http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend_det ... H&TID=2680
Brand: Mac Baren
Blender: Henrik Halberg
Tin Description: The base of the blend, a little under half of the volume, is a smooth and yet powerful Latakia from Syria. This tobacco gives the blend the overall smoky taste, a powerful taste and yet without any tongue bite. To add a spicy note to the blend, Turkish Oriental has been added. A mix of different Virginia tobaccos from 3 continents adds a sweet natural taste. To complete the taste with depth and body, we added a little Dark Fired Kentucky from the US. The HH-Vintage Syrian Latakia is a loose cut tobacco, which guarantees a smooth and steady burn. It does not get hot which means you will find extremely little bite on your tongue. When you empty your pipe after smoking, you will find only fine grey ashes, the sign of a slow and dry smoke.
Country of Origin: DK
Curing Group: Fire Cured
Contents:
Kentucky
Virginia
Latakia
Oriental
Turkish
Cut: Coarse Cut
Packaging: 100g Tin
Blend Notes: Introduced in 2006.
Deze latakiatabak van McBlahren schijnt zowaar nog te roken zijn ook. Laatst wat dingen over gelezen. Hij heet trouwens Vintage Syrian maar zeg maar liever Present Day Cyprian of Very Bad Quality Syrian. Hieronder een korte review van de Clan-slayer:
HH VINTAGE SYRIAN
MacBaren is known for their spuncuts and mild Danish Aromatics, some sauced, some top-cased. They are not at all known for doing anything daring with Latakia or Orientals. Their previous foray into wife-repellent was ‘Latakia Blend’ (met maar 10% latakia...), which despite the name failed to deliver the promised punch, though it was a decent cut roll-cake Cavendish . Not a bad smoke if you expected typical MacBaren tobacco, but a Syrian would not have recognized it.
The Vintage Syrian is different. Indeed, there’s a hefty measure of Latakia in it – by MacBaren standards. And Oriental. But it should not be considered a full blend, being more on the cross-over point between mild English, light Balkan, and Scottish-Oriental. The grassy component in the tin aroma indicates some air-cured leaf.
By my guess, roughly forty percent Latakia, about twenty percent Oriental, ten percent fire-cured American, and the remainder a mild-medium base of Virginias. All steamed to meld. It is not tinned wet, and can be smoked with little or no drying once the tin is opened.
It does not smoke particularly richly, being a pleasant old-fashioned European mixture with Oriental leaf. Which is shockingly new for the Danes. It is affordable and will not scare away women and children. There is a nice touch of sweetness. By Danish standards it is both risqué and balanced; no mean achievement.
Recommendation: buy a few tins to mature for a few years, but don’t go wild.
