Mac Baren 7 Seas Red Blend

This tobacco isn't your typical cherry cough drop flavour variety. I get a woodsy, natural tart cherry flavour when smoking it. Yes, it actually tastes like it smells. It's a bit sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. The cherry flavour remains throughout most of the bowl. About halfway through the bowl, the woodsy flavour starts to come through more prominently- complimenting the cherry flavour nicely. Room note is a bit more subdued compared to Seven Seas Regular and Royal, but is still very nice. Interestingly, one can still distinctly smell the pleasant cherry room note the next day after smoking. You will also get a nice little nicotine hit at the bottom of the bowl. If you are looking for a nice cherry blend that tastes natural and isn't too overpowering, then this tobacco is for you.

**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. It would be better if they put less propylene glycol on it like Amphora Red and Rich Aroma blends. 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.

This pleasant tobacco does ghosts pipes badly (as do all cherry blends). A pipe dedicated specifically to cherry blends is the way to go.

Wow a first review!

Don't worry, I haven't got a lot to say about this new 7 Seas Cherry blend. I will say it doesn't bite or gurgle, it tastes ok for what it is, and it isn't overly pungent in casing or topping.

I suppose you could call it a 'bland' cherry aromatic which isn't overly offensive. The room note wasn't as pleasant as I thought it was going to be, and I was informed of this by a nearby passive observer.

There are better cherry blends out there if this kinda thing is your bag.

(2.3 out of 5)

Mac Baren - 7 Seas Red Blend.

Note: an early review which needed rewriting.

Contains much less black Cavendish than Virginia and Burley, and the aroma's potent with cherry. The ribbons are quite coarse.

The tobaccos are mainly VaBur, the black Cavendish is 'subtle' to say the least. Regarding the cherry topping, the words sugary and false spring to mind, especially when retro-haled. It burns ok providing it's well maintained, but darn, it bites me. A big dollop of vanilla would be an amelioration to 7SRB.

Nicotine: mild to medium. Room-note: pleasant.

7 Seas Red Blend? Not particularly good. Somewhat recommended:

Two stars.

I'm not sure if this is really worth the bother of going to the lengths of writing a full review but I'm going to do it anyway because I can. I only got this as I was in the mood for an aromatic but wasn't in a position to afford a full 50g, this was for sale at what was a very good price for 40g, only a couple of quid more expensive than 25g of other aros. Also, I'd yet to try a Mac Baren so it seem be a 6 pointer.

The aroma in the packet is a lovely deep cherry and this nicely follows into the initial stages of the smoke, quite a nice flavour even if it seems to lack something, might just be a little too monotone, even for an aro. In the last third to a half of the smoke though, it does fade into a sorry dull mess of muckiness and roughness, as if it's been blended with poor quality tobaccos. There's no tonguebite but there is a little roughness, I think this might have been a different kettle of fish if I'd tried it when I first started pipe smoking.

On the whole then, a quite good casing, even if it lacks that Ah! factor, let down by a poor selection of tobacco underneath. I'm still debating whether or not to struggle on with smoking it or consign it to my scragends jar, to be smoked with a whole lot of other leftovers only when times are hard. Either way, I don't plan on enduring this again.

It is very fitting that Mac Baren chose to give these blends a nautical name, because these 7 seas blends remind me very much of something nautical, something from Greek mythology. The Sirens.

Thats right. When you open the jar, you begin to be unexplainably pulled in. The Sirens used the sweetness of their songs. This blend uses the sweetness of its smell.

I know what is probably going to happen, I will blindly follow this allure, until I smash upon the rocks of poor burn, won't stay lit, and goopy heel catastrophe. Yet still....

Is this a great blend, nope. Is this a bad blend, nope. This is a standard aromatic blend. Smells great in the jar. Definitely a nice cherry note with a warm vanilla to accompany. Upon lighting.... Very little of that comes through. Tastes like most aromatics.

Don't get me wrong, this a higher quality aromatic than the super goops you can find at gas stations, but it just is what it is.

This is a tin I opened two years ago. Thought based on that I could skip the dry time. I was wrong.

Not as bad as some aromatics in the tongue bite department, but it is there. I think the tongue bite from these blends comes from a couple sources. First, the tobacco is perpetually too wet. Second, Due to the moisture you have to relight a lot, which can fry the tongue a little, and third, once you get it lit, you puff like a locomotive to try and keep it lit.

Smelled great and tasted mediocre. That said, this seems to be my palette in general when it comes to aromatics. If this is your preferred style of tobacco, this may just be your huckleberry.

This blend is simply to light for me. Other than at the light, not much cherry flavor. After that I tended to burn my tongue puffing to get some flavor tobacco or otherwise. Just hot steam. There was no bad taste anywhere here (thus two starts; not one), so if you like very light blends, you may enjoy this. My palate just isn't sensitive enough. I envy those that can enjoy this, as many more aromatics are available to you.

This has been my favorite of the 7 seas so far. I've also tried regular and royal. I believe thay are all just a little bland. I enjoy Lane's aromatics much more.

For a cherry, this is not bad. While it smells a little like medicine from the tin, it does not taste that way during the smoke. If you are looking for a cherry blend with not so much of a cherry flavor, this might be for you.

I did not appreciate the Cherry version of the 7 seas blends nearly as much as the others. Maybe it's just me not liking Cherry tobacco's as much as vanilla or Chocolate but I felt that it bit me some and did not have the wonderful room note of Regular, Royal or Gold. If you like Cherry tobacco's then I would certainly try this blend since the tobacco's used are very high quality and MacBaren does not use chemicals for their toppings. I can see where others would really dig 7 seas cherry but it did not pitch my tent...

Had a chance to give this a go and found it was just plain blaah. Nothing special and not a whole lot to expand on. If you are looking for an unflavorful aromatic then this might be for you. Tin presentation was nice, moisture right, no tongue burn, but smoke and texture were weak.