Mac Baren Golden Extra

The Golden Extra tastes like a basic burley with a little Virginia in it for character, and it is slightly sweet. It tastes to me like this is the Virginia in the flavor profile and not a topping. I can still taste the burley, and I liked this blend. If Carter Hall hits a single note well, Golden Extra hits two, so it is not THAT complex. It is a good, basic smoke in the same camp as Old Companion. It was a slow, cool smoke for me with no tendency to burn hot. It was easy to keep lit.

Edit 9/18/14: When I finished this, I bought a pound of it. This is a solid "all-day" smoke that satisfies and has a great rtoom note.

A very good all day burley mixture. Golden Extra is smooth and flavorful with absolutely no bitterness. It's not as hearty or as strong as other burleys that I have been indulging in lately, but it's surely more refined and much less rough & tumble. The flavor is earthy with a subtle honey & citrus note coming from the bright Virginia which adds just enough to give this tobacco a special touch and a sweet aroma. Perfect for a warm day and it smokes fantastic in a briar or cob.

This is a great example of a burley that can easily be an all day smoke. Very smooth lightly sweet and will not bite. The nuttiness and sweetness you would expect is here and it has a very nice, pipey, sidestream.

The flavoring noted in the above caption is of cocoa/chocolate. I don't think this has a topping of these flavors. If there is a topping I would guess that it is one of honey or something sugary such as that. I don't like chocolate toppings, but I do enjoy the natural chocolate like taste that comes off a robust burley. Golden Extra is more about the latter than the former.

While this has a decent amount of nicotine, it is not a nic bomb like many other burley blends. I would put the strength at medium on this one. Overall, I like it and find it to be a solid three star burley blend, but would still prefer to smoke some Uhle burleys to this, but this would definitely fill the niche in the rotation. Good stuff.

This is a really tasty burley. One of my favorites taste wise. It has a bit of molasses and honey oats taste. Sort of an edgeworth slice ultra lite. Unfortunately it gets a little snippy with me on the tongue possibly due to the virginias. I am however, a bit of a heavy puffer and and oftentimes have to remind myself to slow my roll. I always keep a bit of this one around though. It goes great with coffee and is just sweet enough for a dessert smoke for me not to say it is an aromatic for it is not. This one is scored mild to medium all the way around and a very solid 3 star smoke. I smoke golden extra in my faithful knock around pipes as I save my finer pipes for finer tobaccos.

On the initial light, I was beginning to think the other reviewers here were nuts. I wasn't getting much burley, but a lot of Virginia (perhap's I'm sensitive or something). Persevering, the burley did show up, but for me, in a more earthy note than a chocolate note. I wasn't sure if I was really liking it, but I think I was focusing too much on what I thought it should be, rather than on what it actually is. And it is a solid, very pleasant smoke. I feel it could get aggressive if pushed, but you would have to really try. It is sweet, earthy, a tiny bit spicy, and tasty. Good solid tobacco flavor. I'm on the fence about the aroma so far. (Not bad, but not fantastic either). I think this is one that will grow even more pleasant with more familiarity. I'm looking forward to that.

Different than I expected it to be, yet pretty damn delicious and worthy to be a classic still in production! I was expecting it to be much sweeter, yet I'm pleasantly surprised this one comes quite natural for what I was expecting.

I like to compare this to Solani's Aged Burley Flake, as this is like his "tad sweeter, more nutty toned brother". Whilst ABF is dark, rich cocoa, like chocolate with 80% or more cocoa in it, with excellent, tobacco-y aged white Burley, Golden Blend is more on the nutty side. With slight honey sweetness, but really not much. GB is milk-chocolaty at best. I don't get too much chocolate from it, more rich tobacco-y Burley taste reminiscent of nuts, dark bread and pleasant, moderate spice. The Virginias are really just flattening edges on this one, I can't really detect them much, guess they give the honey-ish sweetness in the back. Typically for Burley heavy blends the flavor profile doesn't offer to much diversification, but the few taste-dimensions it offers are from excellent aroma and highest quality.

