Mac Baren Plumcake

I love the tin aroma ,The only thing is the tongue bite is unbearable.I still have tin that has not been opened.Maybe in ten yrs.or so I will try it again.It is not in my rotation and I don,t think it ever will be.It,s worth trying if you want to try new tobacco's .I know every ones taste is differant and maybe you will like it. Good Luck

Popped the lid and noticed that unmistakable aroma of Latakia & the heavy rum topping. I didn't notice the "good enough to eat" aroma that others have...just a flavored aromatic with a room note that is pleasant but not overwhelming. I sampled this blend in my large, Peterson 9S, homeboy pipe and it was quite mild with a sweet taste. The Latakia was...feint, or not too pronounced, but noticeable. I felt, more than tasted the rum topping...must have been the 151 variety. In that respect, this stuff could have been called Rumcake as it bit me regardless of the manner in which it was finessed.

My first bowl sample wasn't goopy toward the end as others have attested & the tobacco burned down to a totally dry, grey ash. On the second trial run, I discovered that drying this stuff out pretty good will tone it down and deminish tongue bite a little. Regardless of the review span this blend has received, it's one you'll have to try for yourself. It has received many reviews which piqued my curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat. I personally consider it to be a very tasty, flavored blend & could rate it a three if not for the napalm, flash crater in my tongue.

This stuff created enough steam to power the Queen Mary across the Channel. Is this quality leaf? If it is, why would Mac B opt to charge it with an explosive casing that can be detonated by a spark? Why not just a mild Irish Cream or something of that nature? Mac Baren has a problem they should address on this mix. However, they know there's one born every minute...but please don't "rub" it in. I might develop a complex. P-cake has a really good taste & aroma but burns like acetylene. Therefore, IMHO, Mac Baren's Plumcake merits at best, two **s!

Weird blend, with so many different opinions from the various users!

Compared to many other Mac Baren blends, I didn't like its cut: very stringy and thin ribbons, so it took me a while to find a correct packing method. Press it too much, and it will clog the airhole and form a "plug" which will become even tighter when expanding during the smoke. It's OK to form a sort of pressed sausage and then carefully inserting it into the bowl. Don't simply load the pipe with the "three pinches" method, or by gravity feeding and then pressing, because it will end up in disaster (hot and wet smoke). And, most important, don't press it too much.

Personally I don't find it too bitey, if you have a good technique. Actually, very little bitey: my tongue and gums are perfectly fine after smoking this. BUT it has rather high chances of scorching my palate, go figure...

What I find this blend rather lacking of, is flavor and flavor development. Bland, very bland. Pleasant and with never a bad flavor (it's very smooth, never bitter or harsh or acrid), but i want something more from a pipe tobacco. It has a very delicate sweetness, you can feel a pleasant hint of rum, and there's a very slight smokiness. Again, very rounded and refined. Some of the sweet smokiness and the rum clearly remind me of GLPease's beloved Mephisto... but the intensity is infinitely lower. Which is even more weird if you think that it actually has body and it doesn't feel like you are smoking air. Yes, it is even more delicate and subdued than other Mac Baren blends.

Overall it's not a bad tobacco, and I wouldn't mind smoking it again once in a while. What it has to offer is good... my problem is simply that I would like MORE of it.

I have had a like-loathe relationship with Plumcake (a particular single tin of Plumcake, to be exact) for over twenty years. That is how long I have had my first and my last tin of this stuff. Every couple of years I will rehydrate this some, pack a bowl, and puff it casually, thinking, "Why don't I smoke this stuff more often? It's really pleasant". After this, I then put it back in my rotation only to shortly mess up and try to smoke it under my more normal conditions -giving it my more normal Pulls rather than puffs while driving to/from work, lunch break - and then be rewarded with an angry barracuda in my pipe as it bites my tongue off. Once aroused, the load is done, finished, over, beyond reprieve. I wondered if maybe the aged Jamaican rum was itself mixed with battery acid. I once had the exact same experience with a bunch of Hoyo de Monterrey maduro cigars - so strong (too much ligero?) that I could not put the tip of the cigar on my lips. Same story here with Plumcake - once stressed, the pipe mouthpiece is a lethal, venomous weapon. The cigar manufacturer eventually recalled all their cigars for reformulation. Unfortunately though Plumcake in ideal conditions, is tasty, mild and enjoyable. Just, not for me.

I found this had a mild cigarish taste that I am not a real fan of. But it did have a mild oriental taste in the background. It is a mild blend and tastes of Virginians. Room note is little harsh compared to the aromatics I generally prefer.

I call this one MISTER Bitey. It will hurt you if you're not gentle, slow and very watchful. Good for learners cause it demands respect. It has mine.

MIld, sweet and no overpowering complications from nicotine. I've grown beyond this genre of aromatics. Nothing here for me, moving along ....

It was a strange relationship (but then again, rather usual kind of a strange relationship). I loved it at first, smoking Plumcake almost exclusively, but after a week or so it was a rare guest in my pipes. As it turned out with time (nothing suprising really), the pleasant taste of this baccy is at least 70% dependent on the flavoring. The 30% left after 6 months when the flavoring was almost gone were at least nothing special. Such is the sad destiny of aromatics.

Not much tongue bite with proper technique, but best within 1 month after opening - how about a "Smoke slowly, finish the tin quickly" slogan?

As for the taste, there are lots of much more interesting offerings, even in the Mac Baren range.

Will not buy anymore, but would recommend to try.

O.K. first let me say that Plumcake DOES NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT! age well. I had three tins, I smoked one of them in early fall of 2006 and cellared the other two. At that time I found this to be a very nice tobacco that was somewhat elegant in aroma and could be smoked in social situtions without offending non-smokers and offered a very nice smoke for the "pipester"

Christmas of 2007 came and I discovered that it had taken on the visage of a bland and tasteless concoction that did not resemble tobacco I put up more than a year earlier. Thinking I may have had a bad tin, I opened the other and found the same thing. I don't think it was the packaging and my cellaring methods are sound and proven. I think it was just the nature of the blend. It has been written (and said) that aromatics don't age well and this is the proof. While I do not technicaly consider Plumcake a true aromatic, it is evident that it gets a great deal of its character from its casing/topping. If you got any cellered, don't expect great things. Better to buy it and smoke it while it is young.