Mac Baren Golden Ambrosia

In a visit to the Albayzin, the old Arab quarters in the magical Spanish city of Granada, I suddenly found this most picturesque ?estanco?, lost in the middle of one of those narrow, cobbled-stone streets, that offered some pipes and pipe tobacco. Why not? I had left mine at the hotel, so in I went and I bought a very interesting straight billiard, part of the bowl and the shank covered in leather. But when I looked for something to put inside, I only saw Borkum Riff, Amphora red and a couple of Mac Barens'. I though this tobacconist may have some French Caporal hidden somewhere, or a Spanish version of the old Napoleonic troops' pipe tobacco, but nothing doing.

As I was not planning to go back to the hotel anytime soon, I decided to try the Mac Baren tobaccos, and bought some Mixture Aromatic and Golden Ambrosia.One must hand it to them: as far as merchandising and distribution go, Borkum Riff and Mac Baren can be really found ANYWHERE (if only Dunhill or Rattray had the same market oriented strategy!).

I then found a small café, with a magnificent view to the Alhambra on the hills in front and, down below, to the rest of the city. Lamenting my lack of prevision (what an excellent time this would have been to smoke an Oriental mixture! I thought to myself), I asked for a ?cortado?, took a seat and proceeded to fill in and light up, as I took in the wonderful views that so inspired Washington Irving and Lord Byron.

Mid morning, balmy weather, blue skies above, almost no other tourists in sight, I sipped my coffee and then lit up the pipe. I had chosen Golden Ambrosia. In the pouch it had a fruity aroma, but nothing to really put me off. It was more of a topping than a casing. Not at all moist, the tobacco was supple enough to be rubbed up a little more, making the loading process rather simple. I followed the suggestions from other Mac Baren reviewers and packed it in a little loosely, to help in the cumbstion process.

Expecting the traditional incendiary experience from Mac Baren, I was surprised to try instead a gentle, mellow, yet very well structured tobacco taste! Slightly sweet, yes, but nothing compared, say, to Borkum Riff or Captain Black. This is in fact a medium strength tobacco, cool, with excellent burning characteristics. It is a mixture in almost equal proportions of aged Burley-the predominant flavour-and Golden Virginias, with some Black Cavendished Virginia leaf. The tobacco is of a dark brown hue with some black strands, partly rubbed, partly in broken flakes, very similar in texture to Mixture or Virginia No 1.

I don't know what the topping in Golden Ambrosia is. It has a winy, fruity undertone, very gentle and discreet, that, in my opinion, does not really interfere with the tobacco flavour. As I was sitting in an open terrace, the aroma quickly dissipated, but I was complimented on its smell by some of the locals (huele bien, señor, huele bien). Tasty, rich, slow burning, the agreeable sweetness of Golden Ambrosia complemented perfectly the dark, roasted coffee (I drink mine with no sugar). The flavour is rich and nutty, and surprisingly gentle on the palate, provided you puff in slowly and calmly.So I just sat back, enjoyed the flavours and let my self be carried away by the views and the whole experience.

If you like slightly aromatic tobaccos, and are willing to puff in gently and slowly, you may find Golden Ambrosia is a very nice change of pace. I plan to buy some more in the future. Not at all a bad choice.

Due to the fact, that this tobacco is cut into ready rubbed, he belongs (without any exception) in pipes with significant large capacities. Who takes this fact into account will have perhaps one of the most good-natured and good-tasting pipe experience ever.

Once this noticeably flavored tobacco is placed in a suitable pipe, the smoking characteristics change into a cold, good-natured and easy to control burning. This tobacco tends to extinguish quickly and because you have to pull demanding to keep the glow up, he is very suitable for beginners (the Mac Baren Goden Ambrosia reacts very generous and gentle to hungry, greedy and hasty pulling).

Taste is debatable. For me this cool aromatic tastes of powdery bergamot and fruity freshness. This delicate and exquisite tobacco is rounded off with a vanilla finish of the high-quality Virginia. The tobacco is a revelation and my most significant discovery of the year 2013.

Serve with a good Earl Gray tea and life is a paradise.

In the past months I have learned to appreciate many Mac Baren tobaccos, and some have entered in my regular rotation. So, it's weird that I am not particularly enjoying what is considered one of their finest achievements.

My impressions are based on a 100g tin: some people complain that the pouch version is often on the dry side, but the tin verson does a much better job in preserving the moisture and aroma of the tobacco. I would even dare to say that my tin could actually improved after a few days due to a slight drying of the content.

The tin aroma (and also the taste of the smoke) has something familiar to me. It's a similar smell to the one that I have experienced with other flavored Virginias/Burleys: it has the same earthy fruitiness of Dunhill's Three Years matured Virginia (though less sweet), and it also reminds me a bit of Peterson's University Flake, Erinmore Flake, or St. Bruno. Luckily, Golden Ambrosia will prove to be actually better, to my taste, than each of these tobaccos (not that Erinmore Flake or St. Bruno are bad tobaccos: simply they are a bit overwhelming in flavoring and nicotine content for my personal taste). If I had to say what the flavoring is... well, it's hard to tell, but to me it smells like bergamot, like an intense Earl Grey tea. Sure, one can detect other fruits too (berries?) and a hint of vanila.

