Mac Baren Golden Extra
(3.16)
Since Golden Extra was introduced, it has gained many, many fans all over the world – rightly so. The special selected brown burley tobaccos, treated with a distinctive flavor and mixed with just a touch of golden Virginia, are carefully pressed and stored. The large slices are cut and partly rubbed up, which makes this blend easy to fill into your pipe. This slowly burning burley based blend is very satisfying and you will enjoy the slight note of chocolate – a note that all good burley tobacco produces naturally.
Notes: Introduced in 1954.
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
|
3.16 / 4
|
Reviews
Please login to post a review.
Displaying 81 - 87 of 87 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Aug 13, 2009 | Mild to Medium | Extremely Mild | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
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.
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.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 23, 2023 | Mild to Medium | Mild | Mild to Medium | Pleasant |
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...
Pipe Used:
various cobbs/briars
PurchasedFrom:
Estervals
Age When Smoked:
once received
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 2022 | Medium | None Detected | Mild to Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
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.
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.
Pipe Used:
MM General
PurchasedFrom:
tobaccopipes.com
Age When Smoked:
April 2021
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 2022 | Mild to Medium | None Detected | Mild | Tolerable |
A nicely-aged tin, 2015, gives off aromas of teriyaki sauce (I was surprised how sour this tin note was), a little grass, a little cardboard. I load a Wally Frank stubby pot and the flame takes readily. Hmm. Very mild.
Smoke output is decent. There’s smoke in my mouth, but not much flavor. A little woodiness, a little sweet grain, a little cardboard, all reticent, none taking center stage. The cardboard reminds me of Robert McConnell’s Scottish Cake, and so does the mild flavor. I don’t get any of the sour notes of the tin aroma in the smoking. There is a small bitter taste, typical of some of the burleys I’ve smoked, but it’s okay. Not a major player, but yet not contributing to any complexity. It’s just there. No changes as you go down the bowl.
I don’t get much of a nicotine hit either. Burns a little hot. And that’s mostly it. No flavor development or increase on the retrohale. The woodsiness and cereal are pleasant, to be sure. They just need to be amped up four or five notches to be satisfying.
Overall, I’m afraid this is just “meh”. Do burleys tend to age badly? Sometimes you get something like a Peterson’s Irish Flake, strong and potent and flavorful, and sometimes you get this: just something to smoke. Underwhelming.
Smoke output is decent. There’s smoke in my mouth, but not much flavor. A little woodiness, a little sweet grain, a little cardboard, all reticent, none taking center stage. The cardboard reminds me of Robert McConnell’s Scottish Cake, and so does the mild flavor. I don’t get any of the sour notes of the tin aroma in the smoking. There is a small bitter taste, typical of some of the burleys I’ve smoked, but it’s okay. Not a major player, but yet not contributing to any complexity. It’s just there. No changes as you go down the bowl.
I don’t get much of a nicotine hit either. Burns a little hot. And that’s mostly it. No flavor development or increase on the retrohale. The woodsiness and cereal are pleasant, to be sure. They just need to be amped up four or five notches to be satisfying.
Overall, I’m afraid this is just “meh”. Do burleys tend to age badly? Sometimes you get something like a Peterson’s Irish Flake, strong and potent and flavorful, and sometimes you get this: just something to smoke. Underwhelming.
Pipe Used:
Wally Frank stubby pot
Age When Smoked:
7 years
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 2021 | Mild to Medium | Extremely Mild | Mild to Medium | Very Pleasant |
I came across a three year old tin of this at my local spot. Impulse bought it because I’m a burly fan. Glad I did. This stuff is super satisfying. The Virginia’s work perfectly with the burleys, and they both work perfectly with me. Double thumbs up
Pipe Used:
Morgan Bones Fat Frog
PurchasedFrom:
Local B&M
Age When Smoked:
3 years
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 06, 2020 | Mild | Very Mild | Mild to Medium | Tolerable |
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.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Jan 25, 2010 | Medium | Very Mild | Mild | Pleasant |
I haven't smoked much of this blend, but am not terribly impressed.
I like burley blends, and this one doesn't have a lot of flavor. I'm not sure what they did with the leaf, but it almost seems to have had the flavor removed, if such a thing is possible. I prefer Prince Albert, Carter Hall, and pretty much any of the C&D burley blends to this.
It doesn't bite, or at least I can't report the classic MacBaren blowtorch phenomenon, and it is well behaved in the pipe, smokes dry and relatively cool.
I will smoke another bowl or two just to confirm my opinion, but at the moment, this is a candidate for the give away pile...
UPDATE Jan 31 2010 I'm confirming my earlier review, and basically, I just don't see the point of smoking this tobacco. It does have a slight bite, and essentially zero flavor. When most of the flavor I get in the smoke is the tobacco I last smoked in the pipe -- note I said most! -- then why bother?
I like burley blends, and this one doesn't have a lot of flavor. I'm not sure what they did with the leaf, but it almost seems to have had the flavor removed, if such a thing is possible. I prefer Prince Albert, Carter Hall, and pretty much any of the C&D burley blends to this.
It doesn't bite, or at least I can't report the classic MacBaren blowtorch phenomenon, and it is well behaved in the pipe, smokes dry and relatively cool.
I will smoke another bowl or two just to confirm my opinion, but at the moment, this is a candidate for the give away pile...
UPDATE Jan 31 2010 I'm confirming my earlier review, and basically, I just don't see the point of smoking this tobacco. It does have a slight bite, and essentially zero flavor. When most of the flavor I get in the smoke is the tobacco I last smoked in the pipe -- note I said most! -- then why bother?
target="_blank"
