Mac Baren Roll Cake

Once again MB makes good on another white label tin. Roll Cake is another example of cheerful disposition meets old fashion home cooking. I found this blend smooth and full bodied with a smokier/cherry-like flavor. A nice rediscovery and well worth the price. The spice element is quite noticeable, but a slower draw on one's pipe can tame that. Letting this blend, like several MB blends, air out for a short while will give it a toastier character and a fine round finish with far less bite. This isn't one of those blends that will knock your socks off. It's meant for sipping. That in itself is refreshing. Did I mention a fine room note. You can't get enough of that old world pipe smell, which MacBaren pulls off quite well time and time again. If your new to pipe smoking this is a great start. And the whole coin thing, pretty niffty trick. Enjoy!

Great tasting tobacco and has made it onto my favourites list. Initially Bought in bulk but have how added a 100g tin to age slightly.. Having no description at all on the tin I would put this down as a VaPer however reading the description on the website surprisingly has no Perique in it??? Taste wise there's a lovely fresh hay like quality from the Virginia and a cheeky spice hit from an Unknown source...I couldn't detect the Latakia either which it mentions in the description. All that aside it is a great tobacco, the rolls pack and smoke easily with moisture content probably a tad high when fresh but nothing obsessive.

Cannot see myself being without an open tin for the future.

After many months of not smoking latakia blends I now get the very gentle hint of the Latakia great smoke

This has been for me an all day smoke. The Virginia with the maple/brown sugar sweetness from the Cavendish and some body from the burley. Take 3-4 discs and mush then into a wad. Press that into the chamber with a little effort for slight resistance in the draw. Bingo. Easy to light and smoke. Light and sweet with a nice room note.

This is one of the four curly cut tobacco blends Mac Baren currently produces (Roll Cake, Club Blend, Dark Twist, Stockton) and is the sweetest of them all. There was another curlie from Mac Baren - Latakia Blend, but it was discontinued due to people not liking the small amount of latakia it had. This blend consists of Virginias, dark fired kentucky and cavendish tobaccos. Mapple sugar has been added to the blend to sweeten up the taste and if I'm not mistaken - a little bit of honey topping. Upon opening the tin I'm greeted with very pronounced honey aroma with a some grassy notes from Virginias. The coins look very neat with bright Virignias surrounding darker kernel in the middle which appears to be either BC or DFK. Moisture level is almost perfect for smoking it right out of the tin.

I usually pack the coins in the bowl without rubbing them out. I take 5 - 6 coins, stack them together and roll them up, then insert the roll into the bowl of the pipe. I love smoking them this way because, until the middle of the bowl it's just basically VA tobaccos, but when the mid-bowl hits, I'm getting this smoky taste from DFK. Then after the mid-bowl it's mellowing out again.

Lighting this tobacco is a bit of a challenge. From the start it needs at least two charring lights, but when that's done, it burns pretty well.

I really love the taste, its toasty, smoky spiciness. The extra topping adds to the natural sweetness from Virginias. This is really satisfying smoke. Can give tongue bite if smoked too fast. I can get an hour and a half of enjoyment out of a bowlful of this blend. The strength of this blend is on the mild side. Not much nicotine in it.

The room note is noticeable, but is not offensive. Actually it's rather pleasant.

Would definitely recommend this blend for all pipe smokers.

I bought this tin almost one year ago and have been smoking an occasional bowl every so often. I was not too impressed. It smoked way too hot and I really didn't get a whole lot of flavor. I almost gave up on this blend.

But I read a review of another MacBaren tobacco which followed a negative review that I earlier gave Mac's Club Blend. In that following review, someone wrote that MacBarens tend to do better when you dry it for a while ("Dry it and try it"). And smoking slowly/not puffing too hard was reiterated as key in getting the true taste from several MacBaren blends.

After nearly a year, my tin of Roll Cake didn't need more than a couple minutes of sitting out to dry out enough. I smoked a number of bowls this month in a number of different sized pipes and each time I took my time and deliberately smoked slowly and tried to savor the experience. I was rewarded with a great smoke each time.

I discovered that this tobak is simply wonderful. I tasted and smelled many different natural flavors & aromas; grassy, a little sweet, a bit smoky, a touch of a nutty flavor. It also at times reminded me of warm oatmeal. What a smorgasbord!

The small amount of Syrian latakia makes the smoke more full and satisfying. This blend had some body and some character; it was both plain fun and relaxing to smoke.

Not an aromatic, this blend still had natural sweetness from the tobacco itself and from a lightly applied topping that did not mask the tobacco at all. The mix of predominantly Virginia, with small amounts of cavendish, burley, and Syrian latakia afforded some complexity as well.

I recommend Roll Cake, and due to other reviewers, I think I will try Club Blend again, but this time I will give it the same treatment and patience that I did with Roll Cake.

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Govern Yourself Accordingly!

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SmokeKing David

I generally just pack the nicely prepared discs into the bowl but you may choose to rub out some to aid in the first light and reduce the # of relights. I prefer to avoid a hot smoke even if I smoke aggressively and therefore use this technique with most of my VA flakes. This tin aroma is just of quality tobaccos. During smoking, there is an excellent balance between the tobacco types with just the right hint of the perique for me. I didn't sense any great increase in the strength of the perique towards the end of the bowls and little variation in overall taste thru the smoke. Some may consider this boredom, but to me this is a great, tasty, cool smoke. Another winner from the world of MacBaren

this is a superb virginia/burley blend. it comes in disc flakes about the diameter of a nickel. when you rub it out you get wonderful long thin ribbons. the flavor is rich, smooth and complex. there is a great depth of flavor.

i can't taste the perique at all in this blend. if you like perique go with Old Gowrie or Bayou Morning Flake instead.

YES! I truly enjoy this blend, it has a rich, earthy, tangy (almost lemon like), flavor to it with an ocasional hint of sweetness.

Rub it out completly and pack medium firm, and it really brings out all this blend has to offer. This is one blend that I will continue to smoke and enjoy.

I have found over the years a fondness for the MacBaren tobaccos. I love the way they marry the flavours of both straight tobacco and "casings" or "toppings". Roll Cake was for me a delight to smoke. I ran cool the whole time in my Bjarne freehand. The disks held the correct moisture nicely even after the tin was opened for some time. The subtle flavors held most all the way through the bowl. I did not find the flavor as pronounced or tasty as Dark Twist. Nevertheless it is a fine smoke for taking your time by the fire.