Mac Baren Vanilla Cream Flake

Beautiful looking flake that becomes almost a crumble cake. I could not get this to fold for loading without breaking. No problem there, really. I just found it interesting.

Tin aroma was of a chemically-altered light vanilla rather than a natural extract. This transfered to the taste, unfortunately. I tried this in various states of moisture and in all cases I got an extremely bland mouthful of hot air with almost no flavor. The most taste was on the pipestem. Very boring smoke. The tobacco appears to be of high quality but no tobacco taste comes through. I puffed madly on one pipeful in an attempt to get ANY type of flavor to exhibit itself but it was not to be. So far, Mac Baren blends tend to follow a pattern of "all aroma, no flavor" and this one is no exception (although Burley London is a wonderful deviation, and Virginia #1 is ok at times). I've got Navy Flake and HH Matured Virginia left to try and then I'll probably say farewell to the House of Mac Baren.

I can think of nothing better than a good cool smoking vanilla aromatic. That is what you will find with Mac Baren's vanilla Flake. I have tried other vanilla aromatics that were drenched with PG and they were not at all pleasant. Most required drying time and bit. Mac Baren's Classic Flake is a no bite relaxing tobacco with a wonderful room note. It lights well and requires minimal relights. It is now my all day smoke. For a smooth experience, give this one a chance. I think you will be pleased.

Edit: My feelings have changed about this tobacco. My first couple of bowls presented with no bite but that soon changed. Now I get horrible tongue burn from each smoke. Subtracting 3 stars.

Mac Baren Vanilla is a tobacco I've really bent backwards to try and like, but after many failed attempts with this tobacco, I give up, it's just not for me. This tobacco regardless of the pipe used, smoking cadence and whatever other variables results in an unsavory smoke. The vanilla flavor is present and is actually not bad, its fairly similar to Stanwell Vanilla but less flavorful, however the big difference is that Stanwell Vanilla is a cool smoke, whilst MB is a strong grassy Virginia smoke that smokes hot resulting in a hot and unsavory smoke, the room note also smells like burnt popcorn. I don't like the flavor of the tobacco, and the casing makes it burn too hot. If you want a good vanilla aromatic I strongly recommend Stanwell Vanilla.

More or less the same as the loose cut.

This blend was lost on me. It's a beautiful flake presentation like most of MacB's.

Smells wonderful out of the tin, although not that much like Vanilla. More like a blueberry/strawberry nutrigrain bar.

There's nothing to complain bout the packing or burning, not very goopy at all. The tongue bite factor is minor but it's there. The problem is that I get nothing flavor wise from this tobacco. The smoke coming out of my mouth smells amazing and it almost fools you into thinking that the tobacco tastes good. But it doesn't. It tastes like smooth air. Even on a retrohale it doesn't offer much.

Simply can't enjoy this blend and with the tongue bite factor as well, I don't think I would smoke a free sample of this.

I think Drums and beer has the best review of this stuff. Good if you want to have the other people in the room enjoy your pipe, not good if you want to.

A very pleasant aroma and smell when opening the tin. A very promising taste when you start your first sips. But that 's all. Finished ! No more. Before reaching half the bowl there is nothing left of the taste and vanilla. And it gets hotter and hotter . At this stage, for me , a sort of headache and tongue bite starts to dominate, something different begins to develop to be completely disappointing. Never I could finish the bowl so many times I tried this tobacco. Even the room note fades out for nonsmokers as you go on !

3 flakes of this were enough for me to decide i had wasted money. Tongue bite with every puff. Dont waste your time with this blend.

This is one of the first blends I tried, several years ago. Thinking back I think I liked it quite a lot.

Now. Things have changed. Trying several hundreds of tobaccos later, not okay.

If your looking for just a good smelling blend, go for it. The taste is pretty good, casing wise. Besides the putrid tongue bite. Also an all day smoke because it is very very light. Which isn't for me. Not saying others wouldn't enjoy it.

With all said, A blend i'm glad I tried, but not for me.

Cut is great. The flake folds and smokes well. I would say the room note is ok but a bit much for me. This tobacco bites hard so watch out. I wont be buying another tin of this again.

Nice smell when opening tin, but that is about it. There were a few moments throughout the smoke when some flavor try to make its way through, but it never made any distinct impression. Threw the rest away after the first bowl. There is some ok Virginia in there but it gets altered by the no distinct chemical "vanilla" flavoring. I will not be smoking this again.