Mac Baren Capstan Gold Navy Cut

This is a very pleasant and unexceptional Virginia flake. It is slightly sweet and has a citrus note that was constant for me through the bowl. It was an easy smoke for me - rubbed out easily, came at an appropriate level of moisture, took a match easily and was easy to keep lit. There is nothing complicated about it in the flavor profile either. It is good but not nuanced.

This is a very comfortable, reliable smoke for someone who likes a lighter Virginia. I could smoke this every day, but someone else would have to be buying. It works out to about $110 a pound, and that is too expensive for what you are getting.

Oh, great, this is the gods’ tobacco, the aristocratic courts’ smoke, the kings’ Virginia and even the Virginia King. Better than its most famous medium – bodied blue sibling, this is a perfect straight Virginia flake with a very mild flavoring, almost natural. The Virginia of the past. Fantastic! In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is above 9 and four stars.

This flake has a reputation so i had to try it.when you crack the tinyou get grass and citrus with sweet toppings.rubs really easy and though the moist you detect it needs no drying because it becomes a bit flat in taste.lights with a bit effortand might need a few relights.burns cool to medium with proper moist and slowly.no chance of biting.the flavours are between citrus grass and earth.burns to complete ash and leaves very little moist.the after taste is really pleasant and the room note discreet.this blend is an all day though the nicotine level is low to medium.definitelly a must!

Sweeter, fruitier and milder than capstan blue. I detect more bright leaf in this blend. This is a good all day smoke with a taste of raisins and a splash of citrus in the tin and in the taste. Another excellent Virginia flake. Without a doubt one of my top 10 favorite Va. flakes. Consistent throughout the bowl, another winner!

This is a very different tobacco from the original navy cut; quite pedestrian actually. Tin note is a marked ketchup/malt vinegar scent that seems to have been popular in certain older British tobaccos. The flakes are beautiful blonde high quality neatly cut slices, packed in two stacks, and are easy to fold/stuff/twist. Lights easier than the Blue. Taste is a very mild Virginia, relatively dry - too dry - with a ketchup-like sweetness developing. Overall quite uninteresting. The flavours are very controlled, on the verge of bland, only developing into something enjoyable right towards the heel. The ashy tendency of Virginia takes the upper hand rather. To not sound overly negative, I'll add that at least it's very consistent: flavour and tin aroma, and throughout the bowl. Room note is also very pleasant, probably the high point of this tobacco, elegantly lightly woody with hints of sweet and sour. I would recommend the Original (Blue) any day, however, unless you're really into very mild tobaccos.

I am not quite sure why, but I cannot help myself relating Capstan Gold Navy Cut with Erinmore Flake. In true honesty, they have nothing to do with each other, but there is something to it that relates them in the back of my head. This tobacco is supposed to be cased, but in contrast to the latter, I cannot detect any flavouring apart from the gorgeous Virginia. And there is nothing special about the tin note (it just smells like Virginia tobacco) that would indicate it was cased. The tobacco has a clear and distinctive sweetness to it and I cannot detect any tongue bite at all. As this is a straight Virginia and no Perique was added, I cannot detect any piquant/peppery characteristics either. This tobacco will evolve quite nicely in your bowl as you progress with your smoke, but, like any other Virginia, it is to be smoked at a very low pace so as to not break it. As I opened the tin, the moist content was just a little bit on the wet side, so I let my tobacco dry up a bit outside of the tin for a more satisfying smoking experience. The flakes will crumble easily in your hand and will pack nicely in your bowl. I particularly like the gold leaf appearance of the flakes and the way they have been pressed into finely cut slices. I don't think this is a high nicotine content tobacco, but it is very satisfying anyway. As I was progressing with my smoke, I found myself relighting every now and then, but I am OK with this as I usually like resting my pipe for a while. It does not smoke hot in your bowl and I'd say the taste is medium to full as you past halfway through your bowl. I find it particularly hard to say anything about the room note as I usually cannot smell it while I smoke it. Having said that, I'd say it is rather pleasant and not overwhelmingly present.

This IS, one good flake. Three flakes wowed me this last year, this beauty is one of them. Light golden color, nicotine on the low side, wonderfully light taste—a zest of lemon grass for me. I smoked it folded and rubbed out, both methods were good. It lit well, and when folded it lasted a good long time in my pipe (I liked that). I would recommend this blend to someone who is relatively new to smoking a pipe and wishes to try a flake (you can't go wrong with this one).

If you like lighter tobacco's in flake form, this is a winner! I wish there were more tobaccos out there like this one. Highly recommended!

Gold Navy Cut or "Yellow Capstan" is probably the most plain Virginia I've tasted. Nothing bad to say about it really, but nothing exciting either. It is totally in the middle of the road all the way around.

There's a good deal of natural sugar in these VA's, so puff with a little care. I usually rub it out totally, it's just the way I find these flakes to smoke the best. Upon opening the tin - perfect moisture level, rubbed out and then a fifteen minute drying time...ready to go! But the tin doesn't seal all that well, so unless you smoke this regularly it will dry out within a couple of months.

Medium nicotine, medium taste. Unnoticeable room note but a nice wheaty smell in the tin. No surprises throughout hence it gets a little boring in the long run.

As always very high quality tobacco from Orlik Ltd. So if you are a Virgina lover, I guess you oughtta check this classic tobacco out. It's been around for decades and decades, so I guess it has something going for it.

PS. The tin itself is amazing as it fits right in the shirt pocket, or even in the back pocket of your jeans. Well any pocket for that matter. The shape and size is just very handy, so I actually use an old yellow tin for my fave tobacco's on the go.

Good stuff! Not the strongest plain VA flake out there, but a solid and very reliable mild/medium smoke. It always seems to behave very well, without bite or the need for many relights, and is the sort of thing you might want to smoke while driving or out for a walk - or when reading something complicated which requires your full attention. Also good early in the day when you don't want too much nicotine, but still want a bit of flavour. This sort of reliable flake is what I would recommend to the new pipe smoker; it's easy to use and has nothing about it which the beginner will dislike or which may cause problems - such as artificial added flavourings or more highly processed 'condiment' tobaccos such as Perique and Cavendish, which are often 'love it or hate it' affairs. Fold one flake (or two for a big pipe) so that it's half as long, roll it between your palms a little, just to separate the strands a bit (not fully) twist it gently into the bowl with the strands upright, and off you go. I regularly get 90 to 100 minutes from one flake, and sometimes even longer. This baccy does give you some of that basic smoking 'satisfaction', and has none of the common faults of overly complex blends. I can't fault it.