Tobaccos Mac Baren - HH Mature Virginia

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JimInks (3025)	2014-10-08		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

The Virginias offer tart and tangy citrus, tart lemon and a touch or orange as well as grass, wood, earth, bread, tangy dried dark fruit, and a few sour vinegar and spice notes. The black cavendish adds a hint of brown sugar as a condiment. The Oriental/Turkish provides a whisper of buttery sweetness, wood, smoke, earth, herbs, vegetation, light spice, and a hint of sourness. It is a condiment at best. The description mentions that the woody, earthy burley is a minor component, and I get a light nuttiness from it. The balsamic red wine binder is slightly sweet. The strength is a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. The taste level is medium. The nic-hit is a slot behind the strength threshold. Won't bite or get harsh, but sports a few small rough edges. Burns clean, cool, and smooth at a moderate pace with a very consistent taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a lightly lingering, pleasant after taste and room note. An all day smoke with a mild complexity of flavors.

-JimInks

38 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipestud (1829)	2007-11-07		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I really looked forward to receiving my tin of this newest of Mac Baren's blends from a friend who got it for me at the recently completed Chicago Show. I just finished another tin that I recently picked up at the Kansas City Pipe Show and believe that the tobacco from this batch is a notch or two stronger in the strength department than the first batch I tried.

This is a nice, medium and slightly sweet Virginia that has an ever so slight Oriental presentation as well. The unflavored burley Cavendish is really not noticeable other than the feeling of fullness with each puff that one would not get without it. Unusual in that the flavor presentation is pretty much the same from the top to the bottom of the bowl (kind of unusual for Virginia forward tobaccos which usually changes RPM's while being consumed). It loaded and stayed lit well. It is also a mid-grade in the strength department and I cannot recommend this blend to those of you with a carpet of chest hair. I don't have a carpet of chest hair and the hair on my head is in retreat.... So, I liked this Virginia blend a lot.

Again, if you enjoy medium flavored and slightly sweet Virginia leaf that offers no bad surprises while smoking, then here you go.

20 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	J.G. (7)	2013-09-12		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

HH Mature Virginia is a remarkable blend of Virginia tobaccos. It is unusual, but it is also delicious. It has been part of my rotation of pipe tobaccos for almost two years.

Basics: This is a blend of over twenty different Virginia tobaccos, which are then allowed to marry and mature together. It is by MacBarrren; the “HH” stands for the original blender (Henrik Halberg). It comes in 100 gram (3.5 ounce) tins and in 1 pound sacks. The tins cost between $12 and $17 (shop around for the best deal); the one pound sacks cost around $39-44. It is cut into ribbons, and it is mildly moist. I usually need to give a bowl of it at least one relight. There is no casing or topping. The strength of the smoke, taste, and nicotine is medium to strong.

Good: The flavor is remarkable and unusual because of the combination of many Virginia tobaccos. There is a complexity to the taste which is hard to describe. Bright and sweet tobaccos are mixed with dark and rich tobaccos, of various strengths. The result is not a single note of flavor; it is more like a melody of Virginia flavors. It is rarely dull, as each puff brings new combinations of flavors.

Bad: Some fans of Virginias might not enjoy the combination of many flavors, which is unusual; for them, this smoke might become annoying or distracting.

Conclusion: I give HH Mature Virginia 4 stars out of 4. It is unusual, remarkable, complex, and delicious. If you enjoy Virginias, it is definitely worth trying.

12 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Beer (345)	2009-06-01		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

What a weird tin aroma! Are we sure that this is only Virginia? No, it isn't: according to Mac Baren this blend contains 15 different kinds of Virginia (some brights, some reds, and a heavy dose of dark aged ones), but also a touch of Cavendish, of Orientals, and even a pinch of Burley. Anyway, while the name is a bit misleading since this isn't a pure Virginia, I still can't understand what was used to flavor this blend... because the smell from the tin is completely offbeat. McClelland's infamous vinegar/ketchup is nothing compared to this: here we can smell a burning barbecue, a heap of well-grilled sausages with plenty of spices. Yes, I am not joking: it's smoky, spicy, charred, with notes of heavy balsamic vinegar, and even a touch of licorice. We all know that Mac Baren uses casings to flavor their blends, and I usually like their style: anyway, here they don't use their usual sugar/maple/honey, but go for a dark approach instead. Luckily, the flavoring translates very little into the smoking experience. Sure, some licorice and spice remain, but it tastes fairly natural. A weird tobacco indeed: in the taste, the dark stoved Virginias dominate, for a very smooth but also slightly bitter, spicy, fermented, and very smoky experience. Don't go looking for sweetness, fruitiness, for citrus flavors, for grassiness. This is aged leaf, and it shows. It tends to pack a bit too tight, so use a light hand, but then it burns fine as most Mac Barens do. Overall, I like this tobacco but it does not overwhelm me. It remains a bit too light in taste and body, although it has a nice complexity. Good to smoke once in a while, but for regular smoking I prefer the roll cakes from this same brand.

Update: the second tin of this blend seems even blander and more boring than the first. Not bad or offensive, but doesn't make me want to smoke it... I guess I won't buy it again.

9 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Old German puffer (106)	2015-09-24		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

Opened up a bag of this yesterday at my B&M. Smoked it with the shop owner and thanked the gods for fall. This is called Mature Va. It is not a traditional VA tobacco. The cut is wonderful. It loads in the pipe with a very meaty feel. You know you have tobbaco here. Smell is strong. Fresh and leaves a higher calling when lit. Makes my Rotation all fall and winter. I have a very hard time letting this go for spring. Let the tobacco dry out a little before packing. Will light and smoke great.

Pipe Used: Dunhill, Peterson, Savinelli, Comoy

Age When Smoked: Bulk Bag

Purchased From: Low Country Pipe and Cigar South Carolina B&M

7 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-09-07		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I recently opened a tin of HH Mature Virginia and, like many others have noted, was greeted with a pungent aroma similar to a barbeque sauce. The tobacco was fairly moist and ribbon cut for ease of packing. I decided to use a light touch in packing due to the tobacco moistness.

When I packed and lighted a bowl of this tobacco, there wasn't any hint of the pungent aroma but instead a there was a spicy bite with a hint of sweetness. Unlike the aromatics I've smoked before, there was not a strong heady flavour but a more subtle honey-like taste intermingled with the smoke. The tobacco was fairly well behaved as tongue bite was virtually non-existent.

Despite the recent spate of mediocre reviews, I would definitely recommend HH Mature Virginia. I smoke Full Virgina Flake as well and find that HH Mature Virginia is sweeter but not as spicy or strong. For a fuller smoke, FVF is the better choice. For those times I want something lighter, HHMV is preferred.

6 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-09-02		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Hand's down one of my favorite Mac Baren blends and one of my favorites overall, I tried this blend out on a whim and am extremely pleased I did. It smokes clean, it's easy to maintain throughout the smoke regardless of which of my pipes I put it in - though it seems to shine brightest in my calabash - and always leaves me feeling content on the finish. I personally have never experienced tongue bite from this blend, nor many others unless I power through recklessly so perhaps I am one of the lucky few, but I find this blend to provide an exceptionally cool and smooth smoke.

Since I feel I 'graduated' from the more strongly scented and cased aromatics when I first tried this one, I would highly recommend this to anyone else looking to move into a wider range of tobaccos but is unsure of where to start. The tin note upon first popping the lid might seem odd at first, especially if you're used to the overpowering smell of sweeter aromatics, but you will be rewarded in full for giving it a shot and if you're like me will always look forward to your next bowl. It enjoys a permanent place in my rotation.

On a side note: I can thank this blend for giving me a sense of confidence in moving into the territory of more traditional Virginia and English blends.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	the_german (309)	2011-08-24		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

First of all, I must doff my hat at anybody who can fully judge a tobacco from taking a single puff of it in his worst pipe. I wish I were that good; it usually takes me about half a tin to decide on whether or not I like a tobacco.

But enough sarcasm. The tin aroma of this blend really does remind me, like another reviewer noted, of a certain brand of hot pepper sauce. With a few other things in there, though: there is VA in the tin aroma, both aged and young, and some smokiness.

The leaf is rather atypical for Mac Baren; a long ribbon cut, with some bright, lots of red and brown, and some black. Far from being soggy, it still benefits from a little drying time from a fresh tin. Stuffing and maintenance are easy enough.

The smoke starts out nicely sweet, and after only a short time, some toast and the sour notes of aged, red VA join the experience, with a little pepper from the BC. The toastiness becomes deeper until the end of the smoke; a little dottle and a fine grey ash are left over. Slow sipping is the ticket here.

A fine smoke, enjoyable for VA lovers. There are better VA blends out there, but not too many.

addendum, 2011-08-27 The more I smoke this blend, the more I prefer to do so using the bowls that I normally reserve for flakes; tall and narrow. That seems to get more sweetness out of HHMV than wider bowls or even corn cobs do. Seriously considering adding it to my regular rotation at this time.

update, 2011-10-12 This stuff makes me smile. Up-rating to four stars.

5 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jorge Soler (202)	2018-07-07		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant

The quality of these flakes is very similar to Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flakes, but the topping is barely noticeable, so they would not fall into the Danish category or range of tobacco. Also, the profile seems to be quite consistent throughout, so they don't loose their character and will evolve quite nicely the more you progress with your smoke. This tobacco is probably one of Mac Baren's best tobaccos in the HH line. They will meet all expectations in terms of what is expected from it (earthy and hay like notes, subdued sweetness, etc.) and they are very forgiving and easy on your palate. The aging potential is huge and I believe they will perform better in small/medium size bowls as a morning blend. These flakes want to be sipped at a very slow pace and will gain in depth and flavour as you reach the last quarter of our bowl, speaking of which, would be my favourite bit. I think a rating of 4 stars is warranted.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	SteelCowboy (685)	2016-04-13		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Now that HH Mature Virginia has just come off the market, and given the positive reviews, I finally got around to getting my hands on a tin to try. My tin had a few years on it. The tin scent was somewhat odd. It had some of the normal scent of an aged Virginia, but it also smelled like wine or some type of spirit and was a bit acidic. From a flavor standpoint this tobacco has a lot going on, maybe too much going on as it seems muddled to me rather than complex. For me it’s like a rock n’ roll super group where all the individual players are stars, but the chemistry isn’t there. I had a similar experience with the old version of Lane’s Crown Achievement. The flavors of the individual components have already been well covered here on TR and I have nothing additional to add. The added flavoring wasn’t as strong in the pipe as the tin scent indicated it might be. It didn’t bite me, but did burn hot if pushed. HHMV is unlike any Virginia blend that I can recall and given the addition of the Kentucky and Orientals, I personally would be hard pressed to classify it as one. I know this blend will be missed by many, but I won’t be one competing for a remaining tin. A generous two stars.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	TallPuffO'Burley (632)	2015-09-02		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I just finished a sample of this that I received after MB stopped producing it. I don't know whether to thank my benefactor or slap him. This is one fantastic Virginia. I don't know how mature the Virginia was, but it seems that it was at the perfect time. I have seen this time argued on many forums. It seems that a lot of people shoot for 10 years, but I have had the pleasure of tasting Virginias with up to 20 years age on them and they were splendid.

This is the closest thing I have ever tasted fresh that compares to those aged smokes. The Virginia is sweet and all edginess is completely worn off. I wish I would have bought all I could when this was available.

