Mac Baren Virginia No. 1

This tobacco gave me a very rough start. It bit me every time I lit it up. Once I let it dry out a good bit, and I puffed very slow, I enjoyed the sweet taste it provided. However, I still had a hard time keeping Virginia #1 burning.

As a newbie, I have developed a taste for Virginia's, but this will likely be my last tin of this variety.

I will revisit this tobacco on a later date. Maybe with some experience under my belt and some jar time, I'll have a different opinion. As for now, I do not recommend this for a newbie.

Update: 06/24/07 I just finished a recently purchased tin. It's hard to believe this was VA #1. The tongue bite was awful. I thought my tongue was on fire. The tobacco harsh and bitter. What did they do to this mixture? I really doubt I will ever buy it again.

Original review: Every so often I get a taste for Virginia #1. At $ 10 for a 100 gr tin, plus driving 30 miles one way to purchase it at a tobacco shop far away, the cost exceeds the pleasure. However, sometimes, when you gotta have VA #1, you gotta have it.

Very light, sweet flavor. Age it a bit, and it becomes an even better smoke. Recommended.

Wish it was more available.

I've tried to smoke this stuff for years now but no matter what I do, I cannot change or modify this blowtorch. I've tried age in the tin, perique, pressing and even Dubeck but to no avail. The first third of the bowl leaves me with the knowledge of what it must be like to smoke newly cut hay. Just at the moment where I'm ready to give it up, I do get a sweet Virginia taste that it really quite pleasant. By this time, my mouth has been bitten so badly so as to make everything else seem inadequate to justify the price I've paid. I will not do this again.

Meerschaum Man Smoking a CAO Dunhill Man Pasha

I'm finished wasting money on MacBaren tobacco...this blend was the last straw...

Another Mac Baren blend that tastes good, smells good but bites like no other. Lovely tobacco that will have your tongue fried within minutes.

although this is obviously good quality tobacco i found very little variation in flavor and was not impressed at all with the "bright side" of va. flake flavor that it did have. i also found it to be a tongue scorcher. as for packing,lighting,and keeping lit- no problems.

I really like pure virginia, especially the sweet ones, and this could be one of those. But this one don't really taste that much and the tongue bite is really cruel. I don't know whats wrong with McB but they do have a problem with producing a baccy that don't make you feel like sticking your tongue in melted led. It is a mystery to me that they are the biggest producer of pipe tobacco

VA No. 1 comes off as over-cased with too much sugar. It's kind of sticky out of the tin and similar in bulk. That's not a real promising sign at all.

The flavor is appropriate for a Danish straight VA, and the cut is excellent. It can be made to burn cool, but why anyone would expend the effort is kind of beyond me. It is not tolerant of distracted puffing and will remind you quickly that it's in the pipe if you forget. I hold the bowl constantly when smoking this, any spike in temperature a warning sign to back off.

Erik Stokkebye has shown with his marvelous 1855 that a straight VA in the Danish style with appropriate smoking characteristics can be built, it's time for Mac Baren to retire VA No. 1 in favor of a contemporary recipe.

So I was out of tobacco to switch to after smoking a great deal of latakia based blends and this was the only thing available. I know, I know, I had sworn off McB, but I was desperate and did have one good experience with McB (Navy Flake) so I thought, "why not?" and I gave it a try. This stuff did indeed disappoint. It was sticky to the touch (sugared) and upon lighting this torched my tongue. I was gentle with pace, but this still burned my tongue and mouth. To make matters worse, it was almost a tasteless blend. Ugh! Well, I should have known better. I hear the HH series is more refined, perhaps I'll give it a go after my tongue heals. 🙂

Smoke in peace, brothers and sisters of the leaf.