As Good as It Gets

[telescopes]

I am close to finishing up a tin of Mac Baren Plumcake, Navy Cut. I opened the lid and the wonderful aroma of Plumcake tobacco flowed through my nose instantly. I think I have a few more tins, but I thought, "How I am going to miss this tobacco!"

It's about as good as it gets... and now it too is a memory.

So many wonderful tobacco blends... gone, never to return.

We lived through a time when it seemed there were just enough pipe tobacco companies to experiment, develop, and market some really wonderful blends. With the loss of Sutliff and Mac Baren, the blends of those companies are now lost, forever. Yes, some were wretched, but there were many that were just a wonderful delight. Not to forget that Sutliff enabled smaller blenders to experiment and market some interesting blends as well.

My cellar has what I need. That is to say, it has the blends that will keep me smoking until I no longer can. But what it will never have and can not have are the many many "found" tobaccos that I happened upon when getting something untried from Sutliff and Mac Baren, companies who made some pretty fine tobaccos - and yes, some that were iffy for many people.

But some of those tobaccos were, As Good as it Gets.

I'll throw one out there that is now gone, White Knight. Gone. And the one I am currently smoking as I type, Mac Baren's Plumcake. Gone!

It's the way of things. Here today, gone tomorrow. Generally, things improve. But eventually, everything goes extinct - the way of the typewriter. We too as a species will share that fate. Nothing lasts forever. So with these final smokes from my tin of Plumcake, I'll enjoy this moment.

 

[Brad H]

I am close to finishing up a tin of Mac Baren Plumcake, Navy Cut. I opened the lid and the wonderful aroma of Plumcake tobacco flowed through my nose instantly. I think I have a few more tins, but I thought, "How I am going to miss this tobacco!"

It's about as good as it gets... and now it too is a memory.

So many wonderful tobacco blends... gone, never to return.

We lived through a time when it seemed there were just enough pipe tobacco companies to experiment, develop, and market some really wonderful blends. With the loss of Sutliff and Mac Baren, the blends of those companies are now lost, forever. Yes, some were wretched, but there were many that were just a wonderful delight. Not to forget that Sutliff enabled smaller blenders to experiment and market some interesting blends as well.

My cellar has what I need. That is to say, it has the blends that will keep me smoking until I no longer can. But what it will never have and can not have are the many many "found" tobaccos that I happened upon when getting something untried from Sutliff and Mac Baren, companies who made some pretty fine tobaccos - and yes, some that were iffy for many people.

But some of those tobaccos were, As Good as it Gets.

I'll throw one out there that is now gone, White Knight. Gone. And the one I am currently smoking as I type, Mac Baren's Plumcake. Gone!

It's the way of things. Here today, gone tomorrow. Generally, things improve. But eventually, everything goes extinct - the way of the typewriter. We too as a species will share that fate. Nothing lasts forever. So with these final smokes from my tin of Plumcake, I'll enjoy this moment.

Welcome to loving Plumcake! It is my desert island blend. I am right there with you being sad it’s gone.
When you’re out, lemme know and we can work something out

 

[Piping Abe]

I wish I purchased a 1lb bag of MacBaren Plumcake before it was gone forever. It is a great cold weather and Christmas smoke.

 

[khiddy]

WV Smoke Shop had a tiny amount of Plumcake left last week, but it was sniped from my cart before I could pull the trigger. RIP.

 

[Briar Lee]

Many, many years ago I bought a tin of British Woods.

updating via yoast

www.tobaccoreviews.com

At that time my first wife and I owned a home with a swimming pool on top of a hill and she’d throw huge parties and invite me band members over, including my dear angel mother, and my identical twin valedictorian tied blonde bombshell secretaries, one now sadly gone home, too young.

I liked British Woods, but my mother suggested that I’d best only smoke it around hairy legged boys or by myself, all alone.

But she did, opine George Jones smoking something as nasty smelling as that was the reason Tammy moved on.


And requested —-

She Thinks I Still Care

Definitive George Jones original

——

My wife scrubbed our mission to St Louis today and postponed it until tomorrow.

I’m sitting out here on my deck enjoying a newly opened tin of Squadron Leader, still available as a mosquito and pretty girl repellant from many online sellers today.


Tastes like all the other Lucky Seven catfish bait flavored Latakia blends, nice and mild, too.



Best smoked in corn cobs from Missouri Meershaum, you can leave outside.

As we travel down life’s long and winding highway we learn many lessons.

One of them is if you smoke anything that smells like catfish bait you’d best do that alone, or else you might soon be alone, you know?

Watching me teach her kids to shoot at Wall South Dakota 2001



These days she’s hyper sensitive to things that smell like rotting fish.

Can I still buy Pegasus?

The last time I was at Hill Cigar Company on The Hill in St Louis they had plenty, a whole bunch.

 

[telescopes]

Welcome to loving Plumcake! It is my desert island blend. I am right there with you being sad it’s gone.
When you’re out, lemme know and we can work something out

I am thankful to have what I have. Every once in a while I come across a nice blend like this. There are a lot of blends I enjoy but sometimes the Nic hit is just too strong to fully enjoy. This has a good balance.

 

[Servant King]

Plumcake is a winner, in no uncertain terms. There are several Mac Baren offerings I really like, and when the news came in last year, I was fortunate enough (financially speaking) to not be forced to the sidelines. I even grabbed a bunch of the ones STG was keeping--I had a nagging feeling they'd butcher those, and @JimInks confirmed these suspicions in a recent thread.

OP is spot on, all we can do now is enjoy what we have.

