Mac Baren Original Flake

Outstanding blend!!! This stuff takes to the light very well and burns very nicely throughout the whole bowl. Very predictable in a good way, in the fact that it never changes it's flavor whether your sipping or puffing like a loaded train.

I love the very clean slightly nutty flavor and this stuff burns down to as fine of an ash as any blend I've ever seen.

It is a flag bearer for an old time tobacco lovers blend. My wife actually commented that the room note was not bad.

IF YOU CAN FIND IT, YOU BETTER GET IT!!!

This flake tobacco is within the British family ie. St Bruno, Condor, Players, etc. I find this dark flake enjoyable and of the "family", the least flavored and exceptionally mild.

As has been stated, this is no longer made by Ogden's of Liverpool. Who makes it, I don't know. It has changed somewhat over the years, as I smoked this back in the 1960's, 70's & early 80'S. By that I mean, its not as defined as I remember it to be.

It is not walnut flavored, however, the color of the flake may be similar to that of walnuts. I find the aroma pleasing to my senses, and there is a natural tobacco taste, even with the light floral scent. It can be an all-day smoke for me although I prefer a stronger flake or plug the majority of the time.

Fortunately, I have a friend who sends me this when I asked, and in my travels through Europe, I have found it easily at newsstands, grocery stores, and many tobacco shops. I find this to be a very good smoke and recommend it to anyone seeking a light British flake.

...a pipe is to be savored...

I can't get excited about Walnut flake.

I suppose if you like Bruno flake then you should try this too. If your tobacconist stocks this then they probably also stock something more interesting as well.

My one-ounce pack of original "Ogden's Walnut Plug - Sliced" was an internet find, a very old dehydrated pack from the original Ogden's days. This review is based on only a few pipefuls of the rehydrated tobacco, for that reason.

This has a strong, pungent, full flavor, rich with depth. I am not sure what the flavoring is, but walnut is close enough! I love a very small pipe of this flake, fully rubbed out, now and then. After a meal, to wake up the senses and pep up the blood-nicotine level.

If you can find something like the original sliced plug it will do the trick when you need full flavor and strength. Sharp and strong; that's the summary.

This too shall pass.

This is a truly fine tobacco, an understated bittersweet cousin of St Bruno flake. Like SB flake it rubs out easily and is easy to pack. It exudes quality.

Another 'real' falke which is very satisfying - burns well in the open air, A great smoke while fishing for a lake trout.

This is one of my favourate tobaccos, and as I live in the UK I'm lucky enough to get my hands on it relatively easily. It rubs out and lights easily with a full bodied taste. As it smokes down the bowl it seems to me that the flavours do indeed develop into walnuty quality. If you enjoy the richer, more traditional tobaccos I would recomend giving this one a try.

It took me a while to try this one, as although I've seen it termed a " Supermarket shelf-tobacco", I've never managed to find it in our local supermarkets. I even had to wait for our local ( and good) specialist tobacconist to get some in when asked and put it to the test. It was recommended by some of the credible Names hereon too !

Quite a surprise I got as well. A solid respectable tobacco, moist from the packing, and smelling very appetising to boot.

Good rub.. actually goes to shag really quickly, and packs burns and lights easily.

It may never be my first choice, but at my number Five ? it's always going to be well worth an occasional go.

It's still bearing the "Ogdens of Liverpool" crest too. For me ? I'll smoke it in preference to St. Uno any day..... it made me sick as a youth and won't ever get the chance again.

Ah yes, my favorite of the UK tobaccos. Even with a friend overseas it's hard to come buy. But well worth looking for. It lights and stays smoldering with ease. The taste of deep rich blackberry's is present. Not a fruity flake as is University. But instead a wonderful robust, flavor that is ever so satisfying. Lost now on the country miles in my Cadillac is no biggie when Walnut Flake is in the passenger seat. A must have!

This is a very pleasant smoke indeed, worth a try if you want to try an English Flake that's not so strongly scented.

It's actually very similar to St Bruno, similar flavour and aroma, but with far less of the aromatics added, and less nicotene. I'd recommend it to anyone who like St Bruno but found it too strong.

Lights easily, burns SLOOOOOOOOOWWWWW

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and cool, no bite, no drip, no gurgling or sticky goo in the heel of the bowl. The flavour is natural tobacco, a little nutty, a tad leathery but but no so much as St Bruno. Some natural tobacco sweetness, and the aroma is very much pure virginia tobacco, no real aromatic scent.

I enjoyed it very much, it's a nice baccy to have going while reading a book, or washing up. Not quite strong enough for gardening though, I'll have St Bruno for that.

-----—Update 2019 (original review 2009)----

Got another packet of this. Very nice. St Bruno sans soap? Perhaps, and with the strength dialled back just a smidgen. It's nice and sweet, the casings are very subtle, perhaps just a spot of treacle and sugar syrup. Nutty, sweet, slightly fruity dark flake. Sad to see that Walnut flake can no longer keep its Original name... But it's still "sweet as a nut" - good stuff.

If one could set a piece of soap afire and smoke it, this is exactly how it would taste. The soap flavor is so strong that I could not taste any tobacco behind it. I persevered through two bowls hoping that the flavor would recede and let me enjoy the tobacco with no luck.

Stay away from this junk.

