Mac Baren Presbyterian Mixture

I found this mixture to be a very satisfying and relaxing smoke with plenty to offer in the flavor department. I found it to be very balanced between the virginias and orientals, with a hint of Latakia peaking through from time to time. The orientals in this mix are very pleasant and add a wonderful dimension and depth to the flavor and aroma profile.

This is a smooth smoking, interesting blend with good, somewhat complex flavor and mild to medium body. I detected a very light nicotene effect, but nothing crazy, which I like.

Definitely a keeper for me and a tobacco that will have a regular spot in my rotation.

The only thing I do not like about this blend is the plastic bag inside the tin. It isolates the breath of the tobacco with the air. About the blend itself, it is a little dry and difficult to pack. It lights well however. The first puff shows the nice mixture of virginia and oriental. Regarding latakia, I prefer to say there is few: shows some existance but hardly noticable. It is a blend I would care not much when owning it, but will sometimes miss it when there is none left. Recommended.

I find this to be a very good blend. It lights well, stays lit easily enough and burns down to a nice ash at the end of the bowl. I find this has a very nice room note. It doesn't knock you on your behind with too much Vitamin N, but is just right. Highly recommended.

Works for me. A slightly sweet, mild English is how I categorise it, spicyness from the latakia, a little sweetness from something else in there. Tingly or nippy rather than bitey, it contains the all important (for me) Vitamin N in decent amounts. Can be puffed into oblivion pretty quickly in a small bowl.

I'm smoking a pipeful of this stuff as I write. This is a blend I will pick up to smoke every-once-in-a-while. I wonder why though, because when I light it up I always enjoy the smoke. Even though mine got quite dry, it packed and lit as well as a fresh tin: superb. It smokes with a minimum of fuss. The smell in the tin has been aptly describes as leathery. It smokes just a tad on the sweet side, which I ascribe to the excellent virginias and the oriental tobac provides a bit of mystery. Not overly complex by any means, but neither just one note boring either. I think anyone venturing out of aromatics and burley based stuff should try a few pipefuls of this. Pleasant, smooth almost soft and never hot or bitter. A definite 3 stars.

Forgive me pastor....I do rather like this blend and perhaps the marketing gimmick plays a hand in that, (as I am of your flock 🙂 ). And forgive me pipestud but I do taste syrian latakia in this blend, (three producers over). I still like it and have a few tins on hand at any given time. The pastors reference to "bite" I think is the syrian as that pepper does show up in several blends that suppose that addition. I do miss GLP's rennaisance. The Vintage Syrian out now is a great representation. Perhaps this is not what the old Earl actually smoked....still good though

A complex blend that developes through the bowl, from a subtle aromatic to a spicy Oriental.

Upon opening the tin, it smells of fruits. Not what one would expect from an English mixture.

First third of the bowl: not much to enjoy, other than a topping (sometimes subtle, sometimes annoying) that's a mix of dates and prunes. But don't despair.

Second third of the bowl: the topping is all gone, and now you have a very rich Oriental with just a touch of Latakia (I don't care what you say) and less-than-outstanding Virginias. The mix is very enjoyable.

Last third of the bowl: spiciness. The Orientals take over definitely and you end up wondering if there isn't some Perique in there (I don't think there is, but they sure taste alike).

All comes down to pure ash and you end up wondering why you didn't fill a bigger pipe. Very tasty.

One less star for being a tongue scorcher and for the unnecessary topping.

You know what I like the most from this blend? It is an oriental mixture, with no Latakia but yet is satisfying! The absence of Latakia makes it tolerable to non - smokers; you don't have that strong burning wood smell a lot of non-smokers despise - too bad for them , they cannot know, these poor fools! Despite the fact that the room aroma sticks out upon lighting, it slowly attenuates.

Upon opening, you are welcomed by a mostly golden and brownish mixture with a bit of dark leaves. The cut is long. The tin aroma is definitely oriental, thus spicy. I haven't detected anything alike fruity like some other reviewers mentioned. But that spicy arome is far from overwhelming, it's just spicy, a tiny bit of that firecamp smell...

The packing is easy and if filled in properly, you will not spend your time relighting all the time.

The smoke gets progressively stronger throughout the smoking, but not too much. The smoke is satisfying, tasty and surprisingly sweet, like a casing was added but there is none, it's just the natural sweetness of what I suspect to be Greek Basma grades in fair presence in the mixture. And this tobacco smokes dry all the way down.

My Lads, the first Earl Baldwin most certainly knew about good tobaccos! Do not let you religious preferences interfere with what could transform into a delicious smoking experience!

For anyone who wants to venture into natural tobaccos, specifically english/ oriental mixtures, this is a good start to get accustomed to this next step in your pipe smoking carreer; and for anyone already into english mixtures but wanting something different, give it a try.

Only one thing, though, that annoys me a bit: the last three tins I've opened, for some reason the tin does not close back on properly... A pity!

Highly recommended!

Update 19 JUne 2007

This afternoon, for some reason, I was finding this blend too bright and not enough dark, lacking a bit of flavour and becoming rather tongue - biting. Later, I smoked some oriental no 14 ( McClelland)and found it too dark, slow burning, and having a tendency to leave the bottom of the pipe rather wet/oily, I don't know why. Somehow, something clicked and: Guess what I did? Yes, absolutely, I mixed the 2 together, half and half and, until now, the result is quite surprising!

It burns better, and the black VA combined with the Greek Basma grades gives it a pleasant,distinctive, slightly sweet flavor, as where the Latakia and Orientals give it a more silky, smokey taste; and I find the room aroma to be very discreet and pleasant...

If you do smoke both of these blends, or something similar, and experience the same problems, you might want to give this a try. I guess it will take a couple days before the different tobaccos melt properly together but, until now it's a delightful surprise, the best of both worlds!

Boy, did I want to like this stuff. It's cool. Not a lot of people I know smoke it (or have even tried it), the local shops don't carry it, it has a long (though not very exciting) history, it comes in a beautifull tin, complete with church steeple, and I have a presbyterian heritage. What's not to like?

In truth, I DID like Presby mixture. It has a great taste, though somewhat milder than I expected and burns slow and even. I would probably like it more and be writing a slightly different kind of review if I had not made the mistake of buying a tin of Astley's #99 on the same day. I went right to the PM and smoked it several days before even opening the Astley's. I had left the PM tin in the car and was too lazy to go get it, so I popped open the #99 instead. Right away I knew the Astleys had a stronger, fuller taste. In fact, the main difference is simply that everything I like about Presby Mixture is amplified (to good effect) in the Astley's. So really, nothing wrong with PM. Actually, there's a whole lot right with it and it gets a strong recommendation from me (I still grab it for a change of pace). It's just that Astley's gives me more of what I like about PM. And more is good!