Mac Baren Symphony

This sounds like a nice blend but unfortunately the bite is to much to enjoy. I could not distinguish any of the flavors in this because the bite was so bad. Also had a bit of a chemical taste to it. I tried this and scottish mixture at the same time and it seems as though they are basically the same blends with the same tobaccos. They tasted exactly the same to me with the same bite and chemical taste. Do not think I will be buying any more Mac Baren products.

I have now smoked several Mac Baren offerings and will not review them any further since they are extremely not to my liking. If interested in my thoughts about their line of tobaccos then just see my review on Burley London, it pretty much sums up this vapid weed give or take a slight aromatic difference (vanilla, cherry etc...).

Tongue burn in a can. What flavor? Over the years I have smoked several tins of this stuff and it always comes up the same way ... pain. I find this to be true with most (but not all) MacBaren blends. Pass on this especially if you are a beginner. I don't know how this company says in business .... unless I a girlie man.

I purchased this in bulk about 5onths ago . At the time I had only ben piping about 5 months. It torched my tongue and I left it in a mason jar until I got up the nerve to try it again. I tried it in a peterson 307 that I had recently cleaned and sweetened.I got this nice flavor play when I first lit up and about 1/4 down the bowl this horrible chemical taste took over. I couldn't go on and dumped it. I blamed the alcohol that I used to clean it although I swabed the bowl and stem after the cleaning with 151 Rum and never had a problem before. So I packed a mer lined hilson. lit up same nice start and then halfway down tha bowl a terrible soap taste took over to the point that I dumped that bowl. I don't know maybe I got a bad batch or a contaminated mason jar but I won't be smoking it again unless someone gives me some maybe from a tin. It smells fine in the jar. I Don't have a clue but I don't like it

I tried this mixture over 40 years ago and I remembered it as being very bland but I tried it again recently and it wasn't as bad as I remembered. It tastes like straight burley to me and it's slightly sour as some burly mixtures tend to be. I couldn't detect the flavor of chocolate as some of the other reviewers have noted. It is similar to Plumcake except it doesn't have the rum and touch of Latakia so it is a bit one dimensional. It doesn't bite but it does smoke wet unless it is dried out a bit. I've upgraded my rating of it from one star to two.

There's a tin of this under the seat of my car. I keep it there always. I know it's there. Should I ever find myself away from home and having forgotten one of my preferred blends, Symphony is there under my seat. This 'reserve' Symphony never gets smoked because I never forget my preferred blends. Should some strange chain of events cause me to leave my rotationals (sic) at home, I still wouldn't smoke Symphony. It burns too damn hot and really doesn't carry a lot of flavor. This can be said for the majority of Mac Baren's blends, or at least every one I have tried. At half the price per gram compared to quality English and Balkans, you can be assured, you get what you pay for. The one thing I do enjoy about Mac Baren is that they still paint their tins- this being their only redeeming factor. These Mac Baren offerings never really develop. In fact, they never really offer a thing. I hate to be this negative about anything in pipe culture, considering our dwindling clout. I am always more than willing to band with anything pipe-wise in the name of carrying on our ancient tradition. As long it isn't Mac Baren.

I truly love the tin aroma, but it smokes hot. Reminds me of a Moravian bakery, baking spice cakes in a wood fired oven. Did I mention it smokes hot? Also, it had a similar aroma to Ogdens "Gold Block" but not nearly as flavorful or enjoyable because....... It smokes hot!

I only somewhat recommend this blend just for the sake of having a smoke, nothing special here. I will choose to buy Prince Albert in the future instead of this one. PA is more cost effective and works just as well. Symphony fills easily and lights easily. A SYMPHOHONIC revolution it is not. This one is TWO stars at best.

I purchased an aged tin (allegedly 10 yrs) at the Newark pipe show on 3/13/10. I have to say that while this baby bites a little, you can easily tame that beast by taking long and very slow sips to avoid the dreaded numb-tongue. This blend has character, a pleasant citrus flavor and a creamy feel to the smoke. I relit only once and it smoked nicely right down to the bottom of the bowl. I'm a new piper, enjoying the craft only about 6 weeks now and I'm having a ball experimenting with as many different tobaccos as I can get my hands on. Perhaps the aging helped to neuter this tin's bite. If so, and you've recently added Symphony to your collection, put it away and forget about it until you have grandkids. I think you'll be happy you did.