I’m reaping the benefits of cellaring a good bit of this when I first started smoking. 7 years old and it’s fantastic. I’m usually not a big fan of DFK, but the smoky (in tin note and flavor to me) earthy, nutty and sour Kentucky goes very well with the sweet cased Mac Baren Virginias. I’m not a Latakia smoker, but for whatever reason I really enjoy the smokiness here. There’s just enough DFK to give me a perique like tingle in my throat and nose. Great depth of rich flavor without being excessively strong. The universally positive reviews (so far, at least) of the room note doesn’t hurt either.
Mac Baren Club Blend
- Thread starter krizzose
- Start date
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Club is amazing tobacco. It gets overlooked because it's just stupid old Mac Baren. What a shame. If the tins said "GL Pease" or something, people would be losing their minds over it.
It's a genius blend. Super sweet, super spicy, pretty full and leathery. Crazy good. It snuck up on me, I'm surprised I like it as much as I do and for as long as I have, but I am literally never without Club Blend on the go, and pretty often I tuck into some vaunted wonder-tobacco only to think halfway through the bowl "Well, this is great, but it's no Club Blend."
The coins can be a bit fussy, I don't think this is beginner-grade tobacco. But when you get this (and Dark Twist, and Roll Cake) right... boy oh boy.
There's no latakia in it. Per told me that of the coins only the now disco'd "Latakia Blend" had latakia, and that had 2%, just a whisper. So it's all the cavendish/kentucky doing the talking in Club.
It's a genius blend. Super sweet, super spicy, pretty full and leathery. Crazy good. It snuck up on me, I'm surprised I like it as much as I do and for as long as I have, but I am literally never without Club Blend on the go, and pretty often I tuck into some vaunted wonder-tobacco only to think halfway through the bowl "Well, this is great, but it's no Club Blend."
The coins can be a bit fussy, I don't think this is beginner-grade tobacco. But when you get this (and Dark Twist, and Roll Cake) right... boy oh boy.
There's no latakia in it. Per told me that of the coins only the now disco'd "Latakia Blend" had latakia, and that had 2%, just a whisper. So it's all the cavendish/kentucky doing the talking in Club.
My hand was hovering over a tin of this at the Briary today, but I went for Golden Extra instead. I have been on a burley kick lately, and I have yet to try the Club Blend.
I actually just found a jar of Club Blend that I stored away awhile back. It was a 2009 tin that I bought at a B&M in like 2012. I had about 4-5 bowls out of it then jar'd it up. Obviously now the what's in the jar is 9yrs old. That'll probably be the next blend I go through after getting into the tin of Mad Fiddler Flake that I picked up a few months back.
P
pipebuddy
Guest
Mac Baren Roll Cakes are seriously under the radar!
Club Blend and Dark Twist are little jewels of the pipe tobacco world.
The problem is that newbies should avoid Mac Baren tobaccos; at least, until they have enough experience with an adequate cadence and they master the art of proper moisture level of the tobacco.
Only when are they overcoming the issues of tongue bite, can they fully appreciate these wonderful offerings.
Club Blend and Dark Twist are little jewels of the pipe tobacco world.
The problem is that newbies should avoid Mac Baren tobaccos; at least, until they have enough experience with an adequate cadence and they master the art of proper moisture level of the tobacco.
Only when are they overcoming the issues of tongue bite, can they fully appreciate these wonderful offerings.
Thanks for bringing Club Blend to our attention. It hasn't been talked about much, I don't think, nor merchandised much online or in catalogs. Apparently it goes better with quite a bit of aging, which may be the reason for its living in the shade, as it were.
Roll Cake is more burley-ish, and does not have any maple flavor. At least some of the leaf in club is boiled in a maple sugar/syrup sort of broth, so there's a sort of... toasted marshmallow thing going on. Not like a maple aromatic or anything, but just ... some added sweetness. Roll Cake does not have that.
Roll Cake tastes just a little... just a little.... like Kingfisher. Solid Va/Per/Bur sort of profile.
Roll Cake tastes just a little... just a little.... like Kingfisher. Solid Va/Per/Bur sort of profile.
I bought a bunch of roll cake in 2012 that was dated 2010 - when did the new roll cake come out? I seem to have just shy of two pounds of it in the 3.5 oz tins and don't recall having tried. I also have 3 of the club blend 3.5 oz tins from the same period. Sounds like I should have stocked up on the club blends instead.
Sounds fine but does it need to be aged many years before it becomes fantastic? I prefer stuff that is amazing right out of the tin.
I popped a new tin recently. It is very good. I haven't decided how good yet, but it's good. Sweet and spicy, does not bite my tongue. Not heavy on nicotine.
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