If you’re feeling nostalgic or old-fashioned, then pull out a tin of Mac Baren Club Blend. This tobacco was introduced in 1955, and it can bring you right back there with it’s traditional aroma, taste, and it’s roll-cake style and presentation. The tobacco is spun to create rolls which are then cut into thin slices. The slices are called "coins". Some say they are ugly, but I think the coins are very attractive looking.  The tin aroma has just a little bit of sweetness to it, and reminds me of raisins. Club Blend has a mild-medium aroma and flavor that I enjoy very much. There are some people who claim that Baren’s blends all tend to smell the same and the aroma from the tin of this one seemed similar to several of their other varieties that I have smoked but once it was alight this tobacco had a very distinctive aroma unlike any other. The taste did remind me a little bit of another one of my favorite Mac blends, the Mac Baren Navy Flake. If you like that one, you will probably like Mac Baren Club Blend.

Don’t let the name put you off this blend of tobacco. While Latakia is the major component of this blend it’s less than half of the volume and the Kentucky and Virginia components go a long way to making this a very acceptable smoke and one that I really like.

For some seasoned pipe smokers it’s a little too mild, and that means that if you’ve never been brave enough to try a Latakia blend then this is the one to start with. I’m sure that if it’s your first Latakia you will notice it although after a couple of tins of this tobacco you may want to move on to something a little stronger. Don’t feel you have to move on though … some of my friends have never wanted to move beyond this blend.