Mac Baren Virginia Flake

I've been smoking heavy burleys and English all winter. Yesterday I decided that it was time for a summer smoke, a nice VA flake. I purchased a neat little 1 3/4 oz/50gm tin of MB Virginia Flake. Opening the tin I was greeted with a luxurious looking presentation of gold overleaf and two very nicely packed rows of thin light colored flakes. The tin aroma was appealing too. Maybe honey smell,and or grassy but I'm not sure but it was pleasant. The flakes rubbed out very nicely and since it broke up so easily I thought it'd be nice for a fold and stuff kinda thing. The flakes behaved nicely as I stuffed two flakes in a medium sized bowl and they took a light easily. Now, knowing MacBaren's is known to smoke hot and people say they've been bitten by MB, I started smoking it very slowly from the start, just about breath smoking it. MB VA Flake treated me very kindly. This to me is a straight up VA Flake so I'd suggest one not expect much more than this. If you know VA's then you know not to espect alot. However, I was delighted with this little tin and was a great change up from the rigorous heavy demands of winter/cold weather requirements of pipe smoking in my opinion. Lighter weather lighter tobacco for me. I'm giving this baby THREE stars here. It presents itself very well in its class. I'm still backing up my days with a heavier Nic hit but this stuff's nice.

Nothing speacail just a stright Natural Va. Unlike most mac barens this one has a naturaly sligthly sweet taste, very nice, grassy, hay like aroma. If you like natural simple tasting Va flakes like myself a tin of this will serve you well.

Your no thrills basic virginia flake also makes a good blending tobacco with perique.

a very light virgina flake with a mildely sweet taste. burns cool with no bite. great for an early morning smoke. i really like english bleands but this was a plesent change of pace in terms of strength and flavor.

This is just a very fine VA smoke. open a tin I get a hay, grassey smell, the flake is ready to be smoked, no need to dryout first. from first light all the way down to the bottom, I get sweet virginia flawor and a hint of citrus. If you are up for a mild and easy virginia flake this is what you should try out.

~noflex

Well, I must come clean. I smoked this in bulk for quite awhile before knowing it was a Mac Baren product. It tasted "Danish" to me, but my assumption was that Stokkebye made it. It has been an infrequent smoke because it is a little warm and obviously cased. None the less, I can echo Pipepundit's comparison to others' flakes with the exception that I think VF is better than the similar Light Flake.

Virginia Flake.23/02/07. Even with its topping I thoroughly enjoyed this V Flake.It was great for a change and I really do look forward to smoking this again. It behaved well by lighting easy,though I did let a double portion air out on paper for fifteen to twenty min's. I also found I could put this down and relight it with no negative out come in flavour.Three stars from me.

I like this tobacco when I'm in the mood for a stronger smoke but not an English. I've also found that rubbing it out too much seems to make it burn hot. Folding it twice, slightly rubbing it out and packing it loosly works best for me. You need to be careful about tamping it as it burns, its casing can make it stick to the sides of the pipe and it tends to crumble and plug the stem.

This is the second tobacco from Mac Baren's variegated line which has led me to exclaim, "I've found it! The tobacco I've been looking for!"

Tin aroma: In the tin, this flake smells like an overpowering vanilla air freshener.

Cut: This light and dark mottled flake is, in cut, reminiscent of Orlick's Golden Sliced. Large, leathery, silky-textured rectangles that make rubbing out quite interesting.

This tobacco, like many Mac Baren tobaccos can burn rather warm, and this is not helped by the fact that I still pack my pipe inexpertly. However, on the occassions that I get it right, this tobacco is wonderfully rewarding. It tastes like the smell that wafted out of tobacconists I passed when I was younger. The casing is quite heavy so the tobacco flavour is somewhat covered, but is definitely present. The casing and the tobacco are merged quite skillfully.

I haven't tried the Vanilla Cream, so I can't compare the two. However, if you are one of those that enjoy sweet baccies, give this a try.