Mac Baren Presbyterian Mixture

I have to say I was somewhat disappointed with Prez mixture (and I was so eager to like it, too!). It has a medium latakia aroma upon opening - ditto on the taste. As one other reviewer mentioned and I agree, it reminded me of Squadron Leader, though I say it was not quite as good as SL. I will say it was a consistent smoke - neither getting better nor worse from top to bottom. Had to re-light more than a few times. To me, it seemed one-dimensional; no bite but a slightly bitter taste at the back sides of my tongue. I have had other English blends that were better - more complex, richer. This was rather flat. I will smoke it again ONLY if I a happen to be out of my regular English blend (which is my own concoction of equal amounts of Margate, And So To Bed, Squadron Leader, Frog Morton, and a Lane bulk English from my local shop).

Packaging and Presentation:

PM comes in a "coin twist," printed tin and not the Pringles chips pop-top variety, with the paper label. Tobacco comes in short ribbons (not a shag-cut) of mostly dark browns and black. Moisture was above normal, but airing the mix a few minutes is adequate.

Tin aroma is sweet and floral with Orientals and Virginia tobaccos. Latakia is barely noticeable. This reminds me of Esoterica?s ?And So To Bed,? but less Latakia and without the headache I get just sniffing ASTB. PM is very inviting all the way around.

Packing Qualities:

Packed easily into a variety of group 4 and 5 sized pipes.

Lighting Properties:

One charring light, tamper and relight is usually all that is necessary to finish the bowl.

Burn Aroma:

Burn aroma is spicier and heavier than tin aroma would have me anticipate. The Orientals predominate, but subtle sweetness comes through, as does a touch of smokiness. Very pleasant.

Flavor Notes:

Oriental sweetness and spiciness come through and stay consistent throughout. Certainly not a monochromatic blend, PM is complex and acceptably rounded in flavor. There is a touch of bitterness, but I like it. Not heavy or thin. I smoke this throughout the day. I did not notice much in the way of changes from first to last third of the smoke.

Miscellaneous Smoking Sensations: Smoke volume: (Moderate) Moisture: (Somewhat wet; a one-pipe cleaner smoke) Mouth feel: (You have to work at tongue bite) Burn rate: (Fairly slow)

Overall Impressions:

PM had me at ?Hello.? It was what I was looking for in an all-day, before dinner smoke. Substantial flavor and rich aroma demanded that I keep puffing and reloading the empty bowl. PM burned to fine ash and no dottle. If you like Orientals blends with a touch of natural, sweetness and spice (and subtle smokiness), here you go. Like many old blends, it has survived for good reason. Try it and give your aromatic-bound pipesters a bowlful. They just might like it.

Update September 2004: While I remain a Presbyterian by affiliation, PM and I have drifted apart. Perhaps we will once again fraternize.

This is a tobacco which I never got round to trying when it was readily available in the UK, and seeing the rave reviews, I thought I had missed something good. I'm a fan of English mixtures with a predominantly Oriental component, so this seemed likely to be to my taste. Having obtained a tin, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, and won't be going out of my way to get more.

The tobacco is prepared as a very uneven and mostly very wide cut ribbon, with some parts very finely cut. I find this quite strange, I can't think of anything else I've had quite like it in terms of cut. It is predominantly bright and brown, with a smattering of black leaf. It was nicely on the dry side of perfect when I opened the tin. The tin aroma is yeasty, with smoke, digestive biscuit, malt, and a hint of icing sugar coming through.

I found it often quite hard work to light, and it gives a dry dry woody character at the match. Cedar wood and hay like Virginia seems to be the predominant flavour, with a subtle smokiness of latakia. Slight hint of icing sugar sweetness comes through at times. Sometimes a hint of sour from the Orientals. Generally the flavour is quite dry and astringent, with occasional herbal flavours coming through in the latter half of the bowl. I've also noticed a cigar like note at times, akin to a cheap cigar such as a Hamlet. The room aroma is rather dusty and stale, and I don't think anyone particularly appreciated it.

My impression is that this is a predominantly Virginia mixture, with woody tasting Orientals second in their contribution, and Latakia very much a background seasoning.

I've found at times that it goes out and needs relights, but conversely, it is fast burning and a bowl of it does not last long at all. It's a kind of mild blend suited to smoking in warm weather, but I'm just not that keen on it myself and for me, there are numerous much better mixtures which fit this mild English bill, such as Early Morning Pipe or Wingfield Mixture.

Is it brand loyalty or the fact that there are already so many OK to good Latakia based mixtures out there that this offering couldn't convince me? Don't get me wrong - I do like no fuss everyday mixtures and am no opponent of a less complex and somewhat more straightforward flavor profile. Yet this one was just a tad too "boring", as if the blender didn't even want to try or if he was working with mediocre raw material. I am not revulsed by the actual smoking experience, I mean I have finished the tin and all. 2/4 stars.

I found this blend highly satisfactory in all technical respects: smells good in the tin, packs easily, stays lit, doesn't bite etc. As with most english blends, your room will smell like ye olde mouldy english haystack, so don't try to smoke it where it's not welcome. The flavor is rich with enough play of spicy orientals and latakia to keep you going, but it misses in the complexity department, likely on account of the virginia never really shows up. Ultimately this mix left me wishing it were something else (dare I say 965...) but I don't regret giving it a spin. It's a tasty, reliable, non-tempermental, easy-smoking English. Not bad!

I found this one a bit fruity, for an English. In fact I suspected some form of casing which may be present. A really enjoyable smoke really much nicer than many on the market. Rich and dark.

The only thing that bother's me about this blend is the Baldwin thing. I bet if is Earlness tried this blend it would be a very different dog to the one they made 70 odd years ago. Yet another example of firms trading on past glories.