Mac Baren Virginia No. 1

I loved the smell of this stuff in the 2 oz bag that I got in bulk. I lit it and really enjoyed the flavor; sweet, grassy, hay-like.

It bit me like a rabid beaver... How can something be so sweet and earthy burn you so remorselessly? It's like going out with a a beautiful, well-meaning sadist. She wants to be sweet and make you happy, but it's just in her nature to inflict pain. Yes, she's wonderful to look at and she seems genuine, but once you get to know her, she knees you in the yarbles and sends an uppercut to your mouth on your way down.

No matter in what pipe I tried it and how carefully I smoked it(and I allowed it ample opportunity), it would leave a small, amusement park-version Gehenna on my tongue. I tried sealing it in a mason jar and letting it mellow, but this didn't help, either. Try it if you want, but be warned.

Overall impression: Mac Arc-Welder...

Over the years I have tried several tins of this straw. I really wanted to like it. There is just one or two problems. It burns as hot as a gas furnace and it bites like a rabid dog. It may be my body chemistry, I can't say for sure. It takes a week for my mouth to heal after smoking a third of a bowl. It is so painful that I can't really taste a thing. It is like trial by ordeal. I'll pass on this one. I really can't rate the taste unless there is a category for pain and discomfort.

One of the most tasteless balnd tobaccos on the market today. Will bite your tounge like a viper. If you think this is good Virginia, more power to you.

My review is based on a bulk sample.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but in retrospect, this blend almost ended my pipe smoking career before it truly began. I had a lot of trouble with tongue bite in the early months, and mostly chalked this up to par for the course, plus later decided that my smoking a new briar was part of the problem, and also that my smoking technique was bad.

Well, here it is two years later, I'm not a great pipe smoker but a lot further down the road than I was, and have smoked two bowls of this recently, one more or less full bowl in a pipe I don't know well, and a small amount of a bowl this morning in one of my best smokers.

The smoke is acrid, hot, and bitey, right off the bat, and doesn't settle down within the first quarter bowl or so.

There are some lovely Virginias out there, this isn't one of them. This combination of what appears to be immature bright Virginias plus a bit of sweet topping is lethal to my tongue.

I cringe to look at the bag, which once contained one and a half ounces, and realize that there is probably less than a half ounce left... I must have smoked ten or fifteen bowls in the first three to six months of my pipe smoking, and I recall the ongoing prolonged fight against tongue bite that I dealt with then.

If you have a friend starting with the pipe, get them a really neutral OTC burley (Prince Albert, Carter Hall) or a cool smoking English blend... keep them far far away from MacBaren products, especially this particular blend.

I suspect that someone with expert smoking technique and a willingness to deal with some bite, or different body chemistry, might feel differently about this blend, but with excellent matured VA from McClelland and lovely tobacco like Red Ribbon and Union Square, I see no point in fooling around with this one.

Inexpensive for a reason!

MacBaren did it again! A very nice selection of Virginia leaf cased in MacBaren's way, with honey I guess this time, and reached to be a biting, harsh burning, far away from a natural sweetness of true Virginia pipe tobacco.

An elegant tin, good moisture level and it packs and lights good. Burns completely and effortless, leaving a clean, whitish grey ash. You need to smoke it slow because it gets hot and you think you loose the pleasure. In fact it offers some less pleasure even if you are smoking it slowly. It has a somehow honey sweet taste far away to be a natural sweet Virginia with full tobacco taste. I even checked several times if the pipe is lit! Hopefuly I have good eyes enough to see the smoke! A nice cloud of pipe smoke without the enough taste of true tobacco.

Instead of buying this tin put some more money and buy a true, full taste, pure Virginia blend!

If you want a flavorlful Virginia and are willing to give up smoking for several days while your tounge heals, by all means, give this one a try.

I'm VERY prone to tongue bite, but in answer to cholly howl, the previous reviewer, Virginia's don't have to bite. In fact, I am aware of at least 2 dozen that have no bite at all. A good place for the novice to start is with any of the Rattray's.

One-match light, subtle, honey note, burned hot, unpleasant bite.

~~~ Don't invest.

Excellent Virginia tobaccos & rubbed out thoughtfully enough to make this a one match light for a slow, even burn. Problem is, the curing process made the Virginias too sugary & hot. My tongue was seared immediately upon lighting. Luckily this was a sample pack & enough to fill only a small bowl. The taste is one dimensional & the aroma characteristically MacBaren, with its honey/heather topping. It's really just more of the same. This reminds me of the fiery 'Solent'. Try the delightful 'Mixture' for a better representation of MacBaren's art.

One of five stars

I would be ashamed to produce and sell such an awful thing as this. A furnace of no flavour.Make sure you have the burn center's telephone number ready,because your tounge will be injured. This crap isn't even good enough to mix with. Ye who say you really like this aparently have never tried real Virgina tobacco.