Mac Baren Cube

Nice gift for aromatic fan. I like to smoke aromatic once a day, but this one i think could be a little annoying due to it's very sweet taste. It is nice with strong cup of tea without sugar. Strong aftertaste also present. Smoke it very slowly and you will not bite your tongue. The room note are very pleasant and strong(i think lady's would like it). But one thing that you need care about - your pipe, because after smoke, it will save the aroma of this tobacco. So 3 stars

I've been smoking for about 10 years. I'm not really a novice. However, I almost always smoke aromatic blends. The staples of my tobacco cabinet are GL Pease's Barbary Coast, Gatlin-Burlier's Cades Cove Cavendish, and Yesteryear tobacconists' Chestnut blend (carbondale illinois tobacconist)).

I am always searching for new armoatic blends. I tried Mac Baren's Cube today. Mac Baren's Cube is...um...how should I put this??? It's Downright nasty. I tried this blend at the recommendation of a friend of mine. It cost me 22 dollars for the box (which is probably the nicest packaging I've ever seen for any product-tobacco or otherwise). I probably could have just set fire to the money. If I would have, at least something would get burned, because I will not be burning this again. The minute I opened the vacuum-sealed bag and poured its contents into the box, I knew I was in trouble. This didn't smell like tobacco. To me, It smelled like a mixture of cough syrup and dusting spray, neither of which I want to taste.

I filled a bowl and I lit up. I must say, rarely does a tobacco taste EXACTLY the same as it smells unburned. Cube unfortunately does. It's bitter and it tastes like Robitussin to me. Nasty!!

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I thought I had better update this review. 3 nights ago, I had the misfortune of having nothing good to smoke. I was out of my favorite GL Pease's Barbary Coast) and I was waiting for the UPS man to deliver a new tin of it to me. All I had in the cabinet was a tin of Stratford-which I am not planning on opening for a year or more-and a couple of ziplock baggies. I believe one was a cheap vanilla-cased burley and the other was undoubtebly a sickeningly sweet, local tobacconist's attempt at replicating Stokkebye's Peaches and Cream. I was in the mood for Tobacco, not peaches. There it sat...the shiny silver wooden cube with the spring-hinged lid bearing the majestic Mac Baren crest. I opened the box and I smelled......tobacco??! I couldn't believe it. The leaf that was oily, sticky and smelled of cough syrup and chlorine had dried out substantially and was now a wonderful-smelling tobacco. And it is most definately a quality tobacco. I loaded my favorite Savinelli with the stuff. It lit efforlessly and it tasted incredible. Rich, full-flavored Virginias with the sweetness of the cavendish and the nuttiness of Burley which also gives it a VERY slight bit of spice. I would love a bit more spiciness though. The casing that overwhelmed the tobacco was now only present in the mix. It's a mild fruity essence that has a noticeable coconut flavor. It almost reminds me of great Thai food, which makes the absence of spice even more lamentable. This needs Perique in the worst way!!! Nevertheless it's still surprisingly good after aging it for a few months -though I fear aging it too much would make it too dry to smoke. This isn't something I would smoke all the time. But it is unique and well-balanced and the tobacco is of the highest quality you will ever see. I whole-heartedly take back my original review and I am giving this a solid 3-stars.

The Cube is an interesting blend. My first impression was generally favorable as to taste and its burning qualities. However, the aroma upon lighting up seemed strange to me, almost astringent to my nose. After smoking about an ounce or so, my reaction to the tobacco changed for the better. As an aromatic it is sweet in a medium-dark way and bites a little if smoked too quickly. But it does not lose its tobacco taste in favor of too heavy a casing.

About halfway through the 100g container, I started to get a better handle on this blend. The first third of the bowl could be hot if I was not careful, but once settling into a steady burn it was dry and tasted fine. This blend has a little more body to it than Sweet Killarney and is not as sweet as Blue Note but stands somewhere in between them.

Having once been interrupted early on after lighting up a fresh bowl and returning to it about an hour later I found that the bite had gone and the rest of the smoke was quite mild and tasty.

The Cube is most decidedly an aromatic blend, and as such it will appeal to those who like a little added flavoring and sweetness in their tobacco.

Very strange indeed. But strange is not in itself all bad. This blend tends to do better if you let it dry out just a bit. Strange thing about this blend is that the taste changes through the bowl. Kinda reminds me of the old Seven-up candy bar I remember as a kid.

As I prefer VAs, flakes and english-type blends usually, I´m always a bit aware from spending my money on a 100g tin of an unknown tobacco. But from time to time I´m looking for a change of pace and I try an aromatic. On my last visit at my local tobacco dealer, he highly recommended MacBaren Cube as one of the best aromatics available. Despite it´s rather pricey (I guess it´s the most expensive blend you can buy here in Germany) I followed his advice and gave it a try.

I must admit, MB Cube is really a wonderful tobacco. It comes in a nice silver-coloured, dice-shaped wooden box, you can still use as a tobacco container after finishing this weed. In the MacBaren line of aromatics it sure is the top blend. The flavoring (can´t really pick what it is) stays ´til the very end, not overwhelming the tobacco taste and leaves a very pleasant room note. For an aromatic lover this could be an ideal all-day smoke. What keeps me from a 4-star rating, only is the high price. If you´re into aromatics, try MB Cube, you won´t regret it.

8 out of 10 in my personal rating.

Very rarely will I smoke an aromatic blend, but this one was just a little different. This was not the goopey sugary topped tobacco that I would have expected. Rather an ecessence of tropical flavors. Cocconut, Vanilla, Black pepper, Berry in just the right amount, as it did not hide the flavor of the quality tobacco which serves as the foundation of this very interesting blend. This may not be for all but let me assure you, I am a tobacco purest, I do not like anything to get in the way of my tobacco flavor. This blend however can be a nice change of pace, a little bump in the road. Many blenders will hide inferior tobacco with heavy flavoring. Not here. Quality is first in the mind of this blender. I strongly urge my tobacco purest bretheren to try Cube, disapointment will be rare.