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This is gonna be a too-short post because there are many other good options. This list is not definitive!
5. "Golden Extra." I say I like strong tobaccos with dark fired flavor, but I crazy go nuts for this blend any time I find it. It is the ultimate stuff it in the pipe, stick pipe in mouth, light it and enjoy a couple hours of gentle smoke without thinking about it blend.
4. "Rustica." I was promised that I would see beyond the horizon of time and space, but what I found was a really flavorful, almost wild tasting blend that is hard to cellar because I smoke all of it. Nice sturdy flakes make for a good long-lasting smoke.
3. "Doblone d'Oro." Blended by Mac Baren, as far as I can tell, but sold by Savinelli, this blend scratches my "Three Nuns" itch, with lots of Virginia flavor and some tangy smoked goodness and the chipotle flavor of Perique, mixed together into a smooth spicy molasses treat. Lit af no cap.
2. "Dark Twist." Two different types of curleys make a blend that seems like a few blends at once, centered around Virginia flavor shored up by dark fired Kentucky Burley. It starts out sharp, gets sweet, and eventually melds into this nice bready mixture.
1. "Bold Kentucky." A classic UK-style flake with bright Virginia and dark fired Kentucky Burley complementing each other in what seems like an unstable balance, but caramelizes into a powerful smoke with a gentle flavor that lasts a long time in a comfortable but high nicotine pipe experience.
Old dark fired and original choice.
I'm with you. I think old dark fired is mac barens finest offering. Simply a masterpiece.
I like it, but Bold Kentucky won me out in the end for having that dark fired power, but also a little sweetness for a zesty molasses flavor.
"Original Choice" is the original mellow aromatic. Even if you hate aromatics, this is one that will probably not bother you much. For me, "Golden Extra" displaced all such blends, but that is because it tastes like a mixed bowl of Cheerios and corn flakes, so it is a great mellow all-day blend.
Recently ordered a pound bag of Original Choice [hopefully it makes it to my door here in Oz]
I'm looking forward to trying a bowl. The description of a 'fruit topping' had me intrigued enough to take the plunge.
I'm living in France, so I'll say the "Caporal Supérieur" (a quite strong blend: va/DFK).
But my other favorite is the HH Pure Virginia (my blend for the beginning of the summer!)
I'm right there with you on Rustica. The whole HH line is frequently smoked by me as well.
Very true. Pretty much anything from this line is guaranteed to be a solid smoke.
Actually almost everything Mac Baren is a winner to me and I have ridiculous amounts in my cellar. I happen to be smoking Doblone d’ Oro at the moment. My top five, subject to change would be Club Blend, Virginia No. 1, London Burley Blend, Dark Twist and Doblone. No, wait, I think they would be HH Pure Virginia, Solent Mixture, Latakia Rolls, HH Old Dark Fired, no, wait …
"Doblone d'Oro" is one of those instant classics that always makes my mouth water when I see the tin hanging out in the cupboard. It's Pavlovian.
It's a cut above most of curly cut blends. I wish it was easier to get my hands on.
MacBaren is really hit or miss for me, much like Dan Tobacco. Both of them have some seriously great knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark blends, but tons of filler between that. I have to agree with you on Doblone d'Oro though, that is a phenomenal blend. Yet to try Rustica, but you have me itching for it.
You bring up a good point. There are a lot of blend types that are of less interest for me. I try to just assess their quality, but I can tell what I like by what I buy, and that skips over the other blends, which I guess I do sort of treat as filler. There are lots of good options and some are designed for smokers of a different type than me. If you smoke one bowl a week while having your weekly pint, then an aromatic might make sense, or something like that. I am sort of a turbo-codger in that I like to breath-smoking a half-dozen bowls a day while doing something else, and I like blends that stir the subconscious with their texture of flavors, rather than some fancypants stuff I have to think about too much or a soda pop style aromatic that reminds me of the candy we used to pilfer from that one cabinet at my friend Dave's house. And if you are actually an otter, you type pretty good for having those nifty claws.
I've been disappointed by some of their bulk aromatics when I was first trying to explore the genre. Always the same standard burley base with casing that burns off too quick for me. Very one-dimensional blends, but perhaps someone out there loves them. I gave away a bunch of it and got mixed reviews, but one friend loved the stuff.
I cannot confirm or deny if I am a member of the mustelidae family
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I have to admit that I started on aromatics, and was pretty glad to leave them, having been a cigar smoker for some time at that point. You get a taste for the tobacco, and then the top flavoring gets in the way. I can go nuts for a Cavendish blend like "Armonia" from Savinelli but I have to mix in some Burley or I find myself missing that tobacco flavor. The Mac Baren "Classic" was pretty tasty, from memory, but when there is "Golden Extra" at hand, I just do that.
