Mac Baren Capstan Original Navy Cut Ready Rubbed

I like this a lot, glad it's available, and I am struck with the thought that it will age wonderfully.

The blue is pretty sweet, sugary enough that if you put the pipe down and come back, the stem tastes like one of those sugar-dipped little cigars.

Excellent virginia smell in the tin, a straight shot up the nose. Can't tell if this is cased or not, certainly it's pretty sweet. Not rough, not biting. If every tobacco could be as friendly!

Very old-timey to me, leaves a sweet/dirty note in the room.

if you love virginia, you have to try this tobacco. that's great. there is different kind of virginias in it and a little citros flavoring that machs virginia so nicely. but flavoring is not overhelming. its one of my top ten list and always have one tin of that. an all day smoke and highly recomended to virginia lovers and fans of low cased aromatic tobaccos.

This is a really well-behaved Virginia that starts out sweet on the light. Almost fruity/honey like with a spicy flavor that last throughout the bowl. Hints of the sweetness dance in and out of the blend throughout the bowl but especially in the first third and last third of the bowl. This is a blend that could easily be smoked any time of day and I can see why many people call it an “all-day blend.” I could easily smoke and enjoy the blend while working and it also lead to many deep, meditative thoughts even as the air temperature dropped forcing me inside. Mechanically, the blend burned all the way to the bottom of the bowl leaving little to no dottle for me to pick out. I will look forward to many more bowls of this blend. The price i a little high in my opinion, and it may be a limiting factor for me, but I will cellar as much as I can. The blend should age well for many years.

This review is of the ORIGINAL Capstan Navy Cut Ready Rubbed and NOT the new Mac Baren's version which I have tried and enjoyed, but, as a Virginia, it was way too fresh to favorably compare.

The ORIGINAL Capstan Medium had a pleasant enough smell in the tin, but certainly nothing unusual. My nostrils detected a slight essence of hay and fermented fruit. The strips are moist but not overly so. I did rub out fully for an easy pack job. The flavor is bold, my Virginia Bite-O-Meter barely registers, and the weed remains at a wonderfully even burn throughout each smoke. Is this one of those rare "I've gotta cellar some tins" type blend? Absolutely! It is not a legend by accident.

Capstan Original Ready Rubbed [Blue tin] is just as great as the Navy Cut Flake. I smoke both straight out of the tin. If you gently sip, this exceptional smoke is creamy soft, the flavours deep but with also a gentle sweetness. This is top quality Virginia with a between medium to strong Nic-hit. The slower you sip pipe tobacco, the more you get from it; and this remains true for Capstan Original Ready Rubbed. Try half a bowl of dry, almost half a bowl moist from the tin and at least a 1 millimetre topping of dry powder, to ensure an even light.

Capstan Ready Rubbed has always been a favorite of mine. With some appreciable age on it, it's absolutely wonderful.

There's a nice honey flavor and a rich Virginia taste with some hay and citrus in the background. A little bit of graham cracker taste too.

The honey flavor backs off a bit mid bowl. There's a nice bright Virginia tobacco flavor, with sweetness in the background.

The honey does make a slight reprise towards the end of the bowl.

Very seldom do I feel compelled to review a tobacco because, frankly, very seldom do I come across a tobacco that I find exceptional in the satisfaction it delivers. Capstan Original Navy Cut Ready Rubbed has proved to be one of those rare finds. This tobacco has everything that brings me pipe smoking pleasure. It is ready to smoke right out of the tin, it is easy to pack, stays lit, produces a good volume of smoke, smells and tastes wonderful, burns cool (if you pack it correctly), won't bite even when pushed - and - the experience is easily repeatable from bowl to bowl, pipe to pipe.

Tin note is dried apricots. Room note is sweet hardwood BBQ and spice. Smoke is creamy with good body and rich, natural Virginia tobacco flavor. Retro-hale is spicy, a bit citrusy and teasingly effervescent - almost in a Fresca or root beer float sort of way.

Pack lightly for an effortless draw (lighter than soda through a straw). For my medium-sized briars I gravity feed the bowl, press lightly to about 3/4 full then top up just above the rim and lightly press to level (only two layers instead of the usual three). Test draw before charring light - again it should be effortless for the best experience with this tobacco. Can be a tad stubborn to take a charring light - I char twice before the true light. Once lit tamp lightly every few minutes to keep the coal seated. Very seldom do I have to re-light if I keep it tamped. I generally get an effortless 30-35 minute smoke before the coal reaches the dottle zone in the heel. Don't attempt to relight the dottle as the taste becomes a bit acrid. Anything above the dottle zone seems to do fine with re-light and/or DGT.

A wonderful, tasty, satisfying, no fuss tobacco that I highly recommend.

A very nice medium to full bodied straight Virginia blend. Tin note offers citrus, hay, fresh tomato, little grass. Rubbed out flakes are quite chunky, you can still fold and stuff if you like. My tin came a little moist. I give it at least 45 minutes drying time before smoking. This one offers a lot more flavors than it's brother/sister blend Capstan Gold. Rich dark Virginias smoke sweet, tangy, a little spicy, with hints of fermented fruits and hay. Flavor is consistent throughout the bowl. May get a little harsh if pushed. Very easy to light and keep it lit. Requires a few relights. I have yet to try the flake version and compare with ready rubbed. I came to prefer original navy cut (Blue) to the Capstan Gold version. Highly recommended for Virginia lovers. I will stock up on this to age even more. I bet this will become a phenomenal Virginia blend after aging for at least 5 years. 4 stars out of 4 for me.

Pure Virginia tobacco flavor. As far as a straight Virginia goes this is in the Top 10. Most Virginia blends really try to play up the sweetness. This is much more balanced. Using a narrow bowl I found this blend to have a certain kind of depth that was really enjoyable. Grass, hay, barn, natural sweetness, light , whispy, purity, clean, very middle of the road but in all the best ways all come to mind when I smoke this. A slight bite but very tolerable. This was left in a jar for a few months to relax.