Mac Baren St. Bruno Ready Rubbed

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!!

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.

It has been stated that the ready rubbed and the flake version would be similar. I'm not sure about that. 50g pouches mention odgen's of liverpool and a local adress near Antwerp, so maybe I could be smoking an export product and not the real (UK) thing (?).

St Bruno RR is a rather finely rubbed dark brown tobacco. I believe it is essentialy matured VA and I detect no casing. No citrussy bergamot, no soapyness, none of that stuff, just straight tobacco. In my experience it comes a bit too moist for ideal results. It is better when dried out a little. The moistness may result in a steamy smoke and a tendency for the tobacco to become compact and clog. In ideal (moisture) conditions, this is a nice cool smoking, non-gurgling, non-biting smoke. I don't remember to ever have been bitten, even when smoking steamier pipes. The taste is very mild and sublte, and it is best to allocate a pipe only to st Bruno because the mild taste can quickly be overpowered by ghoshts of previous smokes. The taste stays in the natural tobacco woody/nutty register and has a bitter quality. Not the obnoxious bitternes that makes for the bad name of burley - more the "good bitterness" sought after in beer- the association with guinnes comes spontaneously to mind. The sidestream smoke is agreable and the room note is sweeter than the smoke and not too offensive. St Bruno is strong in the nicotine dept. but remains civilized.

I realy like this tobacco and it is in my regular rotation; I hope that the flake will available (again) in the near future. Highly Recommended.

Went to town and forgot my tobacco at home.Shame. Drug store had only this blend for sale. Happy that forgot my tobacco at home. Sweet and smooth taste of Virginia. No tongue bite. Lits easy,burns easy pleasant smoke and after taste. Recommended.