Mac Baren Vanilla Chocolate

cavendish oh cavendish i truly have problem with any blend suffocated with this process method and this is one of them,,yet the sweetness is decent and its closer to vanilla than it is to chocolate,,have some moisture in the blend so smoking slowly will be a wise thing to do,,dry it out for one day and better results will be obtained,,,gud tobacco but i would rather try others

This was a little of a surprise. Not at all obnoxious like many american aromatics with a similiar bill. A dry, straight black cavendish with a very light added flavoring. The flavoring infact is very subtle but I can just detect the vanilla accompaning a pleasant round character. What vanilla character is there, is nothing like many such american blends. I would say it has to be real vanilla and not an extract or "vanillan." The chocolate is'nt so obvious but I'am sure adds to the roundness of this tobacco. On it's own it is ofcoarse monochromatic and somewhat bland, expected though for this style. This being rather loose cut and dry is an excellent mixer. Like some of Mac Baren's virginia blends but find them to sharp? Here you go! This is similiar in class to G&H DVC which I would say is not as round and flavorful as Mac Barens counterpart, barely. I prefer this.

Recommended

My local discount tobacco outlet offers a tiring variety of generally uninspired bulk pipe tobaccos. From time to time, they clear out the backroom of any bulk tobaccos that have been there too long, and offer these in 4 oz. Ziplocks at $2 each. These they pile into a 'sale' basket on the counter. That's not much of a bargain for bad tobacco.

When "Vanilla Chocolate" appeared in the basket (having never been offered at their standard price!) I bought a bag to try it, based solely on its mild pouch aroma. After smoking one bowl at home, I drove the 15 mile round-trip again that same evening and purchased three more 4 oz. bags.

Here's what I found: a rough-cut, all-black and quite dry cavendish tobacco with a soft tobacco aroma in the "pouch." After flicking a few drops of distilled water from my fingers into the bag, and allowing it to settle for a few hours, an oh-so-subtle chocolate aroma appeared. The vanilla is only a vague hint. Because it is so dry (from careless storage), it has none of the sticky, tongue-burning acridity of most aromatics. There is no bite at all. Since I prefer my tobaccos dry, I found this easy-lighting, gentle-burning tobacco enjoyable, with none of the harshness that usually discourages me from buying Mac Baren.

Though this black Cavendish is made from a pure Virginia, the air-curing doesn't deliver the acidic edge expected from the fire-cured Virginias. For times when I just want a gentle smoke, rather than the orchestration of Turkish, Latakia, Perique, etc., this gentle smoke fits the bill.

For context, I'm an old-timer who generally smokes true English blends, with loads of Latakia. I would compare this quite favorably with Cornell & Dhiel's Dark Chocolate (which also doesn't really taste like chocolate).

If you buy this moist (though you'll never find it at 50 cents an ounce!), take the time to allow it to dry to a point not yet crumbly.

If you like a sweet tobacco in which you can taste the tobacco as well, then this is the stuff for you.

Very pleasant flavour, though I cannnot specificaaly taste the chocolate it is a very nice tobacco to smoke.The cavendish treatment works well on the virginia and adds to the flavour.

It does not burn hot like some Macbarens the pouch and room note are pleasing, nor smokers comment on the aroma.

I am not really an expert but I think that there is a touch of the old school about this. Sort of thing my Grandfather might have smoked.

As I say if you like flavoured tobacco then I would reccomend it, it is probobly one of my favourites in its class.