New Review of Mac Baren Vanilla Cream Flake

[pstlpkr]

Wow! It's nice to see an old thread of mine see the light of day again.

I think I'll break out my TRG and stoke up of bowl of this magnificent flake in celebration.
::

 

[bigboi]

Yes, Lawrence, it was this review that prompted me to try Mac B's VCF

Thank you! :clap:

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Another one of my favorite blends. In my opinion it's the best vanilla flavored blend out there. Everything about it is good. It packs well, lights well, burns well, tastes well, and smells well.

 

[hfearly]

Funny, I bought a pouch of the Loose Cut as I had a craving for it. Have to say ... I almost like the Loose cut better than the Flake. To me it's a very different Vanilla flavoring they use.

 

[fitzy]

Maybe it's just me or just the tin I have but I get almost no flavor from it.

 

[krizzose]

This stuff is high in my rotation.
It's the most natural tasting vanilla blend I've tried, and the underlying virginias are high-quality, a solid medium in body and are not shy in the flavor. The vanilla has a hint of sharp spiciness to it. Everyone I've ever smoked this around raves about the room note. FWIW, when I smoke it by itself I rarely rub it out and either cube it or fold and stuff, usually with a good 1/2 or 45 minutes of drying time.
I've also had some fun rubbing it out and using it as a blender. Though I'm sure some purists will roll their eyes, VCF mixed 50/50 with Escudo is pretty damned good. To the other side of the spectrum, 1/3 VCF, 1/3 Autumn Evening (which is a little too treacly on its own for my tastes), and 1/3 Boswell's Chocolate Cream is fantastic.

 

[fitzy]

I really dried some out good the other day and it tasted great. I think that maybe my problem with Erinmore flake as well.

 

[undecagon]

OK, well I grabbed a tin of this during my last visit to Iwan Ries.
I have been searching for an aro that I can smoke when I'm out in public or in larger crowds. I had a blueberry blend back when I first started w/ a pipe, and disliked it so much I actually lost the tin! My Brother in law smokes aros, heavy Cherry blends and a few others, they taste like glue and sugar and chemicals to me...yuck!
I got a free tin of Roma Vita (Sutliff) at the Chicago show, and it was alright, although it was very goopy. My Uncle picked up Maple Street (also Sutliff) and I tried a bowl. I liked this less as I detected little to no flavor. As in any flavor, no maple, no tobacco, just warm air. I also had a tin of Sutliff's Academy from Chicago, and this was pretty good, but also a little too moist and required more work than I wanted to put into something I wasn't a huge fan of.
Two Friends English Chocolate, however, is tasty. Plenty of Latakia and enough Chocolate to detect. Not goopy or requiring extra effort either. However, the room note didn't seem to please my folks any more than any other blend I smoked. I didn't test it on any other non smokers though...
VCF now, is good. I can taste the Virginias and I can taste the vanilla. It's not chemically tasting, but delightfully sweet. Also, it's not overly mild like Maple Street was. I have tried it in my Rattray's, Chacom, Peterson, Clay, and a basket -- all fold and stuff -- and it was a great time. Tonight, I cube cut it (I cube cut my plugs and am a huge fan of the method) and put it in my Nording Free Hand. This did not work well. It was a very wet smoke (fold and stuff, I didn't have problems, even w/out any drying) and the flavor was not as good.
I will probably try to cube it again sometime, but I'll be sticking w/ fold and stuff for awhile. This may be one for me to keep around and pull out when the crowd deems I should smoke something more non-smoker friendly.
All that being said, if I were to write a formal review of this, I'm sure the phrase "would benefit from Latakia" would be used often!
::

 

[undecagon]

This stuff has seen a lot of screen time lately in a few threads, and I'm about to have another bowl on my walk to the grocery store (Fold'n'stuff, Chacom 2011 Competition Pipe)....so I decided it was worth a bump so people can see what an English Smoker like myself thinks of the blend!
::

 

[zonomo]

I bought 2 tins based upon the original review and by George, I think I need to give this another try. I wasn't overly impressed or unimpressed with it. Seemed very average to me. But I'll lighter er up again. Thanks!