Mac Baren Mixture Modern

There's an air of mystery to this one. It's similiar to Carter Hall in many respects, except for being slightly sweeter and having the Virginias dominate. The aroma is similiar (coffee/cherry/nutty) and was hard to pinpoint at first. The taste is wine-like, with the Virginia fighting it out on one's pallate-slightly heavy. I detect a hint of Latakia somewhere in the mix, which adds a nice smoky element. This is a blend that you should try at least once. Personally, I prefer Carter Hall and MacBaren's Navy Mixture to this. One drawback, it smokes hot midway through which causes the pipe's stem to overheat and the smoke to turn slightly bitey. It's very noticeable in a cob and in hot and humid weather. Living along the river in South Dakota I can vouch for that. So if you use a cob pack a full bowl. Otherwise, save this one for sipping, the briar and indoors. It's a good smoke, but not a favorate. UPDATE 4-9-17: Took out a mason jar of MM tonight and fired up a bowl. Sweet, creamy, a little peppery. It was nice but too sweet for my palate. No bite, but rough on the throat. This works more as a dessert type than daily codger. Just before smoking a bowl, I had spent the day smoking Blender's Gold Burley and Black. To be honest, I prefer the BGBB to MMM (I can almost hear the laughter and gasps when I say that). I found BGBB to be smoother with no roughness on the throat. It's not as sweet and works really well as a daily with a decent room note. Both blends follow the classic Virginia, Burley and Cav model but BGBB costs much less for the same amount of leaf. Mixture Modern has a little more black cavendish but can burn hot and be a little too much to take in at once. Whereas BGBB has more emphasis on the burley (leaning more toward Carter Hall). MM is a decent smoke but doesn't quite make it to three stars.

I cannot really tell apart this one from Original Choice or from Golden Dice. Perhaps Mild Mixture has a more moderate casing and a slightly subtler structure, but the general feeling of these mixtures is they all are very similar.

Typical Danish, this blend comprises an amount of Golden Virginias, Burley and sweetened Black Cavendish, with a fruity/vanilla casing. Without being gooey or sticky, you do get the feeling of a rather moist mixture, with varying shades of light and dark brown, plus the shiny Black Cavendish. It sure is a mild blend, and processed in such a way that tongue bite is reduced to a minimum, but at a cost: were it not for the artificial flavour the tobacco underneath would barely be noticeable.

An agreeable, simple, aromatic tobacco, ideal for the beginner or perhaps as a polite smoke when in public.

After many years, I have learnt to appreciate the original Mixture for its great balance and complexity, for its well-behaved character (if you pack it well and smoke slowly), for being always interesting and reliable. Sure, the Flake version is even better (cooler and easier to smoke), but the classic can't be forgotten.

In what does this "Modern" version differ? Well, the differences are not subtle. Already from opening the tin, you can see that they added a lot of black cavendish to the recipe of the original version. Not sticky or goopy cavendish, but still it's a cavendish dominated blend compared to the visual balance of the original. The tin smell is also different: I detect a heavier flavoring, especially oriented on vanilla-like sweet aromas. While Mixture has, again, a great balance in aroma (you can smell the Virginias, the Burley, a honeyed sweetness, a grassy freshness... and the result is very appetizing), the Modern version is much more dominated by the sweetness although you can partly detect some familiar notes if you kow the classic Mixture. Sometimes I also get a hint of that weird slightly fermented sweet smell that is so typical of Dunhill's Royal Yacht!

It tends to pack a bit too tight, so use a light hand. At the match, it burns well, regularly and effortlessly. Only in the final part of the bowl it tends to need more relights. Slightly hotter than classic Mixture, though.

The taste... well, it's hard for me to tell exactly what I like and what I don't. Initially it's very sweet, again dominated by honey and vanilla. Then some of the character of the original Mixture also shines through. It's a light smoke, but absolutely not flavorless. At times, I would be tempted to say it has slightly more flavor than Mixture... problem is that it's often a monochromatic flavor, and rather "empty", with no particular depth. None of the complexity and wonderful sweet/sour/smoky alternation of flavors found in classic Mixture. The high presence of Cavendish leads to a slightly dirty taste, that leaves an impression on the palate which is not exactly rough... but also somehow mouth-drying and throat-rasping. Again, somehow I feel something in common to Royal Yacht (although the strength is absolutely not comparable: this is light stuff, while RY is a nicotine demon). At times during the smoke, especially in the second half of the bowl, you get moments in which it tastes very bland and steamy, and then it recovers.

Overall it's a blend which isn't bad at all if you like light and sweet aromatics. It has more taste than many of them, but what puzzles me is the lack of elegance, balance and intrigue that the classic Mixture (which isn't particularly heavier) has to offer. And some if its taste, some of its black cavendish-induced character, tends to bore me on the long run. Pleasant, but not completely satisfactory: I often finish the bowl by still wanting something else to satisfy me, but certainly NOT another bowl of Mixture Modern. Although it wasn't bad while it lasted. Go figure...

I find Mixture Modern closest to Original Choice than to standard Mixture, but Original Choice, in my opinion, is a lot better: its casing and the overall aromatic element is much more exquisite, and also the leaf quality is superior. And, speaking of the aromatic element, Mixture Modern, although it's less cased and tastes a little more to straight tobacco than Original Choice, it's very floral and lacks the peach vanilla flavor of the latter. Mixture Modern could also be compared to Borkum Riff's Scandinavian Mixture, as they both may be classified as Danish light aromatics, but this last blend is a lot better. I think this may be a good blend for those getting started in the noble art of pipe smoking.