Mac Baren Vanilla Cream Flake

Like with the other Mac Barens, very nicely presented tobacco in a little golden, black and off-white tin, and the tobacco is wrapped in a golden coloured wrapper. The tobacco is a nice, thinly sliced, tightly packed flake. Very strong tin scent of vanilla, milk chocolate and fudge, bordering on artificial. Unfortunately this doesn't come across too much in the taste for me. Upon lighting, flavour is barely noticeable; a bit like puffing hot air. It comes on better and better through the bowl though, and towards the end I get really quite pleasant, albeit weak, dry, teak-y vanilla flavour with a good tobacco bitterness. Room note, on the other hand, is a very pleasant, un-smoky rich vanilla tone. Seems to be a hit with the non-smokers around, and leaves a pleasant faint sweet vanilla scent to the room the day after.

I find it works best with the fold and stuff method of packing. Two flakes works fine in a corn cob. Like that I usually go through the pipe without relights (save the charring light and my habitual relight after the first 3/4 of the bowl). Rubbed out it tends to smoke a bit hot. Never had any problems with tongue bite though (nor have I with any other Mac Barens). Nicotine is hardly noticeable in this one (which of course can be a good thing sometimes).

I think for me the main problem is the mis-match of tin scent and flavour. A tobacco that smells this strong and sweet in the tin should live up to it in flavour. This on is just a little bit too much on the bland side. Overall it's not too bad though. I will certainly finish the tin, but not sure I would buy it again.

The executive summary for this blend: It's a mild tasting flake, it packs, lights and burns well but if you're smoking it because you like the flavors that come through with aromatics, then this isn't for you.

As with most other Mac Baren blends, this one is composed of a high quality tobacco leaf, the tin aroma is fairly nice and one would expect the smoking experience to taste much like the tin aroma; however, this is not the case. The flakes come out of the tin just moist enough to fold and stuff, yet dry enough to light normally. Even when smoked aggressively this tobacco hardly bites, but then it hardly tastes like anything either. I was expecting some vanilla flavor, maybe not a Captain Black White dousing of vanilla, but it's actually quite lacking. Even exhaling through the nose can't pull any flavor out of this tobacco. I will continue to smoke the remainder of this tin but I doubt I'd be buying another.

I find this blend much more pleasant after several months of aging in a sealed jar. Just for kicks, I bought about 8 oz. of VCF about 10 months ago and didn't really care for it then, but seems to get better with a little age.

I am usually not a lover of aromatics, but sometimes I want to reach for something sweet. Since MacBaren uses quality leaf compared to other brands of aromatics, I gave this one a try. The fact that it was in flake format was a bonus, too.

First of all: this is one incredibly slow-burning tobacco. If you fold the flakes like the MacBaren website shows, a couple of flakes will last at least a couple of hours... so be sure you have some time to enjoy your pipe! As a result, it burns cool and dry, which is certainly a nice thing: this is not a scorching and goopy aromatic!

The vanilla flavoring could be more intense and sweeter: this one smells rather natural, but I also detect some hint of alcohol in it, and something that smells like fermented bananas. Other vanilla blends I have tried are much sweeter and intense in the flavoring department. It WILL still flavour the bowl easily, though, so keep it for a dedicated pipe...

At the match, as I said, the tobacco burns great. And the smoke actually tastes of tobacco. I would almost be tempted to say that it tastes more of tobacco than of vanilla, which is quite a feat for an aromatic (they usually either only taste of the flavoring, or of hot air). Problem is that, like other MacBaren tobacco, it is a very mild tobacco. Good, but it leaves you wanting something stouter. Anyway, it has some nice body and mouthfeel, and it is a nice Cavendish and Virginia blend... simply, I just wish it was more flavorful.

Room note is VERY sweet and persistent. If you like vanilla, all right. But my wife said that it's a bit more intense than she would have preferred: sometimes even too much of a pleasant thing can be too much...

Overall: a vanilla flavored flake was a nice idea, and it's a quality tobacco. But in the same genre, I prefer the German blend called Sweet Vanilla Honeydew.

I would like to preface this by saying that I am not primarily a smoker of aromatics. I tend to lean toward latakia blends and the like. I picked up a tin of this at the recommendation of a fellow pipe smoker.

I found this to be a bit too mild for my tastes. The vanilla is definitely noticeable, and is not overpowering. It still leaves plenty of room for the tobacco flavor to come through. My experience with this blend was that there just wasn't enough tobacco flavor to fill in that gap, but the flavor that was there was definitely pleasant.

Filling and lighting was easy enough with this blend. I used the fold and plug technique and it lit fairly easily and kept burning quite nicely through the smoke.

For an aromatic blend, this is quite nice, but it doesn't pack much of a punch other than the bit of vanilla and tobacco flavors. not as good as the non flake vanilla cream as I have heard.

I like a vanilla aromatic once in a while, but this stuff just bites and stings like a bee. It's a shame because it has a pleasant enough taste and a wonderful room aroma.

I used one ounce of this as a blender in a 7-ounce blend and it justs dominates the blend. It certainly has a presence, and the bite transferred to the blend as well.

It is presented well, has a nice smell in the tin and the moisture level seems correct.

upon opening, a very pleasant vanilla aroma emerges, the tobacco is drier even with additional moistening, after lighting, this aroma relatively disappears, but you can feel it there, the smoke is thick, full, cool, the tobacco burns well throughout the smoking period. I smoke tobacco, but I won't buy it again, it's not one of my favorites, but for those who like aromatics, maybe yes

This is an OK smoke, but if you like Virginia’s it might speak awesome to you? The vanilla isn’t going to set any records in the flavor department, at least for me, but you do get subtle sweetness and some of that is just because of the Virginia and cavendish.

I smoke Virginia’s only on rare occasion, and this is no exception. Virginia’s seem to take time to master and maybe I just don’t have it yet. They are lighter in many respects - but they also seem to burn hotter. So, mastering how to smoke it seems to matter. I try, oh do I try.

With this one having a vanilla topping and some cavendish and burley... the added tobacco can’t be much considering this, at least IMO, is closer to a straight Virginia.

Comparing to soda... this is like club soda to 7-up if 7-up is to Dr. Pepper.

Is it sweet - yes. Does it really taste like vanilla? Not to me. More like sugar. I don’t see keeping this in stock other than what I have left. Maybe one day I’ll smoke it and say - wow, look what I’ve been missing. But, most likely I’m going to say “yeah, I tried that - it wasn’t for me.”

I was really pleased with this tobacco when I received it. Wrapped in gold paper, it was greatly impressive. The scent of the flakes was wonderful, and probably one of the best vanilla notes I have encountered.

Then I decided to light up. The first few puffs were great, then came the the famous bite. My tongue felt roasted. So I put it away for about a week and tried again. No luck. The burn would not abate and was worse than before. All I can say it must be me - the way I pack it or something. I will keep the box and let it age.