Mac Baren Navy Flake

With so many blends out there that are labelled "Navy Flake", from light burleys to dark-fired Virginias, it's sometimes difficult to know what to expect from a blend so named.

In the tin, Mac Baren's Navy Flake is a nicely blended, light burley/cavendish/Virginia flake. It is sweetened with a topping/casing that smells strongly of honey. The flakes are about 3/4 x 2 1/2" and are stacked side-by-side in a convenient little rectangular pocket-tin. The tobacco is pressed in layers of light-brown burley, darker burley cavendish, and what appears to be small quantities of bright VA.

The flakes rub out easily to any consistency. I find that this blend smokes better fully rubbed. Attempts at the roll-and-stuff method have left a wet puddle in the heel, presumably from the casing. Fully rubbed, it smokes dry and cool all the way down.

Despite the fact that the honey flavoring is quite evident in the tin and side-stream smoke aromas, this packs quite a bit of good tobacco taste. The burley is of good quality, and provides nutty toastiness without getting bitter or ashy. The cavendish and Virginia add sweetness and tang, which along with the casing provide a nice melange of flavor - light enough to smoke all day, but substantial enough to be satisfying.

I would recommend MacB Navy Flake to anyone looking to step up from bulk burley aromatics. This is one of the few tobaccos from this blender that I purchase regularly.

Very nice. I like taste of this tobacco, I like burley. Very good for long smoke, for many small puffs. It burns nicely, and it is not hot. I descovered this recently, but I can tell that this is one of my favorites.

I have to admit that I have had bad luck with the majority of Mac Baren blends that I have tried. Virginia No. 1 is a honey-soaked blowtorch, in my opinion. The other blends not in the HH line that I have tried have all burned hot; Buster Poindexter "Hot, Hot, Hot" kind of hot. Navy Flake is a definite exception. I have had no issues with tongue bite with it and it is a quite enjoyable smoke.

I have to say, I am impressed with this flake. It's one of the easier flakes to prepare, whether rubbed out or fold n' stuff, and is one of the more flavorful flakes I have smoked. It does have a particularly honey-sweet topping, but it is far from overpowering. It may be a bit premature to say at this point, but I believe that this as supplanted University Flake as my favorite flake tobacco. We'll see after I finish a couple tines, but it definitely has a leg up right now. Highly recommended. A solid 4 stars.

I have had a long journey through every rum flavored tobacco that I could get my hands on, in the search for the ultimate navy flake. Now that the cat is out of the bag on MacBite being MacChemical, since German law requires all tobacco products, to list their full ingredients list, including mg per kg, I won't be smoking any more of their products. I received a collection of product notes thicker than a phone book from a friend in Germany, and a good 10% was just on MacBaren.

The topping is rum extract and honey flavoring with a laboratory behind it. There are no fruit elements to it, neither in its chemical composition, nor in its taste, albeit it has some extracts of either roots or lab beakers in it also. Tastes like sweetened oatmeal or graham crackers, with the burley up front, the virginia taking a second lead. Nicotine is medium. Room note is pleasantly fragrant for the first quarter of the bowl, then gets stronger with each puff until the room note becomes fairly unbearable for a non smoker. For what it is, I will give it two stars.

a burley based flake with a very nutty, from times to times almost deliciously bitter taste. during the bowl i also get some sour notes besides the nutty ones, but not in a negative way. definitively not an all day smoke for me, but on some days i really crave this one.

regarding the advertised flavors i only get some rum and plum taste upon lighting the pipe and during the first quarter of the bowl, after that its all burley

definately recommendable if you got the taste for it

Update: i dont know why exactly, but when rubbing out the flakes i get a way better taste than when using the folding technique

Update: Tastes and smokes best when cut into cubes

Update: Wow the older it gets the better it tastes! Score upped to 4 from 3 stars

Update: despite being well ages this tobacco still bites like a rabid dog from time to time, i dont really know the circumstances that cause it, it seems to be a mac baren problem for me personally. its a pity because i really like the taste of this tobacco - down 1 star

Update: I'm glad i found a substitute for this tobacco that doesnt give me the tongue bite - Petersons University Flake

Update: From the german food and agricultural ministry - a little comparison Mac Baren Navy Flake: - invert sugar - ethanol - 1,2-propylene glycol - sorbit - cane sugar - flavours - propyl-4-hydroxybenzoate - benzyl benzoate

Peterson University flake: - sugar syrup - flavor

===> Mac Chemical!

This is the first Mac Baren tobacco that I truly enjoyed. Nice tin art, flake presentation and smell. A honey and rum smell greets your first whiff but if you approach you nose closer, an unmistakable chocolate/Burley smell shows up.

Can be smoked fully rubbed or folded with good burning qualities and not fussy at all. A real all day smoke that's a cross between a light aromatic and a flake.

I like the flavor profile and this is where this navy flake shines. The Burley character is undeniable and appears more often than not, especially from the middle of the bowl and on. Virginias give a cigarette taste when smoked fast but otherwise are hay/grassy and the Cavendish completes the show with a honey sweetness. The topping is not only friendly but gives some molasses/rum and spice flavors. I'm not an aro smoker but this navy flake has piqued my interest for this summer at least.

Virginia lover

I've higly appreciated both Peterson Irish Flake and University Flake, but, to be in my regular rotation, they are a little too strong; so I was searching something similar in taste, but lighter. I knew that Mac Baren Navy Flake is similar in composition (Virginia / Burley), but hesitated to try it, having tried Mac Baren Mixture Scottish, which I don't like at all. Well, I was wrong: Navy Flake is a delicious blend, with a smooth taste, due to the perfect marriage between Virginia and Burley, and its strength is perfect for me. The light alcoholic topping (maybe whisky or rum?) contributes positively to taste, without being overwhelming. Higly recommended!

Openning the small tin reveals lovely emossed gold paper covering a neat arrangement of very pretty thin flakes and a pleasant tin note of honey and tobacco. The whole thing screams of quality. As the flakes are thin and not heavily compressed they rub out easily but need a little dry time.

So far so good.

I can't taste the rum only the honey which I find very disappointing from a 'navy flake'. To be honest I don't like the combination of honey and tobacco but then that's a personal thing. More importantly this bites me like a rabid dog. I simply can't smoke it and I'm a naturally slow smoker, my guess is there is something in this blends that doesn't agree with my mouth chemistry.

This is the first flake tobacco I've tried. The aroma coming from the bag is nice and prompted me to buy it. I smoked it in multiple pipes to see if I might like it more, but found myself disappointed every time. The flavor is mild to the point where it's difficult to taste anything. I also noticed that this particular tobacco left my mouth feeling coated with something, reminiscent of a cheap aromatic tobacco. I assume the casing on Navy Flake is the cause of it. Either way, I would not purchase this again.