Mac Baren Virginia Flake

I like this much better than Virginia Number 1. This blend gets better the more it dries out and is very mellow. Room aroma is about the same.

I've just purchased my first tin of M.B. Virginia Flake. As a Mac Barens lover, this blend has been on my "To Try" list for a few years now. These are my first impressions. I've been smoking some top notch Virginia flakes for awhile now so I wasn't blown away by this but that doesn't mean I think this doesn't have a place. Say, if you are a Virginia n°1 smoker and have been itching to move on to more straight up bright Virginia blends, this might be a next step. Or if you plan on moving away from other lightly topped aromatics and want to enter the world of flake tobaccos, this might be just the thing. This is an affordable smoke and is presented in a beautiful way. Tin moisture was just right, and I didn't encounter any bite though the key to enjoying this type of tobacco is slow, light sipping. So, as it stands, this seems like a great gate way flake. Though there are many other great first time bright Virginia flakes, I would recommend this if you had the chance to pick it up.

Absolutely my favorite among the standard Mac B. blends. This is an honest VA flake in the medium range. Only very lightly flavored to enhance the natural VA notes. By no means a complex experience, but a straight forward, honest tobacco. Notes of fresh bright VA with a little sweetness. No bite and a mellow smoke. A basic medium strength VA flake to be smoked all day long.

Have a good smoke with this blend, but I wonder, when I smoke this blend, my pipe is more hot than the usually. I smoke it very slow and draw quite slow even sometimes I take a hard draw to get a great smoke. I think the problem was on my pipe, but for the 2nd time, with other pipe, I have a same problem, is more hot and it cause moisten more faster then the usually.

Hi! I'm a newbie pipe smoker. I tried only 4 different tobacco, but the MBVF was my first flake. I've finished a box, but I think that was my first and last. It hasn't got real taste, just something extreme light aroma, which i can't identify. There was only one occasion when i felt a bit honey. I can't remember what I ate or drank before this. I have some medium bowl-sized pipe and always packed my pipe a half or thirds of a sheet, and sometimes didn't cut, just folding it into my pipe, like in in this step by step guide: http://www.mac-baren.com/TopMenu/Expert-Knowledge/Flake-Tobacco/How-to-fill-a-pipe-1.aspx . There wasn't real different. I'm a bit dissapointed in this mixture. Now I will trying Virginia No 1. I hope somebody will find this honey savor, which I felt for one night. :))

If you're looking for an ultra-light smoke, this may be for you. I disagree with the description of a "full" taste. It is definitely not full.

Despite this, I think it achieves what it likely tries to; namely a very light Virginia flake that has a light coating. For these reasons, I give it three stars even though I personally find it too light. I vastly prefer Virginia No 1 by the same blending house.

Govern Yourself Accordingly.

I am a new pipesmoker, so take this all with a grain of salt. However, I am a long time cigar smoker and no stranger to good tobacco or full-bodied tobacco. This flake is not full-bodied, but it's certainly good.

The first third of the bowl was very mild indeed, but the flavor built nicely and by the halfway point was very enjoyable. Though Mac Baren says this is slightly flavored, I didn't notice it; I just tasted mild tobacco. The best thing I can compare this to is a high quality Dominican cigar with a Connecticut wrapper: mild, but worth your time. The second half of the bowl was especially good with nice natural sweetness and just a hint of nuttiness.

I had some trouble getting it lit, but only in the first third of the bowl; after that I think I relit once for the rest of the bowl. I also experienced a little gurgle. I'll chalk up both of those issues to user error. The gurgle might very well have been me slobbering down the pipe.

I experienced no tongue bite, even when I was getting a little greedy with the puffs.

I smoke outside, but I popped my head in and blew a few puffs at my wife. She said the room note was "like a cigar, but nicer."

All in all a nice simple mild smoke that, within its mild range, had plenty of very nice flavor.

After Samuel Gawiths FVF, this tobacco is a disaster. It was bone dry in the tin, and needed a lot of rehydration. The flakes break up into incredibly thin stringy strands, and remind me of cheap cigarette rolling tobacco. It drys out almost immediately once rubbed out, and has a slightly bitter smell to it.

As with all the Mac Baren tobacco I've tried, there is instant tongue bite which no matter how delicately sipped intensifies as it is smoked. It burns extremely hot and fast, and after only a few seconds, my pipe is very hot to the touch. No matter the moisture level I've tried, this characteristic is impossible to avoid.

An unpleasant bitter flavour (once again, comparable to all the MB I've tried) is all that awaits, and it is a truly disappointing smoke. I picked it up as I am so fond of Sam Gawith's Full Virginia Flake, and hoped that this might prove to be on a par with that, perhaps playing a slightly different tune. Different it is, but for me, a dischordant cacophany. Any pipe I smoke it in is tainted with this bitter tongue bitey experience after several bowls of better tobacco.

One to avoid.

I like it better than VA no1., less flavoring, more natural taste.