I highly recommend this one and will be keeping an eye out for it in all those out of the way B & M's that may have some tins squirreled away unnoticed.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	fr_tom (393)	2015-04-10		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I got a large sample of aged Mature Virginia from a friend. I have a tin in inventory that I will open one of these days. If the review changes, I will come back and make a note.

The tin note is a briny smell - a little like olives. Smoked, it presents as a stoved-Virginia with some bright Virginia added for variety and just a whiff of oriental spice. The black cavendish adds to the sweet, and there was none of the "maybe honey" I often get in a Mac Baren blend. I can believe there is some burley in there because the description says so, but I can't find it in the taste profile. It may support the smooth, slightly heavy stoved Virginia flavors.

A characteristic of this for me was a very consistent flavor though the bowl. It is easy to recommend, but it is not outstanding for me in any way. This is a 2.5 on my scale. I liked it, but I am not likely to buy any more. Since it is out of production, I am glad I have had the chance to try it.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-06-16		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I've learned that life is too short to smoke bad tobacco and I have thrown a lot of good money at a lot of bad tobacco. I was relatively settled in my rotation of fermented tobaccos with a couple of English and Balkan blends for a change of pace so I was slow on the uptake of the HH series for fear of more good money wasted on tobacco I wouldn't be able to smoke.

I found a vendor that sold it in bulk and when I removed the plastic rimmed lid of those familiar glass tobacco jars for a whiff of H.H. Matured Virginia, I was greeted by the oddest smell... Tabasco sauce... This from a blender famous for their napalm on a stick blends - how poetic is that? I was assured that it didn't smoke like it smelled, (they rarely do), and purchased a single ounce knowing that it was probably a circular file blend. I was wrong...

Purists will argue for a number of reasons that such a small quantity is probably not enough to fully gauge the quality of a particular blend but putting match to leaf on this one was a complete revelation and I would argue that a fraction of this amount was more than enough for me. In fact, I didn't finish the first bowl before I ordered 2lbs. of the stuff! An absolute sublime experience...

I received my bulk order and found the aroma in the 1lb. bag is much more palatable, more like apricot than spicy, which carried over to the smoking experience as well… wow, even more impressive... I won't say that this is the best tobacco on the planet but as far as I'm concerned and for my taste, it's one of my desert island smokes and a further testament that tobacco sitting in a bulk jar is not always representative of the original intent.

The charring light presented me with quality, slightly sweet aged Virginia's expertly tamed and showed me that the MacBaren blenders brought their considerable knowledge and blending experience to bear on this tobacco. The aroma was figgy, fruity and musty with citrus notes that force you to stop whatever it was you were doing and pay attention to this wonderful smoke. As the bowl progresses it settles into a solid deepening Virginia experience accented by an Oriental component with spicy top notes mingling with that fragrant bouquet that remains until the end of the bowl where you will find a fine grey ash with very little unspent sprigs leftover. The subsequent pipe cleaner was damp but not wet, the buzz while not overpowering was quietly evident. As The German said below, it makes me smile.

Virginia purists will find this enjoyable but may find it lacking in complexity and overall strength, English and Balkan enthusiasts will find a delightful change of pace sans Latakia and much like my beloved Presbyterian and Plumcake, hard to classify in any one genre. The description from MacBaren say's "without bite" but I disagree and if pushed will nip you, nowhere as severe as Plumcake or Virginia #1 mind you, In fact, this blend has brought life back to some of my non "P Lip" pipes.

With all the qualities that H.H. Matured Virginia posses I tried to make it my all day smoke without success simply because once lit I can't think of anything but the smoke, hence, nothing gets done. But once the day is over and it's time to relax with a well deserved cup of tea and a pipe full... just go away and leave me alone for an hour and a half and let me enjoy my smoke... Taking the exceptional price point for the 1lb. bag and its availability into consideration it's now at the tippy top of my go to blends and Highly Recommended!

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	PeterD (91)	2011-07-03		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

Another "newer" MacBaren blend by Harald Halberg...Impressive because it does not follow the typical MacBaren processes. As one reviewer states, "I like it the more I smoke it" is similar to my own feelings.

I have smoked matured Virginia tobaccos for more than 40 years and I like this unassuming blend. Not as complex as many other Virginia's but sure enough, I appreciate this pipe tobacco and MacBaren's efforts.

As I prefer plug cut tobaccos, that would be my only wish for the future...this in plug form would be grand!

Very much worth a try!

Smoked in a group 5 straight billiard...

...A pipe is to be savored...

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Felix (7)	2009-05-12		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

This blend is a particular favorite of mine...always thought it was a bit more than simply a straight Virginia...but couldn't put my finger on what it might contain. Per Jensen, in a Pipes Magazine conversation, solves the mystery:

"Mature Virginia is a Virginia based blend, but it has some Oriental, a little bit of Kentucky and the only top flavor is a little bit of red wine balsamic."

It's a superb blend all Virginia fans should consider cellaring.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sylvian (28)	2008-07-22		Mild	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Most highly (and unexpectedly) recommended. Tasty virginia, ripe, sweet and heady. Develops nicely without building up on nicotine too much. Leaves the pipe practically dry, and the smoker thinking of having another bowl of HH Mature Virginia.

4 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-10-09		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

I only recently started smoking pipe tobacco, as cigarettes had become a chore rather than a pleasure. Boy was I in for a treat. I was pointed to Captain Black by several different cigar shop employees, who I quickly discovered knew nothing about pipe tobacco. Anyway, I bought HH Matured Virginia and instantly fell in love with pipe smoking.

I have now bought and smoked maybe 10 or 12 different tobaccos and this is still my favorite. The flavor of this tobacco is subtle at first but gets sweeter as the bowl gets to the bottom. Thankfully this smokes nothing like it smells in the tin. There are many different subtle flavors going on throughout a bowl, and I have found this tobacco to be great whether smoked quickly like a former cigarette smoker would smoke it; or slowly as I would while reading a book or relaxing.

I have discovered many other blends that I really like and look forward to smoking many, many more. This stuff is still my favorite, perhaps because it's what initially hooked me on piping, or because it is just a good smoke.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-08-30		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

The best virginia blend I've ever tried. Recommend to all users.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Dubinthedam (133)	2012-06-17		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

A must try for the VA lover. Reminds me of Petes Irish oak, with a hint of McClellands ketchup, but don't let that deter you. It's a very unique blend, the olive and vinegar taste when the tin is first opened softens when left aside for a few weeks and transforms the blend greatly. A great dane that doesn't taste Danish in any way. I think I'd like to throw in a pinch of VA no.1 to bring out the fruit flavors, but it's fine just as it is too.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	FunkyD in the Morning (8)	2011-02-05		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

HH Mature Virginia, what more is there to say? Ever since I hit puberty, I've always dreamed about having an encounter with a Mature Virginian. What lust there was, and the countless dreams I've had. By luck I strolled into a local smoke shop, and there happened to be a beautiful mature there, seeming to be waiting for something like me to snatch her up. I had my fun with her being quietly seduced on the couch by the MV, or even outside, sitting by the pool, enjoying the mature with delight, classic pool-boy style. I know that society rejects such a relationship, and that our love will never be, but does she love me? Does HH Mature Virginia give back the love that I give her? Or is she just using me for her own desires. In the beginning, all I did was smoke her, and I was happy about it. In fact, I hadn't had much experience, but she held my hand the whole way. Gave me confidence, and a pleasure I never knew was possible. But now, after we've been going at it for weeks, I've wanted to slow down. Whenever we meet for a long enjoyable smoke in the comfort of my own room, or for a quickie in the car, I notice that I want to just hang out and talk. She has other plans, she is just looking for a quick smoke and no relationship at all, no feelings, nothing. One day she approaches me and tells me she plans to marry, with another mature, over the course of the next six months to a year. She says I'm too young to understand, and she must leave me for now. I cry, and scream and beg her to not go, but she leaves me alone. Just me, and no way to stuff my pipe. She'll be back though, I know it. She'll get bored of her marrying and come back to me. She won't be the same mature that I once loved. No, she'll be more open to commitment, emotional, passionate, smooth.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Big Nick (74)	2008-10-31		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

WOW!!!, what a heady and intoxicating smoke. You can tell this is something speacial as soon as you pop open the tin. The sweet, smokey and fermentation aromas slap you right upside the head. The first couple of bowls were a little dissapointing due to the high moisture content right out of the tin. So I spread out a couple of bowlfulls(one word or two)onto a papertowel for about an hour, then I loaded up my Peterson Irish Harp B10 and fired it up. #@%&^$ did I hit the motherload!!! What a Bonanza!!! The rich, sweet intoxicating smoke filled my mouth, my head, hell my whole body (which is 6'-2" 240lbs.). I almost thought I was doing something illegal. This stuff is so good, its Pavlovian. Every time I see that Irish Harp pipe I start drooling. Sick but true. Wether you smoke English, aromatics, Balcans,I don't care what, you've got to try this stuff. Because of this experience I have to thank the Pipestud for that Irish Harp pipe, I will never look at it the same way again. And to MacBaren for hitting a 500 footer into McCovey cove, Hella Thanks!!!

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Stan (178)	2007-07-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

How many Danes does it take to find a tin of Captain Black? Two, looking for almost a year, and over several dozen tries later.

Well, maybe CB was just a model for the HH prototype or the concept. Not that that's all that bad, as the old Captain is probably the most popular tinned brand in America. I smoked some in the 60's, and 40 years later tried a whole bowl again. Hmmm. But this HH is like Harry Potter waved his magic wand and turned the Captain into something brilliant and wonderful, if a bit shy until you get to know him.

I bought my Chicago tin for $20.00 over e-bay several weeks ago as I couldn't go and couldn't wait either, and have consumed it but for a couple of bowls. Now that it is more available, I shall buy more.

At first the first couple of bowls in an old Sasienni wasn't that tasty. It is light. But by five or so it was more tasty. So I tried some 10 bowls in a Peterson and finally I had plenty left to break in a Joao Reis (20 bowls).

This is a cool, very dry, steady burning Virginia blend, with a little natural Virginia sweetness and extra roundness from the burley added. The fired cured or stoved Virginia is the key, as it slowly adds a steady ripple of spice and strength to an otherwise mild, almost bland base.

The stoved Virginia is not as thick or heady as a McClelland (e.g. Frog Morton series) but does add a subtle kick like some Syrian.

This is lighter than Frog Morton, as it has less dark tobaccos (no Latakia and less of the stoved). It is closer to Pickwick by Ed Burak, but certainly not nearly as stout. It is in a class by itself, as it is light plus. Plus a range of light spices.

I think an all day blend here, and not as full as its cousin, HH Vintage Syrian (which is not heavy but heavier and more spicey than Mature Virginia).

So if you like the first bowl, great, but you may be tasting more of what else you smoked in your pipe than this. If you think it too light at first, just give it some more time and bowls, and the subtle sweetness and spice combo and smoothness will get to you.

I found something mild that is very interesting here. A rare treat. Normally only heavier gets my interest.

3 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2014-12-01		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Update 12 Dec 14

Well, not only do I still not understand this tobacco but it has taken a turn for the worse over the last week and a half or so. It smokes hot while, of course, becoming harsh and bland so, considering life is too short and there are too many good tobaccos out there, I stopped bothering with it and threw the tin in the garbage. HH Mature Virginia is not a success from Mac Baren.

