Oct
08
Mac Baren Mixture – Scottish Blend – Product Review
- 8th October 2015
- 0 Comment(s)
Mac Baren’s Scottish Blend is another tobacco that has grown on me the more it is smoked. I have smoked Davidoff’s Scottish Mixture so I wrongly assumed that Mac Baren’s take would be a cheaper and less flavourful version. However, the flavours are quite wonderful.
There is definitely a subtle whisky/liquor flavour that is present but not overpowering. Again, with most Mac Baren pipe tobaccos if you puff hard to find the flavour you may get a bit of tongue bite, so go slow and savour the taste and you will be well rewarded.
Mac Baren Scottish Blend is smokeable straight from opening. The golden Virginias, darker brown Burleys and black Cavendish are well presented and the pouch note is of hay and almost a plum note with fig and raisins. On smoking I do get a slight whisky topping but I also get a lovely spicy-sweet taste, almost like gingerbread. This is an easy to light and easy to stay lit tobacco, so the burn quality is excellent. The Virginias add a nice sweetness and the Burley in this mixture adds depth and an satisfying bready taste. This is an aromatic but without the overly sweet candy coating that some aromatics have; the room note is also very pleasant.
The great thing about Mac Baren’s Scottish Blend is that the flavours do complement each other nicely. No one taste overpowers and you will discovers new layers of flavour the more you smoke this blend. Sometimes the whisky is the first taste, sometimes the bready-sweetness comes through at the beginning. It is a very relaxing and thought provoking pipe tobacco and the sweetness and the subtle whisky last till the end of the bowl with no bitterness or harshness at the end. This blend is also light in nicotine, which for my tastes is perfect and makes for a nice morning or evening smoke as well as an all day tobacco.
The last time I smoked Mac Baren Scottish Blend it was on a cold morning and the flavours of sweet and spice and liquor really complemented my black coffee. This really is a great autumn and winter pipe tobacco.