Mac Baren Navy Flake

First review folks so I will keep it simple. This blend is very nice and mellow.I am still developing my palate to pick the flavors of various blends,so I will not attempt to try and explain to you folks what is going on here. That being said,this is my first smoke of any type of Navy blend and is really,really good but again I have nothing to compare it to,so there you have it I may just stick with this as my only Navy simply because I don't know any better.If it's not broke don't try and fix it so to speak. Update 08/19/20 I keep trying this blend in one pipe after another and it just keeps getting better every time a must to try.!!

Nice is the word for it.

When I packed it, I didn't know it had added flavoring. Only when I looked at the description, I discovered that – and that tells a lot about the tobacco. Usually, added flavor is masking the natural flavor of tobacco, which I particularly like. It always feels to me like adding syrup to wine, because you do not like the taste of it. This is not the case with this tobacco.

In this tobacco, the flavoring simply compliments the tobacco; not masking it, not trying to make the smoker think they're in a vanilla company. Simply adding some flavors that work in the background, unnoticeable.

Burley is the dominant flavor here: grass, hay, a distant chocolate smell. But unlike a classic burley blend, this one won't kick, at all. It's also not a weak-tasting tobacco – it's balanced to perfection. I couldn't put my finger on what the added flavor was. Maybe some flowers, maybe a little mint, maybe some lemon. I was expecting a lot more rum from a navy flake, but I almost couldn’t feel it.

This is ones of the nicest tobaccos I've tried. It's not a hardcore one, not extremely interesting or complicated, but simply nice, well balanced, tasty tobacco. One need some clean old niceness once in a while.

Let's get one thing straight here... This is a fantastic tobacco. Upon opening the tin, One can immediately smell honey, then virginia, then burley... The flakes are thin and perfect to be folded (thrice), put in a pipe and smoked. This baccy smokes like a charm... slooooooow, coooooool, steadyyyy... The taste is very nutty, with hints of dried fruits, and an ever so slight alcoholic taste. This will be in my rotation. Absolutely recommended.

I have come to the conclusion that either you like MacBaren's tobaccos or you do not. I happen to like their blends and don't find them to bite at all if properly packed and smoked. MacBaron's has three blends in my top ten and this one just might get added to my cellar as well. It has a very sweet pouch aroma somewhat like honey. It is very finely cut ribbon pressed flake with a dark brown color. I have now smoked it dry, somewhat dry, and right out of the bag I was sampled. It is very tender and must be folded with care if smoked that way or it is easily rubbed out. I prefer it folded and somewhat dry, but it changes in behavior and taste in the three different moisture levels. I have not had this aged but I bet it gets even better. It takes a few lights but then settles down in the pipe and stays lit well. I like it in a Kirsten pipe. Upon lighting up, it does have the graham cracker and rum taste that others have found but it burns off very fast and becomes a very sweet, full and creamy smoke. The VA sweetness comes through very well along with the cavendish. But the burley added to this blend really brings those to out and gives it a fullness that keeps one sipping and not puffing. The room note to me was very nice and was not heavy, but subtle. It burned all the way down to the bottom leaving a dark grey ash with a touch of dottle. No moisture or gunk was left in my pipe. I like this blend a lot and will be putting some on my next order to cellar and age to test again. I highly recommend this to all MacBaron lovers and as a crossover to VA blend flakes from burley.

It has been a while since I last smoked Navy Flake (long ago when it was available in 50gm tins) and did not feel I would do it any justice by reviewing it from recollection alone. That being the case, I purchased a tin (100gm) and am smoking a bowl as I write this review.

Upon opening the tin, there was a beautiful sweetness emanating from within and very reminiscent of figs. The flakes were arranged in two rows along the long side of the tin and about 1 1/2 times the width of most flakes. They were fairly thin sliced and broke apart very readily upon taking them out from the tin. They were very fresh indeed. Loading was easy and the pre-light draw tasted of sweet honey. It took to the match very readily and provided for a long, satisfying smoke. It never burned too hot nor did it even hint of biting. The taste was sweet, spicy, and dry in nature. The initial tin note that I first detected (figs) and the pre-light draw taste of honey did translate to the smoke and was very delicious indeed.

Many of the Mac Baren's blends have been faulted for being too similar in taste. For me, the differences, albeit subtle at times, are most definitely there. It has taken me a long time to appreciate those differences. I thoroughly enjoy comparing them and I suppose that is one of the main reasons I've been a big fan of Mac Baren blends for nearly 35 years. Mac Baren's blends their offerings as a master composer would take a theme through many of its variations in a symphony. Interestingly enough, I give NF 4 stars but I like it better as an occasional smoke so as not to ruin a good thing! It also is great blended with Wessex Burley Slice 50/50.

Mac's Navy Flake is a good, dependable smoke that I can recommend without reservation. In the right pipe, this really sings!

