Mac Baren Amphora Burley Blend

After hearing of this blend (first available in Europe) I was intrigued and hoping it would come state side. As a Burleyphile I'm happy it did. Before receiving my two pouches I was wondering what it would be all about. At first I thought Amphora Original minus the orientals. After receiving my order I opened one of the pouches. No pouch note to speak of and not much of a tobacco presence to my nose. A nice medium to dark brown broken flake similar in color to Aged Burley Flake. Loading, lighting, and keeping it lit was a breeze as is expected from a Mac Baren tobacco. There was no discernible flavoring agent added that I could detect. This is one of the smoothest smoking blends I've ever smoked in 43 years of piping. Not much of a tobacco flavor but certainly not a hot air only smoke. I couldn't detect the Virginia at all - and happy at that as there was no tongue nip at all. This smoked clean and dry to the heal without any heat or bite whatsoever. Amphora Original minus the orientals and flavoring? I don't think so. This is its own animal and able to stand on its own merit. I certainly knew I was smoking Burley, but all the negativity associated with Burley was absent. Mild woody/spice notes detected with a subtle sweetness throughout. This is a great smoke for when you just want "a pipe," a here in lies its charm. Nice room note too, and highly recommended. I like it better than Amphora Original and Mac's Burley Flake by a wide margin. Kudos to Mac Baren.

Mac Baren - Amphora Burley.

I've enjoyed some of the Burley offerings from Mac Baren this year, with their HH Burley Flake being one of my favourites of this genre yet. Amphora Burley is equally as tasty!

I never read the cut before I opened it, so wrongly expected a ribbon. But the appearance is a dark brown, chunky, broken flake; brilliant! The flakes have been reduced to EXACTLY the consistency I like to rub a flake to! My pouch had perfect hydration, and a rustic smell with a drop of sweetness.

The smoke is lovely! Similarly to HH Burley Flake the flavour's lead by the Burley, the others lightly season the smoke; the Kentucky more so. The Burley has more of an inured flavour than a sweet one; there is some sweetness, but this is understudy. I note some hardy Kentucky, fiery and punchy, but the Virginias are about in need of the Pinkerton Detective Agency to seek them out! The burn causes no problems, generating a mid-temperature smoke. I spent a morning smoking this without any bite.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not too bad.

Amphora Burley? A definite four star smoke:

I only smoke Burley (blends), and without any flavorings, toppings, etc. In fact, I almost exclusively smoke C&D Burley Flake #1 and sometimes, Triple Play. I think I've tried them all, for years in fact. But my very specific taste always leads me back to BF#1. Yet, disheartened as I've become in my Burley adventures expeditions, I do get excited every time I find (or someone recommends) a possibly new pure Burley blend I've not tried. To my total amazement, I am loving this Amphora Burley Blend! The broken flakes are very similar to the C&D Burley Flake #1, the moisture is ideal, the burning perfect and the taste, simply great. It does have a bit of a rather noticeable and quite lingering taste in the mouth, probably from the casing, but that's ok. Burley fans, go try this smoke.

Update (07/07/2019): I've been smoking this beautiful tobacco in different pipes, to further appraise it. First, let me say, that the said lingering taste has subsided quite a bit. I think it was just in the first bowl, where it was pronounced. This is truly a bready-chocolaty delicious burley blend. The flakes are just great, as I said, very similar to the C&D Burley Flake #1. I love it. The burning is consistent, even in every respect, including the consistency of the taste profile throughout the bowl. It burns to white ashes all the way, and with very few relights. The natural and sweet chocolaty taste in this burley is nothing short of remarkable, and it comes from the Virginia. I must say that such "focused" sweetness can be a bit too much after the halfway point of the bowl. I would have preferred a tad less of this sweetness. The Kentucky is noticeable too, perfect. The room note is pleasant, truly tolerable. This is a fantastic blend, and it is now part of my very exclusive list of pipe tobaccos. Smaller bowls will let the Virginias more pronounced, bigger bowls will feature the Burleys to a greater extend. No toppings, just pure delight. The last pipe I tried with this blend was a BBB billiard.