--------------------------------- This one has not been obvious at all to me, at first. The tin note can be confusing at best: strong, very sharp aroma of Kalamata olives combined with sweet vanilla. As you can suspect, very odd and not exactly appealing. I have not let that most unusual introduction stop me. The tobacco is fairly dark, ranging from medium to dark brown. It feels rather moist to the touch but it's not as less than 5 minutes of drying makes it ideal for packing. It takes a bit to light it up adequately, it burns slowly and can bite if you puff too frequently. The dominating flavours are definitively sweet and smoky, but either are not extremely pronounced and one does not dominate the other. In fact, it presents itself as not very elaborated in taste, but nevertheless...As where I was thinking it's an Ok tobacco, that I would finish the 2 tins I bought, but would not buy it again (well, buy more of what is left as it has been discontinued), I realize I am reaching more and more frequently for it, which is significant. The truth is, over the 2 week period I have been smoking it, I realize I do not quite understand the nature of this tobacco but do understand that I enjoy it more and more, and, really, that's all that matters. I am to the point, now, where i might decide to seek some more tins of HH mature virginia, even though it's a rather very unusual VA blend.

Pipe Used: Rattray; Luciano; Stanwell; Falcon

Age When Smoked: 1 year 3 months

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Darby (15)	2014-03-08		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Mac Baren - HH Mature Virginia

I recently picked up my pipe again, after a 15+yr hiatus.

{BRIEF DIGRESSION: Egads, the pipe smoking landscape has changed a lot while I've been away - all the local shops in my region are all focused exclusively on cigars, hookah, and snus now, leaving most pipers like us (except those who live in major cities or tobacco country) to rely primarily on the internet}.

Anyway, after foraging through a bunch of smoke shops in my region, the best I could track down, in person, was a lonely looking 100g tin of the MickyB HH Mature Virginia. I would have preferred a 50g tin, but beggars cant be choosers, and on a good note the batch date showed it had slept soundly in the tin for 3 1/2 years (Sept 2010), which offset my initial disappointment. A quick swipe of the credit card, and a metaphorical swirl of the ol cape, and we were both gone.

Impatient to oogle my first premium tin since oh, the Clinton era, I used a quarter to prise off the lid and ... BOY, was it WET ... and pungent. The tin aroma was complex, and (to my nose) whiffed of fermented sour cherries (Kriek Lambic with a hint of balsamic ?), vanilla cavendish, cacao, honey, creosote, sandalwood, and spice. Taken all together, that potent first whiff was akin to a spicy fruity tamarind-tinged hot wing sauce. It had a lot of promise, but it was clearly too heavy/wet to smoke right away and needed some breathing time (to shed some of the fermentation/maturation aromas).

Once I got it home, I 'fluffed' out the entire tin into a 24oz glass jar (which it almost filled), sealed the lid, and put it away for several days, until my hygrometer showed it had dropped into the 60's range. Finally, I lit up my first bowl, and settled in for a leisurely smoke. The first third was still a bit damp, resisted staying lit, and threw some initial tongue bite {read: still too moist and smoked too quickly}, but after some persistence and restraint it finally settled down midway through the middle third, and became quite mellow. The sweet & sour saucy note from the initial tip pop had dramatically softened to a very mild profile that still retained some very subtle hints of vanilla, cacao and a cherry-like fruitiness, and a light peppery sting in the finish.

Bottom line: A nice smoke that I'm sure will continue to mellow and mature, with more time in the jar. Worth the price. 3.5 of 4 stars (recommended). Subtract half a star if you dislike a bit of estery tartness {read: wet & warm fermentation note} in your blends.

----------- UPDATE 17-Mar-2014: After a fair amount of reading (and after enjoying half the tin), I've learned the only added flavoring to this blend is a light addition of some red wine vinegar to one part of the blend. From my experience in zymurgy that, plus the natural sweetness of virginia leaf, plus the fermentation & caramelization involved in pressure-maturation of same (probably similar to fermenting green tea leaves into black breakfast teas), is the likely source of the fruity 'ketchup/tobasco' note that so many have noted regarding the tin aroma. In any case, this blend smokes MUCH milder than it smells in the tin.

----------- UPDATE 20-Mar-2014: I just read that this label has been discontinued effective Jan 2014. :(

Pipe Used: Dr Grabow Freehand Briar (Group 4)

Age When Smoked: 42 months

Purchased From: a local tobacco shop

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Kyohan (13)	2012-02-09		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

I first tried this on the recommendation of my local tobacconist. This was one of their "house blends" and it took me a while to find out what it actually was, but in the mean time I had smoked several ounces and it has become my every day smoke. I just love this blend.

the description is correct when it says, "the sweet Virginia tobaccos will greet you and slowly the dark Virginia will enter the taste." And I really like the smokiness of the blend; at first I thought I was detecting a bit of latakia in the blend, but I think it is just the dark stoved Virginia making an appearance.

Highly recommended!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Duke (41)	2009-02-24		Mild	Mild	Mild	Unnoticeable

I had high expectations for this Virginian blend prior to receiving my tin. The tag line captured my attention, despite the notation of Burley's and Orientals in the mix. Visually the blend is impressive with multi-toned leaves. Tactilely the blend seemed sopping wet compared to the rest of MacBaren's line, so I'll dry it for my needs. I'm reluctant to make flippant analogies, but the tin aroma reminded me of a can of freshly opened black olives in brine. I've smoked close to ten bowls in large bowled pipes, and I'm not getting Mature Virginian. I notice the dry Burley component too much for my liking, and some Oriental spice. MV has more similarities to Presbyterian Mixture than Full Virginia Flake. I love the McClelland catsup tang, knowing the rewards upon ignition. I am been reluctant to add my review. The Chef, the Stud, Glorfi and BBJ sing its praise, yet, right know I can't. There is no doubt this is a very, very well made tobacco. I'm sure many will find enjoyment in this blend, but form me it wasn't Virginian enough.

I still have half a tin left that I?ll continue to sample, and if I change my current thought, I?ll update my review. I need to consume at least 50 grams to give a fair opinion, so I'll press on.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-12-06		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

This is a smooth smoke! My first impressions upon opening the tin was that of fermenting grapes. Definitely too moist to load up immediately, but a quick fluff and it's ready to go in about thirty minutes. This is a classy presentation of tobacco...in the tin, in the bowl, and lastly, in the aroma.

Alas, this blend is no longer listed on the MacBaren website so I fear that it may disappear too soon.

Highly Recommended!

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-09-10		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant

First bowl was dried out a wee bit, but the heavenly aroma wafting from my tobacco drying device (a paper plate for those of you in Rio Linda) made me toss all discipline to the wind and load up. Sauna Syndrome ensued at mid-bowl, so DGT was advised.

Holy (expeletive deleted)! Brown sugar, caramel, tobacco, molasses, more tobacco...intermittent bright notes of citrus. Delicious.

Second bowl dried just this side of crunchy...into a tall Radice stack. Almost spontaneous combustion with a single match. Nice brights, settles down quickly. More culinary metaphors came immediately to mind...dark rum, some spice, vanilla, malt, citrus...Freaking Great!!

This now replaces McClelland Christmas Cheer 1992 as my Christmas blend. I intend to load up my "Yule Log" Autograph, smoke half a bowl on Christmas Eve, then fire that big bugger up on Christmas morning while I unleash the Beasts of Bethpage for their annual Christmas present opening ritual.

This involves gnashing of teeth, foaming at the mouth, loud growling, some biting and clawing, jumping on the furniture and lots of face licking. Dogs. Man's Best Friend Indeed.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sasquatch (90)	2007-11-01		Very Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant

Update: Had a few more bowls now, in different pipes, and found more of the smokiness and the BBQ sauce flavor and less of the honey-casing, so maybe I was tasting a bit of a ghost. I dunno for sure, but this is really mellow stuff, but still interesting. Makes all other tobaccos seem like biters.

Probably a top five favorite, with Presbyterian, Club Mix, HH Vintage Syrian, and Old Ironsides getting nods. A little heavier on the MB products than I might have expected!

---------------------------------------------------------------- I will admit to being disappointed with this. Of course, a new product, due fanfair, high praise from all corners... my expectations were maybe a bit high. HH Vintage Syrian blew my socks off, and generally I like MacBaren products. I have learned how to use them without roasting my mouth, for the most part.

This tobacco has the same basic flavor profile as the other Virginia heavy MB blends. That same honey/ash thing as Mixture, Navy Flake, Club Blend, etc. Not a bad thing necessarily, but I was a bit surprised to find it here.

This is a very light blend in terms of flavor. It does round off a bit nearer the end of the bowl, but the joke about Danes finding a tin of Captain Black isn't so far off the mark. There is a light rum/raisin flavor in the background that is fairly pleasant, and more Navyish than Navy Flake, in a sense.

This stuff smells very strange in the tin... fermented and smokey. The smoking experience is not what you would expect from the tin smell.

I'll give it a few more bowls and then re-post, but until then, I would advise the experienced Va smoker away from this product unless they are seeking Orlik Golden Navy Mix, cuz that's what this amounts to. Not a bad thing, but it's not going to replace Hal'o'the wynd in anyone's arsenal.

I reckon a little Turkish in this blend would really go far.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jaybee (77)	2007-07-18		Medium	Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

At first this tobacco seems a bit odd......as though the ingredients don't quite fit together. I must say after smoking a 100g tin, this is a very nice smoke. The sweetness and slight smokiness seem to meld as the bowl progresses and the room note seems to be appreciated by all. I found that this blend smokes even better when using the Frank Method of packing, which I just learned.

Now let me comment on the Frank Method. I'm really not a ritualistic type of guy. I don't gaze lovingly at my pipes, talk to my tobacco, or spend a lot of time on preparation (OK I'm learning). I'm just more of the lock and load type. However, I must admit that this technique is a vast improvement over the 3 step method I've used for 30 years (maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks).

Anyway, I think this is a great tobacco, by a great blender and I will be purchasing more........soon..

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-07-06		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Very Pleasant

I think I've just found my new everyday tobacco. Based upon every review I've read from the Chicago Pipe Show, I was anxious to try this tobacco. My 100g tin arrived today, so I rushed out to my terrace, and opened the tin. It was kind of like being a kid on Xmas morn. Upon opening, I was greeted by a sweet fruity scent, almost like a liquor. I started to salivate. I proceed to fill the bowl of a new corn cob, and fired it up. The first several puffs were sweet, but not overpowering. As I continued to smoke, the flavor became more complex. A little smokey I thoght (but there's no Latakia here). I smoked my second bowlful two hours later in an Oom Paul. Man, I really loved it. No bite at all, just mild sweet Virginia. I can't wait till tomorrow to enjoy some more. This is a great all day smoker! P.S. I can't believe that one reviewer paid $14.00 I paid only $8.99 I guess I got a bargain.

2 people found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	King Weed (228)	2019-09-17		Medium	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

Five years out of production and only sold in 100gr tins, its not surprising that I only saw one of these tins every three or four years in my buying. This blend will become scarcer in the future and worth the searching, as, within lies a very interesting smoking experience. Not as dark on presentation as I anticipated, it had an aroma that was both familiar and spicey at the same time. When I lit my first bowl I found a blend with both varigation in taste and aroma and some muscle behind it. I agree with the obsevation of reviewer Pipestud 2007-11-07 that this was a very even smoke all down the bowl, making it stand out from the average matured Virginia's performance. I felt that the bottom third was the strongest and best part of the smoke and had moved very close to an "English" presentation. I had to read the ingredients list on our site to verify that there is no Latakia in this blend. You've heard the old advertising line "just add water-makes it's own sauce". Here we have "just add Latakia-makes it's own English". This is the most positive I've ever felt about smoking a mature Virginia and give it the grade it deserves- four stars.

