Mac Baren Golden Extra

Mac Baren-Golden Extra. Fantastic!

I fail to see how any true piper couldn't feel enchanted by the natural aroma from this. It smells like a blend of consummate class. Natural and untainted.

My pouch contains mostly broken flakes (I bought a pouch not a tin). Big enough to still require rubbing or can still be sort of folded.

From the pouch it's smokable but if given a few days once the seal's been broken it becomes perfect. Either way, I adore the smoke!

I get no nuances of underlying flavours. What I do get is a superb smoke that's pretty heavy with Burley. The Burley accounts for most of the flavour. I only get a very slight Virginia taste. It's a Burley lovers delight!!

The nicotine seems fairly present. It's not over the top but it stills airs towards strong though!

The burn is good; I started a bowl whilst writing this and haven't had to re-light it once!

This is a superb blend. Brilliant. Four stars.

Golden Extra is one of those long-standing blends that has not only staying power, but a unique flavor presentation that stirs the palate. Nice specially cask fermented Burley with some Virginia woven in, the leaf is then pressed and married before breaking up into flakes. I don't believe there is any added flavoring in this one, just the deep, rich cask Burley presenting itself in a sort of dark chocolate sort of way. Really good stuff!

I'm predominently a Burley smoker or Burley-Virginia, and have been for over 20 years. This tobacco is billed as Virginia/Burley but it's predominently Burley. It satisfies every description of true Burley tobacco. I suspect the Virginia component is less than ten percent and simply adds a bit of sweetness that compliments the blend. And unlike some of the MB blends, there is little to no bite. Once you smoke a third of the way down the bowl, it's deeper and richer then one would expect from the description. Some have described it as bland but if you're a Burley smoker, I think you'll find this a pleasant and enjoyable smoke. There's no need to go into a lengthy description of smoking and other qualities - there's plenty of that here. Highly recommended.

This is a really nice smoke. Starts with a nice taste of Burley. Nutty with a little earth. As the bowl progresses the Golden Virginias make themselves known and continue in strength until a balance with the Burley is achieved. At that point the flavor is heavenly. The Virginias are sweet with a touch of citrus and hay. A really fine smoke that gives you plenty of both components.

Mild to medium in body and flavor. Burns perfectly. No bite.

A pleasant new surprise to me. I took advantage of a sale on Mac Baren bulk and got five 1-2 oz. samples. (I'll eventually review all of them.) Golden Extra was the first I tried.

For starters, I'm not as crazy about Burley-heavy blends as I am about Virginia and English/Balkan blends, but I thought I'd try this first among the Mac Baren selection. I did not regret that first smoke, not one bit!

Something about this blend strikes me as very well-balanced: perfect moisture content (straight out of the bag, fresh from delivery), stayed lit beautifully, never smoked too hot (still getting the hang of a more deliberate cadence), consistent flavor all the way to the bottom. What more can you ask from your pipe tobacco?

I'll also note that the casing additives are applied quite conservatively: I was never bowled over by chocolate or vanilla. Something about this -- it's probably the quality or amount of Burley, plus the high quality Virginia -- that reminded me a bit of John Marr. Enjoyed that tin very much, but sorry C&D, Golden Extra was more approachable and repeatable.

Highly recommended if you like Burley even just a little bit, or if you want to try a solid, approachable Burley blend.

I believe in a balanced diet. To get my minimum daily requirement of burley, I smoke Mac Baren Golden Extra.

But there are lots of burleys out there ... why Golden Extra? That's easy. Because it reminds me of an old sentimental favorite: Amphora Regular Cavendish, in the brown packet.

Golden Extra is the most refined burley I've ever smoked: mild and soft with absolutely no trace of harshness. In fact, Golden Extra is SO refined that it took me close to half a tin before all those exquisite subtle flavors and aromas began to emerge. I kept at it because GE was a satisfying smoke from the get go.

The room note blows me away: the natural wholesome fragrance of burley pipe tobacco with its faint suggestion of roasted hazelnuts, chocolate, and cocoa powder.

Golden Extra is a slow burning, coarse cut tobacco. I would suggest NOT rubbing it out. The chunky broken flake pieces burn beautifully right out of the tin. Two initial lights are sufficient, in my experience, to get it to smolder effortlessly and fragrantly all the way to the bottom.

I finally satisfied my curiosity about this tobacco after hearing Ruffinogold sing it's praises both here and on one of the forums, and I'm glad I did. Despite 20+ years of pipe smoking, I hadn't yet really "got" Burley, though I'd only dabbled with it up to this point. I've tried some OTC blends like Carter Hall and Prince Albert, and sampled a few of C&D's offerings, and while I liked them ok, they never really compelled me to smoke them in quantity.