The very woody, earthy, nutty, toasty, cocoa-ish burleys also sport some rugged savoriness. The savory aspect reminds me of aged burley. A small amount of woody, earthy, lightly spicy and sour, floral, vegetative, herbal, dry and nutty, smoky dark fired Kentucky boosts up the blend in an important condimental role. It also has a hint of barbecue. The grassy, lightly tart and tangy citrusy, slightly floral Virginia is far in the background. There are no toppings as per Per Jensen (I always wanted to write that.). The strength is a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium, while the taste level almost reaches medium. The nic-hit is in the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite even when pushed, though it does have a rough edge at times. It’s not overly sweet, but the sweetness present is natural. A ready rubbed cut mixture that burns cool, clean and slightly slow with a very consistent flavor from start to finish that also translates to the lightly lingering after taste. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires a little more than an average number of relights. The room note is a little stronger than the after taste. Even though it has a bit of depth and body, it can an all day smoke if you wish.

-JimInks

Was gifted this at my local store as it just came in, and all I can say it is a wonderful blend. A all day smoke, dont have to think about it much, just light it, tamp and go. Came perfect out of the bag. Hints of Cocoa and that Virginia hay smell and taste but they take a back seat to the Burley which I really love. I usually smoke Prince Albert at work on the farm as its a no nonsense blend that one light and you can finish the bowl to ash, well I am thinking of retiring my tub of PA for a minute and buying up more pouches of this fantastic tasting blend. Hopefully we can get this in bulk soon.

i do not use filters in my pipe, and i had no tongue bite at all. smooth as an well aged tobacco. typical natural Burley aroma and not too sweet.

Could this be HH burley flake fully rubbed? It's close, but I think not. Not quite as rich and it has a slight top note I think (molasses or chocolate but light). Mostly smooth and natural tasting. No bite.

Cool, tasty, hint of sweetness, with old fashion burley goodness.

An all day smoke for those that do.

Recommended as one of the best burleys around, pouch or not.

I must say that I did not particularly care for this one. I'm sure it is of good quality Burley which I do enjoy but it had a very sour note which I did not enjoy. This off taste is more than likely just my taste buds and won't affect others so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Pouch smell has a semi-sweet whole grain with dark cocoa, some wood tones and perhaps a tad of molasses. This is similar to HH Burley Flake with a similar but lesser woody notes to the smoke and the addition of the casing makes it a smoother smoke with absolutely no bite. Despite being a burley blend and supposedly some dark-fired leaf added I really didn't notice the nicotine. It's so reminiscent of HH Burley Flake I wish Mac Baren had developed it into something a little more unique. More sweetness would have been to my liking. One could think of this blend as sort of a hybrid between HH and Golden Extra with a bit more sweetness to round out the character more though it is not a sweet tobacco. A straight forward classic style ready-rubbed burley tobacco that should be appreciated by burley aficionados.

This blend confirms to me that the continental European tobacco houses develop their blends based on performance with 9mm filters (which is by far the preference of European pipe smokers). I tried this blend in two 9mm briars that I have available for Burley-based blends, in both cases a solid 4-star experience. I also tried in a cob with a 6mm filter, a meer, a Savinelli with balsa filter, and another briar without a filter. On my own rating scale those smokes ranged from 3.2 to 3.5 stars - good, but not quite the "wow" as with the 9mm filters.

With American blends, like many from C&D, I almost always prefer the smoke without any kind of filter because I find the filters somehow mute too many overtones. With Amphora Burley the differences are that without any kind of filter I get some cigar notes from the dfk, and a more hardcore intensity on the back of the throat. With the 9mm filters I get a big, expansive, foundation of flavor: hazelnut, toasted marshmallow, home-baked pumpkin seed, and some slightly sweet malt ball notes, along with baking spices that are entirely subsumed by the cigar notes when no filter is used. If I had to summarize the 9mm experience I'd call this a "Gentle Giant" - lots of flavor but smooth. Sort of a big brother to Sutliff Match Ready Rubbed (Edgeworth).

