Mac Baren Navy Flake

Beautiful looking flake. Mine turned into a crumble cake at the slightest provocation so I simply rubbed it out and smoked it. The honey and rum tin aroma was overpowering and I wasn't expecting much from this one, particularly in light of my lack of success with many of the Mac Baren blends. But this one delivered. Compared to my Mac Baren reference (favorite blend) Symphony, this one was nowhere near as complex and nowhere near as naturally flavorful. But it was a very decent smoke, with the casing burning off almost at the match. It's something that could be smoked all day. But as mentioned, this one along with most Mac Baren blends will bite if you're not extremely careful. I liked this one; I doubt I'll buy more but it's definitely worth a try.

Little nuances in blends and smoking techniques that bring about varying results always interest me. I don't own any Peterson system pipes but perhaps I should! I liked this tobacco best when the smoke was directed at the roof of my mouth. I happened on this when the pipe I was smoking got too heavy for my jaw and I let it relax a bit. I tried the same thing with other tobaccos but so far none of them have shown as much variation in flavor with that than this one. Very interesting!

The striking thing about Navy Flake?a strange name to give a tobacco what's mostly burley?is the perfectly tooled, neatly sliced plug flake one finds inside the small rectangular tin that contains it. A tribute, surely, to Mac Baren's workmanship, if nothing else.

The smell is typical of the honeyed sweetening found in Dutch/Danish style aromatics, though nothing has been overdone. The flakes crumble easily into the broken-flake consistency of so many aromatic tobaccos. This composition burns cleanly and easily, without overheating, in my Peterson's Kildare dublin.

The taste is pure unadulterated burley. Quality burley, of course; smooth and mildly herbal; nothing sour or obnoxious. A refreshing, clean-palate taste: a treat, I should think, for the burley lover.

Popping open the tin reveals two stacks of neatly cut, mottled brown flakes at just the right moisture level for smoking. No dry time required. The flakes rub out easily, or you can fold and stuff them -- either way, you'll get an easygoing, remarkably effortless smoke for a flake tobacco. It lights easily and stays lit, which is something I can rarely say for flake that I fold and stuff.

I believe the burley leaf makes up the slight majority of the tobaccos in this flake. But it's a supporting player here, lending a smooth body and nutty essence to the smoke. The Virginias and the Cavendish offer a pleasingly creamy, sweet, characteristic Virginia flavor, complemented by a faint note of baking spices. I didn't taste any rum per se, but I did experience a liqueur-like tingle on the retrohale.

I found that I could produce clouds of lovely, sweet-smelling smoke even when I sipped the bowl. The tobacco didn't burn hot or sour unless I folded and stuffed too tightly. Packing too tightly or puffing too aggressively will dampen the flavors, but will not necessarily lead to tongue bite.

I really love this flake! It's so easy, so smooth, so sweet, and never boring. It's easily in my Top 5 flakes of all time, and I smoke a LOT of flake.

Four stars. I wish I had five to give.

This is a nice milder flake I like the fact that it is a flake and I use it for the windy outdoors thing. It should not take much breaking up and is afragile flake as is. Burns well and flavor is thicker if you dont break it up too much. Sweet without too much flavoring, a distinct molassas like aroma. This room note is tolerable to most non smokers and pleasent to some. It does burn a bit hot if you are not careful with the puffing and break the flake up, but is however nice especialy on cold days. I use it for cold outside days and use two flakes per medium size bolw. This way it lasts a while, is nice and warm and produces a sweet thick smoke. ***Update*** I have come to like this one more and more I like its packing and burning qualities as well as the nice smoke produced. It is not very complex but still pleasent. A good companion on walks outside. Does not dry out in the tin or come too moist in the first place. This is one of the blend that I keep in my regular stock. ( 2 or 3 extra tins of each of my favorites are always around )

Mac Baren Navy Flake is the true definition of flake tobacco in my mind, and it always has been. It's also an excellent example of what I understand if I hear the word "Navy" when the topic of the conversation is tobacco. Alcohol (preferably rum), just enough amount of sweet casing with very few spices and perfectly sliced flakes laying inside the tin. Mac baren Navy flake has it all but nothing more. So, you may be disappointed if you are expecting an explosion of flavors from this famous old blend. However, you'll for sure get satisfactory smokes filled with spicy rum scented, bread & oatmeal taste enhanced with sweet raisins. It's the kind of blend, which you'll want to keep a tin around, always. I sure do, and it's one of very few MB blends I genuinely love.

Upon opening the tin, the aroma is a cross between light rum, honey and even some plum wine. It’s a little sweet, but not too sweet.

Lighting it isn’t difficult either and once lit it tends to stay that way without any great amount of puffing or numerous re-lights. One of the easiest flake blends to rub out without being dry, and one of the easiest burning flakes.

My preferred packing method (take a flake or two, fold them horizontally and vertically, stuff them into the pipe and flatten the top a bit; finished!).

The Burley is certainly the predominant tobacco in this blend and you can taste a fine nutty flavor in it thanks to the Burley, but it’s certainly not overpowering. In fact I wouldn’t rate its taste and strength to be any more than on the mild side of medium. No real nicotine hit. If you enjoy flake and want an all-day smoke, this one will not disappoint.

The room note is very pleasant and the taste throughout the bowl is rich and sweet.

This one is in my regular rotation. The casing brings out the best of the VA's natural sweetness, and is an overall delightful smoke.

I tend to roll up the flake the long way and kinda stuff it in the bowl, which seems to burn pretty well all the way through.

The moisture content is not excessive, so it stays lit fairly easily.

This is a pleasing all day kind of smoke. Very enjoyable.

Summary: easy-burning Virginia flake with Cavendish and Virginia to sweeten it and build up the smoke.

Some kind of floral or coconut-smelling top note accompanies this blend, seemingly the "rum" used in navy flakes. With this triumph of blending, you mostly taste the Virginia, with the Burley giving it some warmth and breadth and the Cavendish sweetening it further. Combining Cavendish and white Burley at least seems to give any mixture a sweet but not cloying undertone, and with a little Virginia, amplifies that flavor. This seems to be working here, where one mostly tastes the white bread, honey, and citrus flavor (imagine toast with marmalade) of the bright Virginias. These soft flakes light easily and burn consistently for over an hour each, reducing to powder ash. At just a smidgen above medium strength, this blend would be the ideal daylong smoke for someone who just wants to fold, stuff, and forget it about while enjoying a few hours of slow, delicious smoke.

Opening the tin I got a strong smell of sweet raisins. Delightful. The flake broke up easy and packed well in my Comoy large bowl. Lit well. No tongue bite. Warm, and taste of sweetness and liquour are steady and ever present. This was very interesting as the flavours began to come and go as you head to the bottom of the bowl. They rotated or popped in and out. I tasted honey one minute and not only tasted liquorice I smelled it as well. Then it vanishes and goes to something else.

Slow burning. Smokes better in small cool puffs, get it too hot and the flavours wash out and go flat on the tongue.

After my first bowl I quickly refilled. However after the second bowl I was hit with a good nicotine rush. This is a great flake and I highly recommend it. I plan on adding it to my steady rotation.