Notes: This is a sample of the readily available British flake, which after a period of unavailability is again being manufactured by the British tobacco conglomerate, Imperial. Not available at all in the USA, it should not be confused with the American drugstore blend by Middleton, also named Walnut, but being an entirely different blend. I smoked this in a few pipes and it seemed rather the same in all of them. I enjoyed it most in a Size 4 patent Dunhill with a large bore shank.

Appearance: A firmly pressed four-inch flake of light to dark brown with some deep reddish strands here and there. The individual strands are fairly thin and the tobacco rubs out very easily. It gives the appearance of being a fairly solid block or plug, having some density.

Aroma: The first thing I thought of was the old red leather booths at the diner in the town where I grew up. Ripe black cherries, milk chocolate, damp autumn leaves after raking, river stones drying in the sun, the embers of the campfire in the morning, Jamaican cigars, tree bark.

Taste: Walnuts. Walnut shells. Walnut oil. The flavor was a big surprise, as the aroma did not suggest it. The first thing I thought was: Ugh! I won?t be able to finish this! My mouth was expecting something similar to St. Bruno based on the smell and appearance, but instead it tasted like I had just eaten a big mouthful of stale cigar butts and campfire ashes. After disconnecting my mind from my expectations, however, I could taste the tobacco on its own terms. Not at all sweet. Undertones of cigar leaf and iodine. Somehow capturing every aspect of walnuts: dry shells, slightly bitter oils, and rich savory nut meats. It burns quickly if you rub it out fully. It is rich and satisfying to the palate. It has some nicotine in it, but is not at all overwhelming.

Comparisons: This is like St. Bruno?s in its burning characteristics but not in the flavor, which is far more austere and not at all sweet -- less of that sweet cherry topping that gives St. Bruno its Virginia sweetness enhancement,d espite its being a burley-heavy blend. It reminds me of the Dunhill blend, Mr. Alfred?s Own, with it?s stale seaweed-y cigar leaf flavor.

Bottom Line: A nice traditional British burley-Virginia pressed flake. If you found St. Bruno and Condor too sweet and strong, this is a possibility. If you have a love for the now long-gone cigar leaf blends, like Dunhill?s Mr. Alfred?s Own or Cuba, this is definitely a blend you ought to try as it really evokes that flavor in some ways. As for me, stiff upper lip, I?ll get by without somehow.

As previously mentioned, this flake is almost a mirror image of St Bruno, excepting a different additive. Unlike others, I did not find this smoke bite-free, but it is wonderfully rich and stout and does not seem to lurk in my pipes with the same tenacity as its clerical brother. A pity it isn't available in North America, but then again, Walnut Flake may be responsible for a disturbing lack of interest in much else besides pipes on my part, were it so. Well worth a go if you can procur it.

This I must admit is as close to perfection as one can find in any tobacco. The tobacco comes presented in a plastic foil covered tray. Once the top comes off you are enveloped in the wonderful aroma of what that perfect tobacco should emit.

Easily rubbed out, easy to fill the pipe and easy to light.

The experience of smoking this ice cool tobacco is a once in a lifetime experience. The flavour is woody, and the nicotine content is just right if you like a full smoke.

If you like a good, low cased tobacco of the highest quality, then this must be the one.

Five stars and beyond with this one!

It would be difficult to add much to Stan's above review. He touched all the bases and perfectly described this blend. If you have smoked and enjoyed Esoterica's Stonehaven, or, Samuel Gawith's 1792 Flake, then you will probably like Walnut Flake. It is stronger in taste than Stonehaven and does not have Tonquin flavoring added as does 1792 Flake. Like both, this blend has been stoved repeatedly and will not bite no matter how hard you puff.

I thought Walnut Flake was fantastic tasting for regular enjoyment. It reminded me of Boy Scouts and campfires at the match. It will flat knock your socks off if you inhale. Not for all day consumption either; this tobacco will leave your palate satisfied for several hours after just one bowl.

Finally, this tobacco is not available in the USA. I purchased a pouch with a recent tobacco order from James Barber Tobacconists in the UK. You can order this and other non-imports by going to www.smoke.co.uk.

On opening the pouch I found this tobacco quite dry and with a very strong aroma, in the same vein of Erinmore. The nicotine uppercut is worsened by a topping that could be a fruit liquor but it really doesn't matter because you would never identify it behind the soap taste. And it tastes exactly like soap, not the way the aroma and taste we indulgently call "soapy" when it comes to english matured pressed virginias but, literally and I am not exaggerating, like biting a piece of soap.

At the third puff it makes you feel sick, and that is *NOT* because of the nicotine content, this I guarantee as it causes dizzines to anyone that stays in your vecinity.

The aftertaste is bitter from the first to the last puff, which is absulutely strange as I loaded my pipe with 2/3 of a light virginia first and 1/3 of Walnut ontop. The returning smoke you puffed is lightly bitter like any virginia but uninteresting, with no aroma, just bitter smoke. The room note bears a strong resemblance to those cheap incence sticks made of paper paste which have been impregnated with common cologne instead of aromatic incence oils; this said by my wife, and I agree.

I met stronger tobaccos, which puts this Walnut within the "smokable" cathegory, but it is not a pleasant smoke. Apt for smokers at the end of their given lifetime, for whom nothing would be strong or tasty or smelly enough.

Dreadful. It packed easily enough into the pipe, bit I found the taste aromoa and room note to be simply too much - far too strong for my taste. When it burned it smelt a bit like the smell one gets when you gather up leaves during the autumn and burn them - a nice smell from a distance but not in my pipe! I would not recommend this tobacco to anyone.