Mac Baren Scottish Mixture

A truly lovely old-world smoke. I'm looking forward to experiencing it further with a dram or two of single malt alongside.

Good taste

I just got some of this Scottish mixture in the mail today. I was eager to try it as I have heard some good things about it. So Immediately opened it up and loaded a pipe. My first impressions were that it smelled very good in the bag. Not too strong but a nice kind of floral, slightly sugary aroma. Upon first lighting it, there was a sudden, very enjoyable flavor. It's difficult to describe, but it was a very pleasant sweet tobacco flavor and aroma. I was thinking that this is gonna be a good smoke. However, a few minutes into the bowl, it began to sting the tongue a bit and the flavor seemed to just disappear. It settled down after a few minutes and seemed to really smooth out. About halfway through the bowl I detected a bit of harshness once again, though the flavor seemed to revert back to what I noticed on the initial light. This one has me stumped for the moment. I'm not really sure if I like it or not. Perhaps trying it through some different pipes may yield different results. Or perhaps a little age would help, though, being an aromatic, I'm not sure how well it will age. I'm considering blending a small portion of it with some sutliff lavish English that I also received today and then pressing it into a cake and letting it sit for a few weeks. Not sure if that will have a positive effect or not, but I do enjoy my experiments. We shall see.

It’s a great smoke, gentle on the tongue, rich flavor, smooth smoke.

An old favorite of mine. Taste just like the good old days.

Very enjoyable taste. Burns smooth

When I hear the phrase "an all-day smoke" - Mac Baren Scottish Mixture is the first blend that comes to mind. A tin of it has a fragrance like ripe fruits and fresh spices. As you smoke your way to the bottom, the drier the tobacco becomes and during that time the flavors continue to change. The tinned flake version and the bulk variety are considerably more subdued, with a light, almost floral scent. The tinned variety contains more large ribbon-cut leaf, whereas the bulk mixture contains all manner of leaf from chunks of rubbed flake to minute granules and every shade from bright yellow Virginia to stoved black ribbons of Cavendish. I load a pipe of Mixture in a totally random fashion, taking it as it comes rather than completely crumbling all of it uniformly. That's kind of the nature of this blend- a cornucopia of flavors that slowly reveal themselves at random throughout the smoke. At first, it may startle your taste buds; the Virginias might bite a little bit for a tenacious pipe puffer. You might be inclined to set the pipe down often, but this mixture also lends itself well to sporadic smoking. It's flavor seems to improve every time you relight it and as long as you don't pack tightly it will never sour at the bottom of the bowl, even if its been sitting half-smoked in the pipe for days. It could easily become a staple of any smoking rotation because of the pleasant smell and many nuances of flavor. I would also consider it to be a good "training" blend for new pipe smokers, because the more a smoker practices controlling the slow, steady combustion of the tobacco- the more gentle the smoke is on the palette. I guess it goes without saying that I would recommend this blend to any pipe smoker who doesn't smoke strictly English blends.

I was expecting that it would be delivered in original packing....I will smoke it later on, and if you are interested in my further findings, let me know

Was bought for my grandson,, he was extremely happy with it

I have smoked this blend since 1980 and love the mild aromatic flavour. I mix it with a Borkum Riff Cherry Cavendish to give it a little more sweetness and it has no bite or kick. Fantastic smoke.

This seems to be very similar to Dark Twist with just a little less virginia and then rubbed out. But mixture, is an absolutely enjoyable smoke. It is lightly cased but still has a very nice tobacco taste to it. A wonderful aroma. This is a very good standard blend that I highly recommend to the Virginia or aromatic smoker.

A very light and sweet blend for everyday smoke. Very satisfying.

I used to order this blend by tins. The bulk blend is slightly different in taste (due probably to the tight packing and maceration inside the tin), but despite of that, I like it and it is cheaper. So, from now on, I'm gone to order it by bulk. Thanx for this option. NODA

McBaren Scottish Blend has been my favourite since 1990. But the best is doing business with Cup O'Joes! Whar a service!

scottish mixture remains my go to blend sice 1966 smooth flavorful without any bite

I just recieved my first order of the Scottish mix and I absolutely love it! Un-aged, fresh out of the zip lock bag and it's ready to smoke. No drying required unlke Macbaren's 7 Seas Royal blend which used to be my favourite until now. Scottish blend has a Nice scent in the bag and a nice room aroma. As I smoke the first bowl I found myself constantly comparing it to 7 Seas Royal. At first, the flavour tasted very close to the 2 month aged 7 Seas. Halfway through the bowl I felt like grabbing a piece of paper and taking notes on the flavours that I started to taste really coming to life, flavours like Coffee and nuts with a hint of mint or thyme? Is that possible? A very unique and enjoyable taste. Really nice and intriguing. The flavour in the last half of the bowl was amazing, it got better and more distinct! Started to evolve and even seemed to bring out a dark choolate flavour and spices. Unlike 7 Seas where the flavour fell off in the last half bowl and at the end, 7 Seas Seas turned to being just heavy, smokey and feelinng like I should just let it burn out. The after taste of Scottish blend was really neat. I could taste a wonderful dark chocolate in my mouth. No Bite, delightful flavour, Well done!!! I can't wait to try this in a couple of months after it has aged a little.