Mac Baren St. Bruno Ready Rubbed

Fresh tobacco smells freshy, springy after grass and plain with sweetnes . There was certainly floral toping in it. My package needed a hour to be dried, but even without preparation burns well. (of course with proper moisture in bowl) Taste was sweet, grassy gentle citrusy. Nic hit is accurate, rather mild than medium. Sntenced to aromatic with floral essence, I would rather describe it as pure VA. Kentucky was not tasted at all. Light all day smoke. Something was missing to four stars.

I have smoked through more than a few flakes of St. Bruno over the years, but this was my first go with the Ready Rubbed version. I must say I greatly preferred this to the flake. I find it more palatable from a strength perspective and just much easier to smoke form the get-go.

St. Bruno is strong, there is no doubt about that. In flake form the compression of the leaf multiplies that strength and I find, more times than not, that I am steamrolled by the strength of the flake; whereas, the ready rubbed version never really did that to me. It also allowed me to appreciate the topping more. I find the topping to be perfectly applied to my tastes as it is there adding floral touches and sugary sweetness, yet it never overpowers the underlying leaf. Both the Virginia and Burley are always there asserting themselves.

Performance wise it also outperforms the flake. At least if you use flakes as I do, that is. I tend to fold and stuff. If one diligently rubbed out the flake and allowed it to dry some, then that person would end up with the ready rubbed St. Bruno. I really don't have that kind of patience or time, particularly when I can just buy it that way.

Four stars and I wish I bought more of this when I was building the cellar. I might look to do some future trading to get more.

St. Bruno RR was a pleasant surprise for me. I am not normally drawn to blends that have dark fired Kentucky as a component or that are considered an OTC, but St. Bruno has changed this. The flavor profile is deep and rich with earthy, leathery tones and a slight incense tone on the snork. The side stream adds to the incense sensation. The strength, flavor and nicotine are medium, but the mouth-feel is full; and St. Bruno will not bite no matter your cadence.

St. Bruno RR has easily made it into my rotation and I can’t wait to try the flake version when my pouch is depleted. Highly recommended.

My favorite tobacco of all time. I could write a novel. This is my favorite in the states and when I go to Antarctica. I’ll smoke this and that and a lot of Peretti Burley, but it’s like coming back home when I smoke St.Bruno. I’m quite pleased that the broken flake has come along years aback. The broken flake is the very same as the flake, just saves me time. This is the mellow of mellow of dark fired and virginy. Slowly sipped it just hits the right spots.

Fantastic blend - I've just bought a pouch for the first time in months and it was like being reunited with an old friend. This is a noticeably old tasting blend, and in a very good way. Dried fruits, toasted sourdough bread, old books and even a pinch of butter on the aforementioned sourdough toast. Especially as one goes further down the bowl, the dark, toasty flavour of the kentucky pops through.

In fact, that the sense of development within this blend is the main selling-point of this blend. The first quarter is arguably uninspiring, where the light floral toppings and bright, musty virginias seem to dominate. However, as soon as that dark fired kentucky starts to materialize... wow. It just gets better and better until the last 10% of the bowl, the best part I'd argue.

Would recommend to any UK (or elsewhere) smoker who is looking to taste the 'good old days'. I am 23, and yet every time I have smoked this (and Condor) I am taken back to a time I never lived in... unless of course I smoked this in a past life, but we won't talk about that as who the heck knows. The first time I smoked this was in an old English village graveyard, behind a medieval church, in the bleak midwinter. It worked perfectly, this blend is timeless, and can cause one to ponder time.

I prefer condor as that is stronger in nicotine and flavour, but this blend is perfect for warm summer evenings. Also, watch the old adverts on youtube, they're some of the best.

Much of what I said in my review of St Bruno Flake applies also to the ready rubbed version. It's a dark, predominantly Virginia, tobacco with a full-bodied, fruity fragrance in the pouch and a strong, pleasant and instantly recognisable room note. It packs, lights and burns well. After a bland start, the flavour fills out and remains uniform all the way down the bowl. Sip it, or it'll bite your tongue and you'll miss the depth of flavour; it's also fairly strong in terms of nicotine content. There is a distinctive fruity/nutty/woody taste that defies description; there's a casing of some sort, but I don't know what it is. I can't detect any appreciable difference between the flake and ready-rubbed versions; though the ready- rubbed burns more quickly and hence is inclined to be hotter. Perhaps the flake is also a wee bit tastier or more full-bodied; but there's not much in it.

