Mac Baren Amphora Full Aroma

A milder smoke with plenty of flavor and even a bit of complexity. The ribbons are evenly cut and if anything Amphora Full is more of a ready-rubbed blend than it is a ribbon cut. The pouch note is lightly sweet, a bit spicy but not at all cloying.

The bulk of the flavor is provided by the Virginias, which are on the brighter side of the spectrum, and the added fragrances which lend hints of honey, clove and a faint berry high note to the finish. The Kentucky is what I enjoy most about Amphora Full. It sits deftly in the background but gives the flavor some much needed pep as well as a subtle smoky essence.

Like other quality Danish aromatics, I taste the tobacco first with this one. The flavorings are present but only come through in the most delicate of ways. This tobacco arrives ready to smoke and requires little to no dry time. It burns evenly but can get hot and bite if smoked fast. Still, one of Mac Baren's better aromatics.

I received my 2 pouches yesterday, being distrubuted in the USA again, by Macbarren. I will spare everyone the pain of discribing the Virgin that gave birth to Virginas natural sweetness, the cavendish supplied by none other that Lord Cavindish himself, and the red, white and blue burly grown by Cheif Cheepskate Burley, next to his TeePees. And the Alchemist and his minions along with the accounting staff. After 25 years and a number of so called matches, I had given up on finding such a great smoking pleasure. I was sooo full of anticipation... breaking the seal...the note...just as I had remembered. Careful packing, a nice char, and off the the races!!!!....NOT. My pallete was engrossed with a horid taste of bitter rasberry, not even close to the Douwe Egberts formulae. Gone is the thick creamy smoke hinting of chocolate, hazelnut and orange. The tell tale scent of an Amphora smoker. After experienting with several briars, they all were in agreement. Unfortunalty this once fabulous blend is now lost to the ages as are so many others. What an old fool I am, you cant ever go home, as to speak. 20 dollars flushed and the tobac in the trash. I will say that Ive fallen into this trap before, but with less sadening results as this offering is. Wife said...WTF is that??? And how much was it? In my despair I got my all day smoke, Prince Albert. And yes im a verteran piper. Balkans, VaPers, English. 40 years of piping pleasure....untill now. Get yourself some Trout Stream and get with the program

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John Lennon was asked about a Beatles reunion....You cant reheat souffle......

I finally bought a pouch of full aroma. Quite an impressive aromatic guys, I might add. Right of the bat, it seems to be more of a broken flake than a ribbon cut. Very moist out of the pouch, with a sweet nose resembling something in between dried fall fruit (plum, dates, quince maybe'?') and dark cocoa, perhaps a little floral but very subtle. Whenever I open a tin or a pouch I hardly have any patience to dry it out, so I figure I load it in a Dr Grabow with balsa, in order to tone down the moisture. This is one of those aromatics that actually tastes the way it smells. The burley is quite up front, but very nicely balanced by the other tobaccos, being able to feel a burley smoke with just the right pinch of Kentucky, oriental and a sweet Virginia. It burns evenly all the way, and if you are careful you can smoke it without a relight if you do not tamp that often. 3/4 down the bowl ashing may be necessary, while the balsa filter towards the end gets really moist, giving the sensation of a wet straight casing draw. I tried to smoke it after 30 min drying, but for some odd reason I prefer it wet, as dry it gets a tad harsh. Overall, I am more than impressed with this blend, well above and beyond what one would expect from a pouch packaging.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a medium nicotine, well balanced aromatic with no candy like smell and rich taste, this is something I warmly recommend.

The aroma from the pouch is nice, it smells like a mélange of tobacco and fruit-liqueur filled chocolate.

