Mac Baren Solent Mixture

Solent Mixture. Or Plumcake on steroids. Tin note welcomes with nice amount of rum and latakia. Easy to pack, burns well, heats up a little more than average yet burns slowly. It has a very creamy, velvety smoke. The smell is not rough, might be acceptable in company as well, but not indoors. Latakia flavors will not be dominant in the taste. Ingredients rather merge into each other, the rum is present always. I could compare the rum profile to Bacardi Spiced. If you sip very slowly, other flavors can be detected, I managed vanilla too. If you tried Plumcake and liked it , most likely you would like this too or even more. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a classic latakia bomb, that’s certainly not going to be found here. Nictone is mild to medium, can be an all day smoke with sweeter flavors and smoky body. It runs in English category but is more like an English-aro.

I purchased a tin of Solent Mixture in January 2011 and put it away until now, 10 years later. I age tobacco, but that wasn't my only motive with SM. English mixtures (specifically Latakia) had started to bother my taster and I gave them up moving more to VaPers, Burley, and Virginia flakes. Well, I thought it was time to try an English blend once again, and this hasn't disappointed. Syrian Latakia is a difficult commodity for manufacturers to get given all the wars in that part of the world and what a joy to taste its dry woody character once again. This is a smooth, mild English blend without much spice - maybe because its well aged now! In any event its perfect for my taster - like finding an old friend. Maybe I can smoke 965, Rattrays, Gawith and other Latakia blends again. There is no bite, and it never became hot.. I am happy I tried this blend and think it would be an excellent choice for those wanting to try a Latakia spiced blend. I couldn't taste any other oriental condiment leaf in this. Leaves a grey, dry ash.

I was motivated to purchase a tin of the Solent Mixture based on fear ... fear that Mac Baren is going to delete this blend, as they have a couple other of my favourates. This isn't that complicated. It's smokey and sweet, from the latakia and whatever moderate topping applied. It's a nice ribbon, and takes the flame easily. The tin had two years of age when opened. It was a good moisture level and mostly a uniform tan colour. At first I wasn't all that impressed, but I've noticed that I keep going back to it. It has turned into what I consider to be a good serviceable blend. This may sound daft, but in a strange way it reminds me of Royal Yacht. It's smokier, but the flavouring agent is similar. I'll be buying more of this, unless, of course, it gets deleted.

Mac Baren - Solent Mixture.

I've had this in my cellar for about a year; I'd never got round to opening it due to the size: 100g's; once opened, if I didn't like it I'd still have to smoke it; either that, or commit the heinous crime of binning a near full tin!

The initial whiff of the mixture seems quite pungent; I detect both the aro' additions and a woody smell of Latakia. Although it's definitely an aromatic smell I don't find it very off putting.

The selection of ribbons looks to be divided into two parts; a high quotient of brown with below a quarter of them being black.

If Solent isn't packed correctly, it's a swine to get lit and then keeps going out; after a few attempts I found that leaving it a little loose in the bowl gives a fuller flavour and a much steadier burn. I don't mean stupidly loose, just don't plough too much into the bowl!

If it's loaded this way I quite enjoy the flavour; the aromatic appurtenance is above mild, but it's not at all strong; it gives the smoke a bit of a laid-back feeling. I get a slight flavour from the rum but no astringency, and the chocolate gives it some creaminess.

I find the flavours from the tobaccos are a bit boring. I'm not saying they're horrible, they just lack lustre and zeal.

Ahh, with Solent I can see why Mac B' has a notorious reputation for tongue bite; it does so quite viciously and the smoke can get far too hot if it's smoked too fervently; I guess having to pack it loosely doesn't help the heat.

My initial opinion of Solent was great, for about three minutes. After that it all went a bit wrong:

One star.

This is a good, solid, typical Mac Baren mixture. I like it, and would recommend it to anyone who wants a good English (but not TOO English) mixture.

I really like the tin design on this one. It's a dark label, and the colors contrast nicely, and they seem to suggest and hint at what you're about to smoke. I highly appreciate the fact that Mac Baren packages their stuff in 100 gram tins. As with pretty much everything with the Mac Baren name on it, this stuff has a nice aroma in the tin, packs easily, and takes a light very nicely. The first bowl I smoked of it, I lit it once it the beginning, tamped it, fully expected to have to relight (because I intended to false start it), and yet no, it didn't need it. It just stayed lit, and it stayed that way the whole bowl. No relights required.

The taste of this is pure and clean. Each tobacco shines through individually, but all at once. Other reviewers have mentioned this fact. It is a good mixture to smoke any time of the day, other than perhaps in the morning, but I would even smoke it then. To me, the nicotine punch is not overly strong, although some might disagree. I am a cigarette smoker (when I want a quick smoke on the go), and I smoke Dunhill cigarettes, and I don't know, to me the nicotine level is totally under control. The taste, aroma, and smoking experience are all together harmoniously, and the Solent Mixture is an absolute pleasure to smoke.

I would recommend this to anyone. The only reason I give it three stars instead of four is that I reserve the four star rating for my absolute favorites, and this is not quite in that group. Still, I will be likely to keep this one on hand at all times.

I'm on an English/Balkan kick and love the endless possibilities out there for a good smoke. MB being easy for me to obtained and rather affordable, I thought to give Solent a try. I really enjoy this smoke. It's nice and easy.

This blend is very similar to Plumcake. Like Plumcake it has a tin aroma to die for. Pungant, sweet, smokey and spicey. Not as bold as Plumcake IMHO. It is a little bitey but its not the blowtorch that Plumcake is (read my Plumcake review). This is Plumcakes little sister, a little better behaved and a little milder. If Mac Baren could ever produce a blend like The Solent Mixture or Plumcake and eliminate the tongue bite it would be heaven on earth.

To me this tastes exactly like Plumcake minus the plum-flavor. I prefer the former, but this isn't bad. It has all the typical MB qualities (bites if pushed; low nicotine; has that ubiquitous MB "rum" casing).

This is very good tobacco. Smooth, deep and rich nuances in perfect balance. My only objection would be that the rum topping sometimes feel slightly over the top. Other than that, this is excellent. I agree with the others saying one really shouldn't expect an English in the literal sense of the word, I guess it's more appealing for the aromatic and/or VA smoker. The latakia in it is mainly a paranthesis. It's the VA and cavendish that really stand out from the crowd.

Not an every day blend for me, but it has a well deserved spot among the other tins.

3/4