Mac Baren HH Old Dark Fired

Wow this is good.

If you like rich tobacco flavor, then this just has to be on your must try list. It is fantastic. To my taste it is like Gawith's full VA flake with the addition of dark fired kentucky, The result is phenomenal and highly enjoyable.

The flakes in the tin are a deep, dark brown, and the tin note is tangy and spicy. You can smell those virginias, but the dark fired kentucky is present and adds a smoky, earthy odor which translates to the smoke as well.

I like to rub my flakes out, and this does so easily and dries in a few minutes to the perfect smoking humidity. Rubbed out it packs easily, and lights after a few false chars. The flavor is rich and smoky (if smoke can be smoky) from the kentucky, and is consistently sweet and heavy in a good way down the bowl. This is a true medium strength tobacco, and the nicotine is sufficient to be enjoyable without ever becoming overwhelming unless you are smoking a very large bowl. If you are sensitive to nicotine this might not be one to fill up your Savinelli Autograph with. It burns cool and slow if puffed with respect, and flavor is of a very nice VA flake with the kentucky as a condiment. This is a virginia in the english tradition, pressed and steamed, and there is not a hint of grassiness, which I personally do not care for in more than very small amounts. DFK is spicy, but not in the same way as perique, and is a wonderful compliment to the compex va flavors produced here.

I think this is best enjoyed in small to medium sized bowls, like many slow burning flakes. This burns slowly enough that a modest sized bowl will last in excess of thirty minutes, and the taste and strength are such that this can be enjoyed without overtaxing the palate if smoked in that fashion.

While all of the HH mixtures are wonderful, this has a special quality that makes it an instant classic. The simplicity of the mixture, coupled with the rich, rewarding result due to the steam pressing and aging, make this a very traditional and timeless style of smoke. This never becomes oppressive or overly heavy when smoked in a vintage sized bowl, and makes a very enjoyable after dinner smoke. A masterpiece.

*** I want to add a note to speak to the canard that this flake is "not for beginners." I think this is misguided and may scare newer smokers off who may in fact find much to enjoy here. This most likely comes from the fact that pipes in general are much larger than they were 30-50 years ago or more. This is an old style flake and should be enjoyed by newer smokers first in a small bowl. I have GBD Conquests from the 60's (one of the largest sizes offered by them at that time) that would barely be considered medium size by today's standards. Less seasoned smokers, or those more sensitive to nicotine, will have a very enjoyable experience with this if they smoke it in as small a pipe as they can find. It will still last plenty long, and offers many characteristics that any "beginner" would find enjoyable. It is easy to keep lit once you get it going, it burns slow and cool without the need to work at keeping it lit, and it offers a lot of natural tobacco flavor that does not bite. Keep it small and you will enjoy these qualities without being overwhelmed.

For those who appreciate flakes with dark fired leaf, MacBaren's "HH Old Dark Fired" presents a unique treat: a sweet, yet flavorful and dark, flake which delivers consistent flavor to the bottom of the bowl. Unlike the ready rubbed version of this blend, the flakes are moist and fragrant, and as a result flavors other than the smoky dark-fired work like a chord along with that august note. In this version, the Virginias come forth and complement the dark fired, creating a flavor more like molasses or barbecue than the straight smoky version in the rubbed out. The first light brings a sweet taste, then the tangy smoked dark fired, and then the two fuse. While I was not hugely won over by the ready-rubbed version, this flake fits in with some of the best English and Irish flakes for a consistent but textured smoke.

Thanks to PipesMagazine.com forum member "JeffF" for this sample.

this is simply one of the classic flakes on the market. If you ask any experienced pipester, this is in their rotation (most usually). And with good reason. Its a perfectly balanced blend with a nic hit at the high end of medium. It burns coooooool. Start to finish. Wont bite. And its flavor is surprisingly deep. Not exactly complex, but there are layers at work, but its rich and full tasting. The burley has a real nutty edge to it and there is likely a very mild and barely detectible casing. But the primary taste is tobacco. I love the stuff and always buy another tin when i am running low. It works better dried out a bit. A genuine classic.

First the tin, i love the small mac baren tins with flake. The look of the tin is a bit old school, as the HH line is, two lions with the logo.

The smell from the tin is amazing, i get more Kentucky than Virginia. The flakes is dark and i think the Virginias is the same as Dunhill RY. The taste is a pure tobacco taste, and i love it. Coming from Denmark where Mac Baren also is coming from, i have tried most of their tobaccos, i do smoke aromatics almost every day but not the ones from Mac Baren they are just bad. I was beginning to think what they should do to up their products and then HH line came.. wow.

I cant recommend this blend enough.

Wonderful, plum / Xmas pudding note in a tin of small medium cut flakes just the right size for a small to medium Dublin bowl.

Another tobacco that didn't set me on fire at first but 3 months in the jar was well rewarded with a wonderful mature plum / raisin / brandyish burley tasting smoke that had me rushing to the tobacconist to buy another couple of tins for cellaring.

The dark flake packs and burns perfectly with a cool burn and great taste to the bottom of the bowl which comes all too soon (must buy a bigger pipe for this one). Up there with the top 3 for me and sort of leading me away from the Latakians for the moment which have been very much my go to's for some time!

In short...buy some, open the tin try it and then jar for a couple of months and try again...you will reap the rewards as I did.

These flakes are beautifully presented in typical MacBaren style - they are a beautiful dark colour like Irish Flake, but seem to be a thinner cut and break apart more easily.

