Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia

Mac Baren - HH Pure Virginia. I love EVERYTHING about this blend!

The tin contains three rows of flakes that are quite slim and dark brown in colour. The amount of moisture is better than many sealed tins, it's only slightly damp. Mine isn't in desperate need of drying, yes, that would raise the standard to perfect but I find it good enough to smoke right away.

I crumble my flakes as opposed to the fold and stuff method and this is easy to rub to a decent texture. Whilst doing so the only notable aroma I get is a straight up Virginia one; any extra casing must have been added very sparingly.

I find the smoke 'savoury' tasting. I struggle to detect many sweet nuances from this compared to many straight Virginia's. What I do detect is a slight saltiness from the smoke; not acrid or full but a delicate addition. Also, I get the least grassiness I've had from a straight Virginia, it tastes as if there's a tiny proportion of Burley in there to me; a slight nuttiness, making it even more savoury.

This burns resplendently. Once it's lit it is very independent. I only need my tamper to maintain it. My lighter's only needed if it's not puffed often enough.

Nicotine? I think it's just below medium, it's a nice strength for my taste.

I think this is a completely unique straight Virginia. It's not just the usual sweet and grassy affair that I get from most Va's. Total perfection: highly recommended.

Four stars.

More than the middle-of-the-road to me...this is a very good Virginia Flake tobacco. I like the "pure" taste and while similar to other straight Virginia flakes/plugs/Ready Rubbed offerings, I find this a notch above many others.

Easily an all-day smoke and one for most any size pipe...Moisture level is perfect and easy to rub out...

...Another impressive flake in the MacBaren HH series...

As I started to appreciate straight Virginias during the past few months I was looking forward to try Mac Barens shot at a straight Virginia blend. As I love the HH-Line, for their unspoiled, natural tobaccos I chose HH Pure Virginia.

Cracking up the lovely, classy, yet simple designed tin with it's intriguing rich yellow that has the Mac Baren lions on it I was instantly interested in how this one would perform in the pipe. Inside there's the typical and very classy golden wrapper paper Mac Baren uses and three rows of Mac Barens evenly cut, thin flake slices. They know how to make a flake cut, sure thing! 1,5cm in thickness, ~ 11 cm in lenght and 3cm in width the flakes break apart quite easily, which hints towards there's little to none glue applied! Optically seducing with their rich hue of mostly medium bron, bright brown and few bright-golden speckles.

The tin-note is very inconspicuous and natural. Slightly honeyed, mildly fruity, bready and tobacco-y and I could swear I perceive a faint vinegar-ish note to it, especially when cracking a fresh tin. Comes very well conditioned for a flake cut. Not too moist, yet demanding at least an half-, better one- to two hours of drying time. But it can be smoked right away, if properly rubbed out!

Slow and cool smouldering in the bowl HH Pure Virginia offers a rich aroma with some depth to it. Mildly notes of stoved fruits that underline the delicous somewhat bready and/or nutty aroma. A little earthy and very tobacco-y, fairly tangy and spicy for a straight Virginia. In the background I perceive some notes of grass and hay. Honeyish sweetness is always present, that is rather unobtrusive and mild, I'd bet this is all natural sweetness, none added to it.

Pretty bold for a straight Virginia and very rich in flavors this is one of the most complex straight Virginia blends I had. Diversified and refined it offers a enticing smoking experience that's far from being one-dimensional or boring! Definetly a blend I'll integrate into my rotation. Very All-Day suitable due to it's rather digestible strenght, this truly is a gem within the countless straight VA offerings.

4/4 stars for genuine, honest and interesting pure Virginia blend that is living up to the name of Mac Barens HH-Line - unspoiled, tasteful, rounded. Favorited!

I think this is a masterpiece. This seems to be as close an experience as you can have to smoking Virginia tobacco straight from the farm to your bowl. It has obviously been cured and fermented but it has no topping and a nearly undetectable amount of casing. Smoking uncased Virginias isn't a very pleasant experience. Some amount of casing is necessary to reduce harshness and fix any inherent rough edges of the leaf. The casing used here does not intrude upon the flavor at all.

This blend of Virginias tastes grassy. Occasional hay, earth, spice, and vague natural sweetness pop up. No honey, citrus, or molasses here. I sense a medium strength with a bit of a kick. I hope to see this released in the 16oz boxes so that I may age some!

Very similar to MacBaren's own Virginia blend (yellow pouch), this is a very nice flake, full of flavor, rich in taste, and easy to smoke. Unlike many Virginias--especially those under the MacBaren process--this won't bite.

