Mac Baren Mixture: Scottish Blend

I smoked this from a tin labeled Scottish Mixture. I'm glad they changed the name because there is nothing Scottish about this. True Scots would laugh at this.

Not much to add to the other reviews so I'll highlight:

- Bland taste with a hint of sweetness

- Smokes very hot unless you're extremely careful - more careful than this blend warrants.

- No goopiness in pipe after smoking.

- Boring. Aside from the tongue bite, there's nothing inherently wrong with this, but there's not much to recommend it, either. I give tobaccos 1 star if I absolutely detest them. This gets 1.75, rounded up to 2. But if you like mostly bland, slightly sweet Danish blends, give this a try... SLOWLY!

Mac Baren - Mixture Scottish Blend.

This is a blend I reviewed a few years ago, one of my first reviews, but when I re-read it I thought it was a fairly inane attempt. Take two, lol:

The pouch contains an aesthetically pleasing blend: black, gold, and brown, tobaccos in many different shapes and sizes. The note from the pouch has a touch of fruit and spice to it, a bit like a mince pie! Moisture's perfect.

Getting a bowl lit is a simple task, and it gives a steady enough burn. The only problem with the burn is the heat from it, there's way too much. Regarding the tobacco tastes, I find them fairly pleasant. Yes, it's a busy flavour, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's too tricky for me to label any one of the tobaccos as being the most imperious, they all pop in and out, sooner or later! Like the aroma from the unlit blend, the topping comes over in the smoke as being mince pie like: spicy, fruity, sweet, with maybe a drop of alcohol. Unless I'm delicate with my cadence it can issue me a bite, so have to I puff it with care.

The nicotine's medium, and the I'm not exactly a fan of the room-note.

I feel this is a more accurate review than my first, but can't increase my rating much. It goes from 'not', to 'somewhat'.

Two stars.

Watch out for this one, she's a biter!

Decent room note, the flavor was quite good, and it did provide a slight dose of nicotine, which I don't mind. I would have probably given it three stars, but it bit my tongue like a rabid dog. I realize tongue bite can differ from person to person, but I can't imagine this one not biting all who smoke it. Decent tobacco, two stars.

I've been smoking this stuff all day and still can't figure it out.

My confusion with this blend started when I popped the tin the other day. While inspecting the contents, I saw every color and almost every cut available on the market. Ribbons, broken flakes, cube cut, shag, bits, and quite a few dusty specks at the bottom of the tin. The color is mostly light brown, with bright streaks, reds, and a bit of dark.

The tin note is very pleasant, sweet Virginia's lead the way, combined with a sugary topping. I get fruity citrus notes, along with a bit of a nutty chocolate smell. There also seems to be a touch of something alcoholic in the background. Every sniff brings out something different. Again, I find myself confused.

The smoke is mildly sweet and pleasant (but it will bite if you puff like a madman). I mostly get a Virginia and burley flavor, but the toppings show up from time to time. The flavor changes quite a bit from bowl to bowl, and even puff to puff. The room note is sweet and non-descriptive.

Not much to say about this blend, good or bad. It is a flavorful smoke that borders on an aromatic, but maintains a natural character. It's the kind of smoke that you can reach for when you don't really know what your in the mood for.

Being so highly praised, I had to try this one for myself. I have to say it didn't work for me at all !!! It's a week, hot burner and it bites hard no matter what I tried (I later noticed that this tobacco gets a bit better when aged). Has nice aroma actually of something not tobacco related but rather like some natural aromatic spices. It was quite cheap, so I bought 4 pouches of it. Grave mistake!

Great taste. Great room note. Deep flavor. TOO DAMN HOT. Tongue burn ("bite" is too nice) kills this blend. Smoking it is like kissing another woman...it may start off good, but in the end, you'll get burned..

I like this stuff, but I have to be very careful with it, I always tend to burn my mouth. Still it has a nice VA, burley flavor, I lose the cavendish in this blend, there isn't enough for me to taste it's distinctive sweetness apart from the VAs. Overall it's a good pouch to grab if you are traveling and you need to pick up something to smoke, but I would really say it's ever going to become one of my regular smokes.

I tried this blend once, and hated it. I smoked a few more ounces, and still hated. Being stubborn, I didn't toss or trade it, but stuck it on a shelf and forgot about it. I went back to it a year or so later, I I've found that it has improved...still not a regular smoke, but its better.

There are a few things that make this tobacco worth smoking. First, the taste is pleasant. Its not sweet like a good aromatic, nor is it overly complex like an English, but falls somewhere in the middle. You can definitly find the Burley and Virginias in this one, although the Cavendish doesn't really come out until you've had a bit and really start paying attention. The room note isn't great, but its relatively inoffensive as well.

On the downside, this tobacco smokes rocket-hot. If you read through the other reviews of this tobacco, you'll find that most of us agree on this point--trust the lot of us, this one needs to be smoked VERY VERY SLOW! It will either get too hold to hold the pipe, or bite you'll think your tongue was to fall off.

As I said, this isn't a great smoke, but it passes as 'ok.' If you have some on hand that you haven't opened, or have given up on it, it might be worth coming back to for a very occasional smoke. For those who haven't tried it but are considering getting some, well...honestly there are better options out there for you.

Oh, and if you do smoke it...a recommendation: only smoke it in a smallish bowl (no bigger that a group 3), or even a smallish cob...and make sure the pipe already has some cake on it. Tnis is the only way I've managed to win (or at least draw) in the battle against the heat of the burn.

This is the blend that took me from "Fruit Loop Cavendish®" to virginia flakes.

Mixture smells like nothing else. Mixture smells so good out of the tin that you'll want to take a fork and EAT the tobacco.

Mixture is waaaaay too mild for people who want something "round" with flavor. This is very mild tobacco and has to be loaded and smoked with care to be enjoyed, IMO.

The Danes have a way of explaining how to fill a pipe, it's called "plug". My experience has been that the best way to enjoy Mixture is to pull a "wad" of tobacco out of the tin and to "plug" it into a smaller bowled pipe. Don't rub it out, don't take a lot of care in loading the pipe... just take a wad out of the tin and plug it in the pipe.

Once plugged (not CRAMMED) into the pipe, light the bowl and then smoke the tobacco. Don't worry about an even burn, just light it and smoke it. If you smoke Mixture haphazardly and sip at the tobacco you'll be rewarded with a tasty, light and pleasant smoke.

If you try to treat Mixture like other flakes by rubbing it out, applying a good light to the pipe and then tamping and relighting....well, it will bite your tongue off. Period.

Hey, don't take my word for it - try it. Pull a wad out of the tin, plug it into the bowl, light the bowl and go. It'll smoke great! Try to turn Mixture into a science and rub it out, light it, tamp it, light it again... it'll turn your tongue into a blister that won't soon forgive you.

This tobacco has a very fond place in my heart and about once every three years I'll open a tin... and then I'll give it away.

If you like the taste of this mixture but hate the blisters it leaves on your tongue, buy a tin of Gawith and Hoggarth Ennerdale Flake - or, a tin of Gawith and Hoggarth Rum Flake.. both of these blends will treat you much better than Mac Baren Scottish Mixture.

But Mixture is like nothing else. The flavoring is unique. Too bad it's a tongue destroyer. Like someone else said, I give it an extra star (old system) for old times sake. I wonder if the new Flake version is as bitey as this is?