Mac Baren Golden Extra

This looks, at first, exactly the same as London Burley blend!

Same cut, same leaf, same tin aroma.

But the taste is different. I think there are some VAs in there...Which makes things interesting.

This is my first venture into Burley blends, other than PA, which I did not particularly like. However, I like this tobacco. It can be smoked all day. It is subtle and not overpowering. I particularly like the straightforward tobacco taste of this smoke and I detect just a lite sweetness as an undertone flavoring. I do pick up the chocolate taste others have experienced, howbeit ever so vague in the background.

Unlike some other reviewers, I do not experience the tongue bite. However, my tobacco was drier than many blends I have smoked.

this was my first stray away from aromatics, i picked up a tin at my local "tobacco town" just up the road. i asked the guy working there for a good burley for someone kinda just starting out and he recommended this one.

it packed very well and lit very well and i somehow got away with not having to relight a single time all the way to the end.

i took other reviewers' advice and smoked it patiently and i was very much pleased with how cool and evenly it smoked all the way to the bottom of the bowl.

i've yet to develop a good taste for burley, like i said this is my first attempt at getting away from aromatics, but i really enjoyed the "lightly sweetened" flavor, every hit was at first a bit spicy, but tasty like a cinnamon sort of spice (doesn't taste like cinnamon) rather than a pepper sort of spice, and later as i exhaled there was a very sweet chocolatey flavor after taste.

i have to say i really enjoyed this tobacco.

Mac Baren Golden Extra (or golden blend) is a fine burley tobacco blended with aged ready rubbed burley and very slightly cased with honey-like aroma, the flavor is a mild chocolaty and mild smoke, it will reveal its wonderful "chocolaty" flavor only after smoking 10-15 bowl of it, exclusively and in one run. this blend is soft on the palate with no tongue bit whatsoever.

This is an all day smoke especially for summer time, however, I would recommend the tin container rather than the bulk one, which has less flavor and aroma.

If this is the same as Golden Blend, then the web master can move this.

Here's the thing: it is good, but it bites all over the palette if you smoke it hard. Otherwise, if you can slow yourself down, it is an enjoyable - plain and simple blend. There is a nicely embedded darkness - like a dark unsweetened chocolate - that can be appreciated if you look for it. It seems to come on mid-bowel. It is said to be air dried; the nicotine content seems appropriately low for the process. This is a plus if you don't like getting buzzed. I like getting buzzed, though.

Also:

1) Because it does not knock you over the head, {except for the occasional big bad bite on an aggressive light) there is a tendency to want to smoke it fast to get more out of it. As above, this is a huge mistake. Let it come to you, and you will be rewarded.

2) It doesn't cost as much as some of the other touted Burleys. $7.50 for 4 ounces is not a show stopper.

3) the more I smoke it, the more it reminds me of smoking a cigarette! I have to consciously tell myself not to inhale as in yesteryear. That is where I place it, actually: cigarette= like. This is not at all demeaning. There were some strong cigarettes [particularly European] that I used to enjoy for taste without inhaling.

4) This requires a pipe that is not contaminated by previously strongly flavored smokes. I look forward to trying this blend in a sweetened pipe in a month or so.

In conclusion, this can definitely be a part of my growing tobacco gallery. It is good for me as the opening act, or as an intermission between more exciting offerings. That is a good thing. If it is your all day smoke, then I mean no disrespect Just know that people have different chemistries.

I like this a lot, simple, nutty - light chocolate notes, everything I like about burley. I will tend to go for Solani ABF or MB HH Burley Flake when in a burley mood but enjoy Golden Extra for its accessibility. Great all-day smoke, affordable, and easy to add to blends that need a little tobacco flavor...

This tin dated April 2021 was opened last night after a surprise night shift. I packed my MM General and off we went.

This blend needs just a little bit of drying time, and should be sipped slower than usual, as the Mac Baren bite did arrive on occasion.

Bready, and hay virginias, with a touch of woody and chocolatey burley, just a hint of sweetness.

Bought this during one of the Mac Baren sales and can say that a few tins of this will do you just fine, this isn't a super complex blend but it does its job and well.

First impression: Classic Burley flavor, nutty and earthy. The Virginia is way in the back but its sweetening impact, enhanced by the chocolate flavoring, greatly mutes the burley's more tangy sour notes. Coffee and espresso notes develope midbowl. A few minor harsh spots here and there. In general though very smooth and simple in its burley earthiness. Just sweet enough to be an all day smoke. A little monochromatic in its simple flavor profile. Would blend well. Doesn't seem prone to bite.