Mac Baren Burley London Blend

This Burley Blend has some nuttiness to it. It smokes cool and has an even flavor profile. I really like the appearance and tin aroma, however, it fall a bit flat to my taste.

I will be using this tin for blending to add the nut and coolness and I will come back to it as a change-up to my normal MV, VaPer, English, Oriental, Scottish and Balkan preference. I doubt I will be buying a second tin.

Happy Smoke Trails!

This burley blend comes packed as broken tumbled flakes that are predominately brown with a few bright strands. When I first opened the tin, it smelled strongly of stewed fruit. Over time after being open, this gave way to sweet chocolate. The taste is pretty much plain burley with only a faint sense of the sugar/maple casing and chocolate top note. This one just got nixed from the Macbaren production list; get it now if you are interested.

Original Review 4/24/2014

This is a good burley blend. Not nearly the best I've ever had, but not the worst. It is a nice broken flake packed tightly into a 100g tin.

I would say it is a great burley for the money and availability, but it just does not rise to the level of say, ABF, Uhle's (take your pick), C & D burleys (take your pic again) or even Mac Baren's own ODF. At least to my tastes.

I will say the tin I purchased was at the perfect moisture content. Personally for me I would put this at two stars, but am adding a star for price and availability and I really don't think someone will feel they wasted their money on this one.

Update 8/30/2018

I felt this one was due an update in light of the fact that it was shortly after my review that Mac Baren announced that they were discontinuing this blend and since I just finished smoking through one of the remaining two tins in my cellar. It did not bother me that they discontinued this when they did as my first impressions were not that impressive. I have since had the opportunity to try Golden Extra and this gave me the likely motive behind why this was discontinued.

I find GE to be a better tasting blend, yet pretty similar. In fact, I would say that in terms of comparing the blend to blends available at the time it was yanked from the MB Lineup I would say it was most similar to GE, but GE has a bit more nutty sweetness to it that appeals more to my tastebuds, and apparently to many others' as well, since it survived the cut. I believe this sweetness is from a light topping, but am not positive.

To the present day and the tin I just finished, I would say BLB was more of a natural Burley blend boosted by some Virginia. I have also recently had the pleasure of trying the new HH Burley Flake by Mac Baren, which like all others in the HH line, has no topping. I would say these two are very similar in taste, with the new HH blend edging it out.

All of this boils down to me removing a star and dropping this to a two star blend as I certainly can't recommend someone buying this as better alternatives from Mac Baren do exist. Burley is a type of tobacco that always taste better fresh IMO and any tins of this you find will have some age on them. Stick to Golden Extra or jump into the HH Burley Flake instead of paying a premium for an older tin of this.

Mac Baren is notorious for tongue bite. This blend is not an exception to this curse. However it dose have a rather pleasant light burley flavor to it. I'd put this blend one step above OTC burley blends. But just barley.

the room note is fantastic. it has that great burly scent to it. however thats all it has. it dose tend to bite (probably because the flake size its rather large causing it to burn hot.) its taste is missing something. it needs more to it. it seems like its just the base of a mix. this with a finer flake size mixed with some virginia would make a fantastic blend. but as is it is just too plain for my liking.

This is my second Mac Baren product I've smoked. When you open the tin there is a raisin-type smell and you notice the high moisture content. The tobacco appears to be ribbon and needs to be fully rubbed out. I had some issues lighting, but was able to get it going after a while. The first few puffs are full of typical Mac Baren bite. all of this may be due to the stuff they use to keep the tobacco moist. When the tin has seen some air, the bite subsides. The taste is definitely a dark Burley taste. The usual nutty flavor of Burley does not seem to be here. I think that there are some Virginias to "balance" this blend. The tobacco burns hot and the bite only disappears during the last third of the bowl. The ash is clean and Grey. However, there is some moisture left in the pipe. I think that if the folks at Mac Baren would leave off the moistening agent, this one would have been a real winner. This stuff has been called a more refined version of Prince Albert. In my opinion, this stuff is less refined than the good ole Prince. The Prince burns cool, there is a nutty taste, and the price is right. This blend has none of those qualities. With all that said, I still somewhat recommend this tobacco for those wanting to try some Burley without going for it all. A Virginia smoker may like this for something different. An English smoker will find this one boring. And, an aromatic smoker will find the nicotine level a bit high. I will probably finish the tin I've got, but I can't say I'd rush out to get another. Still, one of the best Mac Baren products out there. At the very least, it's not soaked in sugar!

03/01/06: BLB is a real sleeper. As others have said, this is a very good burley blend. It can be creamy, sweet. or nutty depending on my taste buds at any particular time. As with other MB blends, a light, almost nonchalant pack seems to work best. I recommend this to anyone who thinks burley is bitter or has no taste. BLB might change your opinion of burley blends. Smoke it slowly and carefully and you will be rewarded. Pretty light in nicotine for a burley blend. The light honey-like topping is similar to other MB blends, like Navy Flake. It's a very good value, as well.

Update: I have become less and less impressed with Burley London Blend over the past year or so. Each time I reach for BLB I quickly wish I had chosen something else. I prefer Edgeworth Slices, Wessex Burley Slice, MB Navy Flake, and particularly Solani Aged Burley Flake. These blends are guaranteed to give me an enjoyable burley smoke and each has more burley flavor than I get from BLB. Burley London Blend is less likely to yield a good burley flavor and finish smoothly and more likely to leave my tongue feeling slightly scorched. After I smoke BLB I want to smoke something else because it is so light in nicotine, but I dare not due to its potential to bite. However, if you are on a budget and can master a smoking technique that finds flavor and reduces tongue bite, BLB may be an excellent choice for you.

2021 Edition # 430

Quite different from the original Burley London blend which had casings and top notes of heavy cocoa, very mild sweetness and a touch of mint. I have some London Blend from 2005 and the coumarin notes have become really bold over time, giving it a sweet spice that wasn't prominent in a new fresh tin. The mint is gone. This 2021 edition has a sweet chocolate tin note like how hot chocolate powder mix smells along with a mild dark stewed fruit note and perhaps some sweet spice. It's very smooth but like the original its taste is extremely mild and almost neutral. There is less of a burning aroma than the tin smell would suggest but very mild chocolate with a vanilla note asserting itself half way down the bowl. More moist than its cousin Golden Extra and the cut highly rubbed out cake. This tobacco is a bit too mellow all around for my taste. The closest I can compare this to is Granger sans the slight touch of vanilla. The 2022 limited release just hit the market, so I popped open a tin of the previous run I had on hand to see if it was worth stocking up on. Glad I did. I'll leave it for others who will appreciate it more.

Opening the tin reveals nice honey overtones. Tastes like a reasonable mild burley/va mix. mild to medium nicotine and not much bite.

While not great it's perfectly smokeable and very reasonably priced for tinned tobacco ($9 for 100g). I prefer the Golden extra which is similarly priced. Good budget baccy with a classy tin.