Pipe Used: Ashton LX Apple Billiard-1998 NASPC yearpipe

Age When Smoked: unknown but not recent

Purchased From: a former pipe smoker

Similar Blends: I'm kind of stumped on this one, making HH Mature Virginia somewhat unique.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Rustedrailsmokes (293)	2019-05-07		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant

With the name, I was interested to learn that there were more than just VA's hiding in this mixture.

I picked up a canister with a 1lb bag in it at the Raleigh pipe show in 2018 and decided to open it.

I decided to smoke a bowl before reading up on it. Compared to my normal VAs it seemed to have spice to go along with the expected sweetness. It was easy to pack and light and smoked like a charm in a small Canadian.

Sad to read it is out of production as I could see this having a place of my long-term rotation. Knowing it's the last I'll probably get, I'll enjoy it as a treat.

Pipe Used: Blue Briars Canadian

Age When Smoked: at least 2018

Purchased From: Raleigh Pipe Show

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	L'Italiano (231)	2017-03-20		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

This is a natural aromatic mixture (only a minimal casing as declared from the house). We have to admit that there are a lot of flavored mixtures, but very few natural aromatic mixtures. A natural aromatic blend is without any flavoring (no flavoring and no top dressing) and the taste is a real tobacco taste because it comes only from the leaf. Natural aromatics are mainly Cavendish and Black Cavendish mixtures, often with steamed or stoved or toasted Virginia, but unflavored (I mean that also the cavendish tobacco is unflavored; it is allowed only a little bit of sugar). Well, this is one of the rare natural aromatic mixtures. You can appreciate the taste or not, but this is another thing. Anyway, if you want to taste a real aromatic but unflavored mixture here is it. I hope Mac Baren will produce it again because this kind of mixtures are very difficult to find in the market. Three stars and a half for the idea and two stars and a half regarding the taste. For these reasons, in my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 8 and three stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Jevverrett (104)	2016-11-07		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Another from the bombing I got handed from the BoB. It fits in well with my va exploration.

The tin note is sweet and grassy. It is golden and some brown bits. The paper in the tin is stained brown from the moisture of the leaf. The va is the star in this play, very citrus yet rounded out by a sweet smokiness that I'm really enjoying. Odd, how this one disappeared as it is good.

The taste is citrusy and bready, with a smokey kind of savory element. It's one the few that I notice a bread taste in. I like that savory element to it, normally I just get citrus from a va heavy blend. I'm sorry to hear it's gone, and appreciate that I got gifted the 100g tin. I still have a good few ounces to savor some other time.

Pipe Used: IMP meer

Age When Smoked: Fresh I guess

Purchased From: BoB gift

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Telling it how it is. (73)	2015-04-28		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Before i start this review please note that i liked this tobacco better than the rating suggests.

After opening the tin a very strong and distinctive olive smell greets you. This, in its uniqueness, is somewhat of an unexpected treat. Also the paper covering the tobacco is soaked full with oils from the tobacco. This also is a treat for the eye as well as the nice appearance of the blend itself.

When smoked the tobacco offers a nice and spicy sweetness with nice virginia aromas. There is no whatsoever tongue bite either. The olive smell is not detectable in taste anymore. The blend tastes nice and harmonious down to the very end of the bowl but stays rather one dimensional. Which is the reason for the low rating of this tobacco - it entirely lacks a unique selling point.

This is a pity because the tobaccos used in this blend are of impeccable quality. And in times like these where virtually everything regarding pipes turned for the worse we should be thankful for the HH series of blends. This blend was modeled after a recipe from 1890 and although this does give an interesting peak in the tobaccos of yonder times it maybe is also the reason for, in the end, being a bland blend compared to modern virginia blends.

In the aftertaste it leaves a very nice sweetness on the tongue that lasts for quiet some time.

The room note is of a nice spicy tobacco aroma, which to me is very pleasent.

What i disliked on this blend is that it leaves the bowls used with a rather sour smell that doesn't dissipate, as many virginia blends will. It does not affect the taste at all but i really enjoy smelling the cleaned, smoked bowls alot.

So, should you try it should you be able to get ahold of the last remaining tins? Yes, that's a definitive yes. I was very glad to have stumbled over it, although i wouldn't buy it again.

Pipe Used: It went trough rotation.

Age When Smoked: Fresh

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JosephJames (12)	2015-03-15		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild	Tolerable

Another reviewer says this is the grill with ketchup, sausage and all. I agree. That is the tin note. Very unusual.

Taste of the tobacco was not disagreeable but not great.

This was a harsh tobacco for me. I didn't care for it, but you might.

Pipe Used: Peterson Irish made army

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: B&B in Asheville, NC

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2014-06-01		Mild	Mild to Medium	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

Opening the tin reveals a very wet tobacco with so many different smells and notes. Sweet and fruity, tangy and cheesy (literally).

Once ready, I took my meerschaum pipe filled it and lit it. The tobacco is certainly complex and has a pleasant taste to it (honey maybe, natural virginias, bitter notes, some pain d'épices spices), but burns on the hot side and has somewhat of a bite to it. I am not impressed. I will give this tobacco another try in a briar pipe dedicated to VA tobaccos to see if I get any difference.

I am really sad to give this tobacco one star as I had some high expectations of it. I will update in case in a briar pipe I get something different from it.

Pipe Used: Straight Billiard Meerschaum

Age When Smoked: 1 year

Purchased From: Smokingpipes.com

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2014-04-09		Mild	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

This is the blend that stopped me from smoking a pipe till now, and that was 2 years ago. The tin aroma smells like rotten fruit, and the taste of it made me taste nothing but that rotten taste for hours afterwards. I will never touch anything from Mac Baren again. Just too much bad experience from them.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	mjcruiser (5)	2013-07-27		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I'm a latecomer and noob to pipe smoking, so take that into account. I purchased a new Peterson 309 ebony pipe to work more with Virginia tobaccos. I decided to break in this pipe with HH Mature Viginia performing the 1/4-1/2-3/4-Full method. I won't bother commenting about the first smokes out of a new pipe as it is obviously not fair till the pipe gets some seasoning. When I first opened the can it was an amazing aroma for a tobacco. Someone here said Tobasco or vinegar - sure it has that nose. I actually like it, plus I've learned what it smells like is not what it tastes like.

My first go at this product left my tongue a bit sore. Being a noob I tend to smoke a bit too hot and fast so there are no surprises there that it bit me. I've since learned to slow it down and be more attentive. It is true that more attentiveness brings out the best in this product, as is probably true with most others as well. The aroma out of the pipe is sweet and enjoyable to me. The first half of the bowl generates nice bluish smoke and has a very sweet flavor. The last half of the bowl gave me more an impression of what some oriental blends give me like Westminster. All in all I enjoy the product, and will always keep some around. It does perform better when you let it dry a bit.

Update: The more I smoke this blend the more I like it ;-) The complexity of it is tantalizing. After my Peterson 309 got broken in this blend just rocks in it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	manno (50)	2013-06-27		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is terrific tobacco as are a number of the HH blends used by MacB to raise its own bar by a considerable few notches. Very unlike even the most esoteric Virginias out there, which is great and fine by me. Good quality leaf, well presented, lights and burns nicely, tastes fabulous with a spectrum of rich and slightly off center flavors through the bowl (all good to the (un)bitter end) and, shockingly, a smoke profile that happily hasn't a hint of its tin note that my olfactory nerves can rank as only, well, rank. Nasty smell no matter how hard I try to find a softer euphemism. But, hey, that's just my nose. My taste buds say otherwise and, I don't know about you, I buy tobacco to smoke it and not to bury my nostrils in the tin. Old Dark Fired, Vintage Syrian and this fine Virginia are welcome additions to our smoking slice of the world.

OLIVE BRINE! Someone said it below and I just saw this observation. That's the tin note!! And green and very vinegary olives at that. But again, no worries. The stuff tastes nothing like that, but probably goes nicely with a dry martini.

Age When Smoked: 2 years

Purchased From: p & c

Similar Blends: quite honestly nothing I can recall -- more akin to a blend of a few different quality offerings along the VA spectrum.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	O'Confrère (40)	2013-03-06		Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is an odd one. Twenty-two different tobaccoes including a black Virginia cavendish... This might indicate as many as 22 different kinds of casing. As has been mentioned often and described well below, the open tin offers many, many different scents. Since Mac Baren processes and produces primarily aromatic mixtures, and tobacco absorbs aroma from its environment (air, contact with containers, machines, etc. that have previously been used for other blends), it may be fair to ask how many of these are intentional, and, again, to what degree various batches differ as a result. It is hard to imagine that there is not at least some top flavoring. Who knows? The gamut in the nose includes vinegar (balsamic, perhaps), various fruits, berries, red peppers, chocolate, olives, wine, whisky (or whiskey), and/or rum and one element common to many: oak! Even the smoke has something of a tannic and balsamic mouthfeel. It smokes softly and has an inviting depth. The Oriental, or Orientals, become apparent from the beginning. A toastiness comes through, and, as the bowl progresses a hint of powderiness emerges very slightly, reminiscent of some of the Lakelands, but very reserved. This is a mild smoke, sweet and slightly sour with a darkness and depth that increase slightly toward the end.

As noted below, it definitely benefits from some drying time.

Kudos to Mac Baren for extending their range. As the reviews show, they've landed a hit! Although HH Matured Virgina is definitely not for this smoker, it's a heck of a lot better in the pipe than in the tin, and, judging by its popularity, this may be just the one for you.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fife&Drum (34)	2013-01-22		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This is an unusual VA blend. All good mind you. To me there is a slight flavor additive that is hard to describe. It reminds me of Tonquin but ever so slight. I might be wrong in this. Others have said Tobasco, and yes this is also an accurate description. It just could be the Oriental component that lends this unusual flavor and scent. Overall this is a solid medium bodied blend. Moisture is just right upon opening the tin. Lighting is a breeze and stays lit throughout the smoke. A couple of tamps along the way and all is fine. The Virginias are sufficiently sweet throughout getting more spicy as the the Orientals kick in near the end of the bowl. Very nice blend. Again, a more unusual Va to try as this is very unlike the McClelland style Va/Oriental combo's out there as the Oriental plays a background supporting role. Very good! I will keep this in the rotation at all times!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Taraban (9)	2012-12-06		Medium	Very Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Awful, never again! // I can smoke it, I won't buy it // = Quite good, worth trying // * Must-have, I'm happy

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-12-03		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Wonderful blend of old tobacco virginia ripe soft aroma smoked olive,latakia but very little to him.Tobacco odor is mystical and ancient is the favorite of my wife who loves smoking Savinelli his free hand ,cut tobacco burns slightly woody taste very good smoked Tobacco is smoked filled gives a smooth body that it almost impossible to get bored Highly Recommended .

