Mac Baren Plumcake

I have only been partaking in pipe tobaccos since January of this year so please bear that in mind as well as this is my first review here. After reading most of the over 200 reviews here i felt the need to try this for myself. The obvious seems to be covered above and by many whom have already reviewed this here so i will get straight to my impressions. Tin note is welcoming in the sense one wants to find out how it tastes. Packing and prelight was simple and straight forward. One can definitely taste the latakia but its not overwhelming by any means, more so enough you know its presence but not to over power the other tobaccos. What i found interesting is the cavendish that adds a sweetness to the whole experience. For someone who smokes Aromatics this would be an ideal transition to non Aromatic tobaccos and definitely opened the door for me to many other blends.The burleys, virginias, cavendish, and latakia all were present and none seemed to overpower the others which made for a delightful experience for me. As for the tongue bite issue many have spoke of i found a few things i thought to share to help limit it. First, cadence. Slow down. It helps a lot. Second, and this may be my tin being a little too moist, let it dry for 15 to 30 minutes prior to loading and lighting. Third, and finally, if the other two dont work, use a filter. I have smoked it with and without, prefer without, and the filter can curb a good bit of the dreaded bite. The filter does also take away a good bit of flavor for me hence i dont use them whilst smoking plumcake anymore. This is easily an all day smoke. At least for me. It also has an acceptable room note so you wont run anyone away.Definitely a must try for Aromatic smokers looking for something more or for anyone looking to try a latakia blend that is not latakia heavy. I like it and intend to keep some around as it hits quite a few marks for me right now. Cheers!

Plumcake remains one of my favorites of all-time. We would send tins of it to my dad's youngest brother when he was serving in the infantry in Vietnam, so it also holds a certain 'nostalgic' appeal for me. But it is one of the most layered tobaccos out there, possessing a considerable amount of flavor from start to finish, producing a pleasant room note and, yes, a bit of tongue bite (but then again, most tobaccos have at least a bit of tongue bite, let's be honest!). Open a tin of this and you won't be able to resist. Not an 'everyday' smoke, indeed, so sit back, relax and don't push it.

I love it and I did not expect that. The tobacco does not smell very nice in the tin, as it is a mix a fruit aroma with tobacco and latakia, that does not pair very well in my opinion. From the first light the latakia is dominant but this is is a very bright and light taste, that’s brings to mind olibanum scent, it is not the musty leather type latakia which can be found in Balcans and other types of latakia tobacco. After a few puffs the latakia moves in the background giving the feeling that you smoke Orientals, lets say. Then the fruit becomes more evident tasting like apricot or plum but this is not artificial it is very nice, in line with the tobaccl taste. After several puffs the fruit also moves in the background, while latakia can be barely traced. Then is the turn of Virginia for a few puffs before starting competing with burley which finally dominates to a large extend. The burley in terms of taste reminds me aged burley from Solani with that sweet nutty taste but lighter in nicotine kick. If you leave the pipe for a while to cool down then the first puffs again will have more latakia and it seems that as many times you relight the pipe you will experience the same cycle but at a lower intensity. This is a sweet smoke but not overwhelmingly sweet or aromatised it is difficult to say that this is an aromatic because it is very different from the rest. In any case this is an aromatic that you can taste the tobacco being able to say every moment hmm now I smoke sweet Virginia, now I smoke burley and so on. This is European style taking characteristics from Danish and Dutch aromatics I really like this tobacco, but in my experience please do not try it in small bowls since it tends to byte in small bowls and you will not be able to taste it. I smoke it with carbon filter, and I have not experienced serious byte, maybe a tiny one if pushed. It does not byte like cream vanilla or Scottish mixture if you know what I mean. Taste and smoking is very personal but I have to recommend that one, as a really good and special smoke, that I like it in the mornings, in the evenings in the nights, usually this is not the case for me with aromatic tobaccos.

My bias first. MB uses the same base Cavendish in many of their blends giving a similar taste, but unique to MB, in those blends that have it. Plumcake has it and I like it. That said, MB then blends additional taste profiles using different condiment tobaccos, top dressings, and cuts. I like their rough cut or broken cakes, spun and flake blends. Plumcake is, as the name implies a broken cake. I also have found that MB tobaccos that have aged in the tin with the vacuum broken so they have dried some smoke and taste better. Another alternative, if the tin is new, is to pack your pipe and let it sit overnight. Plumcake handles easier if it is drier.

Now, as other reviewers have noted PC can bite the tongue, especially if wet from a new tin. Even dry, it needs to be sipped - puffed slowly. I think too it does better in a larger pipe. If sipped, it rewards with a wonderful sweet and sour taste. It is plummy to the taste with a spicy counter taste. The combination of the Rum, Virginia, Burley, and MB Cavendish pressed into a Navy cake (what the sailors of old did with their allotment of tobacco on long voyages) marries to create its unique taste profile. My tin is 5 years old and counting (ok, my larder is large enough so I can age blends w/o going on a diet) and in the tin you can smell the sweet and sour aroma. The blend is predominantly dark brown and red leaf with a salting of black tobacco, perhaps perique ( it could also be steamed or blackened Cavendish).

If you like VA/Per or Navy cakes, and you sip this, it will reward you and is worth the effort. Remember those old sailors were a tough breed who smoked their pipes with leather tongues often in the wind. They wanted a big taste experience and PC provides it. Perhaps not for the novice, but I find it a rewarding blend as a challenge to sip, go slow, and as a change of pace from other blends. I am giving this 3 Stars since it can be difficult and is a change of pace blend for me.

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 +

Overall I'd have to say that plum cake is the best Mac baren has to offer. Though that's not saying much this is actually a surprisingly pleasant smoke. Id hardly call it an English blend but the Latakia is noticeable. Its more of an attempt at Bell's Three Nuns which is my absolute favorite Va/Per blend. In Plum Cake the burley takes the forefront. All the Latakia adds is a touch of smokey spice which complements the plum/rum casing. However the casing bring with it the Mac baren tongue bite curse. I don't understand why they use Latakia and a casing to achieve a spice and plum flavor when they could just use perique. I guess Mac baren just feels all blends need to be cased to achieve the perfect level of tongue bite.... however it is an honest effort but it just falls short of success. To me Mac baren will always be just one step above OTC tobaccos. So if, God forbid, I ever run out of tobacco (very unlikely) and I'm a little strapped for cash, I'll swing down to my tobacconist and pick up a tin of this.

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.