Mac Baren HH Rustica

This is a great blend. It will kick your butt if you are not careful though. The taste is very similar to Dark Fired leaf with a lot of the BBQ spice and earth. It's very smooth, but like I said even after a heavy meal I can feel a bit light headed. I can only hope MacBaren makes more of the stuff.

I tried this blend on a whim. With my tendency towards dark, strong burley and Kentucky blends I found this one interesting. With some experimentation, I managed to get it to smoke wonderfully. It needs to be rubbed out and on the drier side to smoke without excessive relights. If you give Rustica the conditions it wants it will reward you with a fantastic, smooth, nicotine rich, earthy smoke that just checks all my boxes. I liked it so much I acquired a little over a pound of it. Hopefully there will be another production run of Rustica. It would be a shame to let this one fade away into history.

Top choice for being strong, yet has a good favour. Certainly the last smoke of the day.

Excellent. I hope they put this one into regular production. Bold Kentucky is my favorite and Rustica is right there with it. Very earthy tin note and is a smooth rich smoke with a high dose of nicotine.

Truly an outstanding tobacco. Tin note;Smells like an outside Bar-B-Q. Full flavor no tongue, bit with a nice nicotine hit. Definitely not recommended unless they have a reasonable tolerance for nicotine.

Either my senses are shot or not developed enough, but I can't distinguish HH Rustica from HH Old Dark Fired. Both nice smokes.

Strong and pungent aroma but in a good way, had to let it dry a bit before I packed in to smoke but other than that awesome all around.

It has an woody, earthy, toasted oak flavor that’s subtle and doesn’t overpower your palette. Once you get it lighted and staying lit it’s a pleasant smoke. I tend to puff vigorously when I smoke a pipe and I’m always pushing a too-hot bowl. With my style that’s not a good idea with this variety. Puffing along, enjoying, like you do with your Old Dark Fired or Amphora and suddenly you’ve overdone it and need to set the pipe down. So go slow. Relish the remarkable nuanced combo of flavor and power.

Long time cigar aficionado here. I enjoy maduros and used to live where Cubans were legal and readily available. HH Rustica packs a flavorful punch that will leave me sorry I only grabbed a few tins.

I thoroughly enjoyed this blend. I realize it will not be for everyone due to nicotine content. I enjoy the flaver and taste of this one. A real straight forward, no nonsense smoke. Hope Macbarren continues it.

Very nice, strong smooth flavor.

my all time favorite

Very rich and complex taste. Room note is very nice.

The Virginias add a hint of sweetness to this very strong flake. The rústica offers some tanginess I’ve never tasted before, which is a pleasant surprise. Smoke production and flavor are both here in abundance. Beware: this is not a blend to be smoked on an empty stomach.

I love it! Great taste and smoooth creamy thick smoke. Tastes like I think tobacco should taste. I am a burley smoker my favorites are bold Kentucky , Irish flake and old dark fired. So I was a little apprehensive about how it would taste. I rub it out and let it dry for 20 min. Yes, the nicotine hit is there but no worse than other blends I smoke.

It’s a one of a kind rustic Significant blend, like 10 year bourbon. It has an almost dusty like earthiness that’s exactly the right dryness. A rare once in a while treat best experienced on a cool quiet night where one can reflect. It’s in my top 3 of all time which says something as I have tried about 150 brands and blends. Cheers to MacBaren HH for taking the risk to craft this. Rustica is hard to find.

Bought this on a whim and glad I did. Tin note was barbecue-esque like others have said, but the smoke to me bounced between C&D's Haunted Bookshop(which I thoroughly enjoy) and a cigar. I rubbed two flakes out lengthwise into semi-ribbons and let it air out for 15min or so, made for a 2hr smoke in my cob. The rustica, burley, and Virginia played off of each other to create a wonderful flavor, each one having a chance to be in the front seat. The cooler air this evening was the final piece that really set the stage for this blend to shine. Jarred up half the tin to give to a co-worker and plan on grabbing another tin if I'm lucky.

What a wonderful tobacco, a very rich full blend that smokes o so good in a medium to large pipe. What a shame it’s one time deal

I bought two tins of this in the beginning so that my friend Tom and me could try it as we didn’t get any tins of this in at the brick and mortar pipe and tobacco shop where we work. We both tried it and fell in love with the delicious BBQ tin note and the truly old school tobacco flavors of this flake. It reminds me of how home grown tobacco used to taste when I was a kid except much smoother and refined to the point that before you know you have a lot of nicotine flowing through the sensory system and palette. There’s an every so light natural sweetness that is just enough to notice with the amazing flavor of wood smoked meat and there’s not a chance of bite yet there’s clouds of strong dense complex and flavorful smoke that evokes the sensation of relaxation. I purchased four more tins, (one for Tom three for me) but that still wasn’t enough so I ordered four more tins (another one for Tom and three for me) because four tins amount to just over $79 which qualifies me for free shipping. If you like the true flavor of tobacco I suggest stocking up on this limited edition blend. I highly recommend it to any and all pipe smokers whether just to try or to cellar. Cheers

Different in a good way. The point of piping is to try new blends and this does not disappoint in giving a unique experience. I recommend this blend as I do all of the H\H offerings. Will be purchasing more. Aging will be interesting.

I use a vaporizer, which makes my experience unusual, I’m sure. This is a great tobacco to use with a vaporizer due to its ingredients; with care, you can really enjoy it this way, but not if you haven’t vaped tobacco before. I have been mixing this in with my regular flake mix too to make it that bit more interesting. Overall the session with a lot of HH Rustica in the mix is like a fine cigar; this blend welcomes the onset of heat with a massive burst of nicotine-saturated steam owing to the phenomenal nicotine yield of the _n. rustica_. Sip gently or let the steam escape. Once desiccation is achieved, it vapes with dense clouds over 400° or so with a lot to give right up until it starts smoldering (about 10 minutes). This is probably the fanciest tobacco I’ve vaped so far, and I’m glad I was able to satisfy my curiosity about this other member of the nicotiniana family. A worthy homage.

Amazing tobacco

I have long searched for a "vacation" from my beloved Lat-forward English blends, and other than taking Sherlock Holmes advise (smoking Latakia straight) have found nothing that quite fits my objective. Until now. HH Rustica is spot one. Earthy and warm, it has both the robustness and vigor on the draw with the warm nose of earthiness of the nose of say Stokkebye 52 Proper English. There is one unique characteristic with Rustica, not sure why. Usually with slices, a good rubbing will create a fill that requires little relighting. Not so here. I've found the best results come with a slice or two cut into rough cubes and two or three slices cut in half cross-wise and rubbed out. Burn is evened out and enhances both the flavor and enjoyment. If you like a stronger blend. English or Non-aromatic, this is worth investigating. If you LIKE this blend after trying...keep in mind it is a limited run. This is on my HIGHLY Recommended chart

Thick and rich. It'll put hair on your chest. The nic content isn't as high as they imply; it's definitely the highest of the Mac Barens, but not quite as high as, say, War Horse Bar or D&R Picayune (which was my favorite chest hair grower until now). It's about the same level of strength as Haunted Bookshop, but it'll sneak up on you and make you feel a little drunk without the warning of a throat lump because it's much smoother and more graceful than any of the others in its nic class. It has the taste of a more complex blend. It does need to be dried out considerably. I'm not the type who needs to dry all my tobacco either; I usually just smoke it, but this becomes a flavor bomb if you dry it to just north of being able to hear it when you fold a flake. And I rub it out completely. If this becomes regular production, I'll definitely buy a box.