Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia

Mac Baren - HH Pure Virginia. "Pure Virginia" indeed.

I'm smoking a bowl of Earth, along with the salt of it.

Seriously -- have you ever smoked an earthier, richer Virginia? I am not sure that I have. But if a curious piper asked me for advice on a "pure Virginia flake" I might just very well recommend them a tin of Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia. Fruity, some himt of saltiness and plenty of earth, this is Turkey season Virginia, best smoked in the crisp outdoors of Autumn, shotgun-in-hand, bowl-in-mouth . . .

Lovely stuff this.

I'm newer to some of these pure Virginia blends, to date I've had the John Cotton's Double Pressed Virginia, and Capstan's Original both in the flake and ready rubbed, and I might include Orlik's Golden Slices in that catagory too, although some say it includes perique. So my experience isn't all that broad, but what I've tried so far makes me interested. I've been eyeing this blend for a while, and I was waiting for an excuse to pull the trigger on it.

When you open the tin you see the flakes. They are a perfect size for folding and stuffing, and their moisture content makes them smokable out of the tin. They look to be a combination of red and bright Virginias. The tin note here is sweet hay, honey and slight fermentation. They stuff pretty well, I used 2 flakes here today. Lighting straight from the tin might take some time, but when dried for some time like an hour or so becomes a little quicker. I find I need a few more than the average amount of relights here. On another note this one smells wonderful to me, but may not to your friends.

After lighting, this blend really reminds me of Orlik Golden sliced. That sweet hay, grass comes through to the front followed by a slight breadyness. It's almost floral like in its sweetness and it is slightly herbal. I do taste the fermented Red Virginia's adding a tiny bit of dark fruit, but they add a mellow smoothness to the whole experience getting rid of a few of the rougher edges. I think I would call the taste a medium. The strength here is a pretty solid medium, I don't really feel it, but it is nice.

I think this is a very good blend, especially for summer. It is well made and long lasting. I could easily buy more, and if you are looking for an authentic straight Virginia experience give this a try.

Good quality Virginia, sweet - deep - rich - earthy - grassy, cool & dry smoke, no tongue bite, excellent all day smoke. Must buy to try. 3.5 stars. Recommended.

This is good stuff! HH Pure Virginia should satisfy most Virginia smokers, as it’s not offensive in any way and it succeeds in its mission of being a high quality Virginia Flake you can smoke all day and be satisfied with every bowlful. HHPV fresh out of the tin reminds me of a tin of OGS I smoked that had ten years of aging on it, a richer, deeper OGS. This isn’t trying to compete with 40th Ann., rather HHPV is simply trying to be one of the best straight Virgina flakes you can smoke all day and IMHO it has succeeded.

This might be a strange review, because, basically, I do not like Virginia flakes. This goes back to 1972, shortly after I started smoking a pipe, and having just discovered the original Edgeworth Slices, and the Original Balkan Sobranie Smoking Mixture. I grabbed a green tin of Sobranie Flake, popped it open, loaded my pipe, fired it up...and thought, "What the hell???" There was nothing about it that I liked. And though in the 46 years since, little has changed, I have developed an understanding and appreciation of what Virginia flakes are about. Some, I have even enjoyed.

Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia Flake is one these. How so many reviewers here can taste all those extraneous flavors in pipe tobaccos is utterly beyond me. All I can say about HH Pure Virginia is that it tastes like an early fall afternoon smells...sweet, a bit vinegary at times, slightly smoky. It is that good. Like all tobacco, it is best puffed slowly, but fear not: it absolutely cannot be puffed into the hot zone; there isn't a bite in a bowlful.

The big surprise was that the tin I received from Smokingpipes was dated September, 2015. Three years old! The flakes were a very dark brown, and at perfect moisture right out of the tin. That bit of good fortune probably had something to do with my enjoyment.

Will it be in my rotation? Probably not. Just as Scotch will never be a regular drink. But will I order it sometime? Absolutely.

This reminded me a lot of the one I just reviewed, Amphora Virginia. The latter is a 'ripped flake,' this Pure VA is a pressed flake. The taste profiles between the two blends were similar, at least to my palate. Much of what I said for the Amphora blend goes for this one, too—a bit sharp, slow burning, strong. I prefer softer, lighter, pressed flakes. This one's a good sipper, but I much rather burn up a Capstan Yellow or an Orlik Golden Slice, they're lighter, and more pleasant to smoke. Still, HH Pure VA is pretty good. If you really like sharper VA's then this one's for you. 2.50 stars.

The presentation is top notch and the tin note is enticing. As a lover of all things, Virginia these two aspects make me excited, very excited. Unfortunately, this is where my excitement ends with this blend. Bright Virginia's take to the forefront and are grassy with a moderate zest. There are the occasional dark fruit notes and a fleeting sweetness that becomes more prominent in the last third of the bowl. Overall, the blend is rather monochromatic and uneventful.

I know that this blend receives lots of love but I just can't get on the wagon. I appreciate the HH line and their goal to "emphasize the natural tobacco taste." However, this one is a miss for me. Out of all the VA varietals, brights are my least favorite and this obviously impacts my opinion of the blend. I would love to see an addition to the HH line that highlights reds as opposed to brights.

2 year old tin. It gets full points for presentation and smell off the tin. My flakes were hard to keep lit, I had to relight a lot. In the taste department it's more earthy than grassy or sweet with some brioche flavor.

While advertised as topping free, a sweet licorice taste shows up. After smoking it with a regular pipe, I tried it with a new pipe and the licorice taste was omnipresent. I guess that a casing can do as good a job as a topping. Licorice is my favorite flavor since I was a kid, there's no hiding from my taste buds.There are better "pure" Virginias out there, sorry for being the party pooper.

Virginia lover

I'm smoking Mac Baren's HH Pure Virginia in parallel with other straight Virginias: Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake, Gawith & Hoggarth's Brigh CR Flake, GL Pease's Union Square, Peterson (former Dunhill's) Flake, Dan Tobacco's Veermaster and Amphora Virginia. HH Pure Virginia is a compact flake, quite dry and almost ready to be smoked, with a standard and natural Virginia flavour. After rubbing and some drying time, it releases notes of hay, bread crust and aromatic Mediterranean herbs. It is toasted, not as much as Amphora Virginia but more than the Gawith counterparts. This straight Virginia provides a pleasant floral and herbal aroma at the beginning, evolving into more toasted notes, sometimes reminding me of coffee. It is smooth and relatively gentle to the tongue, easy to smoke and repeatable.