Mac Baren Mixture Flake

This reminds me a bit of MacBaren's Scottish Flake with a few differences. I find this to be a little spicier and I get that in every puff, which indicates to me that there's a little more spicy, woody, earthy, dry, floral, herbal, lightly nutty dark fired Kentucky here. The taste is more consistent here than it is in SF, too. I get a variety of flavors, ranging from nuts, a little honey, bread, earth, tart and tangy citrus, slight tangy dark fruit, brown sugar, wood, and a hint of grass. The sweetness comes from the gold and black cavendish, Virginias, burleys, and a light topping of some kind. Smokey, woodsy, tangy, and creamy notes play well with the tongue, offering a slow, cool, clean burn rate with a fairly consistent, complex flavor. I found it sweeter when I sip at a moderate pace. The nic-hit is just past the mild level. The strength is in the center of mild to medium. The taste just manages to reach the medium mark. Doesn't bite, but can tingle a tongue a mite if steam puffed. Has a few rough edges. Requires some relights. Leaves very little moisture in the bowl. Has a lightly lingering pleasant after taste and room note. Not quite an all day smoke.

-JimInks

Just rediscovering the MB brand after a few years of unintentional neglect. When I was younger I loved the aromatics on the market, but recently have switched to non-aros. Received a tin of this with my recent shipment from P&C and was pleasantly suprised. Although I thought I had ordered the Mixture Modern instead. Nevertheless, this is a great all day smoke. Works well in any pipe. Slightly sweet, a tinge nutty with a cherry-like finish. In a way it reminds me of Velvet but not as spicy or as strong. Best way to describe this one: cheerful disposition meets good old fashioned home cooking. Very little bite, rich and burns well. The trick with this blend is to pack a full bowl and smoke a little at a time throughout the day. This not only results in more flavor, but allows you to stretch a 3.5 oz tin out as far as you can. Mac Baren's strength seems to lie in its white labeled tins (i.e. roll cake, navy flake, mixture modern). That's not to say MB doesn't carry good aromatics, but for me non-aromatics are the true test of a solid pipe tobacco brand. And if you are experiencing the MB bite it might be time to give your pipe a good thorough cleaning. Especially with Grabow's, while highly durable, tend to gain moisture rather quickly. I'll buy a $30 Grabow over a $500 pipe any day. If you let MB air our for a short while that might also help reduce bite. Mixture Flake is 4 stars in my book. Thank you MB for never disappointing me.

UPDATE 3/16/14 Noticing a more citrusy note/spicy undertone in my cob since the tin has been unsealed. A thorough cleaning combats this, but let dry out for a few minutes before smoking and smoke a little slower. Full bowls and briars work better with this blend a while after the tin has been opened. If you like a slightly more citrusy note in your smoke it will be a nice change of pace in the cob. Still a great addition to one's rotation.

My tin dates to July 2013. Certainly not well-aged, but a bit of age on it. When it arrived a month or so ago I heat-sealed half the tin in a small mason jar to age for another six months to a year. The remainder went into another small mason jar for daily use.

My first impressions of this tobacco were not positive. I was making the new pipe smoker mistake of comparing this to other tobaccos not in its genre. It arrived with an order other tobaccos, including a tin of Orlik Golden Sliced, and as I'm a Virginia lover, it just didn't stack up to OGS. I figured a flake is a flake. Newbie error.

A month of aging in the non-sealed mason jar has done wonders for this tobacco. Or perhaps I'm just beginning to appreciate each tobacco for what it brings to the palate. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this tobacco - the tin describes it as a blend of Virginia, Burley, Cavendish, and lightly aromatic. A very apt description.

Mixture Flake was my morning smoke today. Once lit, it stayed lit to the bottom of the chamber. And I really enjoyed it. Really really enjoyed it.

The tin note is slightly sweet, though to my nose not indicative of what it might taste like when lit. And once lit, today's smoke was very nice: an extremely well-balanced blend of tobaccos with just a hint of a sweet casing - and to my taste buds it seemed more on the cherry side rather than vanilla, but I wouldn't go to the mat on that. The room note was very pleasant - a tobacco that I believe non-pipe smokers would not find offensive. By the time I smoked half-way down the bowl the sweet flavor started to wane, but the sweetness of the fragrance remained. Smoked down to ash, there was no harshness, just a balance of flavors.

