McBaren Golden Extra

[bobpnm]

I've been smoking Golden Extra and London Burley Blend for several months now. In the tin they look exactly alike. Seems to me that Golden Extra is London Burley Blend without the top dressing. Both have a small amount of Virginia. They are similar yet entirely different smokes. Without LBB's top dressing, Golden Extra is more of a straight burley smoke with a little sweetness from the Virginia. I get all of the burley and more Virginia from Golden Extra. If Carter Hall iis the well brand, Golden Extra is top shelf. If you like burley, Golden Extra is worth a try.

 

[hfearly]

Hi Bob! Great taste! I *love* the Golden Extra! One of my favorite Burleys!

 

[easygoer]

Smoking both myself right know. Smell reminds me chewing tobacco. I find they are great for beginners like myself in terms of packing and lighting. E Roberts wrote a nice review on this site for the London Blend.

 

[easygoer]

I'm guessing chocolate.

 

[Perique]

I'm a big fan of both. I also like to mix then 50/50 with good aromatics which, IMO, vastly improves many aros.

 

[cortezattic]

Good of you to post this, Bob. I'm working on both blends myself right now, but I haven't done much

in the way of comparisons or critical smoking. I like both a lot, but Burley London Blend seems

a little more satisfying at the moment. The other Burley in Mac Baren's product line, Norwood, is good too,

but merely an "also ran" competing for attention, IMO. Well, I'm sure it is justified by sales figures,

but I often wonder why, because it has so little pizzazz.

 

[Perique]

Roth, give that London Burley a try and let us no what you think. It's very, very mildly topped. Very neutral high quality burley IMHO.

 

[bobpnm]

I agree with Perique. While LBB is definitely topped, I find it subtle. It certainly isn't soaked like most aromatics. For instance, I love H&H Classic Burley Kake. It definitely seems more flavored than LBB to me. It's a question of degrees. Some will find the topping on LBB heavy. Some won't.

 

[ejames]

I like both of those blends. The last time I ordered them,got 2 lbs of the Golden Extra and 1 lb. of the London Burley. Shoulda bought more London Burley.

 

[brian64]

I'm guessing chocolate.

I’ve been slowly working my way through my first ever tin of LBB. It definitely seems like chocolate to me...but fairly light. Not bad as an occasional smoke, but I’m going to have to try the GE...I’d prefer it w/o the topping.

 

[dottiewarden]

I just cracked a tin of Golden Extra, and my first impression is "very nice". No wows here, but a very pleasant, one-dimensional, all day smoker.
Upon tin opening, I was pleased to see the color of the broken flake was brown and very Burley looking, rather than golden. The aroma, though a bit hard to place, was somewhere between prunes and figs. Very inviting to say the least. No drying time seemed necessary so I excitedly filled my Peterson Sterling Silver 80s Bent Bulldog. The true light took and it was easy sipping to the bottom of the bowl. No moisture in the pipe and nothing but some dark gray ash to spill out of the pipe with no tapping needed.
This is a very mild, low-nicotine blend that tastes very representative of a good Burley. It won't bounce my University Flake out of first place taste-wise, but the lower nicotine content means I can smoke this stuff with reckless abandon.
I'm glad I bought more than one tin because I know I'm going to enjoy this between bowls of medium strength English blends and sweet aromatics.
Recommended for those who enjoy milder and subtler blends that can be smoked relentlessly without risking nicotine dizziness.

 

[bobpnm]

How about that? I haven't aged a bit since 2014! Still like Golden Extra in a cob!