Mac Baren Navy Flake

This is a very tasty flake. Delightfully easy to rub out and pack, Mac Baren Navy Flake is light, sweet hay and grass at first light. The initial flavors are quickly followed by a light taste of honey that compliments flavors of oats, some nuttiness from the burleys. The virginias and burleys harmonize throughout with the aforementioned honey sweetness, all smoothed out by a bit of cavendish which also adds its own slight touch of sugar. The fruit and floral essences are more like afterthoughts than statements in this blend, and as the bowl progresses you'll notice a little cinnamon tingle as well. And no bite. This is Mac Baren at its finest.

A Virginia Burley Flake. The flakes are mostly mid browns with blonde highlights. The flake is neatly presented in the tin but loose to the touch and fairly dry.

Tin note is bread and molasses with that ubiquitous McB casing that is honey like or malty.

Burns fine and has a moderate sweetness throughout. In my book this is one of those 'almost' aromatics. A very simple, easy to use tobacco, that comes at a reasonable price. It would probably be a good flake for those wanting to start their journey into that genre. The wife upticked the aroma of this baccy, which is a rare event. Somewhere between 2 and 3 stars for me.

After moving through Blockade Runner and Luxury Navy Flake I moved on to this mix in further investigation of the genre. The 11,000+ hit review on YouTube with the rousing score, nautical imagery, and the huge smoldering pipe sealed it- I had to have this. With anticipation I opened the tin, pulled back the gold foil and admired the look of the perfect flakes. Dark molasses and hay are the prominent tin notes.

I lit up and was rewarded with a bit of the molasses, but more so honey. Some tangy Virginia flavor shined through, but dulled by the obvious presence of a somewhat flat burley and the cavendish. Nirvana! About mid-bowl some spice notes arise, especially clove and cinnamon. Persistent sweetness throughout and some toasty grains. It smoked quite warm and I wised up to some drying and a lighter pack. The lighter honey notes diminish and the molasses ramps up and it started to get a little murky. The lingering aftertaste was quite welcome. Quite a tobacco on the first bowl.

I went through the first 1/4 of the tin (100 g) fairly quickly and also continued to allow it to dry. My enjoyment though started to diminish, both during the course of each bowl and over time. Now, I find this blend cloying and over processed. The base tobaccos are of quality, but it is pretty heavily cased. It has stayed tacky to the touch even while dried to the point where the flames are friable. As the bowl develop it gets wet and develops bitterness. The dark molasses has become unbearable, nearly to the point of nausea. I also feel a coating in my mouth, unlike anything else I have tried. In my greed I have way too many opens tins and pouches and have resolved to remedy that before exploring further. Unfortunately, this damned oversized tin has become a bit of a personal white whale.

I regret that my opinion has so soured on this. I really enjoyed it initially and had high expectations, but just don't care for it now very much. With almost everything else I've smoked I've usually gained appreciation or came to recognize other similar blends as superior, but with this it shrinks in my estimation. With that said it still gains a qualified but lowly recommendation due to the quality of the leaf and presentation as well as the initial impressions, but I surely won't be revisiting.

Finally, a personal quibble on the naming. This not a navy blend. Yes it is a Va flake, but there is no rum and it is adulterated with burley. I would suggest it is a VaBur aromatic. Approached as such maybe it would be more enjoyable.

I like this tobacco. It has a simple, uncomplicated sweet, nutty-like flavour (I guess coming from the burley) with only just a tiny bit of topping. The topping is not really distinct enough that I feel it instead compliments the tobaccos instead of replacing the flavour.

The tin note is sweet and a little powdery smelling. The flakes themselves are easy to handle and fold and came out of the tin at a perfect moisture. Unlike others here, I did not have tongue bite but the pipe can easily get hot.

In terms of nicotine amount, I find it very manageable. I am not sure why, particularly because people are saying otherwise. I am quite a lightweight when it comes to nicotine, but I can easily smoke this one through without a major nicotine buzz.

Here where I am (in Norway), tobacco is expensive. At the airport (Oslo), they sell it in duty-free for 119kr for 100g, which is roughly $13 USD. Most tobaccos go for ~300kr for 50g tins ($35 USD), which is probably the highest price in Europe I seen so far. So, I had an interest in remaining positive over this blend. As it sounds from my review above, this is actually quite easy. When I am at the airport again, I am stocking up on this.

If I was a more frequent pipe smoker, given the price/quantity/quality of this blend, this would probably be in rotation a lot. It is that good to me.

EDIT: As I smoke this more, I am noticing that the aftertaste is a little syrupy tasting. It doesn't detract much from the tobacco for me though.

EDIT: It's been 3-4 months since I wrote the initial review. Since then, I stocked up a lot on this and plan to do more. It became my most common smoke, because for me, it's cheaply available (as mentioned, something not common here) and it is so easy to smoke. If I smoke something different now, it is the result of asking the question of "What should I smoke besides navy flake?"

I have also smoked this in other pipes and the description I provide in the above edit (it's syrupy) is only exclusive to certain pipes, it seems.

Love at first puff for me. A delicious Va/Bur with Cavendish. The topping really plays upon the natural Virginia, Burley, and Cavendish flavor. A massive honey note dominates with a dark fruit note next. There are several spices here like cinnamon and nutmeg which taste like a spiced rum. The Virginias have a mild hay flavor and the burley is nutty. The flavor from the blend amazes me every time. I have gotten tongue bite from this blend and it unquestionably smokes hot but slow smoking is okay with me.

Edit 3/5/16 - just opened a 15 year old tin. Very dark flakes and a wonderful aroma. All the rich flavor without any heat. It smokes cool, sweet, and complex. Definitely worth aging!

