Benjamin Button
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2008
- Messages
- 300
- Reaction score
- 4
So I stopped by my local B&M last night for some pipe cleaners (I always buy one pack at a time, thus providing me with an excuse to stop by the B&M more often). I noticed they had acquired a few new tins of MacBaren blends. Among them was Norwood, Club Blend, Vanilla, and Roll Cake (no Navy Flake unfortunately). I decided to splurge and get a tin of the Club Blend...quite pricey at $15.50 but I also like to support the local B&M's over saving a buck or two by buying online.
So I took it home and decided to open it as a treat for the night. The tobacco comes spun cut, or for those unfamiliar, in small coin like slices in the tin. Appearance wise, this tobacco seems to teeter on mildly repulsive, yet attractive at the same time. Think, the first time you saw escargot on a plate in front of you. Same reaction I had when opening the tin. The coins are somewhat odd looking, as the spun golden virginia surrounding the dark center of black cavendish is intertwined with small round chunks of what I can only describe as bone marrow looking pieces of tobacco. This combined with the tin aroma of stewed fuits such as prunes, dates and figs, and also the aroma of smoked meat, can add up to a mixed reaction of how to judge this tobacco based on looks and smell alone. There was something mildly stomach churning, yet appealing at the same time about this blend.
I took about five or six coins (they are roughly quarter size, not as large as Stokkebye coins) and rubbed them out. The virginia rubs out beautifully into long strips of blonde weed, while the black cav just crumbles from the middle into dark chocolate looking shards. I let this sit for about an hour as it was a new tin and I've heard horror stories of the "MacBaren bite" that I wanted desperately to avoid.
I packed it in a meerschaum to give me the most unbiased experience of this blend. It is difficult to pack because the strands are so long, imagine loading spaghetti into a bowl. Not only that, but the black cav that crumbled apart earlier is no longer a part of the strands so I had to pack a little virginia, then sprinkle a little cav, and repeat. This took a couple lights to get going but once it did, we were off. I puffed this lightly, forcing myself to do so, as to avoid the bite. The flavors initially were of nothing but grassy virginias, smooth but very little flavor coming through. I did tend to notice some similarities between the virginia in this blend and the virginia in Orlik Golden Sliced. I'm suspect that the leaf comes from the same source, the characteristics are that close. Orlik Golden Sliced is the only virginia I've tried that tends to leave this soapy taste in my mouth. I am unsure of whether this is my body chemistry with the leaf, or if it is common. I must say this was slightly subdued with Club Blend, more than likely because Orlik is pressed flakes and CB is spun cut, but it was there nonetheless.
I smoked this carefully and slowly. I'd smoke, then let the bowl sit for a few minutes, take another light puff or two, and let it sit again, barely keeping the weed lit in the bowl. I really wanted to nail down the subtleties of this blend. Once the black cav took light, it started to open up a bit. I began to notice some transition from the soapy hay like taste to more caramel, cocoa notes, but they were always VERY subdued to the point where they would be lost had I not been really trying to find them. The room note was nice, quite light, non-offensive, but even that lacked much character as to make me want to keep going with this blend.
Towards the end of this bowl, the epiphany I had been looking for was still not there. While this is a nice blend, it is missing something. I almost want to rub out all of the coins and add some perique to it then let it sit for a few months. I am going to give Club Blend another good ol' college try and see what I can pry out of it. Perhaps this will exhibit a different character in a briar pipe. We will see.
-Adam
So I took it home and decided to open it as a treat for the night. The tobacco comes spun cut, or for those unfamiliar, in small coin like slices in the tin. Appearance wise, this tobacco seems to teeter on mildly repulsive, yet attractive at the same time. Think, the first time you saw escargot on a plate in front of you. Same reaction I had when opening the tin. The coins are somewhat odd looking, as the spun golden virginia surrounding the dark center of black cavendish is intertwined with small round chunks of what I can only describe as bone marrow looking pieces of tobacco. This combined with the tin aroma of stewed fuits such as prunes, dates and figs, and also the aroma of smoked meat, can add up to a mixed reaction of how to judge this tobacco based on looks and smell alone. There was something mildly stomach churning, yet appealing at the same time about this blend.
I took about five or six coins (they are roughly quarter size, not as large as Stokkebye coins) and rubbed them out. The virginia rubs out beautifully into long strips of blonde weed, while the black cav just crumbles from the middle into dark chocolate looking shards. I let this sit for about an hour as it was a new tin and I've heard horror stories of the "MacBaren bite" that I wanted desperately to avoid.
I packed it in a meerschaum to give me the most unbiased experience of this blend. It is difficult to pack because the strands are so long, imagine loading spaghetti into a bowl. Not only that, but the black cav that crumbled apart earlier is no longer a part of the strands so I had to pack a little virginia, then sprinkle a little cav, and repeat. This took a couple lights to get going but once it did, we were off. I puffed this lightly, forcing myself to do so, as to avoid the bite. The flavors initially were of nothing but grassy virginias, smooth but very little flavor coming through. I did tend to notice some similarities between the virginia in this blend and the virginia in Orlik Golden Sliced. I'm suspect that the leaf comes from the same source, the characteristics are that close. Orlik Golden Sliced is the only virginia I've tried that tends to leave this soapy taste in my mouth. I am unsure of whether this is my body chemistry with the leaf, or if it is common. I must say this was slightly subdued with Club Blend, more than likely because Orlik is pressed flakes and CB is spun cut, but it was there nonetheless.
I smoked this carefully and slowly. I'd smoke, then let the bowl sit for a few minutes, take another light puff or two, and let it sit again, barely keeping the weed lit in the bowl. I really wanted to nail down the subtleties of this blend. Once the black cav took light, it started to open up a bit. I began to notice some transition from the soapy hay like taste to more caramel, cocoa notes, but they were always VERY subdued to the point where they would be lost had I not been really trying to find them. The room note was nice, quite light, non-offensive, but even that lacked much character as to make me want to keep going with this blend.
Towards the end of this bowl, the epiphany I had been looking for was still not there. While this is a nice blend, it is missing something. I almost want to rub out all of the coins and add some perique to it then let it sit for a few months. I am going to give Club Blend another good ol' college try and see what I can pry out of it. Perhaps this will exhibit a different character in a briar pipe. We will see.
-Adam
