Mac Baren HH Vintage Syrian

Mac Baren - HH Vintage Syrian.

When I open mine up the first good point presents itself, perfect moistness! The smell is smoky but nowhere near as heavy when compaired to many other Latakia blends. This is reflected in the taste:

The Latakia is the driving force however it has more of a subtle quality to it rather than resembling barbecue fumes! After the initial quarter bowl of Latakia flavour the other constituents make their presence known. The Latakia doesn't subside completely, it just allows a little room for the other tobaccos to gain applause. I notice towards the end of the bowl how little I have had to keep re-lighting my pipe, it's burned consistently throughout. I feel that HH Vintage Syrian would be a great starting point for someones Latakia journey with it's subtle flavour as opposed to beginning with an out and out 'smack in the face' Balkan!

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: quite pleasant.

Four stars.

This is one of the best tobaccos I have ever tasted. Absolutley world class. Virtually no tongue bite ( perhaps just a small tingle on the tongue ), and fantastically delicious. Yes it is mild, which makes for a great morning smoke, but it does NOT lack in taste.

There is very little nicotine, and I suspect that this is the major reason why nicotine addicts might give this blend a lower rating - which is entirely unfair. This blend should be judged on its own merits; not its nicotine level.

This blend requires almost no relights, and sometimes it requires none at all. Burns all the way to the bottom most of the time. And as stated, little if any tongue bite.

The Syrian latakia is sublime... heavenly even. Very different than its Cyprian cousin. It is more subtle and smooth. And the virginias taste as if they were already aged before it was canned. It makes for a slighty sweet smokey flavor that will leave you craving more.

Upon opening the can, I could smell something like pumpkins, sweet potatos, and figs. WOW! what a curious scent. It reminded me of autumn time when multi-colored leaves are falling.

I have smoked many different blends - dozens of them. But this is like nothing I have ever tasted. And the room note is very inviting even to the non-smoker.

Exceptional. Among the best in the world. I just hope Mac Baren doen't run out of Syrian latakia.

I like Latakia very much. I think a review of any Latakia blend should begin with either that statement or its opposite---saves a lot of meaningless review blather. This is an unusually well-balanced blend! The semi-sweet leathery/smoky tones of the Syrian Latakia make its presence known via pre-smoke aroma and an almost uncanny tendency to hang in the background, enhancing the other tobaccos in the blend----very nice! You are well aware of its presence but not in an overpowering or stage-stealing way. There was absolutely no bite at all. The entire bowl smoked with a most enjoyable coolness, even in the retrohale. It burns very well. I trimmed ash twice, gently tamped and never had to re-light from begin to end. The only drawback might be that it does not bring much of a nicotine buzz, hovering right at the top of Mild and gently going over to Medium at around 3/4 way through the bowl. I liked it very much and will definitely make it a favorite part of my rotation. Differences between Syrian and Cyprian Latakia (I love them both) are highlighted in this blend---if you are curious about that sort of thing. If you like Latakia--try it. If you do not like Latakia, leave it alone. If you are curious about Latakia, definitely try it as it is not at all overpowering but most satisfying in a background sort of way.

This has some really nice flavors. Smoky, spicy, earthy, a mild sour note, a mild note of butter, and a very pleasant gentle sweetness. All the components compliment each other very nicely.

If you retrohale constantly like I do you may notice an occaisional sharpness from the Orientals. Wish that were a little smoother. Due to that, for me, this is closer to 3 stars than 4. I'll give it 3+.

Medium in body and flavor. Burns well with a little drying time.

I'm fond of English and Balkan blends and like latakia. In my country there is not much variety of English and Balkan blends. The market is small and people tend to like the aromatic blends. I've bought this as the tobacconist swore its quality stuff. Out of the box it smells great, heavy, honey, smokey. It's a bit juicy so it requires some drying. The flavour first seems to be OK but then I noticed some chemical taste was always sneaking in the background. Once I became aware of it, it completely ruined my smoking experience. It also has a noticeable tongue bite. At the end I gave the unfinished tin away... I must also add that this is still among the better MacBarrens I've tasted so far and I am happy that MacBarren creates other than aromatic blends.

WOW! If you are a Latakia lover like I am, you'll LOVE this blend! The tin says it's just under half Latakia and boy, do I believe it. Turkish Orientals and Kentucky give this blend a touch of spice that is extremely pleasant. This blend burns very well and produces billows of smoke, which I love. Absolutely no trace of tongue bite is to be found while enjoying a bowl of this fine blend. I would highly recommend this blend for everyone and anyone who enjoys a good latakia blend.

I have said before that the english blend field is a very crowded one and you never know quite what you are going to get when you open a tin of a blend that you have never smoked, but we all can expect to get something. My problem with HHVS is that, basically, I got nothing. My experience with this blend was so negative that I was initially hesitant to even attempt a review and have waited weeks so I could mull over what exactly to say - so, here goes.

