Mac Baren Plumcake

Plum cake is a tobacco that I always return to. As the weather cools I begin my fall ritual for this awesome smoke. I like to take 5 tins from my stash and transfer them to jar. I leave them open until I can smell up the entire room. Then and only then I know it it ready. I close the jar up and in a week it becomes the perfect smoke. I pack lightly and give it room to breath. The first pinch is the hardest to resist packing. Once full it lights so easy. I smoke very slowly and enjoy the smell and taste. I would never speed the process here. Save fast puffing for the younger smokers. Lol.

Plumcake is not a typical aromatic at all.

This is one of my favorite MacBaren blends. When you open up the tin, you are hit with that smell of plum, rum and then the smell of some spicy latakia underneath. Very interesting smell. The plum and rum flavors don't overpower so much as compliment the virginia and burley combination. It's a completely different kind of tobacco than I've ever smoked, not quite aromatic, not quite an English blend.

The flavor when it is smoked its more latakia and less rum. The rum, to me, adds more to the room note and not to the overall taste. Mind you, there is a rum flavor. The first 1/3 to half of the bowl was like that, a good steady English. Slightly sweet Virginia and spicy Cavendish, however mellowed by the present Burley. The aromatic comes out about half way through the bowl.

Many people consider this an aromatic, but with the latakia, it taste more like an English with some rum added (which works well together) than an overly cased rum aromatic. Definitely worth trying if you love aromatics, rum, English or latakia.

Overall I'd have to say this is a great smoke for someone looking for a very light aromatic.

I'll start by saying that this blend is number 1 in my rotation. As a fan of mainly aromatics, this is a blend that can be enjoyed by English smokers as well. The flavor is always perfect, with a light fruit and smoky taste. The fruit is somewhat of a dried plum flavor, but it does not, and i repeat, DOES NOT overtake the remarkable flavor. I have read some posts on this site of horrible tongue bite with this one, but if you puff slowly and savor it, it will always deliver. I cant understand why anyone would want to rush this! This is quality, and perfect blending at its finest. It reminds me of every reason i started pipe smoking! Pick up a tin of this, if you enjoy a nice flavorful aromatic, but also enjoy a little spice and pepper, thats not to rough on the palate. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

This is one of my staple tobaccos. It is easily packed, and bruns dry and cool. THis is a great tobacco for those wishing to depart from heavily cased blends. This is a Navy blend meaning that it does have a touch of rum in it. I think this helps quite a bit with the room note. It burns to a fine white ash, and is one of my favorites for a new pipe, as it helps build a quick but hard cake. This is a sweet tobacco, and does great with aging. I have had several tins for over a year, and the sweetness, and honey-like characteristics become even more noticeable after time. This is also a relatively easy blend to find in most tobacco shops. I highly recomend this to all.

I put this English bled on my go too list of tobaccos because 1. the available, 2. Overall quality of the tobacco and 3. the subtlety of the Latakia. It’s not a Latakia bomb , but it’s there as a condiment…..I’ve read many reviews that refer to MacBaren products as “MacBurn” and this is one of the coolest smoking tobaccos that I’ve smoked. It burns really well with few relights required, leaving no moisture in the bowl. Definitely an all day smoke for intermediate to seasoned smokers and I remember liking this as a beginner, so I think other beginners would agree. This is an unpretentious blend with no gimmicks. The rum topping is mild so as not to cause palate fatigue which I get from other aromatics that put overplayed doses of rum, vanilla, chocolate, bourbon or what have you in the mix. I like the taste of tobacco and that’s what ya get with Plum Cake….. I got hold of some Limited Edition, MacBaren Crumble Cake and sprinkled some on top of the Plum Cake and came up with a very good Balkan blend. This is a very good base to blend other tobacco with as the availability of some blends are very limited these days. One of the things I like about MacBaren products ( I don’t like all of their blends) is the amount of their different styles and MacBaren seems to be more readily available where I live. So, don’t shy away from a certain blender because of a few bad reviews .

an old standard blend. Being a former sailor, it has a place in my heart. this blend has been around a long time. First there is no plum in plum tobacco. there is some rum to give it that taste. a very good solid blend best enjoyed packed a little loose and sipped on. the tobaccos all marry well with each other given some time in the tin. I always have two tins on hand and let sit for a year before cracking open. might take a seasoned smoker to really enjoy this blend. hit it hard and it can hit back. this blend has been around and enjoyed around the world for a long time. a true classic worth trying. I may have 60 different tins and five different one pond jars to enjoy of various blend. i am partial to Balkan/English blends but have a variety cause variety is the spice of life. this one will always be close to me, both figurative and literally.

Summary: a light English, this low-Latakia blend shows off its Virginia base with a rich earthy flavor.

Aleister Crowley used to soak his Latakia and Perique in rum because this takes away some of the extremes of powerful leaf. Mac Baren describes "Plumcake" as a "Navy Blend," and this holds true in its composition: comprised essentially of Virginias, cooled down by Burley and softened by Mac Baren's famous "natural Cavendish" which is steamed tobacco without added sugars, with some flavor from the rum-soaked Latakia providing more of an earthy, smoky undertone than the burning herbal incense effect of heavy doses. This produces an easy-burning, mild blend in which the Virginias can show off their natural flavor without burning too hot or biting, tamed by the Latakia and broadened by the Burley. You stick this stuff in the pipe, where it is damp enough to cling together and need no compression, then light it and you will have a very pleasant flavor not unlike toasted sourdought bread: a slight smokiness to the outside, then a sweet core, with a slightly sour and nutty grain flavor around it. It burns down completely and, at the heavier end of medium strength, can keep your interest as an experienced smoker without wearing you down over the course of the day. I am glad this comes in 100g tins but I don't think they'll last much longer than the usual 50g ones do.

Macbaren Plumcake

One of my absolute favorite pipe tobaccos, smells like plum or what the description says. The tobacco i smoke most often and most of. No tounge bite very pleaseant smell or scent. Recomended

Yup, this tobacco has taste to spare. I like this as a morning smoke. Very pleasant and tasty. The ingredients make it sound like an American English, or a mild aromatic with a taste of rum. There's Latakia, and Virginia, and Burley. There is a vinegary ketchupy smell in the tin note. I love that smell. The tobacco itself is in the form of a rubbed out flake.

In the smoking, however, I get none of all this. It is mild, toasty, and the taste is a very pleasant creamy nose-tingling flavor, almost like liquor, but not so strong that it hides the tobacco flavor. It doesn't overstay its welcome. In fact, the slower I sip this the better it is further into the bowl. I just can't seem to identify what makes it unique. It's just a pleasant and reliable morning smoke and it's fast becoming a favorite.