So the one star is my personal opinion on this tobacoo. It has nothing to do with quality!!!

This was the very first tobacco i bought. I saw some reviews on youtube, and read some reviews on here. So it had to be good right? You know, with all the great reviews!

The tin note smelt fantastic!!!! Almost like a sweet, raisin with some hay tossed in there. I rubbed out the flake and packed.

Lighting the pipe. It burnt the hell out of my tounge. I couldnt taste anything from this tobacco. Even before the scorching of my tounge, i couldnt detect any type of grassy notes. Just really hot air. The room note was a great. A warm sweet grass aroma. It took a flame beautifully. Stayed lit. And ashed to this fine off white powder. The flake wasnt to moist or too dry.

I waited a few days to try it again. This time, i just kinda rubbed it into a ball and packed it in the bowl. SAME THING!!! And i puffed even slower. I ended up asking around if the same thing happened to them. I was informed the sugar content of the tobacco itself is known to bite. Age will mellow it out. And. Theres a reason many people call this brand "mc tounge bite"

So i tossed it into a jar. Did my thing. And forgot about it.

Fast forward to almost 9 years later. IT STILL BITES LIKE A MADMAN!!!! No matter how slow i puff it!

im a little bummed too. The color, the texture, the aroma is absolutely great! That alone makes me want to smoke it. But i honestly cant get past the tounge bite.

In the past two years, I suspect I've tried most Navy Flakes available and in my opinion, Mac Baren Navy Flake is the best by far. Room note is pleasant, and if properly packed, its a long and enjoyable smoke right to the end. Rum taste is light but noticeable throughout the smoke and if dried a bit, there is little or no bite.

I find most Mac Baren tobaccos to be hot in every definition of the word. I love Scottish Mixture, for example, but can't smoke it, even in the flake form. I've often thought Mac Baren, many years ago, discovered a million pound batch of New Mexico Hatch chilis and began adding a bit to their blends. Having said that, however, heat hasn't been the case with Navy Flake and I highly recommend it.

I have been smoking some indifferent aromatic blends recently (kindly gifts from non-smokers). What a relief to open a tin of Navy Flake!

The tin is fifteen years old, and the flakes have darkened substantially, with only a few gold highlights. The aroma from the tin is muted and the flavouring reticent. In the pipe it is immensely satisfying: reasonable levels of nicotine, a steady burn rate ideal for handling my paper work, lovely tobacco taste, and a room note that makes visitors linger.

Mac Baren do not always get full credit for the quality of their products. Perhaps they have tried to cover too much ground with a limited palette. Navy Flake and Mixture Scottish Blend are gems of their kind and unreservedly recommended for a serious trial.

I have tried several of Mac Baren?s offerings and I hadn?t previously found anything I particularly liked, aside from Dark Twist Roll Cake. I don?t typically smoke aromatics, though smoke Haddo?s Delight by GL Pease, Luxury Twist Flake by Stokkebye and Hartwell?s Evening Stroll. Certain SG and G&H Lakeland scented varieties score high points with me. Navy Flake seems topped or cased with some vague slightly artificial tasting honey flavoring used in many of their products with maybe a hint of whiskey. To me, a ?Navy Flake? should follow more along the lines of what a ?navy blend? should be, using Rum for flavoring.

Appearance: This blend has a beautiful presentation, being comprised of precisely sliced flakes of pressed cake. Though predominately red and golden Virginias, and Burley there are darker bands and bits that are nearly white.

Tin aroma: This is a mixture of matured Virginias, Burley and Cavendish. There are deep molasses tones a slight sour tang one expects in Virginias some slight spicy tones and a deeper fig-like aroma. There is a slightly nutty quality as well; rather quickly and slightly over-powering there is the artificial honey/whiskey topping/casing agent. Together, it is a fairly nice smelling combination, though not something that I'd say I have a strong preference for. The tin aroma also tells me to proceed with caution as with many other Mac Baren offering, this could be tongue bite in a tin.

This tobacco is nearly perfect in moisture straight out of the tin. I normally simply roll two flakes fold them over and insert them into the bowl, trimming off any excess. Lighting is usually a one match affair, and generally stays lit throughout the entire bowl, unless I let the pipe go out. As expected, the initial flavor is very tangy VA and sweet though not overly so on either count. There are distinctly citrus notes of the Virginias and a deep harmonious flavor of well mannered Burley. The topping/casing agent quickly yields it?s dominance to a nice throaty Virginia/Burley duet which continues to build throughout the bowl the Cavendish seems only to 'fill in the gaps'. The topping/casing never completely leaves, adding a sweetness and a slightly generic and artificial taste to an otherwise natural presentation.

Mid Bowl: Approaching mid-bowl, the fullness tends to build and while this blend is not very complex, it is however plenty interesting in character. There are subtle changes here and there as each component asserts dominance from time to time. The topping/casing is always ?just there? the Virginias and Burley engage in a friendly competition. While not particularly strong in nicotine, there is plenty of flavor and body to this mixture. The tobaccos used in this mixture are of obvious quality, why then MacBaren chose such an odd topping/casing agent is beyond me. This would have been mighty fine indeed were it topped/soaked in Rum.

Home Stretch: As end of the bowl approaches, the strength of this mixture has built to a fine mélange of flavors and fullness. The pervasive sweetness and artificial taste is somewhat annoying, and the temptation toward tongue bite does not help. It has so much going for it, that what little I hold against it is probably not enough to bother most smokers. If there weren't many other tobaccos that I prefer greatly, I might smoke this on a regular basis.

Supplemental Notes: I would recommend this to seasoned Virginia smokers for a change of pace smoke. If you are looking for a true Navy Flake, look elsewhere, this isn't one. Rating for those interested in numbers **1/2