Using a 9mm filter should produce a smoke that will appeal to both Codger and Connoisseur and could very well warrant repeat smokes during the day. Without filter, it is still good but will probably appeal to the smoker who enjoys more of the dark-fired character, and one bowl will likely be enough to satisfy.

This one is a winner in my book ! A very natural tasting burley that pretty much drives the blend . Just enough sweetness and nic hit to satisfy. This is a simple straight forward burley blend but I am a simple man who enjoys it very much. I like it better than Solani aged burley . It has less of the chocolate casing and more nut earth and wood . Also about half the price and tastes better . Great morning smoke with coffee! Four stars

To avoid that proverbial "nutty-woody-earthy" mantra you read in each and every burley blend review (my past reviews are no exception) I better compare Amphora Burley to the blends most similar to it.

It's better than Solani Aged Burley Flake. Yes, it's better. One would laugh at me (especially taking into account the difference in price) but it is better. It possesses all the virtues of ABF - plus flavour, aroma and reasonable strength, all of which ABF sorely lacks in my opinion.

All in all, it's on par with C&D Burley Flake #1. Well, flavourwise, C&D is better. But #1 is packed with such a respectable dose of Nicotine, it demands a degree of dedication when you smoke it. You can't just be doing something AND ocassionally smoking #1. You need to dedicate your time and efforts specifically to The Thorough And Enjoyable Act Of Smoking The Respected Cornell And Diehl Burley Flake Number One, and then, if you are lucky and/or experienced enough, you may try to do some extra things along.

With Amphora Burley Blend, you just smoke a good Burley without concentrating much on its' lacks or excesses.

I wonder why TobaccoReviews ought to have two entries for this blend. Unltil they are merged, I post this review in both.

Also I wonder why this blend costs so little (please don't tell McBaren I said that). Its quality far exceeds its price tag.

Earthy, walnut-like woody nuttiness at first 2/3 of the bowl followed with a pinch of Cayenne + black pepper mix through final 1/3.

Lovely blend with moderate strength. Smoother compared to similar American Burley blends.

I'm a big fan of Amphora Original as I think anyone who like MacBaren BLB or Golden Extra would be. So when I saw this newish Amphora Burley I wanted it straightaway.

This is interesting. This tobacco would never have been released under the Amphora name outside of the MacBaren stewardship of the brand. It strikes me as unadulterated Burley and Kentucky, and the Kentucky is applied with a light enough hand so as not to overwhelm the blend. Honestly the one tobacco that you could talk about this with in the same breath is Watch City Slices. WCS is one of my very favorites. I feel that one is sweeter, and shows its American roots by making one think codger Burley to an extent. This Amphora Burley is in the same vein, but strikes me as a more upscale European take on the idea. It is less sweet and more savory. The Burley here is milder, so even the light hand of Kentucky does more to the presentation. I am going to stick with the Golden Extra with added Kentucky comparison, because that is the most accurate thing I could say to you to give an idea how you'll find this tobacco.

It's really, really good. Only a 3 star for me as I have so many beloved Burleys in the rotation. I won't go buy pounds of this, but when I empty my 16oz jar I am going right out and buying 3 more pouches to fill it up again. Very good Burley and I think anyone who truly loves Burley will agree.

