Mac Baren St. Bruno Ready Rubbed

This was the second OTC tobacco I tried. My house mate was the first person I'd seen smoke St. Bruno while I was playing around with various Kendal blends. His pouch was old, dry, and stank. This put me off trying it for a good many years. Sundays, however, have a trend of being the day I try new OTC tobaccos due to my local tobacconist being closed that day. My normal at the time OTC, Condor Original, was out of stock and only 50g pouches of St. Bruno remained on the shelf. I decided it was better to have something than walk away empty handed, so I took a chance and tried it.

I'm glad I did. I remember waiting for the punch in the face I'd come to expect from a new pouch of Condor Ready Rubbed, but it never came. Instead, I was led by the hand to a calm river in a small forest whereupon I was invited to relax for a while. This, of course, being a metaphor. There was no harshness, no bite, no rancid flavour, the tobacco wasn't too moist or too dry, and it certainly didn't try to attack me. Instead, it just filled my face with a polite, yet exceedingly pleasant, flavour that almost felt like it didn't want to be overbearing but at the same time it wanted me to experience -something-. I wasn't entirely sure what the something was, though. It certainly wasn't soap, and I was grateful for that. It's the only new tobacco I have enjoyed so much that I had a second bowl only a few minutes after finishing the first (with a different pipe, of course). St. Bruno is certainly a multi-pipe tobacco and unlike Condor Original Ready Rubbed, there should be no ghost of St. Bruno left in the pipe afterwards.

I still don't know what that special something is. I doubt I ever will. The journey to discover it is an enjoyable one, though, as St. Bruno has now become my any-time-every-day tobacco. There's enough strength to keep me satisfied, and pleasing enough to allow me to smoke it around half-a-dozen times a day at least, often more. Even my non-smoking house mates aren't offended by it, although the one who smoked it originally now rather smugly claims me got me in to it in the first place. I would recommend St. Bruno to others. Maybe not as a first tobacco, but certainly as an enjoyable regular smoke once you've found your feet or a fall-back if a favoured tobacco is not available.

Edit: Jan 2016: Something has changed and utterly made me rethink the previous score and review. I don't know if my tastes have changed, or if there was a change in how St. Bruno has been produced but recently it has become a very bitter, hot, and unpleasant smoke. The rub has been hardly rubbed at all, with some pouches almost being flake-like. This mostly affected the 25g pouch, but the 50g pouches weren't spared the same fate in terms of taste. It has gone from my main tobacco I smoked daily to me actively avoiding it. It still has a nice room note, however. So, sadly, I have had to reduce the review to a single star of non-recommendation.

Note my cuppa tea as I am still on aromatics. Smell was odd for me, not a lot of taste. First OTC tobacco. Wasn't for me, prefer ones bought from specialist tobacconists.

It is what it is...

A long standing British supermarket blend. If sipped, it's a steady smoke that edges towards a full flavour.

Not much more to say, other than the old TV ads with the St Bruno dog were entertaining.

I guess there's a reason it's been around for so long. Be careful though, a lot of the time if you are going to buy it OTC, ask the person how long it's been there, as often it's been there a while and can be dry..

Readily available in almost every newsagents up and down Britain. I guess this is the UK's 'Prince Albert'

I'm broken boned and spewing blood, marooned on an arctic ice shelf in my turtleneck sweater after tumbling from the precipice of a glacier. With an icicle stuck up my arse, and my right arm idly swinging from an ice-pick, some 150 metres above me, I'm buggered. I'd also die for one last smoke to ease the pain, but my left hand is severely frostbitten. Cue the music - and a dopey, great St. Bernard Dog upon the horizon, lolloping to my aid and wheezing under the sheer weight of the biggest slab of St. Bruno RR you've never commercially seen. Evidently, it's been via the airport and had the sense to afford me some timely duty-free.

"Cancel the chopper. Paws or no paws, get that pipe filled and spark up!"

At least that's how the UK St. Bruno ads of the 80s would have us believe it, when I was a youngster... More or less. Nowadays, you have to walk to the newsagents and pay for the privilege. Meh.

Those were my overriding memories of St. Bruno, until the day I mistakenly bought flake to make rolling ciggies as a student. Now, as a pipe smoker, I procured a small pouch of RR to readdress the balance. Evidently, I wanted to hate it, not simply because of the my aforementioned naivety, but rather more because it's a commercial smoke in the UK, available in any two-bit local shop (sadly, we don't do drugstore blends in drugstores in England). And commercialized things, as I have attested to in the past (see my 'Clan' review), are objects of derision; to be avoided, in my experience.