It is my Flying Wallendas of tobacco - balance, balance, balance. There is nothing extreme about this tobacco in any way: it is a mild smoke, moderate nicotine, mild casing, and a balance and synergy of three tobaccos. I can see how some might find this tobacco non-distinctive, and perhaps that's what I like best about it. The tin describes it as a tobacco that can be smoked all day long (don't all tins say that?), and in this case it's true.

The flavoring is indeed identical to Scottish Mixture but the burning qualities are much different. This one is a slow burner and doesn't seem to heat up quite as much.

Not enough umph to get my motor running, but reeks of quality and is probably fine fare for those who enjoy light and artificially flavored Burley'Virginia flakes.

I never thought I would give an aromatic 4 stars and especially one from the McBite stable, but that's exactly what I will do now. Mixture RR was my first "serious" tobacco a number of years back and I have smoked quite some pounds of it. It disappeared though from the rotation when I was introduced to all those nice virginia flakes around. Seeing the good reviews here, especially from some people I trust I decided to buy the flake version and give it a go. It is certainly MB Mixture but without the problems of the RR version. My method of packing is simply folding the flake in 4 and the size of pipe is a 2 to 3. Takes 2-3 matches to get it going but from there and on its just great. A very slow burning rate, attempts to rush it, result immediately in gurgling, but that's fine it should be sipped anyway. In the beginning, the strength is a bit too little but it becomes decent from mid bowl down. From mid bowl down also, the taste is a revelation. There are many layers, many surprises and the casing presents itself here and there, but in a nice way. Burns all the way down without goop. No tongue bite, even when I get impatient and overpuff once in a while. It's quite amazing for me, to look forward to the last part of the bowlful, its really good. The other thing is the room note. It is really good and the wife doesn't say a word, she even appreciates it! Also entering the room an hour after smoking, smells nice, not like an abandoned antique cellar! All and all this is back in the rotation and highly recommended.

I am a fan of the semi rubbed version of this flake, so this was a non question for me. I saw this in a shop in Florida, and bought it without thinking twice. It is the same Scottish mixture that Macbaren is famous for. It is an awesome blend on all fronts, with exception of the tongue bite problem. Only thing to do for it is to smoke slowly. With the flake they did help on that end. It does burn nice and slow in this form. It is a bit moist out of the tin, so letting it set awhile is recommended. Otherwise, it is great whenever. The mixture was my all day for a long time, and I would recommend this anyone who asked. It smells great, tastes delicious and burns well.

I'm not sure you should rub this out very much. Macbaren uses only sugar water to top most of their mixtures, and sugar burns very hot and will burn your tongue badly. Smoking pipes has a You tube vid with the blend master talking about it if you care to look. It changed the way I smoke for the better to see it.

Mac Baren - Mixture Flake. I always have a 'go to' flake kept open and this is the latest occupant for that position.

This fits the space for an all day smoke like a glove. There are added flavours that can be noticed but there's nothing that comes over too heady or aromatic. The main addition to the taste is the honey. It doesn't come over too syrupy but it gives the smoke a very nice sweet edge. I also get a fruity touch from this; it's not too strong but a slight citrusy sweetness.

The tobacco flavours are balanced to perfection. The leading role is taken by the Virginia's subtle and sweet grass tones with a delicate Burley nut addition and a relaxing role that can only be filled by Cavendish; this makes the smoke seem silky-smooth.

The nicotine amount is a bit below medium. It's not low enough to qualify as 'mild' but it definitely sits at mild to medium.

I feel this is a perfect all day smoke: slightly aromatic, a nice amount of N, good burning qualities and pleasant room note.

Highly recommended.

5/17/2014 Update:

I have found the perfect flake pipe for this Mixture: Missouri Meerschaum Diplomat made of Maple. Very thick walls, short and wide bowl. Fits two flakes folded and stuffed, Laid on top of one another, folded vertical and then horizontal and slide into the bowl, top with crumbs left over for kindling. This stuff just gets better and better as the tin is open. $8 for 100g tin at SmokingPipes!!! There is no better deal in tobacco!

