Mac Baren HH Latakia Flake

I rubbed out the lovely thin flakes and lightly tamped the tobacco. I found that the taste and strength was rather mild, although the orientals and the latakia were in the foreground. Tastes were slightly sour/spicy and smokey, VAs were in the background. I didn't get a N-hit at all, which is pleasant. All in all, definitely recommended if you like tasting Latakia paired with Orientals!

This tobacco does need some drying time. I'm ordinarily a straight-out-of-the-tin man. Two bowls convinced me I needed to change my approach. The Devil himself couldn't have kept it alight. I am still in search of the ultimate flake, and as a confirmed Latakia hound I thought this might be it. The jury is still out. But there is no doubt this is a first class blend. Two hours drying and the flakes - which smell outstanding and are beautifully presented in the tin - burn slow, cool and sweet. HHLF cannot be described as complex in taste and is medium in strength. The light, grassy sweetness of the smoke does not quite deliver the richness promised by the nose from the tin but rewards from first to last draw from the bowl. One certainly never loses interest. I suspect I may be re-stocking when my initial batch is depleted.

This is a well done flake.

The scent in the tin is like smelling a bag of barbecue potato chips. In the bowl, it is actually similar to that as well. I noticed some reviews mentioned a topping, but I didn't sense any. The flavor is sweet, spicy, and smoky, all in equal parts. The aftertaste is very nice, like a smoky coffee/chocolate flavor. One thing I did notice is, pace is something one needs to be mindful of for this tobacco, as it develops a strange chlorine flavor when pushed beyond a certain point. I didn't realize this was the cause until just now as I'm smoking it. I wondered if smoking it hot was the cause and deliberately smoked this much softer than I normally do, and I've avoided the chlorine.

This isn't my preferred style of Latakia mixtures, so I don't think I'd buy it again, as I prefer blends with Latakia to not be so sweet, but that does not take away from the quality of this blend. Those who like sweeter Latakia blends will really enjoy this. It is very well done.

This was a gift from someone special. And a special gift! This is a tobacco unlike any other, it defies categories and does its own thing.

The presentation is excellent, very neat flake slices tidily stacked. The aroma in the tin is sweet, leathery and smokey, not like an English mixture and not like an aromatic, but defiantly it's own thing.

It's moist, but burns OK, with far more sweetness than any English mixture, or indeed many flakes. The smoke is creamy smooth and carries a strong waft of Latakia smoke throughout. Orientals are present in moderation giving some spice, and strength is moderate. It leaves some moist dottle.

The Latakia flake thing had been done before by Samuel Gawith, without toppings (Balkan flake) and with (Navy Flake, Bothy Flake), and by Germains, with their dusty smokey interpretation. This is its own distinct thing, halfway sweet like a Danish aromatic, but with the flavour and pungent aromas of Latakia and Orientals. Well worth a try.

Tin note is typical of MacBaren and latakia (obviously).

Also, quite different from other latakiablends I've tried, not in a bad way, more like unexpected. I thought it would be a bit sweeter smokewise or more incenselike so to speak, but soon realized it was more down to earth. Latakia brings what latakia brings, smokey, woody and dark notes while the subdued oriental component just adds a touch of floral spice. Burley is more evident giving a dryer more nutty backstory, while virginias give it some zest. Nice balance between the component tobaccos makes it a pleasant experience all the way through. Nice smoke!

Recommended!

Very dark, beautiful, even flakes carrying a scent of thick molasses. The Latakia smell is very faint. Odd for a mélange boasting to be a Latakia Flake, innit? Anyway, it's not really a problem, as th smell is utterly delicious.

Took a big meerschaum and stuffed three flakes after speedily drying them. Lighting was easy. The first few puffs are very VA/Bur forward. I think I taste more the Orientals too.

Just a few puffs later, the beautiful Latakia kicks in. This is by no mean a Lat bomb, its flavour is very subltle and delicious.

That thick molasses smell is felt a tad in the taste, I really can't put my finger on what it could be. The virginias remind me slightly of the HH Mature Virginia taste, but far far better.

This smoke is decent and recommended. I would return to it, but not when I want a Latakia blend.

The very short version is that this is a rich, delicious smoke that can be far too moist if you don't watch out.

The tin note is rich, deep, complex, and seductive. My reaction when first opening the tin was something along the lines of "oh, BABY!" The room note nearly made my wife want to take a puff (and that is saying something--believe me).

Overall, the flavor is rich and complex. While the Latakia, orientals, and Virginias all show themselves, none dominate. It's quite a blend, with all the players complementing each other well. I could not pick out any burley in particular, but perhaps that burley is what helps to tie everything together. The steam pressing is noticeable, as the flakes both look and taste quite melded from the beginning. There cannot be a whole lot of burley in this blend, as it burns pretty dadgum hot, even in such a moist state.

