Mac Baren Virginia No. 1

This was my first pure Virginia tobacco and I found it a very pleasant smoke. It has a sweet taste that stays with you throughout the smoke. It can burn a little hot if you are not careful, but a slow steady pace will reward you with a good tasting smoke. I bought this in bulk and the bag had a nice smell when I opened it. The room note is not overbearing and clears out pretty quickly once the pipe is out. I found it easy to light and it stayed lit without much effort. Because it can burn hot, it is not the greatest choice to smoke outside on a windy day, but other than that I have no complaints. I will continue to explore other Virginia tobaccos, but for now this has a place in my regular rotation.

This was my absolute first pipe of tobacco, recommended by the local Havana House on my request for a good Virginia for a complete novice. I have to say this was an entirely enjoyable introduction and I am looking forward to the next bowl! I was left wanting for a bit more flavor, but I may be jaded as I've smoked full-flavor cigarettes for ten years.

My initial thoughts on the flavor are honey and hay with the tiniest hint of vanilla. The honey flavor is not strong but is persistent, lasting hours after the smoke.

As a first-timer I was a bit wary of tongue bite but experienced almost none, only a bit when I forgot myself and nearly drew as I would on a cigarette. I also had no trouble keeping the bowl lit and smoking it to the bottom with only the initial lights, though not entirely to clean white ash as I'm sure I should have. Once the bowl was nearly finished it did go out, and the final flavor didn't leave me wanting to relight.

Overall I'm neither disappointed nor thoroughly impressed, but I am satisfied and hopeful! This has been a great first experience, if somewhat less robust in flavor than I'd have liked. I've tried many times to quit cigarettes, and now that I've tried this blend I'm thinking pipe smoking just may do the trick!

I'll post an update once I've had some more time to reflect and compare with other blends.

A good Virginia. I bought it on recommendation from the lady at the tobacco shop. Mild but good. My new favorite morning smoke. If I don't get a pipe of this before work, I crave it and have to have it as soon as I get home.

Definitely not a traditional non-aromatic "English" pipe tobacco blend, like I thought it was going to be. Way too much oily moisture in the tin. Looks like some of the best Virginia I have seen, with plenty of perfectly harvested Golds, winey Reds, chocolaty Browns, and some pleasant Greens, though they all look very wet and soaked, with plenty of ugly looking stains and blotches from the overabundance of added sweetener/flavoring added into the tobaccos . Plenty of big thick stems too, so watch out. Wasn't aged/fermented enough. Previously caked, then sliced into partially rubbed toothpick and double toothpick sized strands. Smells fantastic like a barn full of fresh clean sweet hay. It is a nice warm welcoming embracing smell like fresh baked bread and pastrys.

Very hard and frustrating to light. Some instances of tongue bite, but not so bad considering it is Virginia. Had only a mere couple of decent puffs, and one really good puff that I consider the pinnacle of the experience. This stuff is better off in a hookah, not a good pipe. It keeps going out, and then when it does stay lit I only get a couple of decent puffs, but in these puffs there is tremendous good taste and flavour. I can sense the immense potential of the grand and perfectly harvested Virginias, but Mac Baren ridiculously injected way too much of this sickly nauseating cheap malted barley glucose syrup into the Virginias, thus destroying everything into useless ruin. The couple of decent puffs I did have were very delicious, clean, mild, and smooth, with this mellow sweet delicious vanilla like fresh sweetbread/fine candy flavor, but most importantly the taste and magnificent flavours of the prized Virginias which were clean, well focused, and centralized with that classic premium Virginia tobacco taste that can best be described as golden, honey sweet, whole grainy, and mellow grassy.

The smoke needed to be thicker bodied though, but that seemed to be compensated for by this ever increasing complexity and strength that was emanating from the great potential of the premium Virginias. Then again, the embers suddenly whimper into mere smoke, I have to blow through the beautiful white ash just to heat the freakin blend, and I get hot ash all over and into my face. Shame on you Mac Baren !!! I need to be enjoying myself smoking, not angrily maintaining and baby sitting in insult. Whatever is left I have to sip on because this distinctive tingly super soursweet experince takes over.

No more tobacco taste, nothing, Garbage. All that is left is tongue bite, heat, annoying tongue tingle, cheap vinegar and cheap malted glucose syrup being slowly dumped into my mouth, and me salivating like a freakin dog. Shame on you Mac Baren. I have never had this happen to me in all my years pipe smoking. $20 for a tin, and all I get is one mere "soso" puff, and a day full of rage and anger and nausea. Really, I was sick in my stomach and head for hours. I almost broke my pipe, and threw the tin through a window. Actually I hammered out the remaining Mac Baren garbage in the weakly lit half bowl with my own pipe on a table.

Again, an obviously extremely high quality product from MacBaren.

Long, thick partially rubbed-out flakes, golden coloured.

It was abeauty to contemplate and fill my nostrils with cereal like pouch aroma.

Unfortunately, any type of taste would quickly disappear and any hint of nicotine was inexistant.

Most MacBaren tobaccos are really suited for beginners more than anything else.

Sighs...

After many, many bad experiences with pipe tobacco, I began researching what the choices really were, what made up a blend, what blends I already liked, and what was likely to give me the most enjoyment. Turns out I dislike "Burley," but like Virginia quite a lot.

This tobacco is one of my go-to smokes when I want something good, mild, and inoffensive. Its a great everyday smoke, but might grow a little too mild for some over the long haul. On the other hand, if you want to see what a good Virginia is really like, this is an excellent one to start with.

I usually smoke 3 different bowls in a row: I start out with something mild, then step up to medium (a virginia or a Vanilla-flavored?), then end with something stronger (usually MB Mixture), once my palate is more involved. MB Virginia No. 1 is sometimes the first thing I smoke.

I find Virginia No.1 to be mellow, soft, but to burn hot and have a bit of a bite to it. It smoke pretty well, but I don't seem to get too much of a nicotine "high" from it the way I might from stronger blends, like Mac Baren HH Vintage Latakia.

This is a very good daily smoke, and a great place for people learning about Virginias, or even tobacco in general, to start.

This was one of the first Virginia tobaccos I ever smoked. Initially the smoke starts out mild without much taste. However, not too far down the bowl the sweet Virginia flavor comes out. I absolutely love this tobacco accompanied by a good beer. I also started out having tongue bite issues. After I learned to slow down with this blend the tongue bite issue went away. In my opinion this is a great tobacco for the price. Which is why it makes up a considerable portion of my tobacco cellar.

This was one of my first tries of a Virginia. After reading the various reviews, I decided to try it, as it was available locally at a cigar store.

I enjoyed the aroma, upon first opening the tin. This was my first trial of ready rubbed tobacco, also.

Heeding the advice of many of the reviewers, I found that gently "sipping" my pipe gave me wonderful taste. A few times I puffed too hard and found myself with a mouthfull of unpleasant and harsh smoke. But I've found that I enjoy this tobacco, when I'm not rushed and I can take my time with it.

This was my first tobacco that didn't have some kind of flavor in the name. Im warming up to it. Has a sweet grassy taste and a pleasant room note. This has slowly become my go to for a warm afternoon