Jim's STG Versions of Mac Baren Blends Reviews.
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Why is it when blends change, it always seems to be for the worse?
I misplaced my one tin of Capstan Blue a while back and reading this updated review makes me all the more annoyed by it. I'm sure it will turn up eventually
For what it’s worth, to those not interested in STG’s Capstan Blue, I have found Per Jensen’s Port Guardian to be a much more intriguing version (for lack of a better term) of Capstan than the MacBaren version. I have smoked Port Guardian and a 2024 Capstan Blue back to back today, and I find Port Guardian to have more interesting flavors than Capstan and they both seem to be trying to achieve the same thing.
I edited/rewrote my original review to better compare the Mac Barn version to the current STG one.
MacBaren St. Bruno Flake:
The Virginias are slightly grassy, rather earthy and woody with some tart and tangy citrus, bread, light sugar and floralness, a pinch of spice, and some stewed tangy 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, floralness, herbs, vegetation, dry sour and light spicy sweetness to go along with a little boldness as an important support player. The rich floral toppings are rose geranium and tonquin, but while the toppings do tone down the tobaccos to some extent, you won’t miss out on what the varietals have to offer. There's a vinegar preservative, but it doesn't translate to the taste. The strength, taste and nic-hit are medium. Won’t bite even if you’re puffing like a steam engine. Has a few rough notes. The flakes are easily manipulated to suit your preference. They may need a light dry time, though I did not do that for this review. Burns cool and clean at a slow to moderate rate with a smooth, very consistent sweet, fruity, rather floral, herbal, mildly sour, smokey barbecue flavor to the finish. Has no dull, weak, or harsh spots. Leaves little moisture in the bowl. Requires some relights. Has a very pleasantly lingering after taste and a pleasant to tolerable sweet, floral room note. Easily repeatable during your smoking day although I do not recommend a big bowl for this blend. Will ghost a briar and a meer in time. Four stars out of four.
9-30-2016: Having very recently smoked the 1980s version, I would say that there are a few differences between the two vintages. The flakes were much longer.The older version has a stronger, deeper rose geranium topping. The tonquin was a tad stronger, and a little deeper. The tobacco flavors also have more depth, and a little more earth and wood. The taste is essentially the same otherwise.
@Jim Amash 2025.
STG St. Bruno Flake:
The dark fired Kentucky provides an abundance of floralness, sweet barbecue, smoke, spice, bread, wood, herbs, vegetation, earth, and mild sourness as the lead component. It’s a lot stronger than earlier productions. The Virginias add a liitle tart citrus, floralness, bitter sour lemon, bread, vegetative grass/hay, spice, acidity, sugar, light earth, and wood. No dark fruit or stewed fruit notes are currently present. The youthful bright Virginia overtakes whatever other Virginia may be present. I suspect that it’s orange Va. They offer a little more than secondary support which is less than past versions when bright Va. did not lead. The DFK used is also responsible for that difference. The rich tonquin and rose geranium toppings are similar to the older version though not quite the same. I notice the tonquin a little more than the rose geranium which is the reverse of the Mac Baren SBF. They also have a mildly higher impact on the overall flavor. I also detect a vinegar note from the casing. The strength and taste levels are stronger now. I rate the former at a step below strong and the latter a tad more than full. The nic-hit is a step past the center of medium to strong. No chance of bite, but unlike before, has a harsh note if puffed beyond a moderate pace. Has a little roughness; lightly more than before. The flakes are rather moist although I did not dry them for review. Your mileage may vary on this point. Deeply rich, it burns clean, fairly cool and slow with a very consistent floral, sweet and sour, barbecue, fruity, herbal, moderately smoky, spicy, acidic, bitter, savory flavor that extends to the long lasting after taste. The strong floral, sweet mildly spicy room notes have some pungency. Leaves little moisture in the bowl and requires a few relights. Not an all day smoke, but it is repeatable. I recommend a medium size pipe at most. Will ghost a briar and a meer. Two and a half stars out of four.
@Jim Amash 2025.
MacBaren St. Bruno Flake:
The Virginias are slightly grassy, rather earthy and woody with some tart and tangy citrus, bread, light sugar and floralness, a pinch of spice, and some stewed tangy 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, floralness, herbs, vegetation, dry sour and light spicy sweetness to go along with a little boldness as an important support player. The rich floral toppings are rose geranium and tonquin, but while the toppings do tone down the tobaccos to some extent, you won’t miss out on what the varietals have to offer. There's a vinegar preservative, but it doesn't translate to the taste. The strength, taste and nic-hit are medium. Won’t bite even if you’re puffing like a steam engine. Has a few rough notes. The flakes are easily manipulated to suit your preference. They may need a light dry time, though I did not do that for this review. Burns cool and clean at a slow to moderate rate with a smooth, very consistent sweet, fruity, rather floral, herbal, mildly sour, smokey barbecue flavor to the finish. Has no dull, weak, or harsh spots. Leaves little moisture in the bowl. Requires some relights. Has a very pleasantly lingering after taste and a pleasant to tolerable sweet, floral room note. Easily repeatable during your smoking day although I do not recommend a big bowl for this blend. Will ghost a briar and a meer in time. Four stars out of four.
