Mac Baren Original Choice
(2.76)
Original Choice is a new pioneering pipe tobacco which will appeal to "novice" pipe smokers and the younger generation. It has a mild, aromatic taste, and the truly remarkable thing about Original Choice is the fact that we have managed to develop a tobacco that does not smart on the tongue.
Original Choice is made of specially selected tobaccos. It is a blend of Virginia tobacco from North Carolina and mild, air-dried Burley from Tennessee. One of the suppliers of the Virginia tobacco is Boyette Farm, where the Boyette family has been working since 1797 to produce the best possible Virginia qualities. Their success has been due in part to the warm and dry climate. It is now the fifth generation that has taken its place behind the solid oak writing desk to play roulette with Mother Nature, as the family puts it. Fortunately, thanks to generations of experience, the odds are stacked in favor of the Boyette family. That is why a plug of Original Choice is always a good idea. The packaging is made of an exclusive type or corrugated card, which not only looks good and protects the tobacco but is also completely environment-friendly. It is not every year that Mac Baren Tobacco launches new types of tobacco. That is why we have pulled out all the stops to make full use of our experience and our production of the new blends. That is also why we have managed to make sure that Original Choice does not smart on the tongue. Numerous test smokers have already given Original Choice their approval and have already made it their first choice.
Notes: Introduced in 1998.
Details
Profile
Strength
Very Mild
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
Mild
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Pleasant
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Mild
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming
Average Rating
|
2.76 / 4
|
Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 33 Reviews
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2006 | Extremely Mild | Mild | Very Mild | Very Pleasant |
I will recommend this one to the pipe smoking hobbyists among us who don't care for a lot of tobacco flavor or nicotine and have a sweet tooth. Additionally, you can choo-choo train this one with your puffing cadence and never blister your waggle.
As for me, I prefer the home run to singles.
Oh, one of the previous reviewers described this as a "ramped up" Captain Black. Great descriptive and dead on.
As for me, I prefer the home run to singles.
Oh, one of the previous reviewers described this as a "ramped up" Captain Black. Great descriptive and dead on.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2020 | Mild | Mild to Medium | Mild | Pleasant to Tolerable |
I tried about 300 other blends before this one, so I guess it was not my original choice, but no matter. The tin opens up to a light, fruity, sweet smelling Cavendish forward mix dusted with some spice I couldn't identify. Seemed pleasant enough to continue...
The filling had a good moisture content and a sturdy enough ribbon cut (no thin fish flakes here). Had to refill my Zippo before getting things working, as it took a hint more spark to ignite. Once there, I puffed out a pleasant plume that didn't want to identify too strongly as a specific flavor, as if wanting to stay neutral enough to appeal to all paletes. It was easy to ingest, albeit kinda boring. The Burley and Virginia acted to bring everything back to the center without being prominent themselves.
I do appreciate the value of a 3.5oz tin not costing much more than one half the size, it is a good deal for a workhorse Aromatic. An easy all day smoker that was in a word: servicable.
The filling had a good moisture content and a sturdy enough ribbon cut (no thin fish flakes here). Had to refill my Zippo before getting things working, as it took a hint more spark to ignite. Once there, I puffed out a pleasant plume that didn't want to identify too strongly as a specific flavor, as if wanting to stay neutral enough to appeal to all paletes. It was easy to ingest, albeit kinda boring. The Burley and Virginia acted to bring everything back to the center without being prominent themselves.
I do appreciate the value of a 3.5oz tin not costing much more than one half the size, it is a good deal for a workhorse Aromatic. An easy all day smoker that was in a word: servicable.
PurchasedFrom:
tobaccopipes.com
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 07, 2019 | Mild | Medium | Mild | Very Pleasant |
First of all with a name like this and a paper wrapping you'd expect an all natural tobacco with no added flavors but "Original Choice" isn't natural at all.
Cold smell is wonderful with just a bit of vanilla covered in a sweet/sour bread-like smell. Variant cut looks good with much dark brown shares and dots of golden VA here and there.
Packs just fine and takes flames well then burns slow and cool until the end with no tongue bite.
The first few tokes surprised me a lot since I was expecting a bit of vanilla asides natural tobaccos but there's a brutal sweetness in this one. It reminds sometimes of almonds sometimes of banana milk?! and there is (fortunately) a bit of VA and Burley taste in the background. With the last third I can taste a hint of the so called "Modern Cavendish" which is highly sugar coated I guess. While smoking slow and cool a lot of condensate occurred in my pipes.