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Wawalsh (8)	2012-10-10		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I love the deep and complex flavors of this tobacco. You would assume after smelling this that there is some Latakia in this blend but none is listed. A great smoke for the chilly or cold days of fall and winter.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ROTHNH (11)	2012-09-06		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

HH Matured Virginia, has been a go-to for me for quite a while and I always have more of it cellared than anything else. I'm a sucker for VAs and I like most quality VA/oriental blends. I mix some in to certain blends myself on occasion (usually Izmir, which I use as a condiment -- C&D's is good quality, it's pure, in bulk and it's inexpensive). There's like two dozen or so tobacco's in the HHMV and there's a bit of oriental in that blend. -- maybe that's one reason why I like it. But not the only reason. Mac Baren uses a bunch of various Virginias, but there's also lesser, but quite discernible amounts of burley and cavendish in there. If you're expecting Veermaster, SG FVF, Blackwoods Flake or the like, forget it -- HHMV isn't similar or comparable to those. It's unique. The tin note, in addition to the obvious matured virginia scent, reminds me of Calvados barrels on the farms in Normandy back in the 80's -- but not topped or flavored AFAIK. It's ribbon cut, well blended and easy to pack to the Springiness" I prefer. With a new bag or tin, if some is to be smoked right away, I find it needs some drying. If in a 3.5 oz. tin, drying becomes unnecessary after a week or so (depending on the local ambient temperature and RH). This tobacco, of course, has to be sipped slowly to fully enjoy. Strength and Nic are more medium than mild for me a little sharp, which I like, but never bitter. As one would expect, the complexity is there, but different and more subtle than other "in your face" VAs, such as FVF or even Irish Flake.

Good God, I'm going on forever here. Just go out and buy a tin of it (100g tin is also very reasonable BTW). You won't regret it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	marosi (70)	2012-08-08		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

These new(ish) HH blends are just fun, and I think are really raising the bar for new offerings. As the name denotes, this one is a great blend of virginias upon virginias. It offers a fantastic balance of easy smoking characteristics, rich flavor, and strength which set this apart from the morass of virginias based tobaccos.

Where I think Mac Baren is really hitting it out of the park with these is the balance of flavor and smoking characteristics. We can all think of any number of blends which taste good or offer a singular experience, but extract some price in the smoking area in return. Maybe they are hard to light and keep lit, or they burn hot and scorch your tongue. Not here. Each one of these blends, and this one is no exception, is blended to ensure that the smoking process is going to be as hassle and tongue bit free as possible. Now, as with any blend, if you puff like a steam engine and relight every 2 minutes you can get these burning hot, but setting aside that type of abuse, you are not going to find this or the other HH blends to bite or be difficult to keep burning.

This has a pleasant ripe matured virginia odor from the tin, and you can detect the orientals in there as well. It is in a nice ribbon or shag cut, and packs easily into a bowl. It accepts a char quickly, and once lit burns easily with some tamping at regular intervals. These are very natural tobaccos, and dry quickly if left out of the tin, which is nice for having a quick smoke. It is frustrating to decide what you want to smoke and then have to wait two hours for it to dry out. The flavor is rich and tasty. I would agree that it is not as complex as something like Best Brown or Full Virginia Flake, but it is not monotone either. The virginias are up front, but the oriental offers a backbone that gives this a totally different and richer flavor profile than many other VA blends, without moving fully into English/Scottish blend territory.

This, along with the nicotine strength, which I would peg at moderate, make this a very nice well rounded smoke. You can pack a larger size bowl of this and read a book for an hour without fear of having visions from the strength, and it is tasty without being overwhelming. Finally, Mac Baren is pricing these very fairly right now, which makes all of the HH blends just about the best deals going.

PS - One reviewer described this as a goopy mess and an over the top aromatic. I am not directing this at the reviewer personally, but I cannot imagine what tobacco he could have been talking about. This is in no way, shape, or form an aromatic, has no flavored casing or topping, and is not goopy in the least. It is hard to imagine that he was even reviewing the same blend, but I wanted to specifically address this in the event that anyone would read that review and take it at face value, leaving with the impression that this is some sort of Danish style aromatic ( and I do not think "goopy mess" is a fair assessment of the quality offerings in that style either). This blend could not be farther from that style of tobacco. The HH line is a total departure from the other Mac Baren offerings, and have become not only my favorites from them, but some of my favorite blends overall.

Pipe Used: Ashton Bent Billiard, XXX

Age When Smoked: 6 yrs

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	hiplainsdrifter (9)	2012-07-07		Mild	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant

This tobacco already has enough reviews, but heck, I am excited. This delicious blend lacks the unadulterated VA goodness of FVF or similar flakes, but it is really exceptional. The tin note to me comes across with a dried apricot and brandy nose. Other reviewers have said olives and I could go with that. The taste and room note follow suit, with a good fruity aroma and flavor- I thought it would be too much and mask the tobacco but that is not the case. Especially toward the end of the bowl you are picking up on the tobacco very strongly, and whatever else might be going on just flows. Great dense smoke, easy to keep lit. Like other MacBarens I have tried it could use an hour or two of drying, and likes a gentle smoker- although the bite is nowhere near VA#1 when you push it. Perhaps not as refined as other Virginias, but very friendly- I could see this as an excellent VA for aromatic lovers. This will be my new go-to smoke, and I am glad I have cellared several tins- this should just keep getting better.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2012-03-31		Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Been smoking this tobacco for years now, and has been in my rotation of virginia straights. I decided to review now because I had the chance to smoke a tin 4 years old. One thing I like about his tobac is that it's ribbon cut. You don't see too many worthy sraight virginia toabacs out there that are not flakes whole, or ready rubbed. Age is a factor with this tobacco. I liked it right from a fresh tin,but the aged tin is wonderful. The nuances of flavor change throughout the bowl which is very satisfying to me in a tobacco. Nothing boring with this stuff. With the age of the tin I beleive the tobac has a whole new dimention. Glad I stocked a quantity. Enjoy.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-12-26		Medium to Strong	None Detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable

In the tin, this wide, rough cut blend has, as another reviewer perfectly described, the distinctly briny aroma of fermented olives.

Heavily aged red and black virginias (perhaps lightly seasoned with gold VAs) are, according to the blend notes, touched with a bit of turkish-types. The flavors are so well integrated that the turkish is difficult to descry, although there were occasional flashes where the spicily herbal, turkish notes evanescently manifested. There is a penetrating, apricot-like sweetness which raised the suspicion of a slight sugar or fruit juice casing, though chewing the leaf revealed no overt evidence which could point to such.

HH Mature Virginia is an absurdly complex and unified blend, perhaps the most overwhelmingly opulent VA-blend on the market and is a blend that no virginia lover should miss, though it should be noted that the absurdly coarse cut does require a bit of extra preparation time. This went best in a narrow to medium gauge chamber.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	WmZiggy (81)	2011-11-01		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

I had high hopes for this rough ribbon cut aged Virginia and I was not disappointed! Mostly the grassy smell of VA leaf mixed with fire cured black VA and Oriental leaf. HH Mature VA smokes with an innate sweetness from beginning to end with complex notes from Oriental leaf making their play. This blend did not bite and was perfect in moisture content on opening. A pleasant complex smoke.

January 2012: Having aged this blend for close to a year, I find that it improves nicely and if I could, I would give this blend 5 stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Xeneize (275)	2011-10-31		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I didn't have much expectations for a Mac Baren's Virginia blend, having tried a couple of their tongue-smolderer, flavored Virginias, but this one really surprised me. An (almost) pure Virginia taste with no tongue bite, a grassy/woodsy smoke that got me in the zone many times over the tin. I'll be smoking a lot more of this as soon as I get my hands on more tins!

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Mr. Big (321)	2011-08-29		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

This was a total surprise, I was expecting an aged mature Mac's Virginia #1, but I got McClellands Vinegar Virginia ! Not that that's all bad, I happen to like "McC Vinegar" . Upon opening the tin the aroma was very familiar , was it whiskey ? maybe some cherry? Vinegar? No, it was the scent of Olive brine when you open a jar of olives !!! The vinegar taste pretty much stays with the entire bowl, it's actually not bad and makes for an interesting sweet and sour smoke, very tangy. This lit and burned wonderful, no bite and smooth. I actually like this but I would have preferred it had been named "Mature Virginia Navy Mixture" as I feel that better describes this blend. I may buy again ?

Updated one hour later: I just read the other reviews for the first time and yes I agree with those that say this could grow on you and I agree with "Jazzmoke", Olive brine.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-08-23		Mild	Extra Strong	Overwhelming	Overwhelming

With great trepidation I loaded Holy Hell Mature Virginia into my least favorite cheep Dr. Grabow.

Took one puff of the goopy mess and dumped it before I ruined my pipe.

I don't like aromatics but this one is way over the top.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Fazby (66)	2011-05-13		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Often I try a tin of tobacco and the first bowl is great but I dump the tin before finishing it. This tobacco got better the more I smoked it. A pleasant surprise.

It is a nice virginia. As described at a pipe show, it does not bite, even right out of the tin. That intrigued me for a VA, sio I had to try it. He was right! (Sure, if you puff like a maniac, you will get bitten, but that would not be the 'baacy's fault.)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	sirchud68 (60)	2011-02-25		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant

So, I've finally bought a couple of ounces from a jar that's been at my B&M for at least two years. My tobacconist offered me a bowl of this as I was looking to try different viginias, having recently come off an English binge. You can tell that this blend is an HH. Maybe all three blends use the same matured viginias. I'm not sure. Anyhow, my first impression was how smoky and smooth this smoke is. Having only smoked Mac Baren's Virginia #1, which bites me a little and needs to be smoked super slow to truly enjoy, I was surprised that this does not bite in the least. Nice hints of cigar'ish smoke at times, too. I'll have to smoke more to give a fair account of this blend, but as of now, I really enjoy it. Update: So, yes, this is a great smoke. I will continue to smoke this and can't wait to try the new HH Highland blend. I've put some away in the cellar as well.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-01-29		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

Love this stuff...would buy pnds of it for the cellar

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Skando (203)	2011-01-15		Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable

Well, my Friends, I needed longer time than expected for understanding this fine blend. HHMV is giving me the best after six months after opening the 100gr tin. The most of the over-moisture has gone lost, and the components have had air & time to meld together.

I beg You All my pardon, since I have recurred with large hand to the help of Your reviews and found the parallels to the opinion I have built over the time. Here the topics I fully share with You: - it has pungent aroma similar to a barbeque sauce - it's smoky, spicy, charred, with notes of heavy balsamic vinegar, and even a touch of licorice… and … it has hint of citrus flavor - Mature Virginia is a Virginia based blend, but it has some Oriental, a little bit of Kentucky … and has some top flavour - it has absolutely no tongue bite - it also has a slight smokiness being more associated with English blends - it may not suit a purist looking for traditional Virginia flavour - the fired cured or stoved Virginia is the key, as it slowly adds a steady ripple of spice and strength … and … does add a subtle kick like some Syrian… plus a range of light spices

I don't agree with the rate "2" in the McB's scale of strength. This is a bit stronger, I would rate it ad Medium.

By all means, HHMV is a remarkable blend of its own kind, well suited for aging. I just cannot rate this 4* because the flavour is not grow that much during the bowl, but others may say that's a plus.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-10-06		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I tried this blend out and really didn't like it at first. I smoked it too moist and it ended tasting sour as a result. However, once I figured how to smoke it, HH Virginia is one very fine smoke. You need to properly dry it out for the full flavour impact and once you do, you will get a Virginia tobacco smoke like no other. It has a mildly sweet flavour when smoked gently and a good Virgina flavour profile. I really ended it liking it a lot once I managed to take the time to understand it a little better.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-06-04		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

I picked up a few ounces of this intriguing Virginia blend a couple days ago from my local tobacco shop and am halfway through my third pipe full as I wright this review.

