Mac Baren Golden Blend

It's a sweet and nutty taste. The sweetness makes me suspect a mild topping but I can not say for certain. I can however certainly say that it burns really hot and wants to bite you. That's too bad since I enjoy the taste, but this sadly is not smokeable.

Same problem as faced on all Mac Barens for me. Intriguing aroma off the tin but very disappointing experience in the bowl.

Burns quite hot and bites quite a bit too.

For me smoking MBs has become just an exercise for temperature control and just not pleasant.

would not recommend it at all except that i can't give it 0 stars and i think the MB vanilla is even worst

I have now smoked several Mac Baren offerings and will not review them any further since they are extremely not to my liking. If interested in my thoughts about their line of tobaccos then just see my review on Burley London, it pretty much sums up this vapid weed give or take a slight aromatic difference (vanilla, cherry etc...).

I received two ounces of this from my favorite online 'baccy dealer and thought it would be a good stop in my search for a decent burley. It had a solid tobacco smell in the pouch with a hint of honey sweetness. It was very inviting to my senses and I couldn't wait to load up a straight apple and get a match to it.

As soon as I put match to tobacco my tongue was struck like a cobra waiting for me in the elephant grass on safari. I can't recall having ever been bitten so hard! I'm usually a virigina and VAPER smoker and haven't had any problems with tobaccos that traditionally bite if puffed too hard like Hal 'O the Wynd. I use the Frank method for packing my pipe and never puff too hard. A slow, gentle draw now and then keeps every other tobacco I've ever tried from biting. I don't know if it's the casing, the humidity (the tobacco felt on the dry side actually) or the humectant.

In any case this is a tobacco I cannot recommend. No burley should bite this hard. Heck, I can't even think of a virginia that has ever bitten this hard. If by some strange miracle the bite goes away then I will revise my review. Even with the bite I could tell there was some flavor there along with a sweet grassiness usually associated with virginias. It's just hard to taste it when your taste buds are scorched.

I just recently obtained a sealed 7 ounce tin of this blend on Ebay that is around 30 years old. I was excited, thinking maybe, just maybe, the older incarnation, with age, will be much better than the current. It smelled absolutely wonderful upon opening the tin, a nice grassy aroma. Sugar crystals on the tobacco from aging made me hold out hope. I then packed a vintage Kaywoodie Prime Grain Billiard, and lit up. Boy, what a disappointment!! The old incarnation, like the present, bites like a rabid dog, and no matter how gently I puffed, the tobacco heated up the bowl to the point that I had to hold it by the shank! Great flavor and room note, but the roof of my mouth and my tongue need skin grafts!! It is a shame, but they don't jokingly call it MacBlowtorch for nothing! On the upside, I only paid $10 for the tin, and it is a nice looking tin! Maybe I will put it on display with some other vintage tins I have.

-Hot, tongue bite (well surprise, surprise) -Too mild for me, lacking flavor and aroma is insipid. -Good price for amt. of baccy. -Packs well and burns ok but only after 12 hours of drying time...and not enough volume of smoke...its more like steam since it burns so hot.

If you like a light aromatic which will test your patience re: pacing yourself and is a step up from many of the drug store fodder....give this a try...otherwise not for me.

My last MB foray will be the Burley London blend....should be here soon..I'll let you all know what I think.

First impression of the cut did not say tobacco, more like grated dark brown carrot, a vanillish note, a rather nasty taste, very much in the "sweaty hunting boot" category