It really compares very well to ABF, and will definetly accompany ABF in my tobacco bar, as my two go-to Burleys. Even tho ABF is rather dark, and GB more bright toned in taste, they not only "live in the same alley"....they "live in the same house", using this fitting metaphor.

Not too mild, even tho I got told this to be very mild. Mild+, close to medium for me. The Burley has some power, but it's very suitabel for beginners/smokers who prefer a mild smoke and as a first bowl in the morning. Very solid smoke and a good introduction into the wonderful world of burleys - albeit this being one of the sweeter kind (or as I call it: European Burley (not referring to where it is grown, but that it is noticeably sweetened over here)) of Burley.

I was lucky enough to find a well aged tin of this fine burley/virginia blend.. I'm not sure of the exact age but based on the rusty weathered nature of the tin I would guess it had at least 5 years on it.. Not being much of a Macbaren or burley smoker I was slightly hesitant.. but how often do you get the chance to experience something with age on it without the need to wait patiently - so I jumped at the chance.. The tin popped easily but was a little tricky to get open since it was slightly fused together.. The smell that was released from the tin was amazing.. very sweet fermented bliss.. almost too sweet but overwhelming in a pleasant way.. The same sweetness came accross in the smoke along with an old musty flavor that was curiously intoxicating.. this is a light blend but aged it seems almost heavy.. a little chocolate comes through but deffinately a natural tasting smoke.. It does bite a lot when you first open it.. but after some drying it mellows.. beautiful smoke.. I prefer straight virginias but this is a case of age making the difference.. I would say 4 stars with age.. maybe 2 or 3 otherwise in my opinion.. but a gorgeous old tobacco.

This is another hide and seek blend for me.

A hide and seek blend is a tobacco that every once in a while presents these fantastic flavors, that are really enjoyable, but it seems to come and go. Then I have to spend time slowing down and focusing to find it again. If that great, full round sweetened burley taste was consistent the whole time? This would be a four star tobacco for me.

I have a love hate relationship with burley. For me, burley is all or nothing. I am mostly a Vaper lover, and about 90% of the time, I know if I will like a Virginia blend, just from reading the tin. This is not the case for me when it comes to burley blends. Sometimes I love em, sometimes they are pretty flat for me. This makes trying burley blends exciting, but sometimes leading to disappointment.

This is a nice blend. It is like the gentrified version of Carter Hall (which is a favorite of mine). The taste characteristics between this blend and Carter Hall, are slightly similar. This tobacco is slightly fuller and richer than than CH, but it is also a bit more temperamental. Smoke it slowly and with concentration, and it produces great flavors. Take your eye of the ball however, and it can be a little harsh and lose its pizzazz. Carter Hall requires less supervision.

This comes in a broken flake. The tin note is fantastic. Sweet and Bready. It rubs out easily and behaves well in the pipe. It is good stuff. The topping is a background compliment, not a in your face flavor.

This is a nice pleasant tobacco. Easy to enjoy, not complex, smooth and burns with ease even when fresh out of a new tin or bag. Tin note is not natural tobacco. Anyone that says that ( way too many here) must be smoking something else in their pipes. I can’t pinpoint the top note but it’s on many blends, particularly the same top note as orlik dark strong Kentucky and backwoods natural blend. 3 different blends, 3 different qualities, 1 similar top note. The top note is very clear and present and it masks to natural tobacco in tin note and it also takes over most of the tobacco when smoking it. This makes it hard to distinguish the natural tobacco flavors. That being said it’s still a nice top note. The room note is nice, and the side stream smell is great. Low nicotine, mild smoke, with a medium flavor. Zero complexity. I consider it a putter around blend to not focus on. The flavor is consistent from start to finish. I’m very happy with this blend however I’m Very unhappy with reviewers trying to claim this may not be topped and that they can taste the natural burley and Also the Virginia. It’s not possible. You taste the top note with a quality tobacco smokiness underneath.