Mac Baren Stockton

Stockton is **(Update: was! Now sharing thelead with Roll Cake)** the best of the Roll-Cake series by Mac Baren to me! The comparison as "unflavored Dark Twist" is quite on spot. This is pure tobacco aroma. A less spicy version of the Roll Cake (white tin).

The coins all have a black core and are (of course) the same size as the other Roll-Cakes by Mac B. Opening the tin blasted me with a very bready, tobacco-y and slightly grassy-sweet aroma. I was instantly interested how this would perform in the pipe.

Needs at least 30mins, better 1-2 hours of drying for my taste. Not only for it to burn cool and dry, but also to enhance the flavors a tad!

Once in the pipe I was in love...It has a bold aroma of fresh, dark bread, some hay notes, and little citrusy-grass in the back. Minor hints of nuttiness is also present by times. Not much sweetness in it, but decent spice to it and some earthy, woodsy-smokiness is always present. This is a full-bodied smoke, with rich flavors, but not too complex. A tad too strong for All-Day smokeability for my taste, but not overwhelming in strenght too. Flavors intensify a bit throughout the bowl, especially towards the 2nd half of the bowl and are fairly consistent.

No flavoring to detect, they say they only use "maple sugar" to enhance natural qualities, and I do belive in that. This is hearty, spicy, round! The fact that they have "cavendished" the dark fired Kentucky makes it mellow, digestibe, yet full of flavors. I don't consider the maple-sugar as a flavouring, it's more of a casing-style added flavour, so none detected for me.

A great Coin-Cut blend! My favorite of Mac Barens Roll-Cake series, along withthe Roll Cake Spun Cut, and a blend I'll keep at hand and in rotation at any time. Really worth trying for lovers of Kentucky and dark fired leafs, as well as to Virginia fans, who like some spice in their blend as a change of pace.

One of the good things about Mac Baren tins is that they come in 100 grams, which gives the smoker plenty of time to figure them out. Granted, most of them are easily deciphered but I found Stockton to be a notable exception.

Beautiful tin, beautiful tobacco. Mac B's always gets an "A" for presentation. Even the paper inside is of obvious high quality. The cut coins looked a lot like some of the other Mac B blends, such as Dark Twist. But this one had a lot more to offer. At tin moisture, it was somewhat or a typical Mac B blend with its citrusy sweet casing. I find this annoying over time but refreshing for a short while. The dark fired tobacco came out around mid-bowl or so and added an excellent spice. Still, it failed to elevate itself beyond the Mac Baren signature flavor - Danish sweetness.

It was only when I dried this blend to the consistency of Wheaties cereal that it shined. The sweet casing diminished but didn't disappear - it just stopped strangling the blend. The dark fired body and flavor melded with the sweet VA and provided a cool, rich, robust smoke that I really enjoyed. The burn was excellent as well. This is a good tobacco, and I will never again smoke it without drying it to a crispy state.

Only other comment - this burned my tongue before I even lit it. Just holding the filled pipe in my mouth for 10 seconds produced a semi-allergic reaction. This has happened with another Mac B blend that I cannot smoke. The good news for this one, even while it is an oddity, is that 2-3 puffs into the bowl, this "burn" goes away completely. Just another interesting example of the chemical balances of blend and smoker.

I smoked a can of this a few years ago, and I enjoyed it. I have another can aging since then and will crack it open soon. Clean mellow tobacco taste without any obvious flavorings. This is a good one.

A very none offensive tobacco, mild but pleasant. This reminds me of P&G's Marble Kake in flavor but smoother. I can't see this in my personal rotation but many should like this . I do agree with those reviewers that liked to smoke this on the dry side and that "nothing stands out". I don't associate this with a strong Kentucky burley flavor and I don't find any bitterness like the description says?

Mac Baren claims this to be their purest tobacco of them all, and I have no reason to doubt that statement. If I remember correctly the description said something like "pipe tobacco as it was smoked 300 years ago". Now I guess anyone can claim that, but again, if I had to point out one single tobacco I've tried, to be really old school? This would be it!

Tin aroma - Tobacco! Room note - Tobacco! Taste - Tobacco!

Nothing to expect mid-bowl or anything, as this stuff taste the same from beginning 'til end. Virgina and Burley (Kentucky) evens out eachother in the sweet/dry department, and the cavendish is barely noticeable.

