Mac Baren HH Burley Flake

I love MacB blends, and I don't think I've met one that I don't like - at least I don't remember any MacB blend that I don't like. When I heard that MacB was coming out with a burley flake blend, I got all excited. Golden Extra in flake form? The return of the beloved BLB, but in flake form? Two awesome buley blends to be sure, but when I read the ingredients and saw "dark fired Kentucky" I knew this was gonna be different. I figured maybe it was a burley companion to their ODF blend, and thus it had to be awesome. I ordered five of the big tins on the assumption that it was gonna be awesome.

Guess what? It's AWESOME. I fished the package out of the mail box, ripped it open, and cracked a tin: burley goodness mixed with hay and...smoke or ketchup? OK, the burley companion to ODF seemed likely. Rubbed out one of those beautiful brown flakes - a classic MacB flake to be sure - filled my pipe and fired it up. Tobacco Nirvana!!!. So many similarities crossed my mind: Granger in it's heyday, the new ERR, Solani, Wessex - but so many differences. The burley companion to ODF? Sorta. More seasoned tongues and more experienced reviewers may get a similarity to another blend out there, but I mostly get a fantastic burley blend that is different than any other.

The spice of the dark-fired bridges the cocoa nuttiness & molasis of the marvelous burley and the soft & pleasant hay/clover quality of the Virginias, but that bridge doesn't stand out like some post-modern monstrosity - it's an old ivy covered bridge that blends in with the Virginia hay and clover fields. The burley goodness takes the forefront, but the Virginias and dark-fired refine it. I get a little of the MacB honey topping (which I still say is some version of mead)...but not as heavy as some of their other blends. MacBite? At one point I began puffing like a freight train and not even a tingle on the tongue. Presentation? Classey: that embossed golden MacB liner lovingly cradles the traditionally perfect MacB flakes.

I've only smoked three bowls of it, so I'm still wrapping my mind around it. Still, I'd easily give this four stars. An all day smoke? For sure. Will it hold your interest? Yezzir. Is the room note nice? Yezzir, very pipe-like... but also a wee bit cigar-like. If you've never been able to cozy up to burley-based OTC blends, give this a shot cuz I think you'll appreciate the refinement. If you're an old-school burleyphile like me I think you're gonna love it cuz it takes burley tobacco to a whole nuther level. In short, a monster blend well-worth every penny. I'll be buying a lot of this over the years.

Upon opening the square tin, I’m greeted with three rows of perfectly aligned dark brown solid flakes. They feel slightly damp, but do not need to dry. I usually fold and stuff, but rubbing out works well if that’s your preference.

When smoking, I taste nuts, some earthiness, and chocolate, at times. It’s spicy but has some sweetness (molasses?) to it. It’s never harsh, even if I take quick puffs. It smokes well in various briars and cobs. It’s a slow burning tobacco, so set aside at least an hour to smoke.

This is an exceptional all-day burley. If you love burley, this will make you happy.

Vary bready. Very earthy. Vary nutty. Very mushroom like taste. Has an Oakey nose type profile with no harshness nor bite. An amount of subtle sweetness. Excellent smoke!

What can I say that hasn’t been said already? Not much. First of all because I’m not a burley fan and burley connoisseur, but if I, who am not a burley fan, did enjoy this, then most probably the burley fan will love it. Again, I don’t have the necessary knowledge and experience with burley because it’s not my cup of tea, so I can’t get too complex with the review. But this is good. Better than what I’ve tasted so far in the VaBur area, but I still wouldn’t be able to have this as a daily smoke.

This is closer to Dunhill’s 221B Baker Street than it is to Peterson’s 3P’s and University flake, especially when it comes to strength. It also doesn’t get your mouth dry. But still, I recommend this to be smoked after eating. Every time I smoke a burley blend, I get a strange feeling in my stomach and throat.

Anyway. Cocoa and nutty notes right from the start. You can say about this blend everything that you can say about a burley, so its nutty, hazelnut to be more precise, it’s cocoa and dark chocolate, it’s sweet and spicy at the same time, and everything that JimInks said, like “a touch of spice”. Indeed it has some spice, and you can feel it well, which I think makes this blend more interesting. Tangy ripe dark fruit indeed. Lots of dark fruit actually. There are some wood notes, but I wouldn’t say this has earthy notes. Floral? Maybe a bit. As you get past the middle of the bowl, the sweetness fades and you get more nutty flavor, cocoa, wood and spice. It gets rougher. From hazelnut it gets to raw walnut and cashew. Starts to get a bit bready.

Strength is medium, taste is mild to medium.

