Mac Baren 7 Seas Royal Blend

For me a little , but noticeable step forward from the regular 7 Seas.. It has a more "right-oriented" sweetness, tending much more to cocoa and a just little vanilla (while the regular has honestly too much vanilla taste).

It's enjoyable smoke to be an aromatic, looks a newbie good choice for after breakfast or after coffee time.

Compared to the Mac Baren Scottish Mixture it burns much less and while is a bit less creamy as well, it offers a good general satisfaction while smoking. It needed to be relighted a few times. No tongue bite detected , even if smoked quite fast. Smooth.

This blend was just OK. I found that the flavor was not that pronounced for an aromatic. I know it sounds strange. Maybe I mixed in too much 5 brothers, but I don't think so. This is the second 7 seas I have tried. I liked the regular better.

The tobacco is pretty to look at. Various shades of tobacco cut very nicely. The tin aroma is very sweet. Smells like a caramel and vanilla. You just want to grab a spoon and eat the contents of the tin.

Packs very easy. The tobacco was quite moist. I had to dry it for about 30 minutes or so.

Lights easy, but you have to puff constantly for it not to go out. Which is a problem, because if you smoke this stuff too fast you will get a tongue bite.

This is a very mild tobacco. The taste has hints of vanilla, caramel and cinnamon with a touch of honey. After smoking half of the bowl the taste gets very weak and you are stuck with pretty tasteless tobacco.

The room note is very pleasant. I guess the saying was correct - you smoke english, oriental, balkan etc. blends for your enjoyment, but the aromatics for enjoyment of others.

All in all - not the worst aromatic tobacco I've smoked.

I tried this blend three different times before reviewing. I believe Mac Baren was going for a smoke that can be enjoyed as an any day smoke. If so, they succeeded. I do enjoy my aromatics, but I will say this was very light in flavor. This is not necessarily a bad thing depending on the blend you are in the mood for. It burns extremely well, but can bite if you smoke it too quickly. The flavors are subtle with hints of chocolate and fig and can be enjoyed by new smokers and veterans alike.

I started off liking this blend. Excellent smell in the tin, nice mild smoke. Then, it felt harsh after 2/3 of the way through. In the end I gave the second half of the tin away to a friend who enjoyed it. I did not. I agree with other reviewers who feel that this is a fancied-up drugstore blend. I enjoy many other MacBaren blends. This one is not bad, just nothing to get excited about.

I had such expectation for this blend. When I first noticed it I was curious and came to this site to see what others were saying. I read someone's comments (I can't remember who) that this was an attempt by Mac Baren to enter the traditional aromatic market in the U.S. and appeal to Captain Black fans. I really thought this blend would be different, a recreation of Captain Black in the Mac Baren style. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this blend; quite pleasant and mild, BUT....

I am disappointed, plain and simple. What I expected to be a Mac Baren's version of Captain Black turned out to be nothing more than Captain Black in a fancy tin. This is EXACTLY the same as Captain Black.

It is not a bad blend by any means, but I would not buy it again and here is why: If I am in the mood for this type of blend I will buy a pouch of Captain Black Royal, which is locally available, cheaper, and EXACTLY THE SAME.

Some of my favorite blends are Mac Baren's, but sometimes I don't understand how they put out certain blends, like this one. Let me put it this way, if you are making an attempt to compete with an established classic product (whether you like it or not Captain Black falls in the category) then you should:

A - Make your product stand out B- NOT make it an exact copy C - Make it an improvement

This blend might have a chance to compete with its cheaper clone if they make it available in pouches at grocery and drug stores, otherwise I don't really see it being a best seller. Now, I am not a market expert, but I think this blend will suffer a similar fate to Mac Baren's now extinct coconut blend (Ha! bet you forgot that one...) If you really like this stuff and find it, somehow, better than Captain Black then it may be wise to stock up.

Mac Baren is a company that makes quality blends and some of my favorites as well, I just sometimes wonder if blends like this one come out because they need to get rid of stock.

Well, I shall cut this very short.

I place this “navy blue” pouched version of 7seas right in the middle of Regular and Golden. It ‘s just the balance of both others, the former being almost dark and the latter almost golden. The flavour elements of both others melded in the same blend. Nothing wrong with Royal Blend, but I don't find it equally interesting like its brothers.

I have smoked quite a few Mac B blends and like most of them but this was at the bottom of my list. It is just an average fruity aromatic, with a little Vanilla. The flavoring almost ruined the tobacco flavor. By the end of the bowl I wanted to dump it out because it got to be so bitter. On the bright side it didn't give me any tongue bite. It was better than some drugstore tobacs, but I expect more from Mac B.

This blend is surprisingly bad, almost no tobacco taste, very low in nicotine, gets bitter in the second half of the bowl. Also you can find big thick stems in the pouch, and the tobacco is too moist.

I wonder how Mac they can make this blend and "Original choice" at the same time, they are far from each other in quality, looks like something bad is going on in Mac Baren. I should get a new pouch of "original choice" and try it to see if it is a blending problem or they have changed their tobacco source or something. I really hope their other blends don't change.

update: it looks like captain black royal, and the pouch aroma is the same as captain black, the taste is very close but slightly better than captain black, this is an improved captain black with less goop and better taste.