However, unlike 'Clan', it's commercial shelf neighbour, aside of Condor, this is actually a rather pleasant smoke, if not the most exciting. It's pouch note seems to be a lot stronger than the smoke, with a 'meaty' (almost seasoned steak), robust body, moderate sourness, and the faintest hint of dried fruit sweetness. I certainly don't sense any of the soapiness that some have mentioned. It's thinly rubbed, compared to many, yet yields a decent moisture content. I didn't get the large helping of tobacco stem that some did in my 25g pouch.

First impressions are indicative of a strong tobacco, but St. Bruno is far from it; smooth and bite-less, with a mere hint of added flavouring, that I can't quite place. In smoking quality and coolness, it's akin to McQuaid Plug, albeit without the generous depth of flavour.

For me, it went some way to prove that I can walk down the road and buy generally good tobacco, without having to mail order from the internet, or travel to a bigger city. It's a middle-of-the-road, inoffensive smoke, with reasonable characteristics. It tastes ok, burns well after the first charring, and will see you through the whole day.

The "Patron Saint of Pipe Smokers" slogan from the 80s, seems to have been replaced with "A Pipe's Best Friend". I can't help wondering if that's largely to do with the evident inoffensiveness of this blend. Would I smoke it again? As a back- up option, when I'm clean out of everything better, yes. Would I recommend it to you? Yes. Is it the best commercially available pipe tobacco? I would think so.

For the record, the St. Bernard on the pack still looks under the weather. Perhaps that's due to the death of the high street tobacconist that we should all lament.

St Bruno Ready Rubbed - This is one of the smoothest blends I can think of . Ideal proportions of Virginia and Kentucky. Sweet and savory . Virginia, Kentucky, Tonquin and Rose Geranium is what I hear is in this so yes it is floral . Plum and raison fruit , yes . A little smokey , earthy and bready . Lovely aroma . Ordering a couple more pouches right now . 4

Tangy fruit in the pouch. Needs some drying time. Slow burning. Pleasant Lakeland aroma. Lacks heft in the Nic dept. Won't be a regular for me

Probably the most scented tobacco I have smoked , I think it's va , difficult to tell with all that casing , no strength to it or in other words not much nicotine , why do people keep comparing it with condor which I quite like , vinegar and soap , not quite bad enough to bin , will smoke occasionally in a dedicated cob , just about gets 2 stars , disappointing . More like a sweet desert , not much actual tobacco taste.

I have not smoked this tobacco for over 10 years, recently I bought a few bags. When opened, the aroma seems less intense than it was years ago, but memory may fail. I have a dedicated pipe for each tobacco, and here I dug up an old one, not smoked since then. I rubbed the tobacco a little and without drying it to the pipe. It burns very well, the taste is as before, the sweetness stays on the teeth for a long time. If you smoke in peace and keep an eye on the heat, it does not require to relight. The taste does not change when smoked. It is not too strong, not for 6, 4-5 rather, it will scratch your throat if you pull it harder. Generally, as a Va, VaPer lover, I smoke slowly and carefully and have no problem with it, but I checked it out. I am happy that he did not disappoint me, as sometimes happens with tobaccos after years.

Este es un tabaco que me da un cambio de ritmo, como un descanso a mi rutina de tabacos mas profundos, de mas fuerza, o con mas caracter. Es un compañero para una fumada relajante. No es un mal tabaco, es un tabaco agradecido, decente. Nada mas abrir el paquete, me llega un aroma agrio, levemente achocolatado, afrutado, citrico. Estaba en un punto de humedad muy correcto. La fumada es placentera, relajante, un regusto agrio pero no molesto El aroma que desprende al fumar es un leve aroma floral, dulce, afrutado, algo citrico, higos, amaderado. Un humo en boca dulce, espeso. La nota de habitacion es agradable, lo suficiente para que las personas que esten cerca, no rechacen la presencia de este dulce humo. Quema muy bien, pocos encendidos, una ceniza fina. Deja algo de humedad. Facil de adquirir en el estanco de barrio y a un precio que invita a comprar grandes cantidades. Un fiel amigo para mi rutina diaria. El nivel de nicotina es muy bajo para mi gusto, pero no me molesta en absoluto. Otro tabaco que dormira en mi bodega.