St Bruno in either of its forms is a worthwhile and satisfying smoke, though perhaps not one for the beginner. I find, incidentally, that DGT is very rewarding with St Bruno. If you come back to a partially smoked bowl, you find that the casing has gone and you're getting a very full and rich pure Virginia flavour.

St Bruno is in my view the best of the everyday 'supermarket' tobaccos. If you don't have a specialist tobacconist nearby or just want to walk to the corner shop for some baccy, St Bruno (either flake or ready rubbed) is about as good as you can do. Because it is packaged in a plastic pouch that might have sat on a supermarket shelf for weeks, it can be pretty dry when you buy it; but this is a common problem: a nuisance, but easy enough to remedy, when all's said and done. Good value for money; recommended.

St Bruno Ready Rubbed is now the only tobacco available in my local B & M. Even Condor and Gold Block have gone the journey; there is, I'm told, no demand for them, though cigarettes are as popular as ever. That St B should be the sole survivor in a market the bottom of which seems to have fallen out says a lot for its quality/popularity, I guess. In the years since I wrote the first version of this review, St Bruno has become a favourite of mine, if only because so many other favourites have ceased to be available. As (in the UK) we move slowly but inexorably towards prohibition, you have to learn to be content with what you can get.

Pipe Used: Various billiards and bulldogs

Age When Smoked: Usually straight from the shop

Purchased From: Local corner shop; St Bruno is readily available everywhere in the UK

Wasn't expecting a lot from an over the counter brand but the reviews were good. I must admit a factor was the ease with which this can be found at any UK grocer, coupled with its popularity. I got nothing but cigarette taste from this - couldn't even tell I was smoking an aromatic. Granted it seemed moist but I'm not confident drying would have helped. Back to English's for me.

Mac Baren- St. Bruno Ready Rubbed

This OTC has been around for a long time for a good reason, it’s delicious and something I have been surprised and happy to find. This is one of my morning on the drive to work smokes.

Floral essence with some citrus Virginia’s, the Kentucky is woodsy, deep rich nutty and just enough spice.

This is a chunky ready rubbed, the vinegar note is actually well done I must admit compared to the sutliff red Virginia crumbe cake which smells like someone soaked the tobacco in it for days.

Smokes cool, 1-2 relights, dry bowl.

My only complaint for this blend is the price, if only it was cheaper this would likely be a daily smoke for me. I really do enjoy the citrus and rose flavor of this mixed with the wonderful kentucky smokiness with a bit of char.

With the recently upcoming hype and a special issue of the Ready Rubbed for the German market (only the flake to purchase regularly) I got two pouches from my local tobacconist. Knowing St. Bruno Flake very well as it is permanent part of my rotation I really didn’t expect much difference - as you may guess ..I was wrong!

The look in the pouch is very wild, with all kinds of dark fermented leave, bigger and smaller flake parts and loose ribbons. Smell is the same as the flake - sour dough with citric notes almost like a smooth vinegar with floral nuances just slightly detectable when searching for it.

It contains much more moisture than the flake so I had to dry a long time but then it packs just wonderful. I always decide for a wider bowl with flakes and RR and pack a bit more loose than with other cuts to provide enough space for the leaf to unfold. Took some relighting and slightly tamping back the tobacco at the start to get an even burning bowl but when it’s lit properly it burns very slow and steady.

The taste really surprised me at first, however, it’s the typical Bruno but stronger in taste. Smooth and sweet Virginia is building the base with a bit of spice supported by the Kentucky (I can taste it in every puff) on top of this comes a most beautiful arranged floral and lime like saucing that never overpowers the true natural tobacco but gives an ornate spectrum of sweet to sour notes. It also leaves a nice aftertaste of cola nut in my mouth.

Well selected tobaccos and their natural tastes are supported by a great topping that doesn’t bore me and isn’t too artificial also. For me this is quite the right change of pace for a day full of Latakia and the RR provides an even wider range of flavors imo.