Mac Baren Dark Twist Roll Cake

Mac Baren Dark Twist is a beautifully made roll cake that delights the eye. On the tongue, it is mild and sweet with just a hint of Virginia snap. Unless I rub it out thoroughly, I find it hard to keep this tobacco lit, but otherwise it is an easy smoker, one that you could easily smoke all morning.

NB: If you do smoke this tobacco all morning, as I have the last few mornings, you may find your tongue rather scorched by lunchtime. No matter how easily and slowly I smoke this stuff, if I smoke more than one bowl, I always wind up regretting it. For that reason, this tobacco, despite its many fine features, will never be more than occasional indulgence for me. I also find Dark Twist's mildness becomes a bit monotonous in repeated doses. All that said, this is my favorite Mac Baren Virginia, and not a bad one, at least one bowl at a time.

I think Dark Twist is stalking me. Every time I end up far from home looking for a tin of tobacco at some tiny shop, the selection consists of several very sweet Cavendish aromatics and two dusty 100g pucks of Dark Twist. I buy it knowing that we're going to disagree, because I have an unhealthy relationship with this blend.

It gets grouchy and hot if I rub it out before smoking, it gets grouchy and hot if I light it too quickly, it gets grouchy and hot if I puff 4 times a minute instead of twice, it gets grouchy and hot if I clench the pipe.

When it isn't grouchy and hot it tastes like sweet Virginia with some occasional Kentucky flavor, but there's not enough of that to write home about. Several times in 90 minutes it'll emit a sour, tarry smell and taste because I made the fatal mistake of puffing it above the approved temperature once and it has no intention of ever forgiving that error.

For a long time I blamed myself, but you know what? It's not me, Dark Twist. It's you.

It still gets two stars because it's better than whatever I can find at Walgreens.

This blend sums up everything that is wrong with Mac Baren's, in my opinion. This is an unrefined, flat, overly mild blend that bites at the least provocation but that has a nice room aroma. There is a light spiciness in the smoke that promises something good to come but it just doesn't happen. It's not a bad smoke; certainly I found it preferable to Plumcake - but it's nothing that a long time pipesmoker could call a "reference" blend.

If I hadn't had such good success with Mac Baren's Symphony and, to a lesser extent, their Navy Flake and Virginia #1, I'd suggest that I just don't care for the Danish style of tobacco blending. Then again, Alfred & Christian Peterson have produced many noteworthy blends. I think Mac B's caters to a niche group of smokers (those somewhere between full fledged aromatics and natural English-style blends) and does quite well with it, I think. This one just isn't for me. Most Mac Baren's (with the exception of Symphony) will not find their way back into my cellar. But one classic blend forgives all!

This one is just kind of meh. It is a nice looking blend with the little coins and all, not as impressively aligned as, say, an escudo.

It is a light bodied Virginia with some Cavendish (most likely also from Virginia). This one can be a little bitey for the mindless puffer, but offers a nice natural sweetness to the patient. I found this one more enjoyable in the warmer weather as opposed to the winter. I probably won't rush out and buy more of this one as there are too many other blends offering a similar flavor profile that I would prefer to this one.

The Peter Stokkebye Luxury line of VAs are all superior to this coin IMHO. I can, however, find a reason for the smoker who prefers tins to stock up on this one as the 100 gram tins are quite a bargain. For this, I offer 2 stars as somewhat recommended.

I also think that anyone who likes Virginias will not find smoking through a tin of this a waste of time, but just don't expect to be blown away.

This is a really beautiful tobacco to look at. Little coins of varying shades of brown are so inviting. Alas, I have a very love and hate relationship with this tobacco. When it's good, it’s good. But when it's bad, it's bad. Sulfurous magma tongue and gum scorching bad.

First time I tried this was the first time I experienced gum bite. It was incredible. My gums along my top molars were in so much pain. I put the pouch back in my tobacco cabinet and let it sit for about 8 months.

