Imperial Tobacco Group, PLC - Amphora Brown Regular pipe tobacco reviews

Review

Please log in to add or edit a review. If you do not have an account yet, you can sign up for one here.

Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 37 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >
JimInks	02/04/2013	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant
This is basically the same review as the one I posted on the other Amphora Brown entry. I don't know why it's listed twice here because they are the same blend. I used to smoke it in the 1970s and in the past couple of years, I managed to get quite a bit of it to smoke again. I still like it and here's my repost. My favorite of the three Amphora blends I have tried. The cocoa/chocolate taste is nice, not overwhelming, and I'd say less so than the description posted. Not much nuttiness from the burley, but I don't mind. I've seen a review elsewhere that claimed there was a slight mint taste here, but I never noticed it. The cavendish taste is very slight, but adds a sweet note to the Kentucky and Virginia components. It's sort of complex in a very subtle way, but not as much as many other mixtures. It doesn't matter. This burns nicely, tastes great, and leaves a nice aftertaste. An all day smoke that is very easy on your senses. A very consistent smoke from pouch to pouch. I just wish I could get it more easily in the U.S.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
albfneto	05/16/2012	Very Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant
Is almost tasteless, not so strong. For me is Flat,but is a good quality product. Agreable for novices in pipe smoking.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
IanTimothy	06/20/2011	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
My brother gave me a pouch of this after his last visit to Holland..It reminds me of a strong but very high quality cigarette tobacco..I would not buy it but I will finish the pouch..Its a steady burner..the flavour as I have already said remind me of cigarettes.. I cannot say I dislike it..but it does not have the sweetness I like..as I have said in my other reviews I am a real fan of FVF ..as such I tend to judge other tobacco's from that "marker' it burns steadily and not hot ..and it does not change its flavour if you have to relight it mid pipe ..Nothing more to say about this weed..only to thank my brother for buying it for me
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Arkie	01/21/2011	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
As far as I know, this blend is no longer available in the U.S. The last time I had a pouch of it, it was still blended by D & E. It tasted very similar to the current Skandivic Full Aroma. It didn't have any negative aspects except, to my taste, it was a bit bland. It was certainly better than most of the common "drug store" brands.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Claudius Stradivarius	07/24/2010	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Medium	Tolerable
The original manufacturer's mixture was excellent. This was pure tobacco at its best. Imperial Tobacco has changed the recipe for the worse. This is not what it used to be.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Old Northern Smoky	02/25/2010	Mild to Medium	Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Another Van Nelle-licensed product. Years ago when I first started pipe smoking this was my regular brand, but the blend has changed somewhat since those days when it was a true D&E product. Available in the 50 gram pouch and 200 gram "can" in Canada. I recall the D&E pouch aroma was very earthy.....now I detect what smells to me like a light rum topping, though nothing but tobacco in the room note. Carefully packed because it is rather coarse, it lights and smokes well in a small bore as long as you keep it tamped, with just one match. The first half bowl smokes dry and smooth, but its character gets a bit aggressive on the tongue and back of throat in the last half. Best to puff on this slowly and lightly. Smoking this on its own is something I seldom did way back when, and something I seldom do today.....even less so with this modified baccy. While I always keep this blend on hand, I use it to add some burley body to my black and gold cavendish blends. Smokes nicely mixed 25/75 with Captain Black Royal...which takes the nip out of both but gives a nice mellow smoke and a pleasant, but less intense room note as a bonus. A D&E Original Blend, its not, so if you're expecting to relive the Amphora brown experience of yesteryear, forget it! But if you want a rather mellow smoke for at least the first half bowl, or want to add some burley body to another blend go ahead and give it a go.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Skando	01/17/2010	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