Golden Extra (sold as Golden Blend in the Eastern Hemisphere, according to Mac Baren) has finally hooked me on the simple pleasure of Burley's mild but honest tobacco flavor, and is buttery and nutty with an occasional hint of sweetness, provided, I believe, by the small amount of Virginia that is added. It's really the perfect all-day, anytime smoke, in my estimation, and I've already consumed a considerable quantity even given my moderate habit. It comes in a broken flake form similar to another of my standby blends, Rattray's Hal O' The Wynd, and it packs and lights easily straight from the tin, no drying time necessary. Relights are minimal to non-existent, and I regularly smoke this to ash in one go. The flavor is deep enough to reward you for slow, attentive puffing, but it is mild enough to smoke all day, and easy enough to smoke that you can clench your pipe and go about your business, giving it only an occasional tamp to keep it going. Being a Burley based tobacco, I find that this burns substantially faster than Virginias or English-style blends, though I haven't found it to burn hot or bite, even when carelessly over-puffed.

Mac Baren Golden Extra probably won't knock your socks off or make you throw the rest of your tobacco into the fire, but it provides a tasty and satisfying smoke without challenging your palate, your patience, or your budget. In bulk, it is priced competitively with most of the major OTC tubs, and in my estimation it provides a superior smoke, free of extraneous flavorings that mask bland tobacco and the PG goop that goes with them.

Four stars as both a solid Burley and an all-day smoke. I will keep a pound of this on hand in the future.

Summary: a mild, all-day blend with light flavor that is both nutty and sweet.

The main players here seem to be white Burley, perhaps my favorite variety of leaf, and bright Virginia which gives this a slight agave-style forefront sweetness. Mac Baren shows its usual ingenuity in toning down the acidity of the Virginias, allowing them to meld fluidly with the white Burley, to which they add small amounts of dark Burley and dark fired Kentucky Burley, widening the profile and giving it notes of smoke, molasses, and chocolate. On top of this, a topping with some sugar, vanilla, and small amounts of cocoa guides the flavor, but is very light although I still get the "cotton candy" flavor of sugar and P.G. The smoke from this blend rolls off the tongue, and it has a mild flavor like "Carter Hall" or "Prince Albert," but toned down so that the natural leaf flavor emerges. The leaf mixture is pressed into flakes and partially rubbed out, making for a nice dense final heap which burns slowly and cool. While the centerpiece is the white Burley, a perpetually popular ingredient for its sweet toasty flavor, the condimental leaf gives it body and depth. You can smoke this all day and never have the same puff twice, but get that nice consistent warm-sweet-nutty flavor in every mouthful.

According to Mac Baren, this is the same as their Golden Blend. Golden Blend is the European name and Golden Extra is the name for USA distribution. My reviews for each are the same:

I have re-introduced myself to Golden Blend (my tins read Golden Extra) after a lapse of many years. This review is of the tinned version (stamped Oct 2008) and freshly opened. The tin note is a tad sweeter than Mac's London Burley Blend which is a favorite of mine. Moisture level right for me, packed and lit easily. There was no problem keeping this one lit. I would say that it is similar to Mac's London, but differs in that it is not as full-bodied as Burley London Blend. There is no typical honey casing as with many of Mac's offerings. What I detect is the very mild presence of chocolate, and bittersweet. If any honey is present, I can not detect it. Although the tin description lists it, I do not detect the inclusion of any Virginia in Golden Blend. Slow smoking reveals a mildly sweet tasting Burley. It is more astringent/sour than BLB but not bitter or harsh on the throat.

Before lighting my pipe, I like to suck through the stem to taste the tobacco and rate its flavoring. As stated, this one had a very decided chocolate taste before lighting. After lighting, the chocolate presence took a back seat, but not in a bad way. The solid tobacco taste was the front runner. There was no bite whatsoever. Sometimes the Mac's produce a slight sting to the tongue, but not with this one. I puffed on it fairly aggressively to test this out. I eventually settled to a more paced smoke which was very enjoyable from start to finish. Golden Blend is a pleasant smoke. Although I find BLB fuller tasting as a Burley, Golden Blend is a nice change of pace for when I want a lighter Burley with a touch more sweetness. Truly, a superior smoke.

ADDENDUM 7-28-10: I just want to mention that I have been smoking this and Mac's Burley London Blend for nearly 35 years now. They may be similar, but they are not the same as one reviewer suggests.