favorite blends made by this manufacturer.

With that said, I will say that this blend reminds me a lot of a slightly more user friendly and a smoother version of Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake. I have smoked a bunch of both and have loved SG's FVF since when you could buy a pound for $30. Yeah, imagine that.

I will say that FVF will always be a Gold Standard Blend but because it has become so hard to find here in the US I have found that HH Pure Virginia is the closest substitute (if not replacement) in my opinion.

It is a bit stronger than most of their Virginia offerings and I would recommend smoking it in a wide shallow bowl. That is how I have gotten the most flavor out of it. Fold and stuff it or rub it out and pack it. To me the flavors are the same. Pure bliss.

HH Pure Virginia - Part 3 of 6 - MacBaren HH Flake Reviews

In honor of the just released MacBaren HH Rustica Flake (that I have jarred and reintroducing oxygen) I will be reviewing the five previous HH Flakes leading up to a final review of that new release. I feel all tobacco requires a “Cool Down” period after you open the tin. A minimum of a month so the prior five HH Flakes will give me enough time to get Rustica ready for my liking. With that said: here is Part 3 of 6 . . . of my MacBaren HH Flake Series Reviews.

I have always understood that Virginia tobaccos were normally the base of most blends due to the natural sugar content. That sweetness greatly assisting the blender with balancing their creation. Using a food analogy, I have always seen them as the grains of the tobacco world. Like bread or rice (both of which I love), I simply was not able to eat them by themselves. I needed some jam on that bread or some beans with that rice.

Back in September of 2018, Dorothy and I were at Sutliff for their excellent pipe show. We met a lot of good people those couple of days. Some of which later became very dear friends. The older gentleman sitting across from me had an IT background much like myself. We were both tinkerers and due to this we hit it off almost immediately. Having such similar interests, I was hooked on our conversation. During which I asked what was in his pipe. His response: “Amphora Virginia”. I immediately scoffed at him. “How can you smoke straight Virginias like that? Put some Latakia in it!” I proclaimed. Back then I was hooked on Lat-Bombs and anything else was seen as an inferior smoke in my mind. His response was that Latakia is too heavy. Virginias were something he could smoke all the time. He proceeded to pinch out about half his pouch, put it in a Ziplock, and gave it to me. Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I thanked him and put it away.

If you have been following my other reviews you will have already guessed that about seven months later . . . my palate burnt out due to my blending and taste testing latakia forward tobaccos. I was forced to move away from that leaf. One fateful night I was frustrated that I couldn’t enjoy pipe tobacco like I used to. I pulled out the Amphora Virginia that I was given, stuffed it into my pipe, and proceeded to start a journey of which I have yet to return. That experience can only be described as utterly sublime. I was simply enthralled with the flavor. I thought to myself: “OH MAN! If what some consider to be an OTC Virginia is this good . . . I wonder what is seen as a more Premium Virginia will taste like?!?!” That fleeting thought eventually lead me to picking up a tin of HH Pure Virginia.

The tin note of HH Pure Virginia is a bit underwhelming. A touch of sweetness and grass. But that’s about it. The flakes are beautifully cut and optimally hydrated, which is what I have come to expect of all MacBaren tobaccos. I always choose to fold and stuff any MacBaren flake I come across because to not do so just seems to be a bit of an injustice to me. They are simply the perfect candidates for that method. When you light HH Pure Virginia you are immediately greeted with that subtle sweetness that is very familiar. A dried fruit sweetness akin to raisins. You will notice an earthy tone throughout the smoke. The main notes you will taste are grass and hay. Occasionally you will be greeted with a bit of citrus that is a bit tart but never unpleasant. When you retrohale this tobacco you are overwhelmed with the grassy taste that MacBaren proclaims you will experience, but you will also taste a bit of bread and hay. An experienced smoker will find this blend to be surprisingly complex for a straight Virginia and will easily be able to pick out the Red and Bright Virginias.

