Mac Baren Plumcake

Let's get the BITE discussion out of the way first. Reading reviews here, Plumcake would seem to be about a 3.0 to 3.3 blend... IF the flavoring did not give so many people tongue bite. Like a lot of Mac Baren blends, PC can bite. For some it will bite only if pushed, but it bites others no matter how they puff (although 9mm charcoal filters tame it easily). And a certain cohort don't find it bitey at all. This is a chemical sensitivity issue, neither more or less. I smoked a nearly 5-yr. old tin (thanks, Pipestud) and found it will bite a bit if pushed and also found that three bowls in a row, even smoking gently, yields tongue bite. I'm guessing a fresh tin would eat me up, but I don't intend to try one. This tin has been an occasional smoke for me, so the bite has not been an issue. For those who say PC does not age well, I disagree; the old tin I have is lovely and refined; I would smoke another if I had it. I also tried it in my Vauen pipe reserved for English blends with a charcoal filter, which eliminated any trace of bite, but it did not taste as rich or full, either.

So don't necessarily be put off by the bite horror stories here -- UNLESS you have found that Mac Baren blends bite you, in which case PC almost certainly will, also. What does MB use that bites so damn many people? Would someone ask this question of Per Jensen at the next pipe show? And if you are prone to chemical sensitivity and find that a lot of aromatics bite, then the odds also are not with you; better to buy an ounce of Plumcake and try it, or (better yet) ask for a free PC sample with your next tobacco order. I tried fresh PC decades ago and found it scalding, with the result that I have no idea how it t-a-s-t-e-d. Age definitely tames this beast.

I did not really taste or scent the plum flavor in this aged tin. I think the aging done done away with it. But I noticed the rum and like it. The tin note is a light and lively English and the room note is pleasant. Strength is medium to full, easily, and the taste is pretty full, with lots of depth. The description does not list any Turkish leaf, but it sure tastes like it. So I assume that the slightly sweet and sour taste that I love in this tin is the aged Virginia with a light silking of Latakia overlaid. It reminded a bit of Davidoff Royalty, though stronger and more rummy.

For the price ($13.50 for 100 g as I write), I'm giving Plumcake 4 stars. This blend has been around since the 1950s and has been a best seller here and in Europe since. Keep this in mind when you read someone trashing it. It's doing something right.

Short intro (skip if you’re not interested):

This is a classic. I know that it’s not the same tobacco as the one that was made with syrian latakia, and it definitely isn’t the one which I had the honor to smoke as my first pipe tobacco: an 80s sealed tin.

This is the tobacco that made me fall in love with pipe smoking, the first tobacco I’ve smoked and still one of my favorites. I received it back in 2017 as a gift from my godfather and I still remember the experience. Even though I was smoking from a cheap Angelo pipe (which I still smoke from and curiously, smokes great) and even thought it did bite a lot at first, this is the tobacco that actually taught me how to smoke gently, enjoying it.

This will be like revisiting a very old and very dear friend, and I’ve seen that the score is 2.9 here, which I think is too small for this classic blend. This is a blend which should have at least 3, or 3.1, but that’s just me and it’s a personal opinion.

Right now I’ll review two tins, one from June 2017 which I started smoking in 2018 (not the 80s tin!!) and then cellared it until October 2020 and one from September 2018 which I started smoking in October 2020.

The old tin (from June 2017)

I don’t remember the first tin note, when I opened it back in 2018, but the “jar note” (after opening it in October 2020) delivers a lot of dark fruit, stronger than the new tin. Very, very interesting smell, rum notes, plums, dark fruit, cider and fermented apples but no latakia, rather some dark fired kentucky.

Very good moisture. The cut is a short-medium ribbon. There are black leaves. It’s much darker in color than the new tin. It has a lot of brown leaves, very few dark gold leaves, and of course black leaves which should be the cavendish and the latakia.

And now, the taste.... ! It’s bready virginia with some hay. This one actually has plum taste and a little rum, just a little, and a lot of dark fruit. Very good and sweet and it doesn’t bite at all.

The latakia is not very noticeable in this one, I think the virginia and the black cavendish and the burley are more pronounced, even though you don’t feel the burley, it’s like a virginia with black cavendish, some topping and a little sweet latakia.

This is more like a virginia forward tobacco. Bready and sweet with a topping. I don’t know, it has some blueberry or some forest berries taste.

This one reminds me of Robert McConnell’s Scottish Flake but this wouldn’t be so peppery, this is smoother.

Comparing this with the new tin, the latter is more balanced. You can actually feel the latakia in that one, but I personally can’t feel the latakia here, but the casing is very good.

Pleasant room note. For the strength I’d say it’s mild to medium, and the flavoring is also mild to medium. And the taste I would say it’s medium.

This tastes like a classy, old school tobacco. It’s quality. It does taste like tobacco, and the topping/casing is good quality.

Burns quite bad. It goes off too much and you have to relight it too many times

Final conclusion. The virginia is in the front, sweet, bready, hay-like and with a topping that resembles some dark fruits, blueberry and maybe some Jamaican rum. It reminds me of Appleton 12. It also has some plum notes.

