Mac Baren 7 Seas Black Blend

The toasty, sugary black cavendish is processed from Virginia. Though this blend is heavily topped, you can manage to get a little tobacco taste, e.g. grass and tart and tangy citrus. The rich vanilla stands out a little over the licorice, cocoa, caramel and amaretto, the latter being the next obvious topping. The strength and taste levels are mild. The nic-hit is very mild. No chance of bite or harshness. The tobacco needs a light dry time. Burns cool, clean and a little slow with a deeply sweet, smooth, mildly creamy consistent flavor that never weakens. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl. Requires some relights, though the number really depends on whether or not - or how much - dry time you give it. Has pleasant, short lived after taste and room note. An easy going all day smoke.

-JimInks

Just a few weeks ago I received my entire line of the Mac Baren 7 Seas blends and was eager to try them all. The company is really proud of these blends and I can understand why. The aromatic flavoring must be a new invention because I've never tasted anything quite like them. Cool and mostly dry burning, 7 Seas Black offers a great variety of flavors and - yippee! - tobacco is one of them! A very refreshing taste sensation that is not at all strong or overwhelming, but lets you know you are smoking pipe tobacco with a very sweet taste. I loved the presentation of liquor in the flavoring of 7 Seas Black as I smoked.

Pipestud

A truly fine aromatic offering from MacBaren. Upon opening the tin, you are greeted with a powerful, some may consider overwhelming, scent of amaretto and to me, rum. This however, translates gracefully into the taste of the tobacco, notable, but not as cloyingly sweet as the tin aroma. For the fan of sweet aromatics, you would be hard pressed to find amore fulfilling smoke. As with all MacBaren tobaccos, it will benifit from some dry time, especially from a freshly opened tin. I let mine spend half an hour on a countertop, and it wouldn't bite no matter how quickly I puffed.

If you're looking for something dry, then you'd best move along. For those looking for a dessert like smoke, then this may fit the bill.

This one is my favorite in the seven seas blends because it is less sweet than the 4 others with more "dark" flavor, this is a black, wet Cavendish that tastes like: licorice + amaretto+ chocolate + vanilla, it is MILD and gentle on the tongue with delightful "pancake" room note.

this is a very good aromatic that I would highly recommend, however,Vanilla Cream is still better than this one.

Chocolate. Pure dark chocolate with a hint of coconut is what I get from the tin note and taste. The room note is outstanding! I thoroughly enjoyed this one as well as the other 7 Seas blends (Regular and Royal). And while I hate to use a tired cliche here, this is coming from a guy who, with a few notable exceptions, doesn't normally like aromatics.

Black Blend is my favorite of the 7 Seas line.

Mac Baren - 7 Seas Black Blend.

I couldn't be more impressed with the moisture of the fresh tobacco, and as the name implies, the ribbons are very dark. As well as being dark, they're also coarse, with the inclusion of a few larger leaf-like pieces.

The smoke from 7 Seas Black? Well, it's aromatic, but quite soft; the liquorice gives a tiny bit of flavour, but isn't at all astringent. The rest of the aromatics join together to form a relaxed and smooth taste. Because this is a straight black Cavendish the only real character from the weed is the usual caramel-vanilla one, like in most B.C.'s. It isn't a mammoth biter, but can give me a bit of a nip unless it's sipped. Although bite's a negative feature with the smoke, a positive is the thickness: it gives huge palpable plumes!

The nicotine's mild and the room-note's very nice, leaving behind a lasting aroma.

Because of the bite, three stars.

Recommended.

Update: after a fair few bowls, despite the bite, I'm increasing the rating to four!..... Highly recommended.

This is a blend I could smoke often. The added top flavors are not to overpowering of the fine Cavendish. The aroma from the tin is very nice and the room note is wife and daughter approved. The thick buttery smoke has a pleasant mouth feel with no bite. This is an all day smoke.

A pleasurable, cool smoking straight black cavendish mixture and one of the best that I have ever sampled. The flavor is a bit one dimensional, (my only knock on this blend), but it's definitely not flat or vapid. What I enjoy most about 7 Seas Black is that the smoke has some body to it, as well as a discernible tobacco flavor that I don't all too often find in a straight black cavendish. And while the tin note screams confection, when put to flame the added flavorings are actually quite subtle. The licorice, chocolate and vanilla are noticeable but delicately applied. The Amaretto topping stands out most, adding hints of marzipan, berry and a mocha like flavor. From a freshly opened tin the moisture level is higher than I prefer and the tobacco feels somewhat sticky. However it is suprisingly smokeable with as little as 15-20 minutes dry time. 7 Seas Black burns slow, smokes cool and has a consistent, lightly sweet flavor. It's a high quality aromatic tobacco, and a good smoke for beginner and experienced pipers alike, especially those that appreciate black cavendish.

MacBaren knows how to produce bell-ringing aromatics, and this is a prime example. It is flavorful, lightly sweet, and the tobacco flavors shine through the delicious topping, which is unique and complimentary but never saccharine, artificial or over the top. Burns clean and smooth; requires occasional relights and leaves only a small drop of moisture in the bowl. The room note is good.

It really hits the zone midway, similarly to what you find in Dunhill's VA blends. It is hard to imagine how anyone could dislike this. I would personally prefer a bit more nicotine, but this still makes for a relaxing smoke that can be enjoyed all day if you are so inclined. It is such an upgrade from most of the good bulk blends. I highly recommended both the Black and Regular versions.

I've seen some dark black Cavendish blends before, but this would have to be the deepest ebony yet. If I didn't know any better I would've mistaken this stuff for shredded black rubber in both look and feel. Thankfully there was no smell of burning tires, just a sweet rich intoxicating cloud I couldn't quite place... though there is definitely some liquor in there (bourbon, whiskey, amaretto).

The flavors keep you guessing and it is a real joy to smoke. You get a nice velvety smoke that is rich in flavor and has no bite, likely light in nicotine, yet rewarding all the same. This stuff burns forever, so you get your monies worth here (who knows, maybe there are rubber tires in the mix?)

While I only sampled 1oz of this in bulk, am going upgrade to a nice tin on the next order. It is worth revisiting. [Edit: I just bought a tin of 7 seas, since I liked the 1oz I tried, and for whatever reason this batch was much less black, rubbery, and exciting. Demoting it to 2 stars.]