I have smoked Amphora OB (formerly Regular) a certain number of times in my long smoking life, never for itself but just because it is one of the few blends available in Italy - together with Italia and, in a smaller measure, Skandinavik Regular - good for house blending. The mixture Dunhill 965 + Amphora Regular (50/50) was a true classic back in the seventies, just as Sobranie Original Mixture + Italia (50/50) was too. Both good ways to reduce the considerable cost of smoking the expensive english mixtures of the time. OB smoked alone belongs to the family of the regular/continental blends based on the triad VaBKy with occasional presence of Orientals (whose quality and origin who knows ?) or so-called Tropicals (Java, Paraguay or african weeds): a very balanced pout-pourry of many weeds, Burley being the main component. Very good to start new pipes because the non-characterization of the blend. The smoke: not bad. A mild-to-medium strength mix of thin ribbon and ready rubbed, nutty/earthy with initial faint floreal notes, and some pleasant sourish effects to the tongue. Occasionally salty and piquant. To the nostril only tobacco aroma, I frankly don't detect any flavouring, not even the chocolatey one the pouch notes speak of. The body develops from refreshing to stouter, and sometimes makes me think of the current Three Nuns Original, just in milder way. The burning behaviour is very much good. Seems to me that OB benefits from larger bores. A nice surprise indeed. OB is something no pipster should miss to taste in his life, and one of the best OTC blends available worldwide.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Boswell	08/19/2009	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I picked up a pouch of this on holiday in Italy recently -- it doesn't seem to be available here in the UK. It's a pleasant tobacco, milder than, say, St Bruno; burns slowly; doesn't seem to bite; has nice nutty flavour with just a hint of topping. A relaxing smoke.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Ghost1974	08/13/2009	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Good times! This was the first blend I ever tried, I bought it the same day I bought my first pipe. I had no clue. I bought the pipe because I liked how it looked and it was cheap, and I bought Amphora Regular because the guy at the counter asked me if I wanted to pick up some tobacco and I blurted out "Amphora" since I remembered an old commercial for it, and "Regular" since it was the first pouch I spotted behind the counter. The taste is mild, and it burns relatively well. Thankfully I enjoyed it enough to stick with the pipe, it really led me to explore the hobby deeper. I will eternally be grateful to Amphora for it...but you still only get two stars! Worth a try.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Alguhan	08/06/2009	Mild	Mild	Mild	Tolerable
It's an old friend Like Amphora Full Aroma. It's better than smoking candy sweet stuffs when you are not able to find something else. Or maybe it would be interesting to smoke a bowl of this in the memory of old days. Fortunately I have possibilities to smoke better tobaccos.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Steden	07/28/2009	Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Abstract: This review is based on the mixture called Original Blend. On the envelope are shown as components Burley, Cavendish and Orientals. As I said in my review about Park Lane N.7 by comparing the two tobaccos, AOB has a certain elegance, but lacks depth. The aroma and flavor is slightly nutty and chocolate, may remind the Gianduja. Nothing unpleasant, but the taste is as exciting as a harpsichord concert! This tobacco is often used in "home mixtures" as stabilizing strength and aromas. Excellent for "breaking" of a new pipe.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
suicune	03/08/2009	Mild	Extremely Mild	Medium	Very Pleasant
This, along with Full Aroma, is the best version of Amphora. It is cheap and easily found, so you don't have to search far and wide to find this (at least here, in Romania). The cut is almost like the Full Aroma, and the lenght of the tobacco makes it a little hard to fill a pipe, but not too hard. I couldn't detect any aroma in it, so I will put it more in the category of natural tobacco, with no chemicals in it. It isn't strong, so it is an excellent choice for beginners. But be warned, you need a lot of patience to smoke this one to the bottom, especially if you have a large bowl pipe. For me, it took one and a half hour to smoke it. It doesn't bite the tongue and it burns very dry, even though the tobacco is a little wet in the pouch. The room smell it is almost identical to Full Aroma. It is a good tobacco and recommended for every smoker. You can try this and I guarantee that it is not a waste of money.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Dubinthedam	03/02/2009	Mild to Medium	Medium	Medium	Very Pleasant
Pleasantly surprised with this one (called Original Blend here) given to me by a newbie who didn't much care for it. Very nice gentle casing on this one, fruity and floral. But quite subtle with a good natural baccy taste. Only a hint of chemical taste. The burley is well used in the blend, popping up now and then. Less bite than a MacB, even cheaper here in Holland than MacB (it is a Dutch baccy, although I suspect made in Denmark these days). One of the more natural tasting packets I've had for a while.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
strongirish	01/13/2009	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Very Pleasant
I smoked this for years and am still looking for a replacement. If anyone ever finds one, please, please contact me as I would love to try it. This is an almost natural tobacco and a mix of Burley and Virginias in a thin cavendish cut that stays lit easily and can be smoked all day long. It has a great room note that noone, I mean noone ever complained about. It has a sweet nutty taste and a good n hit. Unfortunately they no longer import into the US! Don't you hate it when your all day blend cannot be had anymore? Cakes the bowl well and burns down to a powdery grey ash. Great stuff!
