Mac Baren Amphora Original Blend

I was offered a sample by an old timer and what a pleasant surprise it was. A no fuss tobacco for an all day smoke, a Dutch Cavendish type blend that satisfies. The chocolate/cocoa taste is there in spades, never strong but adding to the Burley nuttiness. Due to the cut it burns quite fast so beware to pace yourself.

It's something to try for those who don't like aromatics but want to take a break from their favorite tobacco. With that in mind, this old school blend could easily become an unassuming, preferred smoke for many.

Virginia lover

The pouch I purchased seemed very fresh. Upon opening it, I didn't get the the aroma of cocoa, only a grassy Virginia smell with a mild sourness. Ribbon cut with some broken bits of flake. It required no drying, lit and burned well with no relights required after the charring light. Though I didn't smell cocoa in the pouch, I definitely tasted it--like powdered unsweetened Hershey's cocoa. It wasn't bitter, however. I would have appreciated a little more sweetness. It complimented the tobacco which seems to me to be of a very good quality. There was some nuttiness and a little pepper. There was also a creaminess about the smoke, and at times had a kind of evaporated milk note which I liked. The cocoa flavor definitely intensified as I got further down the bowl, and stayed present right until the end. The smoke was warm, but not hot. Nice for a cool evening. It didn't bite at all. I didn't puffed it hard, but I didn't sip it either. It behaves well. All in all this was a pleasant and relaxing smoke-not terribly complex, but certainly enjoyable. The room note was rather nice too. It's something that I'll smoke from time to time, and might buy again. It wasn't remarkable. It didn't make me say, "Wow!" However, I think its a good quality smoke at a very good price.

As I like Amphore Full Aroma (aka Amphora Red) pretty good a fellow pipe smoker from Finnland (dank Paul mein Freund!) did send me a pouch (which are now 40g instead of 50g...is this the brave new world Huxley wrote about?!) of the Originial Blend aka "Amphora Brown". As it's not available in germany (yet the red one is) I was really happy to get my fingers of a pouch.

Opening the pouch, which looks very similar to the red one I immediatly got blown away! This is much more natural, less sauced (if at all, I'd guess it's just cased in forehand no topping) and very tobacco-forward. I get choco- and nuts that are underlined with a whiff of fruitiness to it. Also I perceive the Oriental leaf, which contributes a slightly sour, more woody and ethereal aroma to the pouch aroma. Delicious scents that seem quite natural.

The cut is a rather coarse broken flake, with some ribbons inbetween. Mostly dark(er) brown, with some bright brown and very few golden-yellow sprinkles. Came in perfect condition for my gusto (slightly crispy with little moisture to it), but it's hard to judge the condition on a pouch. You never know how old the pouch is and they don't hold moisture too well, so it's a "hit 'n miss" thing with pouches.

First light offered a intensely nutty and chocolaty aroma, but not in a way a flavoring would give it, it seems those notes are (mainly) from the tobaccos themselves and are only underscored by the added flavoring. As the pouch states they wanted to emphazize the chocolaty note of the Burleys and they really hit a sweet spot here. I also notice the Oriental leafs quite well, which are contributing slightly sour, more dry-woody and ethereal and floral aroma that is underscoring the smoking experiences in the back very well! Virginias offer little (honeyish-)sweetness, earth and little citrusy freshness to balance the bold and "dark" character of the Burley. Kentucky offer little smokiness and enhances the earthy dimension a bit.

Really a rich melange of finest tobaccos, I wouldn't have expected it to be so deep and complex! Burley and Kentucky form a solid base of earth and choco/nut on which the Oriental can play the "blue notes" to it with its distinctive aroma, whils the Virginia is balancing the bold power and aroma of this mixture.

Much, much(!) better than the red (Full Aroma) one. While the red one is a tad too sweet and too sauced for me to be an All-Day smoke, this is the definition of an All-Day smoke for the Burley aficionado.

4/4 stars for an outstandingly good OTC blend that really impresses me with its tobacco forward taste and the skillfully blended mixture of excellent (tasting) leafs into a blend that's far above your average OTC blend. Perfection in a word!

A review with pictures and slightly more extended can be found on: http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/a-package-from-paulie-amphore-original-brown-review?replies=3#post-1126915

This tobacco is one of the best cavendish tobacco I have never smoked. Excellent, neutral, natural tobacco. But cavendish. I don’t know if there is some chocolate added. Or something else. I know this is a real natural cavendish tobacco (to be more precise, cavendish and not black cavendish). You can smoke it straight all day long and it doesn’t cloy. You can use it in all kind of mixture to improve it or to dilute an expensive tobacco, thanks to its neutral character. In my opinion this tobacco is a non-aromatic Cavendish and in this cheap product you can find the real taste of cavendish tobacco. In my personal rating (from 1 to 10) my score is 8/9 and three stars.