I had a big expectation about trying this blend: a bold black tin with a lion's face on it, a bold description from Mac Baren and a lot of favorable to stellar reviews on this site. Boy, did I ever get the opposite! I popped the black tin open and set it down on the bench in front of me and inhaled. Nothing. I leaned half way down toward the tin and inhaled. Nothing. I then picked the tin up and held it close to my nose - a faint confusing aroma. I put my nose down so close to the tobacco that the tip of my nose was actually touching it. Then, and only then, could I detect any aroma at all - weak, thin and faint. I then took some of the tobacco out and put it on a sheet of paper and inspected it. Not at all the ribbon cut that both Mac Baren and most of you reviewers noted, but a kind of flattish group of reddish brown and black flakelets of uniform size that I found rather strange. I smelled my fingers for evidence of aroma on them - nothing. So, I loaded my Ashton and lit up: no odor on the char light, no detectable odor on the relight -hmm? So, next I puffed harder to produce a larger volume of smoke and exhaled it against my hand in front of my nose. Only then did I get any aroma at all and, again - weak, thin and faint. I went ahead and smoked the whole bowl all the way down but it never improved. I then tried to use HHVS in microblending, but it weakened ever batch I mixed-up - very strange and very disappointing. I can come to only two possible conclusions about this: one - most of you reviewers are involved in a collective hallucination or two - this tin of HHVS I opened is DRASTICALLY different from those the rest of you have reviewed. As I have faith in my fellow smokers and reviewers, I opt for conclusion number two. If this is correct, and all indications are that it is, then this represents a huge breach of quality control. ***UPDATE***-3/4/15 - I just got back from the St. Louis pipe club show where I was given a tin of Mac Baren HHVS. As soon as I popped the lid I knew two things: 1. THIS is the tobacco blend that you other reviewers were talking about and rating so highly and I concur - 4 stars all the way! and, 2. The tin I opened and reviewed above was, indeed, a huge mistake and breach of quality control - a three and a half ounce tin of trash!

11-30-2022 I very seldom if at all update my reviews but I wanted to address something as I believe I am not the only one and this concerns the 2017 production run of one of my favorite blends that I have a few dedicated pipes for. In the spring of 2017 when my tax return came in, I decided that I should stock up on Syrian pipe tobacco as I knew the party was just not going to last. I even ordered Mac Baren Solent Mixture which had Syrian listed but now I am not even sure with that one according to this website. “As of 04/16/2018, Syrian latakia is still used as a blending component. According to Nick Shane at SmokingPipes.com, the label indicates Syrian latakia is used in this blend, and that Mac Baren's does have some stores of Syrian latakia, but it is unknown for how long. Update: As of 01/30/2019, according to Per Georg Jensen of Mac Baren it has "Latakia from Cyprus, it is many years since the Latakia from Syria were used.". My question is how many years? If that is the case then they should have changed their label as that was the only reason I bought a pound of it. Anyway, I digress. I purchased a fair amount of Vintage Syrian to include two, one-pound bags that were dated 2017 and some 100-gram tins dated 2015 along with some McClelland Syrian blends. I jarred one of the pound bags and smoked some of it and to be honest it was a little off, not the same as my 2010 and 2015. It just did not have for want of better words, that clean pine-ish essence when I smoked it. This past summer when I was down to two jars of the 2017, I decided to take a small portion of my 2010 and blend it in the jars and it improved the taste somewhat. The reason I am writing this now is I finished the 2017 jars and as I do not want to finish my older stash first, I opened the second bag. Yes, at my age my taste buds are not the same and I never had the refined palate as some other noted reviewers but it really is different. A few years ago, I googled and came across a pipe forum where a gentleman in a post says he contacted Mac Baren to inquire concerning the same issue I have in regards to the 2017 production run. According to his post and I have to take his word for it, he was told that as they were nearing the end of the run, they were able to acquire some more Syrian but was not of the same lot. In my opinion they should have just ended it then on a high note. For the record I am amazed how blenders can produce the same consistency in blends, as it really is an art and science especially over the years of different crops, etc. My prejudice will not let me say whether the 2017 is bad or good but it is definitely different. Will I continue to smoke the 2017? Of course, I have a pound I just opened. 😊 I thought about taking a 2015 tin and boosting some of the 2017 but I think I will just let sleeping dogs lie.

This is my Island Tobacco. I have accumulated 4 one lb. bags, and 11 tins and only smoke this in my Dunhill 1984 5122 Poker. My description of this tobacco could not do this one justice so I will let the reader browse through other reviews pertaining to this one.

This was my first love in the tobacco world. Last Christmas I received a pipe from my uncle, and it was accompanied by an aromatic tobacco. What a delusion it was! But I knew that pipe tobacco world was bigger, and I was suggested to try this one as an entry-level english blend. Just on opening the pouch, I was overwhelmed, and my first thought was "maybe that's what pipe smoking really is!". Once lit, I was amazed by the smoky aroma, and the spicy note I never experienced before. Now, after a year and some different blends, I smoked the bottom of that same pouch, and the result was: "I was lucky to have this as my first tobacco love". The combustion is easy to manage, it is easy to smoke it cold, and that is the way I like it. The first half of the bowl is exceptional: the smokiness of latakia is well supported by the orientals, and it remains soft in the mouth while being very tasty. After some time, something heavier comes in (I think the Kentucky), giving it a harsher taste, which, in the second half, unfortunately loses part of the smokiness. The last part of the bowl is what prevents me to give it a 4 star: I find it rather plain in the end, and in an harsh way, leaving your mouth not particularly pleasant. I avoid this inconvenient by stopping smoking it when it starts to happen. In the end I strongly recommend it to whoever wants to approach english blends or who wants something special (Syrian latakia) in a all-day form. This is maybe my favourite tobacco, and for me it will have its own place in my heart (and in my rotation), simply because it is my first love.