Mac Baren Vanilla Cream Flake

Fans of Vanilla aromatic pipe tobacco blends will find this to be quite pleasant. It has a smidgen of a tobacco taste, yet is loaded with enough vanilla to please the palate.

I have tried many "Vanilla" enhanced tobacco blends over the years and this may just be the best yet. It burns clean and mostly dry all the way to the bottom of the bowl. This is not a biter either.

When reviewing tobacco types, I try to judge each blend on its own merits and compare it against its own genre. Would I prefer this to a hard punching straight Virginia? No. Would I prefer this to most vanilla flavored blends? Absolutely. Therefore, I do recommend MacBaren's Vanilla Cream Flake to my friends who enjoy quality aromatics, particularly those laced with heady doses of Vanilla.

The Flake and Tin Aroma: Very Dark with strips of bright tobacco in it. The aroma is very strong when you open the tin and retains it even after the tin is open and used for smoking. The moisture content is high in the fresh tin but goes down low after a few days. The rubbing out process even after drying the flake for 10-15 minutes is sticky due to the sugar content.

Preparation: Ive smoked the flake fully rubbed, folded and stuffed, 1/3rd rubbed and the remaining folded in the pipe but the best results as far as I am concerned has been when the flake was fully rubbed and aired for 10 minutes.

The smoking experience: Lights up like a charm. Experienced smokers wont need to relight it after the charlight as it keeps going on after the light tamping. New smokers would need to relight it a bit to keep it going. The room-note definitely delivers a strong vanilla aroma to your nose, but it fails to deliver the same vanilla dose to your tongue. A word of caution, try not to overburn the tobacco as it will result in hot acrid bitter smoke.

The tobacco smokes like a charm, sip it slow or it will turn your bowl into a furnace, if you have properly aired the tobacco it wont go out. Patience is the key when you smoke Mac Baren blends or any tobacco. The taste is pretty straightforward the cavendish gives a mild taste and the VA come out once in a while with the vanilla. You cant go wrong with this tobacco blend.

It certainly is a crowd pleaser and will only get your praises for its room note.

The tobacco degrades gracefully reducing itself to an elegant dark grey ash. Despite being an aromatic, the flake definitely has a strong tobacco presence, its strong and definitely gets you giving you a nice nicotine dose unlike lots of aromatics.

I highly recommend this tobacco to anyone wanting to smoke a high quality aromatics without the hassle of tongue bite, goop or dottle. It's not perfect but it does what it was created to do. It doesn't have the wow factor but not everything created in this world can be epic.

Smoking Companions: Hot sweet green tea with fresh lime juice and a teaspoon of honey.

I admit, I have a weak spot for vanilla flavored tobaccos. It's just that since my childhood days I've always associated this particular smell with pipe smoking.

Mac Baren's dark brown Vanilla Cream Flake is mottled with lighter leafs, and has an intensely sweet, delicious tin note that bursts with scents of vanilla without being obtrusive.

You can rub it out or use the fold and stuff method, which I prefer, and which creates a slightly different smoking experience. In a new tin, the flakes tend to be on the moist side, so it's a good idea to let them dry a little. If you even out the surface after the charring light, you can usually get it burning evenly with a single true light.

Enjoyed gently and with care, this tobacco will give you a sweet, mellow, creamy smoke tasting of vanilla with a slight tangy note from the Virginias, and some nutty aftertaste from the Burley. It's easier to smoke it coolly as a whole flake than rubbed out. Also, you'll get more genuine tobacco flavor with the fold and stuff method.

The pleasant room note is reminiscent of vanilla and caramel.

Not bad aromatic tobacco with good aroma. Tobacco flavor is medium. Lighting takes a little patience,don't puff too hard or you'll bite your tongue. Mildly sweet, wonderful burn, a pleasure to the bottom of the bowl. Recommended.

When I first tried it, I was expecting something with a little more vanilla in it, and so was a bit disappointed; however, as soon as you get over that expectation, it really is a very nice flake. It smokes cool and smooth, it has a very pleasant creaminess to it without entirely surrendering its tobacco taste. Now here is the thing: as I was packing my pipe once, my little sister happened by and took a smell of the tin. She told me "It smells like fig-newtons!" Now, having heard this, I must say, she was absolutely right. It smells and tastes like fig newtons. I can't even pretend to taste the vanilla anymore. All I can taste is figs. That being said, I like figs, and if you like them too, you will like this!

Good aromatic: very little tongue bite, true vanilla flavor, a tasty Virginia leaf and great burning qualities. Compared to other vanilla aromatics, the flavoring is on the mild side of the spectrum.

A little bitter for an aromatic: I like the high Virginias percentage in this mixture, but their natural sweetness is not enough for an aromatic. More Cavendish or a more noticeable sugar casing would have improved this blend.

This has the exact same tin fragrance as the loose cut version. The flake is a little stronger and less bitey if smoked in flake form. Strong vanilla fragrance combined with quality tobaccos. Dry it out well and most of any bite will be eliminated. Sweet and tasty !

A fine Classic Flake with good tobacco taste with a hint of vanilla and a nice touch of sweetness. The flavor is well rounded for a Vanilla Flake and pleasant. THe quality of the flake is not too moist or too dry. After 6 months+ it is still flavorful and with a slow even burn. The coolness of the smoke and flavors of the flake are extremely well defined. Tried it fresh from delivery to letting sit as well. I find this to be a regular favorite in my rotation.

When opened I find it burns a little hot so I tend to dry it out a lot. Vanilla note is natural and not too sweet. I like to add a pinch of Sam Gawiths Kendal Cream a I find it makes for a more creamy smoke. Virginia's here are sweet and tart and the vanilla is quite pleasant on the palate throughout the bowl. One of the best aromatics I've smoked to date as there is no bitterness that usually spoils the pipe for me in most. The Cavendish is mild and never cloying. Great with espresso. 6/10 for me. Room note is nice and nicotine levels are low to just below medium. Inoffensive and a nice interlude between my usual Va/Pers.