Mac Baren Amphora Vintage Malt Whiskey

The Virginia is a little grassy, and the burley and Kentucky are a little toasty nutty with a touch of earth. Can't say I really noticed much of the cavendish, though I thought maybe I did here and there. The whisky is a little sweet and sour, and didn't do a whole lot for me. You don't notice the tobacco flavor that much in the beginning, but after the half way point, it becomes more obvious as the topping flashes off a bit. I found it better after I hydrated it since it was very dry when I opened the pouch. Burns fairly well and cool, with few relights. The after taste is mediocre.

-JimInks

I recently received several tins and pouches of some 15-20 year old Amphora blends including two Vintage Malt Whiskey 1-3/4 ounce pouches that were still sealed. The tobacco was super dry and the casing (12 year old Malt Whiskey mist, I suspect), was long-gone. I didn't bother to rehumidify the contents; I just pulled some out and loaded up an old briar reserved for aromatics. I did get an aromatic blast of something along with a tobacco taste that I found to be mild and somewhat bittersweet. I smoked slowly and did manage to finish the entire bowl. It burned fast.

My sample of Amphora Malt Whisky (the pouch is actually labeled Amphora Special Reserve Malt Whisky) came from a friend's stash. He smokes no more than about 3 bowls a year and the tobacco in the pouch was dry as the desert. If I'd bought it fresh off the shelf, it probably would have been equally dry. When I smoked Amphora blends years ago in Canada, moisture levels were variable. Sometimes good, sometimes bone dry.

The tobacco is a fine, rough cut mix of beige and brown with a few flecks of black. It's easy to pack and, as others have mentioned, it burns quickly. The aroma in the pouch is mild—a lightly boozy whisky aroma dominated by a subtle vanilla note. In the pipe, it burns a little hot, but it is not as steamy as lots of other flavored tobaccos. The flavoring is very mild and when I smoke this while working, it's pretty easy to forget I'm smoking an aromatic. There is a subtle vanilla quality that creeps through the smoke, but beyond that, this tastes like little more than a mild Burley-Virginia mix.

This tobacco will do in a pinch, I suppose. It's pleasant, innocuous. But it's also a little boring.

Upon opening the pouch, you can immediately see some interesting things: the tobacco is rather dry (as seems rather common to pouches, a reason why I prefer tins) and roughly cut. The aroma which comes from it is rather good, though the natural tobacco smell is overwhelmed by the sweet note of the whisky.

Packing is rather easy, and lighting too: this tobacco requires very few relightings. On a sad note, the smoke sometimes tends to be rather warm: probably due to the fast burning dry mixture.

At the beginning of the bowl, the aroma is very pleasant (if you like aromatics, of course). It is also very light and sweet to non-smokers who should be around you. Biggest fault is that it can be slightly irritating and stingy to the smoker's nose, in spite of the rather round and sweet taste. At the end of the bowl, the whisky aroma is almost over, and you remain with the natural taste of tobacco: sadly, it isn't a mixture that without the added aroma could be considered more than average...

As a whole, a pleasant and cheap tobacco, but lacking real distinction and class.

Amphora can do much better than this Vintange Malt Whiskey. This tobacco is bland, it bites and it is completely uninteresting. There are much better whiskey flavoured tobaccos on the market.

Hum, definitively kind of bland.

Light coloured tobaccos with a small presence of darker leaf.

Nice pouch aroma, but way too mild and lacking nicotine...

A good tobacco, in the long Amphora tradition, but the strong casing is finally boring. I've found this tobacco gives its best when mixed with Amphora Rich Aroma (the green pouch, strongly floral and chocolate casing) because they smoothen each other and the mixing of the flavours turns out to be a good (and cheap, which helps) aromatic.