To be honest, I absolutely love it. There are a wide range of subtle natural tobacco flavors that are married together and perfectly compliment each other in this aesthetically pleasing blend. It's rich, subtle, and hearty. I find the Virginias make themselves known throughout with their classic sweet saffron aroma and flavor, and the Oriental and Burley adds just the right amount of complexity and hearty woodsy smoke for a full bodied flavor.

This can very well be an all day blend that's easy on the pallet with nothing sharp and intrusive about it. In fact, I plan to move it to the top of my rotation and dedicate a pipe to it if it stays as pleasant as these past few pipe fulls have been.

So far I've found it to burn a little on the hot and wet side, but with surprisingly no tongue bite at all. Perhaps a little patience is needed with this blend, though otherwise I find it easy to manage, and rewarding throughout.

Smoking this blend for the first time was like being reintroduced to a long lost friend.

I hope to never run out of this, and plan to put a good portion away to cellar as well.

...

Update:

Well, I got a little bored with this blend smoking it as frequently as I was, so I put it away for a few weeks. I also don't smoke all that often really, and only do when I get a craving to, so for me this wasn't a concern.

Being in the mood for a nice relaxing pipe, I pulled this back out today and was once again surprised by how good this blend is. It seemed to have sweetened considerably in even that short amount of time. A thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Judging by the other reviews here, it seems people either like it a lot, or don't care much for it. I personally don't think it's possible to like a tobacco blend more than I like this one, and wish that this site had more stars that I could add to my review. For my tastes, this is easily the best all-around pipe tobacco that I've had the pleasure of smoking.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-12-29		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Medium	Pleasant

Mac Baren made here a very nice blend. It should satisfy all the needs of a Virginia blend lover. The tin contains a well moistured tobacco. I prefered to take the tobaccos in a jar and left the lid open for a day. After the tobaccos have reached a good moisture grade which fits to my taste I loaded a big pipe effortlessly with these ribbon cut blend. The sweet Virginias are very well rounded with the deep flavors of dark Virginias. I enjoyed this very fine blend at each time and will buy regularly. Certainly a top shelf tin for a Virginia lover.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	strongirish (249)	2009-10-01		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

It's like someone at MacBarens used to work at Mcclellands. The pouch aroma is so much like theirs with the ketchup aroma. However it also has a Fig Newton aroma as well after you smell it a few times. Interesting mix for sure. This blend is an all brown, ribbon cut, matured Va with a great taste. i liked it the first bowl I burned. What I received was at the ideal smoking moisture and it packed very easy. Upon lighting up, I thought oh no, one of those to mild blends that will make me want to smoke to hard to get the flavor and burn my tongue. But as mild as it is at light up, it soon blooms into a nice, rich, and full flavored VA. The room note is very pleasant, and the taste goes from mild and semi sweet, to a nice tangy sweet taste by pipes end. It burns well and behaves upon light up and burns all the way down to a slight grey ash and dottle. This reminds me very much of MaClelland's 5100 but a little fuller. It does not bite and will tolerate a fast puff as easy as a slow sip. I do recommend trying this, it's not in the league of say Orlick Golden Slices but it could easily be an all day smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	DeadMensPipes (38)	2009-07-05		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable

With most tinned tobaccos, even though when smoked do not match the tin aroma, you are usually greeted with a pleasant smell from the tin. This stuff just smells plain wierd. Not bad. I can understand why others call it a ketchup or barbeque smell. I am not sure what it is. The tobacco in the tin certainly looks nice and seems to be just the right moisture content.

Nice cut. Packs well. I smoked it in a large Charatan's Make on a breezy day. It burned very consistently and uniformly to a light grey ash with no dottle. No bite. The one-dimensional taste and aroma of the smoke was nothing to get excited about. Reminded me of a strong cigarette or a mild cigar.

UPDATE 06/07/2011: After the review above, I put the lid on and let it sit on the shelf for over a year. It aged very well - big improvement. Taste really becomes more complex about a third of the way down the bowl. Makes a great smoke on a summer day. Upgrade to four stars. Recommended.

UPDATE: Sadly, this fine blend is no longer being made. You can still occasionally find someone selling an overstock, but otherwise you'll have to search for a comparable alternative. I have yet to find one.

Pipe Used: Charatan's Make Freestyle Relief

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-04-16		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

This is a natural Virginia blend. Read the multitude of reviews that mention the slightly sweet and grassy flavors. Moist out of the tin, and absolutely beautiful, visually, with the signature aroma (which I like). The bowl starts kinda tangy and becomes more mellow and smokey (almost like a light cup of fresh coffee) as it easily burns down. It's all true, and quite delicious! Many people seem to forget that not all tobaccos are meant to knock your socks off with depth and strength. This blend fills my needs when I want my sweet virginias (most the time), but don't want to grapple with a more formidable presentation. Well worth a spot in any Virginia lovers cellar.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	chgo.piper (37)	2009-03-29		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

many different virginias at work here blended to perfection. I picked up a dozen tins of this. should age well.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Brakepipe (7)	2009-03-12		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

Introduced to quality Virginias by Tilbury and VAPERs by Fillmore, I burned through the first two tins of this blissfully and then moved on to flakes, specifically FVF, which I presently prefer. There is much to commend this blend: fairly easy to pack (FrMthd, light and smoke, difficult to make bite and increasing in smokiness to the end without bitterness. It is "monochromatic" in the sense that it moves from milk chocolate to dark chocolate through the bowl. Leaves no "ghosts" in the pipe or mouth and can sweeten to a natural, neutral, tobacco flavor a pipe drenched in latakia, of which I have several. It does not, however, have that semi-acrid undertone of true straight virginias, probably because of the burley blended into it and the MacBaren penchant for aromatic qualities. Well worth laying up a few tins.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	quantumboy (130)	2009-03-07		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I preface this review by stating that I am not a big fan of straight Virginias, so take it with a grain of salt. I tend toward english/balkans and big baccies like Night Train. However, I did give FVF four stars, so...

I just can't get into HH. I've tried a few times now, and it just doesn't get my attention like FVF. It seems to me too uni-dimensional, and just not very rich on flavor. I will let the rest of the tin rest for a few months and see what happens...

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Pipe4ever (204)	2009-02-24		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

My first experience with this blend was rather negative, I am not used to this kind of Virginia with this oriental added, I have 1 pound of this blend that I will keep for later tasting, I will give it another try later, as for now, I prefer my Va No.1, this is very special Va blend in the Mac baren products line, completely different from anything they have done before, and the tobacco quality is top notch.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	7formy1911 (37)	2009-01-22		Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

When I first tried this tobacco I thought it was pretty darn good and I had planned on giving it 3 stars. I'm glad I waited. After trying the Frank method of loading my pipe it was as if all the tastes hiding in the background came to the forefront. All the Virginia sweetness caressed my tongue without a single hint of nipping followed by a smokiness that balanced out the high sweet notes. If I were a high volume pipe smoker this would be my daily smoke. It's balanced, easy on the tongue and has just enough complexity to keep it interesting but if you're busy with a task at hand then there's plenty of flavor to enjoy without having to search for the nuances.

If I had to break down the bowl from top to bottom here is how it goes for me. The first 1/3 starts off with the sweet virginias coming to the front to let themselves greet you. The second 1/3 still has those virginias present but a smokey flavor intermingles with the sweetness to balance out very well. The last 1/3 has both the sweetness and BBQ like smokiness trading places at the front of the class. I really didn't notice a whole lot of Vitamin N but there is a bit there.

I would highly recommend this blend to anyone interested in virginias or at least exploring what they are all about. While not a straight virginia it is an awesome smoke. I also would highly recommend the Frank Method of loading your pipe with this wonderful tobacco. The smoke is cooler and all the flavors you would miss come out to greet you with a solid handshake.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-02		Very Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

On opening the tin, with 18 months age, was greeted with what I can best describe as a sweet fruit mash aroma, or as my spouse opined, "fig mash."

Let it dry for 30-45 minutes and then enjoyed a pleasant, mild 45-60 minute pipe of sweetness. Not overpowering in strength or sweetness but a progressive advance from light cotton candy to a full blown creme caramel. Room note was nearly undetectable, according to the same aforementioned spouse, who enjoyed the aroma as being, "pleasant, grown-up and without any stinky, perfume qualities."

Combine with a fresh hot mug of coffee. Not a flavor powerhouse, but very well rounded and thoroughly enjoyable. A good change of pace smoke.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-12-29		Extremely Mild	Strong	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Tolerable

I don't like Aromatics, not much more to add. If you want sublime virginia tobacco without all the extra flavoring, try Full Virginia Flake or the lighter Best Brown Flake. I tend not to review any tobacco's unless I truly enjoy them, but after reading the multiple 3 and 4 star reviews I felt the need to chime in, and all those high reviews convinced me to give this a shot and pick up a tin. Blackwoods, Hall o Wind, Cut Virginia Plug.....there are so many phenominal virginias out there that have more consentration and complexity. I guess thats what makes the world go around, my pallet is much different than others. This one did not do it for me at all, neither has any McBaren blend for that matter, after 5 bowls I gave the tin away. I would agree with 'the no tongue bite' note on the tin description though. Again, I only post when I enjoy a particular tobacco, but I got a totally different experience then most of the reviewers that I felt the need to express my view on this one, I am sure it will not deter anyone from giving this a try.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Budman (25)	2008-12-14		Mild to Medium	Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

This blend has it all. The highs the lows and everything in between. Mac Baren blends have always been too sweet or would bite you like a rabid dog. HH Mature Virginia is a pleasure from start to finish. It has the sweetness a good VA should have but when pushed into the hot zone there was no bite. In addition to the great balance in HH the billowing smoke this produces is a plus. Room note is some what civil since no one at the home front complained. Mac Baren got this one right. Now, will it stay on the market? One can only hope! If you are a Virginia fan order it, you won't regret it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Sailorjack (57)	2008-12-06		Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Love the smell of the ripe,fruity,mature Virginias in the tin. I don't even have to smoke this one to enjoy it.Just running the tin under my nose is enjoyment enough. I am not going to get too descript here but lets just say that when I smoke this the word LUSH comes to mind. As a straight Virginia they don't get much better than this. An excellent blend absolutely but I wouldn't call it spectacular. Far and away the best Mac Baren offering I have tried though.

I rate it a solid 3 1/2 stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-11-02		Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

All i can say to add to all the other reviews is that this tobacco is VERY smooth and has NO bite for a virgina! I could not believe it! VERY good smoke, i think it is as good as Hal O' the Wynd but without the bite! Buy some and try it you will see that it is worth it.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-10-12		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

This Virginia is probably the best I've ever smoked. It's much better than Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake which in my humble opinion has no taste at all. This blend smells strange when you open the tin but after lighting it's very pleasent. And it's also very tasty. There's even something like rum or whatever in it. I don't know if it's because of some kind of flavouring but it's great anyway. The best part is that it has absolutely no tongue bite. This Virginia blend is highly recommended to newcomers as well as old pipe smokers.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Glorfindel (86)	2008-08-21		Medium to Strong	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable

A solid 3 stars from me.

HH Mature VA has a slight smokey scent from the tin similar to some English mixtures I enjoy - in the same spirit as a hickory smoked flavor. It is quite different from the McC VA's that I enjoy so much and I was searching for similarities but found virtually none.

I think the Mac Baren flavoring/curing process masks a bit of the naturally grassiness and light body of the VA here, but perhaps that was their goal with the "matutred" flavor - whatever that means.

