Mac Baren Gold Block

I bought this because I remembered my mate's father smoking it and it seemed to have a pleasant room note. I am one of those people who can't actually smell the room note when smoking it myself. Positives : nice smell in the pouch, lovely appearance and packs well and easily. Negatives : Burns hot, produces not just tongue but whole of mouth bite, no flavour can be discerned because the mouth is numbed.

This stuff reminds me of a roll your own tobacco which I tried when I smoked fags called 3 castles.That too was a lovely golden colour and handled really well but when you actually smoked it your throat was left like you'd swallowed razor blades. Gold Block is the same, and no matter how carefully you smoke it ,it will punish you relentlessly.You sip to reduce the furnace in the bowl and just taste hot air then just after halfway down the bowl the gurgling starts and you are left with a plug of soggy golden dottle. I have tried this in a variety of pipes, I hoped a meerschaum would tame it but to no avail,I have mixed it with latakia and perique but nothing can improve it.If you persist to the end of the bowl you do eventually get some kind of taste. Unfortunately it is like a cheap cigar that has been lying in its own filth in an ashtray. The remainder of the pouch has been given away because I wouldn't even put it in my odds and sods jar in case it ruined the previous disappointments lurking therein. In summary I would say Gold Block is like a beautiful woman that you take to bed trembling with anticipation who then turns out to be a ladyboy...

This is another one of those English over the counter blends, except this one isn't as satisfying and a tad disapointing, the smell of opening the pouch is pretty non-existent for this one, maybe some small hints of raisins but nothing spectacular,upon lighting, it tastes like hand rolling tobacco in your pipe, you'd be better off smoking something like Amber Leaf in your pipe, the flavors were unfortunately one dimensional and burned like a furnace with often tongue bite, I hate to give a bad review because Gold Block isn't what it used to be a long time ago (trust me, I've tried an aged variety from 1983 in a jar haha!) and it used to taste so much better, citrusy flavours were present in the older blend.

It wouldn't be a good tobacco to start puffing with, if anything, a beginner would be best going with Clan or St. Bruno in comaparison.

I tried this because it was recommended on a website. It burns well but with little flavour or anything else to recommend it. in the bag it smells weak. At least Condor has so much nicotine it makes my body quiver. I thought Clan was weak but next to this it's a stunna!

I'm waiting for 9 samplers from E A Carey's aromatic range and I know they will blow this away. I won't wake up at night dreaming of this stuff, I might have to give it a decent burial tomorrow. Don't waste your money! Seriously! For the same amount you can buy a Bentley; why drive a battered old Lada. It's crap!

EDIT: Just mixed 50/50 with E A Carey's Soft Aromatic Blend, it was like crashing a Bentley into a Lada; did nothing for either of them. I'm going to go up to St James in London on the weekend and pick up something nice in a tin!

This has always been what my Grandad would have called a “codgers” blend. I remember many a peer of his smoking this in potting sheds, greenhouses and generally pottering around the garden which is why I might still view this as a summer blend? That’s not to say they didn’t smoke it all year round but memories are memories I guess.

On my quest to find the best OTC blend in the UK, before supermarkets stop selling the stuff altogether like the Sainsbury’s local round the corner has done, I knew I would have to tussle with the Block.

This is not one for me - even if I sipped at it like a kitten, it bit the tongue out of my mouth. I remember it smelling very nice but when you are smoking it you don’t get any of that pleasure.

Has it changed since Ogden’s threw in the towel? I should expect so; they all have to one degree or another.

Would I buy it again? Not likely but it did mix very well with St Bruno to make the Ogden’s Mixture - the Bruno levels out the heat on the tongue to some degree and adds a little extra something to the mix.

If there are still people out there in the world who can keep their pipe on the go all day then it baffles me how anyone could smoke this all day, unless you have to build up a tolerance to it or just like a sadomasochistic smoke?

My first post.

After far too many years rolling my own smokes I have made the move to piping. I bought several OTC tobaccos from my local supermarket to see which if any suited my palate. I have to say of all those that I tried, Gold Block is by far the worst of the bunch. A very bland smoke that bit both my tongue and my throat (non of the others bit at all). When smoking rollups I blended my own baccy, usually a mixture of Old Holborn with Drum/Sampson which I suppose gave me something of a strong baccy and perhaps this is where Gold Block misses the target.

So as to not waste the stuff (foolishly bought 50g) I shall be mixing it with equal quantities of St. Bruno & Condor, both of which I much prefer in the vain hope I might end up with something smokable.

This review is based upon a 25g plastic pouch of the recent variety:

I impatiently grabbed a pouch of this from Tesco, for want of trying something new, but in all honesty, I could have simply veered left to point at the ample selection of budget cigarettes. Gold Block epitomizes the jaded selection of mainstream, same-old pipe tobaccos in the UK - or to put it bluntly - those few that are only readily available away from internet shopping. Why anyone would choose this particular pipe tobacco more than once defies logic and reason, as one may as well just buy rolling tobacco and give up the briar. It seems to render the whole notion of pipe smoking a moot point.

Indeed, Gold Block shares the same kind of grassy, hay-bale aroma and quality of Golden Virginia, and it's cut a shade above shag. It's lightly sweetened rather than cased, but imparts very little flavour and does nothing to really rouse the blend out of monotony. Neither does the Virginia hold up as a good example of a well- seasoned base - lending credence to my theory that Gold Block is cut and banged out in record time, stems and all, devoid of quality management. Even Drum and Amber Leaf rolling tobacco are better examples, and frankly I'd rather have those scorching in the pipe than this.

As a cigarette smoker, I can acknowledge that without the nicotine, a cigarette is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard, and Gold Block seems equally pointless, with a low nicotine content. It loads and burns well, but it's fine cut will need a lover's touch when packing, or else you'll find you've just made a tight plug with a terrible draw.

In summary, this is a rather stale and grassy tobacco that tickles and scratches the throat in an unpleasant manner; the room note being sadly reminiscent of the kind of itchy-eyed summers, with a high pollen index that I loathed as a boy.

Trust your intuition next time you're at the supermarket - and jog on by. If you're not buying Condor, your money is better spent on the web.

I am not sure why this is selling so well. It's without doubt the worst of the Mac blow torches. This one is particularly hot and bland.you would have thought they would have made it good quality seeing as it's sold everywhere. Really bland,,, really hot,,, really rapid burning. Almost clan like burn

This used to be my staple 30 years ago and beyond. The rubbish that is marketed today is a travesty. The original certainly was an "aristocrat" but the current incarnation is an impostor. Enough to drive you to cigarettes, and equally as bland. This is NOT a blend for any serious pipester. It may just have some limited appeal if you were never spoilt by the original, but I doubt it. You'll probably end up using it sparingly as a blending bulker just to get shot of it.

After watching a series of reveiws of classic American blends on YouTube (by nickandhispipe) I decided to work my way through some of our classic (and readily available) British blends.

So what do I think of Gold Block? I am genuinely unconvinced that the ribbon cut, golden leaf in the (rather nice) gold foil pouch is really tobacco.

It was harsh and stung the lining of my mouth. It tasted of over-brewed tea and the smell of the dried, mouldy grass clippings that you find when you drag the lawn mower out for the first time in spring. I found nothing that I recognised as tobacco flavour and nothing that I liked.

I hear it is niced mixed 50/50 with St. Bruno, which is how I will use the rest of my pouch. I'll give an update when I've formed an opinion on this mixture.