I purchased this blend at my local tobacconist here in Las Vegas - "The Tobacco Leaf". He always has tins from 3 to 10 years old, this was from 2009 and aged sufficiently. I thought before I purchased this 100 gram tin that this was the flake version of Mixture Modern not Scottish Mixture. If your wanting Mixture Modern in a flake, this is NOT it, this does not have black Cavendish in it like Modern does..... Mixture Modern, Plumcake, Navy Flake and this are the only Macbaren blends that I have found to be acceptable in the heat / bite / general furnace flamethrower genre that these Danish blends fall into. I discovered years ago when I went to Germany for a business trip and spoke to a local tobacconist that 90% of Europeans smoke their pipes with filters and that's why these blends smoke so damn hot and bite, their produced that way since the 9mm filters Europeans use cut the flavor and bite in half if not more. If you cant handle Macbarens blends do what I do, smoke them in a Cob with a Grabow filter, makes a world of difference. This flake is beautiful, perfect gold wrapped flakes of perfect thickness, tin aroma is honey and fallen leaves, really delightful and the room note has been described as the same. Burley and Virginia with some Cavendish to tame the beast and add sweetness, burns very well even left whole and stuffed. Good Flake!!

All you have come to expect from the classic Mixture... and more.

What a truly exquisite blend!

It's exactly Mac Baren's Mixture, but the flake format helps tremendously: load your pipe by simply folding the flakes and forming a plug, without rubbing them out, and you'll experience a wonderful hour/hour and a half of smoking.

Like Mixture, it has a wonderful biscuity and slightly honeyed taste which manages to be rather natural too: while cased, it is done rather subtly and elegantly, without chemical goop. It still does taste of true tobacco, only tamed by the artful skill of Danish tradition. Sweet, nutty, slightly earthy: really a masterful blend of Virginia, Burley and Cavendish. The beauty of this blend is that none of the single components shines in itself: it's the overall interplay that captivates.

Being in flake format, it smokes more slowly, drier and cooler, and lasts longer. Taste is much more intense, without being overwhelming. Actually the tin aroma, while still mouth-watering and very biscuity/honeyed, seems to me a little more soapy than the rubbed out Mixture: not a problem, as it still is very pleasant.

Sure, it can still a bit sharp and mouth-drying (especially if you puff a bit too strongly, which can happen since it burns so neatly), but it's an enormously enjoyable, low-maintenance and never tiresome blend.

My wife loves the smell (and she usually is VERY fussy: she hates English, she hates Balkans, she hates pure Virginia, she hates cloyingly sweet aromatics), and that is a bonus.

I'd recommend smoking it in a medium-sized pipe: too small a bowl will not give it enough time to develop and won't fulfill you completely (since it's a very mild/light blend in nicotine), too large a bowl will lead to a slightly monochromatic and watery final part of the smoke (though it still is better than many other tobaccos under this point of view).

Little known, but highly recommended (and please bear in mind that I have always been a lover of strong English/Balkan blends for the past 7 years, and that I used to find most of Mac Baren tobaccos completely uninteresting, lacking of interest and flat up to a couple of months ago!)

This is NOT broken flake. These is whole, un-rubbed, flake tobacco.

These flakes are exquisitely neat, compact and easy to lift from the rectangular tin, fold and stuff whole into your pipe. They smell delicious as sniffed in the container, without any aggressive topping stench.

The unrubbed slice lit easily and burned slowly and cooly most of the time. It only got a trifle hot towards the bottom third, when the amount of tobacco, broken down from poking, responded to re-lighting with a bit of anger.

The taste is not unlike several of the Fribourg & Treyer Virginia flakes I tried a while ago: mild, light indeed, yet still tasty enough. This one has the subtlest semi-sweet (not very sweet at all) character, with a muted smokiness that surprises but stays very much in the background. There is none of the Burley dullness or treacly topping of Mac Baren's Navy Flake.

Too inoquous for me, this superbly produced offering ought to please indeed those who want the lightest Virginia flake, expertly un-fanged by MB's elegant use of Burley and Cavendish-processed leaf.