Mac Baren Roll Cake Pipe Tobacco Blends

[deluxestogie]

Mac Baren Roll Cake Pipe Tobacco Blends

The following pipe tobaccos from Mac Baren represent an age old style of tobacco manufacture. Roll cake is made, either by hand or with the use of a Lieberman device, by rolling what is essentially a cigar or twist, using a combination of whole leaf (with stem) and leaf strip, enclosed within a wrapper that will also contribute to the strength and aroma of the final blend.

The finished roll is sliced into thin flake. Since the slices come from a cylindrical cake, the result is "coins" of tobacco that exhibit cross-sections of the included stems. The coins are dried, then brought back into low case for smoking.

A smoker can pack a pipe by simply pushing the entire coins into the bowl, or by crumbling them into the bowl. The former approach burns more slowly, since it is more densely packed.

The current Mac Baren website (http://mac-baren.com) is difficult to navigate to specific products, but if you already know the exact name of a product, you can find it using the search function for products.

The page for each product offers quite a bit of information (though not some of the proprietary blending details) about the blend. Below, I've extracted the general constituents of the blends of their roll cake offerings, so that you can experiment with your own blending. It's worth looking at the individual product pages for their comments. I have tried Club Blend, and enjoyed it.

Dark Fired Kentucky is a Burley tobacco, which after being air-cured in normal air is then further cured over smoke. The smoking process gives the tobacco a piquant smoked taste and the finishing touch is added by turning the tobacco into a Cavendish. As a result, the tobacco is slightly sour and balanced in taste.

http://mac-baren.com/pipe-tobacco-products#33

Note the additional step of making a Cavendish from the finished Dark Fired Kentucky. Curious.

The photos below will allow you to see the appearance of the finished coins.

Stockton

• Virginia ~60%
• center of Dark Fired Kentucky ~40%
• "As with all Mac Baren blends, Stockton also includes several different tobaccos from various regions and districts."
• boiled water and maple sugar added

Dark Twist Roll Cake

This is comprised of slices from two different roll cakes, so two different color slices are visible within the blend.
Roll cake 1:

• sweet Virginia rolled in a sweet Virginia wrapper (all blond coins)
• boiled water and maple sugar added

Roll cake 2:

• Dark Fired Kentucky rolled in a sweet Virginia wrapper (dark coins in a blond wrapper)
• boiled water and maple sugar added

Roll Cake Spun Cut (previously named Royal Twist)

• sweet Virginias
• Dark Fired Kentucky
• boiled water and maple sugar added
• "tiny bit of top flavor"

Club Blend Roll Cake

• sweet Virginias
• center of Dark Fired Kentucky
• boiled water and maple sugar added

While it is certain that the minor blending components, which add nuance to the Mac Baren blends, are certainly missing from the stated blend ingredients, the available details should serve as a good starting point for creating your own, unique roll cake pipe tobacco.

I'll have to try making some Cavendish of Dark Fired tobacco.

Bob

 

[AmaxB]

Thanks Bob
A curious question wouldn't the maple sugar make it bite or acidic?

 

[Aaron]

Cavendish from Dark Fired huh? I think I'll have to give that a try. Curious indeed!

 

[Knucklehead]

Thanks Bob
A curious question wouldn't the maple sugar make it bite or acidic?

I would think the opposite. I use sugar to neutralize the acidic taste of the tomatoes in spaghetti.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Thanks Bob
A curious question wouldn't the maple sugar make it bite or acidic?

Sugar, as it burns lowers the pH of the smoke. The end result is a smooth smoke.

 

[DonH]

Sugar, as it burns lowers the pH of the smoke. The end result is a smooth smoke.

Yes, it will take away the harshness of the smoke, especially when inhaled. Cigar smoke is high pH and is very harsh to inhale.

 

[Seanz]

A nice post I've enjoyed both the dark twist and the roll cake from Mac Baren. I enjoy making my own spun ropes. Though my Cavandish has much room for improvement, this looks like it could be fun