9-30-2016: Having very recently smoked the 1980s version, I would say that there are a few differences between the two vintages. The flakes were much longer.The older version has a stronger, deeper rose geranium topping. The tonquin was a tad stronger, and a little deeper. The tobacco flavors also have more depth, and a little more earth and wood. The taste is essentially the same otherwise.
@Jim Amash 2025.
STG St. Bruno Flake:
The dark fired Kentucky provides an abundance of floralness, sweet barbecue, smoke, spice, bread, wood, herbs, vegetation, earth, and mild sourness as the lead component. It’s a lot stronger than earlier productions. The Virginias add a liitle tart citrus, floralness, bitter sour lemon, bread, vegetative grass/hay, spice, acidity, sugar, light earth, and wood. No dark fruit or stewed fruit notes are currently present. The youthful bright Virginia overtakes whatever other Virginia may be present. I suspect that it’s orange Va. They offer a little more than secondary support which is less than past versions when bright Va. did not lead. The DFK used is also responsible for that difference. The rich tonquin and rose geranium toppings are similar to the older version though not quite the same. I notice the tonquin a little more than the rose geranium which is the reverse of the Mac Baren SBF. They also have a mildly higher impact on the overall flavor. I also detect a vinegar note from the casing. The strength and taste levels are stronger now. I rate the former at a step below strong and the latter a tad more than full. The nic-hit is a step past the center of medium to strong. No chance of bite, but unlike before, has a harsh note if puffed beyond a moderate pace. Has a little roughness; lightly more than before. The flakes are rather moist although I did not dry them for review. Your mileage may vary on this point. Deeply rich, it burns clean, fairly cool and slow with a very consistent floral, sweet and sour, barbecue, fruity, herbal, moderately smoky, spicy, acidic, bitter, savory flavor that extends to the long lasting after taste. The strong floral, sweet mildly spicy room notes have some pungency. Leaves little moisture in the bowl and requires a few relights. Not an all day smoke, but it is repeatable. I recommend a medium size pipe at most. Will ghost a briar and a meer. Two and a half stars out of four.
@Jim Amash 2025.
This is all so totally depressing, and so counterproductive. Are there economies of scale or entry level barriers that make it impossible for competing companies to produce quality tobaccos when popular brands are bastardized or eliminated?
I know I don't understand this industry but it just seems nuts to disregard your customers tastes, wants, and desires and expect other firms won't take advantage of it.
I know I don't understand this industry but it just seems nuts to disregard your customers tastes, wants, and desires and expect other firms won't take advantage of it.
I was honestly hoping my evaluation of ST Bruno STG was a fluke 
An iconic legend for me. In my top 5…. Now ruined! Good thing I just got 32 mac b st Bruno’s in stock
An iconic legend for me. In my top 5…. Now ruined! Good thing I just got 32 mac b st Bruno’s in stock
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Glad we still have HU tobacco, Kopp and Samuel Gawith in Europe.
No need to buy any of the STG products.
No need to buy any of the STG products.
STG destroys everything it touches/ re-blends.
I wonder if Alec Bradley cigars will taste like a Tampa Nugget in the near future.
HU is Kopp. And we also have Dan Tobacco. And you are right, we don't need no STG product ( and I do not think they need us anyway, we are not the target)
Because the buyer is usually a corporation with many IPs and this is just one more notch on their belt.
It’s not just true of STG, it’s true of Kopp as well, which buys its tobacco from STG.
Inevitably it comes down to making the product as cheaply as the market will bear, and capitalizing off the name.
That’s why all of the old famous labels are shadows of their earlier selves.
Did you find an over all lack of the topping in the STG than the Mac B production?
I would say the toppings are not quite as strong as before regarding St. Bruno, but still very noticeable to me. To some extent, I blame the strength of the DFK for that.
As for the others that I reviewed, the toppings are stronger than the Mac Baren versions. They're not the same either which I attribute to different sourcing for them.
My post was intended to be a rhetorical question more than anything else, however, since you responded, I might add that in addition to corporate acquisitions, some of the changes resulted from firms’ outside blenders going out of business and being replaced by others, such as in the case of Dunhill after its blender for many years, Murray’s, closed shop in the early 2000’s or brands being discontinued and being revived by other blenders years later after acquiring the brand’s name and trademark (but apparently, not the recipe), a prime example being Balkan Sobranie.
You're speaking to the choir with this one. I don't know what Germain's was thinking, beyond selling whatsis in a famous tin.
Are you sure that Kopp is the owner of HU?
Dan tobacco and Kopp blends and makes the tobacco for HU but is HU part of Kopp?
Since last year, Kopp has been producing all HU blends. They've kept a few of the blends previously made by DTM, while axing others
When I read JimInks excellent reviews of Mac Baren tobacco, I think to myself, “My God, I should have bought a few more tons.” I look at my cellar and it seems too small, ha ha ha ha. I still find it hard to believe that Mac Baren has already gone down in history.
Night Owl has been my favorite so far. Director's Cut is also great. There's still many I have yet to try. I really want to try Dark Sea and Dark Moor next.