Jim's St. Bruno Reviews.

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JimInks

Sultan of Smoke
Aug 31, 2012
70,516
812,594
St. Bruno Flake:

The Virginias are slightly grassy and earthy with some citrus and stewed dark fruit, which indicates bright and dark Virginias were used. I notice the properties of the dark Va. more. The dark fired Kentucky has some wood, earth and a little spice to go along with a little boldness as an important support player. I don't know what the floral toppings are, but they are mild and aided with citrus. It reminds me a little of geranium and tonquin, but while the toppings do sublimate the tobaccos to some extent, you won’t miss out on what they have to offer. The strength, taste and nic-hit are medium. Won’t bite even if you’re puffing like a steam engine. The flakes are easily manipulated to suit your preference. It needs a light dry time, though I find it does well without much of it, and drying it too much would lessen the flavor a little. Burns at a slow to moderate rate with a smooth, consistent taste to the finish. No dull, weak, or harsh spots. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, but no dottle. Has a very pleasant after taste and room note. Easily repeatable during your smoking day.
St. Bruno Ready Rubbed:

The Virginias are slightly grassy and earthy with some citrus and stewed dark fruit, which indicates bright and dark Virginias were used. I notice the properties of the dark Va. more. The dark fired Kentucky has some wood, earth and a little spice to go along with a little boldness as an important support player. I don't know what the floral toppings are, but they are mild and aided with citrus. It reminds me a little of geranium and tonquin, but while the toppings do sublimate the tobaccos to some extent, you won’t miss out on what they have to offer. The strength, taste and nic-hit are medium. Won’t bite even if you’re puffing like a steam engine. As with all ready rubbed cuts, it’s easy to deal with. It needs a light dry time, though I find it does well without much of it, and drying it too much would lessen the flavor a little. Burns at a slow to moderate rate with a smooth, consistent taste to the finish. No dull, weak, or harsh spots. Leaves a little moisture in the bowl, but no dottle. Has a very pleasant after taste and room note. Easily repeatable during your smoking day.
The only differences I note in the ready rubbed version is that the tobacco flavor is a shade more obvious, which is often the case with this cut as more tobacco is exposed to air. It's also slightly mellower, which is also attributable to the cut.

 

gtrhtr

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 2, 2016
224
3
Thanks for the review, I've now got the flake pretty high up on my list to try now. I was originally put off buy the pouch packaging for some reason.

 

JimInks

Sultan of Smoke
Aug 31, 2012
70,516
812,594
I can't answer that because it varies from blend to blend. The more complex a product is, the more of it I have to smoke. There's no set number I have in mind when I review a blend. In the case of the St. Bruno Flake and RR, I had smoked some of each last fall, so it was still in my memory when I got the new stuff. I smoked a few bowls of the new to see if anything had changed. Nothing has, so I didn't need to smoke more than that. I did revise my earlier reviews because I was not satisfied with them. I think I write better, more detailed ones today.

 

londonmake

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 11, 2016
138
11
hi jim;

I've only smoked the st. bruno flake/RR that I was lucky to score in past trips to europe. I wondered if you have first-hand experience with these european versions, too, and, if so, could compare these new versions to it?
The big question:

Is it the same?

or are these new MacBaren versions a different animal?
regards

 

papipeguy

Lifer
Jul 31, 2010
15,777
47
Bethlehem, Pa.
I can't imagine MacBaren making a European blend and an American blend. Too costly for starters. I'll know for sure when mine shows up but I'm confident that it will be the same world wide. Of course, I've been wrong once or twice in my life before.

 

JimInks

Sultan of Smoke
Aug 31, 2012
70,516
812,594
Londonmake: I did smoke St. Bruno last year, but that means nothing as MacBaren was producing it for the last six years before they bought it out right last fall, so it wouldn't have changed in my experience. And I agree with what Papipeguy wrote.

 

londonmake

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 11, 2016
138
11
Thanks, Jim

I'll have to look at the verbiage on my europe-aquired pkgs to see if there's a credit line from the manufacturer.

Maybe I have the Imperial/Ogden versions? Maybe not.
My main concern was whether they kept the strength and flavor intact.
But, I'm very happy to have it available in the USA. So, I bought some to taste test.

Now, we can also look forward to MB re-introduction of some of the others from the recent acquisition of Imperial, such as Walnut.
Capstan, Gold Block, Three Nuns, Amphora have all been re-introduced by now, and, aren't we lucky? Except they didn't do so well with their new Three Nuns, did they?

 

JimInks

Sultan of Smoke
Aug 31, 2012
70,516
812,594
I'm hoping Walnut will come here, but there's been no word on that, even though I did ask about it. As for Three Nuns, MacBaren bought or leased the license for the version that was currently being made, which was a VaKyPer, and not the VaPer version those of us who used to smoke it knew. Using their tobaccos instead of the source Orlik used didn't work well for some.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,248
56,848
68
Sarasota Florida
I decided to take the plunge and ordered a tin. If I don't like it, I am blaming jim. The good thing jim, is if I don't like it, I will send it to you to finish. I plan on smoking 6 bowls in a few different pipes before I give up on it. I will use a Rhodesian, Zulu,Apple, Dublin and Billiard. I am hoping I do like it as I don't have enough flakes in my cellar.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,248
56,848
68
Sarasota Florida
I am almost done smoking my first bowl in a Scott Thile Cherrwood and I love it. I don't taste any floral flavors, only great tobacco taste with some type of topping. Not really sure what the topping is, but it has no relationship to a Lakeland essence thank the stars. I like this so much I decided to cellar this one real deep. I just ordered my first 50 tins right before I posted on this thread.

 

JimInks

Sultan of Smoke
Aug 31, 2012
70,516
812,594
No. The floral note is fairly light, and not like Lakeland or perfume. It has a vegetal-like taste, which led me to think it was from the rose or geranium family. It's hard to say for sure. It doesn't detract from the flavors, as Harris noted, though he couldn't taste it. It's subtle, but there.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,248
56,848
68
Sarasota Florida
I could not discern the topping but I liked it so that is all that matters to me. If I had to call it something, I would probably say it was some kind of sweet caramel flavoring( I suck at distinguishing certain flavors), but definitely not floral as is in Lakeland essence.

 
M

mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast

Guest
I took the plunge and glad I did. @JimInks has already done a nice job of reviewing this tobacco. I'll be brief; graham cracker and jasmine. I say this because it has a sweet toasted flavor to me that has a very subtle floral element to it early on. My snuff sense makes me think it's jasmine, but this is just a guess. This one goes into the rotation for sure.

 
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