The aroma is a fresh rich earthy densness that just invites you to breath in deeply, hold, and very slowly exhale, before hurrying back for more. This is a quality tobacco, oozing class, but not afraid to rumble if the company requires it.

First bowl I did a fold and stuff in a beautiful Danish acorn, fairly loosely packed (as is my preference). Charring light produced a good quantity of smoke of a fairly solid consistency, full of flavour - a good tobacco honesty, with a healthy dollop of what I think was a virginia sweetness. Let it go out. Sit for a bit and admire the pipe, letting the tobacco rest.

True light and good, dense smoke, with huge amounts of flavour, deep tones, with what I can only describe as a fizzy sweetness coming through. A few draws in and it's out!!! Turns out it's a bit of a devil to keep lit. May be my packing, my smoking technique, the moistness of the flake, or a combo of all three. But, I never fight it, and don't care about having to relight.

The flavour seemed to be fairly consistent all the way down - a beautiful solidity that I can't quite put my finger on, with the sweet virginia singing gently along in accompaniment, maybe a little more softly towards the end.

A beautiful, smooth, strong smoke - immensely satisfying. Absolutely no bite or harshness, even when pushed a little. In fact, it was so good I loaded up immediately and set-to again.

Second bowl was rubbed out fully. It took light very easily, still needed a few relights, but fewer. Again, maybe packing, moistness or method. Reckon it was a bit moist, and I do pack light. I also like my tobaccos to get barely smoldering - gives me more flavour - so I tend to relight a few times anyway.

Fully rubbed out produces a sweeter smoke - but not vastly sweeter. The deep tones are still very much there, just the virginia is a little more forward. Just as smooth, just as gentle as the folded flake. This is completely at odds with the impression the flake gives when removing it from its packaging - it looks strong (it is), rough (nope), harsh (never), ready for anything (I think it is, y'know). This is a smoke you could use all day. Perpetration method produces enough of a difference to suit varying moods.

I think I have really fallen for this tobacco. I like dark, strong tobaccos, but have been getting into light, bright VA's lately. This has definitely drawn me back to the dark side - Irish flake didn't quite manage this and it's a beautiful tobacco - a good glass of mature, full bodied port after a heavy meal - ODF is the Christmas Ale you wish your local brewery made available all year round.

Fantastic burley blend here. I picked up a tin of this on my way to Florida when a fortuitous potty stop brought be within striking distance of a Strauss tobacconists shop. My wife had to let me go in. I purchased a tin of this based on all the good things I had heard about it, but perhaps the most influential part was that many forum friends said it was like Irish Flake. I got this response when asking for a less expensive alternative to IF.

Well other than being in flake form and containing similar leaves, I would say it is not too similar to Irish Flake, but it is very good in its own right. I still like Irish Flake better and am coming to the conclusion it cannot be cheaply replaced. But enough about that. This a review of ODF.

I have tried Burley London Blend and liked it, but I like this one much better. This is a deeper earthier blend. It gives off a chocolatey nutty taste, but not in the cheap topped aromatic sense. It is a very natural tobacco taste. The amount of body in this blend is perfect to my tastes; whereas, I find BLB a little light in that department. This is likely the dark fired Kentucky.

The use of the DFK is great. It doesn't choke you with spice or gum up your mouth requiring a jug of water to get down a group 4 bowl. It can be enjoyed in a contemplative setting on the porch or while doing the busy putzing stuff many of us do with a pipe hanging out of our mouths.

In summary, I will repurchase this often. While it doesn't supplant Irish Flake it is welcome in the rotation and worthy of four stars. I encourage everyone to try it and fill a big jar of it.

This is a very nice offering from a manufacturer whose tobaccos I usually don't much care for: substantial, earthy, slow-burning, tasty and satisfying, and completely without any kind of gimmicky topping. It's far superior to MacBaren's Virginia and Navy Flakes: tobaccos that always seem to me to lack 'body'. The neatly arranged flakes in a handy tin is a plus point also. I'm inclined to describe HH Old Dark Fired as a sort of younger brother of Peterson's Irish Flake: same "traditional" characteristics, but not quite so in-your-face. When I first tried it, I wasn't all that impressed; I guess I came to it expecting to be a bit underwhelmed. Then, rather to my surprise, its subtleties began to make themselves felt more and more, and I came to like it a lot. Incidentally, unlike so many MacBaren offerings, ODF will not bite you unless you positively ask it to. This is definitely one of those tobaccos that grows on you with experience. I don't expect to smoke it all the time, but it will find a regular place in my rotation.

Contrary to what some other reviewers have said, I would recommend rubbing it out rather than the fold-and-stuff method. It's smokable straight out of the tin, though - unlike so many dark flakes.

Edit - 5th December 2017: it seems that MacBaren have discontinued their tins, at least in the UK: HH Old Dark Fired now comes in a plastic pouch (with scary pictures on). This is a pity: it takes away a bit of 'class' from the tobacco, and it makes storage and ageing difficult. I don't notice any compensating reduction in price. On the contrary, in fact.

when i saw dark fired i thought of orlik dark fired kentucky. i should have though of toilette paper. opening the tin, there was no aroma what so ever. reviewers complain of the mcclelland virginia "ketchup" smell, not realizing that virginia's ferment and that is the "smell". this tobacco was a zero. no aroma, no taste, zero. i threw the tin in the trash. and i do think mac make some great tobaccos.