Mac Baren Capstan Gold Navy Cut

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!

Much has been said of this Gold Navy Cut, and I just have to place my 4 stars rating for it being such a pleasant smoke early in the morning.

Yes, this is my morning tobacco now right after breakfast. I am an English Blend smoker by large and will have my fix of English 4-5 bowls a day before retiring to bed with a bowl of either FVF or Mac Baren Navy Flake. Initially I couldn't quite pin where this Gold Navy Cut would fit in, as I failed to find enjoyment like I did smoking the stronger FVF. But then just today, I was pleasantly rewarded with a very soothing and relaxing smoke, 30 minutes of bliss smoked using my Freehand Missouri Meerschaum Cob. And that sealed the deal for me. This Gold Navy Cut is a firm morning tabac for me.

To get the best out of it, I had mine already rubbed thoroughly (half content of the tin) and have them air dried for a few hours. Then I placed the unrubbed flakes into a storage container and kept the rubbed ones back into the original tin. And so, the ready to smoke pieces awaits me every morning now to deliver that consistent soothing and sweet smoking experience

PS: I prefer this over the Blue 🙂

Capstan Gold Navy Cut, AKA “Golden Snork”: This one is much like its older sibling, Capstan Original Navy Cut, meaning a range of VAs that are cold pressed and well fermented before being cut into flakes and tinned. CGNC has more lemon leaf, and little or no stoved leaf (red), and both blends include sweet, earthy, air cured browns. CGNC’s tin note is slightly less vegetal, more hay, grasses and orange, along with some dates and red currants over tobacco that’s centered on a higher frequency than CONC’s. I prefer to break, fold and loosely stuff a flake for a long, gratifying smoke. In a group 5 pipe it lasts for an hour. It makes tons of smoke, and light sniffing is where it’s at with this one. The smoke parallels the tin notes and it burns fine at a low enough temperature, at least it will do, once it’s sorted out. CGNC also “develops” down the bowl, becoming stronger (relatively speaking) and tastier and smelling more complex to the end, as long as it’s not overcooked. Although CGNC is, indeed, “lighter” than CONC, yet I find it a little more intense, generally, with lemon leaf predominating, but still there’s plenty coming from brown and maybe orange leaf that adds depth and further interest to the lemon. Strength is close to medium if you smoke as much at a time as I do. Likewise, tastes develop to medium. Room note is pleasant. Aftertaste is the best of the smoke, only sweeter, as long as the ash is handled properly.

Despite CGNC is touted as “light” tobacco - and it is - it does have some oomph, and I can see where someone looking for a thoroughly dumb and easy blonde might be disappointed. OTOH, this ought to please most VA lovers, and I like it a lot; hence, 4 stars.

Tin note of stewed ripe figs, tart plums, and sugary Rasins. The yellowish-brown tobacco flakes easily rub out. Tobacco is moist, but no drying needed. Burns slow with a few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild to medium. Though listed with Fruit / Citrus flavoring, I couldn't discern it. Taste is mild to medium and consistent, with complex notes of sweet hay, earth, tangy orange peel, mildly spicy, tart lemon grass, floral, wood, a mildly sweet spiced bread background note, and a moderately peppery retro. Room note is pleasant, and aftertaste is great.

I don't have much to add to the positive reviews this tobacco has received. I'm probably one of the few who prefers the yellow label to its blue brother. The flavour is very similar, as others have noted. The slightly lighter blend suits my somewhat tender palate and casual smoking style just a bit more. I wish I liked the exact same tobacco as JRR Tolkien but this is close enough.

To get the comparison between the Gold and Blue Capstans out of the way: I get a different flavor profile than most others. For me, the Gold version is a bit harsher, a bit stronger, and far less sweet. That despite the fact that it's made 100% from bright leaf while the blue version has more matured Virginias. However, it's not necessarily a negative comparison. For me it's a slightly bolder blend that has its time and place.

The tin note gets some of that fruity Capstan essence, although much fainter and doesn't not overall carry on to the smoke.

Smoking notes: Dry fruit, salt, a bit of sour and a bit of stout. Wood, black pepper. The overarching sweet essence of Capstan blue is felt only slightly here. Unlike others, I get far less sweet from this blend, in general and compared with its blue brother. I'm not convinced that there's an actual topping. The fruity essence can very well be the natural Virginia aroma and flavor.

Not the easiest flake to rub out, but still fairly easy. Same goes for packing. Comes in a bit moist. If I leave the flakes in the tin after opening, as I tend to do with both Capstan blends, they get to their perfect moisture level after about three days.

Flavor remains fairly consistent throughout the smoke, although I did get more sweet fruity notes towards the half point.

Medium in body, mild-medium in strength. There's a little complexity between the stout and peppery flavors and the sweetness roles. However, the balance between the two edges is very well done. Smokes at medium-pace, cool smoke. Can be an all-day smoke.

To sum up, this is a great blend and as with its blue brother, my main problem is that I finish the tin too fast for its high price. If I rate it on its own, it gets four stars. If I had to rate it in relation to the Blue version, it'd get three or three and a half, as I absolutely love Capstan Blue.

Idont like mac baren because this companys is not good.most of this companys tobacco have an unormal taste .but this time this company made a good tobacco. capstan originally belong to .wdho company . A good virginia is like fvf.a mild sweet and my favorate tobacco. mild sweet and i field smoke natural virginia tobacco.i want age this tobacco and smoke it...

Ah... that no-frills Capstan Gold! Unprententious thin flakes, neatly tucked in an unpretentious yellow tin. There are obviously finer VA flakes, there are many that are less cased, there are richer ones, stronger ones, deeper ones, thicker ones, craftier ones.

But as much as I love good VA flakes, you'll never find me without a tin of the good old Capstan Gold. It's so good because it's not trying too hard. That's the point with Capstan. Everybody and their dog smokes it for a reason. You'll make no enemies among fellow pipe smokers pulling the tin from your pocket. Some will say that the Original blue one is manlier. Is it really? Room-note is neutral, so you'll make no enemies among non-smokers either.

The frank fruity top-note reminds me of Germain's Medium Flake. Now look how I sound all self-important comparing the blue-collar Capstan Gold to that rather hard-to-get Germain. Medium Flake is slightly less syrupy for sure, but well, who cares? If you're into pure, straight, complex and unadulterated VA flakes, you won't like either of them.

Fine VA's here, but nothing to write home (or a longer review) about. Simple, can be smoked without much ado, turns into fine ash down to the bottom of the bowl with few to no relights. Oh, and I also tend to use it as a mixing base. I'm not really into aromatics, but some fine room note sometimes helps with the surrounding crowd. Add a pinch of any goopy vanilla cavendish in your Capstan Gold and you'll smoke real tobacco with the added bonus of not being hated by the community.