 

[Brad H]

Plumcake is a winner, in no uncertain terms. There are several Mac Baren offerings I really like, and when the news came in last year, I was fortunate enough (financially speaking) to not be forced to the sidelines. I even grabbed a bunch of the ones STG was keeping--I had a nagging feeling they'd butcher those, and @JimInks confirmed these suspicions in a recent thread.

OP is spot on, all we can do now is enjoy what we have.

How much St Bruno you grab, my guess is not enuf!

 

[Sig]

Im one of the odd fellows who absolutely loves MacBaren. It is, or was, my favorite blender.
Luckily the blender of a lot of these blends is still out there, and onto new and exciting things.
He knows what we like.
If anyone can create "match" blends its him.

 

[Sig]

Apparently at least one place has it if you're desperate enough. And only $75 a tin!!

 

[mortonbriar]

Yeah, I hear you. Plumcake is probably not replaceable, and white knight was great too! I think I have 3 tins of plumcake, the popping of which will be dispersed over the next decade...

 

[huntertrw]

I have a 3.5 oz. tin of Plumcake that I opened the day after Christmas in 2005, and am still enjoying it. I can tell you that, for me anyway, this blend has aged beautifully!

 

[Piping Abe]

I’ve heard Solent Mixture is close to Plumcake. But never had Solent so I cannot confirm.

 

[sardonicus87]

Kopp, while they can't do the kind of flake MB could, is in a position for some experimenting, and they have been doing some in aromatics a lot.

Their Caribbean Blue series was hit and miss, but the hits weren't anything amazing or sublime, they were just decently good. Their recent "Year of the Dragon" was good, but again, not one of those amazing blends. They are, to me, just competent.

Savinelli Brunello flake was produced by MB and that one was great, one of those "sublime" blends for me.

About the only place that makes anything now that, to me, is better than just "it's good, competent, doesn't knock my socks off though" is C&D. I'm smoking 2023 Sun Bear Black Locust and that's one that just, man it's so good. So far, Sun Bear and Steamworks are among the few VA-based blends that don't bite me.

Then too I get some of those amazing smokes from various GLP endeavors (like D&S Merry Monk).

I was a big fan of a lot of MB blends though and there's really not anything currently quite like them. I am excited to try the C&D "Brothers in Arms", might be the next burley I crack open. Hell, might even be next up once I smoke through this Sun Bear Tupelo.

And Sutliff was up there with MB for me, English #1 was one of my most favorite english blends (very leather-esque that I haven't yet found again, most things tending woodier or smokier than leather). I also recently got some 7 mil mylar bags because I am soon thinking of opening one of my Maple Shadows as my all day smoking, but I want to divvy it up into more manageable amounts, I tried my FoodSaver thing on the mylar, it can seal the mylar if I run the sealer 3 times, it's just finding a hack to be able to vacuum it out and be able to seal it. I have an idea for that, need to experiment.

 

[Brad H]

Kopp, while they can't do the kind of flake MB could, is in a position for some experimenting, and they have been doing some in aromatics a lot.

Their Caribbean Blue series was hit and miss, but the hits weren't anything amazing or sublime, they were just decently good. Their recent "Year of the Dragon" was good, but again, not one of those amazing blends. They are, to me, just competent.

Savinelli Brunello flake was produced by MB and that one was great, one of those "sublime" blends for me.

About the only place that makes anything now that, to me, is better than just "it's good, competent, doesn't knock my socks off though" is C&D. I'm smoking 2023 Sun Bear Black Locust and that's one that just, man it's so good. So far, Sun Bear and Steamworks are among the few VA-based blends that don't bite me.

Then too I get some of those amazing smokes from various GLP endeavors (like D&S Merry Monk).

I was a big fan of a lot of MB blends though and there's really not anything currently quite like them. I am excited to try the C&D "Brothers in Arms", might be the next burley I crack open. Hell, might even be next up once I smoke through this Sun Bear Tupelo.

And Sutliff was up there with MB for me, English #1 was one of my most favorite english blends (very leather-esque that I haven't yet found again, most things tending woodier or smokier than leather). I also recently got some 7 mil mylar bags because I am soon thinking of opening one of my Maple Shadows as my all day smoking, but I want to divvy it up into more manageable amounts, I tried my FoodSaver thing on the mylar, it can seal the mylar if I run the sealer 3 times, it's just finding a hack to be able to vacuum it out and be able to seal it. I have an idea for that, need to experiment.

MAGIC SEAL 16'' Commercial Vacuum... Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJC4TY1J?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Apparently at least one place has it if you're desperate enough. And only $75 a tin!!
View attachment 416164

That’ll buy a lot of SWRA that I finally tried and actually like, lol.

 

[Sig]

That’ll buy a lot of SWRA that I finally tried and actually like, lol.

And I just noticed this $75 is for a 50 gram pouch, not the 3.5 ounce tin!

 

[sablebrush52]

And I just noticed this $75 is for a 50 gram pouch, not the 3.5 ounce tin!

Sure glad that I still have a 14oz tin of it!

 

[Sig]

Sure glad that I still have a 14oz tin of it!

Unfortunately I have none.
I have lots of VA#1, Symphony, and Golden Extra....and ODF, and Vintage Syrian, but I missed out on stocking up on Plumcake.

 

[sablebrush52]

I'll throw one out there that is now gone, White Knight.

About a decade ago I did a comparison test between White Knight, Germain's version of Balkan Sobranie, and the Gallaher version from the 1990s. While neither the Germain's, nor White Knight were exactly the same as the Gallaher, White Knight was far closer in flavor to the Gallaher.

I lost my taste for this particular kind of blend, so I sold off my stack of White Knight earlier this year (or maybe it was last year) to a member here at a very advantageous price, because it's a favorite blend of his. He in turn sent me a couple of tins that he had of a favorite blend of mine, Vipratti. Win, win.