Mac Baren Navy Flake

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 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.

September 2004

There are so many good qualities to this burley-dominated tobacco: it has perfect lighting and burn characterstics when only partially rubbed out, which is the way I tend to prepare my flakes; its body is rich and full with great smoke volume, almost like a cigar; and the honey note was very pronounced and pleasant for me after the first half of the bowl (which, coincidentally, is when the Virginias became more pronounced). At the end of the day, though, it remains a burly blend which, like other burley blends, is too light-tasting and one-dimensional for me.

I was thrown off by the "Navy Flake" nomenclature: I expected a straight Virginia with plenty of spice as would befit an MB blend (like Roll Cake). I did like the presentation of the flakes and, especially, the wonderful little square tin, so I'll keep it around and try it again in a year or so on that basis alone.

While I am, in general, a fan of MacBaren's tabaks, Navy Flake is not very high on my list. It was the first real pipe tobacco I tried in my first go-round as a pipe smoker, back when I was about 16 years of age. (I am not counting Borkum Riff as a real tobacco here.) I bought it largely because of the tin box. And yes, way back then it was legal for minors to buy pipe tobacco in most states, just not in cigarette form. Well, the tin was cool, but I found the tobacco lacking in flavor. Needless to say, subtlety was not in my repertoire, having my piper's experience based solely on BR cherry. I still have that tin box, my wife keeps pins in it...

Fast forward 20+ years. As I took up the pipe again after several years as a cigar smoker, I once again tried NF for old time's sake and again I found it lacked flavor, but at least it was mildly sweet, which was nice.

Well, after trying a myriad of pipe tobaccos, I have come to the conclusion that burley- at least as an entree- does not have much appeal for me. That said, NF is clearly a quality product, looks nice, has a good tin aroma, and the virginias come through a bit near the end of the bowl. And it does burn nicely, especially for a flake.

I will probably keep my surviving sample and try it out again in a few years. Some day I may become a burley fan. I feel like I am missing out on something...

Oh, yeah. What makes this a "Navy" flake anyway?

What a quality flake we have here. This rubs out really easy and lights and burns even easier. Honey aroma in the tin and room note. Good smoke for a burley blend, but my all time favorite burley blend is still Barbary Coast.

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.

The flakes in the tin are still quite moist. No date code that I can see, but I bought this over a year ago. Quite a strong tin note, sweet and fruity. Fold and stuff into a Wally Frank stubby pot. Takes a light despite the moistness, though I can actually hear a sizzle. So I puff charily. The flavors are very mild, the strong scent notwithstanding. I make out honey, a little wood, a little fruit— almost fruit candy. I read somewhere that Mac Baren treats many of their tobaccos with maple sugar, and I can definitely taste that here. It is very sweet. The dominant flavor is that of maple sugar with a hint of florality— wildflowers. There is no natural tobacco taste apparent.

Quite well behaved in the bowl, despite my overpacking it. The moisture doesn’t give me any issues other than an intermittent sizzling. And the flavor is consistent down the bowl. Very sweet. The kind of sweetness that makes you thirsty. I would very nearly class this as an aromatic. The room note is flowers and honey. The smallest nicotine hit— again amplified by an empty stomach.

It’s nice. Definitely a dessert smoke. Certainly well made, with quality leaf. The thing is that I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I like this best with a strong black coffee to cut the sweetness a bit. If you like aromatics more than I do, I heartily recommend it.

First try: Disappointed. There is taste there, but hard to get it. Very boring. Got a little better half way through the bowl. Burns hot for what it is, but that could just be me trying to find flavor. Certainly nothing offensive, but very little taste. Put it down halfway through the bowl. Was a bit tastier when I finished it about an hour later. Mild stuff. There are far more interesting things out there. I wanted to like this. It is extremely high quality and the presentation is top notch. I love flakes. I smoked it in a barely broken in cob so....To be continued...

This is my usual review for MB:

Many tins in the MB line seem to taste similar to me, and they smoke in the same fashion as well. They taste bland...are HOT/Tongue-Biters...and smell like potpourri. I cannot recommend this product. Today, for this, I give 2 stars. Nice flakes, decent flavor and no pipe mutating flame thrower effect. Will not be a regular, but was nice to see a different MB product.