For my tastes, Mac Baren went just a little too far in over-doing this wonderful tobacco. With their casing and "smoke curing" they lost something of the natural VA essence I prefer.

It has a rich smokey taste and is very satisfying, however, and I solidly recommend it. Burns evenly and continuously for me with no bite at all. Roomnote? Probably not too nice for non-smokers.

I find the HH Mature VA and the McC line of Christmas Cheer and McC 2010 to be entirely different animals. This one is worth a try for smoething different in the VA genere if, like me, you are used to the McC version of VA tobaccos.

Good Draw to You!

:)

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-08-12		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I received this as a free sample pouch and after smoking a couple of bowls I immediately ordered some tins to cellar. HH Mature Virginia is a very mild, sweet, and smoky Virginia. Maybe it just my imagination, but I get the distinct flavor of hickory smoke (such as what one would taste in a barbecue sauce) every time I smoke this. It has a good flavor of which I just can't seem to get enough. My wife and daughters say that it smells good when I smoke it, so I give it a pleasant room note. I don't notice much nicotene, though. I like this Mac Baren tobacco and highly recommend it if its one you haven't tried. I give HH Mature Virginia four stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	orka (66)	2008-07-11		Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I wholeheartedly concur with all the reviewers below. This is a superb blend, and I cannot recomend it enough. I am pretty sure there is a top flavouring in this one, could very well be rum as suggested earlier, either way it only heightens the experience. In my virginia book, this beats Old Gowrie. It's more expensive than the regular Mac Baren's, but I don't mind terribly much, it's still below other premium blends' price range and, might I add, worth every cent.

Edit: As time has progressed since I made the initial review I have discovered I might have been a bit over enthusiastic when I wrote the original review; and I have also re-evaluated my ratings system somewhat. This means I'm removing one star. While this is still a very nice tobacco, it's just not floating up there with the real stellar blends. Also, I have begun to wonder whether or not it really does beat Old Gowrie; O.G blossomed in unforeseen ways some months after opening the tin. But that's another story. Regardless it's not fair to compare the two based on their main ingredients alone, as they don't really share any other characteristics than that.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-04-24		Mild	Mild	Medium	Pleasant

One word: Fantastic. I review this not to really add anything that has already been said, but to ensure the 4-star average is maintained. I brought a tin back from a recent trip and only want more. I also gave my boss a couple bowl fulls, he fully concurs with the high quality of this blend. The next time my mule makes a trip here, she'll have at least ten tins! I just hope I can stretch out the one I have until then. This has earned a permanent spot in my rotation.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-04-02		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

After 40 years of pipe smoking, and running through the usual phases of aromatics to heavy latakia blends, I have finally gotten around to Va. blends. Kid in a candy store comes to mind. I have tried most all of the Stokkebye, MacBaren,C&D,and Samuel Gawith Va. blends. To date my go to blends have been SG Best Brown, and Full Va. flake. I have acquired several pounds of 8-10 blends to cellar. Space being a factor I will be making room for Mature Virginia. This tobacco smells great in the tin, and better burning in my Ser Jacopo Maxima Bulldog. Very good moisture in the newly opened tin. Nice texture, easy pack/light. Good taste from beginng to end. Cool clean dry burn. I can find nothing to say bad about his blend. I'll be ordering several tins for cellar and consumotion. I'll be glad to see this blend come out in bulk.....bet your @#$$ I'll get some for the cellar. ** for sure

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	JEM (24)	2008-02-23		Mild	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

If you want a mild, sweet tobacco, this it is. It smells like raisins in the tin and has a light, pleasant smell when smoked. It packs well, is moist, easy to light, and stays lit. I didn't get any tongue, even when puffed hard.

I started off smoking aromatic tobacco, moving to Virginian tobacco, and now I enjoy more powerful tobaccos. When I went back to Virginian tobacco, I found this one very mild, compared to what I've been smoking.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	NEWMAN (305)	2008-01-20		Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant

This nicely prepared ribbon cut had a good moisture content from the tin and packed, lit and smoked easily. Even with more aggressive puffing, it didn't act like a blow torch as some of the other MacBaren VA blends and smoked dry and cool without the need for relights. I didn't sense much taste development during the smoke and although sweet, found both the flavor and strength less than my preferred VA & VaPer flakes. However, if you're looking for a mild VA, this blend might work for you.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-10-25		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

Delicious slightly-sweet, mildly smokey taste. A hint of citrus flavor mid-bowl. I think there is a note of dark rum to the tin aroma. No bite. Beautiful ribbon cut.

With the smokey taste, it may not suit a purist looking for traditional Virginia flavor, or for someone new to Virginias and wants an "authentic" Virgina to study (for that I recommend Old Gowrie or Gawith's Full Virigina Flake). But for those who wish Virginia tobacco had a bit "more" at times, this will please you very much.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Moe (46)	2007-07-10		Extremely Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I found this tobacco sweet, tasty, and it burned well with no bite. If it had a little nicotine in it, I would give it 4 stars.

1 person found this review helpful.

	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-05-28		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild	Pleasant

This is the best Virginia tobacco I have ever had. I only got two bowls of this from a friend that went to Chicago, I cant wait for mine to come in the mail. Like others have already said it has a slightly sweet and nutty taste that is the same from the top of the bowl to the bottom. I think the aging of these tobaccos is the reason for the consistent smoke. It also smoked cool and dry and required very little attention while smoking. If you don't smoke VA's often because they tend to bite this one might be a safe one to try. Congratulations on making a truly great tobacco Mac Baren.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-05-16		Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

I lucked out and was able to obtain one of the first 500 tins that were released at the recent show in Chicago. Visually the tobacco was gorgeous...blond,red,and dark. The aroma unlit was intoxicating. The perfectly humidified ribbon was easy to pack into a group 4 Dunhill prince (dedicated to Virginias). One pass with my Old Boy, a slight tamp, and 45 minutes of absolute smoking pleasure.The smoke was cool and dry. This truly is a "bite-free" Virginia!

Kudos to the blender :-)

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	ATW (110)	2015-12-11		Medium	Medium	Medium	Unnoticeable

Out of all of the tobacco I have purchased this one has to be the biggest mistake I have ever made. Extremely harsh, smells like a hoard of bananas rotting in a 120 degree car for a week, and tastes like I ate the bananas. Burns very hot and ashy. Tongue bite from hell. Ruined my pipe because of the horrible ghost it left behind. This is one of those blends that burned so hot that you could burn a hole through a pipe in no time flat. Don't know why they discontinued this blend but didn't hurt my feelings at all. I stopped smoking a pipe for 2 years because of this rancid trash.

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	Emeritus Account (30125)	2013-01-06		Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

As a fan of MacB I had to test this one out. So...:

Tongue taste (the taste you feel on your tongue when you first get the smoke into your mouth): subtle, slightly sweet, not over powerful but rather mild.

Snork taste (the taste when you roll the smoke around in your mouth and out of your nostrils): semi-sweet, perhaps a bit of autumn forest... but still with a clear and natural tobacco taste.

All together: thoroughly enjoyable, but still not at the same level as MacB Mixture (it kind of tastes like a less sweet, somewhat milder or rounder version of that one).

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	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-06-22		Medium	Mild to Medium	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

A very pleasant smoke. As I smoke more of it, I like it better. This will be a regular choice Virginia, and good value.

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	Emeritus Account (30125)	2011-06-18		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong

This was the first Virginia that made me think, Aha! I have found it! I have since smoked other Virginia that are better, but I recommend this one. Upon opening the tin I detected an aroma of some kind of additive but not overwhelming and I do not think it affected the smoking of the tobacco. I needed to allow the tobacco to dry out a bit before smoking as it is packed very moist. In the pipe it smokes well at first puff and becomes slightly more complex as you approach the bottom of the bowl, while maintaining a subtle sweetness.

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	Indian (14)	2011-04-20		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

TOBASCO SAUCE!!!!! Come on. Take some good ole tobasco sauce (which is cured in wooden barrels) and smell it and then smell this tobacco!! You will be convinced. I like this tobacco. It is smooth and flavorfull but I wrote this reveiw because I wanted to tell everyone one thing - TOBASCO SAUCE.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-11-05		Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant

It had a great smell in the tin (very olive like), smokes well and burns slowly but if it is packed loose it won't require many relights. It is an interesting venture.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2010-10-16		Medium to Strong	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I purchased this a few years ago along with the Vintage Syrian. Upon opening the tin the room was filled with the smell of... bacon; it's the best way I can describe it. The tobacco was very moist in the tin so I had to allow it to dry for about an hour but after that it smoked like a dream. It has a nice flavor to it that in no way compliments the tin aroma. It has a sweet...caramel like taste to it with a...buttery popcorn like backbone; atleast thats what I experience with it.

I am a fan of English blends so this one will bore me in a hurry because it can be very one demensional. Maybe it will make a good blender for adding an equal amount of latakia to it; I'll have to give that a try some time. But I highly recommend this blend for experienced fans of mature virginia, some Scottish fans may like it as well. My co-worker Jesse; who is a Scottish fan, enjoys it a lot. However new smokers may not like it so much.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Thorre (27)	2010-06-06		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong

I really did not enjoy this blend. I like many Mac Baren's flake blends. I just could not get my mind around what this blend is suppose to be. I smoked almost the whole tin, trying to get some flavor change. It was just flat. It taste nothing like Virginia flake tobacco, and it has no aromatic flavor. Maybe if I had a pipe to dedicate to this blend, it may change my opinion. I just did not get it. I cannot recommend it.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-12-17		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I purchased HH Mature Virginia for reasons not entirely relevant to the tobacco. You see, MacBaren HH Mature Virginia was presented in a beautiful black jar with classy label. One only need order the lb within the jar. Upon further analysis of reviews on tobaccoreviews.com I felt the combination worthy of a $55 case of TAD.

The Jar: A beautiful porcelain jet black jar with appealing MacBaren branding. It is sealed by a latch top with rubber gasket. The build and quality of finish is very nice and proven durable over the past six months of ownership. It does however not perform nearly to the degree of its aesthetics. The rubber gasket which is designed to compress under the tension of the latch and seal the tobacco into air-tight bliss has not demonstrated a capability to do so. The result is ever drying tobacco. One might be able to find a softer and thicker gasket for better sealing but then again what would be the point. I have since transferred the tobacco into a tried and true latch top jar I purchased at an import store upon Dug's referral. The classy albeit slightly dysfunctional jar now resides in an honorable location in my kitchen where it protects my whole coffee beans.

Tobacco

Eye appeal: This is a beautiful array of ribbon cut tobaccos and visits of a broken VA flake. Easily the most colorful of my open blends you will find ribbons in each spectrum found in the tobacco rainbow. The moisture level was enough to maintain a sponge-like buoyancy without setting off my damp sensors, however I also recommend some open time in the tin or otherwise.

Aroma: Out of the bag the aroma was sweet with an obvious presence of chocolate. If they can find a means to spread this on toast I would bite. While the aroma immediately informed me of flavoring and casing, it is not so much as to land into the oft disgraceful ranks of aromatics. I dedicated a Savinelli professor to the first Twelve bowls and HH MV left no subsequent residue nor evidence as to distract subsequent blends in the pipe.

Pack it: With its long ribbons and broken flakes HH MV is rather fun to pack. Diverse in color, cut, and texture I found the traditional methods of packing better suited than "Frank".