Coming back to it after a decent amount of time it smoked much better. The Vas are sweet and the Dark fired gives a wonderful smokey slightly sweet, slightly spicy BBQ sauce flavor. Maple and brown sugar are also swirled into the flavor experience. All of this comes together at the end of the bowl and it's marvelous. The thing is this experience is only 5/10 smokes.So every other time I have to dump it due to the bite. I have a feeling a little white burley would do this blend just right. To help it burn slower and round off some of those sharp edges.

I can't fully recommend this because it's such a fickle blend. But I have found some tricks to sway it in the way of enjoyment. 1. Let this dry out to mitigate the bite. 2. Smoke in a smaller bowl; too big and you may be being charged for arson. 3. Slow, slow puffing. Puff as if oxygen is being taxed.

All I can say is that I'm happy there is HH Old Dark Fired. Because all of the shortcomings of this tobacco are made right by that one.

I got a sample of 5 coins of this tobacco. They look interesting, the colour goes from bright yellow to almost black. However, I've never had such a wet tobacco like this before. It was soaked in moisture, and sticky, as if it came straight out of a syrup bath. I tried to dry it up five minutes, but the smoking experience was nonetheless compromised by this incredible level of moisture. Endless relights, gurgling, and high temperature due to intense puffing. Once it is lit, the taste is actually good. I could taste some good Virgina, Burley and Kentucky, with a fruity topping which seemed apricot to me. Yet overall, I cannot really recommend a tobacco with such difficult smoking features. Drying out and charcoal filter are mandatory, in any case. Thanks to cigarworld for the sample.

MAC BAREN – DARK TWIST ROLL CAKE About this mixture there are two different versions: the original version (Virginia and Original Mac Baren Cavendish) and the current version (Virginia, Kentucky and maple sugar). Now I review the original formula composed of Virginia and Black Cavendish. Dark Twist first version is a natural aromatic mixture, with a little bit of casing due to the Black Cavendish. In fact in this blend there is Original MB Cavendish and not Modern MB Cavendish. That means that Black Cavendish is produced mainly with Burley to which sugar and flavors are added. Anyway not a lot of casing is employed. (On the contrary Modern MB Cavendish is a natural Black Cavendish produced with only Virginia and without any casing (natural sweetness). But this is not concerning us because in Dark Twist there is Original MB Cavendish). Coming to the flavor, the taste of the blend is sweet, but natural: it looks like a naturally sweet tobacco. That means that Virginia is of a good quality and Black Cavendish is well-prepared and balanced. The nicotine content is ok and the strength is medium. A real pity the bitter and unpleasant aftertaste (probably a chemical casing in the Black Cavendish). This mixture is ok for Virginia’ lovers and for natural aromatic’ lovers. In my personal rating system (from 1 to 10) my score is 7 and two and a half stars.

A tin of this was gifted to me by DesertPipe of smokersforums.co.uk Many thanks.

I am not a big fan of Mac Baren tobacco, but really wanted to try this as it was recommended to me. I found the VA's to be of high quality, offering a sweetness of grass and fig. The DFK adds a bit of an overwhelming element to the twist, and does flavor well with the VA. The dark fired, while not as prevalent in content, clearly dominated or at least drove the flavor of the smoke a bit more than it should have. I've spoken to many who enjoy this tobacco, and would join them except for the tendency toward tongue burn.

Still I would consider this an enjoyable smoke, flavorful but not multi dimensional. The VA component is the real achievement IMHO. The flavor is tangy against a sweet backdrop,

I'm giving this 2 stars but only because it shreds my tongue. The tobacco has probably earned 3 stars due to the superiority of the VA's and the simple process used to make the twist. If you like a VA/B and you really like DFK, this may be your tobacco.

Very akin to Navy Flake lacking in body, with a tendency to nip at the tounge. To get this to burn cool I could not get enough smoke volume to truly enjoy it's nuances of flavor and aroma.