My tin was not particularly "golden" in color. The tobacco was more on a brown reddish tone, with a good appearence consisting of broken flakes partially rubbed out. Definitely a coarser cut than other aromatic mixtures, and the tobacco seems of high quality. No cavendish, as far as my eyes can tell.

At the test of fire, it burns fine like most Mac Barens do. Quite slow, thanks to the cut, and producing little moisture. No tonguebite at all. The smoke is thick, very rich, and (surprisingly for a Mac Baren) with a stout body and intensity. Even nicotine content seems higher than other tobaccos from this brand, although this certainly isn't a heavy smoke. Anyway, it's exactly the opposite of Black Ambrosia's light and breezy character: here you can distinctly feel the raw tobaccos used. The taste is intense, and the flavoring does quite well to enhance the tobacco (nice mature Virginia sweetness, earthy Burley)... if you like this kind of flavoring. Personally I am not crazy about this kind of taste: mind you, it's not bad, or nauseating, or irritating. It simply doesn't make me want to have another bowl of it soon. A minor complaint is that there is a slight fermented/astringent taste in the second half of the bowl, with some of the same "dirty" feeling that I got with the Dunhill Three Years Matured or the Peterson University Flake. Nothing really bad, anyway.

So, I won't rush to buy another tin, but if you are looking for an aromatic with a fruity/citrusy flavoring and still having an intense toabccos backbone... give it a try!

If this were a little more powerful in the taste department, I would have given it four stars. As it is, this is a very fine Virginia/Burley blend with a somewhat fermented fruit topping that was pleasant without interfering with the true taste of the tobacco.

I submit that those of my briar brothers and sisters who enjoy lighter fare with added flavoring will find this particular Mac Baren offering to be tasty.

All Mac Baren blends seem to burn evenly right down to the bottom of the bowl and this one is no exception.

Tobacco itself and smoke both smell nice like dry fruits and raisins. And that's it. No taste, it is very wet in a pouch, so needs to be dried, and extremely tongue bites. I will not buy it again.

A very generic sweet mild burly blend. Not much character, really, but nicely done in its way. Its mild mild mild mild mild. Dont know what else to say.

MacBaren tobaccos were the ones I remembered smoking from my first relatively brief foray into pipe smoking back in 2005, (thats if I exclude the real true first foray back in around 1982 when at the age of 9, my grandad gave me a puff on his pipe - no doubt after relentless pestering from me. Lots of people say they have the best grandad in the world but they couldn't because I did - best grandad ever!!!!) Anyway, back to MacBaren, this blend was my No. 1 favorite back in 2005 with Vanilla Cream a close second. So i sought it out in 2013 when I restarted pipe smoking and struggled to source a pack and was eventually pleased to be able to order some in from overseas. It duly arrived, and on opening, the aromatic smell was great, as remembered, but the tobacco was very dry - not as remembered. The smoke was hot yet kept going out, and very harsh with bite but not with any of the lovely pouch aromas coming through. I think my pack was maybe old and the tobacco stale and this may partially account for lack of enjoyment i got from the smoke. Or maybe I have just been spoilt with superior blends since restarting in 2013. Either way, it is rather like going back to the school reunion to find the girl you always fancied has turned out fat and ugly - bit of a disappointment and a shame to tarnish warm memories, but no big deal - move on.

Mac Baren Golden Ambrosia.

it’s good in the moisture department, gives off a vivacious aroma which contains a fusion of both sweet and almost floral attributes and the pieces are brilliant to look at as they really vary in size from tiny to some about an inch long. This also gains points in the igniting sector, it takes to the flame first time and delivers a VERY even burn which does not require a re-light often, at all. The smoke is fabulous, a fairly cool smoke that doesn't bite and it is also thick in build. Vitamin N? ... Great, not strong and not weak but just right (for me, think Rattray Highland Targe strength) and if you inhale it then it's a joy to do so. Flavour now , I know there is some added flavour but all I get is a full taste of Burley and Virginia with a vanilla/floral touch in there too. Due to the fact the additives are delicate it only leaves a small ghost unless heavily smoked with very little cleaning. Don't get me wrong, the aromatic side is noticeable, all I mean is that it is more gentle and gives a little space for you to enjoy the tobacco flavours, for this reason it would make a great entry into the aromatic world. Final area to mention is room note: fairly light with a sensual floral touch.

Four stars.

I have to say that I am not a great fan of MacBaren, it has indeed a certain constant style and taste, but it seems to me it resembles cigarettes too much, so I recommend it to those that want to quit cigarettes for pipe smoking, or smoking both things. Quality tobacco no doubt, but not for me.

This blend is a bit similar to Mac Baren "Burley London Blend", the difference here is that they added some golden Cavendish with some fruity topping, the smoke is mild, the taste is semi sweet and fruity. however I find BLB tastes much better

Straight to the point, Mac Baren has created one of the finest blends on the planet, which is "Scottish Mixture".