Mac Baren Capstan Gold Navy Cut

A solid virginia which never disappoints.

In the tin, I get the citrus notes which make me agree that there is a citrus topping.

I break up the flakes and find them easy to light and burns without any problems.

The taste is straight forward Virginia with the sweetness you'd expect. Not overly complex but the same flavor through the bowl. Can burn hot if you over do it, but sipping gives a strong straightforward smoke.

Nice clean citrusy sweet Virginia Flake. Tin note is subtle, not a very strong VA aroma, but it is sweet and lemony. I think there is a citrus top note on this flake. The top note or casing does not really come through in the flavor.

Typical clean, beatiful flakes like sticks of tobacco gum. I cannot tell the difference between this and Capstan blue, but I probably don’t smoke enough of either with the frequency to be able to pick up on the subtleties between the two. The tobacco develops to a sweet and slightly citrusy smoke with toasted and nutty notes on the finish. One of the best aftertaste’s I have experienced and I think that is from the topping. The bottom 3rd of the bowl routinely delivers a dark fruit, nutty flavor and I swear I detect honey, but only towards the end of the smoke.

I may smoke a bit too aggressive for Virginias and Mac Baren blends tend to bite me in general and the VA’s especially. This is no exception if I smoke this in most briar pipes. For anyone who wants to give it a shot I find that Meerschaum pipes are the best way to smoke VA’s/ They absorb a ton of moisture an give a pure tobacco smoking experience. I find that all VA’s are best in a meer. However Briar’s do add a nutty or woody dimension so I need to have that option open and I find Savinelli pipes with the balsa filter in are the best way to enjoy Virginias in a briar. And cobs are also a great choice for VA’s. I rellly like to fold and stuff flakes into a cob, makes me feel like I am really going back in time and enjoying a natural product in a Natural way.

Enough about my VA smoking preferences. Both Capstan’s are nice flake tobaccos and are a one dimensional, pure tobacco smoking experience. Capstan Yellow, some iced tea and a book on a hot summer day is a great way to take a break

A basic Virginia with a light fruit topping. I do like it as the Virginas shine and are not overwhelmed by the topping. Burns cool. There is a slight toastiness as well. This could be a great gateway to straight Virginas.

3.5 stars.

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.

Capstan Yellow... to me a useless smoke, quite expensive too, considering that in Italy it costs 16euro aprox...

In my short and humble experience, the Virginia flavour for pipe smokers is one of the dangerous unicorns, the factor that makes you spend more for less, just for snobbism and marketing.

Tobaccos blends that are popular for their Virginias (i've to try the red virginias before including them), usually they don't taste of anything. We all agree that water is amazing because of its Nature but it tastes of nothing: well, Virginia tobacco is exactly the same. Super useful to balance a blend, useless by itself.

I've a fresh and young mouth, not burned with cigars, cigarettes or hours of pipe smoking. The Capstain Yello taste of neutral vapour with some far feedback of "hay". Stop. the ones that feel honey, citrus of whatever and other things have a huge imagination.

Capstain (the old classic recipe, not the MacBaren one) built its reputation on being one of the favourite blends of Tolkien, the Lord of Ring creator. Chapeau. Stop.

The modern pipe smokers that need to impress others trying to look sophisticated and with some "Third eye sensitivity" on tobaccos use tobaccoes as Capstain as filter against the ones that dodge it because it taste nothing and costs quite a lot. Navy cut in slices?! "oh my gosh that's so cool". Vogue, stop.

Capstain and BlueNote until now are my biggest and most expensive delusions and, guess what?! They are "famous" for their virginias ... Some of you can tell me I don't know how to smoke them or whatever, that Virginias improve getting a little drier ... sorry, that's a joke.

Blends as Capstain and BlueNote are chic but not tasty, stop.

Tabacco molto piacevole, un po’ più amarognolo rispetto al ONCF, molto simile al HH PURE VIRGINIA. Mi sta dando più soddisfazione nella dritta che nelle curve, forse per la minor formazione di condensa. Lo fumo strofinato e sfilacciato (ancora non ho appreso il metodo premi e schiaccia). Si sentono i sapori classici dei VA, ovvero fieno fresco naturale.Come al solito va fumato lentamente con un filo di fumo, la troppa foga da il morso alla lingua. Nel complesso un Virginia di qualità che tutti devono provare e, nel caso piacesse, procurarsene una scorta.

The perfect pipe tobacco. If you were looking for it, you've just found it. Perfect mechanics (rubbing and burn), stunning, fresh tin note, top taste, top marks.

I cannot really explain it. It makes no sense to me, but for some reason, I am not a fan of this blend.

I bought both the Capstan Original Navy Cut (blue tin) and a tin of this, the Capstan Gold Navy Cut. Based on tin description, and reading reviews here, I expected to like the gold better than the blue. I tend to lean more toward the light and the bright when it comes to my Virginias. The exact opposite happened. I immediately fell head over heels for the Blue tin, I mean like, sort of obsessed at this point, it is going to cost me some money I like it so much.

But the gold..... Once again the presentation is beautiful and the quality of the product is superb. Mac Baren always does beautiful flakes, and these live up to that standard. There is a tin note that suggest some sweet topping to me. Do not let that throw you off, it is in a reserved manner, and in the smoke, the tobacco is absolutely the main driver. The tin note is not as complex as that of its older brother blue, and this one has a bit of that "Ketchupy" smell, that for me usually means good things to come.

I tried this tobacco every which way. Moist, dried, rubbed out, folded and stuffed. I tried it in cobs, briars of various bowl sizes and shapes, and even a meer, and I always got the same result....a resounding "so what?"

It just is pretty ho hum for me. Nothing bad, but not much for me to like. I would like to stress that I do not believe this is a "bad" blend. Based on the multitude of reviews here on this site by pipers way more knowledgable and experienced than I, it must be good stuff. I believe this is one of those blends that just doesn't jive with me personally. Based on deductive reasoning it should be right up my alley, but every time I smoke it, it is a little bit of a yawn.

At the end of the day this is what makes this hobby exciting, the personal quest for that just right tobacco. If we all had the same tastes, there would only need to be one or two pipe blends made. The good news for me though, is that if I don't have to spend money loading my cellar with this stuff......More money available for that manna from heaven in the blue tin.