HH Pure Virginia is a prime example of a damned near perfect straight Virginia. I dislike comparing tobaccos. I honestly feel that every tobacco blend has its own special quality that is only cheapened when being compared to something else. With that said, I feel that this is one of the few scenarios where it would be appropriate. If you’re a smoker of Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake, Capstan Blue, McClelland 5100, Orlik Golden Sliced, etc . . . you will most definitely enjoy MacBaren’s HH Pure Virginia Flake. If Escudo Navy De Luxe sets the bar for VaPers, then HH Pure Virginia sets the bar for straight Virginias. It is a wonderful tobacco that only gets better with age.

As I sit here smoking my final bowl of HH Pure Virginia for quite a while (due to smoking so much of it for this review), I cannot help but think of that older gentleman that I met going on two years ago at Sutliff. His generosity in giving me that huge pinch of Amphora Virginia really had an impact on my tastes and how I perceive tobacco as a whole. If you are reading this review, you know who you are. This past October, I was able to thank you in person for the role you played in my journey through this vast hobby. It may have been such a little thing to you . . . but know that to me it has meant everything.

~ Barry

Presentation is wonderful as it always is with Mac Baren's flakes. They are neatly organized and uniform. This review is based on a four year-old tin. The flakes were really dark with some bright flecks here and there.

The tin note upon opening smelt of vinegar, a slight dried fruit hint, and somewhat like cured meat. As it spends time in a jar it gets closer to smelling like dried fruit. The flakes are a little moist. I tried folding and stuffing and rubbing out as well. I found that rubbing it out and drying it a bit to burn best and taste the best.

The smoke starts out sort of nondescript, just a slight vinegar and fermented taste. At about mid-bowl I pick up tangy vinegar notes, woody notes, nuts, maybe almonds, toasted bread notes, banana, oats, hints of cinnamon, pastry notes, a touch of cake batter, sultanas, figs, molasses, and it builds in woody smokiness towards the middle and end of the bowl with those pastry and fig notes lingering in the background.

There is not much acidity, and no citrus notes, to my palate. I didn't find this to be a sugary sweet flake. I also don't get the honey notes typical with many Virginias.

Strength is medium maybe. Nicotine is medium. I have gotten a big nic hit with this blend once. I had just a little food in my stomach, smoked too fast, and it got me.

I recommend this for the Virginia-lover who enjoys the more natural tobacco taste, or the person who likes darker Virginias. This blend showcases all that Virginia can be, in that it is both sweet and earthy, or sweet and savory. To my taste, this is closest to Wessex Brown Virginia Flake, but maybe better. If I blind-tasted this I might think there was Burley, but the tin does say there are air-cured Virginias in there as well.

I would buy this again, and hopefully get a younger tin with some bright notes and honey notes, which I think I missed out on because my tin was old. It's a quality Virginia with complexity, depth and roundness.

*Update* 7-18-2019 It's got depth and body and it might be the best straight Virginia I have smoked yet. I think it just needed air.

*Update 12-25-2019* I bought a younger tin to see what this is like with less age. This tin is dated Oct2018. It has the dried fruit notes, honey notes, cereal notes, in addition to the notes mentioned in my original review: smokiness and nuttiness, cocoa.

The only negative thing I can say about it is that when it's young it can be a total fruit bomb, and make your pipe taste that way. The development runs its course into more flavors when smoked, but it is very fruity Virginia flavor when young. It has more zest when young, and more darkness and depth when aged.

This is an extraordinary straight Virginia.

Boy, this is among the top three virginia flakes available. No joke. Gawith Full Virginia Flake is considered the gold standard and this is just as good. In fact its rather similar in composition and level of stoving. Its maybe not as complex but it has genuine depth of flavor and is pure tobacco. I consider McClelland 1776 flake to also be near the top. The second tier would include Butera dark stoved, and Astely's #44, and probably Wessex Campaign Dark flake. McClelland's dark star and blackwoods flake are also excellent. But honestly, I think this HH Macbaren flake is even better. It has great natural sweetness ( much as I like the wessex for example, it does contain the very slightest casing...very slight but its there). Cornel & Diehl's Opening Night is very good and Pease's Union Square;...both are broken flake. The Pease is maybe the strongest nicotine wise. But this macbaren flake is rich and very cool smoking and needs only the slightest dry time. The nic hit is between mild and medium...a bit closer to medium. Not as strong as the Pease, but perhaps stronger than astely's or the Wessex.