Upon opening the tin, I couldn't wait to load a pipe with this stuff and get to smoking. However, having read many posted reviews, I exercised a bit of patience by coarsely rubbing out a couple of flakes and letting them sit to dry for about 20 minutes. That seemed to get the tobacco about right, but I was wrong. It was a juicy smoke that was hard to keep lit. After a couple frustrating relights, I finally just put the pipe down for about a half hour. That was worth the wait, as I was finally rewarded with a much more comfortable smoke that still was rich and flavorful, but also still on the fussy side.

My next smoke was a couple weeks later, loading with a fold-and-stuff of a couple of flakes (a lot, but it was a good-sized bowl). I let the whole flakes dry for at least a good half-hour, as I took the time to get a few quick things done around the house and then ran to the post office to drop a couple things off. The flakes acted like I hoped they would while folding and stuffing, but they turned out to still be too moist by a long shot. I had a pipe cleaner down the steam within 10 minutes of the true light, and I could already feel a bite coming on. Again, I set the pipe down for a good half-hour or so, and I got the same rich, comfortable, but fussy burn I had before.

The aroma and flavor of this blend warrant 3 stars and will keep me coming back to it. I's absolutely delicious for any Latakia lover (even if it's not as Lat forward as one might expect for a "Latakia Flake.") At the same time, I can see why many of the VA and VaPer lovers enjoy it, as well (again, not so Lat forward). I'm looking forward to suture smokes, but I will give it a good deal more drying time in the hopes that improves the comfort and convenience of the smoke.

I'm also eager to see how this ages. I'll squirrel away a few tins to find out.

Tin dated April 2014. Mac Baren's HH Vintage Syrian is one of my favorite tobaccos of all time. So naturally I was jumping for joy when I first learned that Mac Baren was releasing a Latakia Flake at the 2014 Chicago Pipe Show, albeit with Cyprian (and not Syrian) Latakia. I was fortunate to snatch up a sleeve of tins in late April 2014 when it was first released to the public.

The initial excitement turned to major disappointment when I initially tasted this. For one, this blend was SWEET, unnaturally, heavily cased sweet. It totally dominated the Latakia and made the tobacco very one-dimensional. The second disappointment was the lack of complexity. The blend basically tasted the same from beginning to end. One of the things I enjoy about a good English or Balkan is how the various tobaccos mingle with one another and how the smoke evolves over the course of the bowl. But this, whether the flake was rubbed out or folded, or dried to various degrees, I couldn't get past the sweetness. I finished a tin and a half but never really enjoyed it. I ended up placing the second half-smoked tin in the cellar last summer and forgot about it.

Fast forward to late January/February 2015. Tin now has about 9 months of age and the flakes are comfortably dry but not tinder-like. What a difference a little bit of age makes! Make no mistake, this is still a sweet blend, especially for having a decent amount of Latakia. But the unnatural sweet casing has largely (but not altogether) faded. This blend now tastes quite similar to Mac Baren's Virginia no. 1 but with a backbone of Latakia. Contrary to Mac Baren's description, I think the sweetness of the Virginias take center stage, with the Latakia very present but in more of a background role. This is by no means a Lat-bomb by any stretch. And that's not necessarily a bad thing because there's so many Lat bombs out there to fill that role.

My experience is that the Latakia is fairly aggressive at the beginning of the bowl, and vies for center stage with the Virginias. By mid bowl, the Virginias tend to dominate and the smoke takes on a smoother, sweeter note. Towards the end of the bowl, the Latakia reasserts itself and the tobacco tends to be bolder that any other point.

I give this a solid three stars. The fact that this is on the sweeter side but still contains Latakia actually satisfies a craving I sometimes have, especially when I want a milder tobacco but with a decent dose of Latakia. The reason it doesn't get four stars is because I can't easily discern the Orientals. Whatever Orientals are here are dominated by the other tobaccos. The other thing is this blend just isn't extremely complex. I think the fact that it's steam pressed causes it to taste a little too homogenous for my liking. Still not a bad blend at all and I'm actually happy now that I have three more tins of this cellared.

Smoking now:

Flakes smell like sweet fermented tangy ketchup. Reminds me a lot of ODF without the hickory notes. Rubbed out. Would benefit from some drying.

This is interesting. Maybe it’s the burley or the hot pressing but this isn’t like a typical English tobacco. It seems richer, sweeter, earthier, more… congealed. Very flavorful, but little harshness, some spiciness, and the Latakia is not overwhelming. The retrohale is grassy, herbal, earthy, vegetative but with some sweetness so it’s not harsh. The Latakia is musty, leathery, herbal, there’s a fair amount of fermentation to this too. It’s not a Latakia bomb, or oriental forward, it all seems very balanced and congealed. This is very full flavored. This is fresh, but with some age on this I bet it’s even nicer. The underlying sweetness, much like ODF, makes this enjoyable.

This did sort of dry my mouth out a bit, burley will do that to me, but no bite. At the end of the bowl the flavors got a bit over whelming and unpleasant for me. It’s good, but not in my wheel house so 3 stars.