For an ‘aromatic’ - actually Amphora Full Aroma is more of a crossover blend than a full blown aromatic - it is on the dry side, and it takes to fire and burns well - if a little hot - without any drying time but it still produces some moisture in the pipe. If dried for a few minutes, it smokes drier without losing any flavour. Either way it is easy to smoke the whole bowl without leaving any dottle, just a fine grey ash. And I also did not experience any tongue bite. Taste-wise it is very tasteful with a good complexity and decent sweetness. The aromatization is very congruent with the tobacco taste, a little bit of chocolate with a note of alcohol and berry fruit. I cannot discern the different tobaccos but the overall taste is nutty and I think I can taste Orientals the Orientals as well. Towards the end it gets a little bit ashy, but only a little bit.

Amphora Full Aroma is an excellent OTC blend, one of the best I’ve tried. It merits a full three-stars.

Love everything about it except it bites me badly. Had to ditch about 4 packs. I have never seen pipe tobacco cut so fine,maybe that's why it burns quick,hot and bites.If it didn't bite,I would smoke it all day.

July 2018 wow!5years since I tried it last . Happy to report that the cut is now broad and therefore it burns much better and there is no tongue bite at all. Ifind the flavour a bit wantig but it is pleasant to smoke and I'll bump up my stars to 3

I will never forget this because this is the tobacco that started my pipe smoking journey five years ago. The elegant red pack caught my eyes and I was also tempted by the good price. Every time I smoked it I felt an OK strength and not too powerful aroma, mainly berries with a slight of vanilla but only slight. It had a slow burning so I had plenty of time to fully savor it and the room smell was very nice so I was not afraid to smoke this in the presence of non-smokers. A tobacco that will always remain in my memory, a classic.

I've been using this tobacco since 1971, and the room aroma was always well received in the USAF barracks day room, and in the control tower where I worked. I do understand that it is an acquired taste, but I've tried so many others....I like Troost also, I guess I'm just a cavendish lover. I recently found a good source, http://www.direct-smokes.com/amphora-red-5-x-50g.php, and can attest to this being the authentic product, from Douwe Egbert, Van Nelle Tabak, Netherlands. It will be mailed from a town in Israel, and it does take 3-4 weeks. I've grown so fond of this smoke that a practical review is difficult, but if you are looking for a slow smoking (rough cut), heavy, full and smooth cavendish tobacco (not much burley) to become accustomed to, I highly recommend this one. Any additional flavorings or treatments of the tobacco are well hidden. I find that it is best smoked in a room or in the forest with minimal air movement. I suggest that you make it special and prepare for it. There is good reason for it being so popular.

The price is too low for the complexity of the blend. Honestly, I don't think being OTC or not determines the quality of Pipe Tobacco. I think you can't know if a product is good or bad unless you try it. i like Amphora Full Aroma as much as Virginia No. 1. compared to No. 1, there is no tongue bite, which is great. Floral, chocolatey, nutty, grassy, earthy, bitter with a quality from Tobacco... I think it's close to the "Aromatic Blend" made by G.L. Pease, which aims to be a "non-aromatic blend". Delicious!

I had waited some time until after I had finished Amphora Original to smoke this one. Along with the original this is one I smoked back in the late nineties. I will not even pretend to remember what it was like so long ago other than the fact I liked it. I was fairly a newbie back then. Some time after, not sure when but it disappeared from the market. I may be completely off base but I believe it had to do with import tobacco tax increases but who knows for sure. I really do like the packaging, looks classy and upon opening was greeted with a wonderful scented pouch note of fruit and floral fragrances. I will leave it to the experts to dissect the individual casing/toppings on this one. It smokes cool, clean with a mild aromatic taste. Due to its mildness, the full aroma obviously must be the room note or so I read somewhere. I had purchased an Amphora-Holland Bulldog X-tra-722 pipe from an antique store up in Ramona, CA for the princely price of ten dollars and sanitized it, (Everclear Salt Bath), cleaned it up though actually this one was in really great condition. Needless to say, this is my Amphora smoking blend pipe. I really like this and yes, the extra star may be nostalgia but if you like Dutch Cav Aros give this one a try. It does not taste overly flavored. When this is gone, I will go to the Black Cav and see what that is like and who knows I may buy one of each of all the others also.