Mac Baren Plumcake

Just as the old bull told the young bull who was in a hurry, walk down the hill. You have to take the time too tame this shrew. Plumcake has a lot to offer, if you search it out. For me, the first bowl was rushed through an unfiltered pipe and I was met with the bite. Virginias dominated, Burley hidden and the Latakia was being washed away by some spicy added flavoring. It was terrible. I wrapped it up and pushed it to the back of the cellar.

A few weeks passed and I thought about Plumcake again. This time I came prepared. With a 9mm filtered pipe, I approached the Plumcake with the prowess of a cat stalking its prey. lifting the tin I let the aroma approach me before I approached closer. There it was.. The smells of fresh tobacco, layered with Virginias and Latakia rising to greet me. Carefully lifting the ribbon and other fresh cuts into the bowl, lighting and first tamp went well with the lightest sip I have ever attempted.. I nearly blushed. The Plumcake thanked me for my care with offering up some of the sweetest tasting leaves grown throughout the lands. The thought of not enough Latakia left my memory. There it was, hidden so softly behind the Virginia. I continued to draw ever so lightly to find yet another. The Jamaican Rum gave in and filled my taste buds. Oh the softness and pleasure was in full motion. All that was needed was time and patience with a gentle touch to realize what this blend could offer. I will always enjoy a bit of Plumcake when available.

I have heard a lot about this blend and when a friend gifted it to me I thought long and hard on what pipe to use. I ended up deciding upon using my GBD Compact that I bought as an estate pipe and whose owner told me it was excellent with Aros. My experience is it does do wonderfully with Aros so with that settled the experience was ready to begin.

Upon opening the Humidor I was met with a smoky aroma that was enhanced by a spicy Rum with a wonderful earthy, woody background. Upon removing I found the tobacco seemingly perfect for smoking and did not dry out on a paper towel .

Filling the bowl with the ribbon cut blend I packed it a bit looser than I normally do for I have read this likes to burn warmer and can bite. It burned medium and even and burned all the way to the bottom leaving a gray ash. The smoke, even though I sipped even more slowly than ever was billowy and tasty. This does burn on the warmer side and I could tell it would bite and bite hard if pushed. But, sipping slowly it was very, very nice.

Upon lighting the char I could tell I had to go slow and toned down my usual lighting technique and even at that after I lit after the char I only had on relight the rest of the way, about halfway down the bowl. Upon lighting I was met by a wonderful smoky flavor that was enhanced by a pleasant spicy rum overtone. In the background dancing was rich earthy, woody, mildly grassy with a tangy fruity taste. I did detect a light touch of brown sugar. The result was a pleasantly sweet, spicy, smoky rich taste that will definitely let you know if you smoke too fast or hard. This left a pleasant sweet and smoky aftertaste during and after the smoke.

This is a very nice smoke that has a lot going on flavor wise during the smoke and is very tasty and I found pleasing. However, if one is going to make this an all day smoke they had better have a tongue of asbestos for while I didnt get bit by sipping super slow, many do complain of it happening and the experience proved this to be like playing with nitro glyceren... gentle, slow or else you will pay. The flavors played well with each other and I enjoyed this blend. Definitely everyone should try this. However be careful on puffing to quick or too hard, the bellows breathing method really helps with this blend.

This would be a wonderful after dinner smoke, or out by a campfire or next to a fireplace in the evening. Will I smoke this again, yes. Will it be part of my regular rotation, probably not for I tend to shy away from biting tobaccos in my older years. I like to not have a burnt tongue and this blend, as wonderful as it is, is to me playing with fire. But, I like it and will smoke it on special occasions when I have time to go REALLY slow.... By the way the room not is very nice!

Rating 3.3 stars out of 4

It is a mixed cut. On the homepage of the producer Mac Baren it says: ribbon cut Virginias, ready rubbed Burleys, some “Original Cavendish” (whatever they mean by calling it “original”), and a little Latakia.

