Mac Baren Amphora Virginia

The Virginias provide some earth, grass, tart and tangy, acidic citrus, a little wood, toast and tart dark fruit, light earth, lemon, a couple spice notes, sugar, tea and a hint of a rough edge. The strength is in the center of mild to medium, while the taste is a couple of steps past that mark. The nic-hit is a step behind the strength level. Won’t bite or get harsh. Has a few small rough edges. The tobacco is mostly broken flake, but easy to pack and break apart a little further if you wish. Burns cool and clean at a slightly slow pace with a very consistent, fairly smooth, mild to medium sweet flavor. Leaves very little dampness in the bowl, and requires a few more than an average number of relights due to the cut of the tobacco. Can burn to ash. Has a pleasant, short lived after taste and room note. A rather easy going all day smoke with a very slight smoky, tart and tangy quality. Three and a half stars. Should age well.

-JimInks

From this year on, Mac Baren is the Producer and Distributor of all Amphora Blends. For me it will mean a gain in quality, because people at Mac Baren really have passion and love for Tobacco. Unlikely other bigger Tobacco Companys. Per Georg Jensen from Mac Baren gave me a Pouch of this new Blend at the Intertabak Fair in Dortmund, and said "This is our last Virginia- Blend, i promise you it is a pure Virginia, but i will not bite, but gives you full flavour". What should i say? He was completey right! Very good to know is, that this is a hot pressed tobacco. A method, which is at mac baren only used before at their HH- Flakes. It gives the tobacco a fuller flavour, marry the tobaccos better together, and makes it a bit more harmonyously. I have expected a bright Virginia Flake as i read "Amphora Virginia" - with grassy and hay- like notes, maybe like OGS. But that is not the case. It is a middle- brown, broadly cut Virginia- Flake, that smell like a good german dark bread. Very deep and roasted- spicy. Packing is as easy as you would expect, but lighting needs a little patience. Once alight, it burns very consistent and even, and gives you a flavour that is very similar to what you have smelled out of the pouch. It has very deep spicy, bready flavour and surprisingly just a little sweetness. And it does not bite at all- remarkable for a pure Virginia. It just smeems to me, it is a better and more matured version of the HH Pure Virginia Flake- which was boring. This is a must try for all pipesmokers that like the darker Virginias. It has a remarkable quality. But Dear Mr. Mac Baren- please put it in 100g Tins! It has addictive potencial- just emptied my third pouch. Per Georg Jensen just wrote on facebook that they have trouble due to FDA regulations to get this good stuff to the US. So by now (November 2016) it's only available in Denmark and Germany. Pipesmokers in US! Annoy your pipefriends across the pond to send you a pouch, you will like it a lot!

Mac Baren - Amphora Virginia.

I opened the pouch prepared to find a slightly mundane, medium brown, virginia ribbon. But, I lifted back the flap to find a dark brown broken flake...... winner! It's a bit too wet, but nothing to get in a stew over.

The smoke's very citrusy, and also slightly sharp. The citrus quality is so loud it totally eradicates any of the other Va nuances! On a low note, the citrus can cause a bit of an annoying sensation on my palate if it's not taken gently, but providing it's sipped, it's a true joy.

A bowl of Amphora Virginia burns superbly, leaving a pure white ash behind.

The nicotine's quite mild, and the room-note's brilliant: light virginia.

A bowl of this will put a spring in your step!

Highly recommended.

I was very happy to see this finally offered in the USA and quickly purchased 2 pouches. I was greeted to a nice, medium to dark brown broken flake with a solid aroma of Virginia leaf, but not as in-your-face grassy or hay-like. It also had the scent of tea (not Earl Grey, more Lipton). Fresh out of the pouch, loading and lighting were a breeze and I was not disappointed with the smoke. There was a subtle, natural sweetness while smoking, and not in any way confectionery. The after taste was pleasant and mildly tea-like. This never smoked hot or with any bite - at all. Next to HH Pure Virginia, the tamest (but one of the tastiest) Virginias I ever have smoked. For those wondering, way better than Orlik Golden Slice. Will be an everyday smoke for me and in light of our present anti-smoking climate, I hope it's always around to be enjoyed. 5 stars for me.

A very nice offering from MacBaren/Amphora. This has nothing to do with MacBaren's own Virginia#1: a rather sugary, honey coated tobacco, once described by a fellow reviewer as "Napalam on a stick". Amphora Virginia is a very well crafted broken flake, Cavendished in that particular Dutch style. Up to a certain point it reminds me of the old Amphora Regular (from the D&E years): straight forward, woodsy, slow burning and delicious.

