McClelland - Bulk a.m. Pipe pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 16 of 16 reviews of this tobacco
Passion	05/16/2013	Mild to Medium	None detected	Full	Tolerable
This is a nice bulk blend. Light and sweet enough for an all day smoke in my opinion. The orientals and latakia play nice together. I have not had EMP in a long time, so cannot do a fair comparison. Although EMP didn't leave me wanting to purchase more. And AMPipe has ended up in my cellar instead. Enough said.
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barneco	01/10/2012	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
As a newbie, this was my first foray into English blends. WOW, I'm a convert! I was skeptical at first. The pouch aroma is obnoxiously pungent. Very organic and peaty, which is as close as I can come to describing it. (Perhaps this is the latakia, but my palate is not yet educated enough to identify it exactly). Not at all pleasing. However, upon lighting it, its a different animal. The smoke produced is a pleasant light-to-medium, but there is a very present creaminess that gives it an appreciable body. Very nice. VERY slight sweetness, almost undetectable, but works great with the creaminess. The peaty component is completely tamed and harnessed by the creamy body into a nice organic, earthy note and balances perfectly with the creamy sweet notes, almost like a well-made espresso with perfectly steamed milk where the milk's sweetness tames the espresso bite but not enough to disturb the fruity overtones of the coffee. The burn is great(coming from aros). This was the first bowl that I've smoked to ashes, and with minimal relights to boot. On top of that its available at my local shop for a great price. In sum, all I can say is that if other English blends are anywhere near this good, future aros better step up if they wanna make it into my bowl!
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imago	09/11/2011	Mild	Very Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Although I have not sampled the latest incarnation of EMP, I can say that McClelland's Bulk AM Pipe is very reminiscent of the EMP I used to enjoy. One of EMP's hallmarks, in my opinion, was a dry earthiness that AM Pipe does not have. Instead, McClelland's offering tends to be a bit sweeter and, dare I say it, smoother. Then again, I have tried enough facsimile tobaccos, blended in order to replace the great master blends of yesteryear, usually with disappointing results. I think I approached AM Pipe with more of an open mind and with no hopes that it would be an exact duplicate of the EMP I used to count as a favourite. I recommend AM Pipe to anyone who enjoys the milder English mixtures. It stands quite well on its own merits.
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Coyote	02/21/2011	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant
This is one of my 'go-to' pipe tobaccos. The VA is quite nice, not super sweet but full of flavor. Now...the Latakia is just right...it seems to me to add a certain sweetness to the flavor. The Oriental in this is subdued, not the spicy-hotness of Early Morning Pipe but like a very slight sprinkle of Tabasco or even better Texas Pete's hot sauce, very slight, just tasty. This is a mild tobacco and that's one of the reasons I like it so much. Great in the morning, nice at noon and always good in the early evening. Why do I say the Latakia is sweet? I enjoy smelling my pipe tobacco as I smoke it and when I smell this after a nice puff...the Latakia comes across with just a hint of sweetness...not like a sweet-tea but more like the hint of sweetness when you add some lemon to your tea or iced tea, just that little hint of a taste of sweet.
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hawky454	02/02/2011	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Very Pleasant
McClelleand's A.M. Pipe is still a darn good blend in my opinion and if only they would change the name and let go of that "clone blend" status, I think more and more people would realize that. They should call it Morning Stroll??? I don't know, I just hope they don't stop producing it because EMP is now on the market in the states. Don't try this blend with comparisons in mind, try it for what it is. In my opinion, this is one of the better bulk selections that McClelland has to offer.
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sirchud68	01/20/2011	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant to Tolerable
Being as I am still quite the heavy cigarette smoker,this one is going to be a little hard for me to judge. I will throw in my two cents anyhow, as I'm sure I am not the only pipe smoker who still wastes his/her money/health on cigarettes. First off, I haven't the pleasure of smoking Dunhill's EMP, so I'm just judging this blend on it's own. Secondly, I usually have a cigarette or two (shamefully) by the time I get moving and reach for my pipe. A habit I'm trying to break. AMP is a quality smoke, with a nice room note that isn't offensive as Englishes go. I think a little more strength wouldn't kill me, yet I understand the point of the blend is to be "light". The smoke is nice enough, if not a little bland. I will experiment with this tobacco throughout the day as a mild English until I drop the morning cigarette habit and try it for what it was blended for. It is worth a try (as all McClelland blends are, IMO) but I am not sure if I will include AMP into my rotation, as of yet.
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PIE-EYED-PIPER	11/30/2010	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I'm a firm believer that taste is subjective. I wanted to compare this with Dunhill’s EMP to see which one is better. I was told to try this as a prelude to the EMP. I was able to get a hold of a couple of ounces as a "test" sample from a local smoke shop here in Villa Park. The sample was a little dry for my taste (although I was told by others it was just right). However, it burned and smoked well. I can only speculate that with the proper condition, it would have been an even better smoke. The flavor was very mild and left a somewhat bland English taste. I guess this would make it a good "first pipe" of the day. At the risk of sounding bias, being a full-bodied cigar smoker, I tend to crave for a stronger smoke when it comes to my pipe tobacco. After opening a "new" tin of EMP recently obtained from Iwan Ries, I compared one over the other; it is safe to say that AMP is not equal to EMP. It was like comparing apples to oranges. We've all heard of the saying that goes, "copied but never equaled" (or something to that effect). Well, this was the case - only Dunhill can be a Dunhill. Which is better? Let me put it this way, they're both similar AND different at the same time. They both use the same tobacco, with the exception of Latakia in AMP. The EMP has a richer darker tobacco color than the AMP. But then, it may have been due to the fact that the AMP was a little bit drier. I also found that the EMP has a richer flavor than the AMP. AMP on its own is not really a bad tobacco. A little too mild on the palate but overall will make a good everyday smoke. I am giving this the benefit of a doubt and give it 2 out of 4 stars (for now).