The name of this mixture, PLUMCAKE, is misleading. There is neither plum nor cake aroma around. I call this a typical Danish Mixture, some may call it an Aromatic Mixture. It has been cased with “real Jamaica Rum”, as it says on Mac Baren’s homepage. Yes, on opening the tin, there is an ample gust of deep, dark booze. There is no strong spice or sweetness in this breeze as I would expect from Jamaica Rum (which is a variety denomination and does not refer to its origin). In second place my nose detects some pleasant hay, grass and yeast notes from the Virginias.

Excellent stuffing and lighting conditions, after donating a short drying time. I find, it tends to burn a little fast and hot, even when smoked at a moderate pace. So, take your time. It burns evenly and entirely into ash.

Now let’s describe the smoking experience: I am usually scared away by Aromatics and artificially flavoured tobaccos. The flavouring of “Plumcake” is very obvious, however, it has been done skilfully. Only when I smoke several bowls in a row, I find it obtrusive and nauseous. The added aroma is in the foreground, but, to be honest, I could not find out of what kind. Rum would not come into my mind.

I can clearly identify the Virginias. The Burleys are harder to identify, they rather add some body to this mixture. Cavendish provides some noticeable sweetness and mellows the blend. I cannot pick-up any Latakia. It is probably just in the background in order to donate some reserved amount of pleasant spice.

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.

You are greeted with a very reddish ripe Virginia's and tin note is of rum only ribbon cut is coarse with some chunks but file bowl easily. Taste of rum is very consisted through out the bowl Latakia couldn't make its presence but can be felt in some time thick smoke. A very good Navy blend similar to MB's Navy flake famous for its rum taste. I often reach for it for a great outdoor expedience.

This tobacco is a beast... I hereby declare it ' king of the biters', I will just make the caveat that I do not know how long the pouch had been languishing in the shop but it was fairly dry, and I do not feel inclined to buy any more of it. It numbs your tongue even with careful sipping and I was inclined to chuck it out after a few bowls. I tried the falcon which can usually make stronger blends behave but after the initial 5 minutes it was on the attack. In the end I resorted to the ' magic inch ' that I have which I reserve for harsher mixtures and it did keep the bite to a minimum and rendered it smokable, but I could discern no sudden burst of flavour or subtle nuances. Definitely not for beginners, it would stop your pipe smoking career in its tracks.

There is not much to say about this, I will however say, I am not really impressed.

The taste is flat, flavour is non-existent, the room note is almost pleasant, what more can I say. I won't buy again.

I had written Per Jensen, Product Manager of Mac Baren regarding them creating a Plumcake flake and was delighted to receive an email from him!! If you would enjoy a Plumcake flake, I ask that you write a short email to Per requesting it. This is the email I received:

**Thank you for the kind words and we will consider a flake version of Plumcake, however this will take time. The next new introduction will be in the HH line as well, but this time a complete other direction as with the HH Bold Kentucky. Once again thank you, and I will make sure to relay your Email to every one at MacBaren Tobacco. Happy smoke Per**

3/01/15 - Why O Why does Mac Baren not produce a Plumcake Flake??? The public has stated they love this blend as it has been around for half a century and that it burns very hot, this combined with the fact the name includes the word "Cake" would lead one to believe that it would be extremely lucrative to produce a Plumcake Flake.

Plumcake smells like Redman chewing tobacco when you open a fresh tin. Just a delicious aroma reminding me of cookies and those candy spice drops that stick to your teeth, allspice and cinnamon, very Christmasy and comforting. A varied cut of ribbon and broken flake becons me to scoop up a handful and stuff into my largest pipe but anything but the most gentle pack of the pipe will ensure tongue bite like no one but Mac Baren can create. If you pack this blend lightly, sip and let smolder you can enjoy a sweet and lightly spicy blend that is really delicious. Plumcake really needs to be pressed into a flake, this will turn down the temperature and intensify the flavor, hopefully I will get to try a Plumcake flake in my lifetime... A bargain at $13 per 100gm tin and very high quality. If you are doing anything except putzing around the house use a filter so your tongue survives the blast furnace that a careless smoke will insure, I give Plumcake 3 stars for flavor, aroma and uniqueness but could potentially be a four star blend if made into a plug / flake.