Easily lit, easily smoked: Once allowed to dry lightly HH MV is very easily lit. Given the long ribbons upon applying flame it acts almost as a fire-snake. Don't be surprised if the tobacco reaches more than 1/4" out of your bowl. Upon tamp and second light a few ribbons will continue to try escape like worms from a can. Its a rather fun lil lighting game I have come to appreciate. If you respect the need for slight drying this will be among your easiest blends to maintain, however do not entirely ignore your smoke rate.

Palate: HH MV is a princess. Not a queen. Pretty, fun, simple in her sweetness but best to not be neglected or ignored. I made the mistake of preoccupying myself with something other than her and she bit me so hard I required a week to heal! Never again dear sweet princess.. Upon lighting, the casing immediately affirms the sugars presence. This remains consistent through the first 2/3rds of the bowl. The experience is not entirely manufactured however and the various virginias in their many forms provide a little more body to an otherwise under-developing smoke. Toward the bottom of the bowl the sweet chorus tends to fade and I seldom see the final 15% before reloading or dumping.

If it were not for her ability to bite I believe this would be the epitome of an all day smoke. Not so much character as to fulfill a very specific craving and not so boring as to wonder why you bothered.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	The Persian Slipper (30)	2009-12-10		Medium	None Detected	Very Mild	Tolerable to Strong

I certainly did not enjoy this blend. I am generally a Virginia fan, but this blend had me desperately tapping out my pipe in hopes that there would be no ghost. The tobacco is quite moist on opening, that takes an excessive amount of drying to get it suitable for a pipe, and if you do manage to get it lit, it is sour in the extreme. The sour taste is so overwhelming that the tobacco is impossible to enjoy. I enjoyed Mac Baren's Navy, but I must say that I will avoid Mac Baren like the plague now.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-11-29		Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

First, I must say some kudos to MacBaren for the HH line. While I haven't yet experienced their newer Perique blend, I'm fairly familiar with the HH Syrian. That was such a pleasant transition from their aromatics, and most welcome. Syrian shows the quality of the leaf they use, and what they can do when they choose to depart from their normal Danish aromatics.

I bought a number of tins of this Mature VA upon its release. I did work my way through a first tin, enjoyed it quite a lot, but then decided to cellar the remainder. And recently, some 30 months after I bought it, I cracked open another tin. The pungent vinegar smell (that always turns me off) was still there, but tempered somewhat by time. This packs beautifully; a lovely ribbon cut. The smoking characteristics of this HH Mature VA are really good. It burns so well that I'd bet I could keep a bowl of this going right from the charring light...but, a disclaimer. I find the moisture content too high for my liking. I let it dry for an hour, preferably two. It's a cool, dry smoke. Today, I enjoyed it in my favorite S. Bang 1/4 bent Danish Egg - perhaps a solid Group 5 sized bowl. When I was finished, the pipe cleaner came out almost dry. And that rarely happens with me. Not a hint of bite. Absolutely a mild beginning that blossoms to no more than a medium strength by mid-bowl. My all-time favorite is, and will always be, Full VA flake. This is lighter and with decidedly less nicotine. It makes for a quite nice change of pace. Quality VA leaf, no discernible casing - a wonderful departure for MacBaren - and I give this a solid 3 stars, if not edging towards 3.25. If you like VA's, you really should try this.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-11-03		Mild	None Detected	Medium	Very Pleasant

As a Virginia smoker I actually go to HH from time to time as a change of pace from other Virginia that I normally smoke. It's a mild, cool smoking blend that leaves no sweetness for me no matter how fast or slow I smoke it. Lost of nutty, biscuit, crisp maris otter type ale malt tastes going on, but again, no sweetness on my tongue, which is why I like is as a changeup. It burns very well even outdoors (I bought mine in bulk where it could have been a little drier), which is where I frequently light up HH while I am puttering about with something in the shop or mowing the grass.

Could use a little more nicotine strength for me, but otherwise I can recommend HH to anyone wanting a first Virginia experience or as myself, a change of pace from stronger blends. I like it.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-03-10		Mild to Medium	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I personally found this tobacco to be quite bitey and very one dimensional. Granted I am a new pipe smoker, but even still I can't say that I'd recommend this blend to anyone but the most hard-core VA fans. Not horrible, just won't reorder.

After accidently leaving the lid off of my tin for over an hour, I rubbed out this blend and gave it another shot. What I found was that it killed the bite I mentioned before. I should have also mentioned that I was first smoking this blend out of a relatively new molina pipe. I still found this blend to be pretty one-dimensional, but at least now I won't have to ebay my remaining 3 ounces. Sorry for the 1st review

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-28		Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant

This can best be described, in my view, as an exceptionally good example of an uninspiring genre of tobaccos. Maybe it's just my personal taste (and really a review should try to transcend that as much as possible), but sweet, grassy virginias seem to me to be a dime a dozen and never more than mildly interesting. That being said, HHMV does stretch, if not break, the mold of that kind of tobacco. Very user-friendly, fast burning, with hints of smokiness and spice (but only hints), and more nicotene than I expected, it really was rather enjoyable. But by the time I finally finished the tin (40 smokes at least), I had become rather bored with it. If you like Orlik Golden slices or Mac Baren Navy Flake, this is similar enough to be worth a try. I have another tin I'll age and see what that does.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-12		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

I discussed this before buying it in the Paul Olsen shop in Copenhagen. I was told it was not a new blend, it was rather an attempt of Mac Baren to come back to some early type of blends. For me, this is more like a Virginia/Oriental blend. The Oriental component is noticeable and smoking it is a change of pace for me, a predominantly VA guy. Needs around half an hour drying out of the tin and the packing is not very critical (I use the Frank method for this). No tongue bite here, a HUGE improvement for Mac Bite standards. No overheating and a nice finish. Right now it fulfills the in between VAs smoke role and the unattended casual smoke role for me. This is not really an aromatic so the room note is just ok, no crowd pleaser. A recommended blend and hopefully a success, lets see more like this Mac Baren guys. By the way, HH stands for Harald Halberg, not Heinrich Heine!!! Halberg is the family that founded and still owns Mac Baren and Harald is the founder.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2009-01-08		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable

After finishing my first tin of this tobacco I am somewhat dissapointed. I am a lover of virginias so I thought I would give this a try. This tobacco is very moist out of the tin so I let it dry a while before smoking. Smokes very hot and wet and has the room note of a cigarette. Very flat throughout most of the bowl and a hint of VA would peek through every now and then. Definatly not top shelf stuff. Its just plain. With so many other wonderfull VA blends out there for the same price I will not be ordering any more.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-12-29		Medium	Medium	Medium to Full	Strong

Full Flavor Virginia that is easy on the pallet. No known casings to this and room note is of tobacco leaning towards cigarettes. This great when you have been smoking aromatics and sweet tobaccos for a while. It has it's own mild sweet taste as Virginians tend too. I find it a real good change from the aromatics I generally smoke. It is good to clean the pipe of the casing residues from them also. The wife doesn't like it much though because of the smell is too close to a cigarette (which she smokes (She does go outside to smoke also). It is a nice change from the sweet aromatics and has no burn or bite.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-10-21		Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Old Heinrich hit a home run with this blend.Came moist in my tin & took some air-drying to get the ribbon cut just right.Packs just right and once lit the sweetness greets you right away. After a few slow, steady, gentle puffs that smokey flavor starts to blend in along with a light citrus like taste I cannot put my finger on. Does not disappoint from first light down to the white ash .One of the better virginias I've smokedin my 45+ years of Briar Burning Bliss.

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	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-09-20		Mild	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

Wonderful stuff! A good change of pace to my Flakes. Well worth trying. I will buy more.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-05-01		Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable

When I do smoke Virginias (which is not that often) I like them when their taste leans on the sweeter, dried fruit side rather than the grassy, oat-like side. HH Mature Virginia definitely fits my preferences in this regard. It also has a slight smokiness that I think of as being more associated with English blends - a nice touch indeed.

This blend does for Virginias what MB Navy Flake does for burley. They share a lot of similarities in taste and smoking qualities IMHO (both have that distinctive Mac Baren touch that people seem to either love or hate). Both quite mildly cased but not totally "natural" in their flavor

The only negative thing for me is that it does not change taste down the bowl at all really, making it bit of a boring smoke in anything other than a small-sized pipe. That resulted in a loss of one star for me. That said, if you like Mac Baren's other products I cannot see how you would be unhappy with this one.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2008-03-25		Extremely Mild	None Detected	Mild	Very Pleasant

This tobacco could be very good if well packed, however, it might disappoint some Virginia purists if usualy packed.

First, I'll describe the usual packing method (3 steps).

Indeed, there is a lack of smoothness, it is not sweet but spicy. This compared with a real straight Virginia (as Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake).

However, it helped me to remove the taste a little too much pronounced at the bottom of the bowl for a 37 years dedicated to FVF pipe. I had applied three times the S/A treatment and I hesitated to use the harder oven + charcoal treatment. The taste doesn't been removed at all, despite this highly recommanded method, but it just needs three bowls of HH Mature Virginia (I'd allowed to depose a thin layer of ash by shaking the pipe after use) so that the taste had disappeared altogether.

So, I use this tobacco as a kind of renovator for Virginia's pipes which were too deeply flavoured by several years of dedicated use.

As said, it's a good tobacco, despite what I said below, about use it as a rejuvenating treatment. It is certainly not what I look for, in a pure straight Virginia (what it is not, according to the description of the composition, on the official website of Mac Barren: 22 tobaccos are blended, but only 15 Virginias are used in the blend. So,7 are Orientals and Burleys, at least, for those who are described), but it remains a pleasant tobacco, when you are a little nauseated by the sweetness of Straight Virginias and when you don't want to change for the taste of Latakia nor Turkish+Latakia.

The smell from the opened tin seems to promise a taste that you wish to remove from a pipe too much flavoured. But it is also very smoky. What is very surprising, because even a Latakia+Turkish (Samuel Gawith's Squadron Leader) was unable to remove the taste. I don't understand how the tobacco may serve this purpose, but it works.

So, if only smoked with an usual packing method (but read below), this tobacco deserves 2 stars, but the using as a treatment deserves 4 (highly recommanded). ;)

After this particular use, turn to the tasting, which will be much shorter.

IMO, this tobacco doesn't taste memorable if you pack the bowl in the most usual method. It is spicy and smoky and nothing is reminiscent of a "Mature Virginia". However, as it was said, if you use the Frank method of packing, the flavors promised by a named "Mature Virginia" tobacco really stand out and there is a sense of smoking a completely different product.

Do not use the Frank method would miss out on the qualities of this tobacco. There, it deserves a least 3 stars.

As has been said by the other reviewers, this tobacco doesn't bite and do virtually no heating, which can also be recommended to break-in a new pipe.

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	Reviewed By	Date	Rating	Strength	Flavoring	Taste	Room Note
	Emeritus Account (30125)	2007-05-17		Mild	None Detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant

I tried this mixture at the Chicago Pipe & Tobacco show. Went to the Mac Baren display fist and loaded up. One light, tamp and relight and I spent the rest of the show smoking this very good tobacco. If you do not like straight Virginas you will not like this otherwise this is a solid smoke. Good taste, aroma and consistent from the first puff to the last. Yes you can say it is monochromatic but to me that is the sign of a good virginia. The price of $14 / tin was the only bad thing about it. If you have not tried Mac Baren or disliked thier tobaccos for other reasons I suggest you try the HH series.

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