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DeadMensPipes	07/09/2010	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
Not recommended. And it is definitely not an alternative for EMP. Not even close.
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Big bad Jon	07/04/2010	Very Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild	Tolerable
I will confess that I am a HUGE EMP fan, so my review of this blend may be a bit biased. I think on its own merits AMP is a good blend, however it is not EMP! The cut is wrong and its moisture content is a bit high. It does not have the same earthy quality and certainly has double the Latakia. The blend seems to have a bit less strength as well. I will probably cellar a pound or so of this blend to see if it gets better with age, however at this time I see no reason to add it to my rotation.
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gildervoigts	02/23/2010	Mild	Mild	Mild	Pleasant
I've not smoked EMP so I am not able to provide any comparison, but on it's own AMP is really good. I am a big fan of McClelland blends, ketchup smell (which this one does not have) and all, so this may be biased. This blend ranks high on my charts. It packs well, smokes cool, and is just the flavor that I like - a little sweet, a little nutty, and finishes off a little spicy. For me most blends that I have smoked with Latakia and Va's in them have a somewhat caramel/vanilla flavor when they are mixed together. This tobacco has that same taste to me, and I like it a lot. It's flavors are really drawn out nicely with a cup of coffee. I smoke this blend all day and enjoy every pipe full. I receive complements all the time about how good this smells, so one thumbs up for smoking around the crowd factor.
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SteelCowboy	01/13/2010	Mild to Medium	Very Mild	Medium	Tolerable
Sadly, as I am nearing the last of my remaining tins of EMP, I felt compelled to give McClelland's match blend a try. I smoked each side by side and I find that there are some similarities but I think of AMP as more of a tribute blend. With that said, AMP is a very good blend that can stand on its own merits. It smokes a bit sweeter and fuller than EMP. I find the flavor a little less on the oriental side with the Virginia's playing more of a role. I have smoked about a half pound of AMP and it's worth a spot in my rotation. It will be interesting to see how this fares after a couple of years in my cellar. Recommended.
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wdsmith	12/21/2009	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is the only "English" blend from an American blender that I care to smoke. I feel that most of our US blenders try to do too much with a blend and thus either have too many different attacks to the senses or wind up with something completely flat. Having said that, I've been smoking this for about 4-5 months now. Great first smoke of the day. While it does not compare to the long gone Dunhill blend, I do not believe that it is an attempt at a copy, and, it does stand on its own merits. Whereas EMP gets the palate started with some very fine orientals, AMP hits you with a nice Virginia/Latakia combination but without the overdose of the Latakia (which is an oriental, I suppose, and could be the reference made in the blend note). The play between the sweet VA's and the smokey Latakia is very engaging, alternating ever so slightly throughout the bowl. Thus, to me, it does a fine job of "arousing the palate". Packs easily, lights and burns very well. Light grey ashe at the end with very little, if any, dottle. Very nice light English blend that can serve as an all day smoke.
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Fly ticky	11/24/2009	Mild	Extremely Mild	Full	Pleasant to Tolerable
Good evening Gentalmen,you will find this to be a very good smoke.Very tasty and pleasant,does not bite.It is not as good as dunhill standard mix medium,but it does come close and i will say it is a viable replacement for a tobacco that is not around any more.So my opinion is give it a try.It does burn well and taste is even from top to bottom,of course the first few puffs are the very best but rest of the bowl will not dissapoint.As far as being overly sweet I don't think so of course my main smoke is virgian tobacco so I may not detect that.I only smoke english once or twice a week it makes my sinus hurt. But this my change that yes tis that good. Well good day gents.
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stanwell30	09/28/2009	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild	Pleasant
On its own merits, this blend is...OK. Nothing special. But as a replacement for EMP, it falls well short. The dominant characteristic for me has been sweetness in the 3 or 4 bowls I've tried, and that's not at all what I'm looking for in a morning smoke. It makes the mouthfeel heavier, and less inviting at that time of day. EMP has a light earthy-nutty character that is either missing altogether, or masked by the sweetness here.
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quantumboy	09/11/2009	Mild to Medium	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
This is really tasty stuff. I haven't tasted EMP so I can't compare them, but it fills the bill - a mild blend that is complex enough to keep you interested and mild enough to smoke any time, anywhere. Certainly a regular in my rotation whenever I want a mild, reliable smoke.
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Tudval	04/14/2009	Mild	Extremely Mild	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
I only smoked a couple of bowls of this, so I won't write an in- depth review at this time. I bought this since it was billed as a replacement for Dunhill's EMP. I can say there is a resemblance, but it seems slightly sweeter and less earthy in flavor (which is something I liked most in EMP). Even though it's not an exact replica of the EMP, I feel this is a high quality natural english blend, delivering plenty of taste and aroma that justify its higher price (compared to other bulk tobaccos).
Showing reviews 1 through 16 of 16 reviews of this tobacco