This Virginia is neither sweet (in that raisin-molasses style of some Dunhills' and Rattrays) nor acidic/abrasive (in that vinegar-ketchup style of McClelland). Rather it has a toasty flavor, reminiscent of hay and wheat. It's sharp, smokey and easy to light and keep lit. If anything, is closer to Briar Fox, but in broken flake-Cavendish form. Indeed, a very nice surprise, rich in natural flavor, humidity and strength. In my book, this is a winner.

Expectations over this new Amphora were high.

You should know that we italians (poor pipsters) have never had available any OTC virginia. This one fills the gap, and it does very much fine than I could expect.

I think of this basically as the Mac Baren’s Virginia # 1 without the honey. Or a cheaper broken flake standing between the Golden Glow and the Best Brown by Samuel Gawith. It’s a very good basic virginia for any home made blend, which I have started to experiment by fractional addings of say SJF or LD (or both) or BF, and getting differentiated facets to the base. But AV stands by its own merits. Strenght is satisfactorily near the medium mark. Flavour is citrus & hay with some pleasant spice. Smokes cool and absolutely unbitey.

After five pouches, and still three waiting in my cabinet, I can confirm that this one “has an addictive potential”. A very nice surprise. Four stars.

I've been smoking this off and on for three months now. Very tasty indeed with no casing or flavoring added. It is a good mid-day smoke. Nothing fancy about it. It produces a tingling in the nose which I like. No nic hit, wife doesn't mind the aroma, and only a relight or two.

After a month I've become attached to this simple tobacco. I like mild tobaccos and this is no different. I like the citrus aroma in the bag. For me, this a 3-1/2 star smoke. No negatives. Simple is better.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I thought I was buying a bargain Virginia blend in a pouch and what I got was some lovely, grade A, dark, dark Virginia’s in a Broken Flake form for a bargain price. I knew the second I opened the pouch that this was going to be a treat! Like I said, this is a dark VA so it provides that stewed fruit, citrus and bready qualities that I enjoy so much from a good Virginia. There’s no green here, these are well matured VA’’s and properly cured for a really good price. Nicotine is mild, so it’s great for an all day smoke, room note is that wonderful natural VA scent we pipe smokers have come to love over the years. Honestly, why others are crying about the loss of McClelland, I’ll be over here silently enjoying Amphora Virginia Blend and cellaring this one DeeeeeP, this blend will only improve over the years.

Essential (to the Virginia connoisseur)

Wow, just wow! I’m telling you. Mac B, I think I’m in love.

Amphora Virginia Blend is truly wonderful! It’s not the greatest Virginia pipe tobacco but given its economy price, over the counter availability and high quality it’s an exceptional value for money blend. I stocked up and it takes quite a lot to impress me. It’s a medium strength, seductive tobacco eminently suited as an all day choice. Cut up, rubbed out and sipped slowly it has everything. As a mass produced tobacco I was shocked and then overjoyed. Bowl after straight bowl delivered unexpected Virginia satisfaction. Would take to perique or latakia really well. Highly recommended! Came well sealed, moist and ready to go after preparation. So if you appreciate straight Virginia I advise not to hesitate - just do it.

I had to smoke a few bowls of this to decide whether or not I liked it. Well, I have concluded that this is a pretty decent straight Virginia blend. Keep in mind that my favorite straight Virginia is G.L. Pease "Union Square", so I'm comparing this blend to that. As other reviewers have noted, this blend has a sharpness to it along with the usual hay-like quality. The pouch note led me to think that there might be some kind of light topping, but after smoking several bowls in a briar and a cob, I'm thinking maybe not. I also didn't notice humectant. But that sharpness is rather nice. It's not too sharp. The overall taste is very nice. It is grassy with a noticeable touch or sweetness that intensifies as the smoke progresses. I, too, find that this blend gets a little rough around the edges and a tad bit ashy near the end of the bowl. But the majority of the smoke was very tasty. It looks like a broken flake to me, so I just bent and stuffed it into the pipe and I tamped it in there fairly firmly. I didn't find it too hard to get lit and it generally required only one or two relights. I think the key here is to keep the burning tobacco firmly tamped as I'm smoking. At least this works for me, and it seemed that I could keep that bowl going very nicely through almost all the smoke. I only needed to re-light near the end of the bowl. This blend performed best in my MM Country Gentleman. A full bowl in the Country Gentleman provided about an hour and twenty minute smoke for me (and yes, DO sip this blend for the best flavor). Overall, a very decent smoke. Not nearly as good as GLP Union Square (but that's nectar of the gods to me), but really decent, just the same. Tasty, nice room note, long burning, doesn't seen to bite, smokes cool if you go slowly with it. It comes at a decent price, too. This blend will likely age well, but I'd take it out of the pouch and jar it. I recommend this blend if you like straight Virginias, and it would not be a bad selection for those wanting to try a straight Virginia for the first time. Cheers!