I tried the new Amphora Virginia blend a few months ago, and I was pretty impressed with it. As a Virginia lover, I found it to be a very solid blend, though not the best VA out there. With this in mind, when Amphora came out with their burley blend, I had to try it. I also like many burley and burley-forward blends. Amphora Burley comes in a 50 gram pouch as a chunky, broken flake. Moisture content was just about right. Appearance was a medium-dark brown and fairly uniform overall. It was easy to load and was not difficult to light. A few re-lights were required, but not really a problem for me. Produced plenty of smoke. I was told the room note was rather pleasant. I tried this in a couple of briars, a MM Country Gentleman, and a meerschaum. Good in all of them! In my judgement, there is plenty of flavor in this blend. The burley clearly stands out, of course. There was the expected nutty, slightly chocolatey notes, and overall just a good, moderately hearty tobacco flavor. I could detect no obvious topping. The Virginia stays pretty far in the background. A bit of sweetness, but no hay, grass or citrus for me here. This blend is fairly similar to OTC blends like Prince Albert, Carter Hall, etc., but I think the Kentucky plays a subtle but vital role in this blend. It lends some spiciness that the typical OTCs don't have. But I still think it falls into the OTC “yer gramp's smoke” genre. Overall, this blend is not up there with Mac Baren's HH Burley, or Solani or Wessex flakes. But it is on the mild side of medium in strength and taste. Not too much nicotine (at least for me). It is well-balanced, flavorful, and could be an all-day smoke. Reasonable price, too. Recommended.

To me this tastes like St Bruno ready rubbed (now also produced by Mac Baren) but without the Lakeland dressing. I'm not a big burley fan myself these days, but someone who is would most probably like this. The tobacco itself seems of a good quality and it's pretty good value for money.

Mac Baren - Amphora Burley.

I've enjoyed some of the Burley offerings from Mac Baren this year, with their HH Burley Flake being one of my favourites of this genre yet. Amphora Burley is equally as tasty!

I never read the cut before I opened it, so wrongly expected a ribbon. But the appearance is a dark brown, chunky, broken flake; brilliant! The flakes have been reduced to EXACTLY the consistency I like to rub a flake to! My pouch had perfect hydration, and a rustic smell with a drop of sweetness.

The smoke is lovely! Similarly to HH Burley Flake the flavour's lead by the Burley, the others lightly season the smoke; the Kentucky more so. The Burley has more of an inured flavour than a sweet one; there is some sweetness, but this is understudy. I note some hardy Kentucky, fiery and punchy, but the Virginias are about in need of the Pinkerton Detective Agency to seek them out! The burn causes no problems, generating a mid-temperature smoke. I spent a morning smoking this without any bite.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: not too bad.

Amphora Burley? A definite four star smoke:

Highly recommended.

I am not a regular Burley smoker, but this is a blend that even I can enjoy. The Kentucky is lightly applied and the Virginia adds smoothness. The added flavorings, cocoa, licorice etc., add additional flavors, but do not sublimate the excellent tobacco flavor. Chunky cut, I rub it out. Amphora Burley smokes cool and dry from beginning to end. This is tin quality in a pouch. It's not a sweet smoke, but there is enough natural sweetness to satisfy my tastes. This is a quality Burley blend that's medium in strength and very delicious. I expect this exceptional blend to become a favorite of Burley lovers worldwide. This blend is so delicious and lacks the sharpness I used to associate with burley blends. I will definitely be buying more. It requires a few relights, but well worth the effort. Burns to ash and leaves a very pleasant taste on the tongue.

Just got my first pouch today. Out of the box, out of the pouch, into a well known Savinelli billiard. Moisture level is good, it’s a broken up flake that might benefit from further rubbing out. I was happy with it as is as it loaded easily. Took a small extra effort to get lit but once lit it had a steady burn. Good Burley flavor and strength as well as taste and aroma. Enjoyable from the first and uniform through the bowl. Interestingly, my favorite Mac Baren tobacco to date. I’m a hardcore Burley fan and this is most satisfactory. No bite evident at all. I’ll add more as I progress through the three pouches purchased, but so far, I sense a winner. It’s a very straightforward uncomplicated smoke and if you like Burley you should like this one. There’s a bit of Virginia sweetness in it but not too much. Updates later.