Mac Baren HH Pure 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.

Flavor is tasty and well rounded. Fruity, tangy and a bit of grass. The flavor is also mild and mellow which surprised me a bit considering the medium body. Thought it would be a little bolder. If you prefer a milder flavor this would be a great choice. A very nice smoke.

Medium in body. No added flavoring which may be why it's milder and mellower compared to some other flakes I've been smoking lately. Taste is just a shade over mild, I'll go with mild to medium. Burns very well.

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!

Great middle of the road pure Virginia. Sweet grassy hay notes with a bit of citrus. Tin condition was near perfect with no drying of the flakes necessary. Smoked both runned out and folded. No great difference in the taste just the burn time. Formula burned straight through the smoke with few relights. Little to none on moisture in the bowl. Another solid smoke from the HH line. Planning to set a few tins back to age, believe this may jump to a 4 after some age is applied.

I will be honest, if you want a review with more experience from this particular flake there are others to read since this is more of a first impression review. In my experience of Mac Baren, I think there is often little to complain about, because everything is done very well and "correct" (very fine tobaccos, etc). But sometimes too much perfection can get a bit boring, and that is kind of how I feel about this flake. For some, this will be a very well behaved virginia well worth its time. But without really being able to put my finger on it, I feel a bit impatient from the first impression I get. Sure, if you stick around with this one, age it, find the perfect pipe for it, etc., there will be nothing here to complain about.

Taste: The flavour I get is honey-sweetness and hey together with an earthy body that is also a bit sour and tangy and a little spicy here and there and some yeasty bready notes, overall fairly balanced. But the sweetness you get here is from topping, and I find it a bit onedimensional. But easy to smoke with little relights, and a pleasent sweet room note.

Overall, nothing stands out really, nothing to complain about, but for the same reason, as with people so also for tobacco, it can get a bit boring. But maybe I will have to update my evaluation if this grows on me, we'll see. It could be the sour quality of the (red?) virginias that puts me off, and if I feel like smoking a very smooth Mac Baren virginia with slight sugar topping, I will probably grab for Virginia no. 1 instead.

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

The Flake shape and cut into 3 rows. It uses straight and well-aged good quality Virginia. The taste is rich but not sweet as FVF, not complex and just little unnoticed grassiness. I also feel little spicy like tiny black pepper in the beginning and very subtle citrus taste in the end. Nicotine is in low level. Good for daily smoking especially for the beginners. May good to keep long for well fermented.

The tin is manufactured on Dec 2018.

A very fine Virginia flake indeed.. Another solid blend in the HH series or line (whatever you wanna call it).. Pure Virginia is exactly what it says it is.. it is a pure and clean smoke.. The bready, earthy, sweet notes are what I taste the most.. grass and hay more in the background.. little citrus.. smooth and cool burning.. very well behaved.. nothing really to complain about.. Of all the HH blends I have tried this one probably excites me the least.. but it still excites me.. I find the hot pressing, while improving the mechanics of the smoke, kind of tones down the flavor (which you can still taste underneath.. just a little muted).. but the subtle complexity and comfortable smoke behavior make it so good! The aroma while smoking it is just fantastic! I think even people who don't like virginas (usually the same people who are susceptible to tongue bite) will love this! The tin I smoked had a few years on it.. i think with a few more i could give this 4 stars.. as it stands, i am torn.. i really like this.. i just can't say it blows me away.. so i will say 3.. but some smokes have been 4 😉