UPDATE 1-27-13: Some reviewers have claimed rum to be present in this flake. I never have tasted such and according to Per George Jensen of Mac Barens there is no rum whatsoever in this flake...they should know best!

Update: Am bumping this up to four stars. With the right pipe, this stuff is every bit a quality smoke as anything else. It tastes just like it smells, and might end up replacing my treasured Orlik Golden Sliced if I can find it for as cheap.

I am surprised; a MacBaren tobacco that didn't set my tongue on fire. I just had to give MacBaren one more try. Their tins look so cool, and would be perfect for keeping nuts and screws in once empty.

Honestly, the flakes were very easy to seperate, and a nice brown color with lighter speckles intermixed. The aroma was very pleasant, smelling mainly of good virginia tobacco. I will say that I didn't dare rub it out one bit; I just folded up a flake and stuffed it in a smallish sized pipe. On first light I detected this tobacco's desire to bite, I could tell it really wanted to. But, after getting the char and having the pipe going good, it settled down to a managable tingle.

The taste was really good, but rather on the mild side. If you like a full flavored virginia, this probably won't do. But it does have nice flavor, and is worth the extra care you have to take to prevent tongue bite. As long as I took just tiny draws, I was able to enjoy the smoke with no bite. But be careful, as one good hard pull will produce a scorched tongue. But the quality of the tobacco is worth this extra care. So, as long as you don't smoke your pipe like you're trying to suck water through a brick, this is a good smoke. Not up to my level of taste expectations, but still good.

This is a very tasty blend with typical Virginia grassy, hay-like flavors, light sweetness, there's a very light creamy-nuttiness in the background, some stewed fruit with a bit of rum, I notice the rum more in the beginning of the bowl though. Perfect moisture level to smoke right out of the tin. I prefer to cube-cut the flake into 3rds or 4ths and give it a light rub, but keeping the texture somewhat coarse. Packs and lights easily. I imagine this flake will age rather well. If you prefer non-aromatics, or very lightly flavored aromatics, you should give this tobac a go! I can smoke this all day, the tin was almost gone before I realized it! 4 stars!

Based on multiple tins. I deleted my original review in favor of writing a new one.

Opening a tin of Mac Baren flake tobacco is a real treat. They have an elegant presentation with the crisp, folded gold, embossed foil.

The smell is fresh, woody, grassy, jammy, slightly toasty. Maybe a little floral too. It's just a tad moist. You could dry it a little if it is your preference.

You can smoke this flake any way you choose and it will behave nicely, as long as your packing is fine and your cadence is not too aggressive. I prefer it rubbed out and dried a little, and packed gently.

The taste is pretty bright, fermented and tangy, deep, honey-covered flowers and grass, raisin, even prune or fig at times, lemon, bread, cinnamon, chocolate, a hint of molasses, graham cracker. Its flavor complexity lives in a range of tangy, floral, nectar flavors and just flirts with depth and spice. The flavors are mostly Virginia flavors, and you could even call it a Virginia flake. I say that because the character of the flavor profile is mostly Virginia. The smoke is never heavy. It's just like the cool side of a soft pillow.

This is a widely available classic that I do enjoy. It is unique. It's got complexity, it's consistent from batch-to-batch. If you like Mac Baren's style of blending, you'll enjoy this because this is the quintessence of Mac Baren, in my opinion. But, you can hate how friendly this blend is, and how agreeable it is, and the tongue-irritant flavorings they use in their regular line (the HH line is totally different, and more smokable).

This is a nice blend. It's not particularly flashy, but the flavors are wonderful, and it is reliable, and that is arguably extraordinary.

I've been rotating a few different flakes as of late, mostly the PS Luxury series (Navy Flake, Bullseye, and occasionally Twist), as well as Peterson University, Samuel Gawith Full VA Flake, Escudo and Davidoff Flake Medallions. The VaPer blends specifically have been what I've gravitated towards but the PS Lux Navy has been my go to daily smoke.

I typically rub out my flakes, but I gave this bowl a fold and stuff for first try following the demonstration video of Jensen from Mac Baren on Smokingpipes.com. One flake was enough to fill my bowl, first in thirds and then in half, and I have to say, it was a perfect pack on the first go of it. I typically have a difficult time getting this method to work, but it was effortless with the size of these flakes.

Tin note is pleasantly sweet, ripe fruit. Berries, with a bit of raisin, bread and honey. I will put this right in line with the tin note of Peterson University which is heavy dark plum. So right off the bat I was in love with the tin note. My instinct with tobacco's like this is to take a flake from the tin and bite into it instead of smoking it.

The moisture level was great right from the tin, but possibly could have used 15-20 before packing. The smoke is mild to medium, full bodied creamy smoke, the sweetness from the VA present and harmonizes with the burley beautifully. No cigarette mouth that some burleys will give me. This is a cut above MB Golden Extra, and Virginia No. 1, but I can sense the MB style here. Tobacco forward sweetness.

This will be a solid go-to flake for me for some time.