It has a woodsy, slightly toasted nuance, very natural, with almost no sweetness to it (unlike, say, Dunhill's Light Flake or Orlik's Golden Sliced). I think this is a very good, high quality smoke, unpretentious yet satisfying and flavorsome in a most natural manner. Good stuff!

Upon opening the tin, you are greeted with a sweet, fig like and fruity smell. It is simply a phenomenal smelling blend. It comes in the traditional, thin MacBaren flakes (about half the size of an Orlik flake for comparison purposes) and the presentation is top notch IMO. It is easily lit, stays lit and smokes to a fine ash with no hard tobacco clump at the end to boot. Perfect in that regard.

Smoking mechanics: should be sipped like all pure Virginias and I dry it out minimally. Just enough so there is a little spring back when you squeeze it. I've found it to have best flavor if done this way. However, here's the key with this blend and I've found this to be the case more than many other blends I've had: YOU MUST FIND THE PROPER PIPE SIZE AND SHAPE TO SMOKE THIS IN! It drastically changes the taste if not done so. It honestly oscillates between a mediocre, so-so smoke to a phenomenal, top notch smoke if you find the correct combination. So far, the best shape I've found for the blend is the 320 Savinelli. The Savinelli Marron Glace 320 KS to be exact. Like I said, minimally dry it out, smoke/sip it slow and use a good pipe and you are in for a world class, second to none smoke. Just don't give up on it and keep trying things until you find the right combo for you personally. I highly doubt you'll be disappointed, if you like Pure Virginias that is. Happy smokes brothers!

UPDATE (6/21/2020): This blend has only gotten better since writing my first review of it. Simply phenomenal. I've found several other pipe combinations that smoke this beautifully and some that don't seem to do so well so I hope it's encouraging to all of you that smoke this terrific blend. I've got a couple of years on the jar I'm smoking out of today and it is wonderful. Smooth, mellow, and subtle with increasing sweetness as i work through the bowl. 5 and 10 years down the road WILL do wonders for this blend and that's saying something because it's tremendous right now as is. In short, I can only speak more positively of this blend as of this two-year update. My cellar is well stocked, enough said. Enjoy fellas, this one's a beauty!

I've always been a fan of Mac Baren's Virginia No 1 and their Virginia Flake. I've just added their Modern Virginia to that list, but their HH Pure Virginia is now my favorite Mac Va.

Mac Baren's tin presentation is always appealing as is the readiness for a smoke right out of a fresh tin. The tin note was of tobacco, mild and not grassy as is typical of many Virginias. There was no flavoring I could detect while smoking; just a very pleasant, atypical tasting, Virginia from first puff to last with a very appealing pure tobacco taste throughout. It didn't smoke hot or bite and it smoked dry to the heel. I can smoke this all day, every day. This is a keeper and as previously stated, now my favorite Mac Baren Virginia offering. 4 stars!

HH Pure Virginia is another first class offering in this limited series from Mac Baren. Presentation is 3 rows of small, perfect flakes the color of toasted “wheat” bread of the sort one tends to get in diners. Tin note is grassy and fairly sweet, with some toast and some hay, with a depth to it that’s hard to describe. It can be folded and stuffed straight from the tin, but sans drying it takes patience to get it well lit or keep it burning. In the end, after a good deal of fiddling around with it, I prefer to rub it out and load it into a VA pipe. I find this blend to be naturally "aromatic" off the match, and the tastes get richer as it is smoked down, with meadow grasses, toast, and hay from the flue cured and just a little sweetness, earth, and oats from air cured brown and red leaf. I get no “dark fruit” from this blend (and not a lot of sweetness, either). Anyway, the balance struck is impeccable, and it is smooth and well melded top to bottom. Strength builds gently toward medium; likewise the tastes. Room note is pleasant. Aftertaste is a sweeter, lingering version of the best of the smoke.

Here we are today, with TR as a resource and worldwide access to the best overall lot of tobaccos in my lifetime. There are great VAs aplenty, and you can add HH Pure VA to the list, IMO. It took me a while to figure it out, but I like it right enough now, and I recommend it a 4’s worth to experienced VA lovers.

I have come to expect great things when I try any of the HH blends by Mac Baren and this was no exception. A great Virginia as natural as you can get. This has abundant hay like sweetness with light citrus tones.

I really enjoyed this one, but it does not eclipse my favorite Virginia, that being Dunhill Flake. DF is a touch less natural and probably has a light topping on it where HHPV does not. I would also put Capstan Blue above this one, but these things will not make it any less than four stars in my book. If for nothing else, this will give one the taste of a Virginia with the minimal amount of tinkering.

If you like this blend then you are a Virginia lover for sure. Now that DF is no longer being produced and Capstan is expensive, this will become the Virginia I recommend to those who want to try a straight Va.