Mac Baren Amphora Original Blend

Well it has been a few year's since I smoked this. So "WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO IT"

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I puffed & puffed & puffed & even smoked it different pipe's as well. Just to make sure it wasn't me!!! It was almost like smoking fresh air! And I couln't seem to get hardly any taste out of it at all! There's nothing even familiar about the way it was year's ago!!! It might be ok for a "VERY Timid" new comer to pipe smoking,but I'll never bother with this again.There's just nothing to add. I'll give it 1 star out of 4 only because it's easy to light.

I found this stuff on a country store shelf. I had to blow and wipe the dust off the package. The tobacco was somewhat dry.

Upon smoking, it reminded me of Skandinavik Regular (a tobacco I smoke somewhat regularly).

A dominate burley blend with a little VA. Nothing real special with this blend but could be a working/fishing smoke.

Better then the candy smokes. Offers more then most straight burley blends.

I'd like to find a fresher pack of this.

Appearance: A typical Dutch ?Cavendish?, possibly best described as a coarse shag. Mostly medium brown with a few darker traces visible.

Aroma: Very straight-forward Burley/Virginia blend with no traces of Oriental leaf to my nose. Also litle or no traces of added scents or flavors.

Packing: The blend was easy to pack in every pipe that I tried, from Peterson Barrels to large billiards.

Lighting: In keeping with the cut, it took flame readily, hardly needing a charring light. Mostly one match and go.

Initial flavor: A fairly light taste, but interesting. Mostly a slightly bitter, nutty taste from the Burley, a sweetness from the Va. In the background. Mostly stayed in the middle range, no highs or lows.

Mid-bowl: Still a plain honest flavor, with little complexity or layering. Cool enough if not smoked rapidly, and no trace of gurgle.

Finish: Again, not much change at the bottom. Also not much dottle, if any.

Summary: A good all-day smoke if you like lighter blends. It does not need your full attention, so may be smoked while working on other tasks, even outdoors. Definitely good quality, way above average for Dutch blends.

Amphora Brown is a favorite of many people, but I gave my can of it away. While the room-note was quite pleasant, I found the flavor to be basically pretty flat. The not entirely unpleasant casing domainates strongly and does flavor the pipe. Unfortunately, the underlying tobacco flavor was barely there. This tobacco smoked fairly wet and was prone to be a touch agressive.

I have a strange relationship with this tobacco, a classic changed during yearss. Smoke cool and slow. Apparently a "perfect" mixture, balanced and for all tastes. Virginias are quite presents but the main taste is burley, with a little kentucky in background. And small oriental spicy. Seems elegant and old fashioned. But is a little neutral and for me something is missing. My solution is an addition of a small amount of Tornabuoni's "cimette", strong and rich kentucky from Valtiberina. For me in this way is a very good all day tobacco, a safe harbour when you can't find your tobacco or if you want to smoke a quiet mixture. Body is really well rounded and stronger and more full.

Tabacco onesto e saporito. Se fumato con calma e un po' di attenzione regala una fumata con i tipici sentori del burley con note nocciola e tostatura. E' dichiarato un aromatizzazione al cacao, ma personalmente non l'ho avvertita. Brucia bene e necessita di poche riaccensioni. Consiglio di tenerlo in un barattolo ermetico per preservarne umidità ed aroma. Considero questo il migliore tabacco della serie amphora venduto in Italia. Voto (da 0 a 10) 6+

Tin Note of stewed fruits, hint of coffee

The long list of ingredients makes sense, not because I can identify each one, but because it would've been so difficult to do so. The Burley seems to be both white and darker one, with some cocoa notes but also deeper spice notes with the small addition of nicotine. The Virginia provide just a hint of sweetness and fruitiness. I can identify the Dark Fired Kentucky far in the background with its lightly smoky notes.

Despite the description, this is not a chocolate blend, if that's what you're looking for. It's much more complex than the average black Cavendish + flavor. I would compare this more with the classic "over the counter" blends such as Half & Half, Sir Walter Raleigh, and especially Edgeworth in style.

Ribbon cut, easy to pack and smoke, minimal relights, good moisture level from the pouch. An all-day smoke for the "classical smoker". No tongue bite. Smokes fairly fast and cool.

Medium in body, mild in strength.

My first several bowls tasted very different than later ones. I used to get a lot more fruitiness and sweetness and not much of the Burley cocoa/nuttiness. While it was conserved in a mason jar, it feels like it turned from an aromatic blend to an almost straight Burley one. Unfortunately, I liked it better when I first smoked it. Now it tastes like several other blends that I've tried and will probably stick with. It's a very nice blend and I recommend for the Burley and aromatic smokers especially to try it, but for me it doesn't stand out enough at the moment.

I see this classified as an aromatic but not in my books. Supposedly there's a chocolate topping but if there is it's a bitter chocolate, not a sweet one. The power of suggestion allows me to pick out some cocoa flavour but not much. The blend itself is a bit rough around the edges for me. I have a hard time picking out the constituent tobaccos but I'd say the burley is most prominent. It packs well and smokes easy and as drugstore tobaccos go it's a really good one, so I'll recommend it based on your budget and tobacco availability.

I bought this pouch on a whim and WOW...Amphora Original Blend is really fantastic, and provides a unique smoking experience.

The kentucky and oriental hang out in the background and keep things interesting while the burley, va, and black cavendish provide a somewhat sweet, mellow smoke that has a fuller flavor but does not overwhelm.

Really nice room note; good any time of the day. I also really like the pouch which is a sturdy, gold colored foil.