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
smokerings86	09/04/2008	Very Mild	Very Mild	Very Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Upon opening the pouch the smell was not exactly aromatic, more pungent like inexpensive cigars. The tobacco on the dry side but packed well. The burn was even and burn through with one tamping and re-light. A little tongue bite, I attribute to the dryness it burned quick and hot. Flavours were mellow notes of nutmeg and vanilla with some bitterness near the end. I may abandon the last 40g because its now has the moisture level of shredded news print and the taste following quickly. I imagine this is more a problem with freshness, I bought the pouch at a corner store in a pinch. I would try another pouch if I knew it was fresh and stored well.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Sasquatch	05/23/2008	Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
I don't quite think that this is 4 star tobacco, but it is definitely worth a try. Like Casper, I am smoking the "Canadian" version, pouch saying Amphora Original, and coming apparently out of the Netherlands. cut is rough shag, fairly fine, with a bit of very fine mixed throughout. Lighting and keeping lit couldn't be easier, and you can really puff on this without it biting, or even heating up the pipe much - a very good choice for a beginner. Smooth and rich, just a little spice, but not much. I kind of wonder if just a little chocolate flavoring is added. Very good with a cup of tea for sure. Or even a root beer. Undemanding tobacco and a classic. It's too bad the Imperial Tobacco version seems to be a dud.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Casper	04/14/2008	Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Medium to Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
First off, the brown "regular" pouch in Canada and Holland is sold as "Original Blend". It is also described on the pouch as, "A well-rounded blend, emphasising the chocolately flavour of burly tobacco". When I first tried this a year ago I found it bland- strike that- tasteless! A recent return trip to Holland changed my mind though. I decided to try it again as another reviewer here mentioned the Dutch version to be better. He was right. Wonderful creamy/chocolatey aroma and flavour. Easily lit, no tongue bite regardless of puffing rhythm and just a wonderful tobacco to enjoy with a cup of Dutch coffee. On my return home I decided to try the "Canadian" version and found it to be just as satisfying and an equally good partner to a cup of Earl Grey. A comparison tobacco would be Mac Baren's London Blend Burly which, in contrast to everyones glowing review, I find to be a distant second. Perhaps the blend has changed or perhaps I have - regardless it has become a personal favourite. addendum 2007: still the tobacco I smoke every morning - see pipe master Rolando Negoita's brief bio on the web and please reconsider - truly a wonderful smoke with a regular Timmy's eh! addendum 2008: I smoke a lot of different blends....I still think this is a quality tobacco and have introduced it to several pipers who never would have tried it, (and they liked it). I've yet to find a "dry" pouch in the, (dare I say), several hundred I've purchased. This is a "diamond in the rough" tobacco believe me.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Russell	02/26/2007	Extremely Mild	None detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Pleasant
This is also sold under the name skandinavik. I picked up a pouch recently to see what the local hype was about. Being a drug store tobacco I had my doubts about it being good confirmed. It's not that bad, but it's not great either. The taste is pretty bland, no detectable nicotine, but it smells ok. It came bone dry in the pouch, so I had to add a quarter teaspoon of water and let it work it's way through the chopped up flake. It looses all of what little flavor it had to begin with about 4 days after being opened. Might be a good choice if you can't find anything else, and it doesn't contain any humidification chemicals I could detect, so I'll give it two stars. Update I have to downgrade this a star. After being open a couple weeks it looses what little flavor it had to begin with, and it has no detectable nicotine unless you smoke a couple bowls back to back as fast as you can- tongue blisters included.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Ducksbreath	11/15/2006	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild	Tolerable
Extremely bitter and tasteless with a suprising dose of nicotine, like a cigarette. I can't believe the old stuff was like this, but I don't remember. The full aroma version masks this bitterness and is one star better, but I can't believe this is the same as the tobacco that used to be so popular, which when available I never really tried.
Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
giturra	10/25/2006	Very Mild	None detected	Very Mild	Tolerable
This is a very mediocre tobacco, dull, monotone, flavorless, I think it might br used to tone down or mix up other tobaccos with it. otherwise, pass it by,not even for begginers ,I think you're better off with Captain black if you are a begginer. Not disgusting, but I'm not buying any of this stuff ever again.
Showing reviews 1 through 20 of 37 reviews of this tobacco NEXT >