Mac Baren Golden Blend

Mac Baren-Golden Blend. Fantastic!

I fail to see how any true piper couldn't feel enchanted by the natural aroma from this. It smells like a blend of consummate class. Natural and untainted.

My pouch contains mostly broken flakes (I bought a pouch not a tin). Big enough to still require rubbing or can still be sort of folded.

From the pouch it's smokeable but if given a few days once the seals been broken it becomes perfect. Either way, I adore the smoke!

I get no nuances of underlying flavours. What I do get is a superb smoke that's pretty heavy with Burley. The Burley accounts for most of the flavour. I only get a very slight Virginia taste. It's a Burley lovers delight!!

The nicotine seems fairly present. It's not over the top but it stills airs towards strong though!

The burn is good; I started a bowl whilst writing this and haven't had to re-light it once!

This is a superb blend. Brilliant. Four stars.

Highly recommended.

One of the best Burley's out there. I thought it would have that honey-on-toast sweetness, typical of many Mac Barens (and which some fellow pipe smokers abhor). But to my surprise this was a wonderfull natural tasting tobacco, very discreet yet flavorsome, easy to light and easy to smoke. Nothing spectacular, but very reliable, simple, and easy going. Strongly recommended to those who wish to try natural tasting tobacco or expand their Burley experience beyond Prince Albert and the like.

I have a pouch of Golden Blend, and I have been quite hesitant to smoke it. It has been on my deck for more than a year. Something made me go for it, and I must say: what a surprise! Strong burley presence through the whole smoke. Smokes good, no tongue bite, medium palate warmth (unlike the London Blend Burley) and taste is preserved all along. Voluptuous and straightforward in the same time. I definitely recommend it for a nice cool afternoon.

King Tut had a butt and, well, lets just say the color was Gold just like this Golden Blend.

I remember the day that I first discovered the color of King Tut's butt. It was many, many years ago.

Me and some of my old friends from the club in London had decided to go on an expedition to Egypt to look for lost treasure in the late of 1922. It was really more of an all inclusive vacation where we gave native children candy, shot exotic beasts after luring them in with bait, and committed adultery with young Egyptian women half our age, but we did decide to waste time and money searching for lost treasure of ancient kings. There was one thing that we were after, a treasure rumored for centuries by the natives; The Butt of King Tut. The legend had it that King Tut had a butt and that the color was unknown. There was much conjecture in the folklore; some said it was red, some said yellow and some even said blue. But the main-line legend went that King Tut's butt was made of pure gold and that he was buried with it. So we set out to find it.

What began as a short trip, quickly became a year long pursuit and dead end after dead end. I remember that fateful day when we stumbled across a door with an Egyptian inscription that roughly translated to "Golden Ass." We knew that we had finally reached our destination. My colleague, Harold and I wanted badly to open it, and couldn't wait to tell the others, so we had a native assistant (or "trap bait" as we called them) open it up, knowing full well that there was likely a lethal booby trap waiting to kill the one that would walk in first. And sure enough, after he pried it open, spikes shot down from the roof and skewered him in the similar fashion of a Kabob. We proceeded into the room and merely moved his dead, lifeless body off to the side... we had gotten what we paid for.

Once inside, we saw treasure beyond our wildest dreams filling the room to the ceiling in a chaotically organized way. And there in the middle we saw King Tut's butt. The butt was pure gold. The legend was true. King Tut's butt was real. Both Harold and I rushed towards it, hands touching the golden apple bottom at the same time. At that point we looked at each other and knew that only one of us was going to leave this place alive. Both of us reached for out knives and set 10 paces from each other to begin our battle. Harold began to come forward at me, but then I remembered the gun I had holstered at my side. A gun was something that Harold lacked. And since I was much richer than Harold, I had one. So I took it out and shot him in the leg. I wanted to savor my victory.

After shooting him, Harold begged me or mercy and begged that he might have the Butt for himself. He gave me a pity story about how he was penniless and needed the money to save his children from starvation. I merely told him that i had more important things to think about; like glory and egyptian prostitutes.

After removing the Butt from its sacred resting place, the room began to shake and the doors began to close from the inside. At this point I truly was faced with a choice. My friend Harold, or the Legendary Butt of King Tut. Naturally I chose the butt, glory and prostitutes. Harold's bones I'm sure are rotting there to this day.