It burns really great as a slow burner, doesn’t bite, doesn’t get hot, stays lit and delivers a cool and thick smoke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYvtdo3myzs

This one was tricky to pin down, I had a couple of bowls before I could get nuances out of it. Starting with mechanics, as expected from HH blends, it is a lovely stack of flakes. A bit moist but can be smoked - though to get most of the flavours I had to dry it - the smell out of the tin is a bit grassy and light. The flakes rub perfectly into almost ribbon shape and packs easily. No issues there. It lights up easily and evenly, it might need a few relights but nothing annoying. First third of the bowl I had nothing but the nutiness of the burley (which I enjoy) but it was really mild, to the point I had to swish my mouth with water to rinse my palate. However, the rest of the bowl starting opening up more flavours, first some faint breadiness from dark virginias I assume and then as the bowl went down, there was a lovely attack of molasses that complemented the other flavours. It burns down completely to a fine ash. No gurgle, no moisture in the bowl and it doesn't bite at all. Overall one of my favourites now

From the tin, HH Burley Flake is at a good smoking moisture. It is a typical Mac Baren flake and holds together well. It is easy to rub out into a ribbon cut but Lao folds well. The tin aroma is nutty, earthy, molasses, woody, spices, and sweet.

The blend is composed of high quality of Burley, some Virginias, and a little Kentucky leaf. The Burley is very earthy and nutty, with a touch of molasses. I also get a touch of spice that I attribute to the Burley. The Virginias add a touch of sweetness, as well as some grass and brighter citrusy notes. They also add a touch of dark fruit/dried fruit that is somewhat along the lines of the prune/plum flavor perique has. There is also a touch of Kentucky present. It offers dry and woody notes, with a touch of black pepper. There is a floral note that reminds me of Orientals but I believe it is just the Kentucky.

HH Burley smokes cool, required few relights, but left a touch of moisture behindIt doesn’t bite but can have a little sharpness is puffed too fast. The nicotine content is medium but not too strong. It left me satisfied but not overwhelmed. This blend is repeatable throughout the day. 3.75 out of 4 stars.

Summary: the mildest blend ever tried by this reviewer, tasting like white Burley with a touch of Virginia.

Many people search for blends by negatives: they want something which will not make them sick if they smoke it all day, will not make the room stink too much, and will not sting their tongues. As the mildest blend ever smoked by this reviewer, "HH Burley Flake" qualifies in avoiding all of these negatives. It smells like a dry prairie in autumn, and lights immediately with a faint fruitiness that quickly goes away, replaced by the flavor of white Burley. This leaf tastes like a Connecticut wrapper in a cigar, a light roasted almond flavor with a touch of barley, and periodically reveals natural vanilla and light chocolatey flavors. The added Virginias here give some sweetness, and the dark and dark fired Burleys add a slight fermented and dark roasted flavor respectively, but are here to direct the mass of white Burley flavor. During the second half of the bowl, the leaf caramelizes and the whole thing tastes a little bit like sugarcane with a touch of white pepper on it. Since there is no nicotine to speak of, you can smoke this all day, and the vegetal and sometimes "bitey" bitter green flavor that Burley sometimes has is minimized. Unlike most flakes, this one lights easily and stays lit, making this a convenient and flavorful smoke.

UPDATE: I got my hands on a 4 year old tin of this stuff. It actually aged quite well and is now even smoother and a little sweeter. Still a highly recommended blend.

If you like high quality unadulterated burley-forward blends, this one's for you!

HH Burley Flake is quite subtle, but still offers enough taste and body to keep your interest throughout the bowl. It reminds me of dark unsweetened cocoa, with plenty of nuttiness and a hint of spice. The dark fired kentucky is never obtrusive or overpowering and only makes itself known every once in a while. The virginias add a tad of sweetness and depth to this blend. No tongue bite or rough edges whatsoever.

8/10. Highly recommended for all burley lovers!

I, like a few other reviewers here, had my own preconceived notions about what a Mac Baren HH Burley Flake was going to taste like, how it would smoke and feel in the mouth. With the char I immediately recognized Sutliff's Ready Rubbed Match (which I had just recently put to the test). It was only after I finished the first bowl that I went back to re-read previous reviews of this blend and found oldermanpipe's review to be spot-on with his comparing this blend to Edgeworth Slices as well as Sutliff's Ready Rubbed Match (not to mention his mention of Heaven Hill Distilleries, from which my new, favorite go-to Bottled in Bond Mellow Corn whiskey flows at less than $11-a-bottle). In any event, this soft, mellow, Burley with the cocoa essence, cocoa taste and smell was not at all what I was expecting from an HH Mac Baren.

Handsome and pliant, thinly sliced flakes are elegantly presented. With maybe 15 minutes of dry time (it sat out on my tobacco mat for 15 minutes -- I really wasn't drying the stuff because it really didn't need any real dry time, though it probably benefitted from the 15 minutes of aeration) there was no need for a re-light following the char; it lit well and remained lit. Smoked cool and dry for the whole bowl. This Burley Flake is yet another phenomenal offering from Mac Baren's HH line, along with other legendary HH offerings, such as Bold Kentucky, Old Dark Fired, Latakia Flake, Acadian Perique and Vintage Syrian -- all of them Hall of Fame blends (IMHO).

HH Burley Flake is an exquisitely sumptuous, modern-day codger blend that I will surely stock up on so as to never be found without.