Mac Baren 7 Seas Royal Blend

7 Seas Royal gives me a rather strong vanilla extract flavor as opposed to a sweet vanilla taste. The tobacco is very far in the background, but you can detect it. I know this is supposed to be a higher quality Captain Black Royal, but I prefer CB, as it seems to be a more well rounded and interesting blend.

I have sailed most of the 7 seas at this point, and found most of them to be good smokes, with Black being the best. Royal blend is, however... (drum roll), just another good blend.

The product is quite moist from a liberal amount of toppings which give off a rum, cinnamon, and fruity vapor. Packs densely and is slow to light, but keeps a hot ember once rolling. Once lit, the flavors become less pronounced and everything fuses to a generic light sweet taste.

It is a good product with low nicotine and an easy approach. A good starting point for those new to aromatics, but once you drive around the aromatic block a few times, you likely won't revisit this house. The large 3.5oz tin with a comparable to cost to other 1.75oz tins, is a fantastic deal on a quality product (which could bump up the rating for cost conscience).

When I think of the days of when most Americans bought their pipe tobacco at the corner drug store or local tobacconist I imagine this is the type of tobacco they bought. I got it as part of an aro sampler from P&C. Smoked a bowl or two and then jarred it and it's been sitting for over a year. I really don't recall what the first few bowls were like but they didn't leave an impression either. I decided to give it a try again today. There's definitely a vanilla/fruit note to the tin/jar scent. The light was pretty easy and a thick white, delectable smelling smoke. The taste is of vanilla, some honey and a fruit that I can't quite place. There's a definite sweetness from the Virginia and a nuttiness from the burley and they all play nicely together with each coming to the front at different times during the smoke. It paired well with my afternoon coffee and left no goop in the bowl. 2 stars because it's a good smoke and doesn't suck but doesn't rate as highly as the others I have reviewed

OUCH! My poor tongue. Mac Baren Royal Blend has a nice, interesting, and delicate aroma in the bag. I would describe it as cocoa and apple. It also has a pretty decent flavor, when you still have working tastebuds.

Unfortunately, it smokes pretty hot and wet, even though mine seemed pretty dry in the bag.

The real killer on this one is tongue bite. From the first puff to the last, this tobacco is attacking my tongue. My understanding is that different tobaccos affect different people in this manner, so I'd say the rest of the attributes are worth trying this in a small quantity, in the hope that it doesn't bite you.

An decent, light aromatic tobacco. I get semi-sweet amaretto, vanilla, and macadamia nut taste mixed with a woodsy, natural tobacco flavour. About 2/3 through the bowl, that woodsy, natural tobacco flavour starts to come through more prominently. Room note is exactly the same as taste- amaretto, vanilla, and macadamia nuts- and by far Royal has the best room note out of all the Seven Seas blends. No artificial taste and very little bite. But as with most aromatics, it should be properly dried before smoking (~30 seconds in the microwave is the quickest and most convenient way).

** Minus two stars because this blend really isn't an all-day smoke. Even after proper drying, it still starts to burn my tongue after 3 or 4 bowls. Amphora Black Cavendish Special Reserve is a much better alternative. It doesn't bite like Royal does because it contains much less propylene glycol. Why must most MacBaren tobaccos bite so much? Hey MacBaren, lay off the PG! **

Proper dryness and air flow is the secret to getting the most out of this tobacco (and most aromatics). Here's a step-by-step guide on how I recommend smoking it:

1. Properly dry it out. Upon first opening a new pouch, the tobacco will be quite moist. It should be dried some before smoking. I dump the full pouch out on a large plate and spread it thin. I then microwave it on high setting for ~30 seconds. After that, I remove the plate from the microwave and let it air cool for about 45 minutes (more humid conditions will require a longer drying time). Then back into the pouch it goes. This drying out process only needs to be done once for each newly-opened pouch.

2. Gravity fill your pipe just below the top of the bowl. (I recommend unfiltered half-bent pipes for a cooler and more flavourful smoke). When I say gravity fill, I mean dumping the tobacco into the pipe. No packing or pushing. None. Zero. Now after the first gravity fill, lightly tamp the tobacco using only the weight of the tamper. Now gravity fill again a second time to just below the top of the bowl. By filling the pipe this way, you will get maximum air flow. The tobacco will burn better, and the smoke will be cooler and more flavorful.

3. Light the bowl. It will require two or three charring lights. After the second or third charring light, lightly tamp the tobacco down only using the weight of the tamper. Don't push it. Now light it again and it should stay lit for quite a while. I find that matches work best for the charring lights.

4. Dump ash as needed, but don't push down hard with the tamper. Only use tamper weight.

5. Stir it. Near the bottom of the bowl, you may need to stir the tobacco up a bit to burn the last of it.

As a huge fan of the MacB lineup, I am positively underwhelmed by this product. When I opened the bag, I loved the smell. Reminded me of a well balanced aromatic, something like 1Q with perhaps a twist on it. What a disappointment when I lit a match to it. Just not a pleasant taste or room note. Very musty and pungent. Not for me. I love the HH Highland blend (see my review) so I am not a MacB hater. I think they struck out with this one. To be fair, this was my first bowl. I will age it, and hope for the best. If my mind changes in a year, I will gladly update.

Being a regular smoker of Mac Baren Mixture and vanilla cream, I want here to inform everyone that Mac Baren has recently changed their Mixture and Vanilla cream blend as follow:

In Mixture they removed about 90% of the honey casing, the distinctive mixture flavor and tin aroma is almost gone, it is now like any plain burley tobacco, with no sweet aromatic flavor.

In Vanilla cream: 90% of the vanilla topping is gone,the tin aroma has now absolutely NO Vanilla scent, however, the tobacco remain the same, but less sweet with no vanilla flavor AT ALL.

I tried many tins from different country:US, Europe, and Asia, they are all the same, the casing and top flavoring is not there anymore (the bite also).

Did anyone experienced the same problem?

Since I have not been an aromatic fan for some time I don't want to be to critical. I received this as a sample and left it sit for quite some time before I opened it, maybe close to a year. It has a pleasant smell in the pouch and appears to have an additive (PG) which is probably still why it is so moist after all this time. As has been said this is a lighter version of Captian Black. It's not a bad thing it's just to much flavoring for me. It lights well and continues to smoke well through out the bowl but becomes to sweet and harsh because of the additives. This will leave a stink in your pipe so have an a pipe dedicated to aromatics. If you are just starting into the world of pipes and you like aromatics I would say try it. Otherwise move on as there are so many other blends out there to smoke.

One of my first aromatics. The family loved the room note.

Smoked slightly hot, but with an improved cadence tongue bite could be avoided successfully.

Is not a very expensive tobacco either, and didn’t have any migraine inducing flavours for me.

I could recommend this for the aromatic smoker.

It’s a fruity tasting aromatic. Vanilla and honey come out strong and leave a pretty decent sweet aftertaste too.

The tobacco looks pretty interesting with light brown and darker tobaccos mixed in a good looking concoction of colours.