Mac Baren Symphony
(2.74)
A very harmonious ready rubbed tobacco dominated by the selected burley tobaccos and with a minor part of Virginia and the original Mac Baren Cavendish. In this blend the tobaccos are adjusted to bring out the slight natural sweetness and with the tender note of chocolate - which is found in all excellent burley tobaccos.
Notes: Known as "Harmony" in Europe.
Details
Profile
Strength
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild to Medium
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
2.74 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 11 - 20 of 28 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 20, 2023 | Mild | Mild | Mild | Pleasant |
Unlocked if you can get into the MacBaren groove. A great all day smoke.
Burley well balanced with the slight edge of sweetness of the VA and cavendish as well as the typical MacBaren topping. It's just enough balance to make it interesting and not flat.
The whole trick is the Mac Baren groove. You need to pack this lighter, much like Golden Extra or Mixture. Do the initial char and let it cool as you lightly tamp to get an ash layer going. I char generally two or three times, letting the initial nuclear coals to subside. If you draw down while it's glowing fire, you will pay the price.
With this and the other broken flake blends like Golden Extra or Mixture, I find that rubbing it out to a finer level helps to keep the pack in the bowl even and relatively dense. If I leave it coarse I find it too hard to balance it.
Once you get the initial ash layer going, re-light and go, nice and easy, keep it smoldering and you will unlock the flavor in this blend. It's a great all day smoke, doesn't coat the palate, can be smoked right up against a meal and goes great with a cup of coffee.
Though it's somewhat sweet, it burns very cleanly and doesn't leave the bowl all clogged and tarred up.
This one and Burley Flake are on my top list of all day smokes that are pleasant, simple and don't completely clog the sinuses and flatten your palate.
It takes time to get used to MacBaren but once you unlock them, you start to understand why they are so popular.
Burley well balanced with the slight edge of sweetness of the VA and cavendish as well as the typical MacBaren topping. It's just enough balance to make it interesting and not flat.
The whole trick is the Mac Baren groove. You need to pack this lighter, much like Golden Extra or Mixture. Do the initial char and let it cool as you lightly tamp to get an ash layer going. I char generally two or three times, letting the initial nuclear coals to subside. If you draw down while it's glowing fire, you will pay the price.
With this and the other broken flake blends like Golden Extra or Mixture, I find that rubbing it out to a finer level helps to keep the pack in the bowl even and relatively dense. If I leave it coarse I find it too hard to balance it.
Once you get the initial ash layer going, re-light and go, nice and easy, keep it smoldering and you will unlock the flavor in this blend. It's a great all day smoke, doesn't coat the palate, can be smoked right up against a meal and goes great with a cup of coffee.
Though it's somewhat sweet, it burns very cleanly and doesn't leave the bowl all clogged and tarred up.
This one and Burley Flake are on my top list of all day smokes that are pleasant, simple and don't completely clog the sinuses and flatten your palate.
It takes time to get used to MacBaren but once you unlock them, you start to understand why they are so popular.
Pipe Used:
A variety
PurchasedFrom:
Online retailer
Age When Smoked:
recent production
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jun 11, 2022 | Medium | Medium | Mild to Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Mac B blends tend to frighten me. Not with strength, but the tongue bite. I should know better, but the description sounded glorious!
Pouch appearance of light to medium brown tobaccos, to specks of dark leaf. The broken flake/ready rubbed consistency needed some rubbing out before packing.
The pouch aroma of this 2oz sample to me, smelled like dark fired. Woody, slight chocolate, and smokiness come forth, with that signature Danish aroma.
The cocoa topping stay about 1/3 of the way down and disappears. Here, its all straight forward tobacco flavor with a slight sweetness. Each time I smoked this, I was extremely careful to just sip trying to avoid tongue bite. Relighting is where I really had to be cautious.
Quality blend from Mac Baren, a solid 3 stars
The initial lighting is a wonderful flavor. The cocoa, sweetness and woodsy/grassy are balanced very well together. This
Pouch appearance of light to medium brown tobaccos, to specks of dark leaf. The broken flake/ready rubbed consistency needed some rubbing out before packing.
The pouch aroma of this 2oz sample to me, smelled like dark fired. Woody, slight chocolate, and smokiness come forth, with that signature Danish aroma.
The cocoa topping stay about 1/3 of the way down and disappears. Here, its all straight forward tobacco flavor with a slight sweetness. Each time I smoked this, I was extremely careful to just sip trying to avoid tongue bite. Relighting is where I really had to be cautious.
Quality blend from Mac Baren, a solid 3 stars
The initial lighting is a wonderful flavor. The cocoa, sweetness and woodsy/grassy are balanced very well together. This
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 02, 2022 | Mild to Medium | Mild | Mild to Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Symphony reminds me of MacBaren’s Golden Extra, but a tad sweeter……This is an all day smoke with a good balance between Burley boldness and Virginia sweetness and the sweet Cavendish doesn’t overwhelm or “ghost” my pipe ( I guess cobs don’t have that issue and that’s why I use them) . As with other reviewers that give this high ratings, be careful to smoke slowly as this blend can get hot……Not a complex smoke, but an all day smoke doesn’t need to be……So far I haven’t had any MacBare flake that I didn’t like; there are a few that I like better, but I keep this one in my regular rotation.