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One of my favorite allday tobacco, also very fitable in home-made mixtures. Round, fragrant, straight and natural, a little hint of cocoa in the aftertaste but not heavy artificial flavouring, it's all very soft and pleasant. The entire mixture (burley, oriental, kentucky and virginia) pass for a cavendish process. Despite that is a tobacco from the NL, the style is indubitably American; the result is a mixture between the burley American mixture and a classic and natural scottish blend, so nothing of the famous "Holland flavour like", burleys and orientals are preminent. Magnificent with some fresh added havana cigar fund. One of my secret and favourite mixture that a friend of mine call "Habanera" consist in 60 - 75% of AOB, 15 - 20% havana cigar, 10 - 20% latakia (syrian); the best % in my opinion is (70/20/10). Try it! The AOB is a good start for the beginner: for a perfect smoking requires some experience to control the lighting, the pressure in the bowl and the humidity, but if you do something wrong the result never fails you, so it's good for start practising.

Type: Burley american mixture/ scottish blend, natural medium ; Contents: Burley, Orientals, Kentucky and Virginia ; Flavoring: None particular flavoring added, only the minimal required by the cavendish process, something that remeber a chocolate aftertaste; Cut: Ribbon ; Humidity: Often high and tend to produce some humidity in the fund of the bowl during smoking, needs to be slow tasted ; Lighting: Most of the time easy, but burn slow and sometimes needs to be relighted ; Pipe recommended: Large bowls, in a Chubby is awesome, in a Corn pipe works great and in the Meerschaums give unique experiences

I have been on a bit of a hunt for a good blend found in a pouch and picked up one of these after watching the review of it by Shane from Smokingpipes

I have to say, this is easily the best pouched tobacco blend I have smoked to date, granted I have a long way to go to try most of them but what I have found still remains truly delicious

In the past I have been one to shy away from Burly blends, due to the bitterness associated with this type of concoction but Amphora Original is as smooth as it gets with the Virginia and Oriental components popping in and creating a sort of crispness to the smoke...truly delightful

I can barely identify the cocoa flavouring as it is done so discretely to lift the taste of the very smooth Burly. I have grown really fond of this blend

From my own experience as a traditional VaPer smoker, pipers with a similar palette will benefit from giving this blend a try

Suitable as an "all day smoke" due to the lower than average nicotine found in it

Highly Recommended

PS. I have found that giving it a bit of drying time will do wonders

I have smoked Amphora OB (formerly Regular) a certain number of times in my long smoking life, never for itself but just because it is one of the few blends available in Italy - together with Italia and, in a smaller measure, Skandinavik Regular - good for house blending. The mixture Dunhill 965 + Amphora Regular (50/50) was a true classic back in the seventies, just as Sobranie Original Mixture + Italia (50/50) was too. Both good ways to reduce the considerable cost of smoking the expensive english mixtures of the time.

OB smoked alone belongs to the family of the regular/continental blends based on the triad VaBKy with occasional presence of Orientals (whose quality and origin who knows ?) or so-called Tropicals (Java, Paraguay or african weeds): a very balanced pout-pourry of many weeds, Burley being the main component. Very good to start new pipes because the non-characterization of the blend.

The smoke: not bad. A mild-to-medium strength mix of thin ribbon and ready rubbed, nutty/earthy with initial faint floreal notes, and some pleasant sourish effects to the tongue. Occasionally salty and piquant. To the nostril only tobacco aroma, I frankly don't detect any flavouring, not even the chocolatey one the pouch notes speak of. The body develops from refreshing to stouter, and sometimes makes me think of the current Three Nuns Original, just in milder way. The burning behaviour is very much good. Seems to me that OB benefits from larger bores.

A nice surprise indeed. OB is something no pipster should miss to taste in his life, and one of the best OTC blends available worldwide.

I want to start from the blend. Here someone recognize the dark fire Kentucky, but for me there is not trace. The punch description says Virginia, Burley and Orientals, for me this is the real blend; nothing more. Now, going back to the review, the cut is not a ribbon, but is in the perfect style of Amphora's blend, so ribbon, ready rubbed and broken flake all togheter. The packing is easy but need experience due to the particolar cut. The combustion is regular too. The aromas are very simply and tipical of Virginia and Burley, the Orientals remain in the background, but pay a lot of attenction to the frequency and intesity of puffs becouse this tobacco easily tends to overbalance and then became unpleseant, bite a little, also with a standard/normal rythim. In my opinion this is not, literally, a "flavoured" tobacco, for me there is a light neutral casing. The Original is not a good tobacco, but at the same time is not a bad one. This tobacco can offer a relaxed smoke, obviusly simply, there are different better options, but Amphora Original owns its dignity and I respect this product.

First impressions: The flavoring is really affective. The Cocoa/Chocolate is very subtle but the way it highlights and sets off the kitchen sink of varietals is absolutely delicious. Very smooth. With so much going on here the blend is surprisingly consistent and steady in its note. Burley, Cavendish, Kentucky, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia oh my! I did detect a faint chemical note here and there.