Mac Baren -- HH Vintage Syrian

Brand: Mac Baren
Blend: HH Vintage Syrian
Style: English
Pipe Used: No-name Apple
Price: Free Sample

Appearance: 8
Taste: 9
Room Note: 9
Value: 9
Overall: 9

Mac Baren is one of the world's largest producers of pipe tobacco so I was a bit surprised when I realized that I had only ever smoked three of their blends and that none had made it into my regular tobacco rotation. Perhaps that explains why I sat on this 1 oz. sample of HH Vintage Syrian for so long without ever giving it a try. While going through some loose baggies of various samples I stumbled on this one and decided on a whim to finally give it a go.

The blend was a coarse cut mixture of brown and black tobaccos and the pouch aroma was sweet and smokey like many light, or Americanized (in this case Danishized), blends. It definitely had that classic Mac Baren sweetness that many refer to as a honey-like topping.

My sample had dried out a bit so I loaded the pipe bowl then gave it a few puffs of air to get the moisture level up before lighting. The pipe lit up easily and the tobacco burned at a perfect pace.

Mac Baren promotes this blend as a throw-back to simpler times when the tobacco itself was allowed to shine. Made up of the titular Syrian Latakia, Turkish Oriental, various Virginias, and a touch of Dark Kentucky this is one complex "simple" blend!

The first taste I was hit with was the high quality Latakia that was in just the right amount to offer up some smokey goodness without the skunkiness that accompanies many Latakia-heavy blends (not that I don't love that too).

The blend then gave my tongue a bit of a spicy tingle which I assume was due to the Oriental leaf. And the various Virginias provided the sweetness of dried fruit and a bit of nuttiness reminiscent of McClelland's Red Cake while the Dark Kentucky lent some cigar-like strength to the blend.

HH Vintage Syrian is one tasty and well-balanced blend and even the aftertaste was full of pleasant floral undertones.

The aroma was that classic pipe smell that we all know and love and I enjoyed smelling the stuff almost as much I did smoking it.

The blend burned down to a fine gray ash with only a few relights required and was easy on the mouth and tongue even with some slightly frenzied puffing.

Mac Baren's HH Vintage Syrian is an excellent light English blend and I can easily see myself smoking through a goodly amount of the stuff as that's one of my favorite tobacco types. Whether it truly does harken back to the blends of a century ago I have no idea but I do know that it's a perfectly balanced combination of high quality tobacco that absolutely sings in a pipe.

And if that isn't enough to recommend the stuff there's also the fact that you can acquire a 100g tin for a measly twelve bucks or an entire pound for around $37. I love great tobacco and a great bargain and this blend offers both.