Mac Baren Original Choice is an aromatic par excellence even if the aroma isn't as artificial as in other aromatics but more like sugar and sweetness but it's still an aromatic; that's where I miss the true tobacco tastes. Sweet and smokeable. Fits great with a cup of black coffee and the room note is very nice and vowed by friends. The price is ok, too.
Cold smell is wonderful with just a bit of vanilla covered in a sweet/sour bread-like smell. Variant cut looks good with much dark brown shares and dots of golden VA here and there.
Packs just fine and takes flames well then burns slow and cool until the end with no tongue bite.
The first few tokes surprised me a lot since I was expecting a bit of vanilla asides natural tobaccos but there's a brutal sweetness in this one. It reminds sometimes of almonds sometimes of banana milk?! and there is (fortunately) a bit of VA and Burley taste in the background. With the last third I can taste a hint of the so called "Modern Cavendish" which is highly sugar coated I guess. While smoking slow and cool a lot of condensate occurred in my pipes.
Mac Baren Original Choice is an aromatic par excellence even if the aroma isn't as artificial as in other aromatics but more like sugar and sweetness but it's still an aromatic; that's where I miss the true tobacco tastes. Sweet and smokeable. Fits great with a cup of black coffee and the room note is very nice and vowed by friends. The price is ok, too.
Pipe Used:
Vauen Churchwarden, Georg Jensen noFi
Age When Smoked:
Fresh from tin, 2 month in jar
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 05, 2016 | Very Mild | Mild | Mild | Very Pleasant |
I don't smoke aromatics too often, but decided to give this one a go. As with most of this ilk, there is hardly any nicotine to detect at all and a very nice room note and tin note goes without saying. I would agree with others who have said that this is a better version of Captain Black with less of the goop associated with that line of tobaccos. Its a change of pace for an English smoker and a better blend than the OTC blends out there. Definitely recommended.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Oct 17, 2014 | Very Mild | Medium | Mild to Medium | Pleasant to Tolerable |
Inoffensive, but actually also unappealing to a seasoned smoker. Suspiciously flat in flavour and overly sweet. Burns reasonably well and stays lit. Maybe useful for someone starting pipe smoking. I could not finish the pack past two pipefuls, despite being a natural aro smoker.
Pipe Used:
Georg Jensen Yacht 9mm filter
PurchasedFrom:
Churchill's shop in Prague, Czech Republis
Age When Smoked:
new
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 2020 | Mild | Strong | Mild | Very Pleasant |
This aromatic must be the most used and recommended tobacco for those who begin to smoke a pipe (and I include myself). I think this is because its cold smell is really delicious. However, as with other aromatics, this is lost when it is smoked. The distance between the pleasure you have when smelling it in its tin and the disappointment at the time of smoking it is so great that I can't help but give it two stars. One for its cold smell and the other for the room note, where it passes with an outstanding.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2011 | Mild | Medium to Strong | Mild | Pleasant |
A nice smoke to be an aromatic. I'm a VA, Vaper and English mixtures guy and there is a very small number of aromatics in my list of "smokable" leafs. Original Choice is not one of my top ten, nor top 20 tobaccos, but in social environments seems to be well accepted by sorrounders.
It's a flat smoke, as most of aromatics are, but is also consistent from the begining to the end of the bowl, not suffering the strong degradation that other aromatics do once you pass the first half of the bowl.
Recommended for aromatic fans an for social smokers.
It's a flat smoke, as most of aromatics are, but is also consistent from the begining to the end of the bowl, not suffering the strong degradation that other aromatics do once you pass the first half of the bowl.
Recommended for aromatic fans an for social smokers.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Nov 28, 2010 | Very Mild | Mild to Medium | Very Mild | Very Pleasant |
OC is not recommendable to Latakia puritans nor to nicotine hunters but highly recommendable to freshmen, recommendable to Aros fanciers, so and so recommendable to all the ones (like me) which normally are floating around the atoll of Natural Aromatics. Yes, a perfect Macbeginners tobacco but not only, with this blend Mac Baren boys show one more time their skills on tobacco production combined with marketing strategies. OC is a mild, unassuming aromatic (even not bad in any way) able to gain a respectable reputation, it is described on MB official web-site emphasizing the quality of tobacco supply and then it's sold on a low-profiled cardboard corrugated pouch; in a manner or another they are strategic on stimulate our curiosity and are able to satisfy the 65-70% of pipe smokers…...Macchiavelli and Von Clausewitz worked they for Mac Baren?