The new tin (from 2018)

Tin note: Some dark fruit, a bit of latakia. It’s weird that it doesn’t have a lot of tin note this one, though I remember Plumcake had quite a tin note.

So this not really a ribbon. It has some ribbons, but it’s more like a broken flake, which I’m totally surprised because I really don’t remember Plumcake being or ever having broken flake cut. But anyway, large cut along with quite long ribbons of tobacco.

The tobacco is dark. You can see black leaves which can be the latakia and black cavendish, some brown leaves which should be the burley, and some gold and dark gold leaves which should be the fully ripe virginia.

Moisture level is very good.

I let this one sit to dry for 5-10 minutes. Delicious! This is spicy and it might burn you on the tongue like mostly Mac Baren virginias will but you already taste rum. Yes, it has rum taste, rum casing there. This is spicy and sweet and smoky. So yeah, even if it says it has little latakia you can feel it. This is what I would call aromatic english or semi-aromatic because it still gives you the latakia taste.

Very very nice when retrohaling, it has some peppery, spicy and floral notes. It doesn’t bite once you get used to it and have a decent pace and learn draw better, but it will be troublesome for some beginners.

The virginia is definitely there with some hay notes, dark fruit notes, very nice blended, goes very well with the latakia.

The smoke is thick. It burns evenly and it burns great. It does get the pipe a bit hot so just sip this one slowly and enjoy it, even if it tastes so good that you just want to puff and puff and puff.

I must say this is not very different from the old tin, the differences from the 80s smoke which I had which was a gift as a first tobacco when I first started smoking. That one was very powerful in taste, in everything. It did bite a lot but I guess it was my fault as well because I was a beginner but this one is milder in strength and taste than the 80s tin but still very very pleasing.

I don’t know but this one is very much into dried fruit, a little honey taste, and just a little citrus. There’s latakia in there, there’s some rum. As you smoke, all these just combine, they come and go and they come again. It’s crazy, it’s amazing, I mean this is a favorite. I would smoke this every day. Maybe not an all day smoke, but every day I would smoke it.

It needs quite some relights, so that’s a minus. Doesn’t really have a taste of plums, more like blueberries and a very very pleasant room note.

I think this blend is unique in taste and in profile and in just about everything. It’s unique, and it’s legendary and it deserves a better rating in my opinion.

Since it is cased or topped with rum, we could compare this with navy rum. If other blends with rum flavor taste like a Captain Morgan rum, than Plumcake is a straight in your face navy rum, hard and spicy and sweet and like it was high in alcohol proof that would knock you up, it would be ‘for real sailors’.

I’m not sure about the strength, I would say mild to medium or even medium. Flavoring would be mild to medium or medium. The taste medium to full. The room note I would say pleasant, maybe even very pleasant.

As you keep smoking the citrus notes go down and gives you more sweetness.

Here is a tip: After you get past half of the bowl, let the tobacco stay in the pipe for about an hour and then light it up again. It will give you some very, very sweet notes, some latakia notes which are stronger than at first and it won’t bite. Enjoy!

An aromatic english with dark fruit and plum taste. The virginia is in the front, and there’s a little earthiness of the burley. The latakia is there as well.

It reminds me of a Jamaican rum. A very sweet rum, not a spicy navy rum.

What an excelent smoke! What a wonderful taste! Unique! And the smell is very very good, very pleasant. It’s a real gentleman’s tobacco.

Sometimes there’s a little honey taste as well. And there is some cider taste, like fermented apples.

Rum, plum, fermented apples, cider, honey, sweet virginia, decent burley, a good latakia.

Burns very well. Tends to get hot.

FAVORITE AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

So I opened the tin.. No Plums?! No Cake?! what the?... Joking. However it's "Navy" and "Rum" I guess that third smell I can't put my finger on is "plum" . So '"Rum-Plumb" no wonder this is unique.

I figure I'm the last piper on the tobacco planet not to have tried this classic blend but incase I'm not heres what I found in this tin. I've been locking and loading it like a chain smoker the last couple of days so heres my review.

I will for-go the tin smells, light up, etc... and get to the bottom line.

ZERO tongue bite. Yes. I said ZERO. After all the tongue bite reviews from fellow pipers I expected something to bite me but NEVER did. I even stomped the gas pedal to test it when it would... NEVER DID. However It does leave a bit of a film in the mouth.

I can tell you two reasons for the PC tongue bite is: 1. All the yellow Virginias. Im surprised how much this blend has. It's mainly Va's with a small speckling of Cavendish and Latakia, which of the latter I hardly smelled or tasted. 2. The loose cut of the bacca.

I love the loose cut by the way. You can pinch and stuff this tasty rum-plum treat quickly. This blend reminds me of a loose cut MacBaren Navy flake. Picture an English blend that borders on a Va blend that is loose cut and has the fragrance and taste of Rum. Sounds good? It is. I highly recommend this blend as too date I cannot find any fault with it. It's an all day, all the time smoke for this leathered tongue Smoke Dawg! Smoke it up!