Everytime I smoke this blend I gaze once more upon the butt that sits above my mantle and remind myself of the glory days.

I am surprised at how satisfying this blend is. And the quality of the leaf is noteworthy.

This tobacco is pleasant; it's not wimpy and it doesn't overwhelm. The light honey casing complements the burley tobacco quite well.

I had been smoking VaPers, VAs, and English & Balkan blends and had the urge to try something else. So I turned to a one-year-old tin (labelled "Golden Extra") sitting in my "cellar." Maybe the small amount of aging has something to do with it, but for whatever reason, this burley blend really did the trick!

I enjoy many types of pipe tobacco; this hobby seems to offer a veritable smorgasbord of options. I had in recent months smoked few burleys. But Golden Blend out-did several really good Virginias over the past few weeks.

A creamy mouthfeel, along with a hint of honey and chocolate, accompanied a natural tobacco taste...when I dried it a little and "sipped" without puffing too vigorously (a technique properly advocated by many learned reviewers on this site, particularly Sasquatch).

Golden Blend (a.k.a. Golden Extra) gets a gold medal. Four out of four stars.

Govern Yourself Accordingly,

SmokeKing David

Delicious. My favourite burley. Burns easily and smokes cool when packed loosely. Tin note is mainly tobacco leaf with just a whiff of yellow sultanas and cocao. Mouth feel is excellent with no bite. Slightly sweet with just enough tang. The taste of natural tobacco takes centre stage but a host of nuances add to the appeal: earth, wood, cocao, a touch of honey and even leather. On the smoker's nose, the smoke is delicious too. For bystanders, the room note is relatively light and non-offensive. In my book, just a great tobacco!

Burley dominated tobaccos are a rare event...unfortunately! I think there should be much more burley dominated blends on the market and that the whole potential of this great nutty wheat is still far from being fully discovered.

Here we have one of only few burleys out there and this one is simple and honest in the best sense of these words. There is nothing 'special', 'terrific' or 'extraordinaire', just mostly burley and some Virginia to give it some sweetness - and that is absolutely enough! I love this honest tobacco taste with hints of nuts and dark chocolate provided by mother earth and good craftsmanship.

Pack it loose and smoke slowly!

4 stars!!!

According to Mac Baren, this is the same as their Golden Blend. Golden Blend is the European name and Golden Extra is the name for USA distribution. My reviews for each are the same:

I have re-introduced myself to Golden Blend (my tins read Golden Extra) after a lapse of many years. This review is of the tinned version (stamped Oct 2008) and freshly opened. The tin note is a tad sweeter than Mac's London Burley Blend which is a favorite of mine. Moisture level right for me, packed and lit easily. There was no problem keeping this one lit. I would say that it is similar to Mac's London, but differs in that it is not as full-bodied as Burley London Blend. There is no typical honey casing as with many of Mac's offerings. What I detect is the very mild presence of chocolate, and bittersweet. If any honey is present, I can not detect it. Although the tin description lists it, I do not detect the inclusion of any Virginia in Golden Blend. Slow smoking reveals a mildly sweet tasting Burley. It is more astringent/sour than BLB but not bitter or harsh on the throat.

Before lighting my pipe, I like to suck through the stem to taste the tobacco and rate its flavoring. As stated, this one had a very decided chocolate taste before lighting. After lighting, the chocolate presence took a back seat, but not in a bad way. The solid tobacco taste was the front runner. There was no bite whatsoever. Sometimes the Mac's produce a slight sting to the tongue, but not with this one. I puffed on it fairly aggressively to test this out. I eventually settled to a more paced smoke which was very enjoyable from start to finish. Golden Blend is a pleasant smoke. Although I find BLB fuller tasting as a Burley, Golden Blend is a nice change of pace for when I want a lighter Burley with a touch more sweetness. Truly, a superior smoke.

It's simple, it's good, burns easily with no bite and no attention required. You taste mainly nutty burley and a little bit of Virginia and chocolate topping. It's not heaven on earth, but I find myself reaching for it very often for an easy and satisfying smoke. Very recommended.