Mac Baren St. Bruno Ready Rubbed

This tobacco has been around for decades in the UK. Kind of thing you find an empty rusty tin of in your grandad's garage - full of nails or something. As such I was wary of giving it a try, thinking it would be far too strong for me and would be far more suitable for an old guy who used to smoke Senior Service cigarettes.

I was pleasantly surprised. This tobacco packs easily and well and gives a nice satisfying smoke. Quite smooth unless you puff really hard. Room note is nothing to write home about being a plain Virginia. This is a good choice for an ex-cigarette smoker as it has a familiar British tobacco taste and has a good nicotine kick to boot.

Recommended.

UPDATE (Jan 08)- I recently ran out of tobacco one weekend and needed to buy something readily available. I decided on this one and was glad I did as it rekindled my interest in straight virginias. A good smoke with plenty of flavour and no bite. Some reviews comment on the nicotine strength. I find it OK even as an all day smoke - whereas I found Old Gowrie to be a fair bit stronger.

This had been my staple for the last couple of years, before I bestirred myself to make the effort and look round the net for a greater variety than the very few proprietary brands on offer at most street outlets in the UK.

As I wait for a tin of J.J. Fox's Dorisco mixture to arrive (hopefully tomorrow), I am smoking St Bruno. The old rich, mellow, distinct flavour of this mix, perhaps the most up-front and distinctive flavour of any tobacco, is very evident, and very pleasing. If there is just one tobacco to be labelled 'pipe tobacco', then surely this is it, for the aroma is so strong, so pleasant, so deep, so well-known. Yet the note 'sounded', so to speak, becomes monotonous after a while, like that of any proprietary brand, though this to my mind is undoubtedly the best of that breed.

St Bruno lights extremely easily, burns evenly and slowly. I have never found any harshness taint the deep flavour which I experience. The tobacco mixes well with some others, and somewhere on this forum (maybe this thread), someone noted that, many years ago, a travelling tobacco salesman said that a 50/50 mix of St Bruno and Golden Virginia produced, in his opinion, just about the best pipe-smoking experience. I've tried that mix, and it ain't half bad (note to U.S. readers: that means it is very good). However, I still prefer St Bruno on its own.

It's nice to be smoking a pipeful of my old staple. It's always very satisfying. However, I have moved on, and other smoking experiences are the ones that now rock my boat. However, as top dog in the proprietaries, old faithful St Bruno deserves 4 stars.

A strong, rich- flavored tobacco. The room note is assertive and bold, yet pleasant. It smells like "real" tobacco (no artificial scents). The tobacco flavor "bursts in our mouth".

It has a strong nicotine content, and smoking a bowl in a small (Group 3) pipe made me feel woozy.

But it leaves you with a pleasant feeling and you're looking forward to the next bowl.

I can't smoke more than a bowl of this a day, though, because of its strength.

An end-of-the-day, after dinner smoke for me.

Totally satisfying!

I got me hands on a five pack of this (pouches) at Gatwick airport in England. When I got home, I sent one pouch off to a friend who I knew enjoyed it, and rather quickly smoked the rest with my Dad. Now, my father doesn't normally like really strong smokes (and for him this was Really strong) but he liked the taste so much he couldn't help himself...

It's similar in flavor to Royal Yacht, but much better. I also think it's stronger in the nicotine dept. Burns cool, loads and smokes great....guess I'm off to England to get some more!!

Honest tobacco taste from a pouch. Yep. I enjoyed St. Bruno RR. Packs a moderate nicotine punch. The casing flavor wasn't what I expected, based on the other reviews. It wasn't noticeable IME. Packs and lights fine, even when a little moist. Two full cheers.

Now, this bakkie has nothing in common with his evil brother, the sadly renowned vilain Flake!

I got this tobacco available in a pouch, very conservative looking, cream coloured with some red and black writing, if I recall.

This is a Red VA based ready-rubbed mixture, so it comes in the form of a broken flake. The aroma is typical of the red VA, slightly grassy, almost a bit sour, but doesn't taste sour at all. The leaf was a very predominantly red shaded leaf.

This baby smokes well, rather slowly, and its strength increases as you go; the taste was that of a straightforward, good red VA, so more powerful than a regular VA. I've enjoyed it, but not to the point of smoking it on a regular basis. Unfortunately, I've heard it is no longer available in America, now. I guess those who tried the Flake first got scared!

Next time I go to Europe, I'll see if they still have it; I'd buy a tin or a pouch for old times' sake...

A good bakkie; recommended.

A simple relaxing smoke and one of the most reliable 'supermarket' blends.

This is much milder than the flake version, though it packs much more easily than its chunky sister. Thus making it better suited to an elevenses smoke: Being rather light but with a strong enough nicotine hit to keep you going until lunch. The maple and sugar casing does dull it a little, though removes any possibility of being bitten.

In the pouch it has a clear fruity scent with lemon curd notes, though this is not transferred to your mouth when smoked (unlike St. Bruno Flake). But then, this deceptive nature runs through most of the pressed Virginians.

This is not a blend that you can get lost in but that's not something that you really want in the middle of the day.

A pleasant step up from EMP at breakfast.

I remember my grandfather smoking this in the 1940's, and the aroma still remains. I have tried different tobaccos in a pipe since then, but always come back to St.Bruno. A good nicotine hit, but a mild tasting and pleasant smoke with no tongue burn and various aromas which seem to be appreciated by non-smokers in a room. Similar, but less heavy than Condor Original which can be too much for smoker and non-smoker alike. This must be a four star rating, from so many tobaccos, and easily obtainable in the U.K.

St Bruno Flake was a staple smoke for me until export to Canada was halted a few years ago. Since then I have smoked the pouches of RR I stockpiled regularly but conservatively. It is remarkably similar to the Flake offering, albeit slightly less strong. Nothing satisfies like St Bruno and it is a pity it can now only be purchased in Europe. I will continue to keep it on hand until the law dictates other wise. When that happens, I shall purchase the recipe from Imperial, move to China and smoke in peace.