If you like lighter virginia, Gawith's Golden Glow and butera's golden cake are very good. Dan tobacco's hamborger veermaster is excellent as well for a light virginia flake. And if you like heavily stoved virginia...the sleeper is McClelland's bulk flake...Navy Flake. Its top flight stuff. But even if macbaren is associated with aromatics and lightweight burley blends, the HH line is something altogether different and this is maybe their best offering.

You don't want to drive your Ferrari every day. If you need to nip down the road for a bag of nails, the Ford will do.

The HH series is your Ford tobacco. And that's a good thing.

I rarely go for straight virginias but the summer months brings out the desire.

Pure Virginia fits the bill because of its great quality of being eminently user friendly.

Dignified, dark and deep, HH Pure Virginia offers a very distinctive take on virginias: Toasty, earthy, and, for a virginia, stout, with sweet tannins and a bit of nicotine, but after the fullness of the smoke it leaves the mouth feeling surprisingly clean. It’s a little on the tarry side, pleasantly so, but that just seems part and parcel of the rich and multi-faceted flavor spectrum this fine mixture brings to the table (pipe), and, hey, when the dog walks on the water who’s going to complain that it can’t swim?

Got the best results when I let it dry a little, rubbed it out thoroughly and smoked slowly. This mixture grabs my attention and doesn’t let it go.

Different than the best of McClelland, Samuel Gawith, C&D, Compton’s and G.L. Pease, but able to take a place at their honored round table. Highly recommended!

HH Pure Virginia - Smoking a fairly fresh 9 month old tin . The grassy and citrus notes are there but pleasant. A little bit of dark fruit . The thing that I like that I am picking up is malty almost caramel sweetness in the bowl i am smoking now . This is quality blend . It smokes about the same all through the bowl some floral notes as well . No tongue bite to worry about . Moisture is spot on from tin . Nic is mild-medium . I may order a pound to see how this cellars . I fancy the blend . 4

HH straight Virginia of Mac Baren: This is one of the finest blends and a top straight Virginia. Many folks comment on how well this tobacco ages; i would add that this is an excellent blend also when smoked fresh out of the tin. It does not need any drying time, though it can also be left little in the air. It burns pretty cool and relatively slow depending on how you prepare the tobacco in the bowl. I personally prefer to break the flake into medium-size pieces and often prepare a medium-to-large bowl of Peterson XL02 or savinelli 616, or a medium bowl of Peterson 408 pipe. Generally it concentrates, as many straight Va blends do, little oil in the shank so occasionally I will pass through the stem a cleaner to absorb the oils when I smoke this blend. It’s grassy, woody and (little more pronounced) bready with a great natural flavor. There is no chance of bite and in my view, this is a tobacco that is better smoked in non-filter pipes or removing the filter in filtered pipes. This is a full 4-star blend. I prefer smoking this blend after dinner, sometimes on a lazy weekday or Sunday afternoon - easily to repeat a second or even a third bowl during the day, though I most likely will smoke one bowl, anything between 3 to 5 times during the week.

This wonderful Virginia Flake doesn't need another review. BUT given I pulled a tin I laid down 3 yrs and 1 month ago today I thought I would add something about aging this flake. BUY it. AGE it. This is AMBROSIA!! MB has a "top shelf" Virginia Flake in this one and I have many others in the vault that have aged much longer and smoked thru the years. I would only add I opened this tin when new and it was on the dry side in terms of moisture content. Try it with a dram of Four Roses Bourbon. Just lovely.