I approached this blend with some trepidation as I don't find typical aromatics to be very enjoyable. They sometimes leave my mouth feeling coated and numb. However, Plumcake is a delightful smoke. The Latakia must be what causes the abundance of smoke which I enjoy. I do taste the burley and cavendish but they are in the background. The aroma from the tin is rummy/plummy but not strong. I did a side by side scent comparison with Esoterica's Margate and could really notice the Plum/Rum that way. In terms of moisture, it was just right for me. I can pack a bowl, light it once and smoke it to the end. I suppose I could get the legendary MacBaren tongue bite if I puffed like crazy but I just did my thing and it was fine. Anyhow, you should try this tobacco if you like English blends like I do.

I have a beloved meer that had become rather finicky over the past six months. I don't know what the deal is - personality change, who knows. Pipes can be fickle, and this one decided that it simply did not like anything. I have tried several tobaccos. High end, low end...the pipe hates everything. Narrowing the problem down to a bitter taste, I decided to try something more fruity and went with the Mac B Plumcake. What a life saver!! The pipe took to this tobacco so instinctively that I swear this was what the previous owner must have been smoking. It's a lovely smoke and a good change of pace for me. My meer seemed like it was slipping into a familiar glove - it was really quite amazing to find a match that seemed so compatible. Needless to say, this will be in my constant rotation. As for this tongue-bite thing, I don't know. For me, it is just perfect - just enough to make me feel like a man, yet not too much. The reviews with issues about this befuddle me a bit, because for my palette it is in the Goldilocks zone. I found this tobacco to be incredibly heroic - it was heartbreaking to have my beloved pipe acting so strange, and Mac Baren Plumcake saved the day. It's a terrific smoke and it got my pipe all happy again. A +

English blend? Hmm, doesn't taste like any english blend I have ever smoked, that said I have only smoked a couple dozen so my inexperience may be telling on me. Wow, the tin aroma is magnificent, the best my olfactory system has encountered. The first whiff was pleasant, the next was even better as I was picturing three bottles of slivovitz lined up on a slot machine like I had won the grand prize, cartoon fireworks were going off in my mind and I could hear sirens. Plum brandy is my take, I would bet my least favorite pipe that they ran out of Jamaican rum and was casing this blend with slivovitz. The taste lived up to the tin aroma, very good. For the first time I was able to separate some of the flavors, I tasted spicy. The burn was consistent with only a few relights. I did get some pipe gurgle, but that may be due to the temperature being below zero during my walk. I'll study this temperature thought further. I like Plumcake and it may even go on my reorder list, I will let you know if I actually finish the 100 gram tin.

I finally got off the fence and bought some PC, and I'm in no way disappointed. I was glad to see this one classified as an English rather than an aromatic. The topping is easily noticeable, but it's used so sparingly this couldn't possibly be an aromatic. Strangely, I don't really get the rum, but I definitely get the delicious, roundly fruity plum. This must be the most unique topped blend I have had since trying Stanwell Kir & Apple.

What I find most interesting is how well this particular flavoring works with the component tobacco, and also imparts a nice fruity flavor without any of that cloying sweetness. In fact, I find that what little sweetness is there is imparted mostly by the virginias. The burleys are not as noticeable but provide some alkaline body to the blend that staves off bitiness. And it does wanna bite when pushed hard. Sipped, however, smooth as mother's butter. The latakia is just barely there, lending it's usual smokey character that pairs superbly with the plum.

This stuff is a natural hit for me. And I wonder now why I waited so long to try? PC will join my Mac Baren HH flakes in permanent rotation. I can imagine this will be a refreshing summertime smoke. Nicely done again MB!

One of my favorites from MacBaren. I don't get any bite from this, or any of their blends for that matter, but if you're a girly man, maybe you should steer clear. If you enjoy light/medium English mixtures, or if you're an experienced English smoker who wants a change of pace, give this a go, especially with a dram.

It's lightly sweet, and the core tobaccos shine through, although the proportion of Latakia is condimental -- more of a tease, actually. It delivers a pleasant dose of nicotine, which is a bonus.

This is a great crossover blend with enough complexity to please the experienced piper. Lots of bright leaf in this.

The topping is what you find in most European blends to ensure consistency across tobacco batches, but perhaps a touch more forward leaning.

I am really enjoying MacBaren's blends in this stage of my tobacco journey. My only regret is not trying them sooner. Their HH products are fantastic, their American aromatics are top shelf, and their Danish blends are delicious. Don't heed the negative reviews. Try and judge for yourself, if you know how to smoke a pipe properly. If you're a noobie and can't handle it, try vaping instead. I can't imagine a pipe smoker who wouldn't like this.

GREAT tin note. Some complex flavors throughout the smoke. A bit of bite if not taken slowly, as others have noted. But, worth the "effort". I use filtered pipes for this and several other MB tobaccos. Definitely one of the most satisfying blends I have tried. Kind of an "in-between" blend that has some Latakia, some Virginias, and a definite top-note of rum. A semi-aromatic for English or Balkan lovers, but also an English Blend for aromatic smokers.

A favorite, for sure. I keep this in my rotation. Never disappoints.