Upon opening the tin, the aroma is pleasant. But the smell should not be so heavily judged, as pipe tobacco is to be smoked....not snorted or huffed! I really like this blend as I am not a huge fan of strong English blends or strong latakias. This blend is how I like my coffee to taste. Just the right amount of cream, sweetness and flavor without being bitter.

Black Ambrosia is what it is-a heavily cased aromatic. The tin aroma is fantastic and the room note is among the best there is-dare I say better than Captain Black White!

The casing seems to be quite different than what is predominately used in American Aromatics. It did not burn overly wet or goopy and produced a consistent, mildly sweet with a slight Virginia tangy smoking experience.

The tin (which combines a rubber gasket and screw type lid) kept the tobacco quite moist for an extended period. I wish others would adopt this type of tin, as it would save having to put tobacco's not smoked every day in jars.

One significant difference seems to be that this tobacco is made entirely from Virginia, rather than being blended with Burley. Suits my tastes and the colder weather we have here in Newfoundland quite a lot more than many other aromatics.

My feeling is that this is a great tobacco for someone new to pipe smoking who wants something mild, but not so mild that he has to burn his tongue to get flavour. Blending it may also be a fairly non-offensive way to improve the room note of a heavy latakia blend so as to win favour with the wife without ruining your own smoking experience.

It won't be a regular in my rotation, simply because I'm more a smoker of English Mixtures and Virginia Flakes-but I may pick up a tin or two sometime in future for when I crave a change of pace!

The MacBaren website is fantastic and their rating system (while not entirely in tune with my tastes) is a good shopping tool.

The appearance in the pouch is identical to McLintocks Black Cherry sans the cherry.

It's a bit moist so takes a bit of time to get lit. Little bite, but then I smoke this in a 9mm filter pipe. Attractive room note so probably good for smoking in company.

It's one of those "why bother" blends. The exciting taste that Mac Baren states you will be thrilled by never really comes.

Just plain blah when smoking and then a stale aftertaste.

Blah......this is about as bland and tasteless a tobacco as you'd ever try to smoke.

A very weak entry from the Mac Baren stable. No wonder the tin layed around unfinished.

I'm awarding it an extra half star because it's the first time a Mac Baren aromatic didn't bite me. Will miracles never cease?

* 1/2

I will finish the pouch and not bother with it again... Nothing particularly objectionable; simultaneously nothing special.

I preferred this way back when I first tried it. Back then it was sort of Mac's version a tangy, dark stoved virginia, sweetend danish style. It was rather intnsely sweet, with intense tangy fig overtones and in the flavor, but not that goopy. This had huge flavor in comparisen to it's mild strength. I was looking to get back to smoke this, attack of the sweet tooth. Oh yeah, the belnd was a little different in that it had a smidgen of burley ribbon instead of the current bright, which I thought did not bring anything to the blend, but did not harm it either. Off to find something else.

Not Recommended

Plus: pastry like tin aroma, highly complimented room note is the same, taste is sweet & pastry like - exactly like tin aroma, strength & flavor are balanced

Delta: absence of real tobacco taste, too sweet for a subtle aromatic lover

I bought a nice Grabow (oxymoron?) to try this blend in...primarily so I would not contaminate by high grades that are dedicated to more sophisticated blends...and to be able to taste just the Black Ambrosia without the flavors of blends gone by.

Upon opening the tin I noticed the smell is similar to Captain Black (white pouch). It is probably the stickiest (most heavily cased?) blend I have tried. The moisture content is less than most of Mac Baren's blends being an almost dry tobacco. Most of the leaves are black and sticky with a few light brown leaves accenting the tin.

According to the description on the tin, this is a VA and Burley blend but all I can taste (I am smoking some as I write this) is the casing. The flavor is sweet but not overpowering like Skandinavik's Vanilla Cavendish. When first puffed the smoke is dry, cool and sweet. The finish (aftertaste) leaves a slight salty sensation but no corruption of the palate (see Skandinavik's Vanilla for that except replace sour for salt). I can also tell you from my unpleasant experience that this blend does NOT go well with the hazelnut coffee I am drinking while I write this, so let my misfortune be to your benefit!

This tobacco burns cooler than most of the other MB blends however it seems to burn a lot faster which could be the toasted burley that is the obvious dominant leaf in this blend.

So if you like a sweet aromatic, just want something that will smell nice, want something to switch off to, or are just starting out, this is a fine blend. If you like straight tobacco taste then avoid this one.

I generally prefer very lightly flavored aromatics, or tobaccos with no casing at all. BA is just the opposite -- I could hardly detect the tobacco flavor from under the sickly sweet aftertaste. The taste is hard for me to pin down -- the MB website says its a mocha flavour, but it doesn't seem that way to me. It's actually more like a caramel flavor or something along those lines.

Like most MB tobaccos, it's slightly too moist in the pouch, so at first it won't burn well and starts gargling. I haven't investigated any methods that might potentially cure this problem and I doubt that I will.

Black Ambrosia is not necessary a bad tobacco, it's just not to my taste. If you have a sweet tooth and enjoy heavily flavored aromatics, give this one a try.