Mac Baren Navy Flake

Add one more voice to the chorus singing the praises of Navy Flake. From the moment you receive this, ur in for a treat...

First of all it comes in a great little tin, perfect for travelling light with a good supply of tobacco. Pop it open, and ur greeted with a pleasant sweet tobacco smell and the glimmer of gold-leaf wrap. Lift the paper to discover beautifully veined, perfectly cut slices of tobacco. So far, this is a true treat for the eyes and nose!

Gingerly remove a slice and rub to your favourite consistency. Dance the flame over, and smell a wonderful burley tobacco. Those first few draws will reveal a little perique-like tickle in the throat along with a very typical MacBaren's sweetness (subtle, but present). I found it took a charring light well. Lightly knock down the char and re-light...you are off!

By the half-way mark, I found the tickle in the throat mellowed slightly. This stayed well-behaved all the way through. Marvellous body, great smell, burned evenly...I'm luvin this!

By the end, I'm sold. There is a cigar-like quality to this tobacco (don't let my reference to "sweetness" make u think this is an aromatic. It's sweet like the old Jamaican cigars...)

This is a winner visually, for the nose, and taste-wise. I will be ordering more soon...

Add my name to the list of VA flake smokers that enjoys this blend in spite of the fact that it's mostly burley. This is a very smooth smoking tobacco that to me has a sort of buttery flavor.

It burns clean and dry, requires few (if any) relights, and is flavorful enough to be an all-day smoke.

If it was available in bulk - it would be perfect. Highly recommended!

I really can't add much to what has already been said about MacBaren's Navy Flake.

Tin aroma is sweet and I'll accept the honey aroma from the previous reviews. ...This little tin is really neat and handy. ...The tobacco is layed in there all nice and neat. ...I am really impressed with the quality of MacBaren's tobaccos and their rectangular shaped little tins. ...Their marketing people are on the right track.

A dominate Burley blend that really weds with the Va & the Cav (especially the Va); in such a way that one senses smoking 3 tobaccos in 1. ...Or 1 tobacco in 3. Very well done MacBaren.

My new favorite, I like this even better than Edgeworth slices. Just enough casing to bring out the natural sweetness and marry the tobaccos in a subtle but rich blend; even the sidestream smoke has a great tobacco aroma. If your granddad smoked a pipe and you remember the smell of it fondly, chances are it was much like this - I can easily imagine a quiet evening after supper in a Adirondack cabin, good company, a splash of sourmash in a short glass, and a pipeful of MacBaren's Navy Flake.

This is a really nice burley blend, consisting of burley, some virginia, and some cavendish. There is a bit of a honey sweetener with maybe a little peach, but it's not enough of a presence for me classify this one as an aromatic -- my rating of the flavoring as "mild" is more a reflection of the honey being used as a sweetener than the peach flavoring. It is noticeably sweeter than, say, Butera Kingfisher (another very nice burley blend).



The tobacco as delivered is a bit too damp, and so is more prone to tongue bite than one would expect from a burley flake. I tend to dry out the tins a day or so before smoking.



This is a true flake, as distinguished from the flake-like krumble kake cut used by Butera Kingfisher (one of my other favorite burley blends). Because of this, it tends to prefer smaller-bowled pipes like virginia flakes do. I smoke it in a little Barbi bamboo-shanked prince that holds exactly one flake. I fold the flake in half, then in half again, and just shove it in. The crumbled ends of the flake light easily, and it burns all the way to the bottom without a problem.



The flavor isn't too complex, but nonetheless possesses loads of burley's bright, cheerful woodsey-nutty flavor, which the honey complements beautifully. The peach isn't really noticeable in the taste unless you concentrate, but does become more pronounced in the room aroma, which is consequently quite nice.



All around a very nicely done blend.

Navy Flake is one of my favorites from Mac Baren. It is mostly Burley with a little Virginia and has a strong Honey-like taste that is pleasurable. It does suffer from the Mac Baren curse that if you smoke it too much in one day, you might get your tongue bitten. This becomes a little better when you let it dry out a bit. This is a good candidate for an all day smoke because it is satisfying and the taste does not get on your nerves but it can get a little boring after a few weeks. It burns well and usually stays lit to the bottom of the bowl without a relight. I also like the tin because it is very compact and being a flake you can take a lot with you. Smoke it slow and it stays friendly. Recommended. Arnold Smith

A British flake as interpreted by the Danes. And it's rather nice!

Presentation is faultless, I do like the gold wrapper in the tin, and perfectly stacked, regular cut flakes. They have a sweet aroma, predominantly honey, I suppose there's a touch of rum too, it seems an obligatory interpretation of the term "Navy" now. Moisture content is thankfully lower than in the British flake tradition and the flakes rub, light and smoke the better for it.

The flavour is medium and it doesn't develop through the bowl - sweet, a touch of leather and honey, on the whole, a fairly natural tasting affair. There is no bite, burn is even and it doesn't need relights.

This tobacco is excellent for smoking when engaged in other activities such as bike maintenance, gardening etc. My partner loves the aroma! I'll get more next time I'm in Germany.

Thinly cut, uniform flakes with a pleasant tin note of toasted white bread, and toasted pecans. The Virginias are mild giving a light citrus and hay, floral essence background.

Rubs out easily. Lights and stays lit.

Mild/medium taste, mild/medium nic hit. I get the toasted nuts and cinnamon toast with floral in the background. Ever-so-sweetened with a honey flavor, and a touch of rum; was more present when new, but smoking a 6 year old batch here.

I like the room note, but non-smokers may liken the note to cigarette. To me it's lovely. Burley always brings me back to my Grandfather's woodshop.

Mild/medium overall. A classic all day smoker.

I read burley and great ratings on this site. I love burley with the nutiness. I smoke heavy aros , light aros, natural with a bit of cas. but also english strong blends light nightcap. All of em have for me their place.

This is the first tobacco I stopped smoking at the half with a medium pipe. It was boring, burned hot no burley nuttiness... nothing to experience...

I might finish the flakes at some point and maybe if it ages it's getting better. At this point I m not enough experienced or this blend is just not for me. I can't really understand the outstanding rating on this tobacco. I personally won't buy it again. If I smoke it again and experience it with a more experienced tongue I let you know. Right now No No No!

Update: After trying it out with a filter pipe it starts to be better. Folding technique is not bad and hey you can taste some different aromas. It s still not my every day tobacco but I can see how it has meaning in the tobacco world.