Not overly exciting tobacco, unless you get a boner from tobacco not containing anything but tobacco...then this tobacco is THE tobacco!

Rate 7/10

Mac Baren’s Stockton.

Another variation in their range of spun cut. I feel ita s the most natural of the group and, curiously the most piquant.

The 100grms tin has been opened after a couple of years in the cellar. Very mild tin note, and it’s of pure tobacco. The humidity comes perfect for immediate consumption, some discs fall broken upon handling them. Ignition is no problemat all.

The smoke. One can compare it to Dark Twist, and notice that Stockton is sweet a good bit less than DT. A pleasant piquancy (and I mean piquancy, not bite) appears soon. Burns hot but not overly so. No bite whatsoever. As for many Mac’s the best flavour is achieved by the slowest smoke, and the case of Stockton is bit different from other spuns because, no need to push the draw looking for it. The Kentucky heart is very well-behaved, well accompanied by the slightly honey-sh Virginia. Strenght is just below the medium mark. The body is completely satisfying to this smoker.

Stockton could be an all-day smoke IMHO. I would compare it to a milder Three Nuns (current version). Leaves some unburst remains, but that can be myself that I’m used to keep the discs almost unbroken as I can.

Three stars

This is only the 4th review of this blend and I come to the conclusion that for some reason this is not a very popular blend (compare with blb, nf, ..). Why this is so is not quite clear because this is one fine tobacco!

Discs are lighter brown than Dark Twist, and there is some similarity in taste, except this blend doesn't have the "molasses" quality of DT, so it's more the spicy aspect of DT that you will find here. More importantly: this has absolutely no bite!!! The first time I couldn't believe how hard I could push it without de slightest nip on the tongue (Especially since I can't get DT to work for me) As an experienced Mac amateur, I suggest leaving the tin open a few months before sampling for optimal results, and a (very) light packing, folding de discs in four and using 1 fully rubbed out on top for easy lighting.

As this is a Mac Baren blend, do not expect full bodied taste or big nicotine kicks: spiciness and discs doesn't make it comparable to it three nuns, save yourself this dissapointment, and enjoy it for what it is: a nice mild change of pace blend

After smoking some Club Blend, I was pleased to meet another similar coin cut tobacco by Mac Baren.

The difference is that here the dark center of the coins is not dark Cavendish, but dark fired Kentucky (the description on Mac Baren's website says that it's 60% Virginias and 40% dark Kentucky, with small percentages of other tobaccos).

It is probably one of the most natural blends by the Danish brand: they declare that only a touch of sugar is added, and personally I think that it is a VERY slight touch of it. It smells natural, it feels natural to the touch, and it tastes natural. Very well done!

Anyway, this is a tobacco that packs great, lights great and smokes great: even better than Club Blend (of which I recommend that you read my review because they are very similar).

If Club Blend could taste a little "empty" at times, and with a tingling feeling on the palate and throat (though it isn't particularly bitey), Stockton seems at the same time smoother, creamier... and tastier. It is moderately sweet, nutty, leathery, with hints of black coffee. It has a pleasant smokiness, and again tastes very "autumnal". Great consistency of flavour from the beginning to the end.

I like it very much, although it is not a particularly flamboyant or extrovert tobacco. Definitely a blend that you should try if you want a medium bodied and not too strong roll cake: of course it is recommended for experienced smokers, as it will give its best only with slow smoking. But it won't bite even if pushed hard.

Maybe this is a little rash, but after only one bowl I'm already in love with this tobacco! The Virginia sweetness and the earthiness and meaty-smoky piquancy (for lack of a better description) of the Kentucky --> Cavendish are spot on and extremely well balanced. There is no topping, only a very subdued casing, which is hardly noticeable. It has a certain amount of MacBaren's typical bitingness but nothing that couldn't be handled. It's a dry smoke with fine ash and when you notice that the bowl might come to an end now, it's already finished. The only drawback is very personal opinion and therefore no star is withdrawn: I wish it would pack a bit more punch.

Edit: Re-visiting my ratings I have to downgrade this one to 3 stars. Otherwise you could get the wrong impression, e.g. because I gave Dunhill's 965 "only" 3 stars also. Stockton is not better than 965, but I don't want to give 965 the full 4 stars because there are better Latakia Blends imo. So, I still highly recommend Stockton, the downgrading is only for clarity and plausibility.