Virginia Tobacco » Mac Baren HH Matured Virginia Tobacco Reviews

Sweet, smokey, full bodied

Purchased bulk . A Virginia blend providing several different distinct flavors. The sweetness you expect from a Va. is present along with a deeper, stronger full bodied presence. They  compliment each other accompanied by a delicious smokey flavor reminding me of a campfire. The initial flavors remain throughout the bowl and there's enough going on to hold your interest. A little drying time ensures minimal relights. I found no tonguebite. Aged two years the blend improves dramatically smoothing out with the sweetness becoming a little more pronounced balancing the deep fullness. This is a great tobacco and remains in my top rotation.   

Different take on VA

Henrik Halberg's Mature VA has been the object of a bit of a fight at a different forum; the way I see it the final tally is still to come.

The second in the HH (Henrik Halberg) line of tobaccos that became available to me, I bought a tin, opened the tin, sniffed, and was rather put off. The tin aroma was somewhere in between the brine used for pickled olives and a certain brand of hot sauce. Not something I had so far assiciated with quality tobacco.

But I am perverse enough to have actually stuffed this stuff into one of my pipes, and the following experience was... er... WOW!

Yes, matured VA, with its slightly smoky and sweet notes, some hay in there, the tin aroma is completely belied by the sweet-savoury room note of this blend when smoked, the all-too-often-cited Mac Baren "bite" (which I personally have never experienced, possibly because I am a filter smoker) is even less evident in this blend than it is in the others, and hey, this stuff actually contains some nicotine...

I have cellared a few tins; chances are they will not survive too long. I am a VA smoker, and this stuff is outstanding IMHO. Not everybody's style, I'll agree, but for me, a beautiful smoke.