Mac Baren Amphora Full Aroma

So, as you do, I took advantage of duty free allowance on my recent holiday and found a real bargain on the shelves of a tobacco and liquor store in Lanzarote. Amphora Red for a mere £4.50 per 50gm pouch. I last tried this blend when I was about 20 years old a scant 41 years ago. It was made in Holland back then and is now produced by MacBaren in Denmark. I am very happy to report that it is as I remember it. Upon opening the pouch, I was met by what I would describe as a very pleasant aroma that takes me back to my childhood, when sweets and tobacco were sold side by side in every b&m and the subtle mix of chocolate and fruit made for a truely hypnotic experience. The tobacco was slightly dry, but I rehumidified it a little and it is now at perfect moisture. The cut is an exemplary Dutch Cavendish and after a very slight rub, was easy to fill, using the palm swirl method and topping off with some kindling of finer bits. This is a combination of fine leaf including Virginia, Burley, Oriental and Dark Fired. Each plays a part in the pleasure that is found on lighting up. Unusually for an aromatic, flavour and room note are as expected from the pouch note. Sweet and savory and full of character. I am not normally seduced by the dubious delights of Aromatics but this is no OTC drugstore blend. No gloopy mess in this mix, and no tongue bite, but instead a wonderful flavour that follows all the way down the bowl to fine ash and no dottle. I paired it with a cup of Earl Grey with Vanilla and the combination really works well. Fair play to MacBaren for re-creating the Recipe faithfully, which isn't always the case. A solid 4 star performance and a very happy customer.

Addendum :- I needn't have bothered re-hydrating the tobacco, as I have subsequently found it to smoke better on the dry side. (Less tendency to bite).

New pipe smoker of 3 months and have been on a bit of a tobacco buying splurge trying to find a tobacco I like and to be honest, I’ve been having a hard time of it. I do like Captain Black original and thought I’d just settle with it while I learn more but I went to buy more CB and for some reason I asked the lady who served me, what’s the most popular tobacco you sell. She quickly said Amphora Absolute ( that’s what it’s called here in Canada) anyway I bought a pouch took it home and lite up a bowl. I was expecting that I wasted more cash on a terrible tasting tobacco but to my surprise, I really liked it a lot. I would recommend this to another new smoker. I hope this review helps.

En bolsa una vez abierto, un olor achocolatado, herbaceo, levemente floral. agradable. No es un olor pegajoso empalagoso, que tapa todo el olor real del tabaco. Y esto me dió la tranquilidad de que seria un tabaco decente y se podria fumar toda la bolsa sin problemas. No se si se puede describir como un leve aroma floral, pero tengo esa sensacion. Me recuerda un poco a Condor y St. Bruno, pero mas suave. En cualquier caso, me gusta. Lo fumé con un leve toque de humedad, pero poco. Ya que no me gusta el tabaco seco o crujiente. Quema muy bien, apenas necesita encendidos. Suelo fumar aromaticos en pipas grandes, en este caso en una MM General. Ya que me gustan las fumadas lentas, muy lentas y tranquilas para poder degustar al maximo los matices. Y mas que quemarlo, sacarle los aceites en una coccion lenta de fumar el tabaco. Deja poca humedad en el fondo. Aunque siempre me preocupo de que mi pipa este bien seca, que es algo que determina una fumada satisfactoria. Es mas suave que Condor o St. Bruno, pero definitivamente me gusta esta mezcla. Equilibrada y placentera. Otro tabaco que compraré en grandes cantidades, sin duda. Lo recomiendo.

This is kind of like Scottish mixture with some ribbon and some broken flakes. Pretty dense blend. Perfect moisture to pack and light right away.

To me, this blend is somewhere between a Gawith Hoggarth DF flake (Kendal/bosun/#7) and a traditional Mac Baren VA/Bur mixture (such as golden extra & symphony).There's some really nice floral notes that aren't too far away from the "gawith essence", some chocolate, and just enough dark fired to notice. I also pick up some almond notes and a bit of stewed & sour fruitiness. Not much strength. Doesn't bite, and behaves well.

Overall I found this to be a very tasty, high quality blend. This is very close to qualifying as an all-day smoke, however I find it a little dull after the second or third bowl in a row. Satisfies my "dark-fired Lakeland" cravings, but with all the great charm of a typical mac-baren blend.

I got to try Douwe Egbert unopened 7 oz of this!A right on Requote review Full aromatic Red tin!A full flavored aromatic packed with burley,kentucky,oriental and virginia tobaccos and producing a rich fruity aroma.This was a favorite of the late actor William Conrad. Great find good to experience this vintage blend!

Loved all the Amphora blends back when they were plentiful. Was luck to find this online. Is produced by MacBarrens which is my favorite producer. This arrived with just the right moisture, and could taste the tobacco through the mild casing. Would be a great smoke any time of the day. No bite; and left the pipe clean. Would highly recommed

An aromatic beautifully done.Many years have passed since the early 1970s but takes me back to those early days of piping.Amphora ‘Red’ just as I recall it.Recently had a number of pouches of the MacBarens Full Aroma.Glad I did. Some say a good OTC blend but for this smoker a tad more upmarket for that description.Excellently presented on opening but personally I decant and rub it further then replace.Just personal preference,no real need to.Packed into my larger sized bowl pipes not too tightly lights very easily with no fuss.Minimum relights along the way.To this palate I detect a deep chocalatey taste which lasts from top to bottom of the bowl.Very rich satisfying smoke indeed.No gurgle ,smokes cool,no bite,good thick smoke leaves very little fine ash.No overpowering aromatic Room note.Leaves me happy plus folk around me.This blending house has done a fine job with this blend.One of my favourites.Get some.

Since yesterday I've managed to smoke several bowls of Amphora Full Aroma. An enjoyable experience as with Original Blend. The Full Aroma seems to me to be less Oriental forward than with Original Blend. The chocolate is a bit more pronounced as well with a hint of orange in the taste/sidestream. The pouch note reminded me of chocolate covered cherries, but never cloying and greatly subdued after the pouch has opened for several days. Each garners a solid recommended and 5 stars!

Second Update 8/2017: This is lately my go to blend for sitting out at night with my dog, watching the stars, just before bedtime. I agree with many of the other posters: this is not at all a typical aromatic. You can taste the good burley and VA and the aroma is almost undefinable. I am liking this more over time and hardly touching the few other aro's I have on hand. I forgot how much I like the old Dutch cavendish. It's at least a 3.5 pushing on 4.

Update: now available in USA. Ordered a pouch to see if it's as good as I recall. It is: rich flavorful taste; very slightly fruity and cocoa like with a VA/burley smoothness. Fabulous room note. This IMHO is very much like that of olden days. For the other old timers out there this is worth a look.

Started smoking this in 1970 while in college. I am going by memory but this is one that's still fresh. It was a rough cut cavendish. Packed well in any of my cheap pipes. Started out with a bit of something like citrus but in 5 minutes this hit the groove and was a round, not-quite-sweet, smooth smoke for the remainder of the experience. Plenty of the tobacco flavor came through. With just a little care, no bite. 45 years later if I could easily get my hands on it I'd still be smoking it.