Mac Baren Mixture: Scottish Blend

Summary: a masterful blend that uses dark fired Kentucky Burley in place of the Latakia in an English, subbing Cavendish for the Orientals.

The backbone of this blend comes from the Virginias, but these are balanced by a dark fired Kentucky Burley and mediated by what looks like white Burley, with Cavendish added for natural sweetening that turns the citrus-honey flavor of brighter Virginias to a sweet-sour taste, and mixes in the weighty, almost fruity sweetness of red and brown Virginias, creating a Perique-like fermented flavor. On top of that, the blenders spray some kind of floral and sugar mixture. I think the honey flavors come from bright Virginia and white Burley, and the citrus from the orange Virginia, with the fruit flavors coming out of the Cavendish and red Virginia. Like an English, this tobacco has a sweet flavor with some sourness, spice from the dark fired leaf, rolling creamy bulk from the Cavendish, and a warmth from the Burley. As others have said, you have to breath smoke this slowly or it turns into blazing napalm from the sugar topping, but every time I reach for this blend and have a nice lazy smoke, I come away from it thinking how pleasant that was and how glad I am to be alive.

A wonderful tobacco that smokes dry and smooth and is mild to medium in strength. It has plenty of flavor and a great room note as well. So if you have to smoke in mixed company, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Mixture Scottish is on the sweeter side of the spectrum but the sweetness is delicate at best. However, it’s a nuance that becomes more palpable each time you smoke it, and this is especially the case with a dedicated pipe. The brown sugar and honey like tone of the casing blends well with citrus peel & hickory smoke high-notes of the base tobaccos. The finish is clean, somewhat complex and a bit spicy.

As far as mechanics go, I prefer airing this blend out until it feels dry to the touch. Since Mixture Scottish benefits from being smoked in a series of gentle puffs, starting out with less moisture makes the task of going slow much easier to accomplish as you'll need fewer relights along the way. A bit of dry time also wicks some of the casing away, allowing for a more robust tobacco taste to come through. Don’t worry though, even in a drier state there’s still plenty of sweetness to go with the dashing room note.

A classic.

This is currently my favorite tobacco, and I can see how the other reviewers go months without smoking anything but Mixture. Regardless of what your go-to smoke is, every pipe smoker needs to give this at least 3 bowls before moving on. It’s an incredibly satisfying smoke with good body and smooth mouthfeel. I know it’s technically an aromatic, but I have a hard time thinking of it that way, since the topping is almost indiscernible to my palette. It's more like a celebration of tobacco. I’d liken the experience and aroma (not necessarily the taste) to freshly baked whole grain bread. The Virginias in the ready-rubbed flake are the star, but the burley and cavendish give it warm, toasty undertones. The balance of bright and warm is perfect with the faintest hint of sweetness, spice and creaminess. It's subtle, complex and satisfying all at the same time. You definitely have to smoke it slowly to get the full beauty of the flavor. Like everyone says, you get something slightly different each time depending on how you pack, and different flavors come into the foreground as you smoke through the bowl, which is just enough variation to keep it interesting, yet the flavor remains unmistakably distinct--this is one you could smoke blind and identify (in a good way). I purchased it in bulk and it came at perfect smoking moisture with no drying time needed. It’s unfortunate others have experienced some bite—it hasn’t bitten me once, but then I’ve been smoking it in smaller, narrower bowls and have used the Frank Method to pack it (not loose by any means, but not overly tight--the flake needs room to expand). It burns well to a clean, fine, white ash all the way to the bottom of the bowl, but won't leave the taste of ash in your mouth. Can't recommend it enough! It deserves a higher rating.

One of the first things you notice about Mixture is the quality of the components - a wonderful ready-rubbed Virginia and Burley mix, loose cut Cavendish, and loose Virginia. I only wish more blenders would take a lesson from this: the tobacco is of the absolute highest quality. As to the flavoring, it's mild, pleasant, and changes a good deal.

This is one of the founding fathers of Danish aromatics, and one of the best examples still.

Je fume la pipe depuis 12ans. mixture scottish blend est un tabac journalier merveilleux qui est mon tabac numéro 1 depuis tres longtemps de part sa richesse et sa facilité ,un tabac subtilement aromatique au goût miellé avec une odeur de thé ....Virginie Macbaren , au gout de tabac doux et naturel .Je recommande fortement se grand tabac meilleur en 100,ou 250 grammes .

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!

This is my absolute favorite blend. I love it for it's balance of flavor, strength, and sweetness. The aroma is great like honey toast. If you smoke this gently it rewards you with one of the most pleasant smokes. It always suprises, sometimes it's sweet, sometimes nutty, sometimes spicy and sometimes all the above. Smokes dry and cool. I love it.

I'm glad I've smoked over 60 blends before I decided to try this one. In the past I became somewhat of an aged Va pipe tobacco snob and probably would have gave this a "boring mild blend" review. Experience really matters.

This is a great blend. Mac Baren's description of different Virginia tobaccos resulting in different flavors at different times rings true. It's a mild to Medium blend and has a wonderful sweet va med body flavor that rotates. The tin smell as well as the room note is a divine smell of raisins and is quite tasty to boot. This tobacco is a great all around smoke. I like it when traveling in the car and when I'm working in the yard. But it's deep enough and complex enough to enjoy on the porch for a longer smoke with a fine drink or when you are grilling out. A true Va aficionadio or seasoned pipe smoker will enjoy this one. It hasn't been a leading blend since 1958 for nothing. Smoke it up!

I remmeber smoking SB back in the 80's the blend was a bit richer then newer version. I think it contained a bit of Oriental and a dash of Latakia. The newer version only rates three stars as where the older version rated four stars. This is best in a small bowl is tends to smoke hot. I find this is the type of blend that is better with shoter and few puffs. You the smoke will get more sataitsfaction from the room note. A good warm weather blend. Overall enjoyable the nictoine level is right and the cut will burn better with a quick rubbing. Still a good smoke Very close to Ed Burak Scottish Ribbon but SB has more aroma and flavor. And Scottish Ribbon bunred much hotter. If I had a choice I would choose SB