Pipe Used:
Cobb
PurchasedFrom:
Sergei’s in East Lyme Ct.
Age When Smoked:
11/20
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Oct 31, 2021 | Medium | Mild | Medium | Pleasant |
This is a very nice blend. It tastes like burley (i.e., earthy/nuttiness/astringent) but with an extra twist, which it seems to be the result of some added Kentucky (smoky/sweet). The latter is very subtle, just a condiment to the burley. Perhaps this is the input of the Mac Baren Classic Cavendish. This blend is similar to Golden Extra, but a bit spicier. It is also similar to Mac Baren Navy Flake, but with a less noticeable casing/topping, and with less Virginia. The casing/topping might be the result of a mix of anis with brown sugar. I have perceived a similar smell in Mac baren´s Virginia Flake and Navy Flake. It does not burn particularly hot, but it can bite if pushed. The room note is nice. Recommended both for people that enjoy burley-based blends and for people that like the classic Mac Baren line. I´m glad I buy it, but I don´t think is as good ad Golden Extra or Navy Flake.
PurchasedFrom:
tobacconist in Groningen, NL
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Apr 28, 2021 | Strong | None Detected | Medium to Full | Pleasant to Tolerable |
I first smoked this blend around 1988-1989 when my local b&m owner opened a tin to smoke and offered it around the room. I haven't smoked it since until about a week ago. I bought a large collection in 2015 and there were three tins in it; two dated 2015 and one dated 2010. I opened the 2010 tin, shared it with a long time smoking buddy and he promptly wanted to buy it. We decided that it was both darker and spicier than what we remembered from the old days. This confirms the observation of reviewer Jimlnks 2013-04-07 that he, too, found it spicier and stronger as an aged sample. So, what do we have here in Mac Baren Symphony. I knew from the dark coloration and the tin odor we were dealing with a Burley-dominated mixture and it smoked as such. I enjoyed the Virginia/Burley proportioning, the strength level and the way it matured in the bottom half of the bowl. What I didn't like was the persistent tingling on the tongue that plagued the top half of each smoke. Symphony is a solid, but, not spectacular Burley/Virginia smoke that I recommend at three stars.
Pipe Used:
Charatan Authentic Billiard 4420DC
PurchasedFrom:
an Ebay seller
Age When Smoked:
tinned in October 2010
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 16, 2017 | Mild | Mild to Medium | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
This is an above average blend of Burley, Virginias and some Cavendish. The Burley is the star here, bringing on some nuttiness and some earthiness. Sweetness from the Virginia helps to balance everything out. I love the spice element that the blend possesses too.
Burns well, easy to prepare and leaves very lil moisture or dottle in the bowl. Pleasant room note.
Solid blend. Worth the coin.
Burns well, easy to prepare and leaves very lil moisture or dottle in the bowl. Pleasant room note.
Solid blend. Worth the coin.
Pipe Used:
GBD New Standard
PurchasedFrom:
Gifted
Age When Smoked:
6 mos
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Dec 30, 2013 | Mild to Medium | Mild | Medium | Pleasant |
Excellent burley aroma/flavor predominates, as would be anticipated. Semi-sweet chocolate background flavor noted, particularly when sipped. Slight pepper/spice on retrohale. Quality product alone, makes a great blending tobacco. Stays lit and burns well. 3+.
Pipe Used:
Peterson, MM
PurchasedFrom:
Corona Smoke Shop, Battle Creek, MI
Age When Smoked:
Tin date MAY-2011
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 27, 2012 | Mild | Very Mild | Extremely Mild (Flat) | Very Pleasant |
Straight forward pipe tobacco. It has nothing memorable. Seems to be a little heavy on the burley to me which adds to the the very very mild taste. Any pipe smoker should enjoy Symphony. A pleasant, sweet danish tobacco. If you are looking for a mild relaxing smoke with no surprises, this is nice.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Aug 08, 2011 | Mild to Medium | Mild to Medium | Medium | Tolerable |
could taste the burley and the virginas balance it out but didnt detect and cavendish
could get some unsweet chocolate notes out of this blend if its smoked slowly this blend can bite so it is ideal to smoke it rather slow
could get some unsweet chocolate notes out of this blend if its smoked slowly this blend can bite so it is ideal to smoke it rather slow
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Feb 11, 2011 | Medium to Strong | Mild to Medium | Medium to Full | Pleasant |
I bought this from my local tobacco shop this fall while shopping for some Dunhill blends they were out of at the time. I recognized this and had always wanted to try it. I now have finished the tin after several months of rotating it with other blends. Upon opening the tin I found it needed to be rubbed before smoking and this is fine with me. After rubbing it packs very nicely. It appears to have more than a little Virgina in it and has a nice aroma and flavor. I was worried about tongue bite as I have that problem with Danish blends however this smoked very well with great flavor. What can I say, its all gone and if I had more I would surley smoke it. Very good. Many more blends to try however this is one I would retrun to given the oppertunity.
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