The base tobaccos are super important. Rattray has some good aromatics that have a golden Virginia base so you aren't stuck smoking sawdust once the casing burns off.
It's weird for me because a base of bulk Burley and Cavendish does not bother me as a straight smoke, but I have noticed that some aromatics are like chewing gum, since when the flavor goes you end up with something tasteless to keep your jaws busy but not much else.
I think corners are being cut and really low quality burley and cavendish gets casing slapped on it. Apparently there is a market for it though, but I worry it puts off newer smokers who might gravitate towards these blends.
I tried half a dozen Mac Baren blends and I was not impressed, till I tried HH Vintage Syrian. This blend is discontinued, but I have a few 100gr tins left. This wonderful blend was replaced by HH Vintage Latakia that I like very much.
I would love to try some HH blends like Rustica, Bold Kentucky and Old Dark Fired, but they are not available in Spain. Online and mail tobacco purchases are strictly forbidden in Spain, so my options to try those blends are very scarce. Lately, Spanish customs have developed a rare ability to detect tobacco purchases from US, in that case, the tax applied is tremendously abusive.
Recently I travelled to Portugal and France and I could not find those blends even in the best tobacconist of Lisbon, Porto and Paris.
That’s unlucky. Customs in Hungary lets it slide as long as you are discrete since EU law forbids it now, and slaps you with the standard tax because they’d rather make some money than none.
Also Portugal outlawed tins, you can only get drug store pouches 🙁 your best bet is ordering from Germany because it is within the EU. HU tobacco is great stuff, and Dan Tobacco has some solid blends. Check out my reviews for some of the EU available blends.
German webs do not send to Spain. I tried in 2 different and the answer was no. They are aware of Spanish law.
Damn, why the tobacco hate 🙁 EU law is strict enough already. Have you tried 4noggins? They are pretty discrete with customs labels.
Yes, I did, but regretted in spite of they assured me that they were discrete. A friend from Holland had never problems with them, but as I told you before, Spanish customs have developed a rare ability to detect tobacco from US. My only hope is when any friend go to the US, and brings me some tins.
My wishlist of American tobacco is very very long, includes Hearth & Home, G.L. Pese and Cornell & Diehl.
That’s shocking. Well I hope you can get some good American tobacco soon!
Hands down, my favorite is Mixture Scottish Blend.
Same. I’m not a tobacco aficionado, but that stuff has got a lot going on in the flavor department.
Compré hoy mixture , lo empezaré en unos días , os comentaré la experiencia el precio es barato ronda los 6.5€.
This is a tough one, love quite a few Mac Baren blends. If I were to narrow it down, HH Old Dark Fire, HH Rustica, Mixture Flake, Dark Twist, HH Pure Virginia
Within the Mac Baren works but outside the brand, Amphora Virginia, Capstan (all good, but especially Original Flake), Presbyterian, Newminster 400/403—all excellent blends.
Amphora pouches are fairly amazing for how widely they are distributed. Of course I like the dark fired Kentucky blend the best.
I love Mac Baren in general, I smoke the 'classics' regularly and also enjoy HH Pure Virginia - Vanilla Cream and Vanilla Roll Cake, too ...lately, I have really been enjoying Mixture Modern - always been a fan of Mixuture Scottish so I was curious about Modern. ...Plumcake is also the ONLY blend I have found that I really, really like that has Latakia in it.
Anything HH!!!! Can't go wrong with any of them! My fav is straight virginia though!
I was lucky enough to be given 6 100gr tins of Loose Cut from the duty free. Not my type of baccy so I wasn't that keen to even give it a go but it was free. Well was I surprised !!! Its great !!!
Mixture scottish and virginia no.1 both great and easy to obtain.
HH Latakia Flake is some great stuff! Its one of the few blends with lat that I dont dilute with other blends. There are many other flavors that come forward throughout the smoke. Its not just Lat, lat, lat...
The HH line is all amazing! AND, always available! From straight virginia, DF, burley, rustica, to latakia... they nail it! Cheers!
For me I love Golden Extra, sweet nutty and mild. Good to just veg out. I also like Amphora English.
My list is
Mac Baren - HH Bold Kentucky
Mac Baren - Mixture: Scottish Blend
Mac Baren - Original Choice
Mac Baren - Vanilla Cream Loose Cut
but to be honest, all macbaren blends seems good enough to give a try. I didn't get disappointed yet.
My favorites are
Vanilla Cream
Scottish Mixture
Virginia #1
I buy all of these by the pound and Mac Baren is my favorite blender.
Old Dark Fired, Bold Kentucky, Three Nuns and Presbyterian. Always have them in my cabinet and I start getting anxious if I’m running low on any of them!
You're making me smile over here.
I'm not in danger of running out of anything but already I'm starting to think about some of my favourites and wondering, "Well what if I can't find this one again?"
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