Mac Baren Navy Flake

This was my first journey into the MacBaren world after four years of avoiding the product line. I previously had tried Mixture, Mixture Mild, Black Ambrosia, and Scottish Mixture hating them all in turn (at that time I was an ardent aromatic smoker). Since that original foray, I've stepped away from aromatics having grown to appreciate a good burley and adore a full bodied virginia. Navy Flake seemed to be a natural progression in my smoking experience. Needless to say, after my previous experiences with those tobaccos listed above I was highly skeptical that this would be much better. Boy, was I in for the happy-man-dance suprise of the century. The mixture of Burley / Virginia with just a touch of Cavindish (to satisfy my old days of cavendish aromatic passion) is heaven in a leaf to me. The rum topping is tastefully done not being overwhelming in any way. For me, a man with a somewhat whimpy tongue (VA's burn the heck out of me regularly) this tobacco needs be smoked bone dry. I notice a slight lessening of flavor by doing this but the change in the way this tobacco bites back is so dramatic that its worth it. Now, this is an every day smoke for me burning wonderfully down to a clean bowl with minimal gray dottle and few if any relights. When smoked dry as I previously mentioned it is biteless! And, it satisfies my desire for a burley blend perfectly. My highest possible recomendation.

This in my opinion is the most recommendable MacBaren tobacco. The sweetish topping is quite subtle, letting the Burleys and the Virginias make their statements. Smokes cool and dry and is markedly pleasant to those around you. In my experience the flake is usable in all degrees of rubbing, with almost unrubbed performing very nicely outdoors. I'm not a MacBaren or burley fan, but certainly this company knows what to do with burley, a fact demonstrated very well with Navy Flake and London Burley Blend. I like better the 100g tin, because whilst it is still small, it lets you pull out the flakes much easier and provides a good platform for rubbing out.

In the quest for the perfect Burley, Mac Baren is a name you can't ignore. Unfortunately, Navy Flake just misses the mark for me.

The pros: Smoking flakes is a lot of fun. Fold them, tear them, break them, rub them out and then smoke them. Then try another way next time. Navy Flake is mild with a nice aroma, and it doesn't take much attention.

The con: The honey-sweet casing on this one is a little cloying, and it often overpowers the tobacco flavor. I don't enjoy the flavor of straight honey, and this tobacco often presents that very thing.

I won't say no to a (very) occasional bowl of this, but in the Mac Baren line, Burley London Blend is a much better companion for me.

I much prefer a bowl of Prince Albert for a plain Burley, and C&D's Morley's Best and Easy Times for Burley-heavy blends.

This is a good tobacco. I found that the burley base didnt make my mouth feel like a bag of cotton balls when I was finished with a bowl either. It has a light topping of some sort (Danish thing) but is very nice as far as room note goes. This is a mild tobacco and is presented in very nice flake form. I dont think I will smoke this one every day as I tend to like stronger tobaccos, but I will most deffinately buy more to keep on hand for those times a lighter tobacco is in order! Recommended.

This is my wives favourite. Not that she smokes it, she loves it when I smoke it. But I do not smoke this a lot. It smells delicious in the tin, it burns very easy, it smells wonderful in the room but I cannot get used to it. But as for all MacBaren tobacco's ...it bites a bit on my tongue. I think however that this is my personal problem. I can imagine that another person could like this tobacco very much!

*update* For some reason my taste seems to be changing all the time. Perhaps because I am a pipesmoker for only 2 years. I smoke this tobacco more than before. Most times in a Bora from BigBen. Perhaps I get used to it but I do not have the tonguebite any more. This tobacco without the tongue-bite is delicous. IMO MacBaren has 2 very good blends, thisone and London Burley Blend.

This is the best tobacco MacBaren makes. My only regret is the tin is not 100grams instead of 50gms. Highly recommended.

This is beautifully made, and the packaging is very nice. In the tin, the aroma is overwhelmingly honey. I let this stuff sit until it was almost crunchy. Finally the honey flavor is tamed down enough to let the nutty burley, and sweet anise like Virginia come through. There are similar blends that are better, and cost less to boot.

This is my favorite MacBaren. It has less of the cloying Danish liqueur-like tin aroma than most, and avoids the tongue-frying characteristics common to this brand. That said, I found this blend to be rather, well, dull. The flakes are really neat, the tin aroma is promising, and there isn't anything objectionable. But the flavor is subdued and monochromatic. I keep this on hand for parties. The room note is pretty decent, and I can smoke it without thinking about it.

I've tried several of MacBaren's offerings and was pleased with the majority of them but was never "bowled over". However after only 2 tins this has easily become my favorite tobacco, easily kicking Peterson's UF to the curb. I just can't say enough about this pipe weed. I prefer my NF on the dry side and let the tin sit open for a few hours after which it's a difficult tobacco to stop smoking. My cellar has quite a few other flakes more than worthy of ripping into but I find it hard to pass up a rub of this ambrosia.