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Dec 09, 2009 | Very Mild | Medium to Strong | Very Mild | Tolerable to Strong |
It's har to tell how much burley this blend contains, and actually I would have said pure virginia / cavendish was this presented to me in a blind-test.
I don't think I've ever come across an aromatic THAT aromatic upon opening the pouch! An extremely sweet sugary smell, that makes me think of both fruit and candy. But surely the sweet cavendish is obvious too - some tobacco detected never-the-less.
The cut and blend looks almost exactly like that of Porter House Double Mixture, so naturally I was very exited to put this in my favorite aroma-pipe, hoping of some reminiscence..
Well, that comparison fell flat right away. So when it presumably contains, looks and feels alot like that of Porter House, but smells tenfold the sweetness, it must be a case of heavy flavouring. And right on - when smoked, 50% of the aroma detected was non-existant in the taste of it.
It is by all means a decent tobacco, and I would recommend it to all aromaniacs. One can compare it to those of 'My Own Blend' - but with a decent taste, and most importantly in that comparison, it doesn't pack 'gravy' by the gallon!
120 grams smoked
Flavours detected: Vanilla, Raisin, Almond...rice pudding?
To even out the sweetness, I'd recommend a hot cop of black espresso to go with it.
I don't think I've ever come across an aromatic THAT aromatic upon opening the pouch! An extremely sweet sugary smell, that makes me think of both fruit and candy. But surely the sweet cavendish is obvious too - some tobacco detected never-the-less.
The cut and blend looks almost exactly like that of Porter House Double Mixture, so naturally I was very exited to put this in my favorite aroma-pipe, hoping of some reminiscence..
Well, that comparison fell flat right away. So when it presumably contains, looks and feels alot like that of Porter House, but smells tenfold the sweetness, it must be a case of heavy flavouring. And right on - when smoked, 50% of the aroma detected was non-existant in the taste of it.
It is by all means a decent tobacco, and I would recommend it to all aromaniacs. One can compare it to those of 'My Own Blend' - but with a decent taste, and most importantly in that comparison, it doesn't pack 'gravy' by the gallon!
120 grams smoked
Flavours detected: Vanilla, Raisin, Almond...rice pudding?
To even out the sweetness, I'd recommend a hot cop of black espresso to go with it.
| Reviewed By | Date | Rating | Strength | Flavoring | Taste | Room Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Mar 15, 2008 | Mild | Medium to Strong | Mild to Medium | Very Pleasant |
I really used to like this blend, as it was one of the very few "fruity" aromatics I could tolerate. Times and tastes change, however, and I doubt I would give it so much as a second glance these days ... It's not that I hate aromatics (I don't), it's that there are far better blends of this type on the market that are available in bulk.
Don't get me wrong. This stuff tastes great, and it manages nicely to balance the sweet/fruity topping with the natural tobacco flavors of burley and Virginia. It's a very unique taste, and I had nothing to compare it to until Russ Ouellette introduced Classic Burley Kake for the Hearth and Home label last year. Unfortunately, there seems to be an above-average chance of falling victim to what appear to be quality-control issues. Usually, the problem seems to be that someone at the factory put WAY too much flavoring into it, which yields a harsh blast of smoke with a painful bite you won't soon forget (assuming you can actually get it to burn, which is doubtful). I did find a solution of sorts to the quality-control problem, which is to buy this only in tins from the few very few online e-tailers that stock them, but such a variance in quality between the pouch and tin is inexcusable.
A better solution, however, is to simply order a batch of the aforementioned Classic Burley Kake and settle down for a nice smoke. The flavors are essentially the same, but Classic Burley Kake is superior in every other respect. It's cheaper,too.
Don't get me wrong. This stuff tastes great, and it manages nicely to balance the sweet/fruity topping with the natural tobacco flavors of burley and Virginia. It's a very unique taste, and I had nothing to compare it to until Russ Ouellette introduced Classic Burley Kake for the Hearth and Home label last year. Unfortunately, there seems to be an above-average chance of falling victim to what appear to be quality-control issues. Usually, the problem seems to be that someone at the factory put WAY too much flavoring into it, which yields a harsh blast of smoke with a painful bite you won't soon forget (assuming you can actually get it to burn, which is doubtful). I did find a solution of sorts to the quality-control problem, which is to buy this only in tins from the few very few online e-tailers that stock them, but such a variance in quality between the pouch and tin is inexcusable.
A better solution, however, is to simply order a batch of the aforementioned Classic Burley Kake and settle down for a nice smoke. The flavors are essentially the same, but Classic Burley Kake is superior in every other respect. It's cheaper,too.
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