Mac Baren HH Latakia Flake

Beautifully formed hot pressed flakes can be easily prepared in any method you choose. The moisture content is spot on and stays lit easily. The quality Virginia's have a grassy, slightly sweet, citrus quality to them. The Latakia is far from a bomb even though it is called a Latakia Flake with woody smokiness and some earthiness. Then the Orientals are the spice and incense. The Burley add a depth of mellow sweetness. This flake is meant to be savored slowly but will not bite if rushed. Each component plays off the other with different players all complimenting each other throughout the bowl. Very consistent from start to finish. Wonderful when aged and develops beautiful crystals.

Ripe, fruity, spicy, dark, rich, creamy and mellow are words that will pop up in the head when you smoke these flakes. The marrying in between all the different components comprising this blend is well achieved. Its slow burning properties won't allow you to produce copious amounts of smoke, but this is offset by a dry and cool smoke. The zesty and nutty characteristics of both the virginia and burley leaf is not quite apparent, but something to look for as you progress with your smoke. These are standard off-the-chain flakes, there is nothing special about them, but they hit the right spot in terms of a run-of-the-mill all things to all people smoking experience. All and all, they seem to be similar in character to other latakia flakes in the market, but the price tag and availability is certainly a bonus.

Coffee, dark chocolate, smoked meat, and sweet Virginia notes.

Due to the hot pressing, this blend is fairly homogeneous, and you won't get too many pops of flavor. However, this doesn't bother me at all considering how delicious and outstanding this blend is, but admittedly I am a flake lover so the lack of flavor pops isn't anything new.

This is in the sweet spot of latakia content for me and the blend maintains a great balance of smoke and sweetness with delightful spicy incense in the background. I would say that this is an order of magnitude less smokey than a beast like nightcap which makes it more interesting to my palate and ismore consistently what I'm looking for. I wish this flake had more nicotine (like nightcap), but I don't smoke for the nicotine so the lack of buzz is totally fine. The flakes are beautifully presented and come moist (though not near Sam Gawith levels) which makes this a perfect on the go baccy. I really hate it when my tobacco dries out on me before I am ready to smoke it so the moisture content is perfect for me.

All together this is a really wonderful latakia, and I've found myself consistantly picking this over nightcap, squadron leader, frog morton's cellar, or duhill's 965. I can say that after 4 or 5 tins of this, that this is currently my favorite English. I still go back to nightcap on nights I'm craving something bolder, but this blend seems just right for me.

If you happen - like me - to miss the Special Latakia Flakes by Germain, this is maybe the only substitute to somehow resemble the original. Salty, light and spicy. Of course Cyprian Latakia will never catch up the Syrian but this one is as good as it gets.

I fully join the description of JimInks. Plus: this is one of my favourite tobaccos. Five stars! P.S.: Since my "review" was too short, I want to add that smaller bowls will give you a more pleasant smoking experience. P.P.S.: In order to give you the opportunity to judge my ranking appropriately I may say that I'm smoking pipe for 15 years and do prefer Latakia Blends and non-aromatic VaPers/VaBurs.

This is a fine, smooth, well-behaved blend with solid natural tobacco flavors consistent from start to finish. The flakes are thin, neat, and nicely presented. I rolled a rotary blade through three flakes at sort of a diagonal angle making long, skinny strands and let them dry out for a few minutes before compressing into a ball and packing inverted into a large bowl. After a thorough charring light first and then another match for the main light HH Latakia Flake delivered a long, slow burn from start to finish with a delightful amount of leather, spice, nuttiness (from the Burley I presume) and sweetness which I like. Dense, creamy smoke with a good amount of earthy flavor but it never got sharp or overpowering. I kept it tamped gently the whole way through and there was only dry, gray ash left at the bottom when it was done. This blend has class and smoothness with rich Latakia flavor - definitely a keeper for me and a must-try for Latakia fans. Did not bite at all (unlike my experience with some other MacBaren blends).

First off I had no idea this was a Mac Baren blend because a friend sent exactly ONE perfectly shaped flake packaged in a small zippy bag as part of a larger "flaky" care package to help me get to know and understand flake tobacco. The bag just had "HH LAT FLK" marked on it and with the help of some fellow pipe smokers it was determined this was the blend. Had I known this at the beginning I would have tossed it in the trash due to my many past bad experiences with MacB blends. Well enough of the back story.

This flake I folded up and just stuffed into the bowl and after poking it it a few times I charred the top, poked and lit the pipe again sat back and had a most enjoyable smoke. Dark,very dark is the way I describe the flavor of this flake.Not a nightmare type of dark but a calming and relaxing type of dark. There is also dark chocolate,dark roast coffee all other types of dark food or drink that come to mind when smoking this and I would recommend having some . Enjoyed after a long stressful day this tobacco will reward you with a desire sip on your favorite beverage, turn on some Franz Liszt, close your eyes and let the darkness lull you away.

The tin I got, dated NOV2014, says nothing about burley as an ingredient. Upon popping the tin, however, you're blasted with so much smokiness that it couldn't all be from the load of latakia. The latakia smokiness is there in no small quantity, but another smokiness is there that will be all too familiar to fans of HH Bold Kentucky and Old Dark Fired flakes. I do believe there's some Kentucky in there, so I agree with the contents listed on this page.

I was on the fence for a long while about trying this one, but dang it I'm glad I did! My reservation was that I already have a stockpile of choice latakia blends, but 9 out of 10 smokes I go for something else, be it straight VA, vaper, or vabur. I enjoy the occasional English/ Balkan/ oriental blend, but I enjoy dark fired and burley even more. Anyway, LF far surpassed all my expectations. The latakia is full and smoky without being harsh, the VA is mellow and sweet, and the orientals lend a rounded sour note that keeps it really interesting. The interplay of smokey, sweet, and sour is nice, and also quite unique in my book.

Hats off to Mac Baren for another fantastic flake! I'll be adding more of this to the cellar alongside the stores of HH ODF and HH BK. Awesome trio of flakes.

I'm going to keep it short. Latakia from start to finish is great with the orientals poping up at times. I didn't detect the burley or sweetness from the virginias. It became quite a boring smoke for me sorry. There are many great medium English blends out there but this one didn't inspire me to buy it again. I also got some